Ernesto's group (third season) - CLOSED (Page 19)

Happy New Year Everyone!

And thanks for your service to all of us Ernesto and thanks to the group for the support in 2011. 

I'm slow and my stats for 2011 are unremarkable except for one. Given that I didn't know how to swim before November of 2010, I swam a total of 84,000 yards in 2011!

Have a great 2012! 

Hopefully.  Was always going to have a rest day today - 10 hour shift at work followed by friends coming round for new years eve.  Unfortunately the pool is closed for a couple of days for the bank holidays, so I'm going to try the bike tomorrow and see if my ankle copes...

2011 totals:

Probably quite low compared to many, but considering it's my first real season of training I'm very pleased.  Interested to see how 2012 will compare.

Happy New Year everyone.  Let the challenges begin!

Wow, The end of the year really is here!  I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!  This year was an amazing starting point for my future as an athlete..  I will post totals but they are not accurate because I didn't post workouts religiously.  It was still a great year and I am looking forward to 2012 as it will truly be my first year of dedicated training.  

For me on this day, I just arrived in Los Angeles after a 5 day drive from Charleston SC.  Literally Eve to Eve, Coast to Coast.  The constant 73 degree weather was amazing but I didn't train for awhile.  The Cooper River Bridge Run 10k in Chas SC I PRed by over 6 minutes and it was the 2nd time I ran it.  I PRed in the 5k distance in LA at the Angels 5k fundraiser.  I completed my first Oly distance race...  Bad race, bad performance but I learned so much and the need for fuel and how "mental toughness" may not win the race but it can bring you across the finish line.  Also completed my first HM with a time of 2:15 but I was out 3 weeks prior due to my toes(Still dealing with them).  I moved again to Colorado Springs and 6800ft!  Started slow training to acclimate and now ready to go.  Biggest accomplishment is getting my husband, a runner of over 20 years, and a triathlete, to slow down and run aerobically.  I preached to him what Ernesto preached to us.  

2011:

Bike:   742.72Miles

Run:   418:73Miles

Swim: 22,000 yards

No moves on our agenda and hopefully no children with sever head injuries or concussions to slow me down.  Kids are on board with our training and I've spent a good bit of time trying to help them be independent.  

Ernesto and Everyone on the last forum...  Thank you all!  everyone's feedback, input and own success stories really helped.  Erensto your advice has been spot on.  Thank you!

I'll post my totals for the year even though they are a bit on the weak side:

2011:

Bike:   699.62 Miles

Run:   993.72 Miles

Swim: 3100 yards

The travel I had to do for work while I lived in LA for the first half of this year contributed to the low totals for the year.  My run total was only at the level it was due to doing a marathon in June.  I haven't attempted a tri since 2009 and I haven't set a PR at any distance since 2007 which was just before I moved to LA.  Now that I'm settled here in Colorado and not traveling for work, I'm looking forward to some stable training and actually doing some triathlons.  I'd like to get a PR or two but I'll settle for getting back into shape after 4 years of inconsistent training.  Hopefully the January Challenge will get me started off well in 2012.  Happy New Year everyone!

2011 vs. 2010:

Year-end review:

As I've discussed before 2011 was the year when I learned how to train and started to develop consistency again (in late 2008 and 2009 I had consistency but lost it when my wife became pregnant with our third and lovely Ella was born 9 months later).  My annual numbers were drastically better than 2010.  This was even with a number of leg issues that impacted my running throughout the year and cycling only in the 1st QTR and December of of this year.  I would have liked to have competed in a triathlon this year and had more volume, but I learned a lot and I am ultimately happy with where I am at this time.

I competed in 2 half marathons and a 10K.  I also paced a friend in his last loop of a 50 mile ultra.  The 10K was a personal best and the half marathon in the fall was my best when compared to the rest of the fields performance.  

I plan to get back to swimming regularly and keeping bike and run volume at a consistent and increasing level.

Happy New Year and thank you to everyone and another thank you to Ernesto!

Thanks for the kind words gang, I'm very grateful. As I write this 2012 is already ticking and our challenge is on. Post your workouts today and let's start the fun!

Today: Ran 9 miles; 01:20'31"

JANUARY CHALLENGE

Mitch 1 Day; 01:20'31"

I opted not to race this morning because I didn't want the kids to be alone.  At 8am Scott opted not to run the race with a wind chill of 2 degrees.  We will both run later when it's a bit warmer.  

Weigh In:  116.8   

Waist is 26.25"

Hips 35.5

Arms 9.75"

Going to purchase a new scale today so the weight may be off.

Today, I tried to run off some of the alcohol and food from the system. I can honestly say that I was unsuccesful .

Ran 9.10 miles in 1:19'41" maintaning an easy effort, there's no way I could have gone faster. But a bad run is better than no run, huh?

 JANUARY CHALLENGE

Mitch 1 Day; 01:20'31"

Ernesto 1 day 1:19'41"

Joe P 1 day 57'32"

I wish I knew how much Mitch ran before I started so to go an extra minute, but I'll do like Chris and run around the kitchen for 51 seconds so I can take the lead.

BTW, my initial weight for the other challenge is 184.4.

I weighed first thing...wasn't sure if we wanted to "clutter up" or confuse the January challenge with those of us doing weight as well so I didn't list with my daily workout until I saw what Ernesto and you decided to do.  My daily weight will always be listed on my training log and done at the same time every morning.  We can start another thread if you want with weight?

Mitch - 164.4

Chris - 170.8

If I'd known my wife and youngest were going to sleep until after 9:00 I would have kept running....

Brief Multisport Hx: 12 months before turning 50, 4.5 years ago, i did my first century ride. Since then, i have done 2 to 4 sprint triathlons each year.  last august, i did my first olympic distance and qualified for age group nationals in burlington, vermont august 2012.

Family/Personal status: married 20 years this june to wonderful guy who loves tennis and golf.  he is my self-declared "manager", which means he supports me at all events and keeps me accountable for weight loss plans.  We have 3 teenagers, a 16 year old son and 14 year old twin son and daughter (3 kid clump in 29 months).  I am hoping to survive teen years - what a wild adventure.  I work full-time as professor and physician scientist at college of medicine in Little Rock.  

Race goals for 2012: Finish AG Olympic Distant Nationals in August 2012 in top 18 in age group so can qualify for ITU Worlds in September 2013 in London, England.

Current training:  Bike focus gold plan with online coaching through beginner triathlete

Current Gear Questions:  Is a computrainer a good investment to increase speed?

Weight loss goals:  current weight 138 and height 5' 4.5".  This time last year i weighed 146 pounds so very slow weight loss.  Ideal racing weight is probably between 118 and 124 pounds.  I have been trying to eliminate processed foods from diet for past 2 months with fair success except during recent holidays.

Why i want to join this mentoring group:  By being among those who have organized and competitive approach to training, i am hoping to maintain motivation and learn new approaches to becoming faster.  Hopefully, when my motivation is strong, i will be able to spread it around.

Is there room in your mentoring group for me Ernesto?

You're still in time to join our January challenge that starts today. Rules are posted a few pages ago but this is it:

- 30 minutes at least in one day gets you one point.

- Any race longer than a 5K will give you a point for the day before and the day after so you can taper and rest from the race but no additional time will be computed.

- Only Swim/Bike/Run. Walking doesn't qualify as a run. Running slow however does. When swimming, account only for time swimming and not from the time you hit the pool deck until you leave, recoveries don't count.

- You don't have to kill yourselves, a very easy workout (like a relaxed recovery swim or an easy spin) will do the trick.

- If more than one person finishes the month of January with an equal amount of days in, total time will be the tie breaker.

- We are all leveled on this challenge, speed does not matter at all. Only training time does.

I hope you join us all for the challenge, if you worked out yoday for longer than thirty minutes you got it.

Welcome to the group.  If you're not already make sure you are regularly logging your workouts so we can all help keep each other honest on goals and watch each of us progress.

Question for the group:

I have an "A" race half marathon on June 3rd.  The sprint tri I would like to do (that I've also done in the past) is on June 10th.  There is a different sprint tri that I could do on June 17th.  I'm looking for input from folks who have run a half marathon and then followed up a week later with a sprint distance tri.  The Half Marathon is hilly and I will likely be wiped for a few days after - but assume that my body will be recovered by the following weekend?  Thoughts?

Oh My God, you crack me up Chris. I must admit that when Gabe took on the challenge I immediately knew we were competing for second place.

You're all putting me to shame already.  Today I did 1hr on the turbo.  I also did a short core workout (which I try to do every day), but I know that doesn't count towards the challenge.

On the weight challenge, I weighed in this morning at 81.2kg, which is the first time I've gone over 81kg in over 6 months.  I guess I ate and drank a little too much yesterday too!  I know I'm going to confuse everyone by working in kg, but if we're doing percentage loss it doesn't really matter what the units are...

JANUARY CHALLENGE

Gabe 1 day, 4:12:20

Chris 1 day, 1:34:51

Mitch 1 Day, 01:20'31"

Ernesto 1 day, 1:19'41"

Rachel 1 Day, 1:00:00

Joe P 1 day, 57'32"

On the positive side my ankle seems to be recovering nicely.  I can still feel it's not quite right, but there's no real pain and it coped fine with the cycling.  Hoping I can run again by wednesday for the weekly track session.