chichitao's group - FULL! (Page 18)

CHEESE PUFFS do me in every time.  Also I have to be real careful after shows not to gord myself at 2am when only Wendy's or Taco Bell are open.  I have been trying to keep a banana or apple or something liek that in the car so I can avoid the temptation.  Although on Friday we played in the Lincoln Park area in Chicago and across the street is American Dog and I broke down and ate a NY dog with saurkraut and brown mustard.

I avoided the heat and sun (ran on shaded paths) for my Chicago Marathon in 2008 and regretted every minute of it during the race.  The whole time while running I was in the sun and dealing with the humidity and became really dehydrated and started cramping bad at mile 18.

The only way to be fully prepared is to actually train in every type of environment you may face.  If you have a race that there is a chance could be hot humid weather you should do a couple runs/workouts simulating it.  It will also help you fine tune your hydration requirements.  Just be careful when doing it

Great job!!!  I am proud of you!!  Now you have an idea and can set a goal for that marathon!!

And that is one reason I am glad I did not do the Broad Street run yesterday in Philly.  It was crazy hot and humid and I have not been out running in that kind of weather much at all!!  It is still pretty hot and humid today and I WILL head out for a run after dinner.  That is of course if the skies are not about to open up and pour on us!

done and done!

GREAT JOB on all the races from the weekend!!!  I'm only just now getting to checking race reports, so sorry on the delay!

And I know what you guys are all saying about the heat!  Today was the FIRST day it's really been HOT here, and my run was just yucky.  Poor Nadie was panting up a storm, and I made the mistake of wearing my sleeveless underarmor top under a t-shirt.  I thought I would need an extra layer.  I thought wrong!  There's a couple of really nice trails around here, but unfortunately, the shaded path doesn't have garbage cans along it.  Meaning, I have nowhere to throw away Nadie's poop if she decides she has to go!  The other path has a garbage can every 50 yards.  So there ya go...

Anyway, I'm all done for the semester, and not a 1L anymore!  So glad my first year of law school is over!  We went out last night for a couple drinks with some friends so celebrate, so I was exhausted this morning.  That's probably the reason my run was kinda rough, too.  But worth it!  I also did Jillians 30 Shred today, which is my favorite workout dvd.  It pooped me out.  Ryan wants me to swim with him, too, but I think I'm going to wait to start swimming again until Thursday so I can rest up some.

Happy Summer!

Congrats on the end of your first year!!! 

Way to go Erica...one year down!

Good work on the inspires Debbie!

And a perfect example today about the heat...it was 96 when I left for my bike ride at 5pm and i weighed 205.  It was down to 95 when I left for my run at 615p.  When I got back around 640, I was down to 202.5.  Dropped 2.5lbs in about 1.5hrs.  It is due to sweat and this is normal for me, but a lot of people would really be effected by that unless you are used to it.  So, just a major reason to stay hydrated and drink plenty of fluids all day.  Throw in some watered down gatorade/poweraid or go for the low cal stuff (I really like the NUUN brand), just to keep a good electrolyte balance. 

I am officially exhausted.  I've done 3 days of really hard works and two of those days were bricks.  Will be tapering down as the week progresses so hopefully I can be refreshed by Sun.  Tomorrow is half way through the week!!!

Do you drink something like that occasionally throughout the day or just during a workout?

It is better to have some throughout the day and before the workout, as the higher sodium content will help your body retain water.  But on my longer bike rides, I will take some with me.



Edited by chichitao 2010-05-05 8:25 AM

That is some cold water.  Hopefully the air temp will warm up for ya a bit.  I can try to send some of our heat your way.  Those wetsuits are pretty amazing.  Didn't realize they are that buoyant until I used mine for the first time this year.  Did you practice getting out of it quickly?  I've heard that causes people some stress on race day if they haven't practiced it.

Yeah I did somewhat practice getting out of it.  My swim coach actually told me to practice without using the wall as support since you usually hae nothing to hold on to.  I practiced using my feet to help hold down while I lifted.  I can imagine there is a good chance for a good muscle cramp after a longer swim trying to pull your legs out of the suit.

My goal this week was 22 miles and it is going to be close!  I am only at 7 1/2.  I am heading down to the basement and don't have any miles in mind.  The hubby is out and one kid is in bed.  The other kid has a bad cough but won't come to the basement with me tonight.  We have a movie theater basement and the bulb of the projector burnt out last week.  The run tonight will determine if I can hit 22 for the week.  Ugh...I hate the thought of not hitting my goal!

Who is racing this weekend?  Are you excited?  Nervous? 

Hey all, sorry for my absenteeism again.  Life is still crazy busy, between work, commuting, training, sleeping and eating, as well as travel to and from Toronto, I haven't had time to really get on here at all.  I'm sorry.  I will make a concerted effort in the future.  Please forgive me!

My training has been going fairly well.  I started swimming this week.  I have been going every day, and been swimming 1000m every time I go.  I hope to up that soon, but I forgot how tiring swimming is!  I am doing the 1000m in under 30 minutes, including all rests and everything like that, so I am feeling pretty confident with it, but I still want to get faster, and go longer!  I've been focusing so much on the swim this week because this coming Tuesday is my swim lesson with that Ironman that I was telling you guys about.  I'm kinda nervous!

As for your question in one of my inspires, I am still looking into the career change.  My job in engineering just isn't for me.  I am not passionate about it at all, and going to work just isn't fun.  I have always told myself that I wouldn't be that guy who hated going to work, but did just because it paid well.  So it's time to change!  I'm going to be meeting with the school that I am looking into next week, hopefully, to figure that all out.  I'll keep you guys up to date about that!

Ok, I have a bit of a question that I have been thinking of.  I am starting to get really excited for my race, and I have been thinking about what time I can finish in.  I can do all of the different elements in under 30 minutes separately, but I don't know what to aim for on race day.  What is a realistic time for someone's first race?  I don't want to get my hopes too far out of whack...

Thanks a lot, everyone.  Keep up the good work.  Again, I'll do my best to get on here more often.  I should have time this weekend, since I will be in Toronto, and won't be back until Wednesday. 

Hey Pete, welcome back.  Glad to see you doing well and getting the swimming going.  Be careful though about swimming too much to start off with.  You might end up injuring yourself if you try to swim everyday until Tue. 

Sorry to hear about the work thing...hope that gets worked (pun intended) out for you and you find something you truly enjoy.  BT is a great resource for meeting people in all kinds of professions and with all kinds of contacts so feel free to use us or other people on the forums to help you out. 

As for trying to figure out your times in a race...it can be a little tricky.  For your first one I really wouldn't put too much time into worrying about it b/c everyone reacts differently to race situations.  After your first, it becomes much easier to gauge where you are at and what goals to shoot for.  That being said, here is how I tend to do it...

-Figure out your swim time for that distance (just get a rough estimate) then add 1-3min to account for swimming with others, sighting, etc. (as you get more races under your belt, the time you add keeps getting lower)
-I usually give myself about 2min for each transition, but being your first you might want to do 3
-The bike for me is usually faster than in training due to no lights, traffic, etc (in training I am usually in the 16-19 range, but in my races i have been in the 18.5-20 range)
-The run is generally a little slower than i would normally do that distance, but not by a whole lot (maybe 10-20sec slower per mile)

So now to answer Meggan...I have my first tri of the season this Sun and using what I just wrote above these are my goals for this race...

-Swim - I think I can do the distance in about 6min but will use 7min as my goal (300m OWS)
-T1 - 2min goal
-Bike - my goal is to get under 33min (11mi bike)
-T2 - 2min again
-Run - 16min goal (2mi run)

This would put me right at the 1hr mark.  Last year I did this race in 1:04:40.  I am excited b/c I have trained so hard and am ready to see what I can do and get the season started on the right foot.  I am also nervous b/c I have been training more I really want to do well and have more expectations of myself. 


Edited by chichitao 2010-05-06 9:04 AM

Quiet day today...I have a lot of free time this morning but am about to get busy the rest of the day.  I took my tri bike in for a quick tune up and am having them put on a new saddle and get refitted on it.  I wouldn't normally recommend changing your bike this close to a race, but I have this exact same saddle on my road bike and like it way better than what came on this bike.  Figured it was worth the chance.  I am doing this over my lunch break.

So how are the inspires going?  I know Debbie got it done and sure others have too.  Report back so we can pressure the others to get it done as well!  Nothing like some good healthy peer pressure!

I love giving/getting inspires!  Nothing more motivating than that (and the number on the scale...)! 

As of today, I've lost 5 pounds total!  But I am a LITTLE bummed about it, only because I feel like that dumb weight number should be lower.  I know it's healthy to lose 1-2 pounds/week, but I'm way too impatient for that, darn it!  Boo...

ANYWAY, it's looking more and more like we won't have the money to do any races this year.  With all the weddings and wedding events we have, there's a lot of money going down the drain.  HOPEFULLY, Ryan gets this job he's interviewing for on Monday (*crosses fingers*) so that we can do this ONE in August that's relatively cheap and close.

I also think I might start swimming back up again tonight.  Should be fun!

Tim...I can't wait to hear you exceeded your time goal!  You are going to do great on Sunday!!

I am also done my inspires!

Hello my wonderful group....

first off I want to THANK YOU all for the amazing inspires... they really help me through the day..

Sorry I haven't been on much... BUSY BUSY BUSY with school and my last BIG workout week before my OLY.

I promise I will be on more soon!!!

I hope everyone is doing well. It looks like a lot of us are improving and meeting our goals!!!

I am not sure who I have missed race-wise... but I hope you did really well!!!

You guys are AWESOME!!!!

Thanks for the update, Courtney!  Great to hear from you again, and enjoy your taper week!

So I'm off to Toronto for the weekend (5 days), so no workout for me today.  I'm hoping to get 2 good, 30-40 km rides in, and get back out running, maybe 2 or 3 6-10km runs.  Wish me luck! 

This was a rough week for me.  I think it was the roughest of the year so I can't complain!  Because of household stuff, I missed out on my long run on Sunday so I have been trying to still hit my goal mileage this week.  I will do it but it did not leave room for much else this week.  I did not do anything on Tuesday because I went to visit friends and their new baby as soon as I got home from work.  My husband has been out the past two nights and I have been on the treadmill after the little one goes to bed.  That is normally fine but my 3 year old is suffering from allergies this week and has a terrible cough.  Gotta love being a mama!!!  My sister asked me last night if I am going to get another tatoo any time soon and I said nope not until I do a IM in 20 years when the kids are grown!!  This juggling act is pretty difficult!!