Mndymond and Disturbed275's Awesome SBR Group--- Phase 2--CLOSED! (Page 30)

I have been training, unfortunately, not according to plan and not that hard but training none the less.  Headed out of town next week for work...to Philly; haven't been there since I was a kid! 

Training has been mostly swimming and running....haven't been on the bike in a long time!  Had plans for this weekend but instead I am doing a fun Run Amuck with co-workers at the Riverfest instead.  I might get a bike ride in at some point before going out of town.  I am having trouble keeping up with all the post but it sure looks good out there...keep up the good work!

This whole "beginner triathlete" thing is quite a spectrum - and I am on the extreme "beginner" end of that spectrum.Today, largely thanks to Thor's comment on my log, I finally went for my first swim. Now, yes, of course, I've been swimming before, but only in the "floating around and hanging out in the water to cool down" meaning of the term.

I've been pretty apprehensive about this. I have issues with the breathing thing, and today was actually the first time I went underwater without plugging my nose. Yeah, I have a LOT to learn. I actually used a noseplug most of the time because I had such a hard time not getting water back in my nose. 

So I have two months to figure this swim thing out. I'll do my best. Thankfully my sprint tri has a 300 yard swim (I would say ONLY, but even 300 yards is going to be a challenge for me). I may be the swimmer with the worse technique, and I may need to doggie paddle portions to make up for my breathing issues, but I WILL get through it

P.S. - Don't worry, I won't actually doggie paddle.

Wow I thought I was reading my own post from last year!  It will all come together...I spent a lot of time just practicing how to relax my neck when I first started to swim and not frolic in the pool. And unfortunately, during the race, I still doggie paddle at least once when I feel that little bit of panic arise and I wonder what I am doing out there in the middle of some body of water.

You will do great!

Tell your body to settle down, stat.  You go Melissa.  Good luck with the race.  I'll be jealous and cheering you on!

Let me get this straight- your first tri is going to be a 1/2 IM.  Wow - go big or go home!

Congrats on pulling the trigger!

X2!  You should print off that last post so you can read it after you finish that tri.  You will be so stoked and proud of yourself when you cross that finish line.

Congrats on going out of your comfort zone and getting in the water.  That was a huge step.  That's just as big of a victory as anything anyone else on this page has done this month.  Sure you could compare yourself to Melissa or even Kevin who just signed up for a HIM, but the thing is that you only need to be comparing yourself today to where you were yesterday.  Each day make some progress and you will continue your transformation.

Today was a wacky day.  I woke at 4 to work on comments before heading to the gym for my pool workout.  Before leaving, I had some banana bread which helped me to have a great swim.  Then I worked my butt off to finish all my grades and comments before heading home to help my son build a solar over for class.  Then I rushed off for a bike fitting and ended up buying myself a pair of clip pedals that I had been drooling over for 2 months.  Then during the bike fitting they discovered why I'd been having pain in my left hip - my left leg is about 3/4 of a inch shorter than my right, which was a result of getting hit by a car and breaking my femur back when I was 13.  So I ended up canceling my fitting and ended up reschedling next week so they could do a comprehensive fitting that will examine my bio mechanics.  I hope its worth an extra 80 bucks. What do you guys think?

Then I headed home and had the most wonderful experience.  As part of my goal to improve my mph for the run, I did my first track repeat workout in 23 years.  It was like an old flashback from my highschool days.  As I ran onto the track I could feel the same competitive desire that I had when I was 18 and running for my track team as a senion.  Sure - I'm a minute slower in the 800 (I did it in 3:03.3) than when I graduated from hs but it would have taken me probably 5 minutes 3 months ago.  But the cool thing was the fact that it was the first time that new Dave  the 41 year old version of myself "met" or got reacquanted with the younger version of myself.  That fire is still inside of me - in fact it's I'm probably more committed now then I was then.  

I came home and celebrated with a Festina Peche from Dogfish Head.  Awesome!

Awesome!  Sounds like a great day.  I would go for the bike fit if you think the people are really knowledgeable.  Is it just your LBS?  Do they have a lot of training?  If I had a concern like that I would go up to Boulder Sports Medicine at the Hospital here-  it's also covered by insurance if you have a PT say you should do it.  Which I would assume you would qualify for.  I would totally pay for it- but I would just make sure you're getting it done by the best possible person.

This is awesome advice - that I often have to remind myself of when someone passes me like I'm standing still when I'm running or biking   I'm a fish, so it isn't the run that gets me, but I have been scared of my road bike in the past (I'm sure you can find a post from me about it.)  That's the cool thing about triathlons- there's always a good place to challenge your self.  Have fun in the water - playing around builds your confidence too (sometimes when the pool is nearly empty I still go and do a few flips off the diving board.  I can't wait til my daughter's a little older and I can use her as my excuse to be playing on the diving board.

Congrats on the stroke and stride!  Clearly you "are a fish" finishing up front like that!  Good thing you didn't swim with "the studs" or else you might have crushed their spirits.  

I'm not sure what to tell you about your cramping - although it's clearly not what you want a couple days before a race.  My only suggestion - and this is what I do whenever I notice that I'm cramping during a workout is to eat more bananas.  No joke.  I read in runners world when I was in hs that a lot of cramping was to to a potassium deficiency and eating foods rich in potassium would help.  It has for me.

Good luck this weekend!  You've trained smart and you're poised for a kick a$$ race! 

Hi All:

Yesterday was the last day of school - so I headed out with friends to celebrate at our favorite brew pub.  I had 4 delecious beers and a burger.  But get this - I didn't eat the bun and ordered asperigas instead of french fries.  

I had my MRI this morning - I hope they find out what is wrong with my back.  It's not killing me these days but I know it's there...

Today I decided to skip my run (my hips are really bugging me) and went for a walk with the kids instead.  And I will also get in a quick swim after I finish writing this post.  For fathers day - I plan on riding 50 miles to my favorite wings place and then watching NASCAR with the family.  Anyone else doing anything fun tomorrow?

Congrats on a great first race!  Sounds like you really pushed yourself if you needed a bucket afterwards

Nice job on the time trial!  Maybe doing a few more of those will help you get used to that pre-race panic? Best of luck keeping up the training while traveling!

Sounds like a great way to celebrate.  I'm impressed at your willpower in avoiding the fries.  Hope the MRI sheds some insight on what's going on with your back.

When we finally do that race together - we should come out of the water at just about the same time.  You're getting pretty quick in the water!  Hopefully seeing your progress will take the edge off that "panic".

If you really want to improve your swimming speed - do what Michael Phelps does when he's in Phily - have a cheese steak or two.

Congrats on the great race and for having a husband who thinks it's cool when your reach for a bucket   You are really killing in on the bike.  I've yet to have a race where I averaged more than 17mph - so 18.5 is flying.  I'm not sure if you "need to get back to work for your exterra.  It sounds like you are already doing the work.  Keep it up!

I had a great father's day: breakfast in bed, Nascar, a great ride, wings, and ice cream...

The ride was hard - I made it that way so when I arrived at my favorite wings place (which is more than 30 miles away by car) I could eat guilt free.  My longest ride so far this year has been 40.  So, to make it interesting, I took a detour to one of the toughest mountains in the area.  Combined the ride had 3000 feet of elevation which I was excited about since I have an incredibly hilly century scheduled for August.  Two problems cropped up on the ride - 1) My new bike shoes hurt.  Really hurt.  As I rode - I felt like I do when I'm getting out of bed with PF - hurt like a bugger.  (Has any one else experienced this - pain on the outside of the foot?  2) The battery on my iphone didn't have enough charge to make it through the entire ride - so I didn't leave it on - instead I was trying to remember all the turns.  Well, I got lost and added miles and elevation.  By the time I made it to the mountain - I was only able to get up 2/3's of it.  I litterally couldn't go any more.  I tried three times but I would only make it 100 yards more and then have to stop.  With 15 miles to go to reach the restaurant and my wife calling to let me know that the kids were hungry - it was time to turn around.  But I will be back!!!

Today was a good wake up call.  I need to add a 4th and maybe even a 5th day or riding if I'm gonna make that ride in August happen.  I just need to finish with my OLY which is in 3 weeks. 

By the way - the wings and ice cream were delicious.  And the best part - I had burned so many calories that I actually finished with negative calories.

Dry heaving afterwards.  You're my new hero today.  Way to push the pace, awesome bike.

Nice work getting that ride in today.  That distance has to be a huge confidence builder for you.  Build on that, and keep up the hard work.  It's paying off, Big Time.

I got to the lake today at 6:00.  It was 61 deg. outside, and ran into a fisherman who told me the water was 56 deg.  He thought I was going scuba diving! 

I was able to actually swim 50 yds or so, and keep my face in the water for about 20 seconds at a time, before I got out dissorientated, a little.  It was a huge confidence builder as last week I couldn't even keep face in water, It had to have been 3-5 degrees colder.

I am going to go to another smaller lake next week, and actually do this ows thing for real this week.  It's the same lake my HIM is on, and I plan on biking much of the course prior to the August event.

Today, I finished up with a 32 mile ride and a 6 mile brick.  Getting my speed up on the bike, and managed a 7:33/mi pace after the bike.

I checked the results of race in prior years, and my 6 hour goal would put me at the bottom third of the feild.  I'm just not OK with this.  Time to go back to work I guess.

Great job on your race, sounds like you were flying out there! Race report?? Inquiring minds want to know! 

Good to see you back on the board and keeping the training up!