Runnerg1rl7's Group!! - Closed (Page 10)

Hello All and Happy Late 4th!!!

Congrats on the weight loss Mitch!  it takes a lot of hard work and your're doing a great job!  As for the snacking and drinking this is what i always tell my mother, just becuase you have a snack doesnt mean that you have fallen off the road that you want to be on!  Instead of saying wel i had a snack that i should have not i guess i can pig out all day, dont do that!  Think of each meal as a new beginning, cause you have a snack after lunch thik of dinner as a new beginning, it kind of changes the way you look at thing, as least it did for me.  I thought that if i have a snack that i should i messed up the full day and thats not true!! 

But trust me i did my fair share of snacks and drinking htis weekend and i'm hitting the gym extra this week!!

Laura- sounds like you have found the a great spot in be in!  so many activities to choose from, which i could same the same thing around here.  thats pretty sweet wto have such little events to keep people active, lucky you...not me!!

Marcy - hope your time with your daughter was good!  or wait is that coming up?  i think it important for kids to see that their parents are living healthy lives and that makes them see and want to get doing what ma and dad are doing, so keep up the good work with your daughter!!  i love it when i see two generations doing thinsg together!!

Mith - still sounds like your on a roll with working out, thats great!!  We have some hott days coming up so make sure to keep drinking plenty of water!!!  the weekend is looking great (i knw its only tuesday and i'm talking about the weekend)

John - where have you been??  Did the dogs get ya???

And for the rest of you hope that your still keeping up the training even though its summer and the sun is out!!!

have a great week everyone!!!

Hi everyone!

Sounds like a couple of you had great holiday weekends - I did, as well, though mine also didn't include quite as many workouts as I probably should have!  I did plan ahead and got the majority of my workouts in earlier last week and was rained out for the majority of a planned weekend ride, though.

Yes, I am VERY lucky to be living now in such a great location for training and racing!  I know many military families wind up in less-than-desirable locales without ANY choice, so I very much appreciate that my husband's job in the USMC allows for some degree of ability to choose where we'd like to go.  I'll enjoy it for now - in 3 years, who knows where could end up!

Hope the rest of the week ahead goes well for everyone!

Hello Everyone,

How was everyone's 4th of July?  I need to get back on track with my training.  Need my butt kicked.

You know, swimming has to be the hardest...for you natural swimmers I envy you!  Not only is it hard, but then it makes the motivation to get out of bed at O'dark thirty to go swimming that much harder.  Had a good run last night and during the run decided aganst the long organized bike ride this weekend.  I really think that between work, family and my own fitness goals I'm stretching thin.  I have to tell myself that life is a marathon and that you can accomplish some goals today but others have to wait.  Also, can't really say that I'm really ready to ride 76 miles without it seriously impacting my ability to train the next week.

On another subject...I put aside all my old suits to donate last night.  I tried them all on and it was humorous...pants almost were able to slide right down my legs.  The jackets looked like tents.  Its amazing how 20 pounds of weight loss and a redistribution of body mass manifests itself.

Libby...there is no way you are kicking my butt...so think whatever you want...if anyone is kicking any butt it will be me kicking yours

Hi everyone,

I'm too far behind to catch up on all the posts, but Mitch, it sounds like you had a great race about a week ago or so. Congrats!

As for me, I was in California for a week for work, and then immediately upon returning to Chicago, my family got here for about five more days of non stop "fun." Between that and coming back to work Tuesday and trying to get caught up, I have been pretty MIA. Sorry about that.

My tri is Sunday. My training has slacked a bit in the last two week, partially because of all the crazy scheduling, partially because I'm trying to up my running for the marathon. But, I feel OK. I did buy a new bike. I got a hybrid, a Trek 7.5 FX and I love it! It has made a huge difference in my speed and my attitude about riding. I never realized how heavy my mountain bike was, but riding this hybrid to work knocked 15 minutes off of my commute! I was floored! I figured I'd be a little faster, but it usually takes me about 45 minutes, and it now takes me 30 -- same route, traffic lights, door to door. Unbelievable!

Other than that, I'm trying hard not to look at the race results from other Danskin Tris. I have a goal of 2 hours, which I think is reasonable especially now that I probably won't set my bike on fire mid course.  I get weirdly competitive, despite the fact that I have no business being competitive, but I don't want to get my heart set on a finishing time since this is my first and I have no idea what to expect.

That's pretty much it from me. Hope everyone is well!

Hi guys,

On the topic of goals- Lou, if it's enlightening at all, the day before my tri I made 3 goals for myself .

1. Have fun.
2. Learn something.
3. Complete the event.

Then I added 2 more just to be honest with myself that I really do care about performance, but I made these secondary to the first 3 goals.

4. Don't come in last.
5. Complete it within 2 hrs.

Once I put these goals in my head and repeated them to myself, I felt a lot better because I knew what I wanted to get out of the experience. Then I trained myself to focus the first 3 goals first. Also, since there were 5 goals total, it would be easier to let one or two of them go unmet, like for instance number 4 or 5.

Mitch, I hear what you're saying about the balance between work, family, training, etc. If you don't mind me making a life metaphor, I think that's what's cool about training for a tri. You have to balance all 3 sports, plus possibly some cross-training, too. You can't be a star in just one area and expect to excel at the whole thing. Same thing with everything else in life. Sometimes it means training takes a back seat, but how much better to be a proficient parent, spouse, professional, student, AND triathlete all at once (add in here any other roles you may play) instead of just being a rock star in one area.

And many congrats on cleaning out the closet. That must feel good.

I had a great first race! Here's the report:

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=123308

Lou- Congrats on your tri!  I read the posting and sounds like you did an awesome job and i am glad that the bathroom line was not any longer for you!!

Hope everyone had a great weeekend, i was unable to get any training in, even though the sun was out for most of it! its getting tought to find looking for a house and traing and working but i'm still getting it in! Becuase it has been a littel difficult to get in extra training i've found someone at work to walk with at lunch and we keep up with what each ohter are eating to stay on track!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Hi everyone!

I just realized how long it's been since I've checked in on you all - sorry about that!  It seems I'm even busier here in CO than I was in PA - even though I'm working from home!

Anyway...thanks for keeping this going without me!  That's of course what this group is really about anyway - you keeping each other motivated.  I'm just here to guide.  You're all doing a great job!

Marcy - I have no idea what kind of cheese this is.  lol  I'm on the Credit Agricole team for the Tour de France biking challenge for this month, and my team all decided to change our avatars to this hunk of cheese.  Thanks also for your contributions re: goalsetting.  You've got it exactly right!  Those first 3 should be on EVERYONE's race goal list.  I don't care how experienced (or not) you are, there is almost always something to be learned, it's not always a given that you'll finish the race, and if you're not having FUN, then why bother?  Naturally, even the least competitive of us still have goals 4 & 5 in mind, and that's fine - that's what drives you to go as hard as you can during a race.  But knowing that goals 1-3 are paramount is what makes reaching the finish line so sweet.

Lou - Fantastic job on your tri!  Sounds like you exceeded your expectations.  And, like I said to Marcy, I think everyone that sets out in a race has some kind of time-related goal, regardless of whether they tell themselves "Well, I REALLY just want to finish" and regardless of how fast or slow they are.  It's only natural for we triathletes to be competitive, if only with ourselves.  I can agree with the difference it makes getting a lighter bike - last year I started riding my mountain bike and then bought a road bike (not full carbon - more or less entry level).  Wow!  I also had thought my mountain bike was fairly light til I got the road bike.

Mitch - That's AWESOME that you had to get rid of so many clothes that are TOO BIG!  I also tend to slightly overestimate my abilities when setting goals for races...so that's why I usually set 2 sets of goals:  "Reach/absolute best case scenario" goals and "Realistic" goals.  As long as I come somewhere in between, I'm happy with that.

Libby - Yikes!  I had no idea that Sydney was such an unsafe city in that regard.  Glad you're taking the advice and not going anywhere by yourself.  A coworker of mine went to Australia on vacation last summer and he said the same thing about prices being outrageous compared to here in the US.  Kinda makes all our complaining about rising gas & food prices a bit out of touch, no?  Glad you're getting back on the training boat with the gym & pool pass.  Bummer that it's so expensive, but I can relate.  The PUBLIC city pools where I live in CO are $4.25 per visit (for the indoor pool) and $2.25 per visit for the outdoor pool (no monthly deals).  I know I could probably do better at a full gym with a monthly membership, but I don't need the rest of the gym amenities since I have free access to 2 fitness centers on the base where I live (just no pool on base, unfortunately!).

Speaking of inspiration, here's another video for you to watch.  http://video.nbc10.com/player/?id=275943   This man and his little boy competed in the very first tri I ever did (last year - July 14 in fact, so just a little over a year ago), and they're still at it.

ok my turn....here is my motivational video...I am sure everyone has heard of Team Hoyt...but whenever I start to whine and cry like a baby about training and  thinking I can't do it....I think of Rick and Dick Hoyt and their message.....and then I know I can

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTUSB6eBoFs

Hi everyone!  Kinda quiet around here lately.  Hope you're all out enjoying some great summer weather and training and racing it up!

This past weekend I completed my first olympic-distance tri, including a giant hill on the bike course and VERY hot temperatures on the run course.  Despite that I finished and really enjoyed it.  I'm hoping to get another oly in this season, but I'm not sure where I'll fit one into my schedule.

Libby- Congrats on the swim breakthrough!!!  That's awesome.  Whoever said it was right - the swim truly is the hardest part to nail down (for those of us w/o a competitive swimming background).  Once you get that, the rest will be smooth sailing as long as you put in the time.

Thanks guys!

Libby - You had better NOT be complaining about getting to sit on the beach for 5 days when you return!  That's the only thing I miss about living on the East coast (so far) - the beach!  Oh, sure, we have "beaches" at the reservoirs here, but no way is it the same.  Also, I haven't been to Columbia, MD but I've been to and through MD quite a bit and you'd be surprised - there aren't STEEP hills but there are long, gradual rolling hills.  Nothing you should be afraid of, but prepared.

Mitch - Believe me, if you can swim 1500M or more in a pool, you CAN swim that in open water.  Is it nervewracking before the start?  Oh yes.  But once you get going, you'll be fine.  The trick is to pace yourself.  In a sprint everything's faster, but in an olympic you've got much more time to get comfortable and relaxed in the water before picking up the pace (or not - remember, the key is to finish).  Of course we ALL want to give a decent showing, time-wise, but if you relax and just take it slow in the beginning, you'll find it will come together and you'll be able to pick up the pace later in the swim, still with plenty of time and distance to really make up some time.  If you're feeling confident on the bike and run and have gone 1500M or more total (not necessarily nonstop) regularly in your swim workouts, DO IT!  I really enjoyed the oly distance.  Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to get another in before the end of this season - I really wish I could!  But I've got a few more sprints scheduled now and boy, I don't even think I'll be all that nervous before those!  I keep thinking, heck, I just did an oly - sprints are easy!    Famous last words, but really, having completed an oly is a huge confidence booster.

Still hanging in here and contemplating your thoughts on the Olympic distance.  I still haven't made a decision and I probably won't for a bit.  My goal is to try to be very diligent about my swim training over the next month and see how I feel as I come up to the race.

I've found I'm doing better holding myself back some on training runs now that I have my new Polar running watch.  Seeing my pace and heart rate as I run helps me realize that I need to not race everytime I run.