FancyPants Group, Part 2- The Ladies Are FULL! (Page 22)

LIFE.

I sat down with calendars and schedules and brochures and tried to plan out our schedule.

Ideally, my summer would be full of races and maybe a vacation or two. Reality is, we're so busy I have to search to fit in a vacation.

One of my races is already scrapped- just an all women's mini-tri, but still. The husband will be @Berkley for work for over a week and won't be back in time to watch our gaggle.

I was considering doing Sylvania (our home tri, and a MERCRS poins race for our tri club) as an Oly, or doing the MERCRS Champs race as an Oly, until I really looked at an Oly plan and said, when would I find time to do all the training? With 3 kids home with me all summer?

Mike is not racing this year, as yes, his herniated disc is still giving him issues. So tired of it. But next year he swears he is back on the Ironman track, and he is planning on volunteering @ Ironman Florida in November so he and his pal can sign up for Ironman Floriday 2011 (yes, it sells out that fast).

So I think my focus now is to train for a few sprint tris, and then increase my run distance and do the Columbus Half Marathon. One of my thoughts on Sunday during the pig was I'm pretty sure I can mentally do a half- the deal is, I can do it at my own pace. My brother and Uncle can yammer on all they want about speed- I'm just not speedy, but I feel like I can run forever pretty slowly.

How about everyone else? Do you have your races booked? Are you mid-training plan??? Or still searching for a training plan? I just find it so much easier to motivate myself to get daily training in if I am training for SOMETHING.

I'm with you on the having a hard time training with nothing to train for.  I  have been struggling with making myself run or swim or bike with nothing I'm working towards, but have been too busy to be able to schedule anything.  It seems that my summer is the opposite of yours, too many long weekend trips/vacations to schedule any racing. 

I won't be able to do Columbus Marathon, it is the day after we get back from a week's vacation.  That has happened every year for the past 3 years.  I hear it's a great race though and if you do I'll definitely be there to cheer you on.

However, I was noticing that Jo has the USAF half scheduled in Sept.  That I would be able to do, and would love to do it with some other people.  I have decided I'm not doing any more races where there is no one there that I know.  The group camaraderie is half the fun.  Any interest in doing that one instead?

My Sept is always crazy, so no USAF race for me. That's a good race, though- jo did it last year, too.

I'm shooting for Columbus- 3 of us who did the pig relay will do that race, and we have family there.

Having a hard time training this week- so trying to give my body time off. Have to get a training plan this weekend and get back on track for my sprint races; training for the Half Marathon starts end of this month!!!

Hope everyone had a good week- and Happy Mother's Day!

WORRIED.

Several people in our mentor group are MIA; others are about a month or 6 weeks out from their frist tri and have some fairly empty training calendars. You can't taper for a full month!

I'm just worried. I want everyone to have an enjoyable first tri and have it be a success. You should have a fairly balanced training calendar right now, with time spent on your swim, bike, run. If you are not following a specific training plan, please please PLEASE devote some serious time to areas that have had little training so far. For example, if you have done very little riding, get on the bike, whether it's indoor on a spin bike, or inside on your bike on a trainer, or outside whenever the weather allows it.

Do the work now so you have finish your tri! We want you to have fun and cross that finish line, happy and injury free.

I am 6 weeks out from another attempt at a sprint tri and I am very nervous. I dont care about the bike and run, I know I can get thru them, slowly but surely.

Now that my half marathon is done, I will keep running but my focus will be on swimming and trying to get to the pool as much as possible. I am going to restart the Swim Zero to One Mile in 6 weeks (http://ruthkazez.com/ZeroTo1mile.html). I haven't swam in almost 3 weeks because of my schedule. If I have to drop a workout, I will to squeeze in a swim. I wish my gym at work had a pool.

I did finally get back on track but there are days that my kids have overlapping games or practices. Those are the days I dont get my workout in.

Focus: SWIM, SWIM SWIM and I start my longer rides in on Sunday mornings as well. Easy terrain to begin with.


Do the work now so you have finish your tri! We want you to have fun and cross that finish line, happy and injury free.

Off topic question:
Does anyone know what more do you get as a bronze member versus just the free membership?
Under the bronze level, are the training plans in distance or is it still in time?

Lovey

Lovey, you are definitely prepared for the run. Focusing on the swim and bike is a very good idea- and your training plan sounds good for the swim.

Totally contradicting what I wrote above- I just read an article in Triathlete Magazine (Feb 2010 Begginner's Issue) that basically said it's all mental, that people with little training can still be stubborn enough to finish it. I guess it just depends on the day you have on race day.



I finally have my training plan and race plan set up. I've meshed together an Oly 16 week plan from here (bronze membership level) with a Half Marathon training plan (from the columbus marathon website). I also adjusted the whole thing to my current running level (I've backed off a bit on mileage to give my body a little rest time, but am still maintaining my 5-6 mile endurance). This took about half an hour and an extra empty calendar to write it all out. Made me happy!

I did a nice easy 13.6 mile ride his morning. I went with 2 friends, one havent been on any bike since Sept and the other never did beyond 7 miles. It took longer than I usually take but it was fun and great to have company.

I also got in a short run (1.75 miles/25 mins) while my kids were swimming.

I plan to swim in the morning so I need to get my rest.

Anne, is your trainin in miles or minutes at the bronze level?

Lovey

LOVEY-

bronze membership has training plans but i think all are by the minute.

I am using one of those plans (by the min) plus a half marathon plan (by the mile).

I got to the pool early this morning for my swim program. I struggled on the first two 100s but it got better after that. Instead of trying to power thru the water, I slowed down to the point I felt I was going in slow motion. Going that slow allowed me to do the rest without gasping for dear life at the end. Just like running, slow my pace and I can go longer. I am going to work on the distance according to the program and as I get better my speed will improve, I hope. If I finish the program ahead of schedule (not likely at my level), I will work on some sprint drills. I feel good about how I did in the pool today though. I didn’t forget everything after not swimming for 3 weeks.

Warm-up:
1 x 50 swim

WEEK one / DAY one of Swim Zero To One Mile in 6 weeks:
4 x 100 yards...rest for 12 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 8 breaths between 50s
4 x 25 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 25s
total: 700 yards

Total yardage: 750 yards

Lovey

Hi ladies!

I'm still around. Trying to maintain the "conditioning" I have and push a little longer each week. I'm officially training for a half marathon in November on the bike trails near here but with a long range goal of a full marathon in under 6 hours next year. It will be hard for me to finish in 6 hours, but I'll try and if I can't do it in that time, I'll pick a kinder gentler marathon that doesn't have a time limit.
Hope to get on my mountain bike soon and....I'm considering selling my tri bike because I don't like the posture and the strain on my over used wrists (my job as a chiropractor is hard on the tendons). I might rope someone into doing a tri in the fall that is canoe--mountain bike--trail run and sprint distance. Will make it a point to look up that race info and then either rent a kayak to do it myself or find someone to canoe with me.

Lovey--is it warm enough to try an open water swim there yet? Is your tri an open water one?? I actually found I like the open water better than the pool--the rocking motion is really interesting.

You need a wetsuit to do ows practices. I plan to do a couple towards the end of the month and early June.

My tri is in the Potomac River in DC with expected water temps of 70 degrees. I plan to get a wetsuit but need to decide if I should get a sleeveless or full sleeves.

Today I did Week One/Day two of my Swim Zero to One Mile program. 700 yards.

I am doing the new inaugural DC Tri (sprint level) on June 20th. Course is .8K swim, 20K bike and 6.7K run. The swim is in the Potomac River.

According to the DC Tri race directors:
The water temperature will be around 70 degrees. We anticipate that it will be wetsuit legal, but won't know for sure until we test the water on race morning.

Do you think I will need a wetsuit? I am not a strong swimmer so I feel I may need the wetsuit. For that temp, would a full or sleeveless wetsuit be ideal?

I would like to order a rental this week so I have time to practice in it.

Lovey

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I like the bronze membership level- I've been at that level since 2008.

Lots of training plans to choose from; that was my main reason for upgrading from free to bronze.

Lovey- seventy degrees is not so bad. Were you thinking of renting? Wetsuitrental.com is a great resource. If you can afford to, you could rent it just in case they say it's legal.

I do not like wetsuits- but I am a strong swimmer. The husband loves his- it helps you float and he calls that legal cheating. It is not a lifejacket, though.

I'm wiped. I'm on an Oly training plan, started Sunday, with some extra run miles thrown in there. Kicking my own !

Sharyn, get out there and race! I read that you have been running at night, best thing to do in the heat. 50's here today- you are so lucky. There is no such thing as JUST a 5k. My first 5k was in May of 2008, before my first tri. It was super important and a big confidence boost just to finish. You go girl!

(I'm such a dork- bedtime!)

I would want to rent for my first time. In case the water get up to 78 (not wetsuit legal), I wont be out a lot of money.

I know I can rent online but there are 2 shops within 45 mins that rent. I would like to try them on in person.

Lovey

That is nice that you have the option to try on a wetsuit and rent from two local places. We do not have that option around here. You either have to buy, or rent online.

For anyone who does have to rent online, rest assured that wetsuitrental.com does a fairly good job of matching you up with a wetsuit based on your measurements. My only issue was restriction in my shoulder area but I think I would have that no matter what wetsuit I had.

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Go for it Sharyn!  For me that is what makes all the training worth it, is crossing that finish line.   Good luck.

As for races for me I think I'm going to try to do a half Marathon on October 17th.  It runs through the Avenue of the Giants.  It should be a beautiful run under the canopy of the redwood trees.  It seems a perfect location for my first half marathon.  And it gives me a lot of time to work up the length of my runs, and get used to what they call small hills here (although from everything I've read the half marathon course is supposed to be pretty flat).  Flat and hilly have entirely new definitions in Northern California compared to central Illinois.

Its great to hear about all your races.  Keep up the good work ladies!

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WEEK one / DAY 3 of Swim Zero To One Mile in 6 weeks:
4 x 100 yards...rest for 12 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 8 breaths between 50s
4 x 25 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 25s
total: 700 yards

That is the original workout for week one. My workout ended up being longer. After the second set of 100s, I felt I could have kept going so I did the 3rd and 4th 100 nonstop. I felt good. I moved on to the 4x50s but with a slower pace, I kept going nonstop for 500yards instead!!

I did 500 yards nonstop!! I did it slowly but surely. It took me 23 minutes to do that 500 swim but it doesn’t matter because I did the distance.

My workout ended up being
2 x 100 yards...
1 x 200 yards...
1 x 500 yards...

Total: 900 yards

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Call me crazy. Saturday is my usual long runs but if we race on Sunday we only do 2 to 3 miles if we are going to really race it.
Yesterday I did an 8+ mile run so I figured I won't be racing it. Well I tried racing it anyway and did. With an official time of 36:16, I beat my last time by almost two minutes.
Then on the way home, I stopped by the trail and rode the 11 mile bike course. I had brought my bike just in case I felt like riding and I did.
My legs need a rest now.

Lovey

Good for you Lovey! All that training is really paying off--looks like you are ready for your triathlon!!

I found a full marathon for walkers in Stevens Point Wisconsin. It's just a couple weeks away and I have never walked or crawled 20 miles before, so I likely will pass on it this year. It was just nice to see a marathon for walkers where they don't have a time limit (9 hours so that isn't really a time limit to me). There are all kinds of events if you look hard enough

WEEK two / DAY 1 of Swim Zero To One Mile in 6 weeks:
200 yards……… rest for 12 breaths
4 x 100 yards...rest for 12 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 8 breaths between 50s
4 x 25 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 25s
total: 900 yards

That is the original workout for week two.
After being able to do 500 yards nonstop last Friday, I wanted to see if I could keep that up.

My workout ended up being:
200 yards……… rest for 12 breaths
600 yards……… done

The first set was all freestyle but the second set I did breaststroke every fourth length except for the last one which I sprinted. My breathing was steady doing bilateral every 3 strokes.

I am thinking if I should stick to the program or can I jump ahead to week 3 or 4 and follow it from there. What do you think?

Week 3 workout is:
400 yards……… rest for 12 breaths
200 yards……… rest for 10 breaths
4 x 100 yards...rest for 8 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 50s
total: 1200 yards

Week 4 workout is:
600 yards……… rest for 10 breaths
300 yards……… rest for 8 breaths
4 x 100 yards...rest for 6 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 50s
total: 1500 yards