Ken Axford's Group - closed and killin it!!! (Page 15)

Terry,that's awesome!  I'm so impressed.  I agree with Amy about the HR, too.  I've definitely got to get more running time in - that darn HR monitor sure doesn't let me fake it!

Mo, I hope your mouth isn't hurting anymore!  How was the wedding?

Ken, I don't know about anyone else, but I heard that commitment to 5 hrs.  Gonna hold you to it .  Okay, here's mine: better than 33%ile in the 5430 Long Course (break out of the "back of the pack"!). 

So, I'm in Moab for a few days.  Bad news is I forgot my HRM.  Good news is, the SKINNY TIRE FESTIVAL http://skinnytireevents.com/content/view/148/113/   is going on here right now.  Great timing!  I'm hoping to join them today for the 44 mile ride to Dead Horse Point. 

The catch is, it's a fundraiser for Lance Armstrong Foundation (that's not the catch) and I need to raise $70 in donations to match my $70 registration by 9:00AM!!!  I think I can do it - there are about 25 people in my class who made room in the minivans for my bike yesterday!  Bless their hearts.

Going to go now to see if they'll let me register.  Have a great day everyone!!

good to hear from you guys.  sandi, I'm jealous about the skinny tire festival.  I heard that was a ton of fun. 

 Amy, I'll back your crazy weather story.  We get more good days than you, but as an example of crazy weather...    It was 69 degrees and sunny yesterday.  riding my motorcycle and everything.  today i woke up to snow falling.  Silly !!!

amy I wanted to let you know about some swimming spots in florida.  This your best chance for open water swimming.

Check out www.luckyslakeswim.com.   It's the real deal.  this guy has a lake in his back yard and let's people come over any day of the week to swim.  It's 1/2 k across, so you should be able to make a couple lengths.  you can stop on the other side and rest if you want.  It's a lot of fun.  checkout the pic below.

another website is http://www.swimmersguide.com/.  this is really for anyone who is traveling to a strange city to find local pools and swimming facilities.

(luckys lake.jpg)

Happy Monday!  Thanks for the encouragement on the race Saturday.  I'm motivated to get back to the basics... consistent workouts and healthy eating.

I'd like to be My goal is to be in the lower 140's by the end of March.  I had Fiber one and blueberries for breakfast today.  Good way to start!

What's on everyone's schedule today?  I'm going to hit the Eliptical trainer for 30 minutes and need to run for 30+ minutes also.  I'll see how my legs are feeling and may end up walking instead of running.

Ken, what impact do you think adrenaline has on your heart rate?  Assuming so, how long do you think that "rush" should last?

Terry,  I would say adreneline has a high impact.  i did a little research after we spoke, and would say that we can't really get more technical than that because that effect depends on the person, nerves, situation, etc.  There is no reliable data that would give you specific effects that could apply to the general population.  for a 5k, don't worry about it.  go hard and your done.  during a sprint tri, it will last a little longer so be cognisent, but don't stress if it's higher than usual.  Race day heart rates are always higher than training and you want them to be.  Race day is the day you want go your fastest and push your body.  Just don't push so hard that you can't finish.

Amy,  It is fun to train in clermont.  In preperation for the Ironamn last year, I went to Clermont once per week for hill training.  The sommersports site is being rebuilt, so they didn't have any of their race maps up yet.  The best thing I could find is this website:  http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/fl/clermont#RESULTS

I usually rode the "florida challange" route.  I also like the "fruit loop" but that's a little north of Clermont.  (nicer ride though)  If you are wanting to do any open water swimming, I would only do it at Lucky's.  the other lakes are fine during races.  If not racing though, there are a lot of boaters and no one else around to protect you in case of emergency.  it's worth the drive.  by the way, I was frequently in the lakes swimming and wakeboarding and I never saw a gator.  (in three years)

 I hope the weather is good for you so you can enjoy your time.

Hi all.  The Skinny Tire Festival ride yesterday was fun... and BRUTAL.  At least for me at this stage in the season.  I managed to pick the day (of four) with the toughest climb and the worst weather!  I'm not sure which was tougher, the climb on the way up or fighting the snow and wind on the way down. 

I felt pretty good - better than I expected - and held my own on the climb.  I think fuel was key.  I was pretty careful to keep putting in food and water!  Could still use improvement though.  I was pushing my limits pretty hard on the second half of the ride, but amazingly didn't crash after I got back to town and still didn't really have that "hangover" today.  The only thing I can attribute it to is the fuel thing.  I sucked on shot blocks on the climb and used a package of Perpetuem(?) mix and some of the PowerBar endurance drink mix they had at the aid station.  Plus, of course a healthy helping of little cookies and a killer burrito!

Haven't decided whether to try to run yet tonight or make it my day off.

Busy week- and the eating has not been stellar. Not horrible, but not as good as it could be with t a bit more conviction.  Also have not been on the ab and pushup regemin like I should be. It's a rest week for me- my first since starting the 20 week program- I KNOW I need it, but I'm not loving it. Bet that will change as my training goes on......

 Hoping that starting in the am, I can  will turn around some of the poorer eating choices (though I'm quite happy I "wasted" calories on homemade chocolate marshmallow cake- it is soooooo worth it-- but lots of other little snitches of things I had were really NOT. Onward and upward. It's going to be 1-2 inches of icing tomorrow, so I switched the gym day to another trainer ride and will do some abs and arms here. Sadly, I bet the pool will be closed tomorrow night due to weather. Hopefully not! I must say I'm really starting to like swimming.

I cannot WAIT to run outside. Do you suppose it will ever be spring again here? 

Yes!!!!  Stay strong!  You'll be in sunny and warm Florida in less than a month   BTW, did you sign up yet?

Terry, Doss used to get free shoes from Mizuno when he managed hibet sports.  He loved them.  I know feet and strides can be different, but a lot of people like them so I hope they work well for you.

Amy, don't stress about the cake too much.  While you don't want to binge every day on treats, it's ok to eat those higher calorie foods one in a while as long as you work them into your daily caloric intake. 

Example:  I have a weakness for trail mix.  It is like crack at our house.  I know that my average handful has 150 calories and about 9 grams of fat.  (I have actually counted every peanut, raisen, and M&M in each handful)  So, I can have one or two handfuls, but that means I drop something else or eat a lighter dinner.  I think we should all keep that in mind as we treat ourselves so we don't beat ourselves up.

focus group survey for the group:

I hate the term personal trainer because I think it is overused in the fitness industry and gives too much credit to a lot of chump trainers in the market who don' know very much.  As I begin to brainstorm about how best to market myself for coaching/training, I am thinking the term triathlon coach / fitness trainer has a more credible sound to it.  I am asking because it would effect different marketing materials such as business cards, website, brochures, etc.

fitness trainer:  does that give  (more) / (less) / or (no different) perception or understanding as opposed to personal trainer?

 honost opinions will be helpfull here, thanks in advance.

Ken, good question.  To me the term fitness connotes exercising to lose weight and improve health problems or physical image, as opposed to competition or sports for the love of the sport.  Given that, I'd agree with Amy that it would be less intimidating to beginners, while "triathlon coach" would be more credible for someone who wants to be competetive or "train" as opposed to "get fit".  So, maybe if you want to cover both markets, both titles are appropriate (or one as subset of other...).

Anyone else worried about Mo?? MO!  I hope you're just on some good pain drugs and ignoring us crazies for a few days...

And John?  Hope you're just truly taking a week off from everything triathlon...  We need you back next week!!

Hey guys!  TGIF!

Ken, I agree with Sandi and Amy.  I think both titles are appropriate for the two different markets.  The services you provide should be explained and your credentials will further qualify you to do either.

Mornin' kids.  Everyone remember daylight savings?  My phone still hasn't figured it out for some reason, although my computer has. 

Did everyone have a good Saturday?  Glad to see you back, John, and a relief to hear from Mo the other day .  Terry's got a race in already and Amy still kickin' butt.  Man, I've got to get on the ball! 

I've been a slug the last few days.  I'm letting that little thing with my leg discourage me - need to do something about it or ignore it - one or the other.  Also goofy facilities schedules and still frustrated w my swimming.  Spring break here now, so nothing's open.  On the other hand, the weather is decent, so there's no excuse for not biking and running outside.

How's everyone doing with their running cadence?  I seem to be settling in around 86-88.  Wondring if I shouldn't slow it down a little at lower speeds though - I think it actually might be contributing to the problem w my leg, just never really stretching out those muscles during the run.

Speaking of run, gotta go if I'm going to get one in this AM.  I rented an AT ski package on campus and am going up the hill to try it out.  I've been turning up my nose to AT in favor of telemark for years, but have never tried it, so now's my chance.

Have a great day!

Sandi, whats up with your leg??

A cadence of 88 is about perfect on the run.   Unless you are significantly under-striding to get there, that should not be causing any problems.

AT ???   (another brand I assume??)

Okay- here's my commitment for this week.  The commitment of strength 4 TIMES will be a doozy-  I just changed one of them to be a stretch or yoga if need be.  Just knocked off the 97 minute trainer ride before dinner (and what a fine dinner it was- grilled steak and grilled veggies) and I must have ridden the last hour of it quite hard, cause my legs are BEAT.  But since we have a ton of fresh snow that appears to be here to stay, I'm glad I got the long ride out of the way for the week. Because seriously? That long trainer ride hangs over my head like the darkest cloud till it's over.  And they go much smoother during afternoon or evening hours- there is NOTHING on the tv when I hop on the bike at 5:00 am. Most channels are on infommercial.

 I think starting next week, I will aim to work a 30 minute massage into my day off; found a place on Wednesday-- across the street from my office no less- that does them for $35.   I think it will be too late to work that into tomorrow's plan. 

 We are on the final countdown to Florida- 2 weeks of rest and relaxation- with nothing planned but working out and resting and reading the 10 books I have stacked beside my bed - I CAN'T WAIT. DH and I just committed to 3 weeks of eating healthy and exercising in preparation for bathing suits- we are going to try to do a workout- either strength or stretch a few nights this week.  I think I have been [what I'd like to call] a positive influence on my kids lately- tonight after dinner, they both turned on (on separate tvs) Fit TV on Demand and did yoga and stretch/strength workouts ( in so far as they could do them ) I think I have mentioned it before, but if you have Time Warner, some of these stretch and flexibility on demand workouts are GREAT (and all are free). I am going to do a yoga stretch one in the morning-  and my younger son had on a ballet strength and stretch 18 minute workout that was  TERRIFIC (very cute to watch a 6 year old do a modified version of it   And there are TONS of them. I'm excited about the prospect of adding these to my week just to mix things up.

 It might be impossible to get 2 swim workouts in this week- we have some very crazy pool hours this week-- but it was dark until about 7 tonight, so maybe I can get in a run or cross-country ski after dinner? Longer daylight hours may add variety after dinner, but it's going to be dark again the whole time I'm at the gym before work.......   

 I thought I'd signed up for the SuperSprint Tri in Clermont, FL on April 5 this am, but when I got no confirmation email, I am now wondering....and will have to call tomorrow.

I think I've said QUITE enough.  SO, Happy Second Full Week of March, everyone. Let's rip it up.