chichitao's group - FULL! (Page 4)

BEAUTIFUL DAY in Milwaukee!!!  After my run, Ryan (Menglo...my hubby!) raced in his first half-mary and came in 52nd out of A LOT!  46th for the men, 7th in AG!  Top 10% easily (I think there were like 700 people), time of 1:29:52!  He did so well! 

I brought the dog with and surprised him with a t-shirt I made for her that said "Go, Daddy, Go!"  She had fun because it was right on the lakeshore, so during the time Ryan was racing, she got to run sprints up and down the beach and jump in the water.  I just love that dog...

Now, half of my day is gone, so I need to study!  Have a good day everybody!

Congrats to Ryan!  That is great.  And a very impressive time, to someone who, right now, can't really stand the thought of running a half marathon!  :P

So I just got back from doing sort of an inverted Brick.  I went for a run with my roommate and then for a bike on my own.  Roommate started to get sore around 3.5kms, so I had to cut it short (he didn't bring his keys, I didn't bring my phone...  I know, I should always bring my phone), so I only got about 3.85kms of actually running in.  I may go for another run tonight, though, just to get out and get at least 5 kms in today.  We'll see.  

The bike ride was alright.  FAR too windy to really be out, but I did it anyways, and felt fine doing it.  Went about 13kms, but for half of it, it was downtown riding, so stop lights all over the place.  I am getting much better with the clips, although sometimes I still have trouble finding the top side of the clip.  I honestly didn't realize just how hilly Montreal was.  Did what seemed like a whole lot of uphill, and not much downhill.

All in all, a good day.  I think I'm going to get up for an early (ish) run tomorrow, followed by hopefully a good 30km bike ride.  

What does everyone have planned for this lovely Saturday night? 

My race in April has a 600Y swim in a lake (very cold lake).  I gues the average temp is 56 degrees.  My swimming has definitely improved since I started in November but I am just really nervous about the swim.  Not sure if i can get an OWS practice in before the race due to the temperatures so looks like my first real OWS will be this race. 

That ocean swimming sounds hard difficult.  The currents have to really make things difficult huh? 

No big plans just relaxing after a long night last night.  Got home around 3:30am and wife hands the kids to me a 7am as she is heading out to work.  Still got my run in this morning on the treadmill though and actually elt pretty good.  Got a long ride tomorrow with the guys from my masters swim group.  First time riding with these guys so hopefully I can keep (catch) up.

I agree with the clip pedals.  Does take a while to get used to.  I have had two close calls but was able to keep my composure and some how get one foot out without a crash or tip over.  If you can handle riding in a city with all those stops and I assume traffic then I would think that would make you comfortable with releasing your feet very quickly.

I am heading out for dinner with an old friend.  We lost touch a few years ago, got back in touch, and then I had a terrible bout with PPD (post partum depression) and pushed a lot of people away, including her.  She contacted me about a month ago because her and her husband needed some tax help.  I am looking forward to it.  I have a 7 mile run tomorrow morning.

Everyone is doing really well, this could be an easy group!  Congrats to all who got out and did something this weekend...and if you haven't you still have redemption time on Sun. 

As for me...wife and i volunteered and helped pick up trash at a local park this morning.  Did that for about 2hrs then treated ourselves to the best local pizza in town!  Holy cow is it good and we rolled ourselves out of the place.  Wife went with some family to go see Elton John tonight so I am home alone.  Went and got a good run in (once I was no longer stuffed from lunch!).  Working Sun morning for a few hours and then plan on meeting a buddy for a bike ride. 

Have a great Sunday!

Well, EVERYONE that I talked to when I was buying my bike told me horror stories of tipping over at red lights....  So I have gotten to be pretty conscientious of unclipping.  There have been a few times where I had to do it quickly at the last minute, and I haven't had a hard time with it...  yet.  We'll see.  Ideally, I'm going to avoid doing many downtown rides.  It just got to be annoying.  And trying to clip in on an uphill...  THAT is not fun! 

The swim is usually the most nerve wracking part, or at least it is for those of us that don't come from a swimming background.

My first race, I too never got in an OWS.  I was not nervous at all...until, I stuck my head down in the water and could not see 6in in front of me.  Freaked me the heck out.  Took me a while and several OWS to get over that.  If you can't get one in, I recommend swimming in your pool with your eyes closed.  Practice with it, and practice lifting your head up out of the water to see where you are going.  If you have a swimming buddy, get in the same lane and practice running into each other.  Not head on of course , but swim side by side and kinda have him/her get in your way a little bit.  The first time you get kicked or hit in the water can also rattle your nerves. 

Tip of the day:  In races, always wear your swim cap over your goggle straps.  This way if you get hit or kicked in the face and your goggles come off, they will at least stay on your head instead of sinking to the bottom of the lake!

Happened to me once so far.  The red light was on an uphill and I came to a stop quicker than I was expecting.  Nothing is quite as embarrassing as coming to a stop and slowly tipping over and there is nothing that you can do about it.  Feels like you are falling in slow motion!  

You bike long enough, you will have a story too!

Just because I said I'm conscious of it, doesn't mean I haven't had it happen.  

It happened to me when I was on my first bike ride, with my Ironman friend.  We pulled up to a red light, and I unclipped early, like I always do.  I always unclip my right foot, because I'm more comfortable like that.  No problem.  Unclip right foot.  Stop.  Tip over to the left.

MY tip of the day:  Make yourself a tepee!   

Confession:  I've never ridden a road bike.  And I'm bringing my first one home Monday.  And the whole clipping in thing scares the crap out of me!!!  I tipped Ryan's trainer one day because I was clipped in to his bike.  Yes, the trainer tipped because I was struggling so hard to unclip.  He makes fun of me a whole lot for that!

I've only ridden my mountain bike, which I don't have to clip in to, and I've really only used it as a commuter because it's not fitted to me very well.  But it was free!   

The first time I rode it as a commuter though, I was riding to school with my backpack on, and I stopped at a light going uphill, and I couldn't get going when it turned green!  I didn't fall over, but I did have to get off my bike completely and try again.  With the people in the cars laughing at me...  I'm very nervous riding through the city anyway, so riding a road bike (even just to get to the nearest trail) is scary!

Can I just ride a tricycle?  Ha.

So anyway, props to all of you, because you're definitely ahead of me!  I know falling is inevitable, but I'm at least aiming to fall where there are no other people.

Also, good tips for the OWS!  The swimming seems easy to me until I realize that I'm going to have so many people kicking and hitting me!  It's like a contact sport!

Lastly, how much are tri's in your areas?  I'm trying to figure out what's expensive and what's not, because I'm DETERMINED to sign up for my first tri by tomorrow night!

  Are you making up the ride you missed last weekend?  How is your leg?

  It depends on the race around here.  The higher profile tris are much more expensive.  The SheRox Tri in Philly runs $105 I think and it is just the sprint.  I believe the Philly tri and the Philly Womens Tri are both around the same.  There are a bunch of tris sponsored by a pretty big store around here and they usually run about $50.  Some are also cheaper the earlier you sign up.  Just do it!!!

Here is a good training video that someone posted here a few weeks back.  Seems a little aggressive but think it might work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM

That was the plan...and guess what, been raining all morning, just like last week.  Don't think meeting this buddy is meant to be!  Leg is great.  Don't notice it or feel it at all.  Still some scabbing but almost gone.  I am going to look on the bright side and say that it gave me a few days rest and helped me feel refreshed. 

Erica - my sprints range from $60 to $110.  Decided to drop the high one off my schedule this year.  They kept raising the price and it is a huge event and I just don't like dealing with the crowds.  I much prefer the smaller races.

Erica- Sometimes the hardest part is just actually doing it and making the commitment. I find once I sign up and pay I feel much better and I can move onto the next phase of worrying about training-lol. Just do it and you will feel much better.Tim- So you got bit by a dog? What exactly happened. I always worry about that and is the reason I don't wear headphones when running.

Wow!  Sounds like everyone got a bit of something in this weekend.  I did not but I did a whole heck of a lot of yard work the last two days and I am so sore from it I can't even believe it. 
My training starts tomorrow so I will def. need some of you to be checking in with to hold me accountable. 

Hope everyone is having a beautiful Sunday and has great weather like we do here in St. Louis!

Knowing people were checking my logs was one of my biggest motivators the past few months!

Looks like everyone has been really busy!  I managed to drag my butt out the door yesterday morning to do my bootcamp class and then came home and slept, laid around and moaned some, then slept some more...being sick sucks. 

Although still no where near 100%, I managed to again drag my butt out the door to do my 20 km this morning, actually didn't do to badly, though the last couple of km's the sudafed I took before was wearing off and the vice was tightening around my head again. 

I'm not very good at being sick, so I apologize that I haven't been checking in much, I figure a couple more days and I should be back to normal and I'll be checking in on everyones logs and posting more.

I agree!  Having people keeping me honest is the motivator I need. 

Tim (T2?) - It's not about the commitment, I'm all about racing!  We're just in a tough financial place right now, so if I'm going to register for a race, I have to be absolutely sure that our bills are taken care of first.  There are some months where we're wayyy too far in the red.  I think we're definitely going to do one in Springfield, IL in July, since my parents live there and we won't have to pay for a hotel, and could possibly get my dad to give me gas money. (It's nice still being a daddy's girl...) 

I did find out today that we can get a FREE bike race up in Michigan, because Ryan's uncle is the main sponsor of the race.  I'm deciding between the 35 miler and the 55 miler!  I LOVE the biking part, so I'm pumped.

Didn't get to run today, but so far, I've gotten like 80 pages of Constitutional Law read and outlined!  Now THAT is a productive day!!!  I'm hoping at least to get my Civil Procedure work done, and then I'll take the dog for either a short run or a long(ish) walk.

Tim (T1) - I'm sorry about the dog bite!  I feel bad because I read your logs about having dogs leashed, and well, we hate putting Nadie on a leash.  But I promise, she doesn't have the ability to hurt a soul.  She won't even attack a wild animal!  (We once watched her chase down a goose, have it trapped, and then just run away like "okay, you're it now!!!")  I DO agree that if a dog has any aggressive tendencies, they should be leashed.  I just think if a dog is effectively voice-command trained, it can be the same as having them on a leash, but more beneficial for the dog.  Regardless, I'm glad you're feeling better!

I hope everybody is having a great day!

Anything special/great happen over the weekend?

I have a new biking buddy!  Joe, my 3 year old, finally showed some interest and let us teach him how to ride his bike!  Of course he has training wheels but he wanted it last summer but refused to actually try to pedal!  Tonight he pulled it out of the garage and just started riding it!!  So now I am checking out the sales for bikes.  My inlaws have a house at the shore and we try to spend every other weekend there plus at least one week during the summer.  I am not lugging his bike back and forth every trip!  It is bad enough I have to lug my BOB every time!

Edited by Mrschach 2010-04-11 7:02 PM

That is very exciting!  I know Joe is still too young, but in our area at a lot of the Tri events they have mini tri's for kids, I was talking with someone today who's 9 yr old is doing his first tri next weekend.  Do you have those kind of events in your area too?

The exciting thing about my weekend was doing measurements for a couple of my bootcamp people yesterday morning and watching them walk away very happy because of the inches lost. 

I have not really looked to see if there are any in our area because the boys are too young for them still.  I hope it is something Joe and/or Logan will eventually want to do with me.

That is great that your bootcamp people are seeing results and awesome that you are helping them!

I did it!  I found time to run!  The butthead (my affectionate nickname for my dog, Nadie) wanted to sniff a lot tonight for some reason, which slowed me down some, and then I came out a little to overambitious, so it was only an "okay" workout.  I'm not used to running this late though, so I was a little scared.  I'm such a rural girl, I get really paranoid living in the city for a change!  That's why the butthead goes with me everywhere!

Also, the weather here is phenomenal!!!  Shorts and a t-shirt for the run, first time this season!


Sandra - Any bootcamp training tips to share?  I love that type of intense training!  I have a couple inches to lose for the summer!  Congrats on the results!!!

Hope all are well!

Wow I've missed a lot! Seems like everyone is doing some really good training!

I just switched broadband provider and my internet at home has been down pretty much ever since, I'm waiting for the new hub to be delivered and hopefully I'll be back up and running! For now I'll have to keep checking in at work...

We had some beautiful weather on the weekend, I ran 10K on friday after work in the sunshine.  It was all going well until I took a massive tumble! luckily I was really close to home, I think I just didnt see a bump in the road.  I landed with all my weight on my right arm so I spent most of saturday feeling pretty sorry for myself!
Managed quite a good cycle on sunday though, did 24 miles in 1hr 50mins, which is the quickest time I've done that route There are 2 10% hills in it so I think the new road bike has helped A LOT!

Hope everyones working week is starting well....Planning on doing a long swim after work tonight!