Tri Mommy Tri Beginner Mentor Group - OPEN (Page 2)

and I LOVE to talk swimming... obviously.  I will talk your ear off about it.  But a not swimming question...

Any advice on how to calm a teething baby so momma can get a nap and daddy can go for a run?

Oh, sorry I can't help you with the teething baby. My daughter is 26. It's hard to remember back that far!

Thanks for all your swim talk. I don't know what Total Immersion is... but I will look into what's available for lessons.

Good luck with the baby!

Ruth

Here's the TI website...  http://www.totalimmersion.net/

Yeah, we had six month vaccinations today and teeth that should be ready to pop out.  Gonna be a fun night.

I found when I was nursing drinking lots of chamomile tea helps, when I finished nursing I rubbed it on their gums.

Hi,

I would love to be part of your group. I am a 45 year old social worker, mother of two.  I have always been active but never a competitive athlete. I started running 5k's a few years ago by doing a Girls on the Run race with my daughter. Once I knew I could run a 5k, I decided to try a sprint tri! I have done 4 sprints over the last 2 years.  I plan to do 2 more in 2013 and would like to work up to an Olympic distance. 

I am pretty slow, especially on the run (9.5-10 min miles). I usually finish toward the top of my age group on the swim, average on the bike and just below average on the run. I don't have anyone to train or race with - am doing all of this on my own so any support would be great!

Thanks, Mary

Parker - there is a bra for that! I found it when I was a DD after my kids were born (they are 15 and 13). Inner part is an underwire, outer layer is the compression type. 

Muscle Moma,

What is the compression layer ?

Right now I am a 36FF I have gone up a cup size as I have put on some weight. For the marathon I used an under wire with  another tight Nike bra top over it,  along wiht a sports top with build in bra. Support worked as I was walking . Under wire cut and chaffed me to bits so not sure I would use an under wire again ! The heat is also a factor. The coolest it ever gets is 29 C so wearing too many tops just gives me a headache from over heating. Never heard of  a compression layer that might work. Can you send me a link I would have to order online.

Thanks.

I have the "silver" plan here, and I'm currently using a 1/2 Ironman one. It is pretty good. When I did my first sprint, I did not use a plan. I simply ran 3 days a week, biked 3 days a week, and swam 4. One of those days I would run longer and another I would bike longer. I also started doing a short run EVERY SINGLE TIME I came off of the bike. Sometimes, when tired or time-crunched, it was very short....like a 1/2 mile, but usually it was around 2 miles. A friend gave me that advice, and I really think it helped me a lot. In the beginning I found the transition really tough on my legs, but after a while I got used to it. I did use a plan in training for my International distance. It was one of the free ones here. 

As far as your bike situation, the upright bike at your gym is fine to start, but you are going to need to get a bike (and a trainer for inside times) eventually. I don't think the upright will get you all the way to where you want to go. I certainly think you can ride 13 miles or so in a sprint, but you aren't going to have the same variety of hills, weather, etc. You also don't develop the same upper body needed for road biking riding on a bike in the gym. Just go slowly though. You have time. Use your gym for now and give yourself a goal of getting a bike. 

There is a great website for building up your swimming (www.swimplan.com). You can get a free account and get all kinds of workouts. This will be helpful as you move from a person who can swim to a swimmer! You will see very quick gains in the pool. It's funny, many are most afraid of the pool, and at first it is hard, but it is amazing how quickly you get better.

I just finished reading Meredith Atwood's book (she's the Swim Bike Mom blogger). I think it is a great book for a beginner. There is a ton of good advice, but it is also very funny and makes you KNOW that you can DO IT!

Welcome! It's funny that you should ask about nursing. I was a CRAZY breastfeeding mom to all of my kids. The least amount of time I nursed was 18 months (longest was 2 1/2 years....I'm crazy). I did lots of exercising through nursing. The most important thing that you can do is drink LOTS of water. Drink WAY more than you think. As long as you drink, nothing will happen to your nursing supply. Remember, back in "the day" women worked in the fields and carried babies on their backs all day. They nursed as the sole nourishment. Our bodies were MADE to nurse babies.

It sounds like you are right at the beginning of things, which is an exciting place to be. FIRST, sign up for your race. Nothing will make you workout like money on the line! Once you do that, start off by varying your discipline (swim, bike, run) throughout the week. Try Couch to 5K for the run training. You can start the biking on a stationary bike. Just get in the pool and swim laps. As you get stronger in each area, check out some of the free plans on Beginner Triathlete. To begin with though, just get moving. Give yourself a day off per week, but try on other days to do something, even if you just walk. You have a long time to get ready, so I know you can do it!

Welcome, Mary! I know what you mean about training alone. I do have a marathon training group that I run with and a group that I cycle with some, but I feel like most of my work is alone. As you get to longer distances, the cycling part can get so boring that it seems more difficult. I wish there was a way to avoid that, but I don't think there is. When I moved from sprint to Olympic, I found that the biggest difference was that I couldn't go quite as "balls to the walls" (pardon the expression) as I could in sprint. Sprints are an all out SPRINT in my world, but I think you have to conserve more for Olympic. Are you using a training plan or just following what you did before?

Does your wife nurse? I found LOTS of nursing just calmed things during teeth cutting stage. They just need some close time. There are also some great organic teething gels. I can't remember the names off hand, but I certainly used a few. Poor little baby!

My poor son had/has the worst time of it: weeping open wound rashes, swollen blood-blistered gums, red cheeks, low fevers, crankiness.  Baby ibuprofen is the only thing that really helped him nap and sleep.  I think the pain relief combined with the anti-inflammatory (NSAID) helped.  However, I don't really like to give the little ones meds.  If you haven't already, try a frozen wet washcloth to gnaw on.  When mine were babies, they liked chewing cloths anyways.  When my son got bigger we put ice cubes into one of those mesh feeders for him to chew/suck, then put a little water on it so it wouldn't stick to his lips.  He loves it still at 1 1/2.  You could even try frozen juice if plain ice isn't appealing.

Hi!  Would love to join in here if there's still room.  I'm a nearly-newb triathlete, having done my first race in late November.  My "introduce yourself" thread is here, and my first race report is here.

Current status: As a non-runner prior to this past year, I've put much of my focus on building up a solid mileage base.  I was up to about 5 miles as of late, but I've been bit by the injury bug this past month in the form of calf muscle soreness that gets better between runs, but progressively worse each time I run. Been doing some reading and I suspect I'm dealing with a soleus strain, but I won't know until it's evaluated by the ortho doc on Monday. I'm more than a little frustrated by this, as the pool I swim in has been closed for a remodel (I think they re-open later this week), so swimming has been put on hold in the interim. Biking has also been kind of hit-and-miss lately--I'm pretty much stuck with the trainer this time of year, and I was buried with work over the holidays.

Near-term goals: I'd like to do a couple sprints this year, and I'm signed up for my first 10k race in London this May. I'm the world's slowest runner, but I've grown to like it (when I'm not hobbling around, that is), and I see that as a major accomplishment. Might eventually work up to olympic-distance tris, but I'm in this primarily for the fitness and the fun.

Personal: I teach business at a nearby state university and do some small business consulting when I'm not in the classroom. No kids, but I also lead somewhat of a double-life as a musician, so time is always an issue. I'm married to another musician (non-triathlete, but very supportive), and am owned by a couple of elderly Australian Shepherds.

Take care and best wishes for a productive year!
-Leanne

She does, and it seems that's been the biggest help so far.  The kid actually was sleeping 10 hours a night at one point.  Now we're back to 2-3 hours, nursing, 2-3 hours, nursing.  The vaccinations yesterday probably didn't help the cause last night either.  He always gets a little fussy after them.  We are going to try frozen peach slices in one of those mesh feeder things.

I had planned to go for a short run this morning.  I'm trying to start back slowly so as not to burn myself out.  Short trainer rides, short runs, maybe throw the wetsuit on and hit the lake some.  No real specific training plan until I get a little fitness and time management skills back.  Well, we got woken up at 10:00, 12:00, and 3:00... and I wanted to punch my alarm clock in the face when it went off at 5:00.  

However, it should be sunny and in the mid 40s with little wind around lunch time today... so no excuses.  Actually, there will be plenty of excuses, I just need to ignore them.

Virginia,  I would love to join your mentor group.  I'm 35 and am partcipating in my first tri end of April.  I'm new to all three sports.  I bike for fun, run from snakes and swim with a noodle or raft in the lake!  So I'm up for a adventure!  I"m doing this as a promise to myself.  I usually start things and dont finish them so for me this is me putting myself out there to do it.  I started the training on the run 5k app this week and plan to kick off the 12 week plan next week I found on Athleta.com

Would love to join in on the support, newbie questions and have fun!

Lauren - Atlanta

Can I slide in??

I am a almost 44 yr old mother of 4 ( well 5 including the adult stepkid) ..  I am in no kind of shape...  was very athletic in my youth...gained an insane amount of weight while being on 100% bedrest in 2 back to back pregnancies ( now pre-teen kids are 18 months apart)... at this point I couldnt call it pregnancy related weight anymore...   Thru walking and better food choices, Ive managed to lose 60+ pounds with at least the same to go....

I had joined a running group but life got in the way in December so Im starting anew for January with a C25K program with same running group....

my goal is to complete a tri by summer.... well and to lose the last 60+ pounds....

I start swimming lessons on Saturday....   Im also going to check out the total immersion link from above...

I havent rode a bike in 30 years...   so I will be needing advice on what kind of bike to get...   I think Im interested in hybrid type but take that nugget with a grain of salt....  Until then, I will be using the cycles in the gym with the simulated tracks....  

Wow! Welcome! You are in for a fun journey. Do you follow Swim Bike Mom blog? She was a total newbie to all three sports too, and she is now training for an Ironman after completing many tris. She lives in Atlanta too, so if you don't follow here, you should!

Got room for one more?

Here is my info. Virginia I stole the format from your intro because I liked the set up!

NAME: stefanier/ Stefanie (I keep it pretty simple)

STORY: Oh gosh lets see, where to start. Growing up I was an overweight child and young adult. It took until my senior year in college for me to really take a good interest in my health and wellness. At my heaviest I was just over 200 which on a 5'4 frame is a lot. I eventually got into running which was followed by triathlons. To date I have run 3 marathons, 10+ half marathons, 2 half irons and various other distance races and am down 50+ pounds. Just recently gave birth to my first child around Labor Day and excited to get back in the groove after taking a year off from racing with my pregnancy. (I did how ever keep training and "Raced" several times during my 9 months including a 5k less than 12 hours before going to the hospital to give birth)

FAMILY STATUS: married and mom to a 4 month old boy!

CURRENT TRAINING: I train with Coach Marni Sumbal out of Jacksonville. Without her I would be lost. I thrive off of a schedule when it comes to my fitness. Typical week includes 8-12 hours of training depending on the week and the time of year. I am a slow runner, decent swimmer and decent cyclist. Not going to set any records or win any awards but I have a lot of fun doing what I do.

THIS YEAR'S RACES:

Albany Half Marathon- March 2

HITS Ocala Olympic- March 24

Ironman Florida 70.3- May 19

Ironman Florida- November 3

WEIGHTLOSS: I have lost around 50+ pounds from my heaviest. My coach and I are still working toward a weight loss goal about 5-10lbs or so from where I am currently. These are some stubborn lbs.

Blocked out the excuses and got my lunch run in.  Then ate two cupcakes... This work food stuff needs to stop.

Have a good weekend, everyone.  I'm starting Saturday off cheering on folks at the MS Blues Marathon.  I usually run the Half but the leg didn't allow for that this year.

At least you got your run in before you had cupcakes for lunch! Have fun at the Marathon even if it is only cheering. Have fun!

Hi Virginia and everyone else,

I would love to join your group!

In 2011 I completed a tri a tri but then last year I had a few injuries. All of them due to a combination of over training and ignoring the signals. With the last one, a hip injury in October, I even had to stop walking!

So I haven't done anything since October. I'm 5'4 and 202 pounds (53 years old)  I would love to start training very slowly to prevent any new injury or relapse and loose 50 pounds if possible.

Sandra