MarkQuiet's group - FULL (Page 14)

T - congrats on the bike ride. 

We're up in Vail, but it's not ski weather.  We're heading for a snowshoe/hike tomorrow as I expect more dirt than snow on the trails.  It's been in the 60s!! the past couple days.  Any way you slice it, though, it'll be fun.

Daisy,

Keep in mind this is a newbie opinion and not an experienced one.

However.  I couldn't disagree with your husband more on the year to train for the swim thing.

First of all - all the programs on here are set up so you are READY for your sprint tri (or whatever program you have uploaded).  They wouldn't post them if they didn't work.

Second - I have been at this for around 6 weeks.  At this point - 6 weeks into a 22 week program - I could easily complete the swim.  Not quickly, not in competitive style - but I could finish it.  Same goes for the bike.  The run is another story - but walking always works.

Don't get discouraged.  Keep at it.  I know you'll be ready!

Good luck and I hope that audit time still allows you some time to train!

Tami 

Where is everybody?

Just wanted to celebrate with you all.  After a huge scare this morning, my bloodwork is in from the cancer stuff.

To make a long story longer - I called the dr.s office for the results yesterday.  New girl who didn't want to tell me anything over the phone and wanted me to wait until my appointment on Monday.  After obsessing on it last night, decided I was calling and getting an answer today - not Monday.  For goodness sakes, we're talking about cancer here people.

So this morning I called and again - doesn't want to tell me anything over the phone.  So I, as calmly as possible, explain why I want this result so bad.  She goes and gets my chart, looks at it, and says, in a very "oh you poor thing" tone - "you better come in".  I'm like now??  She's like, yeah.

So in I go.  When I get in the office, before I see the result she says "Sorry, but I don't know how to read those numbers."  My blood was BOILING.  I'm thinking "woman, I just drove 80 miles an hour over here thinking about the fact that I must have cancer again!  Why couldn't you tell me that over the phone???"

Anyway - the problem was - my numbers are very abnormal - for a normal person with a normal thyroid that has never had thyroid cancer.  For me??  The number were EXACTLY where they should be!  NO CANCER.  Whew.

I would have known that yesterday if she just would have read the numbers to me over the phone.  I was nice, but, needless to say, she now knows more about thyroid cancer than she ever wanted to know.

Just wanted to share that with you all.  Now there is NOTHING standing in my way between now and my first tri.

Hey all, sorry I have been quiet. A friend of mine figured that since I lost my job last week and he has the week off from teaching that it would be a great time to put me to work on building stuff for him. Nice. So most of the week has been for naught and I am no closer to getting a job then I was on Monday.

Yeah I will be racing this weekend. Not sure if I will break the 1hour time. My run yesterday was horrible. If I get under 70min it will be a good accomplishment.

 Great to hear that everyone is healthy AND cancer free. Keep up with the workouts and don't let anyone discourage you.

Chris,

Welcome to the group.  I know you will find everyone helpful and encouraging.

Good luck on your training goals.  Your not the only one in this group trying to shed some poundage - if that makes you feel any better. 

As far as your job goes - I'm sorry that's happening to you.  I did have to laugh though when you said "what are they going to do, fire me??"  Sounds like spending time reading the forum was more rewarding than thinking about the job situation.  Good luck with finding other employment and all that.  Try not to let the stress of the situation knock you off your goals in the health arena.

Anyway - Good luck to 'ya and enjoy the group!

Tami 

Chris, again welcome to the group. I know about the job sitiuation. I lost mine a week ago due to company re-org.

I also know about the 240+ feeling disgusted with self type of thing. Been there. The first advice I would give to rethink the amount of time that you put into free weights. Sorry, but the weights is almost the first think you will have to sacarfice on your way to your goal weight. Yes you will loose strength and perhaps a little muscle mass, but when you are down below 190 and you look in the mirror and like what you see, it will be worth it. Don't give up completely on the free weights, but do free weights that will actually benefit. Sorry, but the bench press is not going to make you super fast in the water. Trust me on this. I have tried for many years to do both free weights and cardio. It just does not work - or rather, I did not have enough time to do what was required to do both. In the long run I almost entirely dropped weight-lifting and focused on running (this was before being introduced to tris). After my first marathon and the introdcution to tris I found a whole new form of motivation. Three hours on the bike now is FUN (except today when the sustain wind is +20mph).

Best suggestion - lift weights only two or three times a week. Focus on doing exercises that are FUNCTIONAL and will benefit one of the three disciplines. Keep up with trying to go further on the running, but don't be afraid to slow to a walk to get in the time and distance - there is nothing to be ashamed about. Start becoming one with the bike. The bike will strip off fat in no time - not to mention you need to get used to that saddle.

Good luck to you and keep us posted.

A Walkman?  What's that?

I disagree on the dread factor of the day(s) off - use them to your advantage.  We are inherently complex machines and need time to rest/recover every now and then.  Embrace your off day for what it is, time to heal and clear your head.  Then you come back refreshed for the other 5-6 days you're working out/training.  You restart your computer at the end of the day, don't fret restarting yourself, either.  In my opinion, you should only begin worrying (and write in here for a motivational butt kicking) if you begin thinking up excuses for taking another, and then another day off.  Excessive workloads do not count, though, as crappy weeks happen from time to time.  Also, as I suggested in another post a few pages ago, don't stress too much about missing one or two planned workouts - again, if you find yourself making excuses to skip - let us know.  Plenty of supportive people are willing to help pick you up.

I'm not too smart about the technical stuff, but I think to reply to someone else's inspire (or have it go to them) you have to hit the "blog" button instead of "reply" - counterintuitive, I know.

As for the strikethrough line, make sure you have gone to your control panel, and clicked the "yes" box next to the "Use rich edit box when composing messages?" question.   Then, when you go to the "edit training sessions" page, down at the bottom, you should have more MSWord-style editing features, which is where you'll find all sorts of cool things such as colors, fonts, italics and strikethrough options.

Now, about bonking.  Obviously, one has to know oneself and how much to fuel prior to a workout, brick, whatever.  I generally eat an energy bar (Clif Bars are my choice) or bagel prior to a workout (including bricks).  I also don't usually eat during a ride or run, but I carry something with me just in case.  I've also been known to suck down a Gu (gel) between halves of a soccer game.    Suggestions I've heard are to eat/drink while on the bike (assuming a traditional swim, bike, run) and then get whatever you might need on the run from the volunteers.  Of course, during training, those volunteers are much harder to find, so, on longer runs (greater than 7 or 8 miles) I carry water and a Gu.

My suggestion, if you're doing a swim/run brick, is to suck down a gel in your transition, chase it with water, and be gone.  If it's a run/bike (whatever order), again, T-time is good for a bite, but on a long ride, you might want to munch on something like a bar.  I've seen people duct tape packets of gels to their bikes for the rides.  I might do this on my Oly as it's a 25 mile ride.  Personally, I hate chewing on anything during a run and will tolerate it on the bike, thus a slippery gel and water just prior to a run works for me, and a bar on the bike, if necessary, also works.

I hope that wasn't too rambling.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention to build up to your bricks.  If you've never done back to back items, it takes some getting used to.  Don't go out thinking you can just do the distances tomorrow.  Start small (like we all did in building our run, swim or bike distances) and maybe shoot for a full swim and 1/2 the run distance, or something like that.  Once you accomplish a few like this, you'll have great confidence that you can not only do the full distances in a brick, but actually link THREE sports together.

db

Doug,

Thanks for the info.  The control panel worked just like you said. 

I really appreciate the info on fuel too.  I was at Big Lots tonight (my husband's favorite store - do you guys have them?), and anyway, they had cases of PowerBar Gel packets (6 per box) for $2.00.  I bought one to see if I can stomach them and if I can I'm going back to stock up.  I've heard they're kind of expensive so it seemed like a good price.

Question:  As we train, do our bodies get more efficient in using fuel?  Once I get a little more accustomed to "bricks" and racing will my body be able to go farther/faster without taking in as much fuel during the swim/bike/run because it uses it more efficiently?  Just curious.

I appreciate your advice!  Tara

Hey Jay,

I gotta laugh - I think you and I are on the same plane technically speaking - but I have to admit, I've upgraded to an iPod from the ol' Walkman.  Maybe the Easter bunny will bring you one - they're awesome.

Thanks for mentioning the "inspire" question - I wasn't sure about that either.  It is counterintuitive.....hmmmm.   TB

Gu is usually around $1/packet at Academy, so 6 for 2 bucks is a good price.

I don't know the answer to your fuel question but it's been my experience that as you improve effeciency, you burn your fuel more efficiently, too, and more of it, which is to say, you can actually eat more (of good stuff) and maintain your weight and training.  Personally, I don't like to go out there on a full stomach.

Hey everyone,

2 questions for anyone that can answer:

1.  indoor computer trainers - specifically - Kurt Kinetic.  It actually hit 40 degrees here today (well that was this morning, it's actually in the 60's now which is AMAZING) - so I took my bike out.  I was able to put in twice the amount of distance in the same amount of time as inside.  In other words, inside I was doing around 4.5 miles in around 45 minutes - and then today, outside, easily put in 9.18 in the same amount of time.  Is my indoor training computer not registering correctly or what?  I am not able to get out of first gear inside - but outside today, I was in the top gear my bike can go the entire time.  I realize both times are really slow in the tri world.

2.  Plateaus (or however you spell that).  I've been at this traning thing for over a month.  With the exception of the bike today, most of my times have either been steady or getting worse for around the past 2 weeks.  Is this normal??  I'm training just as hard, putting in more time - and not improving.  Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on this for me.

 Thanks,

Tami