rollinsw's Group - FULL

Hi Nick, welcome!

It sounds like you have a great start with your training. You will be more than ready for a duathlon in April. I used an old, heavy mountain bike as well when I first started. It was a good way to test whether or not I was going to continue with this before buying another bike. It did feel really good when I got a road bike.

Have you checked out any of the training plans on this site? Some of them are free and are a good place to start when figuring out how to put a training plan together. It might give you a better feel for how often you should be doing bricks (the bike to run workouts).

I am by no means a coach, but can point you to some of the resources that I have found on this site that have helped me in the past year. Logging your workouts on this site is a good way for all of us to check in with each other.

Welcome and let's have some fun with this! 

Bill

It does not look like there are any free plans for a duathlon, but there are plenty available for a sprint tri: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/trainingplans-list.asp?h=1&racetype=1&racesubtype=2&level=-1

You can pick one based on how much time you have to train or on which sport you want to focus. I can't remember exactly which plan I used, but I picked one and modified it to fit my schedule. With your current level of fitness, you should not have a problem jumping right into one of these.

Nick,

You mentioned reading up on heart rate monitors and training in your logs. There is a thread started by coach Mike Ricci some time ago that contains a lot of good information. You can find it here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=25733&start=1

The thread has gotten really long, but it does contain good info.

I bought a heart rate monitor and started training with it just over a year ago. The hardest part for me was wrapping my head around why I needed to start running slow in order to get faster. It was also physically hard for me to slow my pace down. But it has paid off. Below are a couple of threads where people share their heart rate training stories:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=52409&posts=12&highlight=hrm&highlightmode=1#M516079

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=31076&posts=18#M294679

I also swam a lot as a kid and am a pretty good swimmer, so I have not spent much time working on form. A lot of people on this site swear by the Total Immersion books and videos to help with that. What I did find that helped me was using some swim drills from different books and training plans. When I first started training, all I did was swim laps for a set amount of time and that was it. If nothing else, the drills helped keep me from going out of my mind with the boredom of swimming back and forth for an hour.

I think that the Lake Murray Triathlon is one of the Set-Up events. They have a great reputation for putting on good races. I think that I am going to do one of their races in VA this spring. You can check out some race reports for this past race here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/races-search.asp. Just search on the name of the race and you should find a few hits.

Hi Ted, welcome! Congratulations on your baby girl!

Wow, you have got a lot of great experience. Sounds like you are strong on the bike; I could use some advice from you, that is my weakest sport.

I couldn't agree more about your race day philosophy. I like competing, but just being out there is a great feeling.

How do you typically train for your races? Do you have training plans that you follow?

Name: shelly123/Michelle

Story: I am a married, 30 year old step-mother of identical-twin 12 year old boys and a 15 year old daughter. I was a year-round swimmer from the age of 6 through my Junior year at the Naval Academy. After all that swimming I was pretty burned out so I "quit" sport until about 2 years ago.

I got involved first with a heavy weight training lifestyle, with limited cardio to remove fat. I was injuried pretty bad in military training in college that severly limited my ability to run due to arthritis in my ankle. Weight training and the bodybuilding diet helped me to lose weight while not having to do alot of running. The strange thing is that I got in pretty good cardio shape with the small amount of running I did each week. And it allowed me to slowly add miles which helped my running! I wasn't able to run across the block without ankle pain and now I was running 6 miles at a time!

I lost alot of weight and I started to get frustrated because I was in pretty good shape, but I really wanted to compete. With my swimming background I thought I should try a triathlon. I went to a clinic at my gym, and was instantly hooked!

10 months and 7 triathlons later I am training for my first Ironman at IMLP. I am still dealing with nagging aches and pains from my old injury, but with proper care I know I can do the longer stuff!

Triathlons are such a great sport. I am so happy that I have met so many nice people through this sport!

Last years races: 3 sprints, 3 olympics and 1 half-IM (same half-IM as Bill)

2007 races: IMLP in July with a few half-IMs and other triathlons sprinkled along the way

Current training: I am currently continuing to build my base for the IM. I work with a coach, coachozzy on BT, primarily because it keeps me honest. I tried doing this on my own and I tended to second guess every decision I made. I just need the accountability of a coach to stay on a plan.

Weightloss: I got down to 135 before I started triathlons (5 foot 10). Now I am ~148. I had trouble dealing with the extra calories needed for triathlon training and I tended to overindulge. Especially after the strict bodybuilding diet I was on before. I am settling out at 148 now and I anticipate losing a few more now that I have my nutrition better figured out.

The support of BT, my coach and my other tri-friends helps keep me honest with my training. I am looking forward to joining Bill's group so that I can meet more people that share similar goals!

Michelle

After my HIM in September, I used the last 6 weeks of the FIRST marathon plan as a bridge to my marathon. It fit pretty well with coming off tri training.

My bike workouts are pretty weak right now. I need to bite the bullet and just get on the trainer. I guess more than anything, I need to start riding a lot more. I don't know if there are any drills or anything I should be doing on the trainer or if I should just be putting in the time on the bike spinning. I have a Spinervals DVD that I have been using a bit, it is pretty intense.

Finding time for training has been the toughest part. I had to be really flexible because my wife runs in the morning and also works full time. I am lucky to have a shower at work and would squeeze in workouts during lunch and in the evenings. We just got an au-pair and that has allowed me to be able to start working out in the mornings. As the kids get older, they are involved in more activities and there is more running around in the evenings and on the weekends. I have to be flexible and not stress out about moving or missing workouts. Not spending enough time with them is my biggest concern this coming year while training for my IM.

Hi Bill, I'd really like to join your group if there's room.

My name is Jacqui, I'm 34, about to turn 35. I'm a math teacher, living in England, but moving home to New Zealand in about 10 days' time. I decided in June that I wanted to start training for triathlon, and I made huge inroads into training, and really made a difference to my fitness. I did a mini-sprint tri in September, and loved it, I beat my time target by 2 minutes, so I was thrilled.

But, my training after that tri has really gone downhill. I got sick with flu, and then dragged my fitness back up to where it was with a great deal of determination, but little enjoyment. I've been really slack since, and haven't been sticking to any sort of plan at all. I am going to follow your links and start my training anew as soon as I get back to NZ, where it's summer, and get into things there.

I do need an online butt-kicker though!! So, if I could join your group, that'd be great. I am going to be out of contact for a few days in about 10 days' time, but I'll look forward to chatting with you before then, and after. I'm going to follow your link to training plans, and pick one that suits me.

Thanks, Jacqui.

Happy New Year everyone.

Welcome Andreas and Jacqui! Our group just went international, that is great!

I am going to add all of you to my friend's list so that I can more easily link to your logs from my training log. If you want to do this:

• Go to your training log
• Click the image to the right of the calendar that looks like a gear (edit-controlpanel) under Quick Links
• On the right-hand side of the page you can add the screen names of the friends that you want to track
• Click the Apply button
• Now on the left-hand side of your training log, under Other Blogs, your friends will show up

I am traveling for the next couple of days, but should be back online Monday night or Tuesday morning.

Have a great New Year everyone!

Thank you, I hope you all have a great new year too. A New Year with new promises to hold and to break :-)

Welcome EJ! Is there a race you have already picked out in May? What distance is it? Do you have experience swimming?

Do you already have any type of bike that you can begin training with?

Bill

Hey Bill! I am glad to be a member of your group!

Working with a coach is great. "She" is coachozzy here on BT. She gives me my plans in two week increments for the entire year and it is great. I really need someone to watch over my training. When I try to do it myself I tend to second-guess the "plan" I come up with and it drives me crazy. So I am better just following a coach's plan.