Tri Mark's Madness Group-Closed (Page 22)

1.  What do you like best about tri's?

The training.  Everything seems to stay fresh.

1.  What's your biggest source of motivation (for training or competing)?

Improving myself.

1.  What little things help you get out the door for your swim/bike/run at the end of a long day (or in the wee hours of the morning)?

I train in the morning.  When the alarm goes off at o'dark thirty, I had better get up.  My dog would not have it any other way.  (plus my husband would not be amused!)

1.  Do you do your most important workouts during the week or on weekends?

1.  What do you like best about tri's? I like mixing it up between the three sports. Also biking is new to me so that's something I'm learning as a newbie which is always exciting. Actually open water swimming is also new to me. It's fun.
2.  What's your biggest source of motivation (for training or competing)? The endless pursuit of beating my younger brother. Hasn't happened yet.
3.  What little things help you get out the door for your swim/bike/run at the end of a long day (or in the wee hours of the morning)? I would flake if it weren't for an upcoming race and a group to train with. I'm not good at training alone.
4.  Do you do your most important workouts during the week or on weekends? I do the longest on the weekends.

      1. What do you like best about tri's

I haven't participated in a tri yet, but I love the training. Especially the bike it has been a blast.

     2.   What's your biggest source of motivation (for training or competing)?

I love to compete and want to be competitive.
That and to stay in shape and try to prevent any health issue's. 

      3.   What little things help you get out the door for your swim/bike/run at the end of a long day (or in the wee hours of the morning)?

Remembering how I use to feel when I didn't work out.

      4.   Do you do your most important workouts during the week or on weekends?

On the weekend.

Ultimate goal is HIM in 2012.

~Tom

That's what you say now! 

I signed up for a HIM once...took 40 days before I pulled the trigger on a full!

Henry,

You are more than ready for your tri -- you will do awesome!  I can't wait for your race report.

I hope your dad is feeling better -- what a scary episode!

Jacqui

Thanks for the recommendations on the clipless pedals.  I will do some more online research and then maybe hit the bike store this weekend!

I think I have moaned and complained about my ongoing knee issues here.  I put off an MRI until this week (following injury in January) because I had similar complaints last year and physical therapy seemed to clear everything up.  Apparently I have more going on then I thought.

I found I have fluid on the knee, either a strain or partial tear of the ACL, evidence of injury to my lateral meniscus, not to mention pesky arthritis.  Yikes -- could they find anything else?  LOL.  Anyway, I can't get in to see the orthopedic surgeon until June 1st.  And, stupid me, I was so busy writing down all the MRI findings that I forgot to ask my doctor if I can continue to run and bike on the knee until my ortho visit.  Duh!  I am waiting for a call back.  I hope I can continue since I have a 5k this weekend, a half marathon the next weekend, and then another half three weeks later.  Not to mention all the training I need to do to get ready for my triathlon!

Happy training!

Jacqui

Thanks to everyone for your support & prayers. My dad is probably on his way home as I type this! He has a couple new stents & a pace maker now, but says he feels better than he's felt in a long time & wants to "stop at Barnes & Noble" on his way home. LOL He might even make it to my race this weekend!

Mark, thanks for the tips on training. I had planned to just stretch tomorrow, but now I will take a brief run before getting into the car to drive a couple hours to our hotel. Today I did my last swim workout, a pretty easy 1150m but I threw 6x25 sprints in there too. Felt short, but good.

As for Tel's questions:

What I like best about Tri's: This weekend is my first race, but as for what I've enjoyed most about training: the discipline & the fact that I've never really felt like I could call myself an athlete (aside from snowboarding I haven't participated in a sport in many years) but now after several months of training I really feel I can own that title.

Biggest Source of Motivation: A large part of my motivation is weight/health related, to be sure, but I'm beginning to really love pushing myself & the results that come from that. Also, I use a race to motivate me to train. If I have a race on the calendar I know I can't skimp on training or I'll feel like a fool.

Getting out the door for workouts: Several things keep me getting out the door for hard or early workouts - having a printed schedule helps a lot. I don't have to think about what I'm doing on a given day, I can just consult the calendar and it helps me feel motivated to see how many successful workouts I've already put behind me. For the early workouts I definitely need to prep all my food and lay my clothes out the night before or it just doesn't happen. COFFEE. Later this summer I'll be cutting out coffee, so that will be a challenge in itself, but for now I really appreciate a cup of hot coffee before leaving the house.

 When do I do my most important workouts: I try to put the longest workouts, or the workouts I'm most dreading, on the weekends so I have a little wiggle room to sleep in or procrastinate if I "need" to.  I like planning my rest/stretch days during the week because I find it easier to get up for an hour of stretching than an hour of cycling. Also, if have a little more time to get ready or enjoy a leisurly breakfast before work, it makes for a nice treat.

I love reading everyone's answers! Here are mine:

What do you like best about tri's? I haven't done one yet, but I like competing and pushing myself. There has been a TV ad for Hyvee's Iowa triathlon recently and I get really excited every time I see the athletes competing.

What's your biggest source of motivation (for training or competing)? I get motivated by not wanting to embarrass myself (or come in last) on race day!

What little things help you get out the door for your swim/bike/run at the end of a long day (or in the wee hours of the morning)? Same answer as above

Do you do your most important workouts during the week or on weekends I was going to say on the weekends because that is when I run or ride long. However, being a new swimmer, I guess swim sessions are my most important workouts and I do them weeknight evenings.

GO HENRY!!!!!!!!

Henry you're ready to race, so go get 'em this weekend.  I tell my wife and my friends the following:

Race to your intentions.  Set your intentions prior to the race, and race to them.  "I want to swim strong and smooth, have a fast transition, and stay steady on the bike without mashing.  When I transition to the run, I will focus on form and posture for the first 75% of the run and then let it all go the last 1/4 of the run.  I will perform to the best of my capabilities, and I am doing this to honor xxxxxxx." 

Tell us how you did.  Looking forward to your report.

That's really good advice!

GO HENRY!! And have fun! Can't wait to read your race report.

Fitness, Form, and Function. 

I am posting this link for you all to see what my coach has begun doing for me to illustrate some points.  She complains that I always want to work hard and rarely want to rest/recover.  I do complain about it, but in the end I listen like 90% of the time, probably more.  I think that what this link illustrates more than anything else is the importance of a concept I keep reinforcing for all of you.  Specific stress, followed by specific rest, is the key to physical improvements that lead to performance gains.  I want to illustrate for you all just a couple of tangible accomplishments that this process has done for me.  I hope that it helps some of you break through the mental limitations you may unknowingly place on yourselves.  I still spend a lot of time evaluating whether or not I am limiting myself mentally.

Last year at my first 13.1 run I did 1:51 and change for a new PR.  Same race this year, 1:43:22.  That's about 40 seconds/mile pace difference.

5k PR down over 4 minutes in 12 months.

10k- no basis to compare, but regularly run them in 46-47 minutes now in training runs, can do sub 45 in a race, which is a benchmark for 10k runners.

All of this is possible with two knees that have had 4 or 5 surgeries between them, an ankle with a bone spur the size of the tip of my thumb in it, and arthritis out the wazoo.  On top of all of that, I've NEVER felt better physically. 

You have to push things hard at the right time, and then back off at the right time.  A solid program is important, and someone to help you analyze the training and pull back is really huge.  In this video that you can see, you'll see how hard she was pushing my body (rather I was pushing at her request).  My stress level (pink line) was going straight up, and my fitness level was rising rapidly, and my form dropped as the stress increased.  She then brings them all back into perfect alignment for my last race, and the results are incredible.  She knew that I'd crush my PR at that race as it all came together.  The key in a busy race season is to manage this closely, particularly when you get into ultra endurance, and I'll include short course (70.3) in that.   

http://screenr.com/Nyw

Feel free to ask any questions you have about how this works.

Mark, that is so awesome to see! Someday I will have the $$ for all the gadgets (power meter would be really cool) and then I can geek out on my charts!

Henry

I tend to wait until prices drop on this stuff and buy used.  It really helps to stay motivated when you can see the improvements that you don't always feel.

Good Luck Henry, can't wait to hear how it went.

Mark that is some cool info about tapering and how it affects overall performance.

I have another 5k this weekend, I have had a little more rest this week due to my work schedule. I am hoping to match last weeks 5k if not improve on it. I haven't seen the coarse but I know the area it is in so there may be hills involved.

Good luck to anyone racing this week and have a good weekend.