kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2011 Part 2 - CLOSED (Page 2)

Name: rizer22 (Jeff)

Story: I have never done a tri, any distance.  Last year was my first attempt at any type of endurance sport.  That started with Mountain Biking, and completed 3 XC MTB races last summer. Had a severe illness in the fall that sidelined me for three months. I now feel better than I have in ten years since dealing with major sinus issues and 11 surgeries on clearing those sinuses

Family Status: Married, two kids (Cole 6, Brayden 3).  Cole just got his first MTB, and will be doing his first kids race this weekend.  He is pumped.

Current Training: Rode the darn trainer 3 days a week all winter, and ran three days a week on the treadmill.  Barely any outdoor riding or running.  We had snow all winter in CT.  Glad that is gone!! Now following the Olympic Bike focused plan here. 

2010 Races: Hodges Village Damn MTB Race, Ashford Norcorss Scurry MTB Race, EFTA Season Finally MTB Race

Planned 2011 Races:  Cupid's Chase 5k (done), King of Burlingame MTB TT (done), 7 of the 14 Route 66 XC Series mountain bike races, Deary Sprint Tri, DKH Sprint Tri, 1-2 of the Winding Trails Sprint Xterra Tri's.  This of course is tentative.  My "A" race this year is the DKH Sprint.  Even though I am MTB focused, this sprint is in my home town, and in it's first year.

This is round two on this Mentor list for me.  Kelly has been a true inspiration and coach.  Her knowledge is just incredible.  Thank you also to the people on here.  It is so much easier to train knowing I have to post it, and having an event to work towards.

Kelly! Congrats! That is awesome! You should feel really proud of your training over these last few months - you have done phenomenal!!

Good luck on your first tri!! Please update with suggestions after - my first tri is July!

I'm in again too! =)

Main goal for next 3mths = consistency. Lack of consistency is my biggest pain in the butt.

I have a 5k run, 10k run and an adventure race coming up over the next few months in prep for the Tri season. Should be fun!

Good morning everyone!  I'm still in FL enjoying the warmth (and my HR is finally getting used to it) although I'm battling a head cold, which is less than fun.

I have a 3400 yard swim this morning, a 90 minute recovery ride (which will be super super super super easy) followed by a 50 minute steady run.  Having my run stride analyzed this afternoon / tonight which should be interesting.  Seeing my swim stroke really helped me and I'm hoping that seeing my run stride will too.

Hope everyone has good weather for getting outside today.

I would like to join the group if there is still room.

Name: karen26.2 / Karen

Story: About 15 years ago I started running as a way to lose weight.  A friend talked me into doing a marathon that first year, and I became hooked.  I loved the long training and the ultimate goal of crossing that finish line.  Unfortunately I kept getting injured, mostly stress fractures.  The last stress fracture was in my hip, and after being on crutches for 6 weeks I decided I had had enough of that.  I had done a couple of sprint tris, and figured the cross training was something I needed to do.  I've been doing triathlons for a few years now, and love every (well almost every) minute of it.

Family Status: I've been married for 23 years, we have a 20 year old son, and 3 dogs - Marlo, Rainey & Harper.  My husband is super supportive and is always at my races cheering me on.  When I'm having a bad day he's the one that encourages me and reminds me that I can do anything I put my mind to as he pushes me out the door.  I may have convinced him to do his first sprint tri this year, and I'm hoping he likes the sport as much as I do and continues.

Current Training: My A race this year is IM Wisconsin.  I'm following Don Fink's Be Iron Fit competitive plan which I used last year for my first IM (Lousiville).  I really like his plan, it worked well last year for me.  I tend to move some of the days around to fit my schedule, but generally hit all the workouts. 

2010 Races: I kept last year simple so I could focus on my IM training.  But I did a 5k swim which was really fun and gave me a huge boost of confidence for the IM swim.  I did the Cardinal Harbour HIM in prep for Louisville.  It was brutally hot and did nothing to boost my confidence for IM.  I also did a couple of trail runs because I love trail running, and then Chattanooga Oly - my favorite race.

Planned 2011 Races:  Keeping it simple again - Beat of the East Half Steelman next month, Chattanooga Oly, and probably the 5k swim again.  Oh and IMMoo too.

Weightloss: I would like to lose about 10 - 15 pounds before Wisconsin.  I really struggle in this area.  I've started logging on Livestrong which has helped, and I'm going to have a RMR test on Monday to see how many calories my body really needs.  I used to be able to drop weight no problem, but as soon as I hit my 40's, it's been extremely difficult.  So this is an area I'm focusing on this year.

That's about it.  This seems like it will be a great group.

What kind of paintings do you do?  My Mom's an artist too, she does mostly watercolors but has been recently focusing on botanical.  Which is very different from her more abstract landscapes & floral paintings.  She's actually working on some botanical certification/degree of some sort right now.  Not sure exactly what it's called but she's taking all these courses and really enjoying it.  Just curious what kind of artwork you do.

My next race is in May, the Beast of the East Half Steelman (I think that's the new name now - it's half iron distance).  I have never done this race, but have heard great things about it.  It's fairly close to home so we'll drive up the morning of.  it's also very small and low key, which will be interesting.  I kind of like the big races, where the crowds pump you up and make it hard to walk when that's all you really want to do.

My goal is to finish.  I'm just coming back from a couple of injuries that have made training the last couple of months difficult.  I was having pain in my upper back shoulder and all down my right arm for the last 2 years.  Some days were horrible, other days were tolerable.  Kept going to doctors and having tests but none of them could figure out what was wrong.  Finally went to a spine guy in February who scheduled an MRI.  Herniated disc in my neck.  So, he did an epidural cortizone injection the following week and that has helped tremendously.  I feel like a normal person again.

On top of that I also did something bad to my hamstring while training for a marathon in March that didn't happen for me.  I've been going to a PT who has me doing tons of strengthening exercises.  He's also doing dry needling.  I had to take a month off from running (which killed me) and just started back a couple of weeks ago.  Still have hamstring pain but it's so much better.

Because of these two injuries I didn't swim for quite some time either, and just got back in the pool last week.

So, bottom line is I just want to finish this race.  Survive the swim, biking I'm not too worried about even though it's supposed to be very hilly (I love hills), and then survive the run.

Welcome aboard!  Injuries can be really tough (as you know) its tough to try to get better and still maintain some of the fitness you've gained. 

Its interesting that you talk about loving the hills and surviving the run.  I'm doing IMLP and I'm working on being less of a power cyclist and more of a cadence cyclist -- that is to up my cadence to 88-90 rpm so that my legs feel fresher on the run. 

Welcome to the group Karen!! I think you'll love it here!

Tomorrow is my first HM - I'm leaving soon and will be childless until after the race. I am staying at a local hotel with my running partner and having dinner with the team we are running with - so excited!! See everyone on the flip side - hopefully with a good race report!

Well My first tri is in the books and here my results. I finished 9th in my group clydesdales

gfin ova  num               age                   total time            swim       tran1       bike        tran2      run

 9   283  87 Paul Brown  41 Bradenton  FL 1:20:25   10   16:21    4:16   15   27:51    2:01 6  29:59

Over all it was alot of fun. There was alot of challenges in this race. Starting with the water it was pretty choppie with about 3 foot waves so it made it interesting for me anyway. Then the first transition is a killer it is about 1/4 mile to the transition area from the beach and you have to wade through a lagoon. The bike was flat with a normal florida headwind. Now the run was ok it was half on a bike/walking trail than the rest on the beach. The only thing i didn't like about the race was the run distance they said the run would be 3.2 mile but it was 4 miles. Oh well! it back to the gym now to start trainning for the next race....

Nice job.  I know in Clermont the wind was wicked strong today.  Wind can be super tough on both the bike and run.

So I'm here in Clermont at a training camp.  With three days completed I'm feeling absolutely horrible with a nasty head cold, coughing and can't sleep at night.

Any suggestions on what I can do to feel better?

Welcome to florida it seems like the wind is always in your face. Have fun in clermont I hear it is hill up there.

Thank you

Do you have Vicks in the US? A bowl of hot water with a tea spoon of vicks added to it, then put a towel over your head and your face just above the hot water. It wont cure a cold but it might help you get some sleep. I have asthma as well and i find when i get a head cold breathing in some hot Vicks vapour really helps to clean the sinuses which in turns helps with sleep.

What to look for in a Triathlon Club?

I have just moved to the big smoke and am obviously keen to meet other triathletes to train with. There are a few different tri clubs in the city and im not really sure what i should be looking for. There is one that has swim and run training close to where i live but they havent been overly helpful in email correspondence (i wanted to see if they trained over the winter months and i got a somewhat narky response about triathletes needing to maintain fitness over winter, but no actual yes or no answer). 

Are any of you members of a club? If so, why did you choose it?

The other option is I join a running club as that is my main weakness and there is a cycle group that rides from a local bike shop so it would just be swimming I would do alone.