Briderdt and Lkct's Mentor Group - CLOSED for training! (Page 3)

You'd said the knee injury was "of your own doing", but didn't say what the injury was... How long was that first pain-free run? Much as I find it hard to practice what I'm about to say, I think conservative is the way to go to make sure that (1) the injury really us healed, (2) that you get the muscles back in balance before heading into a heavier training load, and (3) make sure you don't re-injure yourself. I'd say to go ahead with the 4-7 plan, but feel free to jump ahead a little bit depending on how you're feeling. And allow yourself the flexibility to stay at a point in the plan as well, if you feel your body needs to catch up a bit.

It is an exciting time indeed! Though, I do have to go back to work tomorrow...

That you do a workout before work is commendable. It's been a LONG time since I've been able to do that. Well, I did do ONE run before work about 2 months ago. I was trying to bring up my run frequency, and just did a quick 15 minutes. In the dark. I start work anywhere between 6 and 6:30, and my alarm goes off at 4:45. A night owl I am not. But I also have the advantage that I can do most of my running on my lunch hour at work. If I didn't have that option, I'd find the motivation to get up just a little earlier and get my body moving.

Is there room for one more? 
My name is Shannon and I am a 41 (soon to be 42) year old wanna be triathlete from Connecticut.  I have a husband and 5 children (ranging in age from 18 - 4) so I am also very busy.  I work full time but a have wonderful career and an a wonderful boss who also likes to run and also compete in tri's.  She actually got be going on this trend and I competed with her as part of a relay (I did the swim and run portions) last September.  It was great and now I have the fever!  I want to complete a tri all on my own this year.  After my last two children I have struggled with my weight a bit.  But after starting to exercise again (started in June last year and competed in September) I have lost 16 pounds and have been able to maintain that loss.  I would like to loose another 10 pounds but I know that if I focus on that I will just get frustrated so I have decided to focus on my running for right now.  I unfortunately do not have a local pool so I have to wait for the ice to melt before I can get into the open water again.  My plan is to join an exercise group for basic toning and run on my own.  Therefore I need someone to push me!  I am hoping this group will do the trick!!
I ran a 5k in December 2010 (finished in 31 minutes) and have plans to run another in March 2011.  Now I have a friend urging me to run a half marathon in October 2011.  I just am not sure I can do it!  I feel stuck in the 9-10 min / mile range right now. 
I guess I am technically challenged because I can't seem to figure out the training log on this site so I wanted to start here.
Can you help me??

Knee injury was IT band from poor training schedule.  Basically, I did maybe one short run (2-3 mi) in the week, and then one long run on Saturday (up to 9 mi). 

I've run on it a couple times just to see where I was in healing.  Started doing lots of stretching and anti-inflammatories.  First time it still twinged a little (maybe 2-3 weeks ago).  This last run was 3.5 miles or so.  No pain at all.  No problems on the bike.

Probably wouldn't hurt to start slow.

Welcome Shannon! Lisa may be able to help you through more of the training log than I.. I tend to use just the bare bones of it myself, logging time and distance (using the route creator to figure distance if I don't already know). October is plenty of time to build up to a half marathon. You CAN do it!

As long as there aren't any more "twinges", I'd say to go ahead a jump up on the plan a bit. You'll want to up the run frequency and not have so much of your weekly mileage in your long run (which you already know).

Mentor Groups rock!

I’d love to join this one. Got some room for me?

I’m Jonah. I turn 43 in a few weeks and 2011 will be my 5th full year of triathlons (Wow, how did that sneak up on me? I can still remember signing up for my first one.)

I live in Brooklyn New York, I’m married with one son. Living in NY is both a blessing and a curse to a triathlete: on the one hand, I have lots of options when it comes to bike shops, tri shops, gyms, pools, and training resources. The downside is that it can be difficult to find good places to ride without going well outside the city and, like most New Yorkers, I hate to drive anywhere. It’s also the Northeast, so training basically moves inside for part of the year and there aren’t any local multisport races between April and November.

My goals for 2010 is to be a lot more consistent with racing and training. Injuries put a damper on my 2010 season, and although I set a PR for an Oly tri, I wasn’t that thrilled with the results. I’d also really like to race another 70.3 in 2011, and I’ve got my sights set on IM70.3 Syracuse.

My favorite discipline is the bike, and I’ve gradually improved from barely cracking 18mph on a flat Sprint Course to breaking 20mph on a hilly Oly course last summer. The swim is where I typically rank the highest in my AG. The run is both my weakest and least favorite, in part because of all the injuries I’ve had.

I'm looking to train consistently throughout the winter, and keep my weight to a reasonable level (around 180). I also want to be more consistent about logging workouts and keeping up my training blog. A mentor group seems like just the thing.

Happy New Year!

I would like to join your group!  Name:  Wes Family Status:  I am 37, married, two girls (13 and 8).  Story:  I jumped in the world of tri in 2009 and completed a couple of sprint triathlons, a couple of half-marathons and a century bike ride.  I was extremely busy in 2010 and didn't compete in any tris, but would like to jump back and in and your mentor group looks to be a great motivator to stay consistent in my training. Current training:  I've started a half-marathon training program and a beginner sprint program concurrently.  Still pretty out of shape for the most part, my endurance is not bad but I'm really slow! Weight Loss:  I'm beginning the year at 245 and look forward to seeing that number drop steadily

Edited by wkirbytri 2011-01-03 11:17 AM

Hi Wes! Balancing the two programs will be a good challenge. Given that, I'm assuming your goals for the year include some longer run events?

Welcome!

WELCOME LIBBY!!  So great to have a new kid on the block...even if it is again!  That's even better!!

So "Spring" fever is coming up??  So excited!!

Hi Jonah! I don't know why, but all this time I thought your name was Jim... Something about the bike... maybe it's the speed. Love it. For me, the one that gets ignored first is swimming, mostly due to the convenience factor. When is IM70.3 Syracuse?

Our count is 12 in the mentor group...with one spot holding for Heidi we will close the mentor group...it's time to start training!!!

So am I too late???

Welcome Scot! From what you said, I think you've done some longer tri's in the past? Speed can be a drug all unto itself, and is one of the reasons I like the shorter races myself.

I get the Jim thing alot. I think it's the proximity of the letters "jmk", that people think it says, "jimk"

Syracuse is in mid-September. It's really a scheduling thing as much as anything else. I'm not thrilled about swimming in upstate NY in September, but an early-season HIM is out of the question and there aren't any mid-summer races that are a) close enough to easily drive to and b) that I'm interested in. My wife told me unequivocally that she's not driving to Maine, so Timberman is a no-go. I have family in the Finger Lakes area who we haven't visited in a while, so it'll be fun.

My “success” at swimming certainly isn’t due to my rigorous training. I took lessons for years when I was a kid and it’s just something I’m naturally suited to, I guess. I would have preferred to have been granted injury-proof lower legs when the tri-gods were handing out gifts, but, like my son says, “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset.”

Heading off to swim later. Anyone got a good idea for a swim workout? I'm open to anything that gets me to stop watching the time as if if I'm in prison. My go-to is a pyramid--200/400/800/400/200. Once I throw in a warmup, cooldown and some kick drills, I should finish up around 2500y. That's a solid hour in the pool--about as much as I can stand when I don't have a race around the corner.

Well, all of the teachers are back and today was nothing but a fest!  We are 98% state funded and we are 98% certain that we will be pink-slipped in April.  Today our new principal was talking to us (more like at us) about how to change things this year when his underlying theme seem to imply that there wouldn't be a next year.  This cuases all sorts of drama!  Add into the mix that we have some students that shouldn't be allowed to return based on their behavior, performance and attitude last semester, but return they shall.  He stated today that he doesn't believe in suspending or expelling ANY student.  Lord have mercy, it's going to be a L-O-N-G semester.

Jonah - That sounds like a good ladder workout to me.

I am wondering if I should just work on building endurance our should I start to incorporate workouts now.  As a high school coach we spent a couple of months building our base mileage but I don't know how that translates to swimming.

I am not on a training plan right now.  Any suggestions for which one I should choose?

BTW - Heidi is definitely joining our group but her husband is arriving home from a year in Afgahnistan tonight so she is preoccupied.

Well, I suppose we can cut Heidi a break. If ever there was a legitimate excuse, that would be one.

I'm trying to (re) build endurance over the winter, especially in the pool and on the bike. I have a few short running races here and there this winter, so I don't want to completely abandon speedwork on the run. Other than endurance, I would like to improve my climbing ability on the bike. I'm good at the short, punchy climbs, but the slow, inexorable climbs kick my butt. I've been working on some long intervals (20-30 minutes) at high resistance to get my legs used to climbing for an extended period of time.

The swim workout was a good one. I actually ended up doing 200/400/600/800/600/400/200. I did the second 400 interval with paddles and then finished with a 300y kick set. That's my longest and best swim in a while. I have PT for my shoulder tomorrow. Wonder how that will feel. Heh.

Anybody else get in a workout today? How'd it go?





Edited by jmk-brooklyn 2011-01-03 10:09 PM

WELCOME SHANNON!  5 kids?!?!  AND a full time job??  AND you have free time?!?! HOW?!?! :-P

I would personally be thrilled to be under 10 minute miles....but I know continuous improvement is always desired.  I posted a link earlier about training logs...if you have any specific questions shoot me a PM and I'll see what I can do.

WELCOME JONAH!!  I was excited to see another COJer....and another experienced triathlete to add to our group!

I think something I struggle with....goals are "longer term" goals and I have a hard time working on them in the present.  I'm hoping that the group will help me keep accountable.