Prof40's Group -- Technically full but ... (Page 12)

Good job -- it feels great when you hit your goal, doesn't it?

An article in the March 2007 edition of Triathlete magazine begins: "almost anyone can complete a sprint-distance triathlon, training no more than 4.5 hours per week, and we'll show you how with this 12-week plan."

So there you go -- more proof (for those of you feeling doubt) that you can achieve your goal in the very near future!

If you haven't done it yet, I want you to look for a training plan. I don't care if it's one you pay for, one you borrow, or one you find for free. But I do want you to start organizing your efforts. Following a plan written by someone with tri experience will: help you stay focused (as it will require you to monitor your workouts); propel you to better fitness (as it will set goals/times/perceived exertions to reach); and ease your worries about finishing your race (because it should combine exercise notes, fitness advice, and established rest periods so your body will be in top shape on race day).

So there you go. Most of us have races within the next 12 weeks -- wow, time flies -- so it's time we buckle down and get organized!

Thank you for the wonderful welcome ! I've read all of the posts and feel like I know you all a lot more now.

Mark,
I too feel very fortunate to have found this group as I am a wine lover as well and have a couple bottles that are feeling very neglected lately. It's good to know I won't be ostracized if I give in. LOL.

Prof40,
Thanks for the concern. I did consult my Dr. prior to beginning this and have a followup this coming Monday as a matter of fact. In addition, I've been working with an orthopedist for quite a while now. I have some options but they all involve a knife and I'm not too keen on them. The orthopedist basically gave me the OK to do whatever I need to as long as I use sound judgement, proper supplements, and supportive devices. Sooo....

my swim time was not the same I was way slower; by the last two laps I was darn tired. But it felt good to do it get it done. Prof asked how it feels to reach a goal. It feels great. I feel like I am growing my intergrity mucsle. Sometimes my motovation is not wanting to write this group and say I did not do it.
It is nice to be on a plan agian. It really is a balance of all three elements with some stregth and skill testing. But what I like best is how I am building my endurance. I can work out for 6 days with a one day break, 6 months ago I could not do that. Anyway I digress,
training check in:
I did do 30 more mintues yesterday ( just like I wrote). And today I did my 2 miles and more stregth training ( reached my 45 min goal for the week). It feels good to be active and persistant. But it is only week one. Tommrow I have to 12 laps- and teach one hour of high impact aerobics all before 8:15 am; think of me when you hit snooze.
GIRL NOTES- PROF STOP RREADING NOW!
had a my third insemination today; the women doing it is new and she took forever! She put a clap on my cervics!!!! I think I should get to double my miles for today!


COME BACK PROF-
so yeah excited to reach goals for the week, only 12 laps and 2 miles to go! Have great Friday night! BGT

Two things to say:

1. I'm going to the pool this morning. That's it. You are shaming me into going. What kind of team leader am I if I continue to avoid getting wet?

2. I didn't stop reading, but instead read very fast, and then because I thought I had read "I clapped at the circus and got double mileage points," I had to re-read it again. I mean, can you blame me? Double points for clapping? Talk about an easy way to get some free air miles!

Obviously, I have spent too much time booking my summer travels.

I re read it and she put a clamp (insert pinching noise) on my cervics!

hope you swam today. I did I finished my swim goal for the week, really I met all my goals for the week, all I have left is the 2 mile run on Sunday.

Prof, looking at your posting times, what the heck are you doing at 4:35 am??
TEAM: Can we all commit to insrpire or wite a email to one of our lost team mates over the next few days.. where are they? Maybe they need our help to get back home. I've got JIMBO!
"man up", serach our lost comrads! BGT

Hi everyone! I'm not lost at sea, but rather feel seasick currently. Nasty sinus infection has turned into nasty flu. My puke bucket close at hand, I didn't go to work today (first time in YEARS) so might as well write something.

I'm not doing my logs--gave up on that as it was just too depressing. I was doing so much better at first, then got less and less. But, I am improving in FORM. I did weights yesterday instead of swim (sinus thing) and punched concentrating on that Chi stuff. Then I ran minitramp. but focused on leaning forward a bit to feel the core muscles tighten and tried to take the smaller "strides" which is hard to do on a tramp, and tried to concentrate on toeing off. Yep, been talking to people again. Everyone has a different perspective, so I'll try anything if I think the dude might know what he's talking about. No one had ever pointed out how "toeing off" while running might be smart. I like it! I only did 2.2 miles and shouldn't have done even that as my body obviously isn't up to any exercise right now, but I think I could have gone on forever. Am going to like this chi running stuff!

Mark---give me your address and I will send you the chocolate lava cake mix package. I'm serious! Thanks for your advice on the Colorado guy. He's offered to fly me in at his expense, just to meet me! What kind of guy would do that if he wasn't at least sort of serious about something more than a fling? And since it was valentines day, the ironman dude (Great Dane, several emails back) that just wanted to be friends has suddenly decided he can't live without me and wants to date and is okay with me seeing the Colorado dude, too. I think men are entirely different creatures! I totally don't get them. But, I guess they appreciate my honesty and are willing to work with me. It's pretty hard to settle on one before you really have had a chance to know them. Maybe you can be my dating mentor--I think I need one. About all I can offer in return is the stupid cake mix

BGT--You amaze me! All that stamina and to top it, painful sounding medical procedures! I would be taking it easy and feeling entirely sorry for myself if I had to endure inexperienced docs and clamps. Not you--you just get out there and steamengines ahead! I'm proud of you

Sean--welcome! Amazing that you want to be in this group after reading ALL about us! We all have old knee injuries or other such stuff going on. Just try to be aware of proper fitting on your bike, think about looking into the chi running as it is supposed to be injury-proof--look on chirunning.com, and give your tendons time to adjust to things. I notice my left knee quads burn more with some of the weight routines, so I adjust the amount of weight used to that knee, not the good one. And I'm realizing that I run and bike placing more weight subconsciously on the right side. So, now I'm consciously trying to exercise more evenly. And will try to exercise the left knee a bit more to strengthen it. Sometimes I do acupuncture for that knee as well. Just to give it more of that wonderful chi I've been learning about

WEEK IN REVIEW: FEBRUARY 17

BGT raced last week, did her longest swim this week, and has 2 more miles to run and she's hit her goals for the week. Good job. She's also sent out search parties for our missing team members. Great idea. Let's all see who we can roust back into the forum!

I feel that they're still there, lurking (you know you are!), but are afraid/intimidated/too shy to say hello. Which is just the wrong attitude for this group. Heck, I'm okay with you calling out a hello from time to time. No one said you had to be an exercise addict to hang out with us.

PHOENIX is just a woman on a mission. No "easy does it" for her, which she continued this past week. Chi running, bike work, coconut oil, engaging men. Not sure when she has time to work!

Now as for your logs -- if you don't get anything out of them, don't use them. But I want you to reconsider. Yes, they can be depressing if you've had an off week. But they can be encouraging for the same reason. You can say, "I only logged 100 minutes this week. And it's unacceptable. So next week, I'm doing 150." And as you work each day, you add those minutes and see that bar graph grow taller. There are days when the only reason I work at all is to add some time to the end-of-week total. Sick, isn't it? Addictive. Weird. Obsessive-compulsive. But it gets me to do it. Otherwise, I'd be on the couch eating cheetohs, and as you know, you can't eat just one.

Besides, at the end of the year, when you see your total numbers, you can tell people that you exercised 360 hours this year. Or ran 300 miles. Or biked a 1000. Or swam across town. If you add up all my miles from 2006, I think I went from home to Mark's brother's restaurant. Now most people will think you're an idiot. But someone will be impressed.

JENG is out and about, healing and biking with cardio, abs and glut work. We never did get a report on the drunken kickball tournament. I was hoping for pictures, too.

MARK is doing some long swims. If I read his schedule correctly, he did a mile swim earlier this week as part of his main pool set. Impressive.

He's looking for comments on the Total Immersion training system. Anyone tried it? I've never done it, but I have read articles and testimonials, so I know it has worked for some. However, I'm a strong advocate for private lessons instead of watching videos, so my advice is to seek a lesson or two. PHOENIX, I know you've had some lessons now, what do you think?

Oh, and Mark, don't worry about stopping during your long swim. You have 6 more months until your race, so there's plenty of time to get your stamina up, and you can always float a bit and take a breather if necessary during your race. Hey, and if it's really exhausting, the IM rules used to allow you to grab onto a course director's canoe for a breather as long as you didn't hitch a ride down the course. (Check the rules for Monaco to see if that's still in there.)

WATERGIRL has earned her name by offering some swim advice and motivation. And essentially called me a pool wimp. So unfair. But sometimes that's what a good coach does.

SEAN joined up and has his first tri on April 14. He's mentioned that he's read our logs and feels like he knows us. Anyone else feel an initial wave of paranoia (hmmm, what exactly did I write back in early January) when they read that?

And I tried out a new pair of goggles in the pool. I'm a Speedo-brand guy, but I've read about these Barracuda types that are supposed to be amazing and not leave the raccoon circles around your eyes, so I gave them a go. Can I just say how much I hate new equipment? I spent a lot of time adjusting straps, etc to prevent leakage, and when I finally did, it just felt like these things were growing into my face. And a look in the mirror post-swim confirmed it. Instead of the little circles around my eyes, I had these huge circles around my eyes. Think coffe cup size indentations. I'm sure I looked scary to the seniors in the grocery store when I stopped for coffee beans, cream, and bacon, lettuce and tomatoes on the way home. (Anyone guess what I had for lunch?) Didn't help, I'm sure, that I haven't shaved since Wednesday and was wearing a grungy pair of truly comfy sweats. I probably could have held out my hat and made a few bucks.


ATTENTION: THE CHALLENGE IS WITHDRAWN. Just focus on your training and keep listening to your body.


See you tomorrow.

Edited by prof40 2007-02-19 7:49 PM

Well its been a tough winter three upper respiratory infections and a likely cracked rib but I finally resumed training slowly over the last week. I am definitely still in the running and excited about the upcoming season.

I think I am going to sign up for a sprint in May in Austin, TX. Its been hard to do running as the weather has been pretty nasty and I don't like the treadmill but I am looking for a running partner to motivate me.

OK I am starting to log things again as well.

Yes indeed the prof is right it is called DILUTIONAL HYPONTATREMIA and there are people that die from it every year in the races like the Boston marathon. The key is that large amounts of water at once or not interspersing electrolyte containing water can cause your endogenous salt levels to drop and there can be nervous system implications.

hey team havent been updateing my program this week but did the whole week today not much to report except a lot of riding am currently working on my new training prog hopefully will post it some time tonight,, I try to drink as much water as possible during the day but i have worked it out i need to drink 2.96 liters of water. the funny thing is i work in a meat proceesiing plant where u have to dress up in all this gear and cant go out of the section with out taking it off and its very cold... so this translates to me peeing alot and my productivity going down! when they ask me why i will say im doing it for my team........


Have a good 1 guys keep up the hard work we are kickin some hardcore trainin butt

cheers
malphh

confessions: I did not run today hence I did reach my 6 mile goal for the week. No excuses, time and life caught me.
my plan this week-
mon- bike 8 miles, swim 12 laps. weights 90 min.
tues- run 2 miles- weights 60 min
wed- bike 8 miles/ weights 60 min
Thur- run 2 miles/ weights 60 min
Fri- swim 12 laps and h20aerobics 90 min
Sat or Sun 3 mile run 60 min

totals:
run= 7 miles
bike=16 miles
swim= 1200 yards
strength= 1.30 hours
420 total workout mins.

AND trying to drink 1/2 my weight in oz. one day this week.

Be well, BGT

Hi

Finally made it back from Singapore after several delayed attempts. Got checked into a splendid hotel where I managed to swim, ride (indoor) and run (around their roof top running track) pretty much every day. It makes such a difference to being outside if the conditions are a) warm, b) dry and c) you have someone waiting on you hand and foot, handing you towels, bringing you drinks and massaging you straight afterwards. I can see why the area is full of happy looking ex pats despite the fact that they will jail you for jaywalking and chewing gum is banned.

Got back in to three degrees (not the popular vocal combo which would have been a surprise) and that sort of misty rain that gets everything wet without actually having th decency to rain properly.

I was averaging just over three litres of water each day that I was there including Sunday but, bearing in mind that most of the liquid requirements of the average Englishman is obtained by osmosis, I am really going to struggle to do that now I am home without the benefit of a colostomy bag!

I took your advice prof and have got organised with someone to teach me this TI method of swimming. I am therefore going to be spending two hours on Thursday in an endless pool to try and get some basics down before going back for a couple of sessions over the next month or so. I will keep y'all (can you see that I have been corresponding with Americans for too long) posted as to how it goes; if it can get me swimming, it will work for anyone.

Plans for the week:
Monday- cycle to work and home (52 miles)
Run at lunchtime (5 miles)
Tuesday- cycle to work and home (52 miles)
Weights at lunchtime (45 mins)
Wednesday- cycle to work and home (52 miles)
Run at lunchtime (3 miles speed work)
Thursday- Afternoon swimming tuition (2 hours)
Friday- cycle to work and home (52 miles)
Saturday- long bike (2 hours) followed by outdoor run (8 miles)

Listing it out like that makes me feel like The Very Ambitious Caterpillar!

On to a different note, I would be really interested in finding out where the rest of you are and what it's like there. I live in a tiny village near York where cultural and ethnic diversity is someone from the next valley, it rains most of the time (we have about the same number of words for rain as the Inuit’s have for snow) and the general reaction to anyone voluntarily undertaking exercise is one of bemused concern. Everyone lives to being about one hundred and nineteen unless, and this is quite common as it is a farming community, they insert vital parts of their anatomy into heavy agricultural machinery. In which case they usually live until they are about twelve. There must be something about farmers not being able to read negatives: “Do not put your head in this baler” is usually treated as an invitation or a prediction of what is about to happen!

Phoenix: You really wouldn’t want me as a dating mentor- pretty much every romantic choice I have ever made has ended in disaster (first wife (the first is a clue) was lovely but we got divorced so I could have kids, then followed a succession of mutually hedonistic girlfriends before I “settled” down with Satan, a relationship that I would say is sporadically calm!). Just go with it and enjoy yourself. It’s amazing how many people want to hook up with someone who is happy and enjoying themselves. Out of 6.6 billion people there is no need to compromise. You are right, men are different creatures but the one thing that is common to most of us is that we get all keen and interested when there is a bit of competition around and start prancing around like peacocks. Embrace the game but always remember, inside every man there is a second hand car salesman trying to get out!

I hope you all have a good week and I would love to hear from you.

BGT- Can I just say that you are kickin’ ? Motivation and achievement. Wow.

Hi team!

Didn't have a very good weekend. Felt better Saturday from the sinus deal and attended my tri group's meeting with guest speaker Gordy Paulson, some big time trial nationals champion. It was great and I have some training plans from him guaranteed to improve performance in power and speed. Did you know there are these power meters that cost like $1200, but are great! Another one for the "when I win the lottery" list.

I'll write down the training plans and the web site that shows that they work later, but don't have much energy currently. Last night I actually passed out! Wow! Was that interesting! Check that one off the list of stuff to experience! I was up drinking water and peeing (am definitely meeting the water goal) and my body just sort of gave up and I woke up on the kitchen floor flat on my back. I just left my body then, which was heaven, as there was no more throbbing headache, body aches, fever and chills. I didn't feel any pain at all! So, I just decided that since my head wasn't bleeding, I would just stay there for awhile. Luckily the kids didn't wake up and find me that way. I did go to work today. Self employment sucks. You don't work, your kids don't eat.

Okay, anyone else find this worrisome?

You are BANNED from the fluid drinking. Period. No appeal rights. Stop it right now. This is exactly the type of thing I warned you about. And get to bed and rest. Until you're well, I don't even want to hear that you're thinking about anything tri-related, got it?

I'm not kidding here. In fact, THE WHOLE CHALLENGE IS WITHDRAWN, OVER, ENDED. NO ONE WINS.

Hello everyone!

Looks like I'm still the slacker.... but I'm happy to say that I am still getting some sort of workout in. Today was a class called "cardio-blast" Thank goodness for good old UW-Whitewater and their fitness programs. They're wonderful!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and having my weight training class. I will try and get into the track to run for a while. Otherwise, lifting and some other type of cardio will take place and then I'll go back to do an abs, step and gluts class. Plus, all this energy burning will hopefully relieve some of the stress from school and a crazy roommate. All I can say is thank goodness for baseball season! I'm so excited I will have some place fun to go and get away from all this drama I live with! Sorry to vent, but some girls are wicked!

It looks as if we've gotten some ambitious people in this group. BGT- you amaze me. I wish I had your determination. I have a hard time getting out of bed to go to class and manage all this redundant school work. All of you seem to be handling the load with much more grace than I am.

To Prof- I will have you know, the kickball tournament was a complete success. Despite the temp being -15 without the wind chill, playing kickball on a frozen lake, being hung over from the night before AND rebounding and getting to bar by 8 AM the next morning, we won! It was a blast! I can't wait for next year! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from the event, but can possibly find some. The next major "carb loading" event I have planned is non other than St. Patty's. It is a big deal here. We all get up at 430 AM, get to the bars by 5, wait in line for an hour and drink til we're full. It will be a wonderful day! Gregg, my boyfriend, has a baseball game that day at noon, so I'm sure we'll all get there and be sloppy, but its all about having fun, right?

This is very ambitious and I wish you the best in what looks like a full week. I am making my way back slowly.

okay, second time trying to post this for some weird reason.

Prof--RELAX! This had nothing to do with water drinking. I was already feeling like passing out Friday and that's why I didn't work. It's more to do with my overtaxed adrenals, which are my weakness, trying to handle this virus and failing. Adrenals have a lot to do with blood pressure, and when they are low, so is your blood pressure, then you can't go from supine to vertical without a serious drop--hence the fainting. I had a fever and was drinking a glass or two per hour due to such dry mouth and throat. I think I'm still dehydrated, actually, as my eyes are somewhat sunken in and don't tear up well. You get that with dehydration. Plus, I was STUPID and ran out of my Xango juice, which really helps my adrenals, and did weights Thursday when the sinus stuff started, and again Saturday, plus some swim. Just minor stuff, but the wrong thing to do, apparently! Gees, dad, cool it

Prof- drinking is not a bad challange- I am trying to get pregnant and workout ALOT and struggle to drink a mere 32 oz of water a day. I almost had 64 oz. today which is huge!!! I do not think I will get to 108 oz in one day but drinking more than 32 oz. is healthy.
I can understand your call to be cautious but let's not lose it- you aksed us to drink water, our bodies are 70% water and we need it to survive. If we were in a refugee camp, we would be given water, I think if you can get it in refugee camp, we can use it in a challenge.
So DAD, CALM DOWN! Un Call the challange if you need to but I want to tell my Prof and the team to drink water, you need it.

okay, all about me-
did a 8 mile/30 min bike, 40 min of weight training and 12 laps/30 min. 105 of my 420 goal. Kept to my food plan (12 step tool) and drank about 54 oz of water. Feels good. Tommrow, 2 mile run and 30 weight training which I will use to do abs.

BGT.

Well I havent been writing much so I thought I would say hello and congratulate everyone on their hard work. I read the thread every day though and it definitely keeps me going to have this community to answer to.
I have been working out pretty well but Im a bit dissapointed because Im more and more sore than ever. I guess I have been increasing my volumes but I keep thinking everything should stop hurting...I continue to have this annoying hip/butt aches and it doesnt hurt when I workout but it always does later! Hence, even though I know I should be laying off some of this stuff, I trick myself into thinking Im ok because when I do the excercise it doesnt hurt but then later I pay for it. The thing Im most annoyed with is that my Right Hip which has been plagueing me for over a year finally seems to be better but now my LEFT hip is kicking in and is where most of my discomfort is. I have been seeing a chiropractor and massage therapist on a weekly basis for the past few weeks and I have an appt with a physical therapist this week who specializes in bike fitting so Im hoping all this will pay off soon! Im going to yoga 2x/week too but Im starting to wonder if that is aggravating some of this but its so hard to believe that yoga can be bad for me. Reading what I just wrote makes me feel so whiney but thats how I feel, whiney! I cant complain to my husband cuz I know he will just say to take a break. So, hopefully you can all sympathize a little bit. I dont need a lot of sympathy, just one or two reassurring statements will be enough
Ok. enough of my pity party, Im ready to move on.

Water water : Its been raining here again which is kind of reassuring in a way for me, when it goes a few days without rain in the winter here in Seattle, we all get kind of nervous. And speaking of nervous, the Professor may be a little overreacting but he is just trying make sure his little triathletes are not killing themselves. Its really hard to diagnose over the internet so I think letting Phoenix read her own body is probably the best bet. Dont worry Prof, we can't sue you for malpractice! Personally, I have tryed and tryed for years to drink more water but the fact is when you are seeing patients all day with minimal breaks its just soooo hard to remember to drink. I can barely remember to go to the bathroom.But, I will re start my attempts because i usually do feel better.

Locale: Mark asked what it was like where we all live- I am excited to hear about this from everybody actually. It sounds like the only thing my hometown and Mark's has in common is the rainfall, and his probably beats out mine in that category. The secret about Seattle is that evne though it rains alot during the winter, around late June it stops and we have about 3 months of perfect moderate weather.- usually sunny, about 70-80 everyday. We are surrounded by water (both fresh and salt) and mountains and people who come to visit here usually comment on how green it is here. lots of treees. Everybody does outdoors stuff and there are weeks where I am overwhelmed with the activity options. Triathlons have become very big too, everyone I know says " Ya, I think I might try a triathlon this year" and about 1/4 actually do. I live by a popular trail that runs through the middle of the city and on weekends, you have to dodge all the other cyclists and runners because its so crowded. If you DONT do some sort of outdoor activity (running, cycling, hiking, skiing, kayaking,etc) , people look at you like you are a freak. I feel so lucky to have been born into this area because it really is an amazing place to live. I guess I havent had much to compare it to, the only other place I have lived is Boston, but I have traveled quite a bit in the US and Europe and I am always happy to come home. And that is my essay on "Why I love where I live"

So thats my big writing expenditure for the week. My training plan for the week is to take it one day at a time and see how I feel when I wake up in the mornings. I will try and listen to my body and not over do it.

I used to get that kind of discomfort as well. This sounds like it may be piriformis syndrome which occurs when the pelvic muscles get too tight and constrict some of the nerves exiting out of the pelvis. I recommend a lot of stretching in that area AFTER you work out to prevent that. I would think that you are too young for hip joint arthritis but if this pain persists even with stretching I would maybe have x-rays. Let me know

Coincidentally I had the same experience. Consumed at least my quota in liquids last night. Had a few friends round to help. Passed out in the bathroom after feeling a tad unwell. Came to being shouted at by Satan. May I say that she wasn't as concerned as to my health as Prof was about Phoenix's. Apparently, although it contains nearly 95% water, beer is not that good for you.

Back to the drawing board of cunning plans methinks.

Enjoy your hangover free days.

I actually just worked it out and my daily intake of 105 oz is about 5 1/2 pints. BGT; it is possible to drink at least double that. I found that if you flavour it so it tastes almost exactly like beer it is a damn sight easier to drink than if it is flavoured as water which, to be frank, is a bit dull!



Edited by Mark Stanley 2007-02-20 9:58 AM

"Dad"....now you sound like some of my students. And I'll take that heat, kid.

I don't want anyone getting hurt, whether it's from overtraining or just doing something stupid. (Take it from me -- been there, done that, and have the scars to prove it. Even bashed up my right ankle on Sunday and kept going when I should have stopped, and now have spent 2 days hobbling around and groaning like an 80-year old. It still hurts to put on my shoe, but I've never been the type of guy to wear sneakers with a suit, so I'm sucking it up.)

So did I overreact? Maybe.

Do I regret it? Nope.

Do I want you in top form when you do your first race so you can be a SuperMom/Woman as you cross that finish line? Yep.

So treat my concern as genuine, and take care of yourself. Don't wear yourself out this early in the season. Save the "running on empty" feeling for September!

And post a challenge on Saturday for us to do next week.

Didn't I date her sister about 20 years ago? It's all sort of vaguely recalled in a dim purple haze of late night bar specials like "buy 1 pitcher, get 2 free". Which made incredible economic sense at the time.

hey guys just rode 40kms 24.85 miles i think in 2 hours 6 mins first time i rode that far and i am rooted! just chasing a general time which i should be aiming to do this distance in i dont want some world record pace but a respectable time... cheers

malphh