Jszat's Group- full (Page 2)

Oat. Or carrot. Or Zima.

Technically, I probably need to take a vow of silence and not talk to any of you at all until this starts in Jan, but I am willing to start whenever you are.  I am currently working planless and 'go time' is Jan after kind of just floating around after the 07 season.  We already touched on this in our write ups, but to make it concise for everyone, lets run down:

Strengths, weaknesses, three things you want to learn/accomplish/focus on in 08 and howzabout why you tri?  Me first:

Strengths: Running and biking, usually top 10-20% in races

Weaknesses:  Swim is usually middle of the pack.  Learned primarily through Total Immersion which is great for getting you comfy in the water but not so much for speed.  Also sweats like a freak show so nutrition/cramps/hydration have been an issue that I seem to be getting closer to solving but always tough to manage.

Three things to accomplish:  1)Learn and utilize power training methods on the bike and maybe score a powermeter to race with it as well.   2)Relearn speed after a year of conservative, long distance racing while still keeping adequate base for IM in 09  3)  Top 25% swim would be nice?

Why you tri:  I started this basically as a quest to the almighty Ironman not knowing about shorter distances, barely able to swim and with limited bike skills.  After a nice progression through just over two years, I can say I have developed a true love for the sport and what it does physically and mentally (i.e. mega stress vent).  Without trying to get all cosmic on ya, it has changed my life and who I am for the better, a more rounded person mind, body and soul.  It is no longer about the Ironman though I hope to hit the big one down the road.  Longevity, keeping it fun and reaching ever higher for faster and longer challenges keeps the sport interesting for me.  Blah, blah, blah

heck i'll go next..........

I feel my strenghts are my run and my mental approach.  I have a running background that includes coaching at the high school level for cross country and track and one season (albeit very short season) at uw-waukesha.  I have done two marathons in the early to mid 90s........

my weakness is definately the swim and i realize i will be needed to focus on that primarily in the upcoming months.

i would like to not only improve my swim but also my bike as well.  also would like to work out a nutrion plan for the upcoming IMMOO

i got started in tri's for a couple of reasons.  the first being my supervisor braggin about how he was going to do pewaukee so i had to shut him up and enter it too.  the real reason tho is due to a scare i had starting last november when i found some lumps on the side of my neck and on my trap area. they ended up being enlarged lymph nodes (which i also have some in my stomach area too) but nothing came out of all the tests they did except high doctor bills................going thru all of that i realized that i was carrying around too much weight (195+ lbs) and decided to start running again which led into the whole triathlon thing.....i am now back in running shape, ok biking shape and starting to get into better swimming shape and my weight is down to an almost 18 year low of 152 lbs.

good luck to all during the upcoming season!

dj

My turn!  And I have to say I'm liking being the only girl in the group.  Cuz that's the way I roll...

Strengths: Stubbornness.  When it's something I WANT to do (noted to differentiate between things I HAVE to do), I'm generally pretty focused and, to a point, obsessive (yes, I know, not always a good thing...OCD is a common trait amongst triathletes).  I don't give up, usually.  (There have been a couple times in the not so distant past that I did, but I've been fighting other demons.  They aren't all gone, but have been kept at bay of late.)  One of my friends once described me as a dog that won't let go when it grabs hold of something....

Weaknesses: Lack of self confidence.  Depends on the situation, sometimes I am da bomb, but I do have self-doubt.    Granted, sometimes I'm just fishing for compliments (I'm a girl, we do that), but a lot of it stems from being overweight most of my life.  You start to believe what other people say when you've been told it enough times.  Sad but true.

3 things: 1) Self confidence, definately.  There are a lot of other people who believe I can do better and more then I think I can.  I'd like to take some of that on.

2) Running.  Out of the 3 sports, that's definitely my weakest.  Although, after my run last night, it might not be for long!! (FYI, djdavey IS a great run coach!)  I've improved a LOT over the past year in everything, but I think running is where I have the most improvement to make.

3) I'd like to focus on training smart.  I'm big into research, knowing how to do things better/more efficiently.  I like applying that to training because sometimes just the littlest tweak can make the biggest difference.

Why I tri:
I've been overweight for as long as I can remember...not just overweight but morbidly obese.  At my highest documented weight, I was 328.  Being 6'1", it wasn't as obvious, but I was getting to a point where things were going to go down hill fast.  I've lost 80 lbs and am currently in the mid 240's, with another 50ish to go.  I started tri-ing about 65 lbs into my weight loss as a way to be more active.  I remember watching Kona on TV years ago and thinking it was cool (crazy, but cool) and filing it away in the back of my brain.  Then, a friend I know through Weight Watchers told me about a tri she did (Subaru Women's tri in Naperville, IL), and it just resparked that interest I had when I was slug.   I started out slow (couch to 5k) and continue to go slow, but my improvements have been pretty drastic.  I've cut my swim time in 1/2, my run time by 3.5 minutes per mile and my average bike speed is up to 15 mph from about 11.
Add on top of that, I've met some really fantastic people while doing this.  I'm not the type that generally misses people, but I've made some really good friends that I WOULD miss if they weren't in my life any more.  To me, that's big.

Strengths

I guess one of my strengths would be that I have always been willing to work hard in order to achieve my goals.  I really don't accept excuses from myself and others around me.  If I make a goal for myself I will try to achieve it by any means possible.  Things going for me are that I am able to make quite a bit of time for training.  As a teacher I can usually leave school by 3:00 each day.  Once June rolls around, and accordingly the big training hours needed for IM, I will be off of work and will have plenty of time to train.  Swimming is probably my best of the three disciplines.  I am a little better than middle of the pack swimmer.  I am a pretty solid middle of the pack biker and see that as improving drastically in the coming year.

Weaknesses

Spelling would be the first  Running would be by far my biggest weakness.  I always get a little discouraged in my tri's when I see all those people pass me on the run.  Race management is another weakness.  I think I go to hard in the start and just don't have enoughto get me through some of the longer runs in the end.  I also need to get more mentally tough on hard training days and races.

3 things to work on

Nutrition is by far the biggest.  This applies to bith racing and day to day.  I am working on dialing in how much to consume while riding.  I have had a habit in the past of not drinking anything on 20-30 mile rides.  I never feel a need to urinate during any race or during 50 mile rides.  I know I am not consuming enough and this needs to be addressed.  Will be trying Infnit because food does not sit to well with me when training.  My over-all weight is another thing I need to address.  I come from a family who carries a lot of weight.  At one point I was very nearly 300 pounds.  I am now down to 236 and would like to get down to 200 even for IM.  This is a weight that may seem high for most, but I think would be very good for me.  Last thing I want to accomplish is to have a season with no regrets.  I want to train hard and train right.  That way whatever results do occur I know I did my best and will be happy with them.

Why I tri

This is easy, I am a competitive person.  I have to have a goal and a reason for training.  Some people say they enjoy working out.  I don't.  If I don't have a goal I struggle with just working out.  I played sports all through high school and football in college.  After college I had nothing to do, no goals.  Because of this I packed on a lot of weight fast.  I thought of running alone and that was rough on my body.  I started riding my bike, that was fun, but not competitive.  To be a competitive roadie I would have to get down to about 160 pounds and I knew that would never happen.  Finally I saw an ad for a sprint tri and decided right then and there that was what I would try to do.  I have been hooked ever since.

Closed, huh?

Ya can't let a fellow Donkai in?  Please??!!!

He put a donkai cap on it...But Pete's group will be up soon...

That's alright - I'll get in with Craig.  But I'll give out a fair warning that I'll be in this group every once in awhile giving some shat.

where can i get one of those donkai caps?????

Keep working on him since that would be a cool item to get since the carrot arms are out and look quite sharp.

I gotta get rid of some of the donkey stuff I have before i think about doing anything else since i fronted the cost. 

well lets see, i have the donkey jersey and arm warmers.......which work quite nicely by the way............i need the blue donkai top and shorts for the summer...............what else is there besides the leg warmers??

I was beeeeezeeeeeeeeee...Got a short run and swim in this am, will be hitting up the DTC tonight for a Thursday Tri day. (For those who don't know, DTC is the DonkuTraining Center...a suffer room with 4 computrainers, 1 fan and a big azz tv. If you're local, get on it!)

My personal mojo is in full force right now. I'm hoping to keep it going through the holidays and into the new year. The coolest thing for me right now is that I weighed myself this AM and I was back to my lowest weight...it's all downhill from there, baby!!

Forgot to add...hit my 100 mile run goal for the year.  I didn't do more then the 1/2 mile like I wanted to, but I hit it (don't worry, I'm still gonna run more for the rest of the year)!  I need to start thinking of what I want my run goal to be for next year (actually, I need to think of all my distance goals...I like goals, they work for me).  Ideas? 

um, could you guys keep the noise down................im trying to sleep!

You guys suck!

Nice COJ reference there Peggers.  Was that intentional?

P.S.  I'm stalking all of you!!!

Yes and no....and I'm stalking you back... :P 

I BELIEVE I ASKED FOR QUIET!!!!  HOW IS A GUY SUPPOSED TO GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE!!!!!!!!!