Mesteren's Group - CLOSED (Page 2)

Good Morning everyone.

BREAKTHROUGH DAY!

When I went to bed this evening I was sure that I would be dog paddling my way through the first leg of my first triathlon. When I woke up this morning to go to swimming class( I was rushing cause I was late!) I decided I was going to figure this swim thing out. My front crawl improved so much. I swam 650 yards today. It was fantastic.

I do have a question though. I have been swallowing way too much water. My instructor says my form is looking great but just keeps telling me to pull my chin up higher so that I don't drink so much water (during the front crawl).

any suggestions?

Hi...I would love to join your group.

Short History...

52 year old female.  I have been biking for the past 2 or 3 years.  This Jan. I started swimming and LOVED it.  This lead to...Hey, I think I'll train for a Triathlon. 

I swam everyday until the end of March to get my swim stronger.  Staring in April, I swim one day, bike the next, run the next, and I do strength training on the eve of my swim day. 

Swim...40 laps.  10 of drills with fins, 20 laps no fins, 10 of drills.  Lap = 50 yards.

Bike..15 to 20 miles on road bike, spinning bike for 45 mins. if bad weather.

Run...no running background, so started the "couch to 5K" last week.  This program gets you to running 3 miles in 9 weeks.  It's my weakest event.

I am registered for a tri on 7/24...Danskin Women's Tri in webster Ma.  I have a partner I stalked at the local YMCA who seems like they were training...and she was not, but now is going to.  She already does all 3 sports..has been for about a year.

I try and take a day off a week to rest my body.  I loved swimming every day, but I realized it was exhausting me when I added the biking and running to my routine. 

I have kept a spreadsheet of my training that I can forward you but going forward, if you accept me, I will log online in the website.

I read the book "Triathon for Girls like Us" as well.  I have the USAT training guide that I also have read thru.  I joined the North Shore Tri Team in my area and will join them for misc. group training events once they get in full mode...but it's mostly younger people than me so i am nervous.

Let me know how to proceed.

Judy

Awesome job Joel, CONGRATS!!!!  I used to have the same swimming issue of swallowing too much water.  As Mesteren suggested, you might try rotating a bit more.  That is what helped me. 

Welcome Judy!!  I have heard lots of really good things about the Danskin tris.  I wish they would hold one here in Oklahoma. 

Did a short 30 minute spin at the gym this evening, then had to get home to take care of a sick kid. 

Had a good day here today - biked 20 miles, my longest ride this year so far. It was very pleasant, if not so warm as yesterday. Strong headwind going out -  I felt like I could hardly go forward! It was better on the way back, just the occasional crosswind - 3 mph faster on the way back.

Just have a short run to do tonight, and I will keep it short. I should spend more time running as it's my weakest area, but I try to keep my runs in line with the plan so I don't hurt myself overdoing it. I'm better than I was a couple of months ago, but I sure could use some help in that area.

Awesome job Joel. Sounds like your getting the hang of the swimming thing. And welcome Judy.

I spent my evening riding on the trainer again. Good thing i have the dog as company in the front porch lol. Sadly he fell asleep watching me. But I lasted 45 minutes in desert hot conditions, somebody turned on the woodstove. Ill be one happy girl when I get to ride outside. 

Mesteren asked me about training in Taiwan.  So here goes...

Taiwan is a fantastic little island.  I won't so it's paradise or anything, but it's a very nice place to live.  You can ride/ run outside all year long.  A COLD winter day is around 10 degrees Celsius.  Mind you, this feels a lot colder than 10 degrees does back in Canada.

There are lots of little running paths / biking paths, and plenty of roads with bike lanes (although these often become scooter parking lots!)  I've also found a few very nice dedicated bike paths in the area that I am planning to begin using a lot more.  The best one I have been on so far was at least 10km long (pretty sure it goes another 40 ~ 50) and I only had to cross a small road once, and do a couple short dips and climbs under other major roads.  It's pretty much uninterrupted riding.

Mesteren asked why I always run at school... this is more of a time issue than anything else.  I often teach private lessons in the evening, and by the time I get home, put my daughter to bed, and everything else, I'm totally beat and have NO ENERGY to run.  If I run at school during lunch, or immediately after school I can squeeze a run in, and not miss doing anything else that needs doing.  Hopefully, beginning next week, I'm gonna be able to sneak into the school pool 2 ~ 3 days a week for free swimming at lunch!!!

I've just signed up for my first real triathlon too ( I saw my name on the registered page a moment ago).  June 19th, here I come!

• Pump the tires !  It says on the side how much pressure they can handle, typical 100-120 psi (Road/tri-bikes, MTB's are around 65 psi). If it is dry go with the highest number and deduct 10 psi. Have you been riding with to low pressure you will feel a huge different. You will not believe how many people just feel the tire and thinks this is enough even though they could easily put another 30-40 psi in.
• Make sure the chain is clean and oiled. This is normally something the people who show up on MTB's and old road bikes don't check, as the bike is so old they don't expect to go fast anyway. Well, rusty chains breaks quite easy when you put a lot of pressure on they like say in a competition !!!
• Check that the break pads are not touching the wheel

Hi Mentor Groupies!

     I DID IT! I am now a triathlete. Completed the Rookie Tri in Austin, Texas and had a freaking blast doing it. I even smiled for all the race photographers! I finished in 1:19:54, placed 17 in my AG and 196 overall (of a field of 811). Not bad for a Rookie!

    The best part, that surprised me the most, was the swim. I was not very confident in my swimming going into today, but did better than I thought I would. I was aiming for 10-12 minutes, but was out of the water in 7:35. Nuts. And I was actually enjoying the swim. The water felt nice and I kept a stable breathing rhythm. And I was completely relaxed. Almost zen like. Crazy. 

     The bike part was hilly, but I had rode it a few weeks before with a friend to get a workout/test the course. My goal for the bike was to stay on the entire time, even if it meant going super slow. But I made it up all the hills. The only downside was that my front shifter decided to fail and caused my chain to fall off the ring and get stuck about 100 feet or so from the dismount. But at least it was close enough for me to run to the end. Recovery successful. 

     The run wasn't too bad. I did slightly better than I thought, as my race pace wasn't that off from my normal pace. I probably started off too fast, and was a little amped from my bike mishap. But then I took it down a notch, and uped the pace slightly about 1/4 mile in. 

      Running down to the finish line was amazing. Seeing and hearing my friends cheer me on was the best feeling ever. My Facebook was littered with congratulatory messages. I called my parents once I left the race to let them know their little girl was a triathlete. I'm so lucky to have such amazing people supporting me in my life, and all my endeavors. And a great forum/site like this to inspire me and share the same passion for an active life! Thanks everyone! 

Congratulations!! You did awesome.

Me on the other hand am glad that i kept my bike on the trainer with a snowstorm today.

Last week I ended up with to much obligations. Which *ucks kinda as it takes away valuable tri time . Good thing was that I could borrow a scooter (I guess that is the correct translation) for a few days. I used it to scooter 10K a day during a 3 day course in Amsterdam. Quite a fun wokrout by the way.

I was also able to join my first outdoor bike training (sorry mesteren. weather is great over here as well maybe moving is an option). That was real fun. And I immediately learned I need to train on pacing myself. During a interval session (3 * 2.5K with 0.5K recovery) I gave it a bit to much. We started with an interval of 15 seconds. Andof course my mindset switched in the mode: everything is a match!! So I had to go and beat everyone in formt of me making sure nobody passed me at the back.

I already feel sorry for myself I will have to miss next training due to a meeting.

A question to everyone: How do you combine training with a club with a personal training plan. Do you just follow a fixed plan or are you tailoring it to the training you already have putten in?

CONGRATULATIONS REBECCA.....THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!  What a great job on your race! 

HollyW - 2011-04-19 4:52 AM I hope everyone had a great weekend & a happy Monday!  We had some beautiful weather on Saturday so I drove up to the lake & went for a nice 9.5 mile run. Then I had one to  many "recovery" margaritas Saturday evening so unfortunately Sunday was a bust.    I did however hop on the bike this evening after I got home from work and managed to get 21 miles in before it got dark.  

Woop woop. Gotta love the spring. Had Run training at the track today. Was loving it running in short shorts and a shirt. We had some 3K's to run. Since I'm recovering from a knee pain I only did 2 of those. But none the less it was awesome. Just keeping a steady rythm and a garmin telling you the pace is just right.

Tomorrow it will be 20+ C and I'm off from work. again woop woop gotta love spring. And margaritas!!!