Meulen's 'Let's tri this Thing!' beginner mentor group-CLOSED (Page 38)

Okay, I need some help.  During my tempo run on Tuesday I developed a little bit of a blister on the arch of my foot.  I don't know if it came from the faster pace or what, but I definitely developed a blister.  It didn't fill with fluid, but it hurt a bit.  So, tonight I went for an easy run.  The blister has not bothered me at all for the past 2 days, and I really didn't think it would be a problem!  I put on a little Body Glide and away I went.  Big mistake!  I had to cut my run a mile short and now I have a full blown, fluid filled blister.  This is actually my first blister.  I don't know what to do with it.  Obviously I want to keep running, but I know that I will not be able to like this.  I have a 9 mile run on Sunday.  Any experience anyone?  Anything I can cover it with that will stick for 9 miles so that I can still run?

Karen

Brian,

Tough Mudder is a foot race up and back down a mountain.   Every half mile or so there is a obstacle to overcome.  These can be almost anything from climbing, crawling.  There is a great map with explainations at http://toughmudder.com/events/socal/snow-valley-course-map-2011/  Check it out.  Going to be so fun.  There are no winners and you can have teams.   My team is about 15 people already.  The goal is strictly to finish.  I only have 2 months to train for it.  I will be adding a lot more running to my training as well as strength building exercises.  Use bike and swim as fillers when I need a break.   Let me know what you think.

That is exactly what I asked my husband when I got up this morning and looked out the window?  This is getting ridiculous!

My March goals were:

Running:  70 miles        Accomplished at 76.75 miles - 14:08:27 hours

Swimming:  6 hours      Accomplished at 10:40:31 hours

Cycling:  8 hours          Accomplished at 10:40 hours

Work on my nutrition     Still a work in process.  I feel like I have accomplished a lot this month, incorporating new foods into my diet, and working on adding more healthy fat.  I have been trying to keep my diet to 40% carbs/30% fats/30% protein.  It is still hard, but I feel that I am getting closer.

My April goals are:

Running:  90 miles

Swimming:  10 hours

Cycling:  11 hours (Some of these better be outside!  When I am able to get outside regularly, my goal will change to a mile based goal.)

Continue to dial in my every day and race day nutrition.

I 2nd you on this. Sooooooooo disappointing!

I just got a message from another triathlete that did the race with me.  I am stoked.  Here is what she said. 

"I've never experienced water quite that cold in a tri before, it took my breath away. You are right about that hill - it was pretty ridiculous. Few tri courses are quite as challenging as this one, with the cold and hills and especially this year with the soggy conditions. Every triathlete starts somewhere, and this was one bad place for you to start - great job!! "

I never knew that it was going to be a extra hard one to start with.  I thought I was avoiding that because it was so small.   I guess that makes me extra stoked that I still did it and finished. 

I'm also toying with the idea of making an attempt to get down to 165lbs during April. Not sure on this yet because I'm going to have to start picking up with bike and it will be hard to make gains on the bike while losing weight. Maybe, I don't know. What do you guys think?

I just read an article in this months Triathlete magazine that says you cannot lose weight and improve fitness at the same time.  It says you should try and lose weight prior to a training program.  If you tried to lose a lot of weight now, could it effect your marathon training?  I tell you the truth,  I have no stinkin idea how to lose more weight.  I train and eat a deficit of calories and never seem to lose weight.  Well I guess I do but it is at a super slow rate.   Anyway, going for a hike today.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

The whole part of the weight loss thing that I don't understand is how I can decrease my caloric intake and train like crazy, but do not lose any weight.  It does not make sense to me, but that was my story last summer during training.  With that said, I would love to lose about 10 pounds right now.  Perhaps it may not be the greatest thing while training for some reasons, but I feel like it would greatly benefit my body to be running and biking without the excess baggage.  As you know, carting over 200 pounds for 30 miles is not always the easiest thing

Sarah, Great job with the race.  I know you feel like a million bucks.

Michael,  We are in the same boat.  I train like crazy and never seem to lose weight.  I am thinking that I must be gaining in muscle what I am losing in fat   Or something like that.  I continue to look stronger and leaner but my scale won't go down. 

Hey group, I found a really cool thing here called NITE MOVES.  It is a weekly event for 18 weeks that includes a weekly 1K swim in the ocean as well as a 5k run.  I guess it is really relaxed and you can do either one or both.  Then afterwards there is a bbq with music and even a beer garden. I guess it brings in hundreds of people each week including many families.  I think I will do it even though it costs 250.00 for the session.  I will get 18 practices at swimming in the ocean with a group.  I guess they always start with a run start from the beach.  Doesn't that sound like perfect Triathlon practice?  If I get 18 practices at the swim before my next triathlon, then it shouldn't be much of a problem during the race.

Wow, that sounds really great! Not only will you get great practice in but you will get to meet lots of people in your area with the same interests as you  I bet people will have really great tips. It sounds fun too---combining social life with training always makes it SO much easier to get out there and work out. I know that the Pittsburgh Triathlon Club does weekly Friday night open water swims once the weather gets nicer. That is definitely something I will be taking advantage of since I've never swam in open water before and am definitely scared!

I've been plateaued for a while too, but I know that has more to do with my nutrition than anything else. When I stick to my plan I drop a few pounds, then I inevitably "cheat" and those 2 or 3 pounds come right back. I also get the "too skinny" comment from non athlete people and I just think the cultural norm is to be so overweight that most people don't understand what heathly looks like. At 5'4" and 161 I'm still considered "overweight" in BMI standards. Granted, I have quite a bit of muscle, but my body fat % is still somewhere around 18% and I'd like to be at 10%. The only time I've lost weight & increased in performance was during P90X. Even then I only dropped 3-5 lbs on the scale, but the change in my body fat % was huge and I obviously made gains in muscle & power. I think one of the keys is changing your routine every few months. After my Sprint I'm going back for another round of P90X!

That sounds awesome, Dale! I guess the hard part is not over-indulging on the bbq & beer.
As for the training but not dropping on the scale. Yes ,some of it is going to be the difference in weight between fat & muscle. I've definitely noticed that too. Another thing to experiment with is your calorie intake. I think many of us make the mistake of cutting our calories too low and that can have the reverse effect. Last week I was feeling really tired & I increased my daily calories by 100 and I'm feeling lots better, have more energy in workouts (therefore training harder) and I'm gradually starting to drop on the scale too. Veeerrrrryyyyy slowly though. LOL

But it's probably mostly the muscle vs fat...

sbux87 - 2011-04-03 11:56 AM I just had my first 'A' race of the season...a 10 mile race in DC! It was so fun....15,000 people were running and there was actually a lottery to get in. The energy was great and the course was pretty easy. There were only a few slight inclines and I powered through and passed people on them thanks to all the hill training coming from Pittsburgh. It was great running weather...about 40* at the start and sunny. It warmed up quick and I had to stop and take off my outer layer which cost me some time. I did what I always do and walked through water stations taking both gaterade and water and having a gel at mile 5. I felt good the majority of the race but like ALWAYS during miles 7-8 I start thinking 'why in the world did I decide to do this?!?' But then I always remember as soon as I cross the finish line! I finished in 1:35 and ran 10.1 mi w an 9:25 average. I am very happy with this! Boy do I hurt though, I stretched and foam rolled but my quads are killing me! Now we have a 4.5 hr drive home and I plan on napping for most of it---don't worry, im not driving

Way to go!!! My first run race is coming up on April 17th. Just a 5K, but I'm looking forward to it. My miles will *not* be 9:25's.