chichitao's group - FULL! (Page 27)

Erica, I think that means he is getting a little worried that you are going to be showing him up here pretty soon!  

Not really a cool thing to say...I'd be banished to the couch after something like that! 

Be very proud of what you did and use his comments as motivation. 

How bout that US game!?  I'll take the tie against England any day.

Pete- So sorry to hear about your friend.  It makes me so sad.

Courntey-Hope you had a great race!

Erica-that is awesome about finding a place to live.  And great job on the run!!! 

Sandra-Like I said you can come teach in ST. Louis!!!


It has been a crazy weekend.  Got my friday workout in and it was my turn to host bunco for the month.  Saturday was race for the cure (hot and humid) and more hosting of a different group of friends.  Today we took my nephew to 6 Flags and walked for 6 hours in the 95 degree weather.  Needless to say I am exhausted. 

On a fun note, my husband brews beer and my birthday is coming up and he made me my own beer.  He was so sweet and I was totally not expecting sweet (He usually goes for funny/embarrassing).  It is a honey wheat beer and it is called 13.1 and he put the pic I use for this profile pic on the label.  Once I figure out where it is saved on this computer I will post it.  He was too cute about it.  He was going to wait until my actual birthday to show me, but he said he couldn't wait that long. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I am hoping that the weather cools off this week so it isn't so miserable here or I will be running at 4:30!

Debbie - that is really cool about the beer!  How much is it selling for?  

So how is everyone doing?  Seems like we've hit a little lull with not a lot of races going on right now, except for Courtney's.  How'd ya do Courtney?

I ended up having a long weekend.  Wife seemed to be doing better with her sickness (fever, lots of coughing, sore throat) but then got worse on Fri and Sat.  Ended up having to do a lot around the house and take care of her and do all the chores/errands.  Ended up having to take her to the doc on Sun who put her on some medication.  Spent half of Sun doing all that.  Once I did all the stuff around the house I just had no energy to workout Sat or Sun.  Gonna pick back up today.  This week is my taper week anyway, so will be backing off some leading up to my race on Sun. 

So I've made a list of area races for the rest of the year and trying to plan out my schedule, but I may change things up this year.  I usually do 4 or so triathlons with several runs/bikes mixed in.  But the other day I was riding with this guy and was telling me his story.  He spent the last 8 months really working on his bike riding and lost 50lbs and has gone from a decent rider to a great rider.  He really got me thinking.  I have wanted to get better on the bike but have not really put the time/effort into really getting that much better.  I think I might schedule 1 or 2 more tri's, but really put the focus on the bike and try to ride 4-5 days a week.  Right now I am doing 2-3 rides.  It is just something I am mulling over.

Sorry, all, I wasn't around my computer at all this weekend.  Had a nice "relaxing" weekend at the cottage with my parents.  The weather wasn't great, but it was ok.  It was nice to get to the cottage, even if it was a 7 hour drive away.  I really enjoyed it.  I didn't get ALL my workouts in, but I got to get an hour run in on Saturday, and I rode the bike course for my first tri in 4 weeks, so it was productive.  Talked to my parents about going back to school.  They still weren't as supportive as I would have hoped.  So I'm still having a hard time with the decision!

Debbie, that sounds pretty awesome of your husband to do!  You'll have to let us know how it is!

Tim, that's a pretty cool idea.  Do you think you would continue with the tris?  Or would you change your focus to just biking for the long term?  Just out of curiosity.  I definitely love biking, and have considered signing up for a bike race in September, but I haven't really decided yet.  If you could do that for a year or 2, and get really good at biking, then transfer that over to tris, that would be pretty awesome.  Would that be your goal?

I would still like to continue with the triathlons...maybe just not as many.  I think I would like to spend the rest of this year into the beginning of next really working the bike and see how much I can improve.  Then just try to maintain that level during the tri season.  It is what I did this past winter, but for the run. 

You are a step ahead of me because I can't seem to make up my mind about any race right now!!

This year I started creating a race log and update it throughout the year.  It stays on my computer desktop and is a list of all the races in the area that I am possibly interested in.  That way I have the dates all listed in order and it makes it much easier to decide which ones will fit my schedule the best.  Sometimes it is best to just pick a date, sign up, then clear your schedule knowing you already paid the fee.  Still waiting on that 5k!

I will...

swim 2 x 600y

and

run at least 20min

after work today! 

I feel like I just can't commit to anything!  I still keep checking out races by the beachhouse because I know when we will be there!  That mommy's guilt always seems to creep in though!! 

I did just send off my application to join a women's tri group in my area.  Next up is registering for the SheRox tri in Philly in August. 

I'm an idiot...totally forgot until I got home that my pool is closed on Mon and I have no other pools within 30min of me.  Just did the run (26min).  My wife pointed out that at least I didn't get dressed and drive to the pool before I realized it!

Hi guys,

Sorry to be MIA....but still learning on how to make all these puzzle pieces of life fit together.

Since my last post, I have finished 2 1/2 marys (2:12 and 2:23) and my first official Tri of 2010.  Swim 880M, 15M bike, and 4M run in 2:02.  Was hoping for sub 2 but for my first race I will take it .


I can not tell you how much fun it was to finally put all my efforts into a real race.   Already on line looking to race again by the end of the month.  I got 8th place in my age group and did not have to walk any of the run, which was a huge for me. 

I love this life  

Cheri, good work on those races and glad to see you have the desire to keep going.  It is a constant struggle with the time management but the end results are worth it in my opinion. 

I am having one of those slow days at work.  Funny how it can come so fast and furious in bunches and then lulls at other times.  I am really looking forward to my bike ride today.  I so want to leave early to get started on it, but the boss might not be too happy about that. 

Welcome back, Cheri!  Congrats on all the races.  Sounds like you're really enjoying it!  Keep up the good work!

Tim, I've been where you were yesterday.  But I've actually gotten to the pool before realizing...  Whoops!  Enjoy the ride tonight!

So this week is the first week of my 'hard' training.  I managed to do about 50 minutes of swimming and 40 minutes of running yesterday.  I broke my goggles before swimming, but instead of quitting, I swam without them, and my eyes are still hurting.  It kinda sucks.  But I did it.  

Tonight is a 2hr bike ride.  I think I'm gonna do the race track for about an hour, and then go along the river.  It should be a pretty good ride.  Hopefully I can keep going like I am for my weight loss contest.  If I keep up this pace (about 2lbs/week), I will hit my goal, and I should be able to win the $400 that's on the table.  You guys motivate me to keep pushing! 

Ok, had my first real brush with getting nailed by a car today (don't read if this stuff freaks you out!!). 

I've had some instances where cars got too close but nothing like today.  I was riding on a well known, heavily used bike loop.  The ride is on a two lane (in each direction) highway where the speed limit is 65.  There is a good clean shoulder about 10ft wide that we ride on.  I was just finishing up the first loop when I heard loud tire screeching coming from really close behind me.  The screeching continued and then I heard a very loud pop (sounded like a tire blowing out...later found out it was the car hitting the curb at full speed) from right behind me (this all happened in a split second).  I start to look back to my left when I see a car speeding off.  I then hear a lot of noise from my right (off into the grass next to the shoulder).  I look that way and see a car driving parallel to me doing about 40-50mph in the grass only about 10-15ft away from me.  I am slowing but trying to decided whether to brake or speed up.  I am hoping he doesn't try to swerve back into the road b/c he will hit me.  He suddenly crashes head first into a sign, literally right next to me.

Driver got out just fine.  Car is totaled.  Doesn't speak english.  Some buddies pull up and figure he is fine and there are other people that witnessed it, so I got back on the bike and kept riding.  There are skid marks all over the road.  One of the witnesses say he was racing that other car and lost control and wiped out.  Missed taking me out by 50ft or so.  I never would've even known what hit me.  Crazy to think that if I had ridden just a little slower, or taken longer to get ready, etc, etc, I could have been right in his way.  It shook me up the more I kept riding and thinking about it. 

I finished my ride and put it behind me.  When I looped back around the 2nd lap the car was still there but no one was around.  Ended up calling the police and they made a report for leaving the scene since he damaged a sign.

I haven't and won't tell my wife.  I hate not being able to tell her but she gets so freaked out that I ride anyway, if I told her this she would never let me ride again.  Would probably sell my bikes off in the middle of the night!   

Be safe!

Glad you are ok Tim!!  That is scary!  I agree on not telling the wife!  John plays rugby a few times a year and he decided a long time ago that details are not necessary!!

Very scary stuff Tim, glad you are okay and wise decision not to tell the wife.

Wow, Tim, that is really scary.  But all that matters is that you're ok.  I'm glad it didn't spook you too much to keep going.  The guy sounds like a pretty serious a-hole, from the racing, to not talking to you, to leaving the scene.  Really good to hear that you're safe, though.  And I don't really have experience in keeping something like that from someone I love, but I can't imagine it'd be easy.  Good luck with that!  

Thanks guys, that makes me feel better about not telling my wife.  I thought with all the ladies on here I was going to get the "you should tell her" and "you should not keep secrets" speech and yada, yada, yada.  

I find it kind of ironic b/c yesterday at work I was researching the Road ID stuff and want to buy one.  I carry my wallet with ID on every ride but having the road id strapped to you is a lot more visible.  Will probably buy one soon cuz I can wear it biking, running, and swimming.  I think I am going to get the ankle strap, as I already have watches, gps, etc on my wrists.  Plus I read the ankle strap can be used at races for the timing chips.

For those that haven't heard or looked into them...

Road ID

And no, I don't work for, nor am I sponsored by them!

I have a Road ID, and I wear it all the time.  I've actually even been known to wear it just out...  Because you never know!  I also have the ankle strap.  I got it for the exact same reason.  Between watches, HRMs, GPS, sweat bands, etc, I have too much stuff on my wrists as is.  I used to have a cheap-o one from the running room, but it wasn't comfortable at all on my ankle, it was too hard and stiff, so it was worth it to get the RoadID.

Also, a great thing is you can get different tags, if you have different places you go, or if things change.  For example, I currently have one that has my mom and sister on it (Toronto), but I'm thinking of getting one with my roommate (Montreal) on it, and one with my cottage phone number on it.  They're really easy to change in and out.

I have one and use it all the time!  I just ordered a second one with my inlaws cell phone numbers on it.  There are times when I am at the shore for a weekend and John is home working.  It just makes more sense to have one with numbers of people that will actually be close to where I am running.  As of now, someone would call John's cell phone and then he would have to call his dad.  Of course his dad would call John right away but I just want to cut out that extra step if something really were to happen.

About the whole wife thing, some things are better left unsaid!!

Tim, I showed that story to my husband, and he just cringed.  I've never been out biking without Ryan, but it's so scary that people like THAT are the reason that he always rides to the left and just behind me.  I'm glad you're okay!  And I agree, no need to worry your wife about it.

We've looked into the road ID's too, but they're just so darn expensive, just to put your info on a metal thing.  I know, I know, it's worth it if it saves your life or whatever, but we could barely afford to buy my bike, so ID's might have to wait a little while!

Luckily, Ryan starts work on MONDAY!!!  We've already spent his first paycheck (his laptop finally died, so we had to buy a new one), but we have a long list of tri stuff that we want next, and we're signing up for the Oshkosh Triathlon on August 8th!  Our lease in West Bend starts on July 1st, so that's when we're moving.


OK, now I have a question for everybody.  I THINK I may have a job for the rest of the summer and for the school year, but the guy wants me to work 26 hours/week during the semester.  On top of my 45 minute - 1 hour commute to/from Milwaukee every day, here would be my schedule in the fall:
MW - 9-10am - work, 10:30-11:50 - class, 12:30-5 - work, 5:30-8:35 - class
TR - 9-10:30am - work, 11-11:50 - class, 12:30-3 - work, 3:30-6:50 - class
F - 9-4 work

So the question is, with these hours and all my homework, when do I work out??  I know morning workouts will probably be best, but I'll have to pull a lot of late nights, considering on MW, I won't even get home until like 9:20 and then I'll have to do work for the next day.  I'm seriously concerned that my training will go downhill fast.  Any suggestions are appreciated.

Just registered for a 5k for next Sunday!!  I might run it with Logan so who knows what kind of time I will do.  We start our vacation down the shore the day before.  There is a big kids fitness festival on the next island over on Sunday.  John and I decided we will take the boys over and I will run the 5k.  There are 3 waves to start, competitive, non competitive, and family friendly.  I can decide that morning what I am doing.  It will depend on how Logan is.  I don't mind running with him if it makes things easier for John.  I know he will tell me to do it without him so we will see.  It should be a fun day.  Joey's karate school is doing demonstrations at the festival too.

A few things, $20 for a road ID is totally worth the peace of mind to me that someone will be contacted if something were to happen while I was out.

We have a lot going on right now and I find the time to train and workout.  It is important to me so I find the time.  It might be at 8pm but it is when I have the time. 

That is a pretty heavy schedule, but as Meggan said, if it's important to you, you'll find a way to do it.  It may mean early (read: REALLY early) mornings on a few days, but if it's what you want to do, there is almost always enough time in the day.  It just may mean cutting out a few other things.  Maybe it means doing readings on the trainer or treadmill, doing work during lunch and dinner, etc.  It won't be easy (and I didn't do it while I was in school, that's for sure...), but many people definitely manage to do it, so it is possible...

That is a tough schedule.  It seems like the boss is pretty flexible and being fairly reasonable with your scheduling.  I personally would be very hesitant to work that much on Mon-Wed as my schooling would be my top priority.  Thur/Fri I would be OK with as it is the beginning of the weekend.  What about dropping the 1-1.5hr work in the mornings?  That would give you a little more time in the morning and would only drop you about 3-4hrs a week in work hours.  Doesn't seem like you would get much done during that 1hr anyway to make it worth it.  Is the business open on weekends where you could pick up some extra hours if you needed?