Evondo's Group - FULL (Page 20)

LOL!!!!  For about a second I thought I'd be better off with an old, unattractive coach.....I did a 180 in that one!

I like the idea, probably some potential there...

Hey, I say take your motivation however you can get it.   (holy inappropriate Tuesday batman)

I'm having an "I hate stupid people" day today.  I'm sitting here, listening to a conversation between two co-workers in which they are arguing the point that because butter is "all natural" it is better for you than margarine.

This wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that both of these collegues are significantly overweight and they are the big dieters in the office who are always telling everyone how they lost 20lbs in a week following the grapefriut diet (or whatever their pick of the day is.)

I'm trying not to be cruel and snarky in my mind, but they have got to stop or else I'm going to lose it.  Butter vs margarine is not the problem in society, it's when you eat a pound of it that it becomes problematic.  One serving of either isn't going to kill you.

Dude, somebody talk me down man...

That's funny I use that "I hate stupid people" quote a lot! Especially when driving here in Houston I always feel bad for the dieters because it rarely ever works since it's not a permanent fix.  My group at work had a weight loss contest a couple years back and a few co-workers lost 25%+ and one year later they were heavier than when they started... I don't think a single one of them kept the weight off.

Back to the stupid people... Anyone else watch Biggest Loser? I was practically screaming at the TV to send one of the women (Joelle?) home cause she's a slacker and thought that just showing up was good enough.  What makes it worse is she thought she did everything possible, wonder if when she watches the show she sees what everyone else did...

Anyways, save up those angry thoughts and use them in your workout today

Yet another reason I'm so happy I'm in an office alone.  If I had to hear those conversations I would eventually hit a breaking point and flip out on my co-workers.  Problem #1 here people....DIETS DON'T WORK!!  You need to change you're eating habits, make healthy choices, eat in moderation, and lets not forget to add some excercise to the mix. 

If I haven't brought this up earlier....I LOVE the Biggest Loser.  And I'll admit that sometimes it makes me cry.  Don't even get me started on Joelle!!!  She was a slacker from the beginning, and cleary didn't have the drive to be there.  It made me so bad that Dan was sent home last week....he so clearly needed & wanted to be there and was working so hard, and then you have someone like Joelle.

In keeping with this morning's conversation theme, I thought this was pretty fitting...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/dining/04loser.html?_r=1&ref=dining

Wednesday is my second favorite day of the week (after Saturday), all for the NYT Dining Section

Maybe not as necessary in February, but I always keep sunscreen in my bag. 

I'd recommend a bright towel or something to lay next to your bike so you can spot it easier in the sea of bikes.  I've run by my bike in pretty much every race but two even with a bright orange towel

I've had quite a few people ask me recently (with tax rebates and all) what to buy to make them faster. I figured I'd share my suggestions with you guys...

-Bike fit (~75-150)
-Garmin 305 (~160)
-Powertap (~800-1500 depends on wheels/version, I got my SL2.4 for $600 no wheel)
-Aerohelmet (~100-200+)
-Swim lessons (~50-75/lesson)
-Coaching (~100/month)

Some of the people I talked to wanted me to say wheels but I refused Reason is, race wheels only helps you on race day training tools help you daily. You can also rent race wheels for that big race for only ~150/wk and you always get the latest/greatest set available. I've never rented yet, just used my good ole stock wheels so far but I'm trying the wheel rental out for the New Orleans race so we'll see how it goes.

Any other suggestions? Any planned upcoming purchases? 

Is there ever an end to planned purchases?  Bc I'm not sure I see the end of the line for me yet   This should be a good incentive for me to hurry up & get my taxes done.  I'm planning on:

* more swim lessons
* wetsuit
* aerobars

I suppose at some point I should also think about getting a heart rate monitor.  I'd love to get an aerohelmet, but I don't think I'm quite cool enough yet to rock one of those.

I usually shoot to get new sneakers about every 3 months....probably run about 60-70 miles a month. 

Very true, never an end but I feel I'm kind of near a point where I've got everything I need. I guess it depends on how badly you want all the new fun toys

HR monitor is a good purchase but I think people can out grow them pretty quickly. For running, pace is what matters and biking power is the best metric. The Garmin and the Powertap were the two best purchases I ever made. They are tools that hold you accountable for every workout and if you learn how to train with them and use the WKO+ software progress is very easily tracked.

I haven't tried my aerohelmet from xmas yet but I need to before the race. I'm not a huge fan of the look which is why I asked for the one that looks least like an egg

I like the other suggestions too, I'll pass them along. Thanks! 

I'm bad about getting new shoes, I normally go ~5months at 100-120mi/month. My running group gets 20% off every time a new season starts so I try to hold out I kind of remember hearing that 350-550mi is the time to replace so you might be able to get another couple months out of them...

Newb question of the day. Do I need to buy a race belt or will I get one with the packet? How do you attach to the bike?

For a du, I would imagine that you would be fine without a race belt.  But they're really inexpensive and handy to have, so I would invest in one if you plan on doing a bunch of multi sport events.

As far as the bike goes, they will probably give you instructions in the race packet as to how to attach to your bike.

Happy Friday Gang!  A lot of good posts since I was away from the computer Wed & Thu...

My 2cents on some of the past topics...

Shoes - Approx. 400 miles is the average retirement age for shoes... Keeping in mind, if you wear your running shoes outside of running...to the mall, to the gym, etc... that milage technically counts.  The process of breaking down the function of the shoe is constant.  I wear retired shoes for things other than running and my milage shoes strictly for running.  You can find deals on your shoes... I will go in once a year and pay full retail, get checked on fit, gait, etc. by my local running store guy, and then focus on locating replacement pairs on the web.  I have found good deals on e-bay, roadrunnersports.com & runbargains.com.

First Timers - If the event is gonna last longer than an hour...think about nutrition during the race... a Gu or other gel shot, shot blocks, etc... Only use what you have trained with... DON'T try any thing new on race day... including nutrition, shoes, socks...  I like the analogy, "You would'nt go into battle with a rifle that wasn't tested... the tools of Tri's / Du's serve as your rifle.