Ernesto's group (4th season) - Closed (Page 25)

A quick reminder to everyone that tomorrow (30th) is the last day of the weight loss challenge, so make sure you get your finishing weights measured!

I'm really pleased with my weight this week.  I seemed to be stuck at a bit of a plateau, and then suddenly dropped some more, which probably means that overall it's working...

Just out of interest, for those measuring body fat, how are you doing it?  We have those scales that measure it, but I'm never sure how accurate they are.  According to them I've lost about 3-4% body fat this year (along with around 7kg, which is 15lb ish).  I hope that's right, but like I say, I'm not sure if I trust them.

I can officialy post in this group now knowing I AM A TRIATHLETE!!!

The whole event was awesome - lots of good things and lots to imprve on next time.

two Big things that helped for me was practicing transitions the day before for one hour and writing a 'race day plan' that included schedules, goals, paces, notes etc which really helped my nerves even if a little extreme and anal :-)

I had #1 goal to start healthy; #2 finsih; #3 finish under 1:40; #4 hope to finish under 1:30.

I finished with a PR of 1:27:59 (on a MTB) so achieved all four :-)

Also got my 5K PR with plenty left in the tank so know I can do better next time!

Off out to look for a road bike so I can crush the bike enxt time.

Mark.

The last 4 days at work have been awful.  Amongst other things I had to start work 3 hours early on Friday, which removed what little training time I had in what is already the hardest block of my shift pattern.  As a result I've done no training since Wednesday.  On the positive side, on 3 out of the 4 days I spent at least 3.5 hours on foot patrol, and we've come to the conclusion that the kit we wear/carry is probably at least 14lb or so.  So although it's not the ideal training, it's probably doing something to help my overall fitness.

This morning I worked registration at the City of Durham Duathlon.  It's our club's big event of the year, so it was nice to be able to go along and see things from the other side.  After registration I went outside and landed up standing near the mount line shouting at people, so someone gave me a high-vis vest and told me to be a marshall... 

We had one small incident where someone fell on the way into T2 (his cleat slipped on the tarmac) and injured his shoulder.  It was a very cold day today, and between that and the shock he decided that the best thing to do was lie down in the middle of the road!  We managed to get him moved to a safer area and got the paramedics out for him. Nothing too serious fortunately, but he took a while to warm up.

The cold today has made me realise that our first event of the year is next week (Monday 7th).  It's a pool based triathlon, so the swim itself is fine, but I'm starting to wonder what to do about clothing for the bike and run.  At the same event last year it was a lovely sunny day, so I threw a T-shirt over my tri suit and that was it (usually I don't even bother with the T-shirt, but it was April).  Looking at the weather forecast at the moment, it's looking like the temperature is going to be around 8C (I think that's about 46F) at the warmest, and I seem to remember it's quite a windy bike route.  Given the state that people were coming in today off the bike, I'm thinking maybe I should consider wrapping up a little more.

So, does anyone have any experience of doing triathlon in cold conditions, and if so, what do you wear?

Congratulations Mark!  That's a fantastic result.  I look forward to reading your race report.

Foggy (Adrian),

Bring your swim stuff to Austin (no wetsuit).  I'll get you into my fitness center with an open water lake in the evening after work.  Where will you be staying?

Jackie

Congrats!  Sounds like you had a super day!

Barry, a PR is a PR.  Congrats!

Mark, congratulations on your first triathlon.  It gets better and better.

Gabe, congratulations on getting into NYC Marathon.  Hope you are enjoying your taper.  Can't wait to meet you in 3 weeks!

Ernesto, congratulation on finally getting the certification.  You are a great mentor/coach.  Can't wait to see you in 3 weeks!

Smrancourt, I too had to walk a great deal when I first started MAF.  It will get better, I promise!

Spent all last week in Orlando for work.  Got in a 9 mile run on Monday and a 3 mile run on Thursday.  Did a 50 mile women's ride yesterday and a 15 mile spin recovery ride today.  That's it.

Chapfallen,

I just completed a race on Saturday in epic cold/windy/rain/sleet conditions.  It was a pool swim (1100 yards), 38 degrees out, 30 mph winds, rain and sleet.  18.6 mile bike and 10k run.  I wore my tri shorts and my calf sleeves during the swim, then placed my socks, two long sleeve tech shirts and towel inside the pool area to change into before going outside.  Most tri's probably would not allow this, mine was a low-key local event that really doesn't mind.  So for the bike ride in that weather my legs felt borderline cold but not bad.  I wore some thin gloves that I kept in my helmet on the bike in transition.

Make sure you do what's necessary to keep yourself comfortable.  If it means an extra 30 seconds in transition to ward off hypothermia then I think it's worth it.

Big success for me this past weekend!

First tri of the season was Saturday, I placed 2nd in my AG and 7th overall!  Granted, it was a weak field, but I by far exceeded my own lofty expectations and am super happy about my performance.  I was first out of the pool in my heat, 2nd overall swim time (by about 14 seconds).  I completed the bike at a better pace than any previous race despite epic weather, 38 degrees out (F), 30 mph winds and sleet/rain mix.  Then I went out and ran my fastest 10k ever, including stand-alone 10k's and in training.  This training stuff really works, eh?

Another race, this one a sprint coming up this Saturday, I'm hoping for big things.

Congratulations Mark! Yes, welcome to the club TRIATHLETE!

Road bike or not, your enthusiasm is the most important thing. Great to see you enjoyed the event.

That's a great result!  Congratulations on your success despite what sounds like miserable weather.

Thanks for the suggestions on clothing.

The original rules said the end of the weight loss challenge would be 30th April, so I guess we'll stick with that.  I'm the same as yesterday, but my update appears to have been dropped, so I'll update again.

My weight loss goal for this year was to reach 75kg. I've been 75.1kg for the past two days, so I'm really pleased with that.  The question now is do I create a new goal and try to get lower, or do I just try to maintain?

I agree that most of the body fat measurements are inaccurate at best.  That's one of the reasons that I don't generally look at it much, but I happened to notice recently that according to the scales mine has dropped (I don't usually measure it, but I pressed the wrong button).  I don't believe the actual numbers, but I like to think that relatively it's gone down (plus actually, I can see that I've lost body fat - I've suddenly got a lot more bones visible that haven't been for quite some time).

I didn't focus as much as I wanted on diet management this month.  I would have like to have gotten to 158 or leass but 160.4 at the end of April is still good - at least its the right direction.  I've touched the 158 level numerous times but never have the discipline from a diet perspective to stay there. 

Mine were dropped as well, I updated from most current chart in thread.

I've done a couple in early spring/late fall that have been a bit chilly.  In the last one I did I towelled off and put a zip up cardigan style top on (Lululemon).  That was fine for the upper body but the cold bit through the tri shorts and by the end of the bike I couldn't feel my butt or legs.  In hindsight I would have pulled something over my lower half.  I think it's okay to keep something wet on - you just need to towel off well and put something on over top - that would have been way better for me.  You could take it off again for the run.

Coldest race I've done was in the forties in mid October and agree with Marcia's suggestions above. The one thing I'd add is you may want to try bike shoe covers. Coming outa the water and running into T1 with freezing concrete turned my feet numb which only got worse on the bike. Couldn't actually start to feel them again until halfway through the run.

Pretty much where I started but at my lowest weight ever glad to be here after 30 days and lots of business travel/meals.