PhoenixAzul's Mentor Group -Full up! (Page 3)

All of us need a little motivation especially when the training schedule gets hectic and trying to juggle that with work and a home life. Sometimes I don't want to even get in the pool but I just do it and 2 minutes into it, I forget about it.
Keep logging. The Inspire Me really can help you when you know someone is keeping an eye on you.

I know you werent talking to me about this but im actualy doing my second half marathon next weekend . Just gonna go run it with out a watch, because i seem to go faster without one. Im hoping to get in 1:42.

I would love to try the half marathon, and I do think it's an obtainable goal especially since it is about 10 months away. But right now when I run, my heart rate is way out of control at 3/4 of a mile! I know it's a slow and steady process getting back from the couch potato that I was to where I want to be. I will see where I am in August to determine if I will be running it with him.

I've never documented my nutrition, currently I am eating a lot of greens with proteins. (Chicken and veggies, or salads with some kinda of protein) How do I log the salad and items that I put in the salad? I'll cut up some peppers or hand full of carrots. Should I be precise in what I put in and the amount of lettuce or spinach as well?

Since I'm a nursing Mom, one of the things I am trying not to do is lose weight. I have a range I need to stay in and have discussed the weight range and my calorie needs with my family doctor and my OB. And, along with nursing, I do have the added problem of the migraines and the food items that trigger it. Yep, the clothes are fitting differently, which is good, and I'm so far doing a really good job of listening to my body and eating what it is telling me it needs.

I was curious as to what established tri-athletes do personally nutrition wise. My husband is a crappy eater, but someone did give him a nutrition book geared towards triathletes, so I will read it and see what we can do from there. I'll also check out the resources you listed above.

Thanks for the "o.k." to post in your group.

my quick tri background - I'm 36 and started doing sprint tri's on a whim last spring, loved my first one and did 4 more for the season. I'm contantly striving to find a eating pattern that is healthy, affordable, and edible. I am currently on a one week training break after 3 months of relatively heavy lifting (also a new sport to me). I want to find balance between the 2 sports this year and hope to be competitive in sprint/oly in the next 3 years.

I'll write more later and catch up on all the posts later - I am also career changing into the field of exercise science and hope to be an all-grade phys ed teacher in about 4 years

"All of us need a little motivation especially when the training schedule gets hectic and trying to juggle that with work and a home life. Sometimes I don't want to even get in the pool but I just do it and 2 minutes into it, I forget about it.
Keep logging. The Inspire Me really can help you when you know someone is keeping an eye on you."

That's definitely what I need. My problem is an unpredictable work schedule that prevents me from regular workouts (sort of like the last 4 days - but I'm back now).

I am curious how you all manage workouts/family/work. I am thinking of starting to schedule my workouts like I do my appointments, meetings, etc. It seems over the top, but if I don't plan in advance, workouts are always the first thing to go when work heats up.

Generally, my workouts consist of carrying my gym bag from the car to the office and then back to the car at the end of the day.

How does the "Inspre Me" work?

It's nice to see a few first-timers like me in the group.

Hey dwest-

We schedule our workouts here just like a meeting. It is the only way we can be a tri household with two parents training and two kids. Although sometimes life gets in the way, like yesterday- the baby is teething and my swim just did not happen.

On your training log, people can leave you little notes- you click on "inspire me" to read them. It just helps me sometimes to run a little further, or swim a few extra yards if I know someone is checking on me. Right now the only person who checks my log is my husband; a lot of times it's a way for him to see just how difficult it is to get a full 40 minutes on the bike while I'm watching the baby!

Yea the "Inspire me" thing is realy good motivation.

Help Needed- Bike Shorts

This question is geared more towards the women in this forum. My first pair of bike shorts came in the mail, and they were a full size too big (I am a 12/14 and ordered an XL) and my husband also claimed the material was strange because it was not the shiney material that his bike shorts are made from. We're taking them back but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on sizing for the bike shorts? Or any input on the material they are made from?

I know you wanted a female to answer but a lot of tri stuff is unisex fit.
typically I have to go a size larger in the spandex/lycra gear than normal shorts - with shirts especially anything compression I have to go 1 or 2 sizes bigger to fit.

I have found, especially for anything that is going to be form-fitting such as bike shorts, tri shorts and tops, and/or one piece tri suits, that it is best to go to the store and try on several different types/styles/brands to see what fits you the best (please wear undergarments if you do it this way). from there you can either support your local store(s) or armed with the correct information seek an a deal online.

I'm not sure if I helped you answer your question or not.. hopefully someone got some use out of it.

Usually when you order from a website, they will usually have a sizing chart. If they don't, google the manufacturer to see how they size their clothes. Take a look at the BT store here on BT. They have sizing charts for quite a few clothing manufacturers.

Most of the clothing is going to be mixture of nylon, polyester and lycra.

What you might want to consider doing for a few times is to actually measure out how much "a handful" is for you of those veggies and then you can guage the next time you put those into your salad.

BTW, pick up Jeff Galloway's "Half Marathon You Can Do It". I would suggest you look at it and look into the walk/run programs. You can do your half marathon and finish it with the help of his walk/run programs. It is totally doable.

I did my second half marathon yesterday. I had an amazingly great race. My time was 1:31:50. Which put me second in my age group, and 39th overall out of 975 people. I was kinda disapointed that i was second but i had no idea that there was someone in my age group ahead of me, it was only one minute. argh. The race was a PR for me and a great motivator for my next goal of running a sub 40 minute 10K.

Holy Cow!!!! For a second HM, that is fantastic. How did you feel towards the end? Any issues? Man, you should shoot for a marathon!!!

WAY TO GO!!!!!!

I felt realy good toward the end, there was a couple of people that tried to pass me on the last kilometer but i just picked up the pace and sprinted to the finish. I have kinda though about doing the marathon but i think im just gonna wait till 2009, the year before i do ironman so i can get in uer my belt. That way i can just keep getting faster

I have a goal of doing an IM before I am 40 so my rationale was to do 2 things, 1) to do quite a few marathons so I could get used to the training phycially and mentally and 2) to gain lots of experience. I also want to have quite a few OLY distance tris under my belt and then try a HIM. Then I think I will be mentally prepared for an IM.

I have a coworker of mine who did her first IM in Louisville and she said that the training demanded a lot of planning and mental focus.

I just need to keep focused and put one foot in front of the other.

You might want to think about doing a few more HM to work your way into a full marathon. I know you can do it.

Yea i like i said im gonna wait unitl 2009 before i do a marathon, mostly because im only 17 and probly souldent be doing that long a race at the moment. I am hoping to get down around a 1:20 to 1:25 HM

Congrats TriBoy on the race!

And congrats to Ray on hiring the coach- sounds like you are doing well!

Update on my silly bike shorts question- I went to a bike shop around Columbus, OH that a friend of a friend owns. Prefer to give our business to small shops when possible because I used to own a small shop. Anyway, the whole reason we ordered online was because we got a discount through my husband's work, and he was CERTAIN he knew my size. Silly boy. So I don't remember who recommended we should go someplace local, but thanks, we followed your advice. I didn't try them on but was able to hold them up to me for sizing. Because I lost weight a few years ago, then got pregnant, then lost the baby weight, I'm really not good at sizing things and just buy everything big, so that contributed to our confusion over the sizing and the bike shorts.

On a different note- I signed up for my women's only tri in July. It is supposed to be really good for beginners. My husband is trying to convince me to do another sprint distance one in September- he thinks once I do my first I'll be hooked. How did some of you veterans feel after your first race? How long did you take off from training after your first race?

I think that you made the right move by hiring a coach. They can offer suggestions to your training program and make appropriate changes weekly. A coach is valuable and money well spent especially when you are so new to the sport. I have a swim coach and she helps me out like you wouldn't believe. The swim is my weakest sport and you are only as strong as your weakest link.

Does your coach have a website and are they certified?

I started my first tri with a sprint. I had done numerous sprint adventure races in the past and lots of mountain bike races. Yes, you will get hooked!! I would suggest to sign up for another sprint race and use them as learning experiences that you can look at when/if you decide to do an olympic race.

Every race I do wether it is a tri, marathon, road/mtb race or adventure race, I am always saying when is the next one.

I didn't have any issues with fatigue. I keep my nutrition consistent and practice all of my race nutrition throughout my training plan. As far as how many days off, I usually try to take 3-4 days off but then I get bored and disgusted at myself since I am not doing anything. Remember, you can always take a day or two off post race and then do some easy recovery runs/bike/swims just to keep yourself sane. You will probably go through a bit of withdrawl. I know I do.

after my first ever Sprint last spring I felt.. well, it's kind of hard to describe aside from really proud, almost giddy and couldn't wait to do it again (hooked on sprints). I took 3 days afterwards for recovery and jumped right back into training. I basically did 1 sprint every 6 weeks from late April through early October.

After the first race, I took maybe a week, but I was young and silly and didn't really have a clue what I was doing. I launched into a serious effort to lose weight after that, and that sort of coincided with more training. And I bought my first pair of *real* running shoes which helped immensly, and I bought Chi Running to help.