enginerd's group - CLOSED

Donato:

I'm not entirely sure how much you need to know about me and my background so I'll give you some basics, and if you want you can ask me anything you want.

I'm 39 (ugh), married and have two kids (7 and 11).  I've been involved in triathlons off-and-on since 2005.  After some time off I'm back onto the "on" end of the cycle.  I'd like to stay there and I was thinking that getting onto a mentor group may help.

I've mostly done sprints but I do have one Oly and a Quarterman under my belt.  Athletically, I have some limitations.  If you go to my training log you'll see I'm a pretty light guy.  I have been my whole life.  It's great cuz I don't gain weight when I'm inactive, but I don't get too strong either.  I don't want to spend the money to join a gym so one specific area I'd like some suggestions in is getting stronger without the benefit of weights.  Or, actually, a more appropriate question might be what are your thoughts on strength in triathlons?

Another problem I have is open water swimming.  I'm terrified by it!  Funny thing is I grew up on the Central Coast of California and surfed non-stop until I moved away, but swimming is a totally different feeling.  So, again, this would be an area I'd ask for some help with.

I've got 3 or 4 races I've set my sights on this year and the first one is in July.

Like I said, if I've missed anything just ask.

Thanks,

Scot 

Hi Scot.  First off, welcome to the group!  Thanks for the background info.  It's good to learn a bit about you.

dorkboy and enginerd.  That sounds like quite a pairing.  LOL.

Hey, I'm 39 too with a USAT age of 40, so I'm looking forward to being the young guy in the M40-44 age group rather than the old guy in the 35-39 AG.  We're pretty close to the same weight too (I'm at about 136 right now and was at a low of 129 last year).  Climbing hills is all about power to weight ratio so you have the weight side of the equation to your advantage.

I am absolutely not a gym guy either.  I can't stand working out indoors other than swimming (and would prefer an outdoor pool to an indoor one). 

I have 2 thoughts on building strength for you.  First, I've read that inactive people have their muscle cells grow in random orientation wheras those who use them actively have their muscles grow aligned with the use during the activity.  This way, when the same amount of muscle grows back, if it's aligned, you have more activity specific strength.  This probably isn't really what you are asking about though.  My second thought is that it's all about intensity.  You can easily jack up intensity not in the gym by going faster/harder (e.g. speedwork like sprints) or doing hills.

Personally, I don't focus on strength per se, but I do focus on endurance and my aerobic base quite a bit.  It all depends on your goals.  if your goal is to be as fast as you can possibly be, you'll definitely need to do increase the intensity.  So, I guess that'd be my question to you - what are your goals for your training and racing?  If it's to finish comfortably, you may not need to worry about it.  If it's to reach a certain time goal or to be as fast as you can possibly be, that might be another story.

Re: open water swimming, what specifically terrifies you? Not seeing the bottom?  Afraid something might bite or touch you? No wall to hold on to/drowning?  Waves?  Other people?  I'm not sure I have a canned answer, but I'd be interested to hear more.

Looks like you've got some good races lined up and you've got plenty of time to train for them.

Hi Karen, welcome to the group!!

Sounds like you have a similar story to many of us...were more active in the past and looking to get more active again.  Glad you've got some races lined up which always work as great motivation and to force you to add structure to your training.  The weight loss is always a great plus, isn't it?

We all started out slow and it's all about making improvements, something we can do at any level.

Hey, we're all here to give you support and keep you accountable too

How wild to have been born at the Presidio.  Very cool!

Hi Tanya.  Welcome to the group!

Yes, I expect everyone to bring their experiences and support to the group so thanks in advance for helping out!

Wow, losing all that weight (still 30 less than you were!) is awesome!  Athletic is as athletic does...you've done triathlons which is more than most ever even think about, so be proud.

You've got a big race ahead of you. I hope to do that one some year, so I hope I can enjoy it vicariously through you this year.  We all have to take it one day at a time.  I'll have to read up on your race report from your half.

Geez, getting your master's sounds like an endurance activity in and of itself. Kudos!

Hi Jim.  Welcome to the group.  Looking forward to your bio.  Cool that I'll be able to meet you in person!

abake - 2008-04-23 7:11 PM Is your group closed yet? I would love to join because: - I work at an engineering firm (no, I am not an engineer but I am a nerd) - Like Karen, I am a 46 y.o. gal - You have a cat - I have two cats, a dog and a teenager More bio details later, got to feed the crew. Anne

Hi Anne.  Welcome to the group!

Sounds like you have quite a group of your own at home.  Looking forward to your bio!

Donato:

Thanks for the reply and welcome!

First off, I'm a demon on the hills.  When I'm in shape I can drop just about anyone on a climb, but get me on a false flat and I just don't have the big engine to lead a group.  I'm usually hanging on someone's wheel.

Which leads me to my thoughts about strength.  I've always felt pretty comfortable in my races in the past.  I rarely go red, but I'm pretty sure that's in part due to my paranoia of running out of gas at some point in the race.  But I also wonder if it's in part due to strength.  Maybe I'm not sure of what I mean by "strength".  When I train I usually am concerned with my aerobic abilities and rarely my anaerobic.  Is that what I should be more concerned with if I want to be faster?  In a round-about way I guess my answer to your question is yes, I'd like to get faster.

As for the open water swimming it's a combination of not being able to see in the water (a claustrophobic feeling comes over me), getting kicked (which happened to me in the Oly I did) and just a feeling of being very small in a big body of water.  I'm not sure anyone can really help me with this, but I am curious if these are common fears and if there are any tips anyone can offer.

Ok, I guess that's it for now.  It looks like we've got a great group here and I think we'll all learn from and motivate one another.

Scot 

Hi Jim, sounds like you've had quite a variety of experience (work, athletic, living).  Not bad for a geek

Sounds like you've been doing a great job with your fitness gains already this year.  Congrats!

A BQ (like an IM or any endurance event) is definitely in your reach if you put in the work for the training, etc.  You smoked Presidio 10.  SF Marathon is not a good course, though, for BQing with all the hills (I may run this one too for my ramp up to IM WI).  You may want to consider CIM in December which is considered a fast course.

Hi Amy.  Welcome to the group!

Sounds like you're off to a great start already in your tri and endurance career.

Great to have a swimmer here.  Perhaps you would have some advice for us all.  You've got some great long term goals listed for yourself (they sound a lot like what my goals were and are).  I think for all of us, it's hard to imagine doing some of the bigger events, but if you put the work into your training, you can achieve it all.

Biking, as you know is more than half of any tri, so that becomes more a factor as you go longer or faster.

I hope your youth will be infectious and help rejuvenate us old farts  

Hi Scot, yes, strength on the bike will show itself in speed on the flats and into the wind.  Strength is primarily built anaerobically (e.g. weight lifting, hill repeats) through high intensity.  Sounds like you've got the aerobic/endurance engine already.  Do you do any kind of hill repeats or sprints?  (caveat: I don't do any of this myself, but this is my understanding from what I've read)  Short, high intensity training should help increase your LT and allow you to run aerobically at a higher level (i.e. faster).  This is all the same philosophy for the run as well as the swim (no surprise there!).

Re: open water swimming, how much OWS have you done?  Are you comfortable training in OW or is it just in race conditions?  If you're not comfortable in race conditions, I'd think it'd be the case of building up your comfort level with that first.  If it's only in race conditions, part of it might be placing yourself in the pack (back and outside) to minimize the incidental contact.  Anyone else have advice for Scot?

Hi Tanya.  I think Jim's advice is great.  If gels work for you, go with that.

Some additional thoughts - some people have GI distress because they have too many carbs and not enough liquids in their stomach.  When this happens, your stomach can't process all those carbs and so it all just sits there.  if you are taking your calories from solid food and gels, you'll likely want to consume water rather than sports drink.  So, what i do is I alternate at aid stations.  At one, I'll get sports drink and consume that.  At the next, I'll get water and have food with it.

Hi Donato!  Can I join your group? 

I'm Pattie and this is my third year doing tris.  I started kind of slow (heck, I'm still slow), and I'm doing my first Oly in June. 

Four years ago I was about 35 pounds heavier and in terrible shape.  I kidded myself that since I rode horses (usually 6 days a week) and did barn work, that I was fairly fit.  That was bull.  I started running and somehow found tris.  I grew up at the beach and learned to swim in the ocean, so the OWS thing never bothered me much.  I had to learn to love the bike and some days that's still a challenge. 

Other random stuff...  I'm married with no kids.  Almost two years ago we moved to MN and bought our dream farm.  Now our 3 horses are living at home with us and it's wonderful.  We also have 3 cats and a crazy labradog.  Before tris I showed horses and competed a lot during the summer.  There are a lot of parallels between the two sports.

I'm a HS English teacher and this is my 19th year in the classroom.  This year I got my husband interested in tris and he is doing his first in June.  Our tri-costs just doubled!  2 entry fees, 2 wetsuits, 2 bikes, etc.  At least he's supportive. 

Guess that's about it.  I'm looking forward to meeting some new people!

Pattie

Hi Pattie.  Welcome to the group!

Sounds like you've been doing a great job with your fitness and tris are an awesome way to maintain and build that.  Since you're comfortable with OWS, maybe you have some advice for Scot.

My wife's parents are in Wisconsin (my wife's out visiting right now even), so just a stone's throw from you.

Very cool that your husband is doing tris also and you can do them together.  I do all my long bike rides (which is the most time consuming thing) with my wife and it helps that we're able to spend that time together rather than apart.  But, yeah, this sport can get expensive with all the gear, race fees, travel costs, etc.