Mad Manatee Mentors 2013: CLOSED (exc/ Pop Tart bribes) (Page 396)

Originally posted by MadMathemagician

There is no off season for me.  It is the combination of working out ~15 per week and eating properly that keep me free from having to take pharmaceuticals in general and psychotropics in particular.   I no longer have to take meds for hypertension.  Also the PTSD demons are keep at bay.   I'm 55 years old.  This life style lets me live my life as if I were a younger man.     It's very satisfying that I can once again do the things that I once did in my teens, twenties, and thirties.   It might take a bit longer to recovery from certain excesses but that is inconsequential.    I see maintaining this life style for the duration, whatever that may be.  

It also let's me keep up with my younger girl friend, without a need for little blue pills.     Bless all young women who have daddy issues. 

Originally posted by JJ- Right now I am still with my coach who I had some difficulties with leading up to Galveston but has since put me in the best shape of my life so well see how Austin goes.

Originally posted by Asalzwed

and I would maybe like a little more of that competitive spirit. Wanna share? 

Originally posted by amd723 Don't leave us hanging, what are you going to do?!Btw, ran the causeway this am per your suggestion. I hate you

Originally posted by brigby1

Only coach I've had is with masters, and not sure that fully counts as much since it's it's not really specific to me or an event. I'll have some rather vague concepts of how I want to work things going out a number of months. Basically just deciding which discipline is primary, secondary, and third over some periods of time. It's not really a hard schedule. Very open to changing or mixing it up if something comes up and can't train one as well as I'd like, or if things are getting stale. When I get close to or into a the more focused part I'll look more into how I'll progress through it. Mostly working the schedule and getting a rough idea of the size and intensity of the work to do, how I'm going to build those up. And adjusting as needed as I progress to it. I don't have specific workouts picked out more than a week ahead very often, just the vague notion of threshold work, big ride, hilly riding, for examples. Somewhat often I won't actually actually be certain of the workout specifics until I'm about to do it.

In the logs, I think around June you might be able to pick up some of this building up on the bike workouts. And then again in August as I moved things around to put in some more solid work into the bigger rides. Things that would be useful for pushing an HIM and specifically for one with a number of good sized hills.

Originally posted by cdban66

OK Elesa, you got me to thinking about goals and such last night. A little recap is in order, as it puts things into perspective for me.

In the spring, there was much discussion in the Utopian thread about biking, intervals, improvements, etc. It made me analyze my bike training. I am not a plan following, metric measuring kind of guy, but I knew the bike was an area I could make improvements through disciplined training. Combine that with the fact that I like to ride and it was a natural fit. I added in intervals, rode more in group, especially a better group, got a Strava account (don't laugh, it helped) and generally focused on the bike. It worked, as I am feeling stronger on the bike. Last winter, I focused on running more, in an effort to improve my run speed. The weather works in my favor for this and it starts my day with a smile. My plan was simple, run more and you'll run faster. For the most part, it worked. I knocked 13 minutes off my HM PR, and felt all around better when running.

So, what shall I do this winter becomes the question. What type of focus? The easy and obvious answer is swim. Mine resembles drowning avoidance while moving forward. The more obvious answer lies in the joy I find. I truly enjoy the bike and the run. Having typed this out and reread it a couple of times, I think I know what I need to do.

Thanks a bunch for giving me the opportunity to work this all out in my head.

Originally posted by QueenZipp

Gratitude challenge!!!!
Inspired by Salty's no nonsense attitude with me that really helped me look for the "bright spots" in my runs--even though I am not that thrilled with most of them.....Also by Yanti's occasional "things that went well today" post and the most amazing book ("One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for anyone interested)

Here's the challenge:  Find ONE thing every day that you are thankful for.  Post it in your log. That is it!

Originally posted by QueenZipp

Gratitude challenge!!!!
Inspired by Salty's no nonsense attitude with me that really helped me look for the "bright spots" in my runs--even though I am not that thrilled with most of them.....Also by Yanti's occasional "things that went well today" post and the most amazing book ("One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for anyone interested)

Here's the challenge:  Find ONE thing every day that you are thankful for.  Post it in your log. That is it!

Originally posted by switch Very interesting.  That's pretty much exactly how I roll, though I have a lot less knowledge about how to do it that I'm drawing from.

Ben, how many years have you been doing tris?  Have you considered getting a coach, or is part of the enjoyment for you doing it on your own?

Originally posted by cdban66

I am going to figure it out.

And yet a part of you thanks me at the same time. You're welcome.

Is tonight's dinner on the outside law folks? Lot's of nice places in downtown Sarasota. However, the full on Florida experience is found on Siesta Key, try SKOB, The Daiquiri Deck or the Old Salty Dog. Then stroll down Ocean Blvd to the public beach a few blocks away to the beach that is consistently voted Best in America by Dr Beach. With a name like Dr Beach, he can't be wrong

Originally posted by switch

The "best shape of [your] life" sounds very promising.  I hope you rock Austin.  I would love to do that race someday!

Originally posted by QueenZipp

Gratitude challenge!!!!
Inspired by Salty's no nonsense attitude with me that really helped me look for the "bright spots" in my runs--even though I am not that thrilled with most of them.....Also by Yanti's occasional "things that went well today" post and the most amazing book ("One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for anyone interested)

Here's the challenge:  Find ONE thing every day that you are thankful for.  Post it in your log. That is it!

Originally posted by amd723 Yes, the outside attorneys take us and pay- always appreciated. I assume they'll want to stay around here, so be'll probably end up somewhere on st Armand's circle. I'm betting the Columbia . If they ask for suggestions for places away from this area, I will happily bring up some of yours! Thanks

Originally posted by switch I don't know how you can be so fast and not have it?!  See, that's how ingrained it is for me, I can't even comprehend how you can't have it.  I'd gladly share it, if I thought that would work...

So much of running at long distance is running for a time, rather than racing to win (at least at the levels that I've done it), that I can see how it you don't really need it.  But the level that you are at, and the level you are most certainly going to, IDK.  I'll be surprised if it doesn't rear it's head

Originally posted by rrrunner

I've given a lot of thought to the "competative spirit". I wonder if it isn't a product of our environment. Let's take a child, we'll call her Little E. She shows promise at sports so she is encouraged to continue and doing well gives her the drive to win, which helps her work toward the win and so on. Now Little T on the other hand did not show promise at sports. Teachers and parents encouraged her in her academics and probably told her sports aren't her thing (this is not child abuse, see gen y thread). So Little T does not try to improve at sports, does not win and either never had or never developed the will to win.

It's a chicken and egg sort of thing I think.

Just a theory.

My .02

Originally posted by cdban66

Is Little T more competitive with academics? Is E less in tune to academics? There may be a balance to this.

I am less competitive in sports and academics, both came easy and I didn't have to push hard so I became lazy (my story, I'm sticking to it). However, TW and I play Scrabble and it is cut throat. I believe this stems from the even playing field we are on.

I find the whole topic can be huge, far ranging and very individualized. I like your theory though.

Originally posted by rrrunner

Little T (theoretically, of course) is very competative academically. Like you, it came easy but she still worked to make sure every grade was as close to 100% as she could muster.

Little E... well, I get the (theoretical, of course) impression she is good at everything  

Originally posted by cdban66

At this point is Little T theoretically pushing herself to be more well rounded, especially physically?

Originally posted by QueenZipp

Gratitude challenge!!!!
Inspired by Salty's no nonsense attitude with me that really helped me look for the "bright spots" in my runs--even though I am not that thrilled with most of them.....Also by Yanti's occasional "things that went well today" post and the most amazing book ("One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for anyone interested)

Here's the challenge:  Find ONE thing every day that you are thankful for.  Post it in your log. That is it!

Originally posted by QueenZipp

Gratitude challenge!!!!
Inspired by Salty's no nonsense attitude with me that really helped me look for the "bright spots" in my runs--even though I am not that thrilled with most of them.....Also by Yanti's occasional "things that went well today" post and the most amazing book ("One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for anyone interested)

Here's the challenge:  Find ONE thing every day that you are thankful for.  Post it in your log. That is it!

Originally posted by cdban66

Little T may want to use tools like Strava to fuel her competition. Visualization is another option.

I have found that group rides and some of the guys I ride with have pushed my bike, big time this year. The group is somewhat Strava-centric, so the push increases when you see the results out there for anyone to see.

Originally posted by rrrunner

It's true that Strava does push me, I mean HER.

I have a "plan" to get the QOM on segments that I'm so close on. Of course, when I don't get it I assume they were with a group    I wish Velo Viewer didn't tell me about the segments I slip down on though.

Originally posted by rrrunner

Ha. Well... Little T isn't so little anymore. But the question lies in whether the competative drive corrolates to the ability to push. As my times improve and I get closer to the podium I would like to dip in to that competative spirit to train harder... but it's just not there! I am improving, but I often question my ability to let myself ease off during training.

Originally posted by amd723 Since I am not interested in listening to cases interpreting the contraband forfeiture act, I will jump in here with my gut reaction to this topic. I don't know it is as simple as saying a person was or was not encouraged in a particular area that determines if they have that competitive spirit; I think it may be more a function of a person's basic personality and what is important to him or her. So while a person, because of circumstances, may not have been exposed to sports, when exposed at a later date she will still have the opportunity to exercise her competitive nature if, in fact, that is part of her personality.