Athena/ Clydesdale Official Mentor Group (Page 25)

Blueman is in the books!

The sadist who organized the race decided that since we weren't swimming, he'd add another 3.25 mile run in it's place.  So we ran 3.25, biked 13.5, and then ran 3.25 again.  C'mon MAN!  I was counting on that swim to move ahead a few places.

Blueman Tri (3 events makes it a tri still, right?)

Run – 3.25 – 49m – hit my 4mph goal - AHR 140 - MHR 166

Bike – 13.5 – 1h 12m – too slow - AHR 146 - MHR 174 (a new high for me!)

Run – 3.25 – 59m - AHR 143 - MHR 158  (but I finished!)

I walked all the uphill sections of both runs and jogged the downhill sections.  I passed one guy, Bob, when we hit the first downhill.

On the bike leg I made it halfway through the first lap before I had to walk a portion of one hill.  That was when Bob caught and passed me.  So I knew I was DFL at that point.  Stayed the course anyway.  On the second lap I had to walk a portion of the two worst hills.  But I felt good for the rest of it.  I was really happy with the way I was able to spin up the long grade back to the start line on each lap.

I passed Bob on his way back from the turn around on the second run, as I was still heading out.  I finally caught him again about 1 mile out.  The last mile or so was all downhill, so I was able to jog that out.

I don't have official splits yet, but I did get my final time; 3h 7m 23s.  There were two real bright spots in this for me.  First, three months ago it was all I could do to walk one mile in 28 minutes.  Second, I did finish, which is more than the four people my wife counted who DNF'd.

Am I addicted?  Hmmm, maybe not yet.  Did I have fun?  Absolutely!  Will I do it again?  I have already started a new countdown.  I have 231 training days until my first Oly, which will Black Bear Oly on June 2nd in Lehighton, PA.  New training program starts Thursday.  Rest and recovery until then.

Thanks folks.  melbo they canceled the swim because at 31* they were worried people wouldn't be able to get their body temps up fast enough on the bike to offset the wind chill.  The water was fine, it was the air they were worried about.  You come out wet and below freezing for a couple of minutes of transition and then immediately add wind chill.  John Cressman, even called USAT and asked for guidance from them.  They said cancel the swim.  BUT it was HIS sadistic idea to add the second run.

The coolest part of this whole thing was that by the time I was coming into T2 folks somehow knew my real name and were cheering me on.  At T1 it was just "C'mon Big Man, you're doing great."  But in T2 and at the finish it was "C'mon Mike, you can do this big guy."  All I could think of was Andrew's article about Jan and Cindy Brady.  Yep, I am definitely a "Cindy Brady".

My only disappointment with this race was that none of the BT participants introduced themselves.  And I couldn't have been hard to find.  I looked like "The Great Pumpkin" in my bright orange Percheron pullover.

??

Yeah, I can almost walk without any pain in the calf today.  I am thinking about starting the C25K treadmill program Thursday, so that in theory anyway, I will be able to actually jog 3 miles come the new year.  I'll use the indoor track to concentrate on getting up to 10k by April 1st.  Then move my runs back outdoors to reacquaint myself with jogging real terrain.

I have discovered a "Zero to 1650" in eight weeks for a swim program.

I am open to suggestions for winter training on the bike though.

jonD, that's a fantastic workout.  Good for you!  I was starting to think everyone had abandoned the thread.  I know that for most of us the season is over.  I believe it's just starting for scott and jobaxas.

I attempted the C25k, Wk1 D1 workout yesterday.  Wasn't much more than halfway through before my left calf started to protest.  Decided discretion was the better part of valor and headed home.  I had thought I had rested it enough after the double run last weekend.

I have an appointment with the podiatrist on the 29th.  See, I had a forklift park on my foot last November and the running has aggravated it.  In the meantime, I plan to rest the calf until next Thursday, when I will resume training.

My plan is to use the C25k to start running.  There is a program out there called "Zero to 1650".  And I think I'll use the LifeCycles at the YMCA to maintain bike fitness, with some road work on nice weekends.  That will get me through until the end of the year, and then I have five months to work up to the 10k distance.

Hi all, did you miss me?

I have been missing in action lately, lost all motivation, gained some weight back, lost more motivation and basically did little. So I went back to crossfit (I know, not ideal for triathlon, but at least I am motivated to do it), and with that boost have been back riding and running and swimming a little (not enough). 

Thank you, especially to leather, as your journey is a big motivation to me to stick with it. I have my first (mini) race in a week or two, and I can not wait. Thanks for all of your motivation and support.

scott, I agree with jon.  It's better to be doing what motivates you than it is to be doing nothing at all.

Speaking of which, I am finally  back into training!  I'm thinking that 10 days was way too much recovery time.  And I never would have believed I would have said this, but I really missed not training.  That is so cool!

Anyway, I went to the Y today and hit the pool for the first day of the "Zero to 1650" swim program.  I am saddened to report that all of my swim times before were wrong.  It seems the person who told me it was 50 per length was wrong.  It's only 25.  So I must tell you all that my times were pretty much the same as most everybody else, 50 yard per minute.  Oh well, they'll go back down with time.  Oh, and the Timex GT HRM doesn't work worth a darn in the pool.

After the swim I took my time going back to the locker room and changing into running gear.  Then it was down to the treadmill for W1 D1 of the C25k program.  LOL, what was I thinking!?  That wasn't happening.  I started out ok, but only got 15 of the 30 minutes complete and I was completely gassed.  (Good grief, how did I manage that 3h 7m earlier this month?) I;m gonna call today a brick, kin of.  So I'm thinking I might just switch to alternating swim and run days, then fit the bike in whenever I can.

ETA:  Let's see some more training entries here folks.  Yeah, it';s the off-season, but that means we ease up not quit.  I really need company.

I'll bite.   Haven't posted in this group before, but a little peer review never hurt anybody...  

Some background:  I'm definitely in Clyde territory -- 6'3", started my tri journey at about 265 lbs, but just dipped under the 250 lbs milestone yesterday morning (!)   Have completed one sprint tri (Sept) and one 10K (Oct) -- signed up for an Oly in June which is my current focus.  Loosely following the 2x Balanced 20 Week plan.

Training entries?   I had a fantastic treadmill run on Tuesday night -- managed to do a 40 min consecutive run (approx 10:00 mile pace), which I've done once before, but this was the first time it felt good.  Didn't feel like slowing down, legs weren't sore, sweating less than normal, and I even upped the speed for the last ~5 minutes.   When I was done, I absolutely could have gone for longer.  Dare I dream -- am I becoming a runner??   Like many others, when I started training, I couldn't do more than 2 minutes -- would love to get myself to the point where I can do a 10K without a walk break.

Current frustration is the swim.  Went to the pool last night, and I've successfully increased the distance (did 1100m of front crawl without stopping) but pretty slow -- averaging just under 3:00 per 100m.  Can't help but chuckle at some of the posts on BT complaining about going at a 1:45 pace -- nice problems to have I guess 

jonD,  that's fantastic.  Those are 8 minute miles dude!  I was NEVER a runner.  Even in the Corps the best I ever managed for a 5k was 20:20.  I was usually in the area of 23-24 minutes.  My current goal for next spring's Oly will be under an hour for the 10k.

Good luck tomorrow!

hoos,  welcome to the group.

I'm going to try the C25k to get myself up to a non-stop 5k run by NYD.  I figure that'll give me 5 months to train up to a 10k from there.

This was a pretty active group over the summer.  Seems as people completed their race season they sort of dropped off.  jonD, Yeti, and I seem to be the regulars now.  Please post often so you can help us stay motivated.  It appeared to me that everybody sort of fed off each other's motivation over the summer.

Leather, I figure the summer has enough motivation -- nice weather, early sunrise, wildlife are out and about, etc. -- winter is when we need the motivation right?

So I was feeling a bit guilty with no "official" workout yesterday -- then I remembered, I get credit for 30 minutes of snow shovelling.  (That's the 4th sport in Canada!)

Shorter run this morning (26 min) -- bumped up the speed a little bit.  Certainly felt it but I held the pace till the end.

jonD -- good luck breaking the 25 min 5K mark.  That's an aspirational goal for me but a ways off -- current PR is about 29:45 (felt so good to bust through 30:00!)

You've got snow already?  Oh man.  I hope it stays away.  I'm not ready for it.  Riding and running outside is so nice right now with the cool air.  Once the snow hits then you have the constant ice and crap everywhere on the side of the road and running is going to be tougher and tougher.

I think I'm going to pick up my trainer soon too.  My son is getting it for me as an early xmas present... he's 15 months old so he doesn't know that... so I'm getting myself a trainer for an early xmas present.

Saturday Brick.

I thought i killed the thread awhile back so I will only do this once in awhile.

You asked for it, its not pretty but hey it is what it is and I'm moving.

Bike 3 hours 30 minutes 46.64 miles, and ran for a half hour should be around 2 miles when I check with the car.

Not great but hey hey I'm not on the couch.

Keep training everybody and welcome to the new peeps!! 

Well went and helped on a short duathlon today (3k run, 13 ride, 3 run), and i am inspired. The ride and run are the same as for my mini try next week, and i am very scared of the run. But hey, even if i walk it, and come last, at least i will be there.

Hope you are all doing well. 

scsott, when they turned my tri into a du, I was bummed and scared.  But what I wound up doing was walking all of the uphill sections and jogging all of the downhill sections.  Worked pretty well for me.  And those distances are about the same as what I did.

Good luck to you.  Keep us posted.

Missed my Saturday workout -- was planning to swim but our dinner guests stayed a bit later than anticipated!

Set a new endurance PR today -- 44 min running (treadmill) without a walk break.  Trying to stick pretty closely to the 10% increase / week max.

In further good news -- warm front is melting the snow so may be able to get outside again next weekend (maybe even back on the bike!)

ETA:   jonD -- great time on the 5K!  Next stop -- 20:00 

Got in a 4.5 mile run yesterday afternoon during the Pats halftime in the middle of the rain.  So glad I got out seeing as we're looking at 2-3 days of rain and tropical storm stuff.  I might look kind of funny going out for a run tonight with tree branches falling down everywhere.  Not sure if that's going to happen.

Right now I'm really concentrating on the run until I get the trainer.  I have my next race on Nov 22nd, so in 24 days.  I was thinking of doing 20 runs in 30 days, but I'll have to reduce that to a goal of ~18 in 24 days.  My goal is to keep that 8 minute (or just sub 8min) pace from here on out on my race times.  For normal training runs I'm thinking I'll do one race pace run per week, but besides that just keep a nice easy pace and get in the miles.

Edit:  Thanks on the race.  I think 20 minutes might be a ways off but it's definitely a goal at somepoint.