Team Trisuppo - OPEN (Page 30)

If you will have me this late in the game, I would like to join your group. here's my bio:

NAME: username: Meathead, First name: Drew

STORY: I'm from New Orleans originally & I've been living in Atlanta since 2001. I have always been naturally athletic, but not necessarily fit. I never worked out, rarely ate very well, but I could still go out & play in a softball league or walk 18 holes of golf without any trouble. On New Years day 2013, I weighed in at 225 which is the heaviest I have ever been. I decided to do something about it & I knew that the gym wasn't my thing. I had friends that ran & figured "I have shoes & a pair of shorts, I can go run!" As motivation, I signed up for my first half marathon which was less than 2 months away (some go couch to 5K, I went couch to HM). I got into running & fell in love. Last year I ran three half marathons & multiple 10K & 5K races. I had a friend who was in the same boat as me & got into tris. He went out & bought a P2, got a coach, a nutrition plan, & signed up for IM Augusta 70.3. I thought it was really cool & wanted to do it, but never made the commitment. Instead I decided to step up my half marathons to full marathons. This year I have run two full marathons and I joined the Atlanta Track Club which allows me to run in their Grand Prix race series (Woo! Free races!). As the weather heats up, running more than a 10K is less alluring in the Atlanta heat, so I decided to go ahead & get into sprint distance tris. I signed up for my first race at the end of the month (5/31) and I am in the midst of training up for it.

FAMILY STATUS: I'm married to a Tennessee girl and we have two great kids ages 7 & 4. They keep us very busy, especially on weekends, which means I have to fit my training into time that is invisible to my family. That means a lot of 5AM & lunch time training sessions. My wife isn't opposed to my racing or training, but she isn't the cheerleader I wish she would be. But since I keep my training out of our family time & I only have the occasional race on a Saturday or Sunday, she doesn't really say much.

CURRENT TRAINING: I'm loosely following a few beginner level training plans. I get to the Y pool at 5AM on MWF & swim 6000-7500 yards a week. I am on my trainer in the basement at 5AM 3 days a week on TThSa for about 3.5 hours total. I run at lunch 4 times a week Tuesday-Friday for 3.5-4 hours total.

KEY 2013 Races: Georgia Half Marathon (2:17:22), Atlanta 13.1 (2:06:12), New Orleans Jazz Half (2:03:06)

KEY 2014 RACES: Louisiana Marathon (4:11:58), Georgia Marathon (4:10:46), Tri The Parks Sprint (5/31/14), Allatoona Sprint Triathlon (6/29/14)

WEIGHT LOSS: I started all this because I was 225 lbs. I hadn't been under 200 since high school. By last Fall, I was down to 185. My lowest weight was 180. Right now I have gotten back up to 195, so I have a renewed mission to get back down to 175.

WHY I'M A GOOD MENTEE: I'm obsessive-compulsive. I immerse myself into things. I did it with golf years ago. I did it with running last year, and now I am starting to do it with triathlons. I track the hell out of all my workouts & everything is currently stored in Garmin Connect (I can start moving that data over to BT shortly). I love to discuss the things I am passionate about in a community that understands & supports it. And I enjoy the support that the running/tri community provides each other. Everyone is passionate & encouraging. And while some may look down their nose at you for being slower than some, they are in the minority. I have had people who have run Boston more than 7 times give me a high five because I did two marathons this year. And even though they were both over 4 hours, they were convinced that one day I will run down Boylston St as a Boston qualifier. That's what makes the endurance community awesome.

2014 GOALS: Run 3-4 full marathons (2 in the books already), compete in 2-3 sprint tris and possibly an OLY, break 50 min at the Peachtree Road Race 10K in July, break 2 hours in a HM, break 4 hours in a full marathon, buy a road bike (I'm doing my races this year on a MTB), and begin training for a HIM next year.

Welcome Drew. 4 marathons in a year is quite an impressive goal. More power to you. Lots of type As here, but we've the scars to show for it.

On the training side of things, I have come to the unfortunate realization that in training all year without a plan I have effectively failed to take true recovery weeks. Last week it set in hard - exhaustion, malaise, headaches, etc. During my long run on Sunday, I realized that I had nothing in the tank. Looked for the legs around mile 4 and couldn't find them and then went on to run 9 more slow miles. I have a fast Duathlon this Saturday which I need some real gas for. Don't want to shut things down so I'm planning on some more swimming, light spinning and super easy runs (no more than 2 miles). The race is 5K-16M-5k so I am hopeful that I can fake my way through it.

Welcome to the group Drew! Your racing schedule is impressive. I know something about the invisible training too. My wife and the kid could not handle this 'obsession' as they call it. I have all my clothes in the garage so at 5am I don't need to wake anyone up looking for running socks in the dark....

Rest day yesterday and 45' run this afternoon after work. 22c - yippee! Not hot!
My heels are killing me. It seems the Achilles tendons are inflamed, so other than taking some NSAID or stopping running I have no idea what to do.

Mark 05 06:00:00
Joe 04 5:08:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 02 02:45:00
Jim 03 02:58:04

Edited by markz 2014-05-06 2:29 AM

Thanks guys. I'm in the process of starting to put my stuff in BT, but for now, I'll add myself to the May leaderboard. I did an hour on the trainer this morning & I plan to do a 60 minute run at lunch, so I will update my time this afternoon.

Mark 05 06:00:00
Joe 04 5:08:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 02 02:45:00
Jim 03 02:58:04
Drew 04 04:22:05

And if I had been participating since the start of the year, here are my monthly numbers:

January - 07 - 10:33:29
February - 12 - 9:33:26
March - 08 - 10:40:40
April - 20 - 17:30:52

Edited by Meathead 2014-05-06 7:49 AM

Welcome Drew,

Sounds like you fit right in our group of obsessive compulsive closet training triathletes. The discussion of balancing training and family is ongoing. It is a constant fight to fulfill our obligations as a spouse, our children, and to ourselves. My wife is tolerant (as long as I don't create more work for her), and comes out to the big races and the races our kids are in, she even made a winter race this year. 4 marathons in a year is impressive, especially to get in the miles needed to do them. I do most of my training at lunch, when everyone is gone. I create most of my own work schedule, so I can work it out. I've tried the 5 AM thing and I hated it. I would rather work in my office in the morning, so I can SBR at lunch.
My wife and I lived in Atlanta 20 years ago, its a great city. We took our kids back 3 years ago, and were really impressed by some of the changes. I can't imagine doing a 10k down Peachtree in the middle of July. I would be one massive puddle.

I'm not a morning person either, especially since I usually am not asleep until midnight every night, but I know this is the one time I can do it, so I fight the urge to stay in bed every morning. Once I am up & moving, I am golden though. It's also nice to get it out of the way & know that you can be "lazy" for the rest of the day because you already got your time in.

I've been in Atlanta for 13 years now & the change it has undergone in just that time is amazing. Both in a good and bad way. The city has gone from massive urban sprawl to people moving back intown. Traffic is terrible, but the explosive growth in construction is mind boggling. The overall landscape has changed at least twice in the last decade & it's about to change again with the construction of two new stadiums (the new Braves stadium will be less than 2 miles from my front door!) and a ton of other construction.

The PRR on the 4th of July is more of a giant social event for the city. Tons of people take over 2-3 hours to finish the race because they walk the whole thing. People really only do it to get the shirt at the finish line (and usually the shirt designs suck). I was able to qualify for one of the front waves that will have more of the serious runners, and it will go off early, so cooler temps & fewer a** clowns (i.e. walkers) in the wave means it should be a great run.

Welcome Drew!


I swam 2000 yards in the pool then biked 25 miles. Being my first time swimming, every new increase in the plan is 'the farthest I've even swam' - and it's a good feeling.

Mark 05 06:00:00
Joe 04 5:08:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 03 04:45:00
Jim 03 02:58:04
Drew 04 04:22:05

Good Morning group! Here is my official intro....

NAME: username: Sawyer1206, First name: Dennis

STORY: I am 40 years old and reside in a suburb North of Houston Texas. My friends and family will tell you I am a very active person at home and at work. Despite being labeled active I still struggle with my weight and am finding it more difficult to maintain as I get older. In 2004 I weighed close to 300lbs and after realizing my current life style was not a healthy one I made a decision to change it. I decided to start a healthy diet and to take up running. One year later I finished the Houston Marathon weighing in at 180lbs.


FAMILY STATUS: I'm married with two teenagers at home. We are an active family with both kids participating in some sort of sport or physical activity year round. We enjoy our time together and we all share a passion for Wakeboarding which keeps us together and active on the weekends.


CURRENT TRAINING: After rebounding to 240lbs over the winter I decided to start running again in December to lose the weight. The running alone was too hard on my joints so my wife talked me into purchasing a road bike so I could alternate activities. Right now my current training consist of an hour and half in the gym in the morning either swimming, running, or spin bike and alternating strength training. I also ride the bikes 3 times a week with my wife with our average ride around 20 miles.


KEY RACES: I haven’t participated in any races since 2008. I broke my leg early in 2008 and never really got back into running until recent. Prior to breaking my leg I completed several 5K and 10K races, also as mentioned previously I completed the Houston Marathon back in 2005.


WEIGHTLOSS: I am 6’2” and 210lbs, I have struggled with my weight since I graduating High School. My life style back then led me to packing on the pounds and getting up to a whopping 300lbs. I currently weight 210lbs after losing 30lbs in the last 5 months.


WHY I WOULD MAKE A GOOD MANTEE: I am a goal driven person who never gives up, always 110 %. I will do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal and I prefer to work in a structured program with purpose and good planning. My wife tells me I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive at many aspects of my life but most particularly when it comes to my fitness goals. I am a true man of my word, I respect the opinion of others, and have no hidden agenda…what you see is what you get with me.


CURRENT GOAL: My current goal is to begin a training program that could help me complete a sprint Triathlon in August. If all goes well I would like to make Triathlon training part of my life style going forward in the next decade of my life.


Edited by sawyer1206 2014-05-06 9:26 AM

47 minutes on the drainer for lunch

Mark 05 06:00:00
Joe 04 5:08:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 03 04:45:00
Jim 04 03:45:04
Drew 04 04:22:05

Hi Dennis, welcome to the group. If you have questions or just want to start a conversation, just shoot. We do a monthly challenge. Basically you can get 1 point per day if you either swim bike or run for 30 minutes on that day. Then add in your total time for a tie breaker. I find that if I participate it keeps me focused.
I struggle with weight too. I really like to eat. I had a high calorie winter and am trying to work it back off.
Do you have a tri planned for this year?

Edited by JBacarella 2014-05-06 1:14 PM

30 minute run at lunch - http://goo.gl/YikS0e

Mark 05 06:00:00
Joe 04 5:08:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 03 04:45:00
Jim 04 03:45:04
Drew 04 04:52:33

Edited by Meathead 2014-05-06 2:23 PM

Hi Dennis, welcome to the group. If you have questions or just want to start a conversation, just shoot. We do a monthly challenge. Basically you can get 1 point per day if you either swim bike or run for 30 minutes on that day. Then add in your total time for a tie breaker. I find that if I participate it keeps me focused.
I struggle with weight too. I really like to eat. I had a high calorie winter and am trying to work it back off.
Do you have a tri planned for this year?

Hey Dennis -

You can never swim enough period! The adage is overtrain your weaknesses. Unless you develop shoulder pain, swim away, but you should maximize your time in the pool improving. As a non-swimmer until age 41, my advice is get lessons!!!!! Swimming is like golf, it is all technique and not related to strength or power. Strong swimmers are effortless in their techniques and don't fight the water. When you break down the swim stroke each phase (catch, pull, entry) has many different aspects you need to get right. Then you throw in breathing, body position, head position, etc. and it will drive you crazy.

It took me a while and months following Total Immersion to get past 150 yds, but when it clicked I jumped to 1500 yds within a week. Started swimming in earnest in January 2010 and the following June I completed a half ironman. Sounds to me like you need a plan to maximize your efforts in the pool. For me, I learn best through demonstration and don't do well with books or videos so taking a swim clinic really helped and gave me an approach towards improvement.

Edited by JoePetto 2014-05-06 3:04 PM

While I'm new to triathlons, I'm not new to endurance sports, so I will take a stab at this.

First thing's first, are you swimming M-F & taking the weekend off? If so, can you break that up & take Sunday & Wednesday or Thursday as your off day? That will allow your rest time to work better for you.

I would say that you do need to build up your comfort level in the pool. Any OWS doesn't have the luxury of a wall or lane ropes to hang onto if you get tired, and you can't rest at the bottom of the lake! Going 5 days a week may seem like overkill, but if you're doing 45 minutes & only swimming 150m at a stretch, I would say it is necessary until you can build up to being able to swim the full distance of your race without stopping. Just relax & swim easy. Focus on breathing & efficient strokes. I wouldn't even worry with drills or anything else until you get a solid baseline where you can swim nonstop for a good distance. Once you build up to be able to swim longer distances, then I would say you can scale back on the number of days & scale up on the intensity of your swims.

All that being said, if you feel that your body is weak for an extended period after swimming or you feel something hurting like your shoulder, then I would say cut back.

I agree with you guys that I need to relax more. I can't witness my own stroke of course but I do think I'm trying to power my way through. I watch some if the other swimmers and it seems so effortless to them. I think I will sign up for some lessons. Up to know it's been just YouTube and the pool.

I try to swim slower like I see others do but I sink when I try it.

My first question would be if I am hurting my efforts by swimming 5 days a week? I started swimming 6 weeks ago and could only do 25 meters before I was clinging to the side of the pool sucking for air. I decided then if I was going to do a Tri I had to put some time in on swimming so I set a schedule to swim for 45 minutes every morning. I can now swim 150 meters nonstop but am wondering if I am doing too much?

Slow is part of it, but my guess is that you are (1) fighting the water and (2) struggling with breathing. If you are worried about finding that next breath, you will never relax. For me, once I got the breathing under control, the whole thing came together. Are you exhaling through your nose while in the water? Someone described breathing while swimming as taking a bite of air - you don't need a lot, but you need to have exhaled and cleared your lungs, before you inhale and take that breath.

That's exactly what I'm doing Joe. After a couple 100 meter laps I have to take a long break because I start coughing. I find if I take short breaths and long exhales the cough will go away.

Sounds like I'm worse off then I thought.

This new plan is making me tired - but feeling accomplished.
Today I did a speed session on the Treadmill - then 2000 yards in the pool.

Mark 05 06:00:00
Joe 04 5:08:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 04 06:15:00
Jim 04 03:45:04
Drew 04 04:52:33

Quick 35' in the pool - mostly drills.

Mark 05 06:00:00
Joe 06 5:43:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 04 06:15:00
Jim 04 03:45:04
Drew 04 04:52:33

45' bike ride this afternoon.

Mark 06 06:45:00
Joe 06 5:43:09
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Lisa 3 05:23:57
Bruno 04 06:15:00
Jim 04 03:45:04
Drew 04 04:52:33

Mark 06 06:45:00
Joe 06 5:43:09
Bruno 04 06:15:00
Drew 04 04:52:33
Jackie 04 4:51:23
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Jim 04 03:45:04
Lisa 3 05:23:57

Hey Jackie glad to see your back. From the pictures on FB, it looked like you had some great biking adventures.

45:39 MAF run

Mark 06 06:45:00
Joe 06 5:43:09
Bruno 04 06:15:00
Drew 04 04:52:33
Jackie 04 4:51:23
Mitch 04 04:39:35
Jim 05 04:30:43
Lisa 3 05:23:57

Welcome Drew and Dennis...from a fellow newbee!!

Oh and can someone explain the contest??