TexasMPGal's Motivated Mentor Group (CLOSED- TRAINING IN PROGRESS!) (Page 14)

Kedra, I am SO sorry to hear about the loss, but wow what an attitude.  Thank God you and the family are fine...I cannot even imagine such an ordeal.

Austin bike shops:
Jack and Adams (where I bought mine, I love these guys)
Austin Tricyclists

Houston:
Bike Barn
Tri-on-the-Run (not sure if they have bikes though)

Oh my goodness!!  I am so sorry to hear about your house!!  Thank goodness you all weren't home and you had insurance!  So many people don't!  Were you able to save anything?  I can't imagine how hard that must be!  Hang in there!

Kishop--

Terrible news about your house!  I'm so sorry.  Those kinds of losses put everything in perspective, don't they?

I've hit a tiny bump in the road with my progress.  My kid has pneumonia and we are struggling to get her well.  I am on duty round-the-clock.  When she goes to bed at night, I collapse right along with her.

But I've managed to get my hands on a Garmin for dirt cheap on Craigslist.  I'm also "bike dreaming" and thinking that I'm going to get one within the next couple of weeks.  I've also upgraded to Bronze membership so that I can increase my number of workouts per week by planning them more meticulously.  

The learning curve on this Garmin almost requires a college degree!  Right now, every time I try to rename a New Workout in the Garmin Training Center (double-clicking under Activities), it crashes!

Erica,

I'm that "slower friend!"  I have a neighbor who used to KILL me on the hills.  I'm hoping that by summer I can dust her.  LOL!

Marie 

Erica,

Good luck with your race on Sunday!  It sounds like with the medication you're on that you won't be feeling much pain.  I bet you could run the darn thing barefoot and hardly notice, lol

I know that this is a forum to motivate each other, but I have to do something to help get this off of my mind.  Please excuse me know if I sound like I'm whining, but it just bugs the heck out of me.

I was chating with a friend I knew back in college.  She found me on Facebook and we've been emailing and chatting on IM.  She mentioned once that she was training to do a sprint triathlon, so I let her know I was in the process of training for one myself.  Every once in a while we would update each other on our progress.  The other night while IMing, I mentioned in that I was 5'9" and around 195.  She replied to me, "Aren't you a  too heavy to be attempting a triathlon?"  I was stumped. It pretty much killed the conversation.  She went on about BMI and some other things, but I was pretty much done.  I know that I have room for inmprovement, but "too heavy to be attempting a triathlon"?  I don't know why it got to me so much, but it did.

Dude. I weighed around 250 most of the time and I am never even close to the "heaviest" person at any race. I also have been passed by a 50 year old lady that is bigger than me in every race I have ever done. DON"T sweat it

Erica--hope you are feeling better and have a great time this weekend and a great race tomorrow!! Enjoy the solitude!

Marie--you have the right mentality, I was the slower friend once, and I just kept running with him and got better and better and eventually faster!  Good luck with the 305--just read the book that comes with it and play with it and you'll get it.  I know there are functions I haven't used yet, but I have it set up about how I want it.

Dave--use what she said as your motivation.  That is crap.  Who said you have to become a skinny dude to get started.  Just starting and doing it and racing and training, that doesn't have a weight determination.  Sure, there are some folks out there who are too big to do tri's right now, but you are not in that category.  I'm sorry she said those things...you are going about it the right way, and if you keep with the lifestyle, you'll do some shrinking too...but the point is, what you are doing WILL be beneficial to your health, and there are people carrying a lot more out there doing this stuff as well!! Stick with it and ignore the negativity.  I was given so much crap when I was a cadet at West Point cause my two mile time wasn't superb...it wasn't slow slow, but I wasn't as speedy as the guys and they gave me HELL for it...so I just assumed I sucked at it, and the entire time I was there, I did just enough to keep at that okay pace cause grade wise it worked.  My motivation came when I took it on by myself and was away from those negative influences, and I totally improved, lost weight, and now I could SMOKE those guys that gave me crap about it all. 

Wes- your first tri is in a couple weeks, how you feeling about it??

A little nervous.  Physically, I feel confident that I can finish now.  Looking at last year's results I know I'll be in the very bottom   Being the competitive person I am, I have to remind myself that I signed up to make myself workout and get fit and not worry about my time yet.

---

Wes

Congrats to Erica on doing well on her 1/2 Marathon today!! Make sure to stop by and give her a pat on the back!

Wes--yeah, the competitive side of people can occassionaly get the best of them, but just remember your a competing against yourself and will get a PR because you are DOING it...then you have a personal bar set that you can work towards exceeding the next time!

Thanks Brit!  I did PR but I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't meet my goal.  I was aiming for 2:20 and came in at 2:23:35.  Crap.  That being said, I didn't run with my Garmin.  I ran by feel and I think that is why I missed my goal.  Looking back on the race, I should have either started out bit faster or picked it up before the last 5k.  But, by mile 8, it felt like someone was sitting on my chest.  So, I think I ran as well as I could under the circumstances.  It was a fun weekend and I will hopefully do that race again.  Beautiful course!! (and pretty flat! )

Erica,

Congrats. A PR in your first race of the year! You can smoke 2:20 next race. Especially considering the elephant on your chest and the botched weekend plans. You go girl!

Happy Fat Tuesday people!  Drinks will be flowing early here!   Okay, maybe not but hey, one can wish, right?  Lent starts tomorrow!

My race report is up if anyone wants to check out the gorey details of my busted goal.  Still a little bitter!  Must let it go.

Pic of new bike... are you happy now Erica?!  :-)

This weekend I was checking out the ads on craigslist for bikes (window shopping) and I saw an ad from someone wanting a 7.2fx hybrid bike.  I didn't plan on selling my bike, but thought what the heck and replied with some pics and a price and an hour later, my bike was sold.  I think he got some better deals from other folks, but I happened to live a few miles from him (convenience sells!).

Off to the bike shop with cash already burning a hole in my pocket - I selected a Gary Fisher AR Super that fit my newly found budget.  I rode it 15 miles yesterday and my butt never got sore!  That's a first!  Maybe it's the geometry vs the hybrid and less weight back there?  I don't know, but I felt much more comfortable.

---

Wes

(fisherbike.jpg)

Yes, I'm happy now!  Very nice!  Love the color!   Have many happy miles together!

OK. So after my 10 day binge of no training and diet crash I came back really in a bad place mentally about tris. I am registered for a HIM in June in the Adirondacks. I backed out of the same race last year and was close to doing it last night. A co-worker of mine pulled me aside. His family has a house in Tupper Lake and they are always there the weekend of the race. He told me that my finishing the race was very important to him. He is a little chubby and said that if someone that looked like us could do it he might be confident to start running and try it himself. Now I cannot quit.

So, this morning I attempted my first "run" in like two weeks. I barely went 3/4 mile and I had to walk. I just went over 2 miles. Now, I am dieting hard and have been on a crazy trial all week in addition to my normal shifts. But, do you guys/gals think I should start running more frequently to build the fitness. My plan only has three runs a week??

WOOHOO WES! I'm excited for you!  I wish you many many happy miles with lots of wind at your back (though that doesn't happen in TX often...but I wish it nonetheless!).