kenj mentor group - back for another great season! CLOSED (Page 14)

Nice way to get a long run in Bill!  Were there people that did 50K?

Some of the plans are easier to move around than others.  But when you are doing a run only plan, it is a bit tougher.  One thing I am learning (which is a totally different practice for me than what I am used to) is that a plan is put together with hard days, easy days, recovery days, etc. with a purpose.  Life will throw you a curve now and then, don't try to make up the day, just move on. 

10 mile run at a good pace on icy trails and streets today followed by a 60 min. bike at high cadence and some yoga and foam rollers.  Love my Rumble Roller.

I do strength training all year.  I use kettle bells and do them in the back yard when it's warm.  machines are for sissies. Just kidding.  That's what Pavel, the guy who brought kettle bells from Russia always says.  But 30 mins with k bells is enough to overload the muscles and get the aerobic system working, too.

Ironman training is like a part-time job, 15 to 20 hours a week and more depending on the plan and your goal - just finishing (which is plenty) or being a competitor. Lots of that time is on the weekend, like Ken said. But two a days during the week can be taxing.  I often am up at 4 to go to Masters to swim twice a week or to do a trainer workout before work or up late after Kathy goes to bed to spend time with her and still get the workout in.    Kathy and I are always awestruck at Ironman when we see so many spectators with young children.  We know dad or mom is out on the course so the spouse is picking up A LOT of the workload.   it is very cool to see that kind of support.  But it is necessary if you are going to do this and work fulltime too.  I did my first IM working as a newspaper reporter fulltime.  Every moment counted.  And I was sure to schedule date night and weekend breakfasts and shopping with Kathy.  We are doing this for fun.  No need to strain the family over it.  This time after retiring,  I work fulltime one week and off the next.  One week is a little hectic, the other is very manageable.  Just be sure to schedule lots of family time and keep priorities straight.  Ironman is a HOBBY for most of us, a life-style yes but marriage, kids, job all come first to most of us.  Good luck!

WOW!!!!  I just did my best to read/scan 17 pages of posts. I kept seeing the e-mail notifications coming into my inbox and was just so busy at work that I couldn't get them. So forgive me if I post about something that has already been discussed.

Quick bio.

Kathleen

Age 49

I have been doing triathlons since 2008. I signed up for one sprint and the rest is history. Each year I added a distance until 2011 when I did Ironman Arizona. My big race this past year was Ironman Florida and while I had hoped for a "better" race (read time) the conditions were hard on me and a combination of sea sickness and high temps/humidity did me in. I finished but just barely. While I enjoyed Arizona much more, I would have to say that I am more proud of my Florida finish due to the struggles I overcame.

I am a MOP person at best. Running has always been a struggle and continues to be so. 

I have been in Ken's mentor group for at least a few seasons and whether or not he knows it, he has been there for all my milestones   He was part of a group who helped me purchase my tri bike and saw me through my first HIM.  He also helped me through IMAZ and IMFL.

I live in Colorado but grew up on the east coast.  I went to boarding school in Troy NY (just outside of Albany) and attended my first year of college in upstate NY so I am not unfamiliar with what all you east coasters experience in the winter and summer months.  I also lived in South FL for many years before moving to CO.

So far I am signed up for one Triathlon in 2013 which is Ironman Wisconsin.  I must admit if I hadn't signed up before IMFL, I don't know if I would have taken the plunge.  I will probably also sign up for Kansas 70.3 though reading the race reports from last year has me a bit nervous. After IMFL, anything that mentions rough water conditions makes me nausious   I am going to Dallas to do the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in March.  I have done numerous half marathons but have only been satisfied with one finish. Major GI issues are a HUGE problem for me and have made running long distances tough.

On the home front, I have a significant other who is fine with my training. We also have a two year old Cocker Spaniel named Casey and are considering getting another one ( I must be nuts).

One of my main goals for this season is to keep up with this group and be more active!   Mentor groups are so great and I have learned a lot from them but more importantly I have gained new friends. I am a great cheerleader and will track you online during your race all day if I have the means to do so  

I hope everyone is injoying their weekend!

Has anyone used Joe Friel's  Tri Training Bible to plan their own training? Has it worked out well for you?

I've used BT plans and Be Iron Fit in the past but I'm working on planning my and my husband, Dave's workouts (at least for the beginning of the year). He's pretty limited on time with work and only had the mornings to workout and then the weekends. I have more time available so my weekday workouts might be different than his. We've signed up for most of the same races so it's easy to train together. We're also pretty comparable on speed (mostly because I have time to train more so I can keep up!) so that helps too.

If someone has planned their own workouts I'd love some thoughts on how I have the blocks set up so far.

Thanks!

(Psst!  Johanne!  I've used it as a template of sorts, and it served me well.  I didn't use it consistently, as in from year to year to year, but maybe in '07, it was.   [End of "psst"!])

Thanks Steve! I'll get back to you shortly

Thanks Jaime!

I'm trying not to buy another book Dave got me a couple of new ones for Christmas that I'd like to incorporate parts of in our training. One is Off Season Training by Karen Buxton and the other is Power Speed Endurance by Brian Mackenzie. I already had Friel's book but I've never really worked through it. I kind of like the idea of making my own plan but I want it to be productive and not just a lot of hours of training. 

Were there several plans to chose from in Your Best Triathlon? Do you go from plan to plan based on when your A races are?

One of these days I might get a coach and that would solve a lot of my planning issues For now, I'm too cheap.

Thanks for the update Kathleen!  You will have a lot of people here to discuss your IMWI training with!!

Are you using the same coach this your for the race?

Depending on which plan you were looking at, he has 2 swims a week in the just finish plan for the entire plan.  But the intermediate and the competitive plans go to 3 a week about week 10 through the duration.  I think that Finks, along with a lot of coaches, feel that the return on swimming a lot 20 - 30 weeks out from your A race doesn't provide the returns on race day as much as the bike and run base does.  This is mostly due to the fact that the swim is by far the shortest part of your day.  His plans are some of the few that are actually an IM plan that long.  Most IM (or any distance for that matter) are around 17 to 22 weeks,  and the assumption is that you would be doing an off season base building plan prior to the specific plan.

If you like the rest of his plan, but are concerned about the swim, add in a swim or 2 a week if you have the time. 

We finally have some sunshine and temps above freezing this morning.  But, since I am fighting a losing battle with a head cold I am thinking of staying inside for my run this morning. 

I hope you all have a great day of training! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I don't think this is a bad idea this far out from race day, you should without a doubt train for the swim in a manner that makes you comfortable with your abilities on race day.  But keep in mind the duration of the race.  An average swimmer on a normal day will spend between 80 and 100 minutes in the water.  But 6 - 7 hours on the bike and 5 or so hours on the run, if there is reasonable bike fitness.  Many IM's turn into a death march instead of a run, not because of a lack of run fitness, but because the bike endurance wasn't there and the legs are fried. 

I would suggest that you cut the swim to 3 a week, and add a 3rd bike ride.  To make yourself more comfortable in the water, if you can find access to a swim coach, be a lesson or at a minimum find some form drills on youtube and send one session a week just doing drills working on form. 

On a totally non tri note I foster for our local animal shelter. I usually take in kittens and grow them up and socialize them so they are more adoptable. I decided to take on a mama and her day old puppies this time around for some puppy fun. Here is a recent video of them at 6 weeks. We're hoping that most of them will be 'pre-adopted' when people see all of their cuteness. Otherwise, they will still go quick once they are back at the shelter. The big black dog is ours. He's 13 and we got him from a shelter when he was a year old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-b74ViBzA

Thanks for the Training Bible comments. I think I'm going to give it a shot and if I feel like it's not working I can go with a set training plan.

I'm pretty conservative in my training and tend to err on the side of caution. Just finishing is always my first goal and I've worked myself up to an occasional middle of the pack finish on big races and even won my age group once on a little race last year. This is truly just a hobby for me but I'm pretty competitive with myself. This will be my 4th year of tri's and I finally feel like I 'get' the sport (in the sense that I know how fit I need to be to finish what I sign up for)  enough and now I need to work on my weaknesses. 

Other than the financial issue, one of the reasons I've stayed away from getting a coach is I'm concerned that the pressure of owning up to someone might take the fun away. I'm not sure why I feel that way since everyone I know who has one loves that the stress of self-coaching is taken away and they can just focus on doing what they are supposed to do.

I'd love to do another IM in 2014 and hopefully I can get a coach then. 

Dave and I have a bike ride planned for the afternoon but so far it's still raining here. I'm hoping it stops and dries a bit so we don't have to get on the trainer!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

How cute! I adopted two kittens about 10 months ago, definitely the way to go. My boys, Calvin and Hobbes, are awesome!

Hope everyone is having a better weekend than I am. I work part time and on my way home at 11:30 last night (after working from 4:00-11:30pm post my logged workouts) I decided to go for a drive and listen to some tunes. Well my eyes blinking one time must have turned into a few seconds of dozing off, I opened my eyes right before I smashed into the back of a parked car on a narrow two way street. I'm fine and nobody was injured. Can't say the same for my car or his. Insurance company says mine may be a total loss. To make matters worse, I owe more on my car than it is probably worth. My finances were already a light due to the bike build I'm doing so this doesn't help. The build is being put on hold for obvious reasons, but I sold my bike to fund the build, so yeah. 

If anyone is really familiar with insurance, car loans or anything about this process I could surely use some advice. 

Wow!  I am glad you are ok!  Everything else will work itself out.