Mndymond and Disturbed275's Awesome SBR Mentor group---Full!

Ya I know my choice of mentor group name is not the most creative...but I know that Neal can't come up with anything better...haha.

Welcome to everyone in advance to the group! I'm excited to meet everyone! Neal will probably come on later today to introduce himself. We are both kind of in the mix of some head/stomach sicknesses so we haven't really started up training again for 2012.

We are hoping to guide you all through your season whether it be your first triathlon/race ever or you are tackling a new distance or just wanting some extra motivation and guidance.

Hi

I'd like to join.

My name is Marc, live in small town SW Ontario. I have 4 kids, 3 teenage boys,and a toddler girl. I work from home most of the time.

I've done a handful of try-a-tris over the last 3 years. My biggest challenge is training for more than a few months, and OWS.

Hi Marc! Welcome to the group! Nice to have a fellow Canuck in the group.

Training consistently is a big challenge for a vast number of people. Its one of those things that can get thrown off because we all have busy lives outside of triathlon and training/racing. I find that a great motivator to train more consistently is to have a set of goals set up for a shorter training block and then for a larger training block. Do you have any specific goals in mind for the next few months that you are interested in working towards (sport specific, training a certain # of times a week, etc)/ any races that you are planning on doing in the 2012 season?

I will work on those over the next  couple of days, and update the thread, and my training log.

I have to go through a couple medical procedures on the 5th, so after I recover from that, I will start full on training...aiming for the 9th.

Count me in too! I live in the Maritimes, I'm (almost) 40, married with 3 children (2 teens and a 9 yo) and I work full time. I completed one try a tri last summer and it was dismal!

My biggest challenge is some chronic health problems that always seem to interfere with training. I just get going well, and then I'm laid out for a couple of weeks. Also my body doesn't always seem to tolerate high intensity or longer training sessions well. So I do what I can. Another limiter, is a complete lack of natural ability! Everyone says "oh no, that's not true" when I say this, but it really is. I can train and train and train and get terrible results. It is what it is! No point pretending it's not reality.

My goal for this year is to move beyond the try a tri level and maybe actually complete a sprint without wanting to die at the end. I also have thought of doing a marathon for several years, but I don't know if my old body can handle it. I've completed about 8-9 half marathons and lots of 5 and 10ks. My PB in the HM is 2:17.

Here's to 2012!

Hi All! Happy New Year!

I just returned home from visiting Neal (Disturbed275) in Iowa for my Xmas break. He's been out of commission for the past few days with some stomach issues, but he promises to pop in and formally introduce himself once he is feeling better. (We are dating--met on BT, then in real life, going long distance between Edmonton and Iowa for about the past year). He's excited to be surrounded by all the Canadians so far! Haha.

Excited to have everyone aboard so far! Hope to see some more new faces over the next few days! 

Hi Richard! Welcome to the group!

Glad to hear you have progressed to this point injury free. Looks like you have been pretty consistent with running and swimming over the past few months--swimming is one of those sports where you have no choice but to put the time in to get faster because of how technique based it is as a discipline- 10-12hrs a month is solid! Glad you are getting back on the trainer now. June is early for a 70.3 in Canada, so it is always good to get that time in the saddle earlier rather than waiting for it to warm up! 

The Mt Tremblant race sounds really cool. I would have considered it myself if it wasn't for the timing since I'm in the middle of my pediatrics rotation and can't really get away to Montreal for a race then. I've also considered doing one of the hypo halfs in Edmonton in Feb...but I'm still on the fence! Haha. 

Have fun! Nice work so far!

Hi Christie! Don't be too hard on yourself. Triathlon is a hard sport to break into--it is tough to get your body to cooperate through the 3 legs. I remember back to my first couple of tris--they were not pretty at all. I would get the swim done fine and then absolutely get clobbered on the bike and run. (Like coming out of the water in the top 10 and finishing in the bottom 10). Even this past season I had some races where it just didn't come together and I was suffering by the end and praying for the finish line to come faster. I'm sure Neal has some stories too. Don't let yourself get to discouraged by a single result last season. Chalk it up to a learning experience--what worked/what didn't during the race? what parts did you find most difficult? how did you mentally talk yourself through it? Things as simple as what did you eat before the race and how did that make you feel during? can all be important in your journey through triathlon.

I think that working towards a sprint tri by the end of the season is a good goal for you. As I mentioned to Marc, consistency is difficult to achieve for many age group athletes and having medical issues in the mix definitely doesn't help. I think it is important to figure out what balance works for you and knowing how long it takes to recover from hard/long efforts and working within those limits. Given that you have identified high intensity and long efforts as some problem areas it is important that you strategically plan when to include those in your schedule. Do you find that one specific sport causes more problems then others? What are your current average distances in the different sports per workout?

I think for you maintaining a slow, gradual build up of volume and intensity is important. For the next few months it is probably best to slowly build up volume at a lower intensity to allow your body to adapt compared to focusing on trying to get high intensity and long workouts in right off the bat. Do you plan on following a particular training plan for your training?

Nice work on the goals Marc! I like your point of "heading to the gym on schedule" for this month! I might adopt that one for the month! Looks like a good race plan for the season as well. Nicely spaced races to allow for adequate recovery and to get some solid training in between races. 

Hi! Welcome to the group, always good to have a fellow Albertan around! There are tons of good tris for beginners in the Calgary area. I suggest you look here to find one that will work with your schedule: 

http://www.triathlon.ab.ca/index.php?option=com_eventlist&Itemid=34

Its the tri schedule for AB for next season. I've had a few friends do the Coral Springs, Lake Chestermere and Lake Chapparal tris and they found they were good. Trevor, the race director who runs the races, runs well organised events that are friendly for beginners. The only race I've done down in Calgary is the Calgary 70.3 which I did in 2010 and will probably sign up for again this year. 

A guy in my class did the Ride to Conquer Cancer last year and really enjoyed it. You doing it with a team? Who did you swim competitively with? I swam with OSC up here in Edmonton, I know a bunch of people who swam down in Calgary. 

As far as training for your current bike and maybe signing up for a tri, there are a bunch of free training plans here on BT. Its best to figure out how much time you feel you have per week to train and then find a plan that fits. If you go up to the top to "PROGRAMS" you can look. There are free plans for cycling and for triathlon. 

That is a good plan to start up with. Hope you feel better soon! 

I'd like to join too! Happy to find a mentor in the same province You will definintly know what it's like to train in crazy cold/snow weather.

I'm a mother of a 2 year old, work fulltime shift work and the goal is IM Canada this year! I started racing in triathlons 5 months after my child was born, to keep me busy while off work and at living in a small town.

This isn't going to be an easy goal but i'm very excited for it and excited to share stories ...meet new people and keep the motivation going!

other races are:

Arizona rock and roll marathon, Hypothermic half, CPS half, Wasa oly, Great white north and a few sprints along the way!

Hey! Welcome. Where do you live in AB? I def understand the pain and torture involved in cold weather training along with the marathon trainer session involved in prepping for an IM while it is winter....haha. 

That is a good line up for races for this season. IMC is a great race and I'm sure you will do great! Did you volunteer this year to get an entry or manage to get lucky and enter online?

I live in Strathmore it's just east of Calgary.... but I grew up in Edmonton, moved this way almost 7 years ago....and always looking for training partners, mainly for the open water swimming! That's one I need to do alot of but hesitate to do it on my own......

I was a lucky one that got an online entry to IMC! It actually took a few days this year to sell out and found out 2 days after it opened, so I guess i'm really lucky!

My Marathon is in 14 days in Arizona...Any words of advice out there? I've done one half marathon, (Melissa's 2011) it felt great and have been working towards the full since. A little nervous about it but know I'll get it done, even if I have to walk!!! hahaha

I'd like to join too!

NAME: amhale2000/Anne

STORY: I work in the electronic health records department for a health care system and am also a student in a part-time graduate program, graduating this summer (hooray!) and live in Saint Louis, MO.  I've been a runner most of my life, have completed two marathons and many half-marathons, but have only completed one sprint tri, which I did last July.  After that I was hooked but the summer got busy and wasn't able to train properly for another one so I just stuck with running.  Now I'm ready to gear up for a HIM in September, which is why I need a mentor!

FAMILY STATUS: In a relationship 

CURRENT TRAINING: Spinning once a week and running 4-5x a week with a long run on the weekends of 8-10.  Hoping to get back into a better routine of at least 30 mpw and get swimming back into my routine at least once a week.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: New Town Triathlon and Saint Louis Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon

2012 RACES:  Go Saint Louis Half Marathon, Innsbrook Triathlon, New Town Triathlon, Branson 70.3 (yipes!) and Saint Louis Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon

WEIGHTLOSS Over the holidays my training wasn't consistent and my eating habits were terrible.  Hoping to lose 8 lbs by race day for Branson.

Hi Anne! Welcome to the group! Looks like you have some good races lined up for the season. Plenty of time to get ready for the 70.3!

Hi Sean! Sounds like you have a busy schedule! What area is your wife doing her residency in? 

Any current race plans for the season? 

I just realized I hadn't answered your questions - not sure if they were rhetorical or not! So, if they were, ignore, and if not, here's some answers!

The most difficult part was the swim. I got off course, started hyperventilating and then never got back on track with the breathing. So then I was having difficulty breathing all through the bike. By the time I got to the run I was toast. But, as I hear is typical, I actually was running faster than I thought. It was a small race (12 people in my event, 4 in my age/gender) and let's just say, I didn't get a top 10 finish, so I was pretty mentally discouraged by then end of it all. The constant passing wasn't fun. (Well, not for me anyway!) But I did feel good about doing it and surviving. And most people I know figure I'm some sort of super hero for finishing!

Running causes me the most difficulty by far, which is why I got the idea of trying triathlon, as I had to cut way back on my running.

Current avg = 0 , But I can typically pull off 10k run no problem and can train easily to a LSD of 16k. After 16k I start getting into trouble.  I can build to 40k/wk without trouble, but beyond that I start having difficulty. (Previously - 3 years ago -  I was able to sustain 60k a week for several weeks at a time, but those were the good old days!) Bike wise, I'm much newer. My longest ever ride was 35k (shameful I know) but I tolerate it much better. Last summer I would typically do 20k, 3 times a week. Where I live is super windy, and quite hilly so I find it discouraging. Trainer ride, I've done up to 2 hours. And swimming...oh swimming. My nemesis of nemesis. I swim 3:00/100m (blush) at the pool. I was going 3 times a week last year, but not at all lately. And being so slow, my workouts were 1000 - 2000m a shot.

So that's me in a nutshell. I should add, I never did a stitch of exercise until I was 35. I was one of those "precious" children whose parents were told by doctors that I shouldn't exert myself too much and my family is completely nonathletic to begin with. So I am coming to things late in life and overall, I think I'm not doing too badly, and I'm setting a new example for my daughters.