Todd's Tri Turtles 6 (Beginner - Sprints, 5K, 10K) - OPEN (Page 2)

Hey Todd

I'd love to join your group again.

NAME: Rod (Aussie Turtle)

STORY: I completed a beginner triathlon in 2014/15 and injured a knee which prevented me from training for nearly 12 months. Despite my best intentions I haven't raced again as life keeps getting in the way. Some valid reasons and other factors that are just excuses. I'm back in training now and will do a tri sometime this year. I've just turned 60 years old and I'm now retired from work so I have the time to train.

FAMILY STATUS: Married for 35 years with 2 adult children.

CURRENT TRAINING: I have just resumed training in December. I am doing a run walk program (4 sessions per week) , 2 bike rides a week, 2 - 3 swims a week (my weakest discipline) and 2 - 3 gym sessions per week. I've also recently met with a nutritionist to get my weight under control and to ensure I'm eating the right type and amounts of food.

2018 RACES: Depends on progress. I would like to do a race in 12 weeks but see the majority of 2018 races towards the end of the year.

WEIGHT LOSS: I'd like to loose 25-30 lb over 12 months and keep it off.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: As my user name suggests I'm living in Australia and enjoying Summer now so I'll be at different stages of training / racing to most of the others mentees. I think this will add diversity to the group. I'm keen to encourage and support others and being involved in the group will keep me accountable.

Rod

I found this thread on another site: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Fo...

Like most longer threads, it wanders around, but it seems to say that there is some solid support that a long period of long aerobic work is good for distance running.

Welcome to the group! Glad you recovered from the knee injury; try not to overdo! I have to keep reminding myself of that all the time with my artificial knees!! Oh, and glad to have another 60's athlete...;0)

Best of luck!!

Swimming tends to be more technic than stamina, so I'm not really sure that there is any good dry land alternatives (except for that contraption that looks like a pilates machine). You might have to shuffle training around and do more bike and run now and then do extra swimming once the weather warms up.

This mornings run was a bit of a mistake - I finished slower than usual because I forgot to pop the treadmill speed up (I'm watching "Logan" on the tablet, so a good action flick distracted me and made the time go faster). But my heart rate stayed down below 150 right until the last half mile almost - I might keep the slower speed for the rest of the month and see if my heart rate can stay below 150.

Going to be running a 10k on April Fool's day with a buddy of mine.

Have got to go get a nice run in today, sounds like the weather is going to take a turn here again

I'm so weird with treadmills. I basically can only set it at 5.5. 6, which would be a 10 minute mile which is what I average on the road when I'm going at an even pace feels more like a 9ish minute mile on the treadmill.

I did a run and a ride today but they were interesting. Half way through the run a little rain started to fail on me. The bike this afternoon brought a few drops of rain but hailed on me for about 1 minute. It was kind of cool, but hopefully it's the first and last time.

Aussie Turtle, I almost forgot to welcome you to the group and say thanks for joining and bringing another perspective!

Bill - this might be a little personal but can you run with a replacement knee? Do you have to keep a close watch on impact and pace?

When I was getting ready to do all my training on the treadmill (well, almost all), I did a lot of research and people seemed to feel that they ran either noticeably slower or faster. From my prior experience, I found that I got bored very easily and would start playing with the buttons and doing number games in my head to try to make the time go faster. Now I'm playing biofeedback games trying to adjust my heart rate - forcing myself to breathe deeper and relax more as I run once my heart rate gets above 150. It usually works for about a mile or so to slow down the cardiac drift, but at some point my heart rate will just keep going up. Longer runs this weekend so I will see where I max out.

Bruce....no not too personal at all to ask about running following total knee replacements.......

I've elected not to run anymore with the replacements; last "real" run I had was in 11/2012....that run confirmed I needed the surgery and contacted my surgeon immediately afterwards. Some folks do run with the replacements but there's the danger of the implant loosening and then having to have a revision. Because the recovery from TKR is such a challenge, I'd prefer not to go through that process again (unless absolutely necessary); a revision is even more of a challenge; I have a couple of friends who have had to have revisions.

Now, in my May 2017 Sprint I did "run" or more like "shuffle" along only because the ground was very soft from a lot of rain. I did that where soft surfaces were available but definitely not on pavement.

Glad you asked; this is why I walk the run portion and which pretty much limits me to Sprints......which is better than nothing I suppose!

Hi All,

It's been a very active week for me; not necessarily Tri specific training but certainly a lot of effort and movement.

3 Games of golf this week. That would normally be my quota for 3 months. A couple of runs, a bike session and Stand Up Paddle boarding also. The absolute highlight of the week was volunteering with a group that takes teenagers with disabilities surfing. I spent 3 hours in the water helping get people on and off boards and riding very small waves in the beach break / shallows.

Also enjoyed preparing some meals to help with the diet.

Hoping to get some time in the pool this coming week.

How did others spend their week?

Work, work, work. Still grinding away at the 9-5

And its playoff season for American football, so that will take part of today - maybe I'll watch some of it while on the trainer.

I remember one winter was so bad here that I started logging snow shoveling as cross-training

Sounds like an awesome and rewarding week to me. It's funny but the older I get the more I notice just how little those with handicaps complain about their situation and life in general. I then realize just how stupid my complaints are and can honestly say this has made me a better person. Great job Rob and thanks for sharing.

I'm in a similar boat with a much different schedule. I just switched back to 12 hour shift work rotating every two months from days to nights. So this week I worked M T F S S, and this upcoming week is W T only and it goes back and forth like that. Now add in this this week I have training so instead of W T 6a to 6p, I have to work M-F from 8-6 then go back to the long week with 5 12 hour days. So needless to say a schedule like this can make it almost impossible to follow a canned Tri plan. I'll get it figured out.

Another first for me this morning. I was gonna get on the treadmill for my scheduled 2 mile run but just really wasn't feeling that. I bundled up and went out in the wind and 26 degree temp. I kept telling myself it was prep to run in any condition.

Good job getting out - you can dress for most cold weather and be comfortable if you keep moving.

A watchcap and cotton gloves (maybe with liners) will help immensely. I can get by with just a heavier long sleeve tech shirt and some tights, but I really need my head and hands covered. I use the cheap stretchy gloves that usually sell for $1-2 a pair. They are ambidextrous and look like they are made for kids they are so small before pulling them on.

I ate something Sunday that wanted out. Badly. All of early morning Monday. I decided to take a rest day. I'll probably do a run on the mill tonight.

Night Shift makes life very hard. I found it difficult to get into a routine for meals, family life and just about everything else let alone training. It used to feel like I had a constant hangover. How do you find the time for workouts?

Actually when I'm on night's it's almost easier because I get home around 6:30 a.m as the family is leaving, knock out my workout and then off to bed. When I get off at 6 pm my family is home and wants / needs my attention and then add in that I got to get up at 4 am it doesn't leave much time. I really try to knock things out on days off. If I can't then I can't and I try not to get too frustrated about it. Prime example was my training at work this week which had me going from 6a to after midnight Wednesday and Thursday with 3 hours sleep each day, so naturally I didn't feel like doing anything tonight. Now tomorrow and Sunday will be different and I will get in some good workouts. I heard something on Kona Edge podcasts, that a lost workout is just that lost. There is no way to really make it up without doing things that you probably shouldn't or would do as much harm as good.

I'm back - took most of the week off recuperating from either the flu or a bad cold.

Shift work: I have worked all three shifts. When I was younger, 8-midnight was great: school in the afternoon, work, party, sleep repeat. I hated the 12-8 shift - could never get adjusted to it, but my uncle worked that shift his whole life and loved it and it was great with kids because he would be home when they got home from school.

First big race next week - how is it looking for you?

Best of luck!

Hi Fellow Turtles,

The week didn't turn out the way I planned. I decided to rest on Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday & Thursday were too hot ( 110 F + ) for training and Friday I had to catch up with some chores that didn't get done due to the heat on the previous days. Saturday was nice and I dusted off the MTB and went for a 12 KM spin. Today (Sunday) I had some unexpected family matters to attend to so no training today. Exercise for the week was 1 gym session, 2 Paddle Board sessions in the cool of the evening and a bike ride.

So the above illustrates my biggest problem: inconsistency in training. This coming week I'm going to schedule my training sessions early in the day before anything else and see how that goes. I''m also prepared to use my rest day as Contingeny for any sessions I've missed. I believe consistency and routine are the key for me.

How does everybody else manage to complete their scheduled sessions.

I hear you on the week not turning out as planned; frigid weather here and a bad cold wiped out the first part of the week for me; then the pool was down last Friday-turned out to be immaterial since I just didn't feel up to a swim. Some activities later in the week but another rest day yesterday.

Some weeks just don't go as we plan; getting back at it then trying to be consistent is what I try to do when there's a gap; however, much to be said for a couple days of rest!

My training plan has basically been a month-to-month improv. Starting in October and November, the goal was just to get back to running regularly and then in December try to do 25 miles/week.

In January, I was hoping to increase my running up to 30 miles/week and I was doing that with two long-ish runs on the weekend. That was just too much and was leaving me wiped out. So I adjust - now I'm trying for 28 or so miles a week with an 8 mile long run on the weekend. That's typically running 4x week at 5 miles and once at 8.

I have to see how and how much I can increase volume for next month - still want to do 30 per week, but increasing my daily runs could be tough time wise, and relying on running 6 days a week is just not logical for me. I only need to get 2-3 miles per week in - might bump my 5 milers to 5 1/2 miles. As much as I would like to get both weekend runs up over 8 miles, I think that's a recipe for injury right now.

How is everyone else on the training front?