Funked Up Triathletes - Season 2 - Olympic/Sprint Focus - Closed (Page 26)

Ah. That's a month later than MT.
Was supposed to get a run in today but spent the day researching a potential job. Hope to get a swim in tomorrow.

How's the knee feeling at this point??

I'm still not cleared to run. I also am not cleared to ride a bike with 2 legs. I can swim 1 month post Op, so I can officially swim now. I have not yet, but wife and I are using our "date night" to go swim. I haven't been in the pool since October. I'm not sure I remember how to swim. Ha ha.

I'm expecting to get the OK to workout again soon. I was supposed to meet the doc the 30th, but had to reschedule it for 2/6. So, sort of more waiting.

Last weekend, I did a 5K. I signed up for it months ago and I really expected to be running by now. Since I'm not "allowed" to run, I decided to just run with my 6 year old. Her first 5k. I thought, "no big deal". When the horn went off, she zipped off and ticked off the first .6 of a mile at a shade under 7 min/mile. I wasn't really expecting that and had to run hard to keep up with her. Fortunately, she ran out of gas and spent much of the rest of the race walking/running. This was better for me. The knee felt pretty good. I could feel a little soreness in it, and I really only ran maybe a total of 1 mile. Moreso, my whole body was sore the next day as I haven't run for several months. I forgot how sore running can make the whole body.

My knee feels pretty good, however I can tell there is still alot of lateral instability. I've played driveway basketball with my boys a few times and can tell that my lateral movement is pretty much gone. Not sure if that's from the surgery, or just years of tri training with not much else (straight ahead movements).

But I'm signed up, it's real, and it's about time to kick in gear.

5 more weeks. No running for 5 more weeks. ugh. I'm dying.

I feel your pain. I haven't been able to really run since September. - though I finally ran 3 miles yesterday as 2 minutes run, 1 minute walk intervals. Didn't have any pain, which is good, but it's frustrating nonetheless.
Patience, grasshopper. Heal right the first time.
Can you bike or swim with a pull buoy?

Oh, also, I took FaceBook off my phone so I'm not on there too much anymore. Got sick of seeing my friends tear each other apart.

got a whooping 2 miles in today with running 2 minutes/walking 1 minute intervals. Hoping to get a spin in later, we'll see...it's sign-up day for Little League!!!

Hi there! How are you recovering??? Is everything healing as it should?

My husband called me today as he was driving to Albany and told me I should just start training for IMMT..... What??? hahahaha. He said, why not, I'm about a month behind my original start date but my swimming is already where it needs to be, I'm running 4 miles now and just have to had a couple more to be where I need to be. I just need to get more biking miles in... Last year my back went out in mid-March and I had limited workouts during that time so I'm really not any worse off. Having trained for this race once before and raced at the venue (minus the run) I should be going into it with mental strength....should be...
The reason he brought it up is that I'm looking at a potential job prospect and if I get it, time to train for a full IM will go out the window so this may end up being my shot and I think he really wants me to check this off my list. (good man). Of course if I do get the job, it would all depend on when I start - I might not be able to race it anyway.
Hubby (Adam) says why not train regardless, then I'm prepared...at the very least I'd be over-trained for the 2 half irons I have planned.

Am I insane? Ack!

Insane? Yes, yes you are. But I do think there has to be something slightly wrong with our brains to consider the things that we do. But, on the other hand...what's the alternative? I'm with your hubby...what do you have to lose? If you get a new job and can't train like you are able to now....what if it's 7 years before you're able to again? What if your body isn't in the condition you are in today? The fact that your husband brought it up is huge, IMO. I think people in our position (jobs, spouses, kids, etc) would have a hard time doing something like this without buy-in from the spouse. My wife is hugely supportive. I read alot of posts on other boards about athletes who struggle to train with a spouse who does not approve or is resentful of the tri life. That would be so hard.

So.....I say..... do it! do it! do it!

Regarding my recovery: there's really no news. I go in next week for another visit to doc. I feel fine. I have no pain. I'm very frustrated. Evidently the damage in my knee joint was pretty severe beyond the meniscus tear, so the doc is being very cautious in approving me to get back to work. Basically, 3-4X per week I've been doing a strength workout, or a light bike session. I've been swimming 1X per week. And I have been doing 40' on the elliptical at Planet Fitness 4-5X per week. When I can start running again, I plan to split my "run" mileage between actually running and elliptical. For my long runs, I'll plan to run the 3-4 miles to the gym, do elliptical for 45 minutes or so, and then run home. So, on a 12 mile "run", I'll be doing elliptical for about 30% of it. We'll see what that does.

I also plan to swim alot less. Going against convention, my swim has remained stagnant for the past 3-4 years. When I get into my swimming, I plan to only swim 2X per week and add more bike. Chattanooga swim is "downhill" and notoriously fast. I want to beast up on the bike and baby my knee. We'll see where this takes me. In the meantime, I am currently signed up for an OLY in mid-May. I'm a bit concerned about this, considering my basic lack of any real tri training to date. This time last year I was deep-sunk into a 70.3 plan for an April race.

Wife and I just got back from Vegas for a weekend trip. We never ever stay out late, but this past weekend we went overboard a bit. LOL. It's going to take a week for us to get over our lack of sleep and from drinking too much. Very much NOT what we are used to doing, but it's not often we're away from the 4 kids.

Niiiiiice....Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I assume you're all recovered from that now? hahaha

I think that's a great plan for Chatt. There is never anything wrong with beefing up on the bike. As you said, it's better for the knee anyway and you're still cranking your cardio. Maybe you could mix regular running with pool running too. (yuck, but works). Elliptical is always good for cardio too and non-impact. For the life of me I can't do it for long because it's such an unnatural motion for me. I envy folks who can do it for long periods as a good option for fitness.

I was doing pretty good for consistency for a while but over the last 2 weeks or so I've dropped off the face of the earth for workouts. I have that job prospect I had mentioned, so I've been doing a lot of stuff to prep for that and revamping some of the classes I teach so I've let it eat into my training time - totally my own fault and I know it. The weather has been really wonky here - one day it got up 60 degrees which is unheard of this time of year, then it was 10 the next day. I'm feeling successful in that I haven't gotten really sick yet (knock on wood) with these kinds of fluctuations. Yesterday it was a high of 4F and wind chill brought it to a balmy -18 or so. Today we're up to about 17F and with windchill -5 or so. The wood stove is cranking and it's about 91F in the basement right now. Last year I was so diligent and consistent with training and this year I can't get myself out of bed, I'm constantly tired. Heck, maybe I'm recovering from last year's 8 months of constant training and it's just sapped my motivation? I don't know but as soon as we get a few warm days again my mood will boost up. (need to take my Vit. D!).
I haven't officially signed up for anything yet as I want to see if I get an interview in the next month or so - that will determine what I can do with my summer. In the meantime, I do have my training plan/s on excel so it's time I start pecking a few workouts off! Git 'er done, right?!

Happy birthday!

Any race plans?

I'm on for a Sprint this weekend. I've only been running a little, and don't think I can run 3 miles yet without walking. We will see. In Wk9 of IM training, and am not slowing or tapering for this sprint. It probably won't be pretty.

Hey there! How did the sprint go??
It sounds like you're doing pretty well all things considered!
I haven't signed up for anything yet at all. I literally haven't been on my bikes in about 2 months which is crazy. I haven't been swimming ina month probably. I have been doing some sporadic running and now that the weather is getting warmer (for 3 days), I am newly invigorated. I ran this morning, may throw the bike on the trainer this evening for a half hour. Tomorrow should be a beautiful day (and super hot!) so I plan to ride in the mid-morning. Just 10 Mike's maybe so make sure I can remember how to unclip. Hahahaha!
Husband wants to do a tri in August for the first time (using a Mtn bike). I was going to be his support but he wants me to do it too (so he can beat me). I'm still torn. I want his first race to be his alone. We shall see.
I may try to convince him to let me do the Ironman Maine (70.3) race in August. - Otherwise I'll do Big George HIM again on Labor Day weekend.
I've lost a couple pounds so I'm back at my starting weight which is good, just need to get in shape a bit more. Looking forward to crushing some awesome workouts again soon.

Are both you and your wife doing Chatt? She did that one last year, right?

Wife is not doing Chattanooga. She did Louisville last year. We have set a rule of only 1 of us doing IM training at a time. It's just too much for both us. We also have adopted an "every other" "big" race. In 2015 I did Alcatraz. 2016 was her IM Louisville. 2017 is my Chattanooga. She claimed IM Lou was her "one and done" but our youngest is enrolled in pre-school for the Fall and I KNOW she's already thinking about doing another one. She is bit by the bug.

Training wise, it has been strange. The pool we swim at had a mass exodus of lifeguards a few months ago, so they've been closed in the mornings. This has given me an excuse to just not swim. Chatt is a "downhill" river swim, so I haven't been sweating it, but our outdoor pool opens next week, so I'll add 3 workouts per week to my schedule then. Running is kind of square one. I've really had a hard time building up my endurance. I struggle to run 2 miles nonstop. Running has always been my big weakness, and it's discouraging having to battle that area. I know a big part of it is because I'm big! I have a real hard time shedding weight and I think each year it's getting even harder. I've been on my IM 12-week "base" plan and I have only lost 2 pounds! [I'm not like you...I do actually carry alot of extra weight and I should be able to shed alot more, ha ha].

I also have had a few minor setbacks with my knee. Last week (a few days before the sprint) I think I had started battling an early case of gastrocnemius tendinitis. Took a few days away from running and did the sprint with no pain. When I ran in the race, I ran pretty well. However, I had to walk about 3-4Xs! My total 5K time was just under 9min/mi so not horrible for me. Now, I have another issue. Somehow I "tweaked" my knee again coaching soccer on Monday night. I've been on the elliptical all week waiting for it to heal up. It's really frustrating but I feel like I don't want /can't take any risks. I feel like for "ironman" training, I'm sure not working out alot!

I think if your hubby wants you to race with him, you should do it. Especially if it's a shorter race. You're experienced enough that you can easily set yourself up and also help him as well. If he beats you on a mountain bike....he he that will be funny.

Time to get back into gear!

Gastroc issues are not good - how are you healing at this point? Did the rest help? It is tough but just look at what you need to do now - not at what is way down the road (not telling you anything you don't already know).

We've had a string of yucky weather here - still haven't gotten my bike outside! (Haven't ridden it in probably 6 weeks). But the weather is finally getting a little warmer so I think I'm pulling out of my funk and wanting to get back at it.
I'm in the middle of re-flooring my office so I've been painting, spackling, priming...not necessarily in the order. Yesterday and today I'm at camp getting it opened up so for this next week I'm hopping with little spare time. New applications going out to a choice airline or two and I may work on getting my seaplane rating. Somewhere in there I'll fit in some swim, bike, run. Hahahaa
Oh....no way in hell will he beat me if he's on a mountain bike....that is incentive enough for me to get my bike fixed up and back on the road!! Hahahaha

How is training going??? Last I knew you were having calf issues. Did you get those cleared up?
I haven't been on in a while, training has been nonexistent for me with work and prepping for potential interviews. I am not signing up for any races this year I don't think. I haven't prepped for anything. If I actually do one, it will be a sprint in August. I literally have not had my road bike outside this spring. Nuts, I know! We have had a lot of really crummy weather this spring and early summer. I think we are mailing up for the drought we had last year.

It's going good. Ironman training is in full force. I'm not currently injured (fingers crossed!).

It's funny...I'm only putting about 50% of the swim volume in that my plan calls for, but my run/bike workouts are on point. So all is going pretty well.

It's fun to see your stuff on FB and your boys are close in age to my two older boys. I was wondering if you were planning for a race any time soon. But between flying, sports and fly fishing, it seems like you guys have alot going on and activites to keep you busy.

I HAVE to be signed up, otherwise I can't prioritize and train. I admire those people who can "live a healthy lifestyle" of exercising regularly just because. I have to have that deadline looming.

Wife and I are heading out on a weekend excursion again this coming weekend. After that, I'm swearing off alcohol and plan to black list a whole bunch of foods. We'll see how that goes.

Prepping for IM Chattanooga. As of this writing, it's 69 days out. I rented a AirBnb in Chatty and will have a house. My brother and sister in law are meeting us there. My mom might tag along (which wife and I have mixed feelings about...ha!!).

It's coming up for you! How are you feeling? Everything healing up?

I'm not signing up for anything this year at this moment, too many irons in the fire...
That being said...I have signed up for IMLP 2018. Doh!!! I didn't plan on it and I don't have a huge burning desire to do that particular course (I still really want IMMT bad) but my sis in law texted me last night about it and I told her she better decide soon because it was already almost sold out and it just opened like 2 days ago or something. Next thing I knew, she said she had signed up and I needed to get on it. Ack! I don't even know if I can go just due to work!! I figured I can defer one year or trade to another race (IMMT) if work prevents me from going so what the heck! Dang....I haven't even ridden my road bike outside once this year yet! I have 4 months to base-builld before my official plan starts...which will be massively modified as I won't be able to train on the bike nearly as much due to being in hotels so much over the next year. Eeek. What have I done???

lol, Lake Placid...that's awesome. Everyone says it's one of the great races. Good for you! Who knows how you'll be able to train....isn't that part of the challenge?

I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to do this next two weeks of training. My soccer season starts, so I have evenings of practices now and games on the weekends. I've been sliding a long workout in at least 1 evening a week (which the guilt kills me!!). Tonight, 3.5 trainer ride than 1 hour run. So, I'll come home from work and immediately get on the bike. Kids in bed by the time I'm done. My wife is exceptionally supportive, but I still feel bad. 48 days ut.

Ahhhh, life and racing. Somehow we figure it out. I think my husband is happy I took this year off which is why he was so encouraging for me to sign up next year. His sister thinks he likes that I'm passionate about something (including him! Hahaha). He's already told a couple people I signed up. I reigned him in though - I like to keep things on the down-low. Two friends are the ones who put it out there on FB last year that I was doing IMMT and then I didn't finish so didn't post any pictures at all. Argh I hate that. I'd rather tell folks after I'm done. Hahaa.

Anyway, I fly out this week for an interview with an airline. I've been studying so much I'm forgetting stuff at this point. I hate these things. I get more nervous for this than racing an IM; I guess because I'm being judged where in an IM I don't care what others think or are doing. I race my own race and go from there. I feel compelled this week to run/bike/swim but just want to study and nail this thing.

It's funny, I'm part of another one of these BT threads/groups, whatever you call them, and this year the mentor changed and it's not the same flavor anymore. A few of us who had been around have dropped off and it's sad. Hahaha. I viewed some of those guys/gals like family. I may join the Manatee group in January. That seems like a pretty supportive group. Not as much activity this year in any of the groups compared to years past. I wonder why that is.
Dang, that was a long post! Hahaa! My break from studying. Back to it! Heading to Indianapolis Thursday, which me luck!

You're about 42 days out now, crush it!! Three weeks until taper!! You've got this!!

I saw Jamie raced this weekend, that's awesome! How'd she do?? I don't get on FB super often anymore so I'm out of the loop. It's so great you both do tri's, you know what each other is going through and how best to support each other.

Hey there...how did the interview go? What sort of flying do you do? Are you a commercial flight? I always like to make sure to tell the pilots (when I get off the plane) they did a nice job. On another, random note, I had an uncle who was a real . He used to always cheat on my aunt before their marriage ended. He was a baggage handler at the airport, but he would occasionally dress up as a pilot so he could pick up women. Can you believe that !!! HA! (sorry for that little rabbit trail, as that has really nothing to do with you.)

On ANOTHER random note, when we went on vacation in July, we started the license plate game. We're competing against my sister-in-laws family and we're down to ONE state: VERMONT. Ha! I've been holding off on cheating and asking you to send me a pic of a random license plate.

We had a whirlwind weekend. I left work at noon and then we drove to Omaha for Age Group Nationals. We stayed in Omaha overnight and early the next morning woke up and took Jamie to to the race. Transition closed at 6:30, but her wave did not depart until 9:30. Mind you, we signed up for AGN in November, and on Black Friday I signed up for a "night time" tri in Lawrence KS. Omaha is about 3 hours north of me, and Lawrence is about 50 miles west of me. At the time, this seemed like a good idea. I had no Ironman plans. Also, since every Olympic tri we've done, we're usually done at the race site by 11-noonish, we thought, No problems. Plus, I got a free sweatshirt for signing up for the night tri. That's how we roll.

So, Jamie competed and did pretty well. She was nervous as she does not feel "elite" and knew she'd be facing stiff competition. The best of the best show up and it is a FAST field. She did well, but was disappointed in her placement. There is no "mountain bike" competitors at this thing, so everyone is fast. It was a cool experience and probably the only time we'll be able to do it. I think AGN next year is in Cleveland, OH.

We got out of the race/post race/food etc about 2pm. This left us about 10 minutes to be home, me change to race clothes, pack my bike, and then race to lawrence KS for my tri. The nightime tri was like the opposite of AGN. Very small, local, and low key. It was actually alot of fun. The race ended in a wooded area and they had a big bonfire with food: burgers, brats, hot dogs, beer, soda, etc. The family was invited so everyone enjoyed hanging out post race and eating. I swipe a few beers to take home as I'm currently on a drinking hiatus until after IM.

I happened to win my AG. I think I finished 4th or 5th overall. It was small field with maybe 120-130 racers. It's always fun to race "at the front". I came out of the water with about 12 people ahead of me. I then started picking people off on the bike and entered the run 3rd or 4th. Since the run is my weak spot, from there I was just trying to hold on for dear life. Since I did no prep/taper or anything for this race, I was pleased overall. It was a very hilly bike and flat run (except a .5 mile steep hill out of T2). IM training is still primary, so on Sunday I had a 2'40" run scheduled. I decided to go to a local lake and run a bridle trail there. There's a large community of trailer runners here, but I've never done it. This may have been a mistake. Holy crap, trail running is HARD work. It was more like trail jogging/walking. I ended up averaging about 15' miles. Ha! My goal was simply to keep moving forward for a long time. IDK how productive I was, but I was moving and that's the name of the game. At this point in the training cycle, each week is a jigsaw puzzle of how to get it all done. I'm getting close, but I'm tired.

Wow, you guys traveled crazy!
Hey I'm totally happy to post a license plate for you, heck I'll take a picture of mine tomorrow and send it via messenger or something. Hahahaha. The real test is to ask your sister the capitol of Vermont.

I got the job! I interviewed in Indianapolis this past Friday and I found out today I got the job. I am going back to be a commercial pilot. I did it for years and was last flying 757 & 767's all over the world - much for the dept of defense taking troops overseas and a bunch of regularly scheduled stuff to odd places like the Azores; Accra, Ghana, and Banjul, The Gambia. My youngest was on 5 continents in utero.
I hope to get back to a major airline again but need to get recent jet time again so thus I'm going to a regional airline. It will be fun and Ironman training will look very different for me this time around...have to get a pool tether. Biking will be the hardest part to get done. It definitely be quality over quantity.

Congrats on the AG placement for you! Jamie should be so proud to go to AG nationals! That's awesome!!!! I would be so humbled.

I head out 2 weeks from today and start training at the airline on 9/5. Yikes, coming up quick! The boys go back to school on the 30th - that was sort of the goal, to get them situated before I leave.
It looks like the weather for IMMT was perfect yesterday - so happy for those competitors!! I would have given my eye teeth for that weather.

So you are just at the beginning of taper, yes? Are you cranky and eating everything in sight?? How's the body feeling? It's so close now!!!!

Not in taper yet.

I have about 2 more weeks of "peak" training.

At AGN, I was running from wife's swim exit to the bike start and a friend saw me and yelled at me. I turned to look at who was yelling at me and happened to step in a hole in the grass, sending me tumbling. I jumped up and brushed myself off. But since, my knee (surgery knee) has been a little tweaky. Sore in the evening after training. Nothing bad, but hoping it's just a minor strain that will sort itself out. I've run about 6 times since, and it hasn't given me issues. I hoping/confident that it's nothing. I'm at that point where I almost feel like I need to live in a bubble...I don't want to risk injury at the moment.

ON the "eating everything in sight"....I've basically been doing that since IM training started. IN fact, 2 weeks ago, I weighed myself and was quite upset that I haven't lost A SINGLE POUND in training. I decided to go back to logging my eating for a while. Guess what: even after swearing off any alcohol/beer a month ago, I was still eating a ton of stuff. Trail mix and cliff bars are the devil!!! I am tracking my food and in 7 days lost 5 pounds. Ha! Hopefully, I can drop some more before race day. It's a tricky thing cutting back on my calories while also being in peak IM training, but thus far I've just been hungry, but not weak or bonking.

What airline are you going to? Is it Republic? Out of Indianapolis? That should be interesting being in the Midwest (if that's where you'll be).

IMMT sounded beautiful...bummer that you had the crap weather. Ugh, i hate even thinking about it. Head down. Grinding on.