RunningJayhawk's Mentor Nest - FULL! (Page 18)

Missy - I am glad you pushed through the elements and finished the race...I will definitely be reading the blog for all the fun details.

Cheryl - Congrats on the run this weekend!

As for me, I have registared for the second tri of the year.  It is on June 7 and I am really excited about getting back out there...this stuff is addicting!

I do need to work on the swimming tech.  I have a problem with dragging my legs and not kicking enough.  Tif and I did a streamline drill the other day and I thought I was going to sink to the bottom of the pool.  I know if I can fix this issue that I will be much better in the water and I will not get as tired on the longer swims.

Today was a good workout and now I turn my attention to my second job...the video business...and then hopefully find the pillow early tonight.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Monday!

Hey all! Missy- congrats on the race, I read your race report on the blog, it sounds like you had quite an experience!

I haven't been on the past few days.  I had a pretty good weekend. I did a long bike ride on Sunday.  I reeeeaaallly didn't want to go but I made myself.  I'm glad I did because I ended up getting over my apprehension of biking on the open roads!  I did pretty well, I was pretty sore for the evening. 

This morning I was supposed to run and bike but my body was asking for a day off. So today is my rest day and I'll start again tomorow.  I'm really excited I got the Total Immersion book so I plan to read up on that and I also got a new yoga book for athletes that I'm going to check out.

I hope everyone is having a good Monday!
Erin

Congrats on the great race Missy!

As I posted before I'm still feeling bad about being lazy this weekend and not getting the ride I had planned in. I'm especially mad at myself because my husband and I are going out of town this coming weekend for 4 days (flying to San Diego) so while I'll be able to get swimming and running in, I won't be able to be back on the bike outside for another week.

Tonight is my normal Monday night spin class. I'm hoping I can power through it since I have a horrible sinus headache.

This isn't totally tri-related but I was excited so I thought I would share. After 2.5 years on Weight Watchers I went to my meeting today and my leader told me that I'm finally within the "normal" weight range for a 5'11" woman, with a BMI of 25. When I started Weight Watchers my BMI was 31 (obese) so now to be considered "normal" and not even overweight is a huge accomplishment. I'm 2.4 pounds away from losing 50 pounds. I still have about 18 pounds I want to lose before I hit my "goal" but I'm so pleased that I've been able to come this far.

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish you continued success.

Edited by lghays 2009-05-18 11:56 PM

Margot - Awesome job reaching your weight goals.  Continued success in the future.   I know that can be a hard thing to keep up with.    One of the main reasons that Tif and I got into tris is because we were trying to lose weight and we wanted something to keep us motivate during those weeks when we did not shed the pounds like we thought we should.  Training for tris helps us keep going. 

Thanks everyone   It was a rough first race, but I knew that going in.  It was definitely a great experience!

Yesterday, I did a 2500m swim workout from swimplan.  I have the swim endurance, so now I'm working on technique/speed.  I'm trying to decide whether to continue just swimming on my own, or whether I should take lessons.  I haven't been able to make the swim classes at my gym for various reasons (mostly because it's hard to get there on time after work), so we'll see if I see improvements in the next few weeks.

Tonight, I'm planning on going to Fleet Feet for their women's group run.  My roommate from Galena wanted to check it out, so we're going there together tonight.  It's nice that it's all women, and if you log enough miles with them, you get free stuff!  I'm hoping there's a group there that'll do 5-6 miles at the 10 min/mile pace.

And Margot - congrats on your weight loss progress!!  That must feel great   Good luck with the rest of your weight loss goals!!  I actually finally got down to a BMI of 25 last December, but then Christmas came, and I gained about 7 pounds that I STILL haven't been able to lose   I'd like to lose about 10-15 lbs myself.  Maybe we can motivate each other!!

Today I had a really great swim!! I started chatting with the lifeguard who is also a swim coach, she watched my stroke for a few laps and gave me some pointers on how to swim more efficiently.  She has also completed a sprint triathlon so it was good to chat with her.  I'm actually thinking about doing some swim lessons with her, I checked it out and the price isnt' too bad. I think I would really benefit from the lessons so I can swim more efficiently and also with minimal injury because my technique will improve.  I ended up swimming longer than I was supposed too, but I wanted to get in 1000m and really practice my improved form. 

After the swim I was going to run at the gym but it was so nice outside I drove home and did a short job around my neighborhood.  The run felt pretty good, nothing much to report. 

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Thanks everyone!

I'm bummed. I had grand plans for a nice run tonight but I woke up with a fever, body aches a sore throat and head congestion. My husband was sick last week and I thought I had missed catching it but I guess not. I stayed home from work today and will be resting and napping on the sofa for the rest of the day trying to get better before our trip this weekend.

I'm feeling rather unmotivated today. It was supposed to be a short bike & run day but the wind is blowing pretty good so I think I'll just try some yoga and core exercises.

Edited by lghays 2009-05-19 3:40 PM

Good morning!

Last night I checked out the Chick's night at Fleet Feet (it's an all-ladies run) with my roommate from Galena.  It was fun!  But at the pace we were going at, I would have liked to have run a little longer.  Does anyone have any advice regarding running with people who don't have as much endurance?  Should I try to run the shorter distance faster with her?

Tonight, is strength training day for me. 

Also, I posted my award-winning picture in my profile.  I don't know how long I'll keep it up, since it's not a very flattering picture of me, but I'll admit that it's HILARIOUS!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

..and have a lot of catching up to do it looks like!

Kansas was great. An electrical storm foiled my long brick, but I got everything else in. Got home late Monday night only to then be sidelined by a wicked sinus infection. I'm just now starting to feel human again...but still have a ways to go. Ugh.

Just can't catch a break!!

Cheryl – Congratulations on placing in your age group!! That’s so awesome It sounds like the kids had a great time, too…Any race that serves chocolate milk and snacks at the finish is my kind of event.

Erin – Timex makes a pretty inexpensive Ironman watch that is waterproof. I paid around $30or mine at Target a few years ago. It holds up to 99 splits, too. Here’s what it looks like: http://www.target.com/Timex-Sport-Ironman-Watch-Green/dp/B000P0XDKO... And way to get out and tackle the open roads, too. I completely understand how nerve wrecking it can be at first.

Missy – Great job in Galena, despite the spill!! I promise the upcoming races will be better. I’m impressed with your attitude on it all though! Way to rock the race! Congrats on winning the gloves though…I knew that picture would come in handy sometime or another! I’ve never ran with the Women’s Group at Fleet Feet, but I have gone out with the Thursday night group at Nike and they’ve got some people who are serious on speed and distance that show up. You may want to check them out, too.

Margot – Any luck getting into open water for a swim!? And great job with the weight loss so far. Keep up the great work! Are you feeling any better today?

Lara – Hopefully you’re not too sunburned! It sounds like your husband had a good race though. Does he typically race by HR or by perceived exertion?

Nik – Congrats on getting registered for another tri! I know you mentioned dragging your legs when you swim…you may want to consider doing some drills with a pull buoy between your legs to help keep them afloat and focus on driving your hips with each pull. Granted, you won’t be able to really kick with a pull buoy, but it’ll help a bit with your body positioning to be more level.

Tif – Any idea when your kids will hear back on the AP exams? I’m sure they all did great! But from the looks of your blog, you had a solid week last week. Nice job, darlin’!! And while the 305 isn’t the sexiest of the forerunners out there, I think you’ll have a lot of knowledge to gain based on the data it gives you. I’m not sure if you saw, but there’s also a bike kit you could add that helps monitor cadence, too.

We won't get the AP results until mid July...ugh, the agony of waiting! A lot of them felt pretty confident about how they did, so I'm hoping for a 65-70% "pass" rate.

It was an intense week of training and today is a day off - finally!!! This next week will be a bit less intense but hopefully adding in an extra run. The Olympic plan kicks in on the 30th and I'm ready for that!

The 305 came in yesterday and it's not as bad as I was anticipating. I am a stats guru, so I'm excited about having all the data to use. I'll probably explore the bike kit since my current cyclocomputer is a piece...just have to wait until the next payday...they never seem to come around fast enough!

Glad you had a nice trip to Kansas and your training for the most part worked out as planned. Sorry about the sinus infection...I know how miserable those can be! Here's hoping for a quick recovery so you can get back at full speed.

I think I'll be trying the OWS this weekend in San Diego depending on how warm the water is. My Mom was saying it's ~61 degrees which is a bit cold for me since I don't have a wetsuit. I have pretty good cold water tolerance so if it's around 67 or 68 I'll go for it.

I'm still sick today and I stayed home from work again. I feel like I have a fever but the thermometer says I don't so I don't know what to think. I really hope I'm better tomorrow, I hate flying when I don't feel well. I had grand plans for this trip to San Diego and I'd hate it all to be foiled by being sick.

This is definitely a good conversation to address here...

I find that the days leading up to a race I'm slightly increasing my protein and carb intake. A day or two before I try and cut down on fiber intake, too. I'll also do one or two big gatorade's the day before (depending on the distance)...I've learned to try to steer clear of this in the morning of a race because the sugars do a number on my digestive system...but that's just me. I know gatorade works fine for countless other folks.

For shorter races I'm pretty good with a bagel or english muffin with peanut butter about 2-3 hours before. I've also done PBJ sammiches and blueberry muffins. If I have any sports drink, it's usually slightly watered down. I typically try and drink Nuun in the morning though, even though it offers nil on the calorie count. Other things that may accompany my breakfast would be a hard boiled egg white, granola bar or a luna bar

For longer races (HIM and soon to be IM distance), I'll typically set my alarm around 2-3 in the morning to wake up and drink one or two ensures just for calories. Then when I get up to get ready for the race, I'll do a PB and honey sammich (yes, I know I'm not spelling it correctly...it's just one of my things ), munch on a Luna Bar and if I still feel like I need something more I'll either grab a Payday Candy bar (my "sweet tooth" fuel when I'm on the bike) or part of a blueberry muffin.

One of my biggest challenges is that it takes me a lot longer to digest food compared to your average athlete (I have a digestive condition and I actually take reglan to help food pass through my system more quickly)...so I've grown accustomed to trying to eat earlier before a race and trying to up my protein intake since that makes me feel full.

For recovery after a workout I'm grabbing for Chocolate Milk (preferably) and whatever I can find to eat (hopefully something like an apple or granola bar...but sometimes you have to work with what's available...even if it is something unhealthy like pizza or chips). It's important to try and eat something about 30 minutes after a workout so your body can replenish and repair itself. Something is better than nothing...but it's about making the right choices with that something. There's also a bunch of companies who make recovery drinks (Gu and Hammer come to mind).

What have you done in the past? What was good about it and what wasn't so good? Take a look at the ingredients of what isn't working and see if there's a common thread that could be negatively impacting your performance.

Girl. Misery loves company. Come to Chicago and keep me company in my sinus infection hell!! Definitely rest up so you can be back in your prime!

But 61 degrees is definitely cold enough to make your brain freeze!! If you go, wear 2 swimcaps...it'll help a little bit!

Barb & Margot - I hope you feel better soon!  Those things are nasty

Barb - Welcome back   I might check out Nike Town one of these days, but Fleet Feet is so convenient since it's just a short walk home for me!  I'm definitely going to have to think more about my pre-race nutrition for my next race.  I hadn't really thought about that stuff for this one.

Lara - He made me stay in there for about 5 minutes.  My feet were FREEZING!  It was definitely a lot colder than the lake at Galena, so I actually thought the 63 degree weather wasn't TOO bad.


Tonight, I'm planning on going for a bike ride along the lake.  I was hoping to do that this morning, but I had a poker game last night that lasted until midnight!  At least I won some money

Good morning peeps.

I enjoyed a day off from training yesterday...the first one in 8 days. I'm going to have an easy bike ride this afternoon since the legs are still feeling a bit of fatigue.

Speaking of bike rides...this is hilarious and I have to share. This morning about 30-40 of my seniors decided to ride bikes to school as their "senior prank" and then parked each bike in a parking space in the lot. It was funny to see them circling around the parking lot as I arrived this morning.... It looked like a very slow Peloton at the TdF.