Shepherd's mentor group - Full up! (Page 3)

I've read that bike shorts are built the way they are to reduce the number of seams and to decrease chaffing.  If you wear your underwear under your bike shorts, you're defeating the purpose of the specially made bike shorts and could end up with the chaffing.

I could be wrong though...

I'm proud of you girls for starting to step up and go commando with the bike shorts (tri shorts too, when you get to that point). Less seams are more comfortable and it's not hard to get over the gross factor. Just make sure you wash them often - I only have one usable set and I don't want to have to start a load just for them - so I will take my shorts into the shower with me, put some anti-bacterial soap on them and lather up the chamois. Then rinse, hang to dry. By the next morning, they're ready to go again and I'm pretty confident that there isn't any worrisome bacteria to cause an infection.

 Sorry I was away for yesterday - my husband and I really only get to spend two nights a week together (due to shift differences) and we were curled up on the couch watching the Simpsons all evening. I obviously didn't train, so I need to go out on a run tonight.

Jo - I'm also in the market for a more comfortable saddle that won't break the bank. I'm going to hit up my local bike store tomorrow to see what kind of insight they can provide. Most bike stores will do refunds/trades on saddles that you buy there until you find one that's comfy for you.  

Hi all -

Hopefully everyone has had a good weekend. Jo brings up some good points for us to discuss:

1) Food. - If you can get in the mindset that food equals fuel, life gets easier. Do you want your body made of Dunkin Donuts or apples? Should be an easy choice - but sometimes isn't. I will admit, I am a convenience food addict. I know that homemade food tastes leaps and bounds better than anything I can get at restaurants in my price range, but there are a lot of days where it's "Gee, I'm hungry, I can just stop and get something on my way home." Even when there's easy-to-cook food waiting at home for me. What I'm trying now is to go ahead and cook a package of chicken breasts each weekend, then put them into tupperware so I can grab and build from there if I'm ravenous when I get home. Sometimes I come home and devour the chicken, other days I decide that I don't want the chicken and I'll cook something else. Knowing it's there and readily consumable has helped me cut down on the convenience of picking up something on the way home. (Plus, if I still have portions of uneaten chicken by Thurs or Friday, I'll take it for lunch. And that beats the sandwich!). I know a lot of people who have had success using Weight Watchers system. What has worked for me is the knowledge of good healthy food, and eating a majority of that. When I was doing the best, I was eating lots of fruits and veggies daily, lean meat, and a really good piece of chocolate after dinner for dessert.

2)  Logs - for the distance display problem, try asking about the problem in the Training Log and Site Support forum. Marmadaddy will help you straight away. As for the being unable to see the full week, it happens. Maybe ask him if there's a way around that too? 

3) Finding the time - Gosh, I've been having a hard time with this lately. Time to train wasn't hard when I was in graduate school and within a mile of the University's health center. Now I teach all day and usually am spent by the time I'm done with the day. The pool doesn't open up early enough for me to get in a swim and get to work on time and the area is scary to run or bike in pre-dawn or post-dusk. Committing time to training during the week is usually easy for me - my husband works second shift, so we only get two evenings a week to spend together (his off days, Monday and Thursday, every other week). On the weekend, we get mornings together no matter what, but every other week, he has Saturday and Sunday off... because we don't get to spend a lot of time together, I completely understand your weekend dilemma!  (And I don't even have kids!). Is it possible to get up earlier than the rest of the family on the weekends so you can get your training in before everyone is awake? (I know, I know, goodbye sleeping in... :-( )

On weekends when my husband is working, I spend the morning with him. Then when he heads out around 1:30, I go get my training done. On weekends that he is off, we have an ongoing Saturday obligation from around 10 to whenever we end, so if I don't get up and out by 8, I won't get a workout. I usually try to make sure that I schedule one of my rest days on that weekend - usually Saturday. Dear husband is completely understanding, so I can usually get a workout in on our shared Sunday. But I try not to make it my long bike or run. So I guess the word is "compromise" - do what you can, but don't stress too much if you can't manage more than a 30 minute workout on the weekend. (I have thick hair too, I just don't dry it)

As for me - I'm in the deep throes of the last minute preparations for my students' big End of Course state standardized testing, so I haven't been making time for training the last few days. (Hello stress, my name is Kate... we're already well acquainted). I ran today, in the heat. Still not acclimated, but I took it easier this time. I ran the first mile, mostly ran the second one, mostly walked the third. I know that my husband is home tomorrow, so I probably will miss my swim tomorrow. I can't wait til summer so I don't feel compelled to miss sessions so I can see my favorite person in the world. 3 more weeks.

Good evening ladies! Is everyone still doing okay?

Jo - Glad we could help! Whole foods are definitely better, and it sounds like you have that squared away. The next thing to tackle is portions (which was my achille's heel) - because what I think is a portion is usually 2 or 3! I'm working on this - I picked up a decent food scale and I'm using it along with volume-based measuring cups to make sure I have my portions figured out. I think my next step after figuring out what a portion is is to start counting calories. Ugh- I hate counting calories! But it seems like it may be a necessary evil for me to continue on my journey to the best triathlon body I can get. On the upside, I ran in my tri top the other day and I could tell that  I have arm definition for the first time in my life. My triceps pop out when I straighten my arm (thanks bike!) and my biceps are actually existent! It's kind of cool... but I digress.

Sharyn - If the pool is like an obstacle course, consider it good training for the open water swim! (especially if there are pushy little kids! - just don't whomp anyone too hard). It's kind of like this (only not quite as brutal, usually... you'll probably want to hang towards the back of your start unless you're a really fast swimmer (I'm not)).

Anne - Allergies suck, no other way around it. Did you know when folks train for marathons, they usually only train their long runs to 20 miles? They figure that the last 10k is pretty much a given on adrenaline. If you're running 2.8 miles with a jogging stroller, finishing a 3.1 miles without one should be a breeze - let your adrenaline carry you those last three-tenths of a mile! As for other suggestions, growing up living in the South, I know your pain. What works for me is hot showers every morning/evening and doing my best to blow it all out while in there. Other folks around here swear by eating locally-farmed honey, which makes sense. I haven't tried that yet though - you should be able to find some at a local health food store or vitamin shop (or the farmer's market).

Hallelujah, the state tests are over! That's after 3 hours of standing around/moderate slow walking/being a prison guard to about 375 students in the gym this morning. I did that yesterday too, so my legs are shot. Despite this, I didn't rearrange my plan so I would swim today, instead I ran for a bit (and my feet were dying) and I did some speedwork on the bike too (on the trainer inside). Tomorrow should be a swim for me, and strength session.  

Hey ladies.  I've also been MIA for a few days.  We've have unexpected company for an amount of time TBD.  You can read my page for details....but it's safe to say, things are going to be difficult for a while.

But I'm fully committed to my training and to competing in at least three sprint triathlons this summer!  My first is coming up in just a few short weeks!  I'm feeling good about the swim (would like to get a couple open water swims in before the event though) and the bike....but need to kick it up a notch with the running. 

I'm looking forward to it though...Hawk Island in Lansing, MI on June 1st!  Watch out!

Thanks for the encouragement Jo.  So you know, my boyfriend is great.  He is shouldering most of the burden and is setting strict limits.  I know that if it gets to the point where it is too much for us to handle, he'll be the first to suggest that we have to make other arrangements for his mom.  But I also know that, in the mean time, it's going to be a very long and frustrating period dealing with it.

I did get a wetsuit for the Hawk Island tri.  I actually bought it used from another BT memeber for only $60...and it fits perfectly.  I figured for that price...why not!  And I know it'll give me some extra confidence in the water.  But I'm still really hoping to get an open water swim (or two) in before the race. 

I know that I, too, am not ready for the race.  I'm confident I'll be able to finish the swim and can hopefully freestyle the entire time.  The bike should be fine...looks like a flat, easy course.  But the run....that's where I'm going to have my trouble!  I still hate running....lol. 

Hey girls - Sounds like we're all having a little bit of a crazy time with life. I've been AWOL because last week was our state testing. (A couple of us chipped in and bought chocolate and an hour massage for our testing coordinator). I took the testing week off of training and this weekend (to decompress with my awesome husband and our friends)... and now, I know I need to get off my butt and do something. Thankfully, our apartment complex finally got the treadmills fixed, and it's warm enough to swim outdoors in the complex's pool. I should be able to get in workouts at least once a day. 2 weeks from now, I should be able to make it two a days when I need to and finally incorporate more strength training.

I'm starting to worry about my level of preparation for Irongirl, which is in 7 weeks, so I probably should get to it! 

Oh, and a different sort of pollen is flying now. It's clogging my sinuses! Argh!