kenj triathletes in training - IM and HIM focused - Closed (Page 22)

Crossville (Fairfield Glades) - halfway between Knoxville and Nashville. If I was a golfer I would be set!

Good luck Maggie and Bill at Rev3!!!!! I hope the weather is good for ya!

Thanks guys. beautiful day and a fantastic course. not easy, but very scenic with almost all quality roads. the only thing 'easy' is that it wasnt the half... Have a great race Maggie!

Good luck Maggie & Bill! Bill, I swear you're racing every weekend, I feel like such a slacker!

So, I haven't posted for a while, & have debated back & forth with myself if I should mention why. I tend to be fairly private, but ultimately decided I'd share. My Mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last April & after 13 months filled with complications & setbacks, she passed away peacefully 2 weeks ago. I've been all over the place the last several months & especially since she died, trying to figure out what to do & what to focus on. Training is a great escape & release, but sometimes it also feels like a burden. I had a really good training week last week, but this week has only been ok (it's also the first week the kids are home from school).

I'm trying to get excited about the Kansas HIM next weekend, but I'm having trouble. Mentally I feel unprepared, although I'm doing more, faster than I was last year at this time. I'm also trying to balance training for IMWI all summer with being there for my Dad, who is having a difficult time with it all.

I'm curious, have any of you had to deal with an extremely difficult/emotional situation in the midst of training & if so how did you handle it? Mantras like "I'm doing it because she can't" are only getting me so far. Right now, I'm keeping my head up & focusing on one day at a time.

Ali,
I am so sorry for your loss. I can only imagine how hard it has been.
It is important that you be kind to yourself, especially during this time. Do whatever you feel you want to do and need to do and try not to be hard on yourself.
If you do make it to Kansas, please let me know as I would love to meet you. I am not ready for this race but like Ken said, I can look at it as a training day.
Thank you for trusting us with your news.
Again, my condolences to you and your family.
Kathleen

Sorry I've been scarce as well. I've been feeling a little overwhelmed. My foot flared up again and I've had to come to terms that not only do I have to cancel Kansas but Muncie as well. I put my pity party hat on and slacked off for a while. Put on some Lbs's and consumed waaaay to much alcohol. It's quite embarrassing actually.?? Anyway, I'm going to try and get on track and at least get a couple more good races in this year before it ends. But for now I have to quit running for a bit. Ali, I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how you feel. Honestly, I've had to deal with loss 2x in the past 5 years. One year I cancelled a marathon after my mother in law died. I was actually close with her and my wife and I still miss her dearly. I kept training for the race even though I knew I wouldn't do it. I ended up waiting a year to do a different marathon. Then a couple years ago as I was packing for my first HIM in Racine my friends wife knocked on my door and informed me he passed away suddenly. I still went to Racine. You can read the race report. I was sobbing at the starting line. I finished it for him and rushed back home to get to the wake. I can't tell you what to do Ali. Everyone deals with these things differently. No one will blame you whatever you do. Just do what you feel.

Ali, I'm so very sorry for the loss to you and your family. As you mentioned, training can be an escape and a release, and as long as it is, do it. You have to have something for yourself. Of course if its too burdensome or stressful, that's another story. One of the things that has always bothered me about endurance racing is that you have to commit yourself so far in advance.

My family has been very lucky for the last several years in these terms, but I can tell you that for me at least, when things aren't going well, I'll be glad that I have s/b/r in addition to fantastic family and friends. No matter what, I need to escape in my own head sometimes, that's just how it is. I used to do that with large amounts of single-malt scotch, but hope to use exercise in the future.

I hope the best for you and your Dad, one day at a time.

On racing... I think I do race more than most, and probably too much given my fitness level. I'd guess that any coach worth her salt would tell you that racing a bunch is counterproductive, especially if your goal is to go long, and if you don't have the kind of time that a pro athlete could devote to this kind of thing. This is one of the reasons I don't explore getting a coach seriously. I'm going to do what I do whether it's best or not. One tradeoff I do make is trying to keep races within reasonable travel distances when at all possible. I wrote a RR on today's Oly. Now I better get off of this computer and get some stuff done. Hope every one has a good weekend!

Ali, I'm so sorry for your loss, and actually am in sort of the same boat. Haven't posted for a while because my father unexpectedly passed away on May 22nd. He lived in CT and my sister and I, who both live in Florida, had just planned a trip for 4th of July weekend to see him. Neither of us had seen him since her wedding in November of 2009. Then on the 22nd I got that horrible phone call. I had also been in a training funk because we had plans to travel to San Francisco on the 23rd, and trying to get ready to go meant I had to change my workout schedule and missed a bunch of workouts. We did go to San Fran, so I have had two weeks of little to no workouts, bad eating, drinking, etc. My full IM is 12 weeks from today, so it's time to get it in gear!

I did have a very therapeutic run in San Francisco where I cried a little, ran faster than I usually do, took in the scenery along the waterfront, and really felt the healing power of exercise. Now I just have to get back into my routine. I'm heading to CT this coming week to go through my dad's things and have the memorial service, but I am determined to get in some training there. I'm searching for a gym in the area that might have a pool or at least some spin bikes so I can get in some training. I think getting back to my routine of structured exercise and my training plan will help me deal with the loss, as well as seeing family and getting through the memorial service.

Though I'm not posting much lately, I am trying to keep up with everyone's races and training posts. Oh, and my wonderful husband surprised me with a Garmin 910XT! Used it for running and biking in San Fran, get to try it in the pool tomorrow morning. So far I like it--I just hope I can figure out the triathlon mode. Olympic distance for me in 2 weeks, so I guess I'll find out then!

Heading out for a very late long ride! Thinking of everyone!

Ali and Becky - I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. It is tough to lose a family member. I think the others gave good advice. Lots of hugs.

I hope everyone else had a better racing weekend than I did.

I've been training for San Diego Century for a few months, and have been working quite a bit on my hill endurance/skills because I knew San Diego Century was TOUGH.

Well, I got sick last week and I tried to keep it at bay and it was okay, until Thursday night when I wanted to push a little harder on the hills just to see how my body will react. Turns out that I ended up in a coughing fit, so I had to change my mindset to just enjoy the ride instead of pushing it hard.

Right before the ride, I turned on my Garmin FR305 to get the satellites, then I rode to the bathrooms and to pump up my tires. I wasn't really paying attention. My Garmin popped off. After going to the bathroom and going to my bike, I realized that my Garmin disappeared. Rode same road back to car, and I found it...completely destroyed...and yes, I let out a little tear. Went to the start area with my friend, and started riding with them.

I kept up a little bit, but as soon as I started to hit a LITTLE hill, my lungs just would not cooperate. I ended up having a hacking fit. My friends just went by. I cried a little bit (more of "It's not fair!!" kind of emotion). Got to the first AID station, and my friends were a bit worried and told me to SAG in. Told them to just go. I felt so defeated because of this stupid cold/coughing. I decided to keep going to the 2nd AID station then SAG in (since it was pretty much downhill with a couple small hills, but I could handle them if I go slow). At first I was questioning myself again, should I keep going, should I go to 66? Etc. But as soon as I hit a hill, going pretty slow to my standard, I was coughing pretty hard and my lungs hurt. Yeah, it pretty much confirmed it...I could not go on. Got to the AID Station at mile 30, and got a SAG back to the car to get my stuff, and she drove me to the hotel. She was super sweet...since I knew I would be waiting for my friends for hours...they were out for 9 hours! It took me about an hour or so to stop the wheezing fit and hurting lungs.

In a way I wish I took Mucinex much earlier. I had a lot of "could'ves", "should'ves", but you know what? It wasn't my day. It happens. It happens to many many many people, especially those that has been training for an Ironman. There was many people that had flats, there was someone that was hit by a car, someone's front tire got taco'ed, heck...even dozens of people in Oklahoma has lost their HOMES. Why should I complain about a little 107 mile ride?

I'll be back someday.

Wishing everyone a happy new week. :-)

Edited by CyborgQueen 2013-06-03 12:15 AM

Ooh! Perfect question Ken!

I have one ? The screen is a little psychedelic, the back door is a bit open, but if I push it really hard, I can close it. I think if I use a little duct tape, it should stick better. The buttons are a little bit hard to press, but I can still feel clicking, so it should still work. It has a little scratch on it, but my husband says, "Eh. Just a scratch. Buff it out and it'll be good as new." I trust his advice. My problem is...how do I turn it on?

Sorry to hear of your losses, Becky and Ali.
I have been pretty lucky so far in that my family has been pretty healthy and I'm not sure what I would do in regards to training in such an event. I know that my father who died 18 years ago still comes in to my mind during training at times and I'm sure he will be there as I finish my first ironman later this year.
Had a good weekend of training while camping with my family in the Kettle Moraine forest, but not so good in terms of recovery., so really struggled on the swim this morning. Tomorrow is an off day for me, so hope Wednesday is back to normal. I train 6 days a week - swimming twice, running 4X and biking 4X. The off day can either be Tuesday or Thursday and I usually leave it up to how I feel or the weather.
My first tri of the season is this coming a weekend (sprint) although it may turn into a duathlon due to the cold water temps. Hoping not.
- Todd

Ali & Becky - so terribly sorry for your loss. Becky - where in CT did you father live? May be able to help find a gym or pool, etc...

Brian - don't get too down on yourself - we all have these "setbacks" - I just scheduled an appt to see my podiatrist - my PF is flaring up.

I had a "good" race in terms of realizing I'm not the same person I was 5 years ago. And my training seems to be on track for IMMT. I didn't really accomplish the goals I set out, but I learned where my strengths are and that quitting is not an option.

I survived my first panic attack in the swim - 100m in and I couldn't catch my breath at all. Trying to be more aggressive in the swim was not for me. It was a very scary feeling of not being in control - everytime I put my face in the water my head would just pop right back up. So after being pummeled by the rest of the wave going over me- I treaded water for a bit, contemplated swimming to the kayak and calling it a day and then slowly just started breast stroking, then breathing every one stroke, then two and eventually back to 3 strokes - I was able to get comfortable, get back into my rhythm and finish - it was a total slug fest - never found any open water, but I did it. 5 years ago - I would have quit, made up some excuse and probably quit triathlons thinking I'm just not tough enough.

Had a solid bike - just a tough course and I'm really just dumbfounded on how to get faster on this particular course. Last year I rode a 3:29, this year a 3:25 - but it felt a lot better this year - I was actually passing people on the hills, etc... A lot of people really bomb the descents faster than me, but I would catch them on the next hill.

I did start having some stomach issues on the bike - just that sloshy/queasy feeling - which I attributed to the heat - did I mention it was 90% humidity.

Started the run feeling good - saw my husband at T2 and told him I'd had a crappy swim. First mile felt good (8:40 pace - 147 hr), then it went downhill fast - my stomach started not feeling great - grabbed some gatorade & a gel at next aid station, felt better, then started running, but was quickly reduced to walking - this was the rhythm for the run. Misery loves company would be the theme for the run - so many people were walking, it was actually quite nice - I'd run for the bit, then walk and chat with whoever else was walking, run a bit more, chat with the next person, etc... Beside mile 1, I think I only ran mile 10 the whole mile....but still managed a 6:31 overall time - ended up 21 out 47 AG. Apparently, even with the panic attack I swam 10 seconds faster than last year - 36:08 in the swim - 13 out of 47.

I was able to finish with a smile on my face and feel good about what I accomplished - which is what this should be about. The best part of the day was catching up with my family and watching my daughter go on the roller coaster - she's been terrified of rides since she was little and never enjoyed amusement parks (10 yrs old - autistic) - but yesterday she had a great big grin on her face and kept asking to go on again and again.