Artemis' "WE CAN DO IT!" Mentor Group - FULL (Page 15)

Well done!!  I'm a bit jealous of your snow right now.  It's been in the upper 90s all week here.

Your weather sounds as bad as mine although it's the opposite. We have insufferable heat here. The weather has been in the mid 90s for weeks and if I'm going to exercise it has to be in the early morning hours. So getting my husband up early enough to bike ride has been a problem and we end up cycling in blistering heat and he still can't wake up early enough to get out of the house by 8. Argh. And it's only going to get hotter as the summer moves in.

When I crave sweets I try to eat Clif Shot Roks. They're loaded with protein and have just enough sweetness to satisfy most cravings. Give them a try!

Time to share again.

So yesterday (in between rain storms) I decided to ride out to the bike course of my sprint tri (in Aug.) and try it out. A buddy of mine was nice enough to let me borrow his road bike and I was feeling fresh as a daisy. It's a 10 mile course and I know I can do at least 3x that distance and decided to just attack it. Well, for the first time I averaged over 20mph. To be exact 20.4 mph average and completed the 10 miles just under 30 minutes. Damn that felt good.

I know that was just the bike portion and there was no swimming or running, but it felt so good to set my mind to a specific goal and nail it. I think I will ride the course at least once a week and also add the run to it.

I had been juggling back and forth on whether or not to stick with the sprint or go for the Oly. I think for my first I'm staying with the sprint and I'm just going to attack it.

I have a question: I have tattoos on both of my upper arms. On race day when they mark you, do I need to cover the tats so the number shows up?

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

.............41............

I've done body marking a few times and I never both with the arms on athletes with tats on their arms.  If I can put it lower, I do that.  Don't worry about it.  The numbers are mostly for the photographers and you will have numbers in other places (on your bike, on your legs, on your waist during the run). 

It really does. Years ago (well around 20+ years ago) I use to be very athletic. I played high school and college football, track, racquetball, and kickboxing. These sports were actually pretty easy to do for me. This is a whole new beast. I don't know if it's the years of not be very athletic or that triathlons are just hard or just both. It was getting frustrating not seeing immediate results. Now I'm starting to see it. The scary thing is, that if all I could do is train for triathlons I think I could be really good, but ya have to work to pay the bills.

I have a 5 year plan for this sport. This summer/fall I'm doing a couple tri's and a couple 5k's. Train all winter and and next year do some oly's and maybe a HIM at the end of summer. From there I have the goal of doing IM's in the future when I have the endurance and time to commit more. The great thing is, the wife is very supportive in anything I do.

Oh by the way, I have been 3 months not smoking! woohoo!

Feeling great today thanks everyone for keeping up with the posting!  I've printed off my training plan and tonight i hang it up for official training to begin!

Lots of Biking running and MTBing this weekend, getting into the woods really got me going, I evan parked my MTB on sunday and ran the trail.  Trail running???  who knew,  I need to plan better next time and go earlier as the deer flys ran me off trail....  No beer this weekend, smaller portions, and hardly any candy

i really think I have a problem after a race w/ depression??  After my marathon I believe it took almost a month to regain my mental focus. 

Does anyone else get the blues after a race?

........40..........

I use to get pretty down after some of my fights. There is such a build up to the event your training for and when it's over, there's nothing. The best thing to do is to set up a new goal right away. Whether it's a training goal or race goal. If need be, pay and register for a new race. 

Personally I have been depressed. I was having problems with my training. The weather not cooperating, working soo many hours, being exhausted (work and home issues), and not seeing immediate results from training. Then I realized that they all take time to come together. We can't control everything. It sucks seeing everyone competing while I'm not. That's why I made my tri in August. So I had the proper time to train and overcome any issue that may arise. I'm glad I did. Still sucks seeing everyone competing and I'm not.

Anyway, take it one day at a time. This is about you. This about your goals. You are the one who has to swim, bike, and run. 

Had a crappy run today.

Kept cramping up in my left calf and a side stitch. First stitch.

I actually believe I run better after a bike ride. Probably because I'm thoroughly warmed up.

Much better run and ride this morning, takeing more time off my rides and maintaining the old man schuffle for my jog,  it was 4am and 77 degrees sticky and so still outside - alittle creepy!

 The plan will be to hit the pool this afternoon, a great day todo so as the humidity has hit Michigan.

I feel i must explain my early hours, i have been a paper boy for over 10 years, burning through 4 cars, pulling into every driveway, car maintanence always a issue.  So last fall as work was busy (at my real job) and i had no time to work out.  So I started to jog the papers, a few blocks, then and few miles, then as soon as the driveways cleared of ice, I've been rideing my bike for some of my deliveries.  10 miles a day w/ 1.3 mile jog.  Up to 6 days a week and I'm having alot of fun being the only one outside very early in the morning.  Riding and jogging is sometimes faster then driving!  So i have built a automatic maintenance plan for exercise. 

I find the biggest problem is keeping my heart rate higher and to push myself, but at least I'm moving. 

Hope everyone has a super day!

Great job to all those who are kicking butt in training!

As for me, this week is already going a little better than last week.  I have changed what I am eating in the morning for breakfast which has seemed to really help me with my energy level.  Yesterday I ran 2 miles at the gym.  This was for one of my "easy" runs.  How wonderful to call 2 miles an "easy" run when 2 months ago I could barely manage 1 mile!

32 days from my first ever sprint triathlon!

Great to see everyone kicking some a$$!

Also, great to see some posts. Gets kind of lonely when there is no one read about.

68 Days and counting...

........39 Days and STILL counting..........

I know how you feel.......The first time last year that I swam it took me 25 mins to do 400yds....Now I do that as a set (and alot faster!!!!).....It is wonderful to improve and that which was once hard now becomes standard.......

So, I've been invited by the owner of the gym I go to spin to partake in a "spin marathon" this Sunday.  I don't know all of the details (hugely due to there being a language barrier between the owner and I).  Remember, I am in Mexico, am from California, and only speak intermediate Spanish. 

My question is this:  Do you think I should go and check it out?  What I do know is that there is a fee for doing it (will find out how much tomorrow), it is a nearby city (the owner and his wife offered to take me), is outside, but on spin bikes, starts at 8am, and one of my friends is willing to do it with me.  What do you think y'all? 

(One of my main concerns is having a sore rear since I do not have bike shorts here with me and it's supposed to last possibly 3 hours!)

Super morning today!  I was riding so fast down this hill that i thought, holy crap, slow down you idiot...  i was lol at myself.

Then went for 2 mile run and lifted weights to call it a great workout.

Now all I need todo is not eat candy today, and not smoke!  Hope everyone has a super day.

Bill