Beer Drinkers Appreciation Society (BDAS) 2023 Mentor Group - ALWAYS OPEN (Page 110)

Welcome!

Gretchen - SUCH A BOSS!!! Sorry I'm late in replying, but way to crush both tris this weekend! Happy to hear that even though you didn't hit your goals in the half, that you are happy with your time. Sounds like less than ideal circumstances but you still did the d*mn thing.

Andrew and Nat - good job on the strength! Thanks for getting this challenge started. I like that it's a choose your own adventure, but get in at least 5 minutes.

Mike - Show off indeed! Good job on the strength. Sucks about the tri being sold out, but take it as a sign. You're meant to be doing something else that day

I'm late coming in to the strength challenge! But love this. Going to do PT today, and did it on Monday, though unfortunately did not get any in on Tuesday or Wednesday. I will start tracking today though!

Since I didn't go to Charlotte this week, I decided to go visit my parents this past weekend. Had a lovely time, lots of walking but not much else in terms of work. Oh and some PT. I finally got the resistance bands that she said I can use to work my joint that was so magical the day it was really hurting. It hasn't hurt like that since, so that's great.

I did masters on Monday night and it was deliciously brutal. Coach wasn't there but sent a workout. Got in 2500 yds in an hour (warm up, then 2 sets of 15 50s and one 200, all fast). I moved up a lane and was able to keep up well on the 50s. I fell behind a little on the 200s, but that's to be expected since I'm still building my endurance. Overall felt awesome though.

Oh and my ortho cleared me to start doing more activities in July! Basically said I can start trying things as I want and just judge it by feel. So I'm going to start with pickleball and volleyball, and probably start doing some short runs to see how the hip holds up. Eeeeek I'm so excited!

Still gearing up for India...this time next week I will be there! Currently it's been around 115 degrees F but it will be cooling off to a frigid 106-108 when I'm there Checking the hotels for gyms so I can keep up walking and strength since I won't be doing too much outside...

NAME: robertChiefsFan | Robert

STORY: Average athlete in HS, ran track all four years. Off and on runner through college. Got married when I was 23 (22 years ago next month - July), and stopped running for a bit. Got back into it in 2007 or so, completing my first half marathon. I've gone on to run 5 half marathons (training for my 6th coming up this October). Tore my IT band training for a full marathon, and decided to try swimming while I recovered. Fell in love with swimming, and already enjoyed mountain biking, so it wasn't long before I got the itch to try a triathlon, just to see what I thought. My first triathlon was in the pouring rain and 60*F. Decided to try again with better weather, and have since done 5 sprint triathlons, an Olympic relay (I did the swim for our team), and DNF's Kansas 70.3 in 2008 (that one is still stuck in my craw, btw).

FAMILY STATUS: Married for 22 years next month to an amazing woman who lovingly puts up with my crazy. She is not...athletic...and does not have the desire for endurance anything. We have two kids (15 year old girl and 9 year old son). They're a blast to be around and about as opposite as they could be. She is my book worm and he is my athlete. Our son can hold a 12mph bike ride over 10 miles just fine on a small single speed. Can't wait to get him up to the next size!

CURRENT TRAINING: Jan 1, 2024 began a new phase of life for me. I haven't done much of anything since my last triathlon in 2017, and after eating way too much holiday food, I found myself angry with how I look in the mirror. As you can see from my profile picture, I am "compact" (read: short and lean). I'm one of those who has always had abs...it's just my genetics, sorry! Well, when looking in that mirror, I saw no abs. I saw no athleticism, and I got upset. So, I started lifting 3x/week, just building up strength for about 3 months. Then I switched to heavier weights. I started jogging again and was shocked!! I used to be able to run 8s and 9s...I was dying at an 11:00 pace. So, I took a step back and started Z2 HR training. I'm not a patient person, but I'm glad I did this, as I'm finally seeing the results. So now, I'm back at it: 3x/week strength training; 2x/week swimming; 3x/run; 3x/bike (I do morning and lunch time workouts).

UPCOMING YEAR'S RACES: looking at Lake Olathe Triathlon (Olathe, KS) in September. Also still planning on the KC Half Marathon in October. (I live 20 minutes east of KC)

WEIGHTLOSS: I'm quietly maintaining what I gained during the early lifting. I don't know that I want to change my weight, unless it is from muscle gain during the winter in the gym.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I've been around BT for a while here and there, and I feel like I know what I'm doing for the most part? I'm just an almost 45 year old guy trying to get my act together with triathlons again. I want to be able to share in the camaraderie of triathlons while I get back at it. I'll take any advice and criticism that goes with it, and I'll cheer on those around me at the same time! I'm not as young as I used to be, so I'm trying to make this into a lifestyle now.

Thank you for the welcome! And YAY for a fellow Chiefs fan! The Ravens are a dang good team, but until Mahomes is done at QB, it's the Chiefs and everyone else.

Edited by robertChiefsFan 2024-06-13 2:23 PM

So we have 2 Chiefs fan, and 2 Ravens fans, cool, a more balanced rivalry.
We also have a Warriors fan (New Zealand rugby team) and a Vaxjo Lakers fan (Swedish hockey team)

Thanks for the bio Robert, nice to have you on board!

Just doing my part to balance things out!

Thank you for the welcome. It feels good to be back into tris. Feels a bit like coming home, in a way.

Day 4, push ups, plank, dead bug and clam shells and push ups.

I think I need to come up with a couple of quick routines, rather than just winging it. Upper body, lower body, core and rotate every day. something to ponder over the weekend.

Andrew, what kind of routines are you look for (body weight, dumbbells, barbells, machines?), how long per session, and how many per week?
I enjoy building strength training plans.
I built myself a pretty good 3x/week full body plan that takes about 45-50 mins per session.

Welcome to the group Robert, it's rare to see new faces in BT these days so a nice surprise.

I'll join Mike in being jealous of your genetics, I'm relatively tall and hold weight like I'm preparing for a long term hibernation.

@Nicole, That's great you've been given permission to get moving properly again. One thought tho is isn't your volleyball/pickleball stuff more high intensity stuff (short bursts of high effort) and would it be smart to ease back with more low intensity stuff? Last thing you want is to reaggravate anything.

@Gretchen. 9 hour drive after a 2 hour run? My legs would not be impressed with that. Hardcore as usual.

@Mike, Good luck with getting to that 5 days/week running. I know I'm a broken record but increasing my run frequency this year has made such a huge difference to how I'm running. If you're not already doing it, try and do some runs off the bike. Perfect time for your nice easy 15 minute runs, and you're already kitted up and sweaty, so doesn't really add much scheduling issues. I did a lot of those back in Jan/Feb when I was building up.

@Nat, You'd easily gain a minute in a race over your training run with a bit of race day adrenaline. So I wouldn't stress over hitting 56 rather than 55 minutes. Warriors update, We've turned things around the last few weeks, 3 wins in a row, including against 2 top 4 teams. Saturday we play the table topping storm (who we have a 15 game losing streak to) Hopefully the good form continues, but the storm are always scary to play. looking forward to enjoying a beer watching the game.

@Me, other than the strength training stuff, it's been another run focus week. 4 evening treadmill runs. Mostly easy, and 1 progression run last night. Its taper week for HM#2 so the volume is going to be a little down.

Have a good weekend everyone

Strength training and me are not friends. To be fair, I don't particularly enjoy it, and it's the first thing to get dropped. Unfortunately, I've just turned 40, so I'm getting old, and am aware that I really should do something to avoid losing muscle mass, help with injury prevention etc.

I don't do the gym, and to be honest with a young family (7 and 3) that's not likely to change anytime soon. I also don't really want to do stand alone strength sessions, It's hard enough fitting the 10-12 SBR sessions in a week I should be doing, and I know if I schedule a couple of 45 minute strength workouts a week they will be the first thing dropped with life gets busy.

Ideally what I want I think I want to end up with is a bunch of 10-15 minute sessions I can tack on at the end of a run or bike, maybe 4-6 times a week. Like I said about run frequency to Mike it's a lot easier to handle extending a workout you're already doing rather than add a new one. So as these will be done at home after a run, I'm looking at bodyweight stuff. Although long term I can see adding some dumbbell/kettlebells, but something that can be done at home in the lounge, no big machines.

For now, Nat and my 5 minute challenge thing is more about just building the habit of doing something.

But please, feel free to chime in with some suggestions/exercises etc. I know this is an area I know very little about.

Edited by bulfrog 2024-06-13 7:40 PM

The problem here is that I set that goal taking into account that 1) it is not a race and 2) my current running form (not as good as last year), so I should have nailed it.

(If it was a race last year, (which so far is my best year ever) the goal would have been 51 minutes.)







Edited by Rollergirl 2024-06-14 4:47 AM

Yes same here, I don't really care what I do at this stage, as long as I do something every day.

And here's where I differ from Mike. LOL! I can lift heavy weights and not gain a pound. I somehow managed to pick up 3-4 pounds since I started in January, but I had to eat a TON to get there.

As for strength training, I would definitely recommend it for any athlete, especially us in the multisport realm. Injury prevention, joint health, and functional strength can make a lot of difference for the three disciplines.

Mike had a great list below, and I'll add a couple:
- Legs - Bulgarian Split Squats (back foot on a couch or chair) - great for isolation and balance
- Legs - Good mornings (great for the hamstrings!)
- Abs - Bicycle crunches
- Abs - mountain climbers (plank position and bring your knees up to your chest alternating. can be a great cardio if you do it fast)
- Chest - push-ups are the best bodyweight , and if you want to level them up, elevate your feet on a chair or couch

You can also go online and search for "bodyweight routines for runners" and such things, and find many great recommendations.

As for today's workout/training, I am taking a rest day today. I haven't slept great the last couple of nights, and I have a long run (7 miles) tomorrow, so I'm going to chill out today, get some work done (I work from home), and spend some time with the family tonight.

Speaking of sleeping - I've noticed that the amount of sleep I've been getting is getting shorter as I've increased my SBR training the last couple weeks. I use a Garmin Forerunner 65 for biometrics tracking and all that, and it keeps yelling at me to get more sleep. Average for me when I'm not training hard is around 8 hours. This week, it's been dipping into the mid 6 hours, and I'm starting to feel it. I keep a steady bed time (9:30pm CST) and I have no problems falling asleep. But around 4:00/4:30 I start waking up. I'm usually rested, but I'm more curious about the long-term effects of the shorter amount of sleep on training. Which is why I'm also taking a rest day.

Actually...I think our group is too full, sorry Robert! (I say as I am tracking daily trying to drop at least 10 more pounds... )

Andrew - I feel like I've been doing the low intensity stuff with walking and swimming for awhile haha. But I hear you! I'm going to go back to these sports but not go all out at first and see how it feels before, during and after. My main concern is re-injuring the hamstring. Since we know the labrum isn't going to heal itself, I just want to see how it feels doing these activities. Pickleball is actually pretty chill overall, not a ton of movement, so I'm going to give that a go this weekend if I can find some friends to play with me. Still waiting until July for Volleyball though!

For strength training, I often use Peloton when I want to do a class. They have different lengths of time and you can search by what area you want to focus on. If anyone wants to try out Peloton, I can add up to 12 members on my account at no cost. I think I'm only up to 5, so anyone interested, let me know and we can connect to get you an account set up I like it being guided and take the thought out of it, and then if you find one you really like you can do it until you get sick of it.

Robert, as for your sleep, I think as long as your are rested you should be okay. I think maybe they say 7-9 hours is best, but if your body is waking on its own and you're not struggling to get to sleep, though if you're feeling it then maybe that's not the case. Either way, a rest day can do magic! Way to listen to your body!

Edited by nicole14e 2024-06-14 8:33 AM

Yeah, I'm not allowed to say those kind of things at home, either. LOL! Looks like I have to keep it to myself here, too. :D

As for sleep - you have a valid point. I am feeling rested when I wake up, so I guess I'll just roll with it.

LOL!

(also struggling with a few extra pounds that won't budge)

I was gonna say pretty much that

First, welcome Robert! I love you and hate you already! +1 for another achiefs fan!! -100000000 for your genetic gifts and abs! :D

Today has been a pretty big day—3850yds in the pool this morning. Then an hour Z2 run around noon. It is warm here and this is the first run this year when I came back regretting the timing. I kept thinking about last year at this time when I was doing 5am runs in Cairo at warmer temps! I guess it is all in what you’re used to. I also have a 75’ Z1 recovery ride this evening, which I’ll do once dinner settles.

Strenth—I tend to do two to three sessions a week whole body. As others have said though, it is the first thing to get scratched once time gets crunched…unless you count stretching, which I never do anyway! That’s what I need to focus on with our five minutes a day challenge. Just as soon as I get started I’ll get a streak going!

Sleep—do it!! Do it more!! The single best thing I’ve done for my training is focusing on getting more and better sleep. For me, this means I go to bed at 7pm and read a book while I do my recovery compression leg sleeve thing for 30-45 minutes (no screens…an actual book!) and then go to sleep. Yes, I’m a grown adult who goes to bed at 7pm, but it works for me. The other thing that has helped immensely is finally getting some pain meds to deal with the pinched nerve in my neck. Who would have guessed that not being in constant pain would improve your sleep?!? The particular med I’m taking is also used off label as an anti-anxiety med, which also helps! I can turn off my brain, which makes falling and staying asleep much easier!