Gray Guy/Girls Tri--Masters Sprint/Olympic Mentor Group CLOSED (Page 16)

Good going James! And a 24 minute or less 5k...I wish!

And Happy Fathers Day to all you dads! Hope it's been a great day for all of you!

Weight 203 which is a relief after all the crap I ate this weekend (it was tasty though).

Had fun at the men's 4 miler yesterday running with my FIL on Father's Day. He won the 80+ age group and had a pretty solid run overall. All my mile splits were under 8:00 which is good for me. More or less the same time as the last two years which I guess is a victory at our age, right?

Edited by juneapple 2013-06-17 3:29 PM

It is familiar....repeated short intervals with a full recovery seems to be a pretty standard workout. I'd stick with sufferfest...at least they have video!

Steve

159.5. after a challenging training week. The blueberry fritter I ate that was as big as my face and a bunch of Father's Day's goodies didn't help. But I have no regrets.

Steve

I started using My fitness pal this week. Seems to help, I will not eat crap I don't want to enter. Takes some time at first but once you have your usual foods online it seems to get easier. Anyone else use this?

Hey almost at 20 pounds lost for the team, let's keep it going.









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I'm looking for sympathy here. I didn't enter the weigh off because I don't need to lose much. I was 160 over the winter but I figured I'd lose 5 pounds and that would be 5 pounds less to carry on the bike and run. I gave up desserts on the first of May. Now, this is a BIG sacrifice for me as I have a real sweet tooth. I've also been exercising longer and harder. Over the six weeks I have lost a grand total of 2 pounds!! Frustrating.

Gonna need a lot of luck, my ten year old keeps getting faster. When I go out running with him it is like holding back a Farrari. As for me I am already running 5k's under 26 min but want to be running under 8 min miles like my hero Juneapple.

Great job this past weekend JuneApple with all your splits being under 8's.

I have been taking a modified Hadd approach to running where the theory is that people either run too fast or not long enough. So before being injured I was trying to go longer at a slower pace. The mistake I made was going longer too quickly after a layoff. The premise for the Hadd theory is that long distance running is an aerobic not an anaerobic sport. Scott, I think you may have said the same thing about swimming.

BTW - The pool went a little bit better this morning and I really think I saw some improvement. I did push myself doing consecutive lenghts without stopping a couple of times and cut my rest between lengths from 20 to 15 seconds. Scott, I know you asked what I meant by shallower stroke and what I meant was not going as deep. I asked my coach how close to my body shoulid I be with my hand and he said I will feel where it is comfortable. It makes a huge difference, my arms aren't as fatigued and I tink it makes other things come together easier. I also tried to work on my body roll and I think I made some improvement there also. Baby steps, one step at a time. Thanks for all the help. James


Edited by JREDFLY 2013-06-17 9:14 PM

You are my hero - Under 8's is my goal this year.

GREAT JOB!!!!

Sweets are my weakness too. As I stated earlier, I don't drink or smoke so a man has to have some vice. Stay strong and we will get there.

You have strange taste in heroes, James. But, under 8 is an enticing (and achievable) goal. I was stuck at high 25s in 5Ks for awhile before I had a breakthrough which was a combination of various factors. My big problem was that my training tended to be lots of the same type of run, but my first mentor on BT, Experior, convinced me to mix it up more with longer slower runs and some (but just a little) speedwork. Once I had a good base built (25m/week consistently - long slow build to that), I added in intervals. The big "AH HA" here was that Experior convinced me to seriously go as hard as a could (like puking hard). Well, I had never pushed beyond 7:30 pace, but I found that I could go sub 7 for a short burst... eventually, even sub 6:30. I'm not sure how much this helped me physically with my training (some I think), but the big breakthrough was mental for me. I didn't think I could go that fast. I had never been a runner, so I wasn't a runner kind of thinking. Once my mind kind of grasped that 6:30 was possible in short bursts, I was pretty sure I could get under 25. The various factors that also came into play were weight (sub 200 helped a bunch), consistency (I really, really, really try not to ever lose my base run fitness), and probably #1 is avoiding injury. Damn that sets you back more than anything... so I always aim far down the road when it comes to running. Whenever I tried to speed things up (too many miles too fast, or too fast too fast), I paid for it. Anyway, run is still my weakness relative to swimming and biking, but it's not the doomsday weakness that it once was and it's been gratifying to see the progress.

Anyway, some of those 50+ guys on Sunday were screaming fast. You can get sub 25, James. Train for a half marathon (smartly), add in some interval work after you've been over 25 mile / week for 4 weeks or so, and lose that extra sack of potatoes. Lots of patience. Lots and lots of patience... which seems counter-intuitive for a 5K, but there you have it.

Stu

I am at 144 this week...

Hey! Two pounds down is good. Remember...it's just a number on the scale. That number doesn't tell you or anyone else what your true physical condition is. How much muscle, how much fat, how your cardiovascular system is, etc.

Finally got in a couple of swims since my last tri. A short pool swim on Friday and a OWS with the family yesterday. 3 mile run and a spin class this morning.

You're right. Thanks. I was swimming at a local lake last week and with my wetsuit (the water's still pretty cold up here), googles and cap, it is pretty hard to get an age. There were a couple of girls on the beach sunning and checking me out so I guess this old body still looks pretty hot.

Been kinda bummed out since i had the incident with the dog. My shoulder still aches like heck 24/7 They x-rayed it but didn't find anything, but it just doesn't seem to be getting any better. Everything else seems to healing nicely. I've been in kind of a depression since. I was just coming off my best performance to date the saturday before. I was getting good workouts, hitting my marks in my training schedule and right in track where I'd planned to be. It's really bothering me. My knee has quit aching but i plan to give it a few more days before i start back running on it again. It's depressing to work so hard to get to where I'm at from where I started and now have this set-back all because some jerk let's his dog run loose. I

Whenever I start to feel bummed, I reread or think about the story of Ernest Shackleton on the Endurance.

Can't blame you a bit for how you feel. It's tough enough to deal with an injury from training, let alone a set back caused by something out of your control like your encounter with Dufus and his free range dog. Hang in there. This too shall pass.

Steve

Yesterday was a workout at the track with the local running club. There are a about 15-20 folks who show up every Tuesday night at the HS track for a group workout. There are all abilities there from 12 minute milers to a woman who won top amateur at the Wildflower Triathlon in California this year. It's organized by a local guy who ran track in college and loves running. He puts together local events and leads the group.

I don't get there very often as it doesn't seem to fit into my weekly schedule, but it's always fun and a great workout. Last night was no exception. We had a great workout and gained some great work on speed.

There were two groups. One was a 5K focused group with the other being folks training for 10K or HM. Everybody runs at their own pace based on training levels, so you have to bring your watch. I found a couple of guys that ran about the same pace as me, so it was fun and very helpful to have someone to go stride for stride with around the track.

Here are the workouts if you want to give it a try:

5K Group --one mile easy warm up, 800 at 5K race pace with 200 walk recovery, 5 X 400--each followed with a 200 walk recovery, all at 5K race pace. 800 at 5K race pace. Cool down.

10K Group--one mile easy warm up. 10 X 800 with 200 walk recovery between each interval. First 5 intervals at 10K race pace, second 5 intervals at 5K race pace. Cool down.

The nice thing about the 200 walk recovery is that by the time you start your next interval, the heart rate is down and you should be pretty much fully recovered. BTW--if you're doing this right, your last interval will be your fastest which means you can't blow yourself up on the first few. You need to set a challenging but realistic pace.

Have fun out there.

Steve

Thanks Steve, I am going put both of these in my training notes and pull them out to do soon.

There ya go! And even though we are doing this weight challenge, I want to give everyone something to think about.

5 Reasons to Break Up With Your Scale


1. Scale weight fluctuates wildly.

It’s good to measure things to track progress – and if you weighed yourself monthly, that might help you spot a trend in your body weight (gaining, losing or maintaining). But over the course of a day (or a few hours!) your weight can fluctuate by as many as five pounds – sometimes more. Food and beverage intake, time of day, dietary choices and activity levels all factor into that number on the dial. (And we won’t even mention clothes, because we’re pretty sure most of you are obsessive enough to weigh yourself naked.) You can lose two pounds just by going to the bathroom – and gain it right back by eating a big meal.

Those fluctuations are not representative of body fat lost or gained. But seeing a number jump up by four pounds sure does a mental number on you, doesn’t it? Weighing yourself daily tells you nothing about your big-picture trend, and only serves to reinforce the next four points.

2. Scale weight says nothing of health.

That number on a scale says nothing about whether you’re moving in the right direction with your health. You want to get skinny? We can make you skinny. Cut your daily calories in half and spend two hours a day doing low-intensity cardio. That’ll make you skinny… for about a month. Until your willpower runs out (as those behaviors aren’t at all sustainable), and your messed-up metabolism fights back. At which point, you gain all the weight back and then some. But hey, for a few weeks, you were skinny!

Is gaining or losing five pounds moving you in the direction of better health? It’s impossible to say, because that number tells you very little about what’s going on with your relationship with food, hormones, digestive health or inflammatory status. And those are the factors that impact your health far more directly than body weight.

3. The scale blinds you to real results.

By focusing so much of your attention on that number in the scale, you effectively miss out on observing the other, more significant, results of your efforts. You’re sleeping better, have more energy, are less moody or depressed. Your cravings have dissipated, you recover faster from exercise, your symptoms or medical condition have greatly improved. And yet, your program is a “failure,” because the number on the scale hasn’t moved enough for your liking?

Re-read point #2, and tell us which factors speak more to your health – the scale weight, or everything else? Those results could be motivating you to continue with your new eating habits – but until you get your head out of the scale, you’ll never be able to see the health progress you’ve actually been making.

4. The scale keeps you stuck on on food.

You associate that number on the scale with one major factor – food. Maybe exercise factors in too – after all, if you ate less (or differently) and exercised more (or differently), that number would start to move. Wouldn’t it? Not so fast. There are other health factors at play here – sleep, recovery from activity, psychological stress and health history – all of which play a major role in body composition. But no one looks at the scale and thinks, “Darn it – I need to get more sleep.”


5. The scale maintains control of your self-esteem.

This is perhaps the most important reason of all to break up with your scale. It’s psychologically unhealthy to allow a number – any number – to determine your worth, your value or your self-image. And yet, that’s exactly what happens to people who are overly invested in their scale. It’s tragic that your daily weigh-in determines whether you have a good day or bad day, or whether or not you feel good about yourself. The scale results can take you from confident to self-loathing in under 5 seconds, but what the scale is telling you is not real.

If this is your scenario, ditching the scale is the only way to get back to a healthy sense of self-worth. Let your actions, your intentions, your efforts and your grace influence how you feel about yourself. A $20 hunk of plastic from Target should not be the determining factor in your self-esteem.
Dear Scale, It’s Not Me, It’s You.

If you’ve got an unhealthy relationship with the scale, the only way to get back to a good place is to ditch it altogether. Donate it to Goodwill, recycle it or take it out back and give it a proper beat-down, Office Space-style. Because the sooner you ditch the idea that the scale is your ultimate measure of success, the healthier and happier you’ll be.

I would be bummed, too! But be patient (yeah...I'm one to talk); you sustained some injuries that, as you know, when we age don't heal as quickly as we'd like. Your good physical condition probably helped keep you from getting hurt worse than you did. It sounds like your shoulder may have taken the brunt of your accident? It's probably going to give you trouble for a while. Hang in there (easier said then done)!

Does anyone measure body fat instead of weight? It would seem to me a more accurate way of measuring how you're doing as you could be gaining muscle and losing fat with little change in weight.

2. Scale weight says nothing of health.

That number on a scale says nothing about whether you’re moving in the right direction with your health. You want to get skinny? We can make you skinny. Cut your daily calories in half and spend two hours a day doing low-intensity cardio. That’ll make you skinny… for about a month. Until your willpower runs out (as those behaviors aren’t at all sustainable), and your messed-up metabolism fights back. At which point, you gain all the weight back and then some. But hey, for a few weeks, you were skinny!

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All your points are good and I really liked this one. It shouldn't be about dieting, it should be about eating the right things, getting healthy and staying healthy.

Thanks,
James

Edited by JREDFLY 2013-06-20 8:19 PM