Experior's Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 4)

Manuel, you're not alone in the not owning a bike (yet) category!!

Not too late!  I mentioned that one more might join us -- that was you!

Post your story and you are in!

Manuel,

Yes, for many of us, early morning is where it's at.  There are a lot of advantages to early morning training for many (though for those with unusual schedules, the following does not apply).  You can do it when you are fresh.  You can do it in a way that does not blatantly interfere with family activities.  And very often it gives us energy for the rest of the day.  Right now I train midday because that's what works for me, but as soon as my regular work schedule kicks in, I'll be doing a lot of early morning training.

On boredom.  I find that some days I take comfort in doing my 'usual' run.  (Same course, same pace.)  But I agree that many times I like to change things up.  Change is good!  Especially when you are beginning, it is very good to let your body dictate how the change goes.  When your legs (or arms) are saying "let's go hard!" then go hard.  When they are saying "take it easy!" then take it easy.  Learning how to listen to your body is an important skill, and it will increase the enjoyment that you derive from your training.  It is much more fun to go hard when your body is prepared to go hard, and much more fun to keep it easy when you body wants to go easy.

So perhaps next we should talk about buying a bike.  It is easy to get sucked into the "I need the most awesome tri bike that money can buy" vortex.  The truth is that the quality of your bike has only a little bit to do with how fast you ride.  At a certain point, tweaking the bike becomes important, but basic cycling fitness is FAR more important.  A pro cyclist on a single speed BMX bike would still beat all of us hands down no matter what bike we were riding.

I think that the single most important thing is that you enjoy riding the bike that you have.  A close second (and very closely related to enjoyment) is fit.  If you are not fit well on the bike, you will not enjoy riding it.

So, those who are looking to buy a bike (or alter an existing one), what questions do you have about bikes?  For those who are happy about what you have, what suggestions do you have?  What makes you happy with your current bike?  I'll post my own thoughts on this at some point, but would love to hear from others first.

One more thing I wanted to say in response to Rusty's post:

The Garmin 305 is a great device.  I used one for a while.  Eventually, it died, but only after a lot of use.  It is a great tool to help you learn what different paces and efforts feel like. and it can be used both on the run and on the bike.  As Dave mentioned, it does not work (on your wrist) in the water.  This is because GPS signals do not travel reliably through water.  The original 305 was also not waterproof (but perhaps that has changed).  It is somewhat more reliable in a Ziploc bag under your swim cap, but even there it has been known to give out.

As for what you 'need', the answer is...nothing!  But most of us (myself included) like to have some way of measuring how we are doing.  For the run and the swim, a simply (waterproof) watch is enough.  You can determine the distance of your runs via maymyrun.com or www.gmap-pedometer.com or any of several other sites.  You can do the same on the bike, but most cyclists like to have at least a basic cycling computer on their bike.  (It is helpful for getting home on time!)  You can get a basic computer for around $30.  If you want to train by heartrate (a topic we should discuss at some point if people are interested) then you need at least a basic heartrate monitor.

Hi T. I'm in Hull which has been snow and ice bound for the past 3-4 weeks, needed skis as opposed to trainers! I'll book something early in the new year, 3 of us are taking part, could be the campsite for us. Looking forward to it, despite the 52 hill in 56 miles and the sharp intake of breath people take when I mention I'm doing it!

NAME: Elcaminobill (Billy)

STORY: I am 49 years old.  I am fortunate to work for a company that takes wellness seriously.  In February 2009, they built us a gym, old converted office trailer), and hired us a personnal trainer.  Trainer helped with goals, training programs and nutrition.  I started at 230 pounds and by December of 2009 was down to 195, down to 185 for my Ironman.  Friend asked me to run a 5K for fun.  I agreed, and that was the beginning of the end.  I had never felt so alive in my life.  I think I ran it in 23 minutes +.  Before the end of 2009, he had talked me into running a half marathon (2:03), marathon (3:57) and a sprint triathlon.  Well, if I can do a sprint, why can't I do a Full IRONMAN!.  In January of 2010, signed up for IMLou.  Spending the money keeps me motivated!

FAMILY STATUS:Married for 28 years.  Two kids (25 and 21).  No grandkids yet. No frogs!

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently I am struggling to keep my training going.  Started building a new home in November and it is taking a lot of time.  I do manage to run a couple of times a weeks, swim couple times a week and only ride when the weather is perfect.  I plan to use the group to keep me motivated.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: I did 2 half marathons, 1 full marathon, several 5 ks and 10 ks, 1 sprint (Mighty Magnolia in Hattiesburg MS), New Orleans 70.3 as a relay, bike leg, Gulf Coast Tri as a relay member on 2 teams, swim on one, run on one, Rock n Roll Man in Macon Georgia, 70.3, finish time of 6:23.  And last but not least, IMLou in August.  Finish time, 14:53.

2011 RACES:  The only race that I have scheduled as of now is the Rock n Roll marathon in New Orleans on Feb. 13.  Its going to be ugly.  Would like to finish the house and schedule a HIM in the fall to give me a good base for next years (2012) rematch with the full distance. My 2011 season is still very much in the air.

WEIGHTLOSS:  I lost 45 pounds or so when I started.  I'm currently have picked up 15 pounds  from lack of training and am not happy at all.




Edited by elcaminobill 2010-12-31 9:43 AM

Good morning all (afternoon to the Brits).  What's on tap for today?  I'm biking (alas, indoors) in a few minutes, and running later.  I'm itching to get back into the pool, but it doesn't open until next week.

I promised earlier I'd show you what my schedule looks like.  I use Google calendar to keep my schedule, and like it a lot.  I put in all of my regularly scheduled work and home duties, then see where I can fill in regularly scheduled training.  The 'white space' is generally work time that is not a meeting or class or some other scheduled time.  Some things overlap because my home duties (child care) can sometimes overlap with other things.  (I work at home while watching the kids, and sometimes I train during that time as well.)  The result, for now (I haven't yet added some of my regular meetings), looks like this:



I don't put anything on the weekends, but that's when I do my long ride (Saturday) and long run (Sunday), and in season, sometimes, OWS.

Welcome (again) Billy!

IMKY was also my first, and I had a blast.  It's great that your company makes it easy to work out.  For so many, work is an obstacle rather than an aid to training.

New and improved group list:

Winter training group
Screen name	Real Name
Experior	Michael
njc65	Neil
Jeff1975	Jeff
erfarrell	Rusty
davisjanis58	Jan
mdetuya	Manuel
melbo55	Melanie
billeckert	Bill
kathy79	Kathy
sumayahrose	Laura
HannahD	Hannah
DaveBIM2010	Dave
Tiesim	T
elcaminobill	Billy

Off for a swim at the gym then to bed since I work tonight. I will try to figure out work out logs tomorrow. Happy New Year everyone!
Jan

Wow Billy, thats a serious 2010 !! well done !

Enjoy your swim, Jan and biking, Michael, even thought it is inside.

Probably no workout tonight for me, mainly because I lost the battle with my impending head cold/sinus infection/whatever it is!  Leaves me feeling weary and washed out.  Maybe tomorrow I will hop on the trainer or take the dogs running by the river if I am improved.

Everyone have a fun and safe New Year's Eve celebration, see you in 2011!

In answer to Michaels question of what stops us from going out, here are my pitfalls,

1, i am a director of a company so working hours are flexible for me, the priority is that the work is done, i am also a night owl and as a result am rubbish in the mornings, as a result my working day results in starting late most days, no lunchtime, working past office hours and skipping planned training sessions all because i am behind at work due to getting into the office late.  I think this has got worse over time however i expect the new baby will put an end to not getting up early for sure ! in actual fact i am looking forward to getting up, doing baby stuff, then when Mrs T is up, i can go out for an hour run before going to the office, (in theory that is !) Plus Mrs T will be home all the time and not let me lay in.

2, diet, because i am in a rush in the mornings my diet is non existant, as a result i eat badly during the day and the only thing i want to do in an evening is eat, not train. I am aiming to focus time on preparing my meals the night before when its back to work next week. this coincided with getting my act together in the mornings will mean i can train after work before eating.

3, rugby, i have played amateur rugby for 15 years and have been pretty integril to the club, having been captain, coach, treasurer, last season i was coach and treasurer. I decided in 2009-10 was my last full season playing because when i play it takes 3/4 days to recover fully and that has got worse the older i get.  I quit all responsibility at the club in april, have played 4 games since september and expect to play no more than twice a month from now till april. if i get injured or it takes a negative effect regaridng triathlon training, i will back off the rugby.

So my plan for jan & feb of 2011 is pretty simple, get into a healthy sleep/bedtime routine, prepare meals the night before and trainingwise it is to bike 50 miles a week, run 15 miles per week and swim atleast twice pw. 

Looking at my totals for 2010 i know i have not trained hard and have relied on a basic level of fitness to get through events, i know i can do so much better if only i was a more "time" organised person, what with my upping the distance to 70.3 in 2011 i am setting personal training targets of 2400 on the bike & 700 running for 2011 and i look forward to logging it all here on BT.

Just a personal statement, i bought a turbo in the summer when i bought a tri bike and rode it in the garage maybe for 3 hours in total finding it so boring. However a month ago i bought it into the house infront of the TV and now I love the turbo, cycling while watching tv, its as if i am not actually working out !  (Its not there permanently, otherwise i would be in trouble!)

T

Melanie -- yes it is better to get well than to train while sick.  I'll sometimes do a little something if it only in my head, but definitely if you have a fever or the sickness is in your chest or below, lay off and get better first.

T, yes, the baby will change things.  At least, it did for me.  (I was not active athletically when our kids were born, but I did have a lot going on.)  Like you, I was very much a night person, frequently staying up until 3 or 4 am.  Having children completely changed that, and I have to say that I am much happier getting up early than staying up late.  I have found that it is especially helpful with my diet.  I used to snack more or less non-stop from 11pm until I went to bed.  That was several hours of eating pretty much for no reason.  I don't tend to do that during the day because I'm busy.  So going to bed early has really been a major factor in improving my diet.  Anyway, best of luck with the new baby.  All the cliche's are true:  they are a lot of work, but worth every minute.

That said, I'll be up until midnight tonight!  We're considering letting our kids stay up with us (or try to!), as they'll have all weekend to sleep it off before school resumes on Monday.

I was in Michael's Mentor Group Last Year.  I probabaly don't have to tell you (as you can see by the reply's) he is a wealth of information and a wonderful motivator.  Good luck this year Michael and to the rest of you as well.  Here's to a Productive and Strong 2011 Tri Season.  WOOP, WOOP !!!!



Edited by TriGuyBri 2010-12-31 3:19 PM

Hi everyone, Happy New Year!

Wow, one day away from the computer and there is so much great activity and information to read. Thank you all for taking the time to post, i'm benefiting from all of it.

I had a little milestone today that I would like to share with you all.  I have not been a runner, ever.  Two weeks ago I started with a running club to help train and motivated me to run.  The most i've been able to run with out stopping and with out my heart rate shooting up really high was a mile.  Today, when i got to my mile mark I decided to keep going until the next street, and when I got to the next street I kept going, and kept going until I jogged 3 straight miles.  I felt like I could have kept going too, had it not been for my ankle getting really sore (it's not use to weight bearing exercise).  It was really slow, but it was jogging!  I was so thrilled, it is a great motivation to keep going.  Next week i start a swim class and i'm really excited to formally learn how to swim.

I do have a question about schedules/routines.  As a real newbie, my plan is to run 3 times a week, swim twice and ride twice (indoors now until the roads aren't so icy).  does this sound like a good plan?  any advice on the plan?  My thought was to keep it simple, basic and consistent until my level of fitness improved and then vary the distance, intensity, etc.  What do you all think?

Best of luck to you too Brian!  I'll definitely check in on you from time to time!  We've been talking a bit about consistency here -- something you're very good at, and why you should have a great 2011.

Laura that is fantastic!  Now take it easy on that ankle!  That's a great breakthrough for you, but do remember to increase your training volume slowly. 

I remember running a mile on my birthday in 2008.  It was extremely painful, and I was moving extremely slowly.  Here's the thing.  If you keep it up, week after week, month after month, it gets better and better.  Consistency.  Sorry to sound like a broken record.   I ran 7 miles at around a 7:00/mile pace this afternoon and it felt super-easy.  3 years ago that would have been unimaginable to me.

As for your plan, yes, that is an excellent place to begin.  If you're going to pick one to do three times per week, running is it.  Frequency is more important on the run than in the other two, because frequency helps you build resistance to injury, and the run where it is easiest to get injured.  Just try to space your workouts evenly throughout the week as much as possible, and keep the effort at a level where getting all of your workouts in throughout the week is not a problem.

So I hope you all will forgive me a little reflection on the past year.  All of this talk (in the main forum) of comparing 2010 with 2009, what we accomplished in 2010, and so on, and the talk here of getting started, consistency, etc., got me reflecting on 2010 and how far I've come since I started in endurance sport, and I thought I'd share some numbers and thoughts with you all.  Frankly, when I look at this, I can hardly believe where I've got to in two and a half years.  I feel like a completely different person -- a happier person!  So here goes.  The tri-highlights of 2010 for me.  Feel free to share your own!  (It isn't a contest -- we're just sharing what we're proud of!)

Training:  I trained 673 hours, 10 minutes, 24 seconds.  That's a little more than the entire month of February!  When I put it in those terms, it is a little hard to get my head around it.  I just love to get out there so much, that if I had more time, I'd train even more.  But I do have a job (necessary, alas) and a family (one of the few things I love more than triathlon).

Racing:  I won my age group in 4 tri races this year and one running race, where I was also second place masters overall.  I qualified for ITU Worlds, which was my main goal for the year.  Perhaps my proudest achievement, though, was finding a way to get to the finish line of the Beach to Battleship race despite some big obstacles.

Where I need to work:  My swim is still woeful.  I just have not taken to swimming the same way I have to running.  I need to spend more (and perhaps more important, better) time in the pool.  On the bike, I should be better at climbing hills than I am.  I am relatively light, but for some reason, guys much bigger than me can climb better.  I need to work on that.  Finally, I have still not really nailed my pacing and strategy in long-course racing.  Pacing in sprints is easy for me.  I just go until I think I'm going to puke.  Long-course (HIM and IM) is a different story, and while I know, theoretically, what to do, it is hard to get it just right in practice.  I'm hoping that more experience will help there.


Happy New Year's Eve Everyone!  I'll see you on the other side...

Well done Laura! Fantastic achievement! Great way to end one year and begin anew year, well done! We all have experienced that kind of breakthrough and share your happieness!

Training : just over 198hrs trained. That included 1200 miles biked and 400 run in 2010. Now considering I had never ridden a road bike before I am very happy with the 1200 and this included a 92 mile ride in February when I had only ridden a road bike 7 times in total. Running, I have never run as much as I have this year or enjoyed it so much. I could not swim 2 lengths of my local pool in jan 2010, in June 2010 I swam pier to pier for charity, 1.4 miles, my biggest achievement of 2010 for sure. Racing: I ran my 1st ever half marathon in 2010. Completed 4 triathlon races, funnily enough my a race for the year was the least enjoyable however this was the longest race also (should I be concerned?) I believe it was down to poor preparation though which is a valuable lesson to have learned. My most enjoyable was a sea based sprint. A fantastic day had due to beautiful weather and some family who i dont see often came to supporting me. Where I need to work; consistency in training! Surprisingly! Just train more regularly, I am sporadic with a good month here and there but with gaps. If I can nail down my time management that's half my battle won! Happy new year everyone!!T

Wow Laura, that’s brilliant well done! It’s 7 years ago today that I once again set the usual new year’s resolution of getting fit and went for a run. I managed 5 minutes before I could barely breathe! At that point if somebody had told me that 7 years later I would have raced in countless 10ks,  a number of half marathons, one full marathon,  many sprint and 2 Olympics triathlons I would have thought they were mad! Michael’s advice is great, I also found a 10k race to run in March that year that gave me a definite goal to aim for which really helped motivate me and once I ran that there was no stopping me!


HAPPY NEW YEAR GANG!

Edited by njc65 2011-01-01 7:34 AM

Hey guys! Have you started 2011 training yet? I clocked a very pleasing 7 mile run today in 54.34 and am very happy with that! Enjoy new years day!

Happy New Year to all!  I've been looking at indoor bike trainers and was wondering if anyone can recommend which brand to look at and which brand to stay away from.  Thanks.