Athena/ Clydesdale Official Mentor Group (Page 17)

Walk - 3.72 miles - 1h 2m 42s - 3.6 mph

I knew it "felt" good, but I didn't think it was THAT good. And that time is including turning around to watch a cyclist make the corner at the start and having to stop to talk to Mark about the watermelons growing in our front yard. I figure I probably lost 30-40s between the two. Shooting for under 1h 2m on Friday.

It's so good to hear your happiness when you are seeing progress and improvements.  Your hard work and consistency is paying off!   Nice job!

And a big thank you to leather for keeping this group (that I personally get a lot from) going. It is great to see your progress mate, and it helps keep me inspired.

I am now having "buyers remorse" over my entrance to my first sprint in a couple of months. Man, I should have at least seen if they have a cut off! Oh well, whats done is done. On the up side, I ordered my first pair of tri shorts, which I am excited to get (some 2xu's, they have an outlet shop in Australia with some amazing deals that fitted me due to this gut! Oh well, at least it is good for something.

Leather - Doesn't it feel great when you're done and you didn't even realize how fast you were going?  Getting into the zone.

Run, run, run, run.  That's all I've been able to do.  Already totalled 40 miles this month.  Did my first 5 miler last night in 44:10.  Felt good but it was really dark out by the time I finished. 

Bike is still in the shop but I quickly talked to my buddy at the shop and I know he said Scott would 100% cover the frame because a crack in the the head tube had happened on a few other bikes, but I can't remember what he said for a timeline.  I was in Chicago on vacation and couldn't hear a thing on my cell phone because the wind was whipping me like crazy.  Chicago definitely is the windy city.  Worried that it won't be ready for my tri in September and I'll have to use my mountain bike.  Could be tricky.

First of all, you are welcome.  I was afraid I might be posting too much.

Second, do share, please.  I've been trying for YEARS to justify this gut.  Even on the riot team I couldn't see any benefit to being over 300 lbs.  What it your gut good for?  Maybe mine is too.

ETA:Third, you aren't alone in this.  I didn't think to check for a cutoff on my Blueman Tri either.  The last finisher they show in results was 2:57 something.  So I'm assuming it's probably a 3 hour limit.  Not a problem, as I can do all that now in under 3 hours.  Look at past results for your race,  round up to the nearest hour, and that's probably a good idea what their cutoff is, if they have one.

jonD, It feels amazing.  Even more so when I look back at my first recorded effort and see that it was over 21 minutes for only 1 mile.  And that was the best I could do two months ago.

Hey, if it were me, I wouldn't quit riding while I waited for Scott to replace the frame.  I would still get my miles, just on the mountain bike.  Lots of us newbies use them for our first few races, or so I've been told.  This way you are still getting the saddle time, maintaining variety in your workout, and if your road bike is ready in time, great.  If not, at least the ride on the mountain bike won't totally suck.

I was just thinking about how leatherneck is doing, and I was going to PM you. I see this thread is quite active, and I need to be in it. 

I was hoping to come out to cheer for you on the 13th of october - it turns out that since I was the organizer of the first 5k in our town, there is a sudden interest in putting them on, and there are people from my church hitting me up to get them started. I will probably be doing the timing for a run that day. I feel like the Fred Lebow of Richfield. It's nice. BUT it means I can't come out to that finish line. Know that I will be with you in spirit, and checking online later in the day. 

As for my training, if anyone has seen the embarrassingly long, epic thread I started on the main board - I will be back to riding very soon, as soon as my donor bike gets a visit to the shop. I'm running, with a 1/2 mary in a couple weeks. My 5k swim was brutal, but got it done. I have a HIM in October. Ambitious is the word. 

Bike - 9 miles - 40m 55s - 13.1 mph

This was one of those workouts where you congratulate yourself for just being able to dig deep and stay the distance.  I wasn't into my third mile and my knees were already burning.  And that doesn't make sense because I went out easier than I have the last few times.

Anyway, I toughed it out.  Made the mistake of acquiescing to my knees and slipped into granny gear (1-3) for that little climb at the end of the ride.  BOY, is that slow!  Toughed it out in 2-3 for the second lap.

Almost had my first crash today, and it would NOT have been pretty.  I have to cross four sets of railroad tracks on my ride.   The first crossing is a double set at about 45* to the road path.  I often swing wide left and try to come at them as close to square as possible.  But today, I knew that I was behind on time and took them straight with the road on the second lap to shave a few seconds.  The second set bounced my front end and redirected me onto the railbed and then the road shoulder.  I VERY narrowly missed going over the embankment.  That would have H-U-R-T!!  That sort of took the adrenaline out of me for the immediate future and slowed me further.  I am happy to say that I re-grouped and got back in the game for the back half.  Times averaged 13 mph for the last half of the second lap.

I think I might invest in a bike computer so I can just glance down and see my pace and distance.  Riding alone every day bites.  I'm competitive by nature (as if you couldn't tell that) and since i have no one to ride with/compete against it's just me.  Normally not a problem, but I can't gauge my progress on the cell phone until I have finished the route.  And then it's too late.  I need to be able to glance down and see that "Hey bozo, you've dropped below 13.5 mph.  Giddy-up boy!"

Very few, if any, of the sprints I have done have a cutoff.  I bet you'll be fine.  Either way, I am sure you'll surprise yourself!  

That would have been cool, but in spirit is cool too.  Thanks for the thoughts.

I tried to find your "epic" thread, but the search feature won't deliver.

Wouldn't you believe it, exactly one month before my first Oly tri, I spent about 30-40 minutes in incredible pain at 3 am, and I think I passed a kidney stone.  The sympoms match and my Dad's had them before, so I've got the genetic link.  I've never been so close to calling 911 as I was last night, wow!  Need to check in with the docs, but I'm not doing my planned 3.4 mile run tonight as I'm still feeling a bit "tender".  The things I'll do to get out of running, but this one was a bit extreme, even for me?!? 

Good Morning All!!

Well almost got my biking to 14 mph, and I jogged about half of my 1 hour walk/jog this morning. Felt pretty good just some left knee and heel pain. Not bad for a 356 pounder. Don't dare weigh myself incase I have not lost anything, not sure if I can handle the set back. The weight was taken before I started training so I'm chicken. Can Yeti's be chicken or do we just taste like chicken not sure? 

Sorry had to share, small gains but they are gains. Just keep moving.

Have a great day and training!!

scott, this is fantastic.  One of my "teacher magazines" had a page this month on walking/riding to school.  In 1965 they say that 60% of American kids either walked or biked to school.  That number is now down to 5%.  Imagine how fitness in our kids would climb if we would all just stop dropping them off on our way to work.

Even better, think of the example you are setting for your little miss.  In a year or two you can just ride alongside while she pedals to school.  Of course, a few years after that you'll have to turn off a few blocks before the school, but you have the chance to ingrain the exercise habit on her at a very early age.

Aaah, to be a weatherman  ,,,,,  the only job in the world where you can be wrong more often than not and still keep your job!

Yeti, great riding.  I can't seem to break that 13.5 mph plateau.  And then you walked/jogged after that!?  I'd be too worried about overdoing it.  I don't dare trot yet.  Every time I try it I go lame for a couple of days.  I have chondromalacia in both knees from my days on the riot squad.  I know I need a strengthening PT program and several weeks of rest to ease it, but I only have 48 days until  Blueman.  I know me, I will try to sneak in some trotting during the race.  I'm planning R&R plus PT for after that date as part of my plan for a spring Oly.

For the time being my pre-race program will remain 3 walks, 3 rides, and 3-4 swims a week.

Walk - 3.75 miles - 1h 1m 14s - 3.7 mph

Days like this make it so easy to get STOKED!!  I posted Wednesday that I was aiming to drop 42s and break the 62m mark.  Well, I think I did that quite convincingly.  I needed to shave 43s and I chopped more than twice that off, 88s.  It's a good thing I don't have another walk until  Monday.  I'll need the rest to post that time again.

I really need to get my Ironman watch back so I can see accurate splits while training.  My analog Bulova is simply not accurate enough reading on the fly.  What I really want is a Timex Global Trainer but I can't part with the $200 just now.  I mean, I just tied up $1500 in my road bike.

Swim - 1400 yards - 14m 45s

I really upped the distance today. I split my previous workout (500 warm-up and 500 cool-down) and inserted a 400 as my distance work.  And I got my 400 yards in 4m 45s.  I'm not going to lie, it kicked my butt!  I can't believe that I used to be THE man for the 1000 and the 1650 on my college swim team.

2x50 w/~30s rest
2x100 w/~55s rest
2x200 w/~45s rest
1x400 w/~1m15s rest
2x200 w/~45s rest
2x100 w/~50s rest
2x50 w/~30s rest

Great job Leatherneck!!!!

Whish I could swim like. Keep up the great work.

Finally broke the 20 mile barriar on the bike Woot 24.48 in 1 hour 45 minutes.

Hope everbody has a great  day and training!  Just keep moving! 

Bike - 9 miles - 37m 21s - 14.4 mph

WOO-HOO!!!  Raised the tilt on the handlebars just a bit more and topped off the tires at 120 psi with my new pump.  No more sleeping fingers, although the hands still need to be shook out every now and then.

I smashed my old PB by over 2 minutes for this ride.  I have to be honest about this though.  Cindy was riding her bike on the same loop, although in the other direction.  After I passed her the first time I was determined to pass her at least once more before she got home.  (I am so-o-o competitive!)  As a result I increased my average mph by over 1 mph.

Tuesday I will step it up to the 13.5 mile race distance.  Hoping to hit an 18 mph pace before Blueman.

great to hear everyone's progress!

Just got back from vacation, didn't get in any official workouts but we walked EVERYWHERE, my feet definitely felt it so hopefully net it isn't too negative (I'm sure eating out all the time definitley didn't help). Earning season is also over at work so hopefully I can get back in the groove. 337 days until Lake Placid!