Allison and Ryan's Beginner Mentor Group - FULL (Page 14)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend of races/training/Mother's Day!

I ran 6 miles this morning which felt pretty good considering i just raced a HM last Sunday. Problem came when I stopped and started a brisk walking cool down. My left hamstring really tightened up and I was in a great amount of pain. So breakfast today "Pain over My Hammy" with a ice bath and ice pack. Going to try and get an 18 mile bike ride in tomorrow if all goes well with my hamstring. Good luck to all!

So i'm pretty sure that there is info on this question somewhere on the site... but i'm really stymed by what to do about the wetsuit question.

I was clicking around and found that you can get an Xterra Vortex suit for about 150 until the end of may with a BT discount. Renting a suit costs 40. and it only last for 5 days. leaving me with almost no opportunity to practice. Somewhere I read that you need the yamamoto neoprene but it doesn't look like this suit uses that. I would love to have a suit that gave me the flexibility to try open water swimming here before my event at the end of june, but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on a bad suit.

Since I'm guessing some of you have wetsuits, I wondered if you could share your thoughts about how to buy one? My first ever tri... maybe I won't stick with it. I could rent, but then I don't get to practice. That's my dilemma.

thanks!

Mary

Thanks for the cycling comments.  Great advice.  Yesterdays workout was so different trying to spin fast.  I think I want a cadence counter.  I got tired of counting.  I definitely want to try cycling shoes and pedals, but I don't want to spend anymore money on events for awhile.  With my husband and daughter doing tris also, we could spend a small fortune on this. The registration fees alone for all the races are expensive.  I think with this sport there will always be things I want.  So I am trying to not be out of control.  I love training and competing and I need to remember I don't actually need all these things to still have fun.  I loved my first race on a mountain bike wearing running shorts and a sports bra.   It is easy to think I need all this stuff, but I don't. 

Mary, What is the estimate of water temperature for your race?  Do you have to wear a wetsuit?  I debated the whole thing before my tris and decided not to wear one. I just didn't want to deal with it.  I was very happy with that decision. I don't think I will ever wear one unless it is cold.  I know it makes you a bit faster.  Do you like the new shoe laces?

Time to head out on the bike for a slow long ride.  Don't want to tire out my legs too much cause I am doing a long run tomorrow.   I need to refigure out my schedule.  I don't like my long run, next to my long ride.

That's pretty much it.  Chlorine is supposed to shorten the lifespan of the shorts.  I didn't realize this when I was looking for swim jammers, that there are regular and "endurance" versions with the endurance version able to handle chlorine better.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in our group.  Hope you had a good one.

My wife is sleeping on the couch and my daughter is napping up stairs as I type this.  I almost, almost snuck out for a quick ride.

Happy Mother's Day to all our moms!!

I went out and did 18 miles on bike today which is the distance of my first Du next month (3m run/18m bike/3m run) Well it took me an hour and 4 minutes with an elevation of 517 (check my training). I almost feel disappointed as I really was worn down and honestly didn't feel like I could do 3 miles of anything when I finished. Maybe my training will make it easier? I start bricks this coming weekend and I think that will really shed some light on where I am at. Good luck to all the training today everyone is doing!

Is it just me? 

Do you ever look at your race schedule on a Monday morning before caffiene with tired legs and wonder what you were thinking when you said you would do all these races.  Or why at some point this all sounded fun?   Some of mine are just plain scary.   Must get off the couch and to the pool.  But better find a coke first.

I remember now.  I don't want to grow old. I am an athlete.  I am an athlete.  I am an athlete.

Mary - What is the expected water temp for your first race? If it's in your comfort zone then go without one especially since you haven't trained in one yet. And if you love tris afterwards then you can invest in one if you want to.  I wouldn't race in one unless I had trained in it several times.

I had to get one because Lake Michigan is way too cold for swimming without one until July (at least for me it is).  Wetsuits do add buoyancy which helps quite a bit.  But, a lot of people will argue that for a sprint distance race a wetsuit is not worth it because any time you gain in the swim leg from wearing one will be negated by the time it takes you to remove it in T1.

If you do decide to get one try to find a store have has several different brands and models for you to try on in the store. Also, it's great if they let you return it after trying it out in the open water just in case.

Hi Mary,

Thanks so much for checking in on us!  My wife's eye is doing much better, other than some severe light sensitivity she says it feels pretty good.  So we're thanking the Lord that it wasn't worse, as it really could have been.  So I'm now trying very hard to put some business issues to bed so the decks will really be cleared.  We've had a rough couple of years (like millions of others) which has been a big part of why I let myself go physically so much.  I feel like I have to make serious and permanent changes to my lifestyle and I have to do it NOW.  I am thrilled about finally discovering the joys of multi sport training, I'll be more thrilled if I can simplify my life enough to do it right.  So, thanks again for checking back on us, I really appreciate it.

Dan.

Hi Mary:

I was able to find a Pipeline Nineteen wetsuit, on EBAY, for $63 (included shipping & handling).  I guess I got lucky..

woo...my volume is definitely picking up.  One week into May and I've already covered over half the total yards swam in April.

I just hope I don't burn myself out by ramping up volume too much.

Gotta watch my food/water intake better, yesterday felt off towards the end of my day which I chocked up to not getting enough fluids.  Today I did much better with that but by the time I was at the gym was starving and felt light headed about halfway through my swim workout, which I was struggling considerably for what I did do in the pool even though I ate what I normally do in a day...  Chik-fil-a and a planned night of rest and moving the workout to wednesday.  Going to have to bring more food while at work since the heat is coming on.

I'm glad that your wife is doing better Dan

And then on my way out of work at the minor league baseball stadium were several people holding up signs that the world is ending on May 21st, which is the day of my first tri and I just think 'great all that work for nothing'...

take a serious look at the Time-Crunched Triathlete by Chris Carmichael.  I've started it, because time commitments of 3 workouts in each discipline a week plus some weight training is putting a strain on my other commitments

Dave

We're slacking today folks.

10mile ride today.  Might go for a short run later.  We'll see.  It's HOT outside.

Are you eating enough?  Seriously.  I've had some pretty bad days that can be directly attributed to not fueling right.

What about sleep at night?

Work stress?

All these can have a negative impact on your training.

Also, looking at your logs it looks like you had a couple of races just a few weeks ago.  Maybe you should just take a recovery week.  Light easy run, bike, swim.  Nothing hard and nothing long.

How many miles did your drivetrain have that it needed to be replaced?

I think I got stopped at every red light on my ride today, some of them twice so my ATM and stopwatch were about 4 minutes off after my hour long ride, still kept a 19.5 mph avg pace so I am very optomistic at turning in a low 30's on the bike on the tri which should put me at my goal, I hope.  Started using/wearing all the gear I plan to race in and I can see the advantages to padded shorts on a road bike SOOO much more comfortable than just the compression shorts I ride in @ work on that skinny saddle.

Had something pop up for tomorrow when I had planned to do my swim that I missed yesterday so I'm off to do it now and then treating myself to dinner out while the wife is working.  Also plan to pick up a bike pump I think a month w/o checking the air is long enough and they are definitely low...

WOw - you guys are so FAST! I rode my bike in the swealting heat (how does it go from snow to 90 degrees in just 2 weeks? really. this is just ridiculous). I was excited to keep up a 14 mph pace. YIKES - I can't even imagine how cool it would be to ride at 19 mph. I think that might be my top speed....

Jean - i actually haven't tried my new laces. haven't had a run scheduled since i bought them. But they went on pretty easy and they seem pretty good.

And I took everyone's advice and just decided to go ahead and rent the wetsuit. Even if I don't get to practice in the open water much before the event - i signed up for a beginners tri just so it would be a practice run in a way. By July the water around here should be warm enough to get by with just a bathing suit. So thanks for the advice.

Mary