LaurenSU02's group - CLOSED! (Page 2)

Is there room for one more?  If so, here is my bio.  If not, well, you got to see my bio!  Hee-hee!!

My name is Tracy (owl_girl).  I'm a Wildlife Biologist/Personal Trainer on the far northern coast of California.  I'm 35 and married to a wonderful man who is supportive of my training.  (He is quite a fantistic runner and cyclist, himself!)  We don't have any human kids (yet), but we do have three big dogs (2 labs and a german shepherd) and two cats.

I have always wanted to do things that were different from what my family and friends did.  That is why I got into triathlon three years ago.  I had always been a runner and had done several races, so that part wasn't a stretch.  I hadn't ridden a bike in years but that came pretty naturally when I bought my first road bike.  (I have since grown out of said road bike and am trying to save money for a new one.)  I bought a tri bike this past summer and looooove it!  I couldn't swim.........at all!  I took some lessons and then just practiced.  Swimming is hard for me.  I'm really struggling with it right now.  (I'd probably do better if I just got my butt to the pool.)

Last year was my second season of triathlon.  I did a few sprint distance races and my first oly.  I always do all sorts of running races.  I'm in a local running club that puts on races every month.

Right now, I am gearing up for my first HIM (Boise 70.3) on June 1.  I'm excited.....and nervous.  (Yes, I know I need to get my butt in the pool.  Don't remind me! )  In a couple of weekends, I will be doing a half marathon (Avenue of the Giants) as a training race and then the following weekend, I will be doing a metric century ride (Tour of the Unknown Coast) as a training race.  Both of those races will be comparable terrain to the HIM.  I do have some other races scheduled for the remainder of the summer.

I'm looking for a mentor that has incredible consistency.  Lauren, you look like you've got that figured out!   Hopefully I can absorb some of it.  Cheers!

Matt, I'm going to the Chief Petty Officer Academy in Petaluma. I haven't talked to anyone that has trained in that area, but I've been out there before, and from what I remember, it's very light traffic with lots of hills.... just what I'm looking for. Like you said, NOLA is flat as a board (my 25 mile ride a couple of days ago had an 8 foot elevation change. Eight feet.). I've already called a couple of bike shops about shipping, and one shop told me that he will save me a packing box and give it to me free, all I have to pay is Fedex. So I'm definitely going to send it out there.

I'm from Ft. Myers, so I understand what you mean about the flat ride down there too. Not to mention the heat! Best of luck with your training.

x2. Sounds like most of the guys on here are hills-chalenged too.

Hey guys. I would love to join the cool group.

 Name: Josh

 Story:  I am 34 years old and started training about 10 weeks ago.  I have always wanted to     complete in a triathlon and never got around to doing it.  I ended up pulling my back     out on New Years Day and had to go to PT.  2 things happened at PT, I ended up loosing 6 lbs by just doing the exercises in the pool and my therapist was signed up     for a local tri.  I figured since I was going to the gym already 3-4 times a week for PT    and have always wanted to do it, I committed to the training.  Needless to say it has     been a healthy addiction for the past 2.5 months.

 Family Status: Happily married with 3yr son and 1yr daughter.

 Current Training:  I am on the 3x Sprint program and have been following it pretty religiously.        I have only missed 2 workouts in 10+ weeks.  I haven't decided what the              next program will be.  Probably one of the Olympic ones.

 Last years Races: None

 2008 Races:  I finished my first every race of any kind on Sunday, a 5k.  I am signed up for 3               sprints and am going to sign up for at least 1 olympic. 

 Weight loss: Before PT, I was 214lbs.  As of Monday, I was 195.5.  Almost at 20lbs lost.  My              goal weight is 185.  I am 6' tall.

 Overall Goal:  Ten weeks ago I would have said to survive one race.  Now I am decided which               HIM to sign up for 09 and which IM I want to volunteer at next year so I can                       register for 2010.  I am looking for all the help and support I can get and will be               happy to share in my short, but rewarding, triathlon career.

dlswimmer, have you ever tried PowerStep inserts for your shoes?  And what kind of shoes do you wear? i have funky feet but i've managed to avoid problems by having the right equipment, plus some attempts to focus on form.  anyway, check out powersteps:

http://www.powersteps.com/_medical/medical.asp?page=1

if you google around, you'll find that many people LOVE their powersteps for PF.  i've been wearing mine for the last several years, and even though i overpronate like a mother, i've never had PF.   i also wear some serious motion control shoes (brooks addictions). 

anyway, good luck!  i'll trade you these shoe tips for some swim tips .

YES, you are all in. So sorry, crazy day at work, no time to respond now. I am closing the group, but everyone up until this post is IN!!

So excited.

I definitely don't swim a lot, but when I do I feel like I'm just reinforcing my crappy swim technique.  It's kind of frustrating because I know I should be in the pool more, but I really have no idea what I'm doing. 

I've been trying to read through the TI book, but I think I need a DVD or someone to show me how to swim.  They have a masters group at my pool, but they don't seem to do much since I sometimes swim during the times they're there.  It just looks like they post workouts on the cones at the end of the lanes and follow them.  I can complete a workout.. just very slowly.  I guess my best bet is to just fork over the dough and get some lessons huh?

yay, glad to be in! i'll post my bio now.

NAME: lisazapato/Lisa

STORY: I did my first tri in July 2004, and I had no clue what I was doing. I don't know what I was thinking, but I went and did it having never done an open water swim, having swum about 5000 yards to train, having ridden my bike only 85 miles, and I could barely ride at all because I hadn't had a bike in YEARS, and with like, no run training. The day was comedically sad. I walked across the timing mat before the race started and had an official yell at me that I would have no swim split. I almost wanted to cry after that. I broke the rule of "nothing new on race day" and took a salt tab that came in my race goodie bag before the bike. 5 minutes later, I was puking on the side of the road. the med van followed me the rest of the bike leg, through my wrong turns and everything. my 5K took i think 42 minutes. I came in 2nd to last . But 16 people DNF'ed, so i don't feel so bad, at least i finished!

come a long way since then!  i've done 4 sprints and 3 half marathons, and know a lot more now about what NOT to do on race day!

FAMILY STATUS: Married almost 10 months to an IRONMAN! but he hasn't been doing much stuff lately, mostly resting on his ironlaurels. in fact, he just sold his beloved cervelo, just shipped it today .

CURRENT TRAINING: as mentioned, i've been way more consistent in teh last few months than i've ever been, April has been a banner month for me. i just want to be badazz.

LAST YEAR'S RACES: only 1, a half marathon i was totally unprepared for, 2:35 (boo!). other than that, i was preparing to get married and move to connecticut to be with the hubby.

2008 RACES:

Danbury Half Marathon: completed!

June 1 - Tri Ridgefield, Sprint

June 21 - Ride to Montauk, my first century

July 27 - NJ State Tri (CGI Events), Olympic. This is my A race

Sept - something I haven't decided. Depending on how the season goes I'm tempted to try for the Pumpkinman HIM in Maine but I don't want to do it if I think I'll take more than 6:30. So, we'll see.

Oct 11 - Hartford Half Marathon. Hoping for <2:00, but we'll see. I need to be better about hills and speedwork for that to happen.

WEIGHTLOSS: eh. I just want to look like I am fit. I don't especially care what I weigh, but I think if I keep working out I can hit 125 and look like one tough chick. mostly i just want legs that make people think, "them's an athlete's legs!"

I'm excited about this group! Thanks Lauren!

ooh, a fellow geek!  i'm working on finishing in phd in cs right now.  

anyway, you can change your setting so you get emailed any messages.  if you go to your control panel, the link under the BT logo in upper left between "home" and "help", there is a setting 2/3 of the way down for getting automatic email notifications when something a thread changes, and whether you want the body of the text added to the email.  there might be a setting to say if you want to automatically subscribe to anything you have replied to also.  otherwise, you can hand subscribe by clicking "toggle email notifications" or something like that at the bottom of each thread. 

It's awesome to be part of this group! Looks like you guys have some fun races planned...Good choices with the MCM and the Hartford marathon, I loved both of those races.  I may do the Hartford race again, but this year as a part of a relay team as I am training for NYC mary in November (of couse this assumes I recover from the HIM first...)

Ah, gotcha.  yeah, that would be nice, the email thing can be a bit clunky.  maybe you can suggest it to marmadaddy .

as for teaching, i've thought about it.  it's very competitive though, so i have some reservations about that, a little scared.  but i work in hardware (computer architecture), so intel and ibm are always looking for phd's to do R&D for their next generations of chips. amd just started an R&D lab too, so that's another possibility.  it's bad - i hope to finish in december and i still don't know what i want to do .  oops.

Ah, well I just do the typical consultant thing.  I couldn't stand school.  I don't even know what I want to do with my life yet but I'm content for now.  I have plenty of time to train and enjoy triathlons.

 On another note, does anyone have nutrition suggestions/ideas.  I am aweful about what I eat.  I know that it is key to losing weight but I am so lazy by the time I get home I just don't feel like making anything.  I also just love food so I eat entirely too much.

Hi Claire, welcome to the group !

Which HIM are you doing in July? I haven't been to your log yet (so short on time today -- sorry!); are you using a training plan, a coach, or developing your own plan? As you know, more is not always better, but let me know if you have any questions about periodization, recovery days, approaching other races during your HIM build, etc. Once I get to your log, I might be able to provide you with some pointers.

Is the bike fit situation worked out? How is the knee feeling these days? How much time did you take off?

Welcome to the group!

And, before I forget -- get your butt in the pool!!

It sounds like you are well on the right path to having a sucessful season this year. What kind of tri bike did you end up getting? Which plan are you following for your HIM?

It sounds like dlswimmer has lots of advice to provide about swimming, so I'll defer to him on that. I also know a BTer who lurks around here who's a fantastic swimmer, so hopefully he'll stop by from time to time.

WOOT! Welcome aboard !