Oriolepwr and QuincyF's Magical Mys-tri Tour "The Sequel" -On Tour!! (Page 2)

Hi everyone! Ok, as promised here is my bio

I am 44 and live in South Florida, "swamp land"! I am married, no kiddies...work with kiddies though..I am a pediatric Oncology nurse and love it! I have a super supportive hubby who is my cycling partner and manager of my cheering committe. We do have 2 large rescue dogs, 4 cats and a reef acquarium that is more work than all the animals put together!

I have been running since age 15! and have since done many marathons and races of all distances, some adventure races as well. I started doing triathlons about 9-10 years ago. On my second tri I actually got out of the swim  half way through (it was a 1/4 mile swim..lol) as I thought I was going to die!! I was so upset with my self for "quitting" that I made my mind to beat the fear of open water swimming....and I did! now my favorite part of the tri is the swim

As of now I have completed many sprints, olympics, half IM distance and 2 full Ironmans!!! wooohooo...I am totally addicted!!

Last year one week after I finished Louisville IM I was diagnosed with cervical cancer, what a bummer that was! so I have since had surgery, chemo, radiation (I call it bleaching and microwaving now). I completed my treatment 2 months ago. I am now running, swimming and biking again...wooohooooo. Every day I feel stronger and better so my goal right now is to gain back the strength.

2012 goals: Olympic tri (2) in the summer, not sure which ones. Maybe a half IM towards the end of the year but definately Chicago Marathon (signed up and ready to have the pizza and beer that Dave promised us..lol).

2013.....IM....St George is on my bucket list

I am so looking forward to this forum! learning from others and sharing our experiences....bring it on!

Sorry for this log bio...going running now....

Alicia

Bio update:

MEDICAL:  Born with congential heart defect (tetrology of fallot), bypass at 3, open heart surgery at 6 (1966).  Defibrillator at 45 (I call it - WAIT FOR IT - BATTERY BACKUP)  So far lost 13 lbs, and looking to get back to 175 or less.  Currently 207.  I like to think of myself as an anomoly. 

Oh, favorite super hero, Superman.  Though I still have trouble with the landing  LOL

Tom

OMG, what was I supposed to be getting, wine? Oh dear, I forgot and drank it all and then fell asleep. Just woke up.

I am loving the usual suspects back for another round.

Just a catch up on where I'm at...first off, I am fatfatfat, and I just admitted it, so I'm going to be logging my intake and output, AGAIN and try to get back to a more reasonable level. I was deathly ill the week before our spring break trip to New Mexico, but managed to have fun anyway. I never really recovered though and this week my daughter came down with strep...so we're thinking that's what I have and why I can't get better so I'm going on antibiotics pronto.

I am still at war with my ortho who keeps forbidding me to run (and I keep defying him) but my PT and I get along great and I am getting a lot of ROM back and less pain and you know I just keep swinging my arm to see if I might be able to get away with a freestyle stroke. (Not yet, but I'm hopeful)

So got back from spring break and have had the week from hell...Dave can vouch for me that we have a cool setup in the city, but, frankly urban living can be exhausting, especially when it comes to kid stuff...I almost stroked out trying to get my kids into Park district camps...along with several thousands of my closest friends...this is the second time we have crashed active.com's servers...you would think they would have figured out how to keep that from happening, but no. SO two hours later I actually had some pretty good success and then moved on to project #2...deciding on where to send my kid to preschool. Ya, doesn't sound too hard, except, again, in Chicago, everything is super competitive and I have to choose between two options that I like and once I pick one, the other one is gone forever. It just makes you crazy. Every single decision seems so earth shattering.

And for those of you from the old group...I know I shared some about my worries about my son, and he has now been officially diagnosed with a language disorder/speech delay, hyperlexia (early reading), and mild autism. Whew. It's been a long, frustrating journey, but by the end of the week, we had some answers, some camps for summer, and a school situation figured out. Seriously I need a bubble bath and some MORE WINE!!!

And I am basically 20 weeks out from IM (which I still don't know if I will be able to do) so I need to pick a training plan and get some balance back into my life. NOW. And by balance I mean spending hours of my time S/B/R and ignoring some of the crap that's been driving me crazy while I've been injured. ;-).

So, any great ideas for a ultra beginner IM training plan. I've done Fink, and I've looked at the ones on BT. Anyone else have a great site they love, or book, or whatever?

Alicia, I am looking forward to getting to know you! I think you were posting in the injured/sickies thread a while back. I am humbled by your journey and thrilled to hear you are back working out.

Welcome!

Q

Oh, and Alicia, pizza and beer is at my house after the Marathon!!! I hate that stupid race and I just keep signing up for it. Seriously I have a screw loose.

Todd, I wanted to congratulate you on your 1/2 Mary, you threw down a very respectable time, color me impressed! Glad you came back for more...

OMG, that passport situation is like a recurring nightmare for me, kudos to your DH for turning it into something fun. 

Hi,

My name is Chantay, and I am a triathlon newbie, still in the process of learning to swim. I have been running short distances for 2-5mi for the last twenty years(military). Since retiring, I decided I wanted to try long distance. I trained for and competed one marathon last year. I have since decided to try a sprint triathlon, but realized I should learn how to swim first.    I started lessons in Feb. at the Y and I am working my way to the deep end.

Right now I am also training for the Ragnar relay from Madison to Chicago, so I run 4 times a week with a long run on Saturday. I start training for a half marathon in May but I plan to do a (pool) triathlon in July to "get my feet wet" and volunteer at the Pleasant Prairie tri since I obviously won't be ready for open water.  I would like to know what you think of the TI method and if it would help me learn faster. I have the DVD but must confess it's a little confusing to me. 

I am excited to be doing this and am ready to put in the work and have some fun along the way. 

Chantay

Good evening to you,

I was in logistics, mostly Transportation units. I work at a VA med facility in the IT dept now.

Today my run mantra was,

"The faster you run, the faster you're done".

Hi Chantay!  I'm Dave.   Thank you for choosing the tour!          Awesome another Chicagoan!

Which marathon did you run?     You seem to have a very sensible approach towards getting into tri.

 Your running background  really sets you up well for Triathlon.     After-all its all about the run.  Oh wait!!  no it's all about the bike...  and the swim well  there's that part too.   hee hee    

TI-  in my opinion  Terry Laughlin and his TI makes a ton of sense.  He is a great teacher, and when I'm in the pool,  I'm thinking about his concepts.   So I like it and feel its a great pathway to follow.  

Ragnar-  I ran the Great River  in 2010 and had such an awesome time.   Somehow getting out of your comfort zone and  bonding with other hungry, stinky, sleepless runners in a van 24/7 has a way of creating great lifelong friendships.    I feel that every runner ought to do one of these.  Its the quite the running experience. 

SO ya get in here and have some of the veggie tray before its all gone.  There are also some chips/dip   but double dipping is "frowned upon"   just sayin.    And there is some wine over there,  ugh  hold up   no there isnt!   Dang it Q and Jacki!   well there is beer,   WHOOPS!   Ok that one is on me.   Tell you what,  just relax for a bit and mingle.    I'll go out and get us all some more!

Tom-Superman eh?  good choice there.    I really liked Spider-man as a kid,   And since I'm still a kid at heart,  I'll stick with Spidey.       I would love to run really fast like Flash  or swim like Aquaman  but ya know that's all they do right?  what's the deal with that,  and why is there not cyclingman?    I'm sure Superman can do all of that anyhow.

    You are rocking it with your weight.     And your first tri on the 29th   right?   yup just keep it up bro!

Alicia-  World of beer    this is a place I need to go experience           enjoy!     

quincyf - 2012-04-14 3:34 PM

I'm just sayin'

Wow...I need one of those!  LOL...that's awesome!!

OK....first Tri of the season is TOMORROW!!  The Carmel Sprint Tri on the north side of Indy.  Pretty manageable distance...   400 meter swim, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run.  I'm ready as I'll ever be.  Picked up the race packet today and sat through a "novice meeting" which helped ease some of my anxiety about the swim.  I checked out the pool...I'm glad I have a picture of it in my mind so I can visualize it tonight.  It's a 50 meter pool, which I've trained in many times...but looking at it today, it looked so big!  I have NO time goal.  My only goals are to get through the swim without a panic attack and then finish the race.  That much will be a victory!  Anyway...READY, SET, GO!!!

Wish me luck and I'll post a race report tomorrow!

Jacki

OK....my bio finally...

Jacki, 43, Indianapolis.

Been running for 15ish years.  Very dedicated to the run, especially the last 5 years.  Umpteen dozen half marathons.  Two full marathons...most recently the Rock and Roll St. Louis last October.  PR in that race, which was 4:18:17.

In 2010 I did 3 sprint triathlons.  It wasn't a complete disaster, b/c I did finish all 3.  But, the swims in all 3 races were disasterous!  In all 3, I had complete panic attacks...hyperventhilating (I never know how to spell that)...terrible chest exploding panics.  I struggled through and finished, but very bad experiences.  Gratefully, 2 of them were in pools and the other was in a 4 foot canal in downtown Indy, so I could stand when I needed to.  Otherwise, they would have had to rescue me!  Anyway...after that, I focused on my running in 2011, which lead me to 3 1/2-marathons and the full marathon last year.

I decided to come back to Tri b/c I will not be defeated by the damn swim!  I am a bit stubborn, and I'm going to conquer this!  Plus...I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with achieving these goals.  I also love feeling like an athlete, which I've never been in my life.  This has been an empowering journey for me!

DH is also an athlete.  Long time runner like me, and finished IM-Louisville last August.  He is struggling with some injuries now, which is frustrating him.  But he's super supportive of me and my addiction because he shares it! 

2012 race schedule:  Carmel Sprint Tri 4/15 (tomorrow!),  500 Festival Half Marathon 5/5, Kick It Sprint Tri 6/9, Tri Indy-sprint 8/5, Monumental Marathon-full 11/3.  All my races this year are in and around Indy...likely won't travel.  Although...I'm tempted to make the full in Chicago b/c I'd love to come up and meet the folks in this group who are in Chicagoland.  We'll have to talk more about that later!

Personal...3 spawn (Q!!), Tristan will be 16 in 2 weeks, Rachel is 10 and Liza is 8.  Tristan is a football player and is into bulk and weight lifting...not much into running or cycling or swimming.  Both girls dabble in multi sport, however.  I sell radio advertising for a country radio station here in Indy.  DH works for a road race/mud race producer called Vision Event Management.  Perfect job for him!

Enough about me!  Welcome to our new members and glad to be back with the oldies but goodies!

Jacki 

BTW...forgot to mention that my girls (10 and 8) are doing the kids tri tomorrow at this race!  Pics will def follow!

Welcome Alicia!  I loved reading about your early Tri experiences.  Your struggle with the swim...and then conquer of it...and now that you love the swim...that's very inspiring to me, so thanks for sharing.  It really does give me motivation to keep on pushing through it!

The rest of your story is...as Q said...humbling.  I have a good friend who is a breast cancer survivor and she shares your upbeat, positive, humorous approach.  She (and you!) didn't choose cancer, but she did choose to thumb her nose at it.  I LOVE THAT!!

Really looking forward to sharing with you and learning from you!

Jacki

Rock on Todd!  HIM is bad ...but I bet you'll have a great experience!

Jacki

Glad you are with us, Chantay!!

What's your plan for turning in the pool? Also, if someone has to pass you, wait until you hit the wall and then let them go by...pool tri's can be a bit silly with people seeding themselves wrong and not knowing how to pass. But it's only 400, so how bad can it be??? Hahaha, I know, pretty bad.

MOST OF ALL...GOOD LUCK!!!

Jacki, Good luck on the tri today.  Hope the swim goes smooth for you.  Can't wait to hear a report and see some pictures!

Todd

And as I know swimming is the biggest black hole for most triathletes...I just stumbled across an 8 page pdf with the answers to most every ridiculous swim debate ever argued on BT...it's on my training blog links too, but here's the link...

You have to download the PDF, but it is seriously a great piece of info...I know basic swim terms and I learned a whole lot more from this! 

If anyone needs me to cut and paste, I'll be happy to...it's just long and I didn't want to clobber the thread.