Gray Guys/Girls Masters Focus Triathlete Forum--OPEN! (Page 2)

When we were younger, we pushed and hurt ourselves. Now we know that it hurts and is silly to push without healing up first. R.I.C.E and live to run again Thursday.

I did a tri once when it was about 100 degrees out.  It was in a word: miserable.  The water was 90+ degrees, they didn't even want us to wear the caps to prevent overheating!  Bike was HOT and sticky....The run? a lousy course with multiple flights of stairs AND an elevated bridge (guess who is afraid of heights? )  They gave us iced sponges at about 3 different places on the run course.  I stuck the sponges in my sports bra and in my tri shorts at the small of the back and inside the front waistband.  Made a huge difference.  My personal worst Oly time and I will never do that race again in part because I hate the RD and in part because I hate that run course.  (I hate the RD so much I won't even volunteer at her races  she could offer free entry to her entire series and I would pass)

I LOVE running in the pouring rain, as well as in snow as long as I have proper gear--being in the south  we don't get much measurable snow but schools will close for half an inch because the roads ice up & we don't have a lot of plows or sand trucks.

Hey Steve, I can’t imagine not being in this group. I would like to ‘re-up’ if there is still room!

NAME: Scott K.

BIO:

56 Y.O. Male, married, 2 "little boys (ages 32 and 36)," and 5 grand-kids – we would've had the grand-kids first if we'd known how much fun they are!

STORY:

I started swimming competitively when I was 11 and swam all through high-school and college. I was a world class swimmer in the late 70's and early 80's. I held an individual world record at one point, albeit for about 20 minutes, but it was a world record nonetheless (I set the record in a National Championship semi-final and it was broken in the next semi-final), I was also a member of a World Record setting 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay team. Back in those days, an amateur was truly an amateur so as a swimmer, unless you were independently wealthy, you really only had one shot at the Olympics. After the 1980 U.S. Olympic debacle my swimming career began to wind down and in 1982 I finally retired from competitive swimming. That was, coincidentally, the same year my Ironman dream started. I suspect that many of you can trace the genesis of your own Ironman dreams to the same moment - Julie Moss on her hands and knees, crawling across the finish line in Kona. In my mind, that was, and continues to be, the epitome of athletic achievement. I immediately knew I wanted to do an Ironman. However, the sad reality was that I had spent 5-8 hours a day in a pool, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for over a decade, and the thought of going back to full time training was not very appealing. On top of that, I had another problem - running and I had never really been friends. The Ironman has that little marathon thing at the end and that simply terrified me. A couple decades later, I found myself over one-hundred pounds overweight, and I couldn't run 100 yards, let alone a marathon. Although I didn't move to fulfill my Ironman dream, I did tell anyone who would listen that, "I could do an Ironman." Then a couple years ago, I went to a client's house and there on the wall of his home office was a picture of him crossing the finish line in Kona. Of course, my first comment was, "I could have done that!" After a year of him hearing about how I could have done that, he finally called me out in May 2012. He basically said, "You’re going to go to your grave saying you could have done it, or you can do it." He then challenged me to join him at the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on October 11, 2014. After a grueling two weeks of researching everything Ironman, including how to qualify for Kona, I finally accepted his challenge.

GOALS:

1. Ironman World Championships - Kailua-Kona, Hawaii - October 11, 2014
           Reality check – a serious qualifying attempt will likely push back to the 2015 season.
2. Help swim challenged triathletes solve the mystery of swim success.

UPCOMING RACES:

1. San Diego Chargers Bolt-to-the-Q 5K 07/20/14
2. Ironman Louisville 08/24/14.
3. Ironman Lake Tahoe 09/21/14.
4. Ironman Kona 10/14?

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MEMBER:

Having competed at a world class level for several years, I vividly recall the pressure and nerves you experience at a high level competition. I have a pretty good understanding of swimming and proper technique. Since my entry into the triathlon world, I have hear on a regular basis how hard the swim is and have been surprised at how many people struggle with the swim. Nothing makes me happier than helping someone to have a swimming epiphany and begin to make progress.

I may not be the most competitive person you have ever met, but I will settle for being the second most competitive person you have ever met.

I have this theory, if you aren't going to be the best you can be, why try at all? That theory tends to be contagious and will spur others to higher achievement.

Most importantly, I know my limitations. More accurately, several painful lessons have taught me that I am no longer the 20-something world class athlete of the past. While I still believe that being a world class athlete is largely a state of mind, I have been slow to realize and hesitant to accept that when you are over 50 the body doesn’t respond to training or recover as it did in years past. Training for athletic success as a gray athlete has proven to be one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced. I look forward to learning from other ‘grays.’

Laughing at the way you signed your name--a much needed laugh!

Wait a mother week and then try a walk jog on a track say 1/4 mile walk to 1/4 mile easy jogging x 2 if that feels okay maybe build up gradually from there.  Having been sidelined with long and ugly injuries that took FOREVER to heal I would always err on the side of caution when it comes to running injuries.

I believe this is the point where I would go to the doctor.  You have tried self-treatment and it hasn't been too successful thus far.  Time to get the experts involved and fix the problem as opposed to resting, re-aggravating, resting, re-aggravating . . . I would break that cycle before you do something serious.

Just my humble two cents.

Steve,

Thank you.  You are too kind!

Steve, thanks for having me back!

NAME: soccermom15 - Janet

 STORY: I first volunteered at a local tri about 10 years ago to see what it was all about.  I've never been athletic although I did the normal basketball/volleyball in grade school and tried softball and indoor soccer as an adult (wasn't good at either).  After volunteering at the tri it looked like something I'd like to do.  So I started running - the one part I figured I would need the most help with.  Did that for about 5 years before I finally decided to attempt a tri.  I'm still mostly a runner, but I do enjoy doing 1-2 tri's a year and lately some duathlons/biathlons also. 

FAMILY STATUS: Married 24 years, 2 kids - daughter finishing her second year of college and a son who just graduated college

CURRENT TRAINING: Mostly biking and running right now.  I'm following a BT plan minus the swimming part.  I really need to get back in the pool but it's hard to get there (limited hours for lap swimming) and I feel like my biking needs more work than my swim.  I'll eventually get back to it.

2013 Races: Eads Bridge Duathlon, some 5k and 10k races, Rec-Plex fall triathlon.

THIS YEAR'S PLANNED RACES: Eads Bridge Duathlon, 5k's, 10k's, some trail races, Mo' Cowbell HM, Alligator's Creek triathlon, Riverlands Rush Biathlon, and maybe New Town triathlon

WEIGHTLOSS: I'd like to lose 5-10 pounds although I'm finding it difficult.  

Janet