MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 2)

Oh, I'm a guy and my name's Matt.

For me that was peak mileage in the mid/upper 60s with a the highest four weeks averageing in the upper 50s. Weekly long run with a backup med/long run of about 12 miles and a speed session (very little of that in the general scheme of things) ala Daniels.

Again, that was nearly two years ago. The extra weight didn't seem like that big of a deal at first(aesthetic mostly) because I was running almost not at all. Now that I'm trying to rebuild volume man do I feel it.

Steve, thanks for accepting me

Funny to read your post, because I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to the race distances. About 4 weeks before my half marathon I will do a 10k which is in my parents' hometown, so a good combination there Also for a peak performance before the actual "peak" for the half marathon in March.

As far as the pool goes: Its a bit hard to rate my ability because I have no benchmark really. The pool is divided into three "sections" and I found that I had to go to the middle section quite quickly because I was overtaking too many people in the slow section. Mind you, these were mostly girls in bikini walking through the shallow part of the pool. My water-comfort is definitely good as I've always enjoyed being in the water in summer, but mostly for recreational purposes. Having said that, I find it quite difficult to just stick my head in the water and breathe every other stroke. My goggles keep fogging, I wonder what to do if I'm overtaking someone in front of me, etc etc. I'm taking in quite a bit of oxygen while swimming but it doesn't really tire me out so much because I'm used to it I guess, but it doesnt make me faster perse, nor does it stimulate to learn proper breathing. I have to get in a "flow" I'm assuming, and should probably focus less on speed at this point.

Good point about focusing on running and biking now, I think this is what I've been doing all this time since I knew that swimming was such a big hurdle to take. 

Didn't mean to make this such a long story, haha! But anyway, I'm glad to be in the group and hope we will all go faster and keep enjoying what we do

Oh and about the Concept2, ja that's the machine we used too (prob 90% of the rowing community)... nobody's favorite machine that thing But a very good training device. I've thought about using this as a substitute for swimming when I can't get to a pool (also my parents have an old model at home), but not sure if it really is comparable. 

Hello All,

My name is George Miller and I'm 41 or 42, not really sure, I lose track of things that are not that important.  Anyway I started racing Triathlons last year and I completed 4 sprints, 1 18 mile bike race and about 4 5K's.  Ok wait a second, does it count if I was carried or crawled over the finish line, if not then I guess I did not complete any .  Ok to a serious note. I'm married to a wonderful loving and supporting wife that cracks the whip.  I did a few duathlons and a lot of 5K's and 10K's back in the early 90's but never did tri's back then because everyone was wearing those speedos and I'm sorry I could not get into one in Public.  Anyway I met my wife in 1994 and it was racing or hang out with her. Well I did the smart thing and hung with her and now 17 years later we have 1 awesome cheerleading daughter Savanna and she just turned 11, we also have a speedy gonzales baseball playing, triathlon and duathlon racing son Evan who just turned 9.  Over the last 16 years I did nothing but eat and be lazy.  Due to family health issues that passed from my father to me I had no choice but to get my act together.  Back in Dec 2010 both my kids came to me with tears in their eyes and asked me to get healthy so I will not die at a young age. Well that was enough for me, I joined the gym and started to race and fell in love with it.  I joined Steve's mentor Dec 2010 and I have been a part of his group ever since.  He really is an awesome guy and full of knowledge.  We will also have some folks from our last group come over and let me tell you they are the best.  They have a huge heart and also full of experience.  I really look forward to sharing stories with everyone and also learning more about racing and health.  Below is a post that was published on Beginner Tri about my story and also an audio interview of our great leader, so if you want to learn about Steve check it out, he is truly an amazing person.

My link: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=2280

Steve Bradley's Link: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1957

Hey Tyler,

We are neighbors, I live in Mobile Alabama.  Looks like we might have a few races in common.  I'm going to shoot for the New Orleans on March 4th, but only doing the Half if I can build up to it.  Also I plan to do Augusta in 2012 if the check book allows me to.  Another race I plan to do in 2012 which is in your neck of the woods Heart of Dixie http://www.heartodixietri.com/  it's on July 28th, its an oly distance but with a sprint swim.  Oh great job for Souther Miss on giving Houston their first loss this year, but I'm sorry I have to say Roll Tide.

Thomas,

I thought it was interesting to see you are from Groningen. I've never been there but have ancestors from there. (It's been about 400 years since they lived there though.) They moved to the Dutch colony of New Netherland in modern New York State.

Hi Steve, 

Don't know what I'm doing here, but reading your bio again is like a magnet.   I missed being a part of your group SO much last year and like the idea of having you behind me, spurring me on to my 2012 goals. 

In Victoria/Vancouver till the 28th and not much computer access, but if you'll have me back, I'll send off a short bio soon.  

Briefly:

59 year old female; not physically active in teens; first triathlon Aug 04; learned to swim that summer along with a learn to run program; have struggled to get a solid run base, due to injuries; running is priority this year.   Bike is my strongest - I live to BIKE!   

Must run - off to Bikram.   

Anne

Hey Steve,

Since we have 2 George's in the group, I guess I will go by my nickname Jito.  My family and most of my friends from childhood call me Jito.  If another Jito comes along then to bad for them, they will have to change their name.

George,

You either have really fast fingers or we have to read your mind

I met a couple of friends for some hill running this morning. Not my favorite thing to do but this is only the second week we've met and it was so much easier than last time. There might be something to it! There are 2 hills where we take about a minute walk break and as soon as we can conquer that we're going to add more distance. I love to see little improvements

Welcome to everyone. I'm looking forward to learning about you guys. Like Steve said, it's interesting that 2  people have biked across the US. So many different backgrounds too

Johanne

gdsemiller - 2011-12-20 8:53 AM Johanne, I have fast FAT fingers so if I mispell any words it's because the fat fingers

DON'T get a bigger keyboard! You can do some finger exercises. Like waving. 

For the ones that biked across the US, I have a few questions.

1) Where was your starting and ending point

2) How many rode with you and did you have someone following you in a vehicle

3) How long did it take. Did you ride a certain miles per day or did you ride till you were tired.

4) where did you stay (Hotel, Campgrounds) did others open their house to you to stay and eat while you were on your journey.

I really think that is awesome that you biked across the US, but also you did it for a good cause. Hat's off to the both of you.

Hey Steve,

My Uncle's name is Jorge, and when I was born they called me Jorge-Jito, but my older brother could not pronounce it so they started to call me Jito.  Yes, using the name is fine. I use that name a lot on several websites and my entire family and a lot of friends call me Jito.  It's pronounced  "He-Toe"

Hey Jito,

I did my ride with a group called Bike & Build, which is is a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness and money for affordable housing causes by organizing cross-country bike trips for college-aged kids (under 25), and they run several routes each year.  Each route has 4 trip leaders who can be over 25, but I think the age cutoff is 30.  So, it's a pretty young crowd, and most of us were inexperienced cyclists prior to the trip.  Most of the people on my route (myself included) had just graduated college and were doing it before starting jobs in the fall. I did the Boston to Santa Barbara route with 30 other people. We had a van + trailer for SAG support, and either camped or stayed at churches/schools/community centers that were willing to give us a place to sleep.   It took us about 2 months, averaging 75-80 miles a day.  One of the best experiences of my life  

If you're curious for more details, here's our trip log: http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/route.php?route=B2SB&year=2008.  It's not an actual GPS log of the distance traveled, but gives you a general idea. Oh, and ignore that it says Maine to Santa Barbara; they changed the starting location of the route the year after I did it.

Tyler, I'd love to swap stories and hear more about your trip too!

-Jo

Jo,

That sounds like an awesome experience. I'd love to do a supported long bike ride someday. 

Are you in the bay area? 

Johanne

A question to all you more seasoned triathlethes...

My first tri is a sprint distance, and at the end of June.  Most training programs, including the ever-popular BT 13-week sprint program, would have me starting my tri training in late March.  What should I do in the meanwhile? I'm not an experienced runner or swimmer, so would like to build up my skills and fitness in those areas, but don't want to burn out or get bored too early by sticking to a too strictly regimented plan.

-Jo

Maybe you can pick some early season stand alone runs-5k's to train for while spending some time in the bike and swim. That will give you some experience in one of your weaknesses and something to focus on that doesn't have the added complexity of a tri. Use the time to build your swim endurance up to whatever the plan calls for the first few weeks.