JohnnyKay and Fred Doucette's HIM/IM focused Mentor group-CLOSED (Page 30)

Had another open water swim in my friends pond last night. Water temp is up to 64, air temp was 75 and I was actually getting really warm. I love my wetsuit this year which is strange because I hated it last year. I soaked it in the bath tub before my swim (I think I read that on BT). My shoulders have not been fatigued in it at all and I can't feel the little pond fish bite my legs .

Today my plan said 45 min bike, 30 min run brick, then a 30 min swim but the swim not at the same time as everything else. I'm breaking it up though with the ride today and the swim/run tomorrow. It's really hard to fit everything into one day during the week for me. On the weekend my husband can help me with the kids so it works out better. Today he has to work late so I'm on my own.

Anybody else have to work around the schedule of your sig. other or your kids? Part of the reason I planned to do the HIM this year is because my children are young (3 & 5) and are not involved in a bunch of after school sports or other activities. Problem is they are still little enough that they can't stay home by themselves.

Dina,

first off, congrats on your first race this year!  Let me know if you ever decide to come up my way (Chicago) for a race.  I get a kick out of meeting BT'ers in real life.

My kids are little too...my DD is 6 and in first grade and my DS is 2 and pretty much up in my grill all the time.  I don't work so that helps...if I did, there is no way I could do a traditional schedule, although in some ways I could get a lot more done on the road with zero obligations when I wasn't flying (I am a commercial pilot)...just hard to figure out the bike.

Anyway, I have a gym membership with 2 hours a day babysitting which is huge for me.  I can swim there and if I need to, use the treadmill for a run.  Otherwise, I often work out while DH and the kids are still sleeping.  I also use the trainer quite a bit...naptime is a good time for that as I am terrified of having my son anywhere near those kinds of moving parts.  Heck, I don't even let my daughter near the trainer, she's such a klutz.  My biggest "issue" is that I often have to stack my workouts.  It makes it hard to get maximal effort out of the second workout, so I won't be turning pro this year, but you know, maybe next year.

The other problem I have is DH and I do the same races so long rides and runs become a scheduling problem, so I use a babysitter on occasion.  Some couples have date nights, we have long ride mornings.

And sometimes I have to let something go.  Which is hard for me, but I really like training and racing, and I really don't want to let it make me crazy and have it stop being fun.  And like I said, turning pro is still a few years off...maybe when I turn 50.

I know all these strategies are probably pretty obvious to you, but I just wanted to let you know I'm in the same boat.  

One thing I've noticed lately is that my daughter has been talking a lot about triathlons and marathons...not that it means she's going to go down the same road, but it does mean that she recognizes it is part of our family lifestyle, something we value, and I really believe that will pay off for her as she grows up.  Just hoping both my kids embrace active, healthy living and trying to crush the competition as  core values for their lives as a result of our endeavors.  That way I won't feel like such a selfish b**** for all the training we do...

Plus, I tell myself that the time I spend on myself now will help me live a longer, healthier (closer to the end) life which will help not burden my children as I age.  DH and I are pretty old (42 and 44) to have such young kids, so it is a big concern for me.

OK, I am officially off on a tangent.  Happy Monday everyone...I've got a rare continuous swim (3k) this morning and my long run this afternoon.  Tomorrow is a rest day.  Hurray.

Even though you guys are complaining, this actually helps me understand...I was really making strides in the pool, and now I'm kind of sliding a bit which has been driving me crazy...but I'm training 13-14 hours a week instead of 6-7.  So I'm tired.  WHat a concept.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Not sure why that wasn't obvious to me, haha.

Short swim for me today.  No training fatigue to deal with since my training has slipped the past couple weeks.  Too late to do anything about it now with Am-Zof coming up this Sunday, so just going to try to enjoy another easy week before the suffer-fest. 

On Neil's shoe question from the weekend, are they the same type?  If so, I would go with the new ones.  But, really, it shouldn't matter too much so go with whatever you are most comfortable with.

Thanks John - the old ones were the Nimbus 11, the new ones are the Nimbus 12.  Wanted another pair of the 11's but couldn't find them anywhere in my size.  Problem with the 12's is they are a little tighter in the toe box on the right, and that was bugging me.  I think that with a couple of runs left this week I'll have about 80-90km on them, so I'm leaning towards wearing them in the race.  Just haven't done more than 13km in them at one time, so that's my only concern.

The decision to do IM Texas was very difficult knowing the weather difference and the challenges associated with training for a race with such a temperature variance.  The timing of the race works well with work, family schedules, medical conference scheules, etc.  I often have to schedule things a year ahead. 

Even if the heat gets the best of me, I still plan to have fun.  The actual race is just the icing on the cake.  IOW I will make the best of it no matter what happens.   Besides, one can never really know what to expect on race day.  In 2002 I did IM Moo and it was 90+ degrees, when I did it in 2007 it was 52 degrees, windy and rainy. 

Also, perhaps I'm a little on the crazy side

Short swim for me today too. 12 days left...I'm going to do a DIY tune up and thorough bike cleaning this week before I have to drop it off for shipping on Friday.

Had a nice 3 hr ride and 20 minute T-run on Saturday, then went to our couples wedding shower. It was so much fun having all our friends together (presents are always fun too). One of my training buddies got me a tub of Carbo-Pro which he knew I was almost out of.

A friend in San Diego did IMSG over the weekend. Took him 15 hours (this is his second IM) but anyone who finishes that course is a beast. I heard the DNF rate was 18%??? Wow. One of the his friends who was doing the race with him did a disappearing act just before the start. Don't know really what happened except he went missing and decided not to race, literally right before the start. He just flat-out bailed. I can't imagine putting in all that work, all the money you spend getting there, and you get cold feet and just say screw it, I'm going back to the hotel. Very strange.

Happy Monday everyone...

Fred...do you have any specific power goals you're going to shoot for in your upcoming Oly?  As far as % of FTP. 

I think he was trying to ask, "Fred what are your specific power goals in watts for your upcoming Olympic?  What percentage of your FTP are those power goals?"

I get the feeling Fred would be a fun guy at a deposition.

Fred Doucette - 2011-05-09 1:02 PM

bryancd -

...maybe even more then 200 watts!

You will hopefully be impressed with the result Mr. Bueller

Yes, but if I was you're lawyer, I would be very happy with your answer.

You didn't ask me, but I would be pushing as close to 100% as I could while expecting to see something ~95% after the fact.  The only way to go over FTP for the ride is to have a bad FTP estimate.