Scott's Mentor Group-Closed for training. (Page 2)

Congratulations on getting married!  A wonderful journey awaits.  Glad to hear that you have some experience with sprints.  Good luck with training for the HIM.  I think it would be a good idea to do that Oly before too, just to stretch the legs out over a longer distance before tackling the half.  Feel free to post your daily workouts and chime in any time you have a question or knowledge that you would like to share.  

Open water swim question:

As I have mentioned previously, I do have a swim background. I have also spent some time swimming in the ocean on vacation. That being said I am pretty comfortable in the water. With my first tri coming up in the end of May, I don't think I am going to have an opportunity for an open water swim in a wetsuit before race day. How different have people found swimming in a wetsuit compared to not?

The biggest difference that I noticed was the position the wetsuit put me in the water.  My legs were much more parallel with the water.  IOW it put me in a better position.  I had a similar conundrum for my first tri and so I took my wetsuit and wore it for one pool swim workout.  Just so I could feel what it was like and to practice getting out of it while it was wet.  Rinse it really well if you do that.  One pool swim will not ruin the suit.  

Hey guys ... I will be here as well - though work is pretty hairy right now and it is effecting my training/sleep ...

NAME: Paul dengel

STORY: In 2006 I was over 300# and had a near death experience (diverticultis - ruptured intestines) ... a few years and multiple surgeries later I decided to make a conscious effort to improve my health through diet and exercise so I could prolong my life and see my kids grow up.  What started with daily swimming mixed with cardio on a treadmill and stair master - changed to cycles of P90x, muy thai and BJJ training but after repeated injuries from sparring I decided in January of 2011 to start running since my sister and sister-in-law were pretty active runners.  76 pounds lighter and much fitter than I had been a few short years prior I ran my first 5k in March 2011.  I ended up doing alot of 5ks, an 8k, a 5 miler, a few 10ks and a 10 miler ... then I did a few mud runs and decided I preferred something more than a standard running race.  First "tri" type of race was an Xtrerra "adventure race" with cayaking in the place of the swim, an 11 mile mountain bike ride and then a run ... I was hooked.  Did a three sprint distances after that and a few duathlons (I spent way too much money last year) ... and decided I would do a max of two events a month this year but all the races would be "bigger or better" than last year.  

FAMILY STATUS: I work for FedEx as a Manager and have some pretty horrific hours.  If my day goes well I can get in some stellar training, if it goes poorly I am usually too tired to do much of anything.  I have two boys (aged 7 and 5) and my afternoons are spent doing homework and taking them to their activities) - this "season" they are in track and MMA training.  My wife works in Manhattan and works a schedule that basically lets us see each other two evenings during the week (if I can stay awake) and Saturday afternoon and Sunday (I work Saturdays) ... hectic to say the least but we get by - she is supportive of my training, not so much with my race schedule (another reason I reduced this year and will trim further next year).

CURRENT TRAINING: My planned training and what actually happens - rarely match up 100%.  i can get some solid training in on Mondays (my day off) - and I generally log an hour swim, get some bike time and then a run in on Mondays.  I try to get three swims a week (average two), try to do yoga once a week (more like twice a month) and squeeze my runs/bikes in when I can.  Typically I bike between 20-30 miles each time out and lately have been averaging 6-10 miles on my runs.  My typical training week is around 9 hours.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: I recently did my first ever half marathon and logged a sub 2 hour time (1:59), I have another one on May 6th and would like to improve on that time but I am having some odd foot issues that I am battling through (which may or may not be stupid).  This weekend I have an Olympic distance Duathlon and the following weekend a super sprint with a pool swim (I am sorta regretting signing up for this).  Have a ton of races on my docket culminating with a Half Ironman in September.  I race mostly in NY but have my eyes on some regional races for next year (NJ, CT, PA).  

WEIGHTLOSS: I am stuck at 228# - my plan was to get to 210# by mid May but I just can't lose jack - I know it is due in part to my averaging 4 hours of sleep a night - if I can fix that maybe I can lose that last 18 or so I want to drop.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MEMBER: I am fairly active and constantly making mistakes, I will share and hopefully you can all learn from my stupidity 

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Ran 8.17 miles today in an hour and 15 minutes.  All the books I read keep say to try by time not distance - trying to do that - did not push the pace at all and went out planning to run 1:15 ... tomorrow is a swim or bike day - with the kids off from school though ... my plans are basically at their mercy.

Aaron,

Getting open water practice is not as important as getting practice in the wet suit.  As Scott suggests, try to at least get a pool swim or two in your wet suit.  

I've done three pool swims and one open water swim in my wet suit preparing for my race next week.  I've found that if I don't get the suit pulled way up onto my shoulders the suit causes enough resistance on my forward stroke that it can add significant fatigue.  Also, the higher leg position created using the suit caused me to get a little more water in my mouth during my breath.  It was no big deal but I had to make a small adjustment to correct it.

I also recommend using some Glide lube on your calfs/ankles, wrists/forearms to speed up the suit removal in transition.  Also, apply Glide to your neck to reduce chaffing.  

I hope this is helpful.

For me: Unfortunately today has been a very a busy day and I'm now at the airport awaiting my flights to come home so no training for me today.  Tomorrow will be some hill work on the road bike.

Craig.

Good morning, all.

I get busy one day and don't log on and all kinds of new friends show up!

Welcome Aaron, Jeff, Ben, and Caleb! You guys are all experienced in some way or another. Ben has run marathons. Caleb is signed up for a HIM. Jeff has run marathons. Aaron is a beast in a pair of running shoes. Aaron- where does your name DreaminOrange come from? I hope you guys enjoy this group. Like most things, you will get out what you put in. I look forward to your knowledge, advice, stories, and accomplishments.

I hit the pool yesterday for a 2000 yd swim. That is my longest session so far. Doing 2:05 intervals. It whooped me but I finished it.  I have a ride or run planned today depending on what the wife wants to do tomorrow. I want to hit a long bike ride and she wants to go to the zoo. I have a feeling I know what will happen...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Good morning gang.  Hard 1 hour trainer session last night, followed by some core work.  I have an easy 25 minute run this evening and 300/1000 yd time trial in the pool tomorrow to figure out training paces for the next few weeks.  

Since I've been foam rolling my legs I have noticed that I no longer have any wankiness in my achilles, but my calves are as sore as a mother -----.  I can handle that, and am glad that I finally have this thing figured out.  What you got?

Hello Scott,

I am new to this board and new to the sport as a whole. I am looking for a mentor group and any other suggestions hope you can help. Thanks.

Hello Scott,

I am new to this board and new to the sport as a whole. I am looking for a mentor group and any other suggestions hope you can help. Thanks.

Hi Parker!  Welcome to BT.  You will surely find out that this is an amazingly supportive community.  I would love to help out any way that I can.  If you would, please post a short Bio about yourself so other members of the group can see your background.  There is a variety of experience here.  I look forward to hearing about you and your experiences/successes/struggles.  Also, feel free to post your daily workouts, it is motivating to read about the work others do sometimes.  Good luck!

Hi Scott,

Are you still taking people on? I'm a newbie and would like to join.  Will follow up with bio/background if I get in. Otherwise, I won't bother you all with it!

Thanks!

-Matt

Matt,  You are in.  Welcome to the madness.  Would be great to get that bio.  Let me know too, if you have any questions.  Would like to help any way I can.  Thanks.  

Thanks for the welcome, here comes the bio:

NAME: mogboy/Matt Merritt

STORY: I was a HS football, wrestler, track & field and then lacrosse player (we got a team when I was a junior). I played football at a division II school in college. I have always been a LARGE individual. After college I really started to pack on the weight and when I was closing in on 40 I hit a disgusting 350 on 10/10/10 and decided to do something about it.  I started running and did some 5Ks, 10Ks, the Maryland ½ Marathon and the Army 10 Miler. I swam as a kid and I’ve always banged around on a Schwinn (now thankfully replaced with a Trek). I have friend that is a major runner who is just getting into tri so I was encouraged to give it a try. Being a newbie I'm just looking to build confidence and not go too overboard (which I have a tendency to do.)

FAMILY STATUS: I am married with 10 year old identical twin sons. 

CURRENT TRAINING:  Try to train 5-6 days/week.  Getting a long run or ride in on the weekends.

2012 RACES:  Irongirl Coed 5K, DC Sprint Tri (cancelled),  Celebrating Heroes Sprint Tri, Fairland Sprint Tri, 2XRip Duathlon, Nation’s Tri Int, I’m sure I’ll be throwing in the occasional 5 or 10k as they come along.

WEIGHTLOSS: 110 lbs and counting, been staying pretty constant in the 240 range for about 7 months now, haven’t been focusing on the weight as much as the training but that may change now.

Matt, welcome to the group! You will be a very valuable resource to me in the twin department! We are expecting a boy and girl in August. We are super excited and are busy preparing. Maybe some of my tri training will help in having to keep up with 3 children under 3!

What part of the country are you in?

Caleb and Jeff, where are you guys?

110 lbs!!!  Dang.  That is awesome.  Congratulations on that one.  Looking forward to hearing more.  

Matt - nice job on the weight loss!

A - I live in Boston or rather south just off the cape and spend a bunch of time in lincoln NH by Loon Mtn.  Had a great ride up into franconia Notch last week - up hill into the wind and barely moving but when I turned around I was doing over 42MPH....wild.

Had a tough day yesterday - did a sprint for my work out - good pool time at 7:23 (.25M), bike was slow due to the wind.....(mostly) at 34.30 and a 27 min run......felt fine after but bummed about the bike. 

Did someone say ride more - oh yea that was scott.

just got done with a 15 miler - the first 10 in 31:38 so I feel better.  Will do track work later!!

I am from Lebanon, Ohio. Its about 15 north of Cincinnati. Ahutson Looks like you are somewhat close to me.

This morning I did a 2000 yarder in the pool it went well. I took no breaks throughout the swim, First time doing that. On sat or sun I'm looking to get another big brick done (Bike ~2hr & Run ~1:30 hr). We will see if I have time to get that amount in. Last Sunday was my first brick training, I was a little goofy after hopping off the bike but I soon found my legs. 

Everyone Have a good Weekend!! 

Hi

Name is Gareth Hill, live in Cardiff in the UK!!

Never competed a triathlon before, signed up to do a sprint tri on May 20th. Have found this site to be a great source of inspirition when struggling with the training.

This weekend I am attempting to complete all 3 disciplines straight after each other, but not rushing the transition stages (even though they are the bits that are concerning me), and also need to go out and source a wetsuit to maybe try some open water swimming!!

If I could offer one bit of advice, it would be to read thoroughly what other members are saying, listen and learn from their experiences, but at the end of the day have fun, because if you are not enjoying it, you will not want to do it!! Remember none of us are going to set world records!!

Gareth 

I'm in the DC/Baltimore area. So you'll see lots of stuff from the Nations capital out of me. I played football at Pace University.

I got a couple of quick questions, from the newbie, but I'm assuming the answers will probably be much more detailed.

The first one is bike related. When it comes to the bike, in your opinions, what are the great advantages of shoes/clips over just using the stirrups? I've been riding on a road bike for about a month now (was punishing myself on a mountain bike previously) and trying to determine if I should make the jump to shoes/clips? I've been knocking out 20-25 mile rides at least once a week and did a brick last weekend. If I had to stop to change my shoes for a sprint tri I would think that would cost me at least another minute on my transition time? Just trying to determine with the shorter distances if you really get an advantage when the bike portion is sub 20 miles of the race?

Second question is in regards to drafting. I've watched some of the videos and read the USTA rules and it seems to be pretty unforgiving? The 3 bike distance rule between competitors makes sense from a safety standpoint, I totally get it. My concern is when you are in the race, and you are trying to push by someone, and they decide that they just aren't going to let you get by them. In your experience do the judges take this into consideration? By this I mean someone is riding at a pretty set pace of say 15 mph and when you go to pass them they crank it up to over 20 just to stop you from passing them in the alotted time. I know not everyone will do this, but when the emotions get flowing and the competitive drive is running high, sometimes people do things they wouldn't normally.

Looking forward to seeing your opinions.

Thanks!

-Matt

Congratulations Ashley!

As far as the Tri training, you'll need the endurance! You may want to start focusing on the sleep depravation, and multi-tasking exercises as well. As I remember it the first three months were just one constant diaper change after another... (they will never go at the same time for you!) It's a night and day difference to having one, I can tell you that! Best of luck!

-Matt

Hey Aaron - you're training for the Columbia Tri right? Lake Centennial has been very warm from the unseasonable warm spell we had in March, so there's a shot you may not even need the wetsuit, especially since it looks like you're already doing outdoor pool swimming? Just a thought?

On another note, have you done the run portion of that race yet? I did it last weekend and a couple of the hills on the backside were "interesting" is the polite way to put it. Specifically the one on Carillon Drive. I'm not the best runner out there, but I was with a couple of friends that have done multiple marathons and they all had some choice words for that hill, in particular, when we were done.

-Matt

I have never used straps, so I will let someone else take that one.  From what I've seen on the boards though, the clipless peddles are the way to go at any distance.  I believe they transfer more power to the peddles and therefore you will ride faster.  

As far as passing goes:  As soon as your front tire passes their front tire THEY must exit the drafting zone.  If they try to race you, then they will be called for a drafting penalty.  So when you go to pass someone, do it with authority and maintain pace.  Once they have exited the draft box, they can then try to pass you.  Once your front tire is overtaken, then you must slow down out of the draft box.  In my experience this has not been a big deal.  Pass someone with authority, and if you get passed move to three lengths back.  Hope this helps.  

Hey everyone!!

I got another short (mile) run in tonight. I'm still coughing quite a bit but otherwise feel a lot better.  I'll be really glad to finish my antibiotics (Monday is my last day) because for some reason I feel like they suck all the life out of me. Hopefully, I'll be 100% before my half marathon next weekend.

Have a great training weekend!!!

Well a large rain storm hit today and kinda sunk my plans.  I was supposed to do a hill climb road workout then open water swim tomorrow.  So I got on the trainer of an hour tonight.  With all of the rain run off the bacteria levels get too high off our coastal beaches, you risk getting nasty head colds. So will have to swim the pool (with wet suit on for practice) tomorrow.  Then hopefully a short bike/run brick on Sunday.  1st race just 7 days away.

Train hard this weekend everybody!