Dirk's Junkie group - CLOSED (Page 10)

I came on here all fired up to whine about my 45 minute ride in 32 degree weather with what felt like a 95 freaking mile per hour wind (was really more like 10-15). Then I read this...

Oh boy, good luck!

And I hope it's not blowing against you downhill before you ride back up the hill in shelter!

John

John I have been accused of being crazy about my dedication to this sport but I am not crazy enough to ride outside in this kind of weather.  I will be on the trainer for the ride.  Instead of freezing myself to death I will be sweating profusely.  I would love to ride outside in 32 degrees but I don't have the gear for that even.  About the coldest I will ride in is 50 degrees due to the lack of gear.  I have ridden on colder temps but without shoe covers, helmet cover and so on I have been extremely cold and absolutely miserable.  That kind of riding isn't worth it to me.  Besides, the trainer can provide huge benefits to cycling fitness that is hard to mirror outdoors.

Another thing that occurred to me after I made this decision.  My oldest daughter has the SAC conference swim meet tomorrow afternoon and that will be a little long and the family dinner afterward will make it longer.  The run will be much easier to get in tomorrow morning.

Actually I don't want tomorrow to come at all.  Laiken will have other meets after the meet tomorrow but it will be her last conference meet EVER.  It will be bittersweet regardless of how she performs tomorrow.  I love to watch her swim and that season of life is coming to a close.  Sometimes being a dad kind of sucks when you know that your time with your kids begins to fade and they are getting close to adulthood.

A couple of things for everyone.

1. I think we have lost a couple of people in the group already.  This is not a big deal because sometimes many of the new people check out different groups and find a better fit elsewhere.  That can be good for them if it works out better for them.
2. I am going to keep the group open for just a bit longer to see if other join.  I feel like this is a group that can handle more than usual because of the experienced group of people already within the group.  (I really don't consider this MY mentor group.  Jeff, Jonathon and Warren have a lot to contribute in knowledge.)  I consider this a combined effort.
3. I have noticed a couple of people don't have their logs opened for all of us to read.  One way to know if your logs are available for others is to look at the bottom of each post.  There should be 7 categories that you can click to view from each persons post.  If you can't see 7 then your logs are still private.
4. As I have looked through the available logs I have seen a couple of logs that don't post any times for swim WO's and others only have overall distances completed for a given WO. Try to begin to do this.  It can be a gauge to how well you are doing and it can be easier for you to track as you go forward with your training.  When you are in doubt about if the training is actually benefiting you can check your logs and see your progress.
5. Lastly,  If everyone is on board I think we should do a 200 time trail (TT) in the pool to establish a baseline for everyone.  Normally a 500 TT is done to get a good idea of swim fitness but I think there are enough new people that may not be comfortable with the 500, so I think a shorter distance would be good for all of us.  Next trip to the pool try to remember to do this and post in your logs.  afterwards we can discuss swim and how to get ahead of the game before the season starts.

The ortho and PT clinic here in Lake Tahoe caters to many different athletes. Being a skiing area they do a lot of work with the US Olympic Ski Teams. Two of my physical therapists are active in triathlons as well as marathons and Ultra marathons & road racing. They do bike fits and run analysis.

I was suprised as well. So, I asked and they wrote a script for me and my med. insurance cleared it.

With my injury I have adjusted my original bike fit to accomadate comfort on the bike and it has taken me out of an aero position. Now, I with a free bike fit I can return back to a more aero position once I feel confortable doing so. Down the road when I get back to running I'll get my run analyzed too.

I'm looking at the end of Feb. to get a swim coach. Any input on what I should be looking for in a coach or questions I should be asking him/her would be appreciated. I'm an average/good swimmer and have never used a coach. Just getting all my ducks in a row and I'm stoked to be back on track for the new season.

Anyone have any good recomendations for a HR Monitor?

I have a cateye for my bike and really don't need any other bells and whistles. I just need a good HR monitor for general training. Needs to be affordable, but ease of use is a plus.

That race sounds like an awesome time really.  The problem for me is that is the same day as the HIM I am planning for my A race.

Hopefully your trail race will be just like mine was a month ago.  Running through water and snow falling.  It was awesome!  Just kidding.  Although that race was pretty amazing it will be a little bit colder for you than it was for me.

Dirk - I'd love to join you guys if you can take another.

NAME: Curtis

STORY: Involved in competitive sports in teen and adult years (tennis juniors, ski racing, volleyball tournaments, etc).  Trained for my first sprint triathlon in 2011 and had a solid result which I'm looking to build on.

FAMILY STATUS: Married to a supportive wife for 11 years.  Two daughters, age 7 and 5, that are involved in sports, often with me as their coach.

JOB:  I'm an IT Manager at a financial services company.  It's fairly flexible, which helps me find time to train.

CURRENT TRAINING: I created my own plan last year (combination of Joe Friel, Jack Daniels, Chris Carmichael, etc), which I've (hopefully) tweaked and improved for this year.  I'm in week #11 of my 37 week plan.

LAST YEAR'S RACES: 1 sprint in July: 69th out of 1200; 9th in AG.

2012 RACES: Same 1 sprint - hoping to place.  If I'm in the mood, maybe I'll add, but my focus is that one race.  Crazy, maybe.

WEIGHTLOSS:  Last year I raced at 158.  I'm at 162 now, and plan to race at 150 this year.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE:  I'm active, involved, and a bit obsessive about my training.  I want to learn from you all and share what I've learned so far.

Curtis, you are more than welcome to join.  Make sure you keep your logs public and make sure you keep you logs up to date with all your current training.

It sounds like you have a pretty bright triathlon future if you are placing that high in your first race.  I am curious as to why you are only interested in only one race a year? 

You have likely done a lot of research for your training if you are using the ideas of Friel, Daniels and Carmichael.

Matt, you'll be fine out there today.  Actually running through water when it was cold wasn't all that bad.  Once you are warmed up and sweating your body seems to stay that way except for the short time you are running through the water.  Once through it warms back up pretty fast.  Just make sure you have some dry close to change into quickly after the race.  That's what caught me!  Well I had them but I wanted to get to my daughters HS swim meet so I didn't change.  I just stood along side the pool because I didn't want to sit down and get everything muddy.

Yes, I am pretty sure I am doing the Rev 3 at Cedar Point.  You will be pretty close if your swimming near Catawba and Kelley's Island. 

Morning everyone and welcome Curtis. I've spent some of this morning planning the essentials I need to compete this year. The biggest question I've run in to is do I need a wetsuit? I know they're faster and help you float, but am I going to be allowed to swim without one or is it advisable to swim without one? The tri I did last year was a pool swim, so the point never came up, I have three open water swims and one pool swim scheduled this year.

I'm in Maryland, so mid-Atlantic. It get's hot as crap down here for the summer, so I'm guessing the water temp goes up a little too?

Now assuming a wetsuit was a good idea - sleeved or sleeveless?

Wetsuit is the biggest expense left and the only other piece of equipment I would "have" to buy.

Any opinions?!

Good question on why I'm only planning for one race.  Partly because I am focused on improving over last year, and partly because of other family responsibilities.  But I will likely do another couple after July.  I think it will be difficult to put in all of that training work and not see more results.

I think the need for a wetsuit probably depends on your race distance and swimming capability.  I looked back through old posts but I couldn't see what your planned race distances are this year.  I think if it is a sprint distance, you can go without; with an Oly, you're on the boarderline; with HIM and IM, it is definitely worth it.  It takes time to remove a wetsuit in transition - you have to balance that time against the time improvement of buoyancy and swim confidence.  Let us know what you decide.

I need some advice from you guys.  One of my biggest limiters is endurance on the bike.  I try to go on the trainer, but I really lose interest after 60 min (and my rear gets extremely sore).  Any advice?  I noticed that Dirk and Jonathan both said they go 2 hours plus.  Right now I can't even conceive of that length of time, but I want to get there soon.  Do you guys watch videos, do a lot of intervals, or what?  Thanks ahead of time.

Curtis

Noticed your group was still open. Will you take this BT stray?

Go ahead and jump in Dina.

Post a bio as soon as you get the chance.

I'll see what I can do for you.  The bike endurance over the winter can be a hard mental game at first.  I think the key is to make sure you have a focus for each ride.  If you get on the Drainer and just spin it becomes pretty mind numbing and a long time in the saddle can be extremely grueling.  Some of the rides that we (Jonathon, Warren and I) do are going to be as long as 3:20:00 and no matter how you cut it it is going to be a long day. 

Are you currently doing any interval work or are you just spinning?   What was your race average from your spring last season?  Do you have cycling shorts?

Also Curtis,  I think the family aspect of your life is the place to pout your time, especially since your kids are as young as they are.  You have a short time with your kids and they are more important than any race or training but I think you can balance training with time with your kids.  Coaching your kids is awesome and they will never forget that.

Personally I would recommend a Garmin GPS watch if you can swing it into your Tri budget.  I currently use a  that includes a HR monitor and it is a huge tool.  I would recommend the same watch to you.  It wil track all your mileage on the bike and run as well as HR.  You can google the watch and find some pretty good price point.  Right now Sears has them fro about $140 online.  I did check for other HR monitor and found that can be in a similar price range.

Personally I think a GPS watch with HR monitor is the way to go.  Do you have a price range in mind?

I agree with Jonathon for the most part.  I wouldn't go so far to say that you should wear a wetsuit any time it is wetsuit legal race.  But I think I need to qualify this.  If you can't get out of the suit quickly and the water temperature is tolerable I say go without the suit.  Personally I think there should be a fair amount of time spent practicing taking the suit off quickly. 

And I definitely agree with Jonathon that you will be happier with one if you stay in the sport.  Also as he said someone found a used one for $100 which is pretty affordable.  I say get one but make sure you check the fit charts before you buy one.

I had a great day today.  I got my long run in early today so I could go watch my daughter swim at the conference swim meet at noon.  I spent most of the day either at the pool or at the team meal afterward.  The day was amazing not because of the run but because my daughter got chosen for the all SAC conference swim team!!!!  It is the second year in a row and this is her lat year.  She's a senior.  She is also having some off swims right now too.  She has been fighting her asthma quite a bit recently and hasn't had the best end of the year.

Either way she is making her daddy proud.  She has a pretty solid work ethic and drives herself pretty hard to be the best she can be.  I am going to miss her swimming next year.  She inspires me to get better.

Hello all, if the group is still open I’d like to join.

NAME: John

STORY: In high school I was the skinny asthmatic kid. No involvement in sports at all. In my early 20’s the asthma went away and I started bike riding. I put a couple thousand miles on my brand new Trek 1000 the first year I bought it. I even rode a couple half century events, but a failing marriage, bankruptcy, and a host of other bad decisions kept me sitting on my backside all day every day at work after that first year on the bike. Bad habits kept me there for most of the next 20 years.  In December 2010 on a trip home from visiting my in-laws we (wife, our 2 daughters, and I) were involved in a fairly major car accident.  I ended up with torn ligaments in my neck from the whiplash. Since we were doing regular exercises together as part of rehab from the accident we decided it was time to get healthy. In January 2011 my wife and I started a couch to 5k plan together. We eventually picked a 5k race in May and a super sprint tri in September to shoot for. We did both events together at her pace and we are both hooked on doing more, though now we each go our own pace.

 
FAMILY STATUS: Married 13 years to my wonderful wife and mother of my 2 daughters (7 and 10).  I have a son (20) from a failed marriage shortly after high school.

JOB:  I'm an Engineering Technician. I draw plans for highways, roads, bridges, and retaining walls among other things.

CURRENT TRAINING: Run 3 days a week; swim once or twice a week, bike once or twice a week. Working on putting together a new plan.

LAST YEAR'S RACES: I participated in my first Tri last year, a super sprint, with distances of 400yd/12mi/2mi. I also ran my first two 5k races and several shorter “fun runs” last year. I ran a 6 mile, Turkey Trot, fun run on Thanksgiving day.

2012 RACES: I’m currently running in races (4 to 5 miles each) every Saturday morning through March 3 as part of a winter points series. I’m not fast enough to be competitive so they are more like training runs with 80+ other people for me. I plan on doing at least 3 sprints and one Olympic in 2012. I’d also like to build my running up enough to do a Half Marathon in 2012, though I haven’t picked the HM yet.

WEIGHTLOSS:  I was 202 in Jan 2011 when I started the Couch to 5k plan. I raced that first tri last September at 181 lbs. I’m currently 184. I’m sure that steady training will bring me below 180 and help remove the rest of this spare tire around my middle.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I’m very interested in learning from other’s experience on this quest for better endurance and technique in swimming, biking and running. I check these forums frequently (I guess I’m a bit of an information junkie). I have been consistent in keeping my logs updated.