Beer Drinkers Appreciation Society (BDAS) 2023 Mentor Group - ALWAYS OPEN (Page 2)

@Nathalie:  yes, Echelon is a competitor of Peloton...we bought it during the height of the pandemic (June 2020) and it was like $1K cheaper and you could use regular mountain bike shoes like every other spin bike the in world besides Peloton.  The interface isn't as nice but the bike is a tank and the membership is just as cult-like as Peloton.    Sorry about your pool woes; I'm really lucky having the access I do around here.

@Gretchen:  your travel stories and woes crack me up...I've seen that on the streets of Baltimore so don't feel so bad.  And I LOVE the outdoor pool steaming thing - cool air and a warm pool makes for a great workout

@Helen:  good to see you getting back into the game - I think you'll notice BT isn't quite the same as it was but I guarantee you this group will get a laugh out of you at some point

Now if we can just track down the rest of our crew - don't make me stalk you all on Strava or Facebook!!! 

I pretty much copied Gretchen's workout this morning, only on the treadmill.  3 miles E running and then 1400 easy yards in the pool. 

Revisiting this with another data point...this morning my footpod was dead and my Garmin Fenix 6 took over tracking on the treadmill.  It was showing about :30/mile slower than the footpod but matched the treadmill pretty closely.  Given I was at 3% incline the whole time, I think the footpod is more accurate in perceived pace and the watch matches the treadmill better.

.....the story of Helen.....

Well, I used to do marathons, half marathons, 10ks, 5ks, and I loved half ironmans & have one ironman distance race under my belt. And then I fell off my bike in 2010 and it's been down hill ever since with one injury after another. The latest was two years of something worse than plantar fasciitis, self induced by digging up my son's lawn in flip flips and hill training gone bad...topped off with care giving for Dementia Dad, stage 4 cancer Mom, and mentally disabled sister during the Covid years...I semi-retired from work and fully retired from training. 

I did a mini-sprint March 2021 in our local area which seemed to go well but then I did nothing again (sore back was my next excuse) & now I've signed up for this March's sprint. And I have a lot of weight to lose. Yuck!!

I'm a Canadian snowbird, I winter in Mexico and Arizona. I am truly blessed to be able to be able to train outside in the winter. 

I really enjoyed BT when I was seriously training & hoping joining a group will help with my non-existent motivation!

And on that note....off to my stretch class....have an amazing day everyone!

Dang, Helen.  Sounds like you've had a rough go of it.  The COVID years have not been kind to anyone, but some for sure got it worse. 

I also snowbird a bit...I still work full-time but it's totally virtual unless I travel, which is WAY less than pre-COVID (maybe 4-5 times a year now) so we mosey down to Hilton Head and Orlando for 5-8 weeks late Feb - early April.  Love the outdoor training for sure.

Meh, lots of people had it way worse than me during Covid. It was just truly exhausting which is taking a while to recover from. 

But, that's in the past, and now it's time for some training and racing fun!

H

@Nathalie - 128 is a totally relative number, and its only value is setting your workout intensities.  When you divide your FTP by your weight in kg, you get a number X.Y w/kg that allows you to compare to other athletes, but in all honesty, I don't find a whole lot of value in that because of the variability of tests and how well you're suited to excel at that particular test. The ramp test favors those cyclists who are pursuiters (have high 5-min max power) and I think hurts those that are diesel engines on the bike.

There is some value in testing more frequently to see how you progress if you're doing a bike-focus block or something.  Some folks obsess about that number - the only numbers I care about are my race times. 

I like Heineken 0.0 as well!  I'm trying to find a decent non-alcoholic IPA without luck so far.

Originally posted by Rollergirl I certainly not one who obsess about numbers, as you may have gathered from our conversations ! I don’t really care if 128 is good or bad, as long as it reflects my true level and I get workouts that help me better. As it is, I found the first workout of the bike plan I am doing on Zwift rather easy, which may me think the number is wrong. The main set was 4 x 5minutes at 105watts, which is a very comfortable level. I enjoyed it very much, got sweaty (and burned plenty calories ) but did it make me a better cyclist?

If 4 x 5' @ 105% is "easy" then your number is probably low.  Like Gretchen said, though, that's fine right now.  You felt good and got a good workout, that's all that matters.  You'll get the number dialed in.  Maybe after the first 5 or 6 sessions add 5 or 6 watts.    

OMG - I have the same problem trying to get my cycling bibs on when I'm wet from the pool.  It's definitely not a pretty sight.  

Putting on compression socks for plantar fasciitis after a swim....OMFG....I wasted at least 10 minutes in transition, spiked my heart rate, almost died from the exertion. If I ever have to back to those socks, I'm going to wear them during the swim. I despise getting dressed for the next training workout after a swim. 

Zip on compression socks?! Who knew & I wish I had known that before. I'm sure there will be a next time so that is great to know, thank you! Lord, I spent a small fortune on compressions socks. 

NAME: Bullfrog / Andrew

STORY: 13 years ago I did a half marathon as part of an effort to lose weight. That grew to a duathlon the following year and Tri's eventually followed. Since then I've been consistently inconsistent. I enter races, train, make gains. Then take a break, lose fitness and regain weight. I am well and truly on the yo-yo.

Over the years I've finished 21 half marathons, 12 sprint tris, 1 Oly tri, 5 70.3s and 2 full Ironmans. So I have a bit of experience, but should be a lot fitter and faster than I am with that sort of history.

FAMILY STATUS: Married with a more supportive wife than I deserve. A 5 year old boy and 2 year old girl. And a golden-doodle running buddy.

CURRENT TRAINING: Due to family commitments most of my Run/Bike training is at dark o'clock, indoors before getting the little ones up for breakfast. Swimming is during my lunch breaks at work, when I can fit them in (so not enough). I'm currently half way through ramping up for a 70.3 in March. Unfortunately due to illness December was a write off, so I'm well behind where I should be.

UPCOMING YEAR'S RACES:
'A' race is Ironman NZ (70.3) 4th March.
'B' Races, 3 Half Marathons (feb/march/april) entered, but may DNS depending on how 70.3 training is going.

TBC:
Sprint Tri - May 7th
Half Marathon - End of winter
70.3 - November 6th

WEIGHTLOSS: Last year I gained around 23lbs.The good news is I've lost it, and am pretty much back where I began 2022. So only 100lbs away from race weight.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD BDAS'er: I've been around a while now. I think I've done enough events and made enough mistakes I can offer some good advice at times. Also nobody in my life in the 'real world' has any interest in triathlon stuff (1 mate from uni days who I do some weekend runs with, but that's it) So this group is important for me to have people to talk to, support and be supported by for this crazy sport.

Howdy folks...week 3 of The Plan complete.  I bailed on Bikram this morning to ride the trainer in The Pain Cave with my daughter, then crushed my core for 30 minutes.  Completely on track so far.

@Andrew:  welcome back...I knew you were active from Strava and figured you'd get around to getting back on here; good to see your consistency getting there; and you'll love the 6X - it takes getting used to the size vs. the Forerunners but it's been great

@Nathalie:  I've made plenty of decisions while watching a sporting event drinking a beer (most have worked out...I think)

@Gretchen:  "13k walk round-trip...meh, when's breakfast?"  Only you would think that is nothing.

@Helen:  CEP compression socks while great are brutal to get on even when dry!  I've been wearing the stupid things for about 20 years and they've improved orders of magnitude in that time.  You used to have "surgical socks" that had open toes and you would wear regular socks on top of them.  They sucked.  And we walked uphill both ways in the snow.

Recovery week for me...other than the present you get in your early 50s where they check your innards.  My tummy's been a wreck for three days just thinking about it.  LOL