SCIFT group (Short Course is Fast Twitch)!

I'd like to join

NAME - ligersandtions - Nicole

LOCATION - League City, TX (for now....will likely move back to socal in the next couple years)

MY STORY - My husband and best friend decided that they wanted to do triathlons.  Since I didn't own a bike (neither did they) and I "hated" running (because I hadn't ever really done it), I told them I'd swim with them, but continue with my other hobbies (weight lifting and scuba diving).  My husband and friend both bought bikes in the same weekend, and my friend's husband (my diving partner in crime!) ended up inheriting his dad's old bike.  I was so upset that I was going to get left behind and that they'd go riding and doing triathlons and I'd never get to see or hang out with them....so completely irrationally, I went out and bought a bike!  Then I decided to train for and run a 5k to see if I even enjoyed racing or thought I could take on a triathlon.  Turns out I had a blast and decided to commit to a couple races and have been really hooked ever since (all of this started in February, 2012).

FAMILY - Married four years, no kids (unless you count two dogs).

CURRENT TRAINING - I'm currently coming back from a knee injury (was hit and thrown off my bike while on a training ride, with the majority of impact going straight to my left knee).  So I've been really focusing on swimming (made HUGE improvements over the past couple months!!).  I also just purchased a new bike (P2) to replace my totaled bike, and have been trying to get a couple rides in a week.  Still working on breaking in the saddle / determining if I have the right saddle.  Also contemplating getting TrainerRoad so I can do the majority of my bike work-outs on the trainer, away from traffic....while still doing at least one outdoor ride a week.  And I'm planning to add some aquajogging to the work-outs to (hopefully) get my run fitness back up before I actually try running on my knee again.

WEIGHTLOSS - Pretty happy with my weight at the moment.  When I was training hard before the accident, I was having to make sure to take in enough calories that I didn't lose too much weight....definitely not a problem I'd ever faced before in my life!

2012 RACES - I did three sprints (one in TX, two in CA) before my accident, and had another sprint and an Olympic planned after the accident that I was not able to do.

2013 RACES - My husband and friend are planning to do the Vineman HIM this year and wanted me to join; I contemplated and have gone back and forth a number of times, but I'm about 99% sure I want to stick with sprints and Olys this year (maybe forever as these distances just seem more fun to me).  Hoping to do about five races, a mix of sprints and Olys.

GOOD MENTEE - I have learned a lot over the past year and look forward to learning even more.  I'd like to continue improving my swim and bike times, but one of the things I'm hoping to figure out is how to get back into running without hurting my knee further.  Running was always my weakest leg, and this injury has just put me back further.  So hopefully with the help of this group, I'll figure out how to start training again, get back to where I used to be, and then improve from there!

I was ridiculously "lucky" with my accident (I mean, as lucky as one who gets hit can get).  I was going ~25mph downhill when a parked car suddenly pulled out and t-boned me.  At those kinds of speeds, it's practically inconceivable that I would have come out with just a knee injury and some road rash / bruises.  The helmet didn't even touch the ground!  I was incredibly lucky with the outcome, but the rehab still sucks!

When you were getting back into running, how did you start out?  I'm trying to decide if I should with a lot of very short runs (like working up to 5-6 days a week, like the BarryP plan), or sticking to 2-3 days a week....obviously starting with low mileage and working my way up over time.  I'm hoping substituting some aquajogging will help not only with endurance/fitness, but also by minimizing impact.

NAME - Ben

 LOCATION Northern IL, Outermost Chicago suburbs

 FAMILY – Not much going on there.

 STORY – Have always been around sports, but grew up with things like soccer & basketball. Did like riding the bike though. Got into triathlons ~4 years ago as I did run occasionally, and swimming seemed like a good challenge to pick up.

 CURRENT TRAINING – Last major race was just over a month ago, so backed it down for a bit. Getting my running in order because, well, things just go better for me when that is going well. Building back up bike & swim volume as I feel.

 WEIGHTLOSS – I was in decent shape when starting, so it didn’t go down much. More of a change in physique.

 2012 RACES – Should be in my Race history. A number of sprints, an Olympic, and several HIMs. A few event type rides that aren’t listed, but I do big rides fairly regular anyway.

 2013 RACES – Going to start off this season looking to do well at some short courses. Namely Olympic distance. Not sure of later, but will likely fit in at least one HIM. Not going to do a full IM, so no need to plan so far ahead.

 GOOD MENTEE – I’ve been interested in seeing how things went with a mentor group. Like the idea of a smaller group with more familiarity than what we’d get in the General Forums. I’ve been on a number of athletic teams since very young, and have also coached at a few grade levels for some years too. The idea of the short course group seemed like it would be a good fit with what I'm going to start out next season with too.

Go with the short & frequent running. You may not actually be doing 5-6 days a week to start though, since you're coming back from an injury. Take a look at something like a C25k plan, and see where you are. If you're at the final weeks, you can certainly look at more often. Possibly before that, but you'll have to be able to determine what your body is telling you. All running is easy. Should not be difficult by pace or distance.

NAME - Katie

 LOCATION Salt Lake City suburbs

 FAMILY – husband, two kids ages 7 and 9

 STORY – Never did any sports at all growing up, bought some running shoes to try to stay in shape, and then set a goal to do a half marathon.  After two seasons of running exclusively, including a few marathons, several halfs, etc I got into Triathlons this year and did three sprints and one Oly.  I'm in love!

 CURRENT TRAINING – My last race for the season was the St. George Marathon two weeks ago, have been taking it easy, but just started Insanity on Monday with some casual S/B/R mixed in as I feel so inclined.

 WEIGHTLOSS – I would love to love about 15-20 pounds

 2012 RACES – One half marathon, 3 Sprint tris, 1 Oly, a mud run, and a marathon.

 2013 RACES – Not sure yet, but a good mix of sprints and Olys as well as a couple half marathons.

Katie, take your time coming back from that marathon!

Anyone else keeping busy this weekend? 7 mile run w/strides this morning and 34 mile ride with some surges this afternoon. Really nice day out too.

Name: Kevin West. Everyone calls me Westy.

Location: New Hampshire USA

Family: I'm a 45 year old male. 5'7" 175 lbs..  I've been married to the same wonderful woman for the past 22 years. She supports me in whatever I do but I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm nuts. I have two children, a son 21 and a daughter 19.

Story: In September of 2008 I finally kicked a 20+ year pack and a half a day smoking habit. I decided to start jogging to get healthy. At 1st it was 5 min. jogging 5 min. walking. Repeat as necessary. Worked my way up to some 5ks. and this time last fall I ran my 1st half marathon. After the HM I developed a nasty case of ITBS. PT wouldn't let me run on it so I decided to start swimming. I had the typical  Red Cross swim training as a kid so I figured I could swim. Boy was I wrong 50 meters and I was gassed. When I got my drivers license I gave my 10 speed to my little brother and never got on a bike again.  Bought a road bike this spring, man have things changed. Who could've imagined locking your feet into the pedals and all those gears. Amazing.

 I saw some type of triathlon on TV one night and figured what the heck might as well  give it a go. It cant be that difficult after all I played High school football and baseball. Wrong again. I completed 3 Sprints this year getting a little better each time. I'm also an avid golfer and Little League Umpire.

Mission: I train with a group of friends. They are all sub 3:15 marathoners and run Boston every year.  This was their 1st year of Tri's ,as well,  they kicked my butt. Don't get me wrong, they are very supportive and a great group of people. However, this finish the Sprint Tri and then jog back a mile to cheer Westy on garbage has to stop!  I plan on laying low and training my butt of this winter and sneaking up on them in the Spring. I realize I might not beat them but I'm going to give it a shot.

Current Training: I'm running a HM on Nov. 4th. It's the same one I ran last year in 1:55:xx. I'd like to go under 1:50 this year but that might be a bit ambitious. If anyone has a good pacing strategy let me know. My go out hard and hang on late plan doesn't seem to be working all that great. My long term goal is to do an IM at age 50.

Groups: I'm a virgin so be gentle with me. I hope you don't mind NOOB questions because I have a lot of them. I can also be a bit of a wise arse but I promised to keep it PG-13. If I cross the line just let me know. I can take it as well.

Heading out for a 40ish mile (hopefully) ride tomorrow....testing out a new saddle as the Adamo did not seem to work well for me.  Hoping Cobb is the answer to my problems

Nice! lani asked also, but how are you checking the saddle? Both types can take quite a bit of fine tuning to get them just right. I tried Cobb first and couldn't find it. Too much thigh rubbing where I liked to sit, and way too narrow when I moved forward to get rid of that. The Adamo (Time Trial model) had a more consistent width, but it still took some time to get used to. This was also from having to adjust the angle. It took several weeks to start getting used to it and also find the angle. A fraction of a turn on the adjustment screw can throw it off quite noticeably. And this is all perfectly normal from reading a number of other people's accounts.

Woo!!!  I'm pretty sure this Cobb saddle is going to work out quite nicely for me!  

After my accident, the bike was totaled, so when I was ready to get back on, I found a reputable, independent fitter (who came with all kinds of stellar reviews).  I went in for a pre-bike purchase fit and he was able to give me suggestions on what bikes and sizes would work for me.  I went for the Cervelo P2 and then came back and he set up the bike per my measurements.  He had suggested the Adamo Road saddle, so he did the bike fit with that saddle on the bike.

After about 250 miles / 20 hours on the bike (combination of road and trainer), I just could not get comfortable on the saddle.  I had chafing issues (even with liberal amounts of chamois cream), incredibly sore pelvic bones all the time (even after a week or so of not riding, within 10 minutes of getting on the bike, I just wanted to get off), and soft tissue that constantly felt like it was on fire!!!  Not comfortable....

So after looking at dimensions of the Adamo Road vs Cobb V-flow Plus, I decided to give the Cobb a shot and at the end of the ride this morning, it was not my crotch that was my limiter!  So that's a first and a very welcome change!  

And Lani, you can definitely call me L&T!  One of my good forum buddies (different forum) always called me that....I kinda like it

 LOCATION South VT

 FAMILY – Wife and kids.

 STORY – Just a ski bum trying to feed his family. I never wanted to be fit, but now I am. There is a local hill climb race that I wanted to do, and I trained all summer for it. I ended up competing very well and finishing top 10. That was 3 years ago and I am full blown addicted to racing now. 

 CURRENT TRAINING – Run at least 10-15 miles/week. Mostly trails and dirt track. I peak at 20 MPW over the summer, and want to increase the distances. Swimming is over for the winter. I NEED A BIKE. And when it snows, I ski about every day (trust me, skiing is a workout.) Also lots of core work and yoga. I am committed to this, but if my family life starts to suffer, I dial it back a little.

 WEIGHTLOSS –  Wife says I need to gain weight cuz I'm going to melt away to nothing.

 2012 RACES – HM, a few 5Ks, 10K, a 12K, a cancelled tri, and a hill climb. FOP

 2013 RACES – Want to do a trail HM, an Oly and maybe a HIM.

Great to hear!

And Lani, you can definitely call me L&T!  One of my good forum buddies (different forum) always called me that....I kinda like it

I might forget the "&" once in awhile, just saying LT. Hope it's ok to be confused with LaDainian Tomlinson, who leads off the Nike Sparq commercial.