Baowolf's Mentor Group- Closed (Page 32)

Pam - that really touched my heart.

Mike - great news on the x-rays though I know sometimes it feels better to be told something is wrong and exactly what that something is. This Is better though.

Steve - you are an inspiration.

Me, been afraid to swim as my form is obviously bad, but a ex-swimmer friend said to keep at it for the fitness end. She said she'll help me but hasn't mentioned any times. Have been studying the Swim Faster workouts and will go through the motions when I'm standing around.
Have run a few times - a steady three miler and some "sprints" today to experience what I want for a race pace (someday).

Jay - the rides with Mitch are painful and you go back for more? Good for you!

Mitch - can't wait to hear about your little girl's race.

Mitzi

Edited by MuscleMomma 2013-07-21 12:54 AM

Hey there!

Mike, good news, and hopefully PT will get you the path to being pain free.

Pam, love those encounters on the path. I'm sure it was good for the gentleman you encountered as well to connect with a fellow runner.

Steve, yeeehaww....come on down to TX! Unfortunately we are a few hours away from The Woodlands, but we are only a few miles from DFW airports, so would love to have you on the way. We have a nice guest room with its own connected bathroom, and would even waive the "one dog" rule (all guests must sleep with at least one dog).

Mitzi, do you think maybe going to the pool for fun without too much agenda would help? Float, relax, maybe swim a length and see you you feel, and then swim another length if you want to. No pressure, goal just to relax. I start almost every swim by floating face down, all stretched out, kicking gently, playing with head position, kind of shaking myself out and feeling for that (sometimes elusive) balance. Then flip over and kick on my back...again stretching out as long as I can be at 5 ft 4, and just getting comfy in the water. Relaxing is key for me.

I'm in Bryan/College Station visiting my friend in prison. Had a great visit yesterday, and then swam in the TX A&M pool...50 meters...beautiful! Even had the entire pool to myself for a few minutes. Went a different way on a run this morning and discovered a sidewalk covered with the spongy track type stuff that connected to a park bike/run path. Feeling blessed and like I'm right where I should be if that makes any sense.

Very good advice! When I first started I actually hired a coach to get me comfortable swimming in the ocean. All we did was swim out and float around. Played, splashed. Dove down etc... I ended up LOVING swimming in the end!

Steve -- the fundraising is for MaW of New Hampshire. All the $ goes directly toward funding the 'wish making' activities for kids with life threatening illnesses.

As for the race, I'll be part of the MaW team (They've been doing this at this race for quite some time), get a team tri top, special spots in transition, our own 'private' port-a-potties, team pre-post race site, and a very special bunch of fans in our cheering section.

Mike

Mitzi, I took a 2 day lesson then just struggled through the swim. I spent weeks just getting the breathing good enough to get to the other end while breathing at the same time. So my vote is just go and play with it. There are lots of drills. I would practice kicking with a mask and snorkel. You can go as slow as you need to go and not have to worry about the breathing. A lot of freestyle is keeping your legs up and face down, and then the rotate like a horizontal pencil to breath. Try to not pop your head up vertically just turn to the side to breath. So with the mask and snorkel put your arms out in front of you and try to balance with your legs high, lower your arms and puts with your body position to find that location. Once you have that down you can try one stroke at a time and then build to a whole lap and then go from there. It is just a lot of work to get functional. Mike can tell you what to do once you are functional, I am still trying to get beyond that. Oh and if you swim using a pull bouy you can practice swimming without worrying about kick or keeping your legs up and just focus on the front part of your body. I loved the book you read on swimming. I try to focus on the catch with swimming every day I swim.

So even after yesterdays longish ride, today's long run was my first solid long run so far this year. Here are my minute per mile paces:
9:37, 8:45, 8:54, 8:57, 8:59, 9:00, 9:13, 9:22, 9:26, 9:23, 9:26, 9:09, 9:01, 8:32. So average pace 9:07 mpm. My current goals for long run are between 9:00 and 9:30 mpm. My last 3 long runs have been at paces 11:15 mpm, 10:18 mpm and 9:07 mpm. So after 445 miles running the fitness gains are finally kicking in Yay. On paper it was sposed to work, but it was a long time in coming. The bike is still painfully slow, but swim is as good as it has been in the past and run is starting to get there, bike speed still very slow, but getting the distances up. I should be alright for completing IM Tahoe. We see how much farther I can come with only 1 build cycle, 1 peak build and then taper to race left.

So while my wife had been out of town I am putting in AC for our house as an early birthday present. With temps in the 100F + I am hoping that she doesn't consider it an appliance purchase for a birthday present.

Edited by Baowolf 2013-07-21 3:10 PM

steve - you are just killin' it. Amazing comeback so far.

I did a 52 mile bike today, and after being up at 5:30 to get my daughter to her tri (and be her tri gear Sherpa!) I'm freakin' tired. Good night!

MD

My daughter's tri was a blast. We were up early to get to transition, body marking, get her set up (no parental involvement allowed - kids & volunteers only). Waited a while for her swim wave. Race distance for her 5-10 year old age group was 100 yd swim, 3 mile bike, .5 mile run. Weather was beautiful -- sunny, warm, no humidity.

Wasn't a spot to watch the swim (in a pool) but we saw her run by us to transition. On her bike, then off for her ride. We (my parents, as well as my sisteer had driven in to Boston to watch my daugher race) headed off toward the finish line to see her complete the race. after waiting what seemed to be bit of a long time she entered the stadium (was held at MIT -- finish was at the football stadium) and start a good run around the track. She finished strong, and looked good.

We packed up transition, headed back to our hotel and then home. Did stop for an ice cream on the way, though, for a job well done. She's already talking about doing it again next year when she ages-up to the 'big kids' race (200 yd swim, 6 mile bike, 1 mile run).

Mike

Here's a post race photo of my favorite triathlete in the world:

Edited by Mike_D 2013-07-22 6:39 AM






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ava july 2013 NE Tri.JPG (54KB - 12 downloads)

Mike, what a wonderful experience for you and your daughter! She is such a cutie, and looks so relaxed and happy in that picture! Ha, and she is already thinking about upping her distance, huh?

Fun ride this morning catching up with a friend, and planning to ride on the trainer with hubby watching The Bachelorette tonight (don't judge ).


Edited by squirt 2013-07-22 8:50 AM

What is up Everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a family reunion this weekend, so I have been out of pocket!

Mike- Tell your Daughter Congrats That is Awesome!!!!!

Mitch- Get to feeling better Bro!

Steve- I am 8 hours away from the Woodlands! It would be something to consider thats for sure!!! You are killing your workouts! I did 4x800 the other day with 800 jog in between. Felt great but was a workout!

Mitzi- To swim you just got to swim and swim and swim! and keep on swimming! Know that everytime you get in the pool/open water you are having a great workout and building your fitness.

I did a 40 mile bike on Saturday. Still with my road bike. I am trying to get my tri bike adjusted.

So cool Mike! You should be very proud!! A dream come true for me if it happens. I will leave it up to my daughter but one can hope!

Jared - Get that bike ready. I'm sure its killing you!

I am just feeling very, very sluggish. Snuck in a 3 1/2 mile run this morn. Felt like 20 again! ribs are sore, family is sick... Dunno. I'm gonna keep pushing through but I seem to remember I used to have strong workouts. Feels like its been a while. my running is just taking its own sweet time.

Mitch- keep hanging in there man!!!
I know bro. I just cant get to the LBS out of town and get fitted plus I am just gun shy training on it without it fitted.
Anybody have any fitting tips for try bikes or a website to check out.

Hi Group!!! No SBR since HIM, but still helping with lots of digging, ditch filling, gravel spreading, sand hauling for the pool we are putting in. I did do a P90X video last night with my daughter. She was all into it! Planning on a half marathon in Mid Oct. Its a local one, its hilly, but really pretty the first 9 miles. Im thinking a full might be in the future too -within the 2013 year. Do ya think think Nov 3 is too soon for a full? Totally flat course.

Mike, How exciting! Adorable little girl you've got! Give her a high-five for me! Tell her good JOB!!

Steve, had to re-read about your last 100miler bike and run in 101 temps. Um Wow & amazing. You inspire.

Mitch, slowly but surely with the rib heal and feel-good runs.. Keep pluggin along.

Jared, New avatar? cool. You sound kinda excited about your new bike. kinda.

Also, finally got my race report up.

Mitch, sorry the running has it's own agenda. I am finding that to be very true lately too. Have to keep the "too much too soon because this is where I should be" thoughts in check.

Elena, I'm sure Mike will be glad to share his "sign up for races pen" with you . Will go check out your race report after I'm not supposed to be working today .

OK, so Rhett (my pain in the butt that sometimes radiates down my leg) is back...I suspect piriformis. This after much resting from running and cycling to let it settle down, which it did for a little while. So now I'm thinking it may be the cycling since my running volume is very low. Rode 32 miles on Friday (longest in a while, but slow/easy). Saturday drove 3+ hours and mostly sat for another 5+ hours after that. Then went for a swim. Pain really hit me on Saturday night and has been on again off again since then. Another thing that may or may not be connected and has been going on for a few months, but I also can no longer sleep comfortably on my stomach....the small bit of backwards arch in my back is just not comfortable anymore. Any thoughts or suggestions on a possible path to getting rid of this for good? I get kind of overwhelmed with looking at a kazillion different stretches/exercises out there in internet land...just would like to figure out some simple routine...maybe 5-10 specific exercises for kicking it to the curb and keeping it there.

Lets hope this isnt' becoming a MASH unit again! My PT starts on Thursday, and the therapist is a marathoner, so I'm happy about that. Fingers crossed for some improvement.

We're just old folks complainin about our aches and pains.

My first thought with radiating pain is pinched nerve in the lower back.

Hamstrings take a very very long time to heal up right.

I have joined you with the moving dirt and such, I started removing all the junk (rocks part of old abandoned fence foundations blocks, weeds, grass etc.) from the ditch to contour it so that I can hit it with the lawn mower rather than weedwack it for an hour every so often. I only cleared about 10x5 feet, but have to wheelbarrel the junk uphill to the back of the property and its getting hotish again. Oh well that's my day off activity, should probably do some house cleaning before my wife gets back home. It would be so nice to just take a match to her piles of junk. Lets see random pick from her pile, oh look a magazine from March 2004, she probably won't be ordering anything from there right...

Grats on your daughter's tri finish, dady's little girl. You are gona have to watch who she talks to at those races soon.. 8).

On your 800 repeats try to only allow a 400 yard recovery.

Elena I can't see your logs atm for some reason, but you should be ok with a November Mary. But you will have to start training soonish 8).

Edited by Baowolf 2013-07-22 3:18 PM

Hey, I resemble that remark! Rhett has settled back down for the moment after my hubby so kindly offered to massage it for me last night .

Mike, sounds like you are in good hands on the PT front. Nice to find folks who understand your desire to keep training to the extent possible.

As for the clutter, I think we all have our "stuff" that we tend to collect for no good reason. I'm pretty minimalist in most areas, but used to buy a lot of books and then never get rid of the old ones. This blog (and the local library) have been really good at encouraging me to keep it real on that:
http://www.becomingminimalist.com/

Lunch swim, and run at the rec center indoor track this evening on tap. Trying to get hubby engaged in some movement each day, as he tends to let work/his dad/church/etc. squeeze out taking care of himself. He likes to go to the rec center, and I'm fed up with the heat/humidity with regards to running, so we have a winner!

MTA: Y'all go check out Elena's race report if you haven't already. She was seriously in the groove, and it's a good read: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Edited by squirt 2013-07-23 8:27 AM

Carol -- thanks for the link to Elena's RR. Great stuff!

Did a run today and felt OK. a bit over 4.5 miles and ended with a 9:40 or so pace. First mile was 8:30, whcih is waaaay too fast out of the gate for me.
Will be interested to see how I feel in a couple hours as thats when I've been feeling the most run discomfort lately.

Glad the run felt OK, Mike, and hope the aftermath was OK. On my (short and slow as they all are lately) run last night, every single step hurt. No pain down the leg though...just the glute. So I think I'm going to follow your lead and seek some professional help. This has gone on way too long and I just want to get on a path to it getting better rather than the rest/hurt/rest/hurt cycle I seem to be on.

Glad you are going to see someone. Wish I'd been smart like you and do it sooner rather than trying to fight it all season.

If I can get this going in the right direction the next few weeks/couple of months, I may sign up for an IM next year. Want to get back into running when it starts feeling better, even if it means going back to re-do parts of a couch-to-5k to get things ramped up again. I truly miss the long 10, 11 mile runs I used to do on Sunday mornings. It may have been the most 'relaxing' workouts I've ever done.

Squirt, hope ya get the glute thing worked out. Mike glad the run was good.

Looked at the race pics that Marathon Photo sends after a race. LOL. I always put my hair up in a bun then under the swim cap. It's (the bun)usually centered at the back of my head. Then when I put the helmet on I can then pull the bun thru the helmet opening in back.. (Did several swim/bike bricks to work this one out!) . Anyhow, because I was in a rush @T1 that morning my bun was at the crown if my head. I realized it was up too high once I threw on the helmet. Tried to adjust helmet (as riding- didnt want to stop) by forcefully moving it to& fro while in my head but the bun was too far up there! My entire forehead was exposed and when I pulled the helmet forward it would eventually move back to the NERD position.. Needless to say I look like a TOTAL DWEEB in all the pics of me riding!!!! Too funny

Thought of you Steve re: injury. Hope the link works.

http://youtu.be/h58hQnGE188

http://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLAA31B8D9C94611C5&v=h58hQnGE188&de...

Jesse Thomas -up close.

Edited by EV3110 2013-07-24 8:13 PM

Still plugging away here, 6 mile run, 20 mile bike, 2300 yard swim and moving 1000 pounds of rocks, grass, stuff to the back of my property in addition to leveling/landscaping and such. So maybe 2 more weeks to get it looking good.

The AC/swamp cooler is functional and drops my house temp to 75F when it is 100 F ish outside. I hope my wife will be happy with that. The family gets back tonight, late.

Carol glad you are going to a doc, I am worried about a lower back nerve pinch/disc thing that is radiating into the glute area which won't get better on its own. Hopefully they can identify the problem quickly and get you on the mend one way or the other.

I wish I could do a HIM in 4:02:00 with a broken foot lol, well kind of. Injury definitely has its ups and downs. But whatever you do don't give your son a girl's name, that is bad. Kids are mean.

Oh by the way now is the time to buy Michelin Race Pro 4 tires from Nashbar. They are going for $34 (down from like $70) and I think free shipping). I am set but if you need tires I would buy all you need for next year now. You aren't going to beat that price in the next 6 months.

Edited by Baowolf 2013-07-24 9:33 PM

Elena, don't feel bad. I've yet to see a single race photo from any race I've done which I'd even consider showing to my family, never mind buying. My usual reaction is "who is that pale blob riding that bike? He looks awful!" I look nothing like I think a triathlete should look

Just finished a solid hour of wrecking myself on the trainer along with the Sufferfest's "Fight Club" video. Now off to the shower, work, etc. I have tomorrow off, so I'm hoping to get in a good swim & ride, and maybe a short run (they're all short these days) depending on what the PT person says tonight.

Have a great day everyone!