Julia's Group - Full

Hey Julia!  Congrats on the Marthon Qualifying time!  Your right it was cold!  I don't know if it is possible to join more than one group, but I might get more feedback since my group I'm in is so huge!  You seem very similar to me in goals, and might offer some more feedback when I need it.  I definately need a little mental toughness. 

I am training for a 1/2 IM in June, however after the 1/2 marathon at AZ I am nursing my IT band.  Last season was my first season doing tri's I did 3 sprints and 1 Olympic.  AZ was my first 1/2 marathon...so I'm plugging right along.  I am married with no kids, except those that I teach.  I will be 31 in a few months, but feeling great!  I am currently organizing a branch of the tri group I belong to in my area, so that I don't have to drive 1:20 both ways every Sat.  I am a high school physical education teacher and basketball coach.  I'm completing my Grad. degree in June...I can't wait!  I'd like to also do a marathon this fall.   

 Kersten "trYgrl"

Megan-

Looks GREAT!!!  Just so you know, I started running literally 18 months ago.  I did my first 1/2 mary last year in January and my first HIM in August last year.  Pick a good plan and stick to it - you will get there!!!  I won't say it's easy and I won't tell you that the run at the HIM will be great, but I will tell you that you can do it well if you are determined enough. 

Ok so right now here's what we have -

Kersten - Married, no kids, lives where??  Main goal for the season is a Half Ironman (HIM) tri. 

Megan - Married, mom of 4 including triplets!!!  Lives where??  Main goal for the season is a HIM

Francis Jade - F31 from Toronto.  Limiter is running due to some joint problems - maybe.  Wants to do her first tri in June!!!

Diane and Mike - from Colorado - married couple.  Trying to get in shape and lose some weight and do a sprint tri in June. 

OK Looks good!!  Here are a few questions for everyone:

Hopefully everyone has a goal of enjoying this, and other than that, seems like we have a few sprinters and some people trying to up thier distance to the HIM.  But give me 3 goals for the next few months.  Here are mine - My A goal this season is SPEED - I want to go to NAtionals at the end of June and Place (yes, I'm a little competetive ).  My next goal is to be a little more attentive to my nutrition and rest.  I've been told that many age group athletes neglect this, so I'm going to start paying more attention to those 2 aspects throughout my base period.  And my 3rd goal is to just have fun with all of the training but maintain at least 10 hours a week.   I think it will be fun to see why so many people do this sport and to realize that everyone's goals are different.  I don't want to apply my goals to any of you.  If you just want to finish and lose a few lbs - GREAT, if you want to be competetive and step up to the next level that's great too! 

What is your strength, your weakness??  My strength is swimming, and my weakness - well, it's always been the running, but I think now I've caught up there and need to work on my bike.

What's your favorite workout - least favorite??  My favorite workouts are usually long runs in the snow   Peaceful and time for thought.  (other than races of course - those are my absolute favorite workouts    My least favorite workouts are anything over an hour on my trainer...  BORING!!  And it hurts my butt.

Lastly, Where are you all from???

Welcome Lisa and Elizabeth!!  I think that will round us out - so with that we are full!!!  I'll take a look at each of your logs too, but it looks like we have a great group here!

Megan asked a few questions - Lets start with the half IM and 1/2 marathon issue.  In prep for my first HIM, I ran 2 half marathons.  The first one, I was just trying to finish.  I got slower every mile after about 7 or 8.  It was more like a breakthrough workout - just to prove to myself that I could actually run that distance.   I know that both of the ladies looking to do a HIM this season have already run at least one half mary - THAT's A GREAT START!  I know quite a few people who went into the HIM without ever running a half mary!  The second one I ran, I had some good 10 mile training runs under my belt and my race strategy was to do a 10m run with a 5K race at the end.  At mile 10 I felt GREAT and picked up the pace.  Believe it or not, that last 5k was a 5k PR for me - faster than ANY stand along 5k I had done before.  So for the Half Iron, I also trained with several long brick workouts.  My hope was that I was constantly building fitness and that the run would be not so bad - that I could run an easy 10 miles and then finish with a nice, fast 5k - UMMMMMM no.  I started running somewhat easy and found that it got harder each mile.  The heat, the nutrition, the EVERYTHING was just not what I had hoped.  I finished it running - I didn't have to walk (although I admittedly came close) but I felt like I had been hit by a bus.  My run was SLOWER than my very first half mary and about 8 minutes slower than what I had wanted.  I wasn't necessarily disappointed that I was off the mark, I was disappointed that I didn't enjoy it because I was hurting so badly.  And the recovery was no picnic either.  My stomache was in knots for days...  That being said, If you are in it just to finish, or with a very reasonable goal - You'll be fine.  Understand that I am very competetive and that I HATED feeling like crap and seeing gals in my AG go by me with a smile...  Just so you know, a month later I ran another half marathon and was 19 minutes faster than my run split in my HIM.   As long as yo udon't expect to run it as fast as your open half marathon - you'll be fine!!  Also, we can look at some speed training.   I'll take a look at your log and training plan.  The speed training was the single most thing that helped me run faster this year.  I went from running 9' miles to 7:30 miles in an OLY tri. 

OK Nutrition - just a comment here about what you had for your nutritional goals also.  I recently went in for a consultation with a RD and I had a resting metabolic rate, as well as a fuel test (where they measure the amount of fat and carbs you burn at different heart rates).  THe consultation was great and one thing I learned was that I was NOT taking in enough calories to support all of the stuff that I am doing.  But the bottom line is you have to also time your eating appropriately.  I was always snacking before bed - usually craving cookies or ice cream...  Here's what I got from the RD - eat more EARLIER in the day - get in a good 400-500 calorie breakfast.  It can be broken up - a cup of yogurt and a banana here then a PB bagel later with some milk.  ALWAYS eat enough before a workout and ALWAYS eat (or drink a glass of chocolate milk!) immediately after you work out - DONT wait to get home and make dinner.  Eat a protien bar, a recovery drink - SOMETHING as soon as you are done.  When you add calories, add things like fresh fruits and veggies.  Be careful to avoid processed foods and especially foods with PHO's (trans fats).  Anything is fine - in moderation.  The key is, once you take in enough calories DURING the day (and enough water) you might not get that craving for something before bed - those cravings are your body's way of saying - "HEY you didn't eat enough today" and to make it easier for you to consume something you usually crave something with lots of carbs and fat - like ice cream!

Yes, Caycee you're in too!!  Sorry!  I left you a message in your 'inspire me' on your blog.

Don't know if you all know this - lots of people communicate through the inspire me on your log page.  And to see someones log page, you can click thier little 'logs' at the bottom of thier post.  If you want to look at thier log frequently, you can add them to your friends list (on your training log page, top left box, there is an icon with a folder and a gear - this is the control panel - click it and you can add friends).  I've added all of you to my log page!  Then on someone elses training log, you can click the "inspire me" button and see messages from others and leave a message yourself.  Also, you can click on PM to send them a personal message which goes in your BT inbox! 

Kersten - Married, no kids, lives near Milwaukee, WI.  Main goal for the season is a Half Ironman (HIM) tri, Marathon this fall. 

Short term goal #1:  Get healthy.....get rid of this IT band issue, without losing my aerobic running base, and my 8:30 pace time. 

Short term goal #2:  Although I'd like to say speed and decrease my run to an 8:00 mile pace, with #1, not thinking possible right now so I will go with increase my bike time to a 20mph pace?  Ugh.  Last season I was at an 18 maybe?  I don't remember, but I'd like to do 20 or better.  Nice round number.

Short term goal #3:  How short term?  3 months still, I'd like to be able to comfortably do 1.5 mile swim without stopping?  To get there I guess increase my swim time to 3x/wk.  Really I just started so I don't know. Plus, I'd like to find out more on nutrition. 

Long term:  HIM end of June....being competitive...top 10 in my age group.  Don't know if that will be possible since I am hoping I just finish and I know a few people that I am competing against. 

Strength:  Athletic....but I don't excel at any sport.  I have done well in my bike, but I wouldn't consider it anything great, my run is better than it was at an 8:30 half mary pace, some races swim I did great, my last race not so good.  I'm very competitive when it comes to race time....but not quite physically there.   

Weakness: Definately mental.  Mental, mental, mental and then pushing myself hard enough. 

What's your favorite workout:  I really enjoy swimming, but I also just became addicted to my long runs when the sun is out to light my face in the crisp air.  It makes me smile just thinking about it.  Least favorite...definatley the bike. 

Alright, I couldn't sleep thinking about the ache in my hip and my class tonight.  I can't wait for Grad school to be done, I'll have so much more time!

 On a different note, my chocolate binges need to be limited as I went for my first run since my race Jan. 14th....I wouldn't exactly call it a run, it was more like 3 steps ouch, can't run through the pain.  I wanted to throw a fit right then and there as I was looking forward to the fresh crisp air, and the addiction of running that I had been accostomed to over the last few months.  Instead I chokd back the tears, seriously, and headed back to make the call I didn't want to make for an appt. to a physical therapist.  I know people have been tellng me ART, but I couldn't give up 2 hours of driving to go to one in "my area".  The therapist I am seeing is suppose to be really good and I actually had talked to him earlier in the day to figure out what his approach might be.  He is nice enough to wave anything above what my insurance pays.  Thank goodness!  I guess I'll try it, it is close, convenient and i've heard good things about him.  Nonetheless, it doesn't make me feel much better about where that puts me right now.  I might just crawl under the covers and take a nap instead....maybe a hot cocoa too. 

I'm glad to see most people are starting to log thier workouts and also putting avatar pics up!! 

So it looks like we have a great, varied group here.  I've looked at all of your logs and blogged most of you about some of your specific issues.  Also, feel free to ask questions here any time or in my blog.  If I missed anyone's questions, let me know - sometimes I get side tracked... I'm sure everyon has figured this out, but balance is tough when you train, work, try to keep your family fed and happy...  Oh yeah, and obsess constantly on BT website

It's great to see that everyone has different motivations and different goals, but we are all enjoying some of the same things! 

Julia