Ernesto's group (5th season) - Closed (Page 3)

Hi, everyone and Merry Chirstmas!!

Here's my bio:

Name: Mike/username jmhpsu93 (the psu is Penn State, still proud but humbled...)

Story: Longtime runner, picked up triathlon to mix things up and because I really like cycling.  4th season in triathlon...well, I guess technically it's my second and a half.  I successfully completed my first tri in August 2010 and fell in love with the sport, and was training for the Oly-distance in 2011 when a knee injury, and then a back injury, derailed my tri career.   Lots of doctor visits and a knee surgery later, I'm sorta back, with some limitations.  

Family status: Married to a three-time triathlete, with a one-time triathlete 10-year-old daughter who also competitively swims (and she's going to be beating me soon ).  I work out of the house in downtown Baltimore as a consultant for a technology company.

CURRENT TRAINING: I'm training, yay!!!!  I've spent the last five months building some bike fitness, and after a couple of false starts due to jumping back into running too soon (who, me???  ), I'm about halfway through the couch-to-5K program.  I also sprinkle some swims in with strength training and a little Bikram yoga here and there.

I'm a nutcase in that I like the trainer.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: I have 3-4 sprints scheduled but haven't signed up yet and will get that all together once I run a 5K nonstop.  Basically one a month May-September.  "A" race is September.

WEIGHTLOSS: Somehow I've managed to not gain too much weight through the injuries...about 206 now and want to race at 198.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE:  My unique work situation gives me free access to maintain my own schedule, so I'm pretty active on the site here.  I maintain impeccable logs and listen to feedback.  

Welcome to all the new members of the group and glad to see the old members back.  Getting ready to go out on a run, but wanted to stop by to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  May you have peace, love and joy today, along with whatever material things Santa manages to drop off at your house.

Jackie
www.funafterfifty.com

Merry Christmas to all, I got a much needed medal hanger from my wife. I have tons of them just laying around drawers so it is great.

It rains hard in Dallas today, it may turn to ice later as temperatures are rapidly dropping. I might get a swim in the bag tonight if the pool's open.

What are everybody's plan today? Got any triathlon gear?

No cool new tri toys for christmas, but that's what the bonus is for!

Name: Jordan

Story: I'm 20, Single, and very active. Junior in college, stopped playing football this year (concussions...) and i'm also Army. I've chosen tris as the thing to fill that goal-pushing, competitive gap in my life with football now out of the window. I haven't done any official tris yet, but I have done a half marathon, and plenty of Army races/ruck marches/etc. My average 2mi time (my most constant recorded value, thanks to the Army PT testing) is just around 14:00, and my 5k is 22ish. I just started swimming for real this summer, and that's definitely my weak point in the whole process. 

I chose tris as they are something that I can do for a long time, with lots of variation, and will constantly challenge me. I'm looking forward to ramping it up this summer especially and getting some real experience under my belt.

Family status: One of 3 kids in a family of 5, though i'm at school most of the year. Dad is working on tri stuff too, part of his "I turned 50 i'm not old yet" fitness push.  

CURRENT TRAINING: The majority of my training comes in the form of Army PT stuff, but in the evenings I also rotate in runs/swims/bikes. I've been doing the 0-1650 swim program (week 3 or so atm), and throwing in sprint distance run/bike workouts when I can to change things up. I don't have a real bike yet, so most of it is done indoors (it's cold and I don't have good cold weather gear) on a track/stationary bike. I'm saving most all of my money this semester to get a solid bike, and in the mean time I'm planning on doing a spinning class this upcoming semester. 

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Haven't signed up for any yet, as i'm not sure on my army training schedule. However, I at least want to do a handful of Sprint and Oly distances, to get more comfortable with the whole thing, especially open water swimming. Depending on how that goes, maybe a HIM, maybe not.

WEIGHTLOSS: Not really doing it for weight loss, more to stay where I am/get stronger. I try to limit portion size and such, but i'm not going with weight loss really in mind. I'm around 5'9", 175lb, so that's a pretty decent size. 

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE:  I've been a competitive athlete all my life, and I love a challenge. I'm constantly working and doing things to help improve, and i'm a very coachable guy. I'm excited, motivated, and I'm very positive about what I can accomplish. This is a new challenge for me (especially swimming, I didn't hardly know how until last summer), and I like that- it's something new to work at.

Heads up to the new members of the group.  If you want to get a head start on this group, Ernesto recommends and most of us that have been in his group before have read this book several times:

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Endurance-Training-Racing/dp/1616080655

Just sayin', in case you have time off for the holidays and need something to read

Jackie
www.funafterfifty.com

Complete rest day - going to see a movie with my lovely wife.  Santa brought me some new DeSoto Tri shorts and jerseys.  Also a new pair of Brooks Adrenalines (over 400 miles on my current pair).

Planned to go for a ride to test the new pair of Specialized bike gloves Santa brought yesterday, but Santa also brought some serious rain this morning and I decided to give it a miss. Maybe a swim later.  Hope everyone is having a great time!

Got a new bike and some stuff for race day!!! Just jogged 5 miles in the rain and waiting for the rain to clear up before taking the new bike out!

Wow! that is a great Christmas toy! I love it.

We will help you get there, welcome to the group!

Is that Santa  in the bottom right hand corner ready to go back up the chimney..?

Gang, as Jackie stated, all of us have read "The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing" by Dr Philip Maffetone. It is not a requisite in this group by no means but all of the people that has tried their methods has been succesful in triathlons or single sports, including myself.

The book contains a plethora of information on dieting (don't confuse with weight loss), training (discussed in detail), race strategy and even mental approach.

I would recommend you spend the money, I believe the kindle edition is very cheap and it could be possibly the single most important thing that you buy as a triathlete. Even if you have been in endurance sports for many years you will find many new things.

On a different note, we hold a challenge that started November 2011, used to be every two months and now it is a monthly thing. Everybody can play and the good thing is that EVERYBODY is at the same level, regardless of time in the sport, experience, speed or age.

Rules are simple: you get one point per every workout you do. The person with the most workouts in a month is awarded bragging rights and group recognition. We talked about a tin foil medal but that never came to fruition due to mentor laziness (sorry past winners).

To qualify, a workout must meet the following criteria:

- 30 minutes or more.

- Only swim, bike and run activities. Core work, crossfit, yoga, etc. do not qualify.

- Only log up to three workouts a day, not more than one of a single sport (i.e.: run in the morning and evening, you get only one point). So your best day could be a swim, a ride and a run.

- If two players log the same amount of workouts in a month, total time will break the tie.

- You MUST take at least one day off a week. If you choose not to do so, you will have to pick wich day of the week you will erase from the count.

- You can take more than one day off a week, your choice. The objective is not to beat ourselves to death in order to win the mythological tin foil medal. The objective is to establish a good frequency and have fun. This challenge has proved to be very motivational to many (myself included) especially when the weather sucks or you feel lazy.

- Challenge will run starting January 1st through the 31st. Any takers? I am in.

And so it begins... I'm in.

A major focus for me in 2012 was to get consistency. From a running perspective, pretty well achieved that in 2012. Now I'm triathlon training I'm yet to really nail this consistency. My target will be 8-9 a week