Dream Chaser's 'Set a Goal and Capture it!' Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 3)

Good morning Everyone.  We are officially CLOSED for business.  Havjava, Daniell07, 17goesfast and tdl1972 are our last members in.  You guys made it

Havajava, please introduce yourself:  name, hometown, past athletic experience and current goals - and anything else cool you may want to add to let the group get to know you.  

Daniell07, Hi   I too (as do many people in this group) have children.  That's one of the GREAT challenges is getting the training in!!  I truly believe this sport has made me a MUCH better parent.  (More on that later.)  As far as your goals: try and get more specific.  Pick a target weightloss number.  You don't have to share it with us, but when you pick a definitive number you will see that number in your head and events will more likely align to achieve that exact goal.  The same with your Spring/Summer race.  Prior to your pregancy were you active in triathlon?  Is your goal race a Sprint or Olympic Race?  And if those distances were achievable for you pre-pregnancy, PICK ONE and REGISTER FOR IT NOW!!!  Commit!!  

Once you sign on the dotted line, pay the money, and then add that race in your BT Race Calendar (so you see it on your screen everytime you log on) again, you are more likely to visualize and accomplish that goal.  Depending on which race you choose, I would simply choose one of the BT plans.  All you need is a basic road map of when to swim, bike or run, and for how long, and you will be able to compete the race.  As far as a meal plan, pfffttt... you're on your own!!!    But seriously, we are endurance athletes (even at the shorter distances) so we need carbs for energy and protein post-workout to repair our muscles.  Everyone is on these crazy diets nowadays and truth be told, diets don't work.  They only work for a short period of time that you are on the diet.  The truth is, you simply need to take in less calories then you burn throughout the day.  That's the only way to lose weight.  This was proven recently by the college professor who lost weight by only eating twinkies and cupcakes.  He only ate junk food but lost weight because he ingested less calories than what he burned.  Does that mean we should eat junk food.... NO! If course not!    Eat junk and you will feel like and perform like junk.  The basic Food Pyramid is a great place to start.  Eat in moderation. 

Lastly, I've heard there is a great Tri scene in LasVegas.  Get out there and make some friends!!!  Visit the Nevada forum at the bottom of the forums page and find out what Tri Groups there are, join one, make friends and get busy!! I am part of Sunrise Tri Team here on Long Island and I've made some unbelievable great friends!!  That's another gift I've received from this sport.  I've made just the best friends in the world.  People that are reliable, trustworthy and I laugh and have so much damn fun with. 

17goesfast, Hi Don!!  Glad to add another marathoner to the group.   The 70.3 is my favorite distance, so far.  It's a distance that is a challenge for me mostly due to nutrition.  If you are properly trained you can race a sprint with zero nutiriton, and if properly trainer a half bottler of gatorade and a gel will comfortably get you through and Olympic distance race, but ahhh the 70.3 demands that you fuel on the bike for 56 miles and then fuel for a half marathon as well.  The key is to practice - practice - practice your nutrition in training and then replicate that on Race Day.  A hard lesson I am still learning after  7 half Ironmans. 

Glad to see you are training with friends.  That will make the journey so much more rewarding.  I know for me, if not for the fact I was meeting friends at 5 AM for a Long Bike or Run, I wouldn't be getting out of bed that early!!  But making that commitment ahead of time is a good way to make sure you stick to it.  Friends hold one another accountable. 

When you get the chance, I highly suggest adding your race in your BT Blog, give your blog a name, and start logging workouts. 

tdl19772, Good morning David.  Welcome to the group.  If 1972 is your DOB, I am 1974.  A non-stop 5k is a very admirable goal.  In my best guesstimate, if we pulled all of America off the couch right now and said run 3 miles non-stop; 90% plus would not be able to do it.  I have a great running story (my story) that I will share in a second that I hope you can idenity and relate to.  Keep blogging in your blog, that is such an important key to moving toward your goals.  I love, love running so please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.  That would be so awesome for you to run a sub 30 5k with the help and support of this group.   

Oh, and 'No' Poker is not mental training... however, it is very similar to the mental training you can use in Running.  Ah hah!  Yes   Just like if you compare when you first started playing poker to now, I would imagine your ability to stay focused and concentrate on the game is much longer.  It is the same with running.  Learning to push through small mental barriers, learning to hold form later in runs, learning to mentally hold the pace and even push the pace at the end of the run.  I've read many articles on mental training and it is a huge part of running, swimming and cycling training.  And the best way to develop this skill is through consistent, relentless training.  Welcome aboard.  Looking forward to following your journey toward VICTORY!!!

Good morning, Maria   Yeppers, just heard we got more snow coming our way here in New York, too!!  Looks like nothin' but treadmill and trainer for me.  Mmmmmm Yummy!   

Getting into a routine is VERY important   You are determined.  You will do this.  Did everyone watch the NBC Kona coverage?  The one mom had four kids and trained for an Ironman!!!  God Bless her.

Monday Motivational Mentor Speech

My Story

Hi Everyone.  So our group is now closed.  We have 15 awesome people, including myself.  I'm going to give you a quick background story on myself.  I hope you guys can draw inspiration from it, and I'm going to keep this very short.  As a kid I played soccer and somehow managed to make it on a travel team.  I was not a good passer or ball-handler, but everytime I got on the field I was very aggressive and chased that ball like it was mine.  The coach used me as an 'energy player' and although I saw the least amount of field time of all the players, had the least amount of talent, I managed to score some big goals.  In 9th grade I joined the cross country team.  My first race was a 400m race, just one lap around the track.  The gun went off and I was in the middle of the pack.  I couldn't believe how fast the pace was.  Less than halfway through I was struggling to stay on the heels of the last guy.  The last 100 meters I was gasping for air, embaressed, the whole field had finished well before me ... I barely finished.  I never went back to after that day.  I left sports entirely and began drinking and drugging every day.

When I was 22-years-old, I decided I wanted to play ice hockey.  I had always watched ice hockey on t.v., I am die-hard Rangers fan since 1987.  I had never ice skated or played hockey before in my life.  But I joined an intramural league, bought all the gear, and got the courage to get out there.  My first game I fell continously and was like a fish out of water.  But everytime I fell, I picked myself back up.  I talked to guys who skated well, I analyzed the players on t.v., and I kept at it -- is stayed consistent and relentless.  Just like the soccer ball, I chased that puck like it was mine.  One of my first few games a puck squirted loose toward center ice and I went after it like I was shot out of a cannon.  I pushed the puck ahead of me and it was just me and the goalie.  I nearly fell backwards and then forwards several times and the goalie actually just stood there (not at all in his prepared goalie stance) probably wondering if I was going to even make it to him.  Determined I did make it to him, and I let go of a fast wrist shot that whistled right between his legs and hit the back of the net.  He was stunned and I never felt such elation!!  And I wanted more of it.  Over the next 10 years I worked my way up to better leagues and even played a game with an ex-NHL'er (Benoit Hogue).  I had dozens of multipoint games, hattricks, and even a four goal game.  My skating improved a lot, but I never became a good skater, never even could skate backwards... but I stayed within myself, studied the game and stayed persistent and consistent. 

At age 30 drinking regularly since age 14 was taking a toll on me.  I always said I would quit at age 30.  But it didn't happen.  At age 31 I was over 220 pounds on a 5' 9" frame, and I decided to start running to trim off some weight.  I went to the track, the one I hadn't seen since 9th grade and decided to do some laps.  Again, I barely made it around once and I was winded.  I was done.  A week later I went back and managed two laps.  After three months I made a mile.  Then I began running in my neighborhood.  I was somewhere around a 10:30 pace and I remember around a mile and a half into a two mile run, I felt like I was going to die.  It was just so exhausting and painful.  But the weight started coming off and I kept at it.  After a whole year I had built up to 4 miles and I was down to the low 190's.  I heard about a 10k race and figured if I could do 4 miles in training, I could probably do a 6.2 mile event.   Amazingly I not only finished the race, I did so in a time of 51:05.  The crowds of people cheering, the gun blast at the start, surrounded by other runners, and then the feeling of crossing that finish line!!  It was like the feeling of scoring my first hockey goal.  God it felt so good.  I wanted more of it. 

At the time of that first 10k I was 32.  My son had just been born.  I made a decision right then and there.  I knew how it felt to lose, like I did at my first race.  I knew how it felt to wake up hungover with no memory of the night before.  I was on the fringe of losing my wife and child.  I could either embrace this new life and feel good - feel amazing every day; or I could be miserable, alone and unhappy.  I chose my family and happiness.  At age 36, with the help of other loving caring people I am 100% sober for many years and I am living a life beyond my wildest dreams.  I've run several marathons, half Ironmans, and I continue to put up racing times that have nothing to do with talent.  Truth be told, I have very little talent but a lot of HEART. 

I believe firmly each and every person in this group is capable of things beyond their wildest dreams too.  It just takes a little commitment and unrelenting consistency and persistency.  Every time you train is a drop.  Put that drop in a bucket and the bucket is still empty.  Put in another drop, and it kind of looks moist.  But if you have faith and keep adding those drops, soon enough it will have a fine layer of water across the bottom.  Before long it will fill higher and higher.  The same with any building.  It's made up of many, many, many stones.  But you must start somewhere, and you must consistently build.  I firmly believe the keys to my achieved success have been surrounding myself with great people and never ever giving up.    

Suggestions 

I suggest everyone please post at least once a week.  A quick "Hi"  a quick update.  Let people know what's going on with you.  Share your failures, successes, frustration.  The scary truth is, we are ALL THE SAME!!  We all think the same things and want the same thing.  Let other people encourage and help you.  Encourage and help others as well.

I suggest if you haven't already, name your blog and keep it updated.  I can't tell you the amount of times over the year I have gone back into my blogs from 2008 and 2009 to see how far I've come, relive moments in my life, and discover mistakes and fix them. 

Lastly, every day and any given moment ask yourself this question:  Am I moving away from my Goals or toward my Goals?  We set these goals and want to accomplish them because they make us happy, these goals are us striving to be the best people we can be.  They are inidicitave of life.  Any time you want to skip a workout, want to reach for the ice cream, ask yourself:  Am I moving toward my goal or away from it?  At any given point during the days and weeks we are in constant motion.  Which way are you moving today?  Baby steps....  one drop at a time. 

If you have general questions, I would highly recommend the "Search" function.  It's in the upper right art of your screen.  I've used it probably close to a thousand times.  Everything you are experiencing,  thousands of BT'ers before you have experienced, and all of the questions have been asked and answered.  This site is literally an encyclopedia of information.  Google is also a phenomenal tool to utilize. 

If you have a specific question, by all means - please feel free to ask the group.  But I have strong feeling 90% of your questions have been asked or answered already.  Search and thou shall find

Today's rant:  I have bronchitis for the 2nd time this winter and I HATE being sick!

Another thing that has really motivated me and given me some success over the past couple of years is to read some of the amazing success stories from people on this site.  Seeing what some people have overcome certainly can make you HTFU and missing a workout because "poor me, I didn't get enough sleep last night" just doesn't cut it.

I think another way of looking at things is you are now (or will be, for you newbies) a triathlete.  With that comes a certain responsibility, if you will, of lifestyle changes/commitments.  You have to better manage:

1. Your time (triathlon training CAN be very time-consuming)
2. Your money (and I'm saying this without even owning a road bike yet)
3. Your eating habits (I love cheeseburgers and ANY kind of chocolate)
4. Your sleeping habits (I've switched my life from an 11-7 sleeper to 9:30-5:30, early bird and all that)

Your dedication to that lifestyle, irrespective of any specific goals, is going to help drive success.  That "strategic" thinking will help you with your more "tactical" goal set Bobby is talking about.

Also, I've embraced the S.M.A.R.T. goals concept, courtesy of one of my former managers at work (and probably the best I've had).  Goals should be:

• Specific:  I want to lose weight
• Measurable:  I want to lose 10 pounds
• Achievable:  I am not injured or sick, or have any other limitation that would prevent this
• Realistic:  It is only 5% of my body weight
• Timely:  I will have it done by May 1st

I look forward to everyone sharing their thoughts and goals.  And thanks for setting this up Bobby, your soccer story sounds like me in my 20s.  And I'm a diehard Flyers fan (grew up in Philly area...my first sports memory is the Flyers winnign the Cup in '75).

Michael, good stuff.  Would you believe I still struggle with going to bed early and getting up early!!  I struggle with it mightily!!  The only times I seem to be able to get up early are the weekends when I promise to meet a training partner.  Then because of the commitment, I drag my butt out of bed.

I am still struggling with my diet, and even slipped today and ate 5 handfulls of chocolate popcorn!!  And I even said to myself, "This is not moving us toward our goals!"  LOL!!    So now I'm going to punish myself on the trainer and work off those calories.  A trainer I am still making friends with this year. 

Truth is, this lifestyle is hard!  And during this time of year, for me, it's downright brutal!!  But I know if I can keep taking small steps in the right direction, keep up my consistency, I am going to be so damn happy come Spring.  And training outdoors will be a delight and reward for grinding it out now.  It will all be worth it...

Hey, how do you all update your BT blog or the forums via smartphones?  I have Droid 2.  Thanks!

x2

Take into consideration your time commitments first, then look for a plan that fits that.  I have a fairly aggressive 10-12 hour per week training plan that I know for sure I'm not going to always meet, but I'm ready for that.  Many of the free training plans on BT don't have detailed workouts, which is OK but I'd rather have the detail (which is one of the reasons I'm a Silver member).  It's also OK to take one and modify it to your needs.  I also like the longer plans because they really prepare you and if life intervenes for a few days you don't lose 10% of your race prep.

Once you decide on a training plan, focus on what you need to do to be ready to start that plan.  Unless you're doing a "Couch to" program, the plan is going to assume a certain level of fitness.  My plan assumes I could complete an Olympic distance race to start, so I've been using the off-season to prepare for that level of training.  Unfortunately the last 5-6 weeks have been a mess for me workout-wise so I'm a bit behind where I want to me.  Off-season workouts are often used for:

1. Recovery
2. Building a base
3. Addressing limiters
4. Strength Training
5. Working on form

My Nov - Feb plan was to do 3, 4, and 5, then start my official BT plan mid-Feb.

Another thing to consider when choosing a plan is how structured you'd like the training to be.  Some plans follow the same schedule week after week (i.e. long run Monday, swim/bike brick Tuesday, etc.) while some (including mine) don't have any particular pattern.

Let us know what you decide and make sure you log your workouts!