Not phat? Phatknot SLAYER - CLOSED (Page 4)

That's quite the workout nicruns.
Thank God I am able to suppress my sense of guilt. I spent New Year day doing a 14 course meal followed by a 3 hour nap. Today I followed it up with leftovers. But tomorrow, IT BEGINS!

Ha! I'm with mgalanter....that's exactly what I did over the last 2 days. Glad I'm at least not alone.

But yes, yes, tomorrow- it is on!

mgma8814 and mgalanter - that's exactly what I did too. Now it's time to clear out all the rubbish in the cupboards and my body and get back to it!

Here's to a great 2011 for us all.

I am baaaaaaaack! And, yes its on! Don't worry about what you can't change(yesterday). Focus on today and the future. Use the extra weight (I did less damage than most years for some reason) and/or downtime as a motivation to work out longer, smarter, and/or harder today or tomorrow.

My LeMond trainer arrived while we were away so I may try to get on that this week but it needs assembling etc and time is short. Today its back down the dungeon for some old fashioned Kurt Kinetic z2 (hope to do 1.5 hours) spinning to wake my legs up. I've not been on my blade in 3 weeks!

What you do now is what is going to make you better later. Eat smart and shake them booties. Report back to us what you are doing.

I found the best way to handle missed work-outs is to try and avoid them. If I do miss one I don't try and make it up immediately but instead try and make sure it is covered in the next week.  The best way I avoid a missed work-out is to schedule a workout everyday and if I miss a day it becomes my rest day. My work schedule is fairly unpredictable so I frequently juggle my work-outs. That is where having a coach really help.

I currently don't have a coach so I am pretty much on my own

Yesterday was run zone 3-4 (panting like a dog)
Today is recovery and technique spin followed by swim 

I'm hearing you Kate.
I too have mental demons!!! Although, not usually in a race as I am more than likely stone-cold-stinking-dead-last and there's no one to try and stay with!! They've usually all gone home!!!!

I imagine most people have some kind of mental battle - whether it's in racing, or motivation, self-confidence etc. Even the best triathletes.

I love your idea of it being all about you. I might borrow that, if I may? I have a tendancy to compare myself to others, even though I have just started in this sport. Then I get despondant because they're fast and I'm crapola!!.

Might try the ''all about me'' mantra. Thanks for the tip!!!

A very good friend of mine is a Motivational Speaker/Exercise Scientist/ex-personal trainer/high-performance coach (he has a lot of strings to his bow) and he says:

''Take your mind there and your body will follow.''

I like it. He's smart!

Em

The mental battle is huge. I wear myself out with it so I changed things up a bit. Instead of saying, I want a sub 11 IM, I said I want a satisfying race day. Take some pressure off myself on the build up and I just enjoyed it way better that way.

I talked myself through the IM run (and to a lesser degree my 70.3 in Sept) with a similar mantra to what you mentioned. I kind of just said, slow and steady wins the race, patience is the key, no need to chase in a long race.

Now its a whole different thing on a short or medium course. You need to be bearing your fangs there if your training allows.  You want to hurt and get to the finish line absolutely spent! If you don't, you will feel dissatisfied.

Despite my best efforts, I get sucked into alot of challenges from competitors and the longer the course the more dire the consequences. This lesson (tuning others out and focusing on my own performance) turned out to be my major lesson of triathlon in 2010.

As to missed workouts, I like the idea of counting it as a day off and just being ok with it. However, depending on how much I am focusing on others, it can be hard to just let it go.

Em- I really like that quote! Thanks for sharing it! 

I'll be honest, I'm not even sure how to start training after being out for the last 3 months. I've read a lot of the articles here on BT, and I've just got info overload here..... interested in hearing everyone's thought about beginning to train (since this is my first time on this pony.)

Day is going well thus far.... 

As for mental battles, once I'm training and training hard (in general), my mental battles appear once I hit a wall or show no improvement. I change things up, and get quite frustrated when I can't seem to move past it. That's when my battles come into play...

Alot of the answer to that depends on you and what you are looking for. What are your goals? They should drive your training. The answers all follow the goals.

I am looking to get back on my game- to be able to run long distances and quickly again, to be strong, to be healthy. Those are the overarching goals. I know I need to be far more specific, and that what I'm trying to do now with the Training Log on here.
Weight loss is also included in that and getting down to a more healthy training weight.

ok so it sounds like you want to hit all 3 sports. my next thing is to look at my schedule and see what gaps I have to train and start to lay out a schedule with the key workouts in first. something like this might work, but my coach does all this for me:

monday recovery swim/off before work
tues  long run before work
wed interval swim before work and (off in afternoon) long bike
thurs tempo run before work
friday (off all day) strength early/ interval bike
saturday interval run /long swim
sunday tempo bike

then you can find workouts to fit based on some rudimentary testing of your paces, heart rate, power or whatever

Thanks for your help.
It's been tricky to piece it all together. Running is actually my strong suit, it's just getting back into it, which I don't anticipate to be difficult or problematic.
Bike will also not be too difficult to get back into either, although it has been a few years.... so I'll assess where I am on that.
Swim will be the most difficult and challenging- this is where I will need to work the most. That much I do know.

I've read that a lot of people have coaches (like you do)- where would you suggest I go to find a coach? websites? organizations?

Melissa

Do you have any idea what you are capable of right now in terms of pace or distance for any of the sports? Do you have any similar level training partners? Are you targeting some kind of race? Are there masters swim classes and/or group rides you can join?

I love to train my longer days with someone else, as it makes the time fly by. The shorter and harder days almost have to be alone unless you go to a track and run intervals on the same track or do hill repeats on the same hill.

My coach is out of enduranceconcepts.com and they are all wonderful but there are plenty of great coaches online that you never have to meet. You can search the forums here or on slowtwitch, ask at the local bike shop, etc.

Not sure about bike or swimming as far as what I can do now (I'll learn that here this week). As for running, my best is a 7 minute mile for about a 10k- right now, I'm up to about 11-12 minutes per mile. So I have work to do there.

My first race isn't until May (SGI TRI in Utah)- I wanted to give myself enough time to learn, recover, improve- all of those.
I do have a friend of mine who has done triathlons before, and she's going to work with me. But I will also look at that site for coaches.

There are Master's Classes nearby (I've looked those up). i will look at their schedule and see what they offer and what I can fit in.

Cool. let us know how things develop. Coaches are very useful if you can afford one. Training plans are less expensive obviously but its harder to figure out where to fill the workouts in until you know your schedule. It has to be part of the routine. May's tri will be here sooner than you realize. Great that you are getting going on the details now!

Thanks for your help. I do appreciate it. 

I'm new to this and am trying to figure it out. My biggest problem right now is scheduling- my schedule changes sometimes from week to week and sometimes from month to month- or sometimes it's just semester to semester. So having a solid schedule just isn't going to happen right now.
However, for the swimming, I know there is a Master's Class not far from school- so that may be where I will fit in swimming much of the time. In between classes.
But yes, trying to figure out the scheduling now because May will indeed be here before I know it!!!

Hey guys, Happy New Year!  I need a little help from you all this week.  I had a very good month at the local poker room last month so I'm finally gonna get myself a TT bike.  I love riding my roadie, but I'm just not comfy with slapped on aero bars for race day.

I'd prefer a metal frame for a few reasons, including cost.  Here are my two main contenders:

Motobecane Nemesis Pro for $1300
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/nemesis_pro_xi.htm

Grigio TT Pro 1 for $1900
http://grigiobikes.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=84

The advantage to the Motobecane is price and the Ultegra components.  At $1300 that leaves me some dough to invest on a better wheel set in the future.  The Grigio is pricier, but has some nice details like interior cable routing and a Fizik saddle, plus the company is local.  Cooler colors too.

The only carbon contender would be this bargain bike from bikesdirect.com for $2000.  Ultegra SL group and slicker look and tubing.  That said, I believe in the durability of an Aluminum bike more, esp. as a Clyde.
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/kestrel/oz_talon_sl_tri.htm

FWIW the Grigio has the steepest seat tube angle at 80 degrees, with the Motobecane at 78 and the Kestrel around 74-75.

What do you all think?

Hi Spleen,

Can you get measured for either of them? When I bought mine I went to my LBS and was first measured and they then looked at the models that would be best for my body shape. If you're a standard size then it wont matter but if not then you may find one frame set up fits you better.

Just my 2p worth

IMHO Kate is spot on. Fit first. Bike second. Unless you can afford a Lynskey custom. ...

And if you can, I have a deal for you. I hit them up on their xmas day twitter special and they sent me an offer for a custom ti frame only (customized to your body measurements) that was 700 off regular price. I bet we could get them to extend it to you. if not, no biggie, get a fit and then have the LBS sell you one that you can have serviced for free lifetime?

Melissa,

I know what you mean about schedules. I travel a lot with work, often at little notice so really can't plan much more than a week ahead. I have a set of targets for me to work on long term e.g. I know I need to increase my speed and endurance for running so need to work in an interval and long run each week. I then take about 10 minutes on a Sunday to work out how I fit it in. If I miss a workout then I can usually fit it in but if not then I take account when planning the following week. It can be done it just takes a little patience and forward planning.

Good luck

Hi Kate,

Thanks for the advice! 
I do appreciate it- currently planning out the rest of the week. I like you idea of focusing on targets since your training time changes so often. Then take it week by week to hit those targets. I will do the same.

Spleen - I'm not sure what size you are but a bike store chain from KC and Omaha is selling off last year's Cervelo P1 with Ultegra gruppo for $1189.
http://trekbicyclestores.com/articles/hotlist-bikes-pg444.htm

P1 is an aluminum frame and a sweet ride.

Fit is the hard part.  I've been fit for my road bike, so I  have a baseline to work from.  That said, I don't really know what my reach or stack would be.  The two mail-order bikes have more size options but no opportunity for a 1 to 1 fit.  The locals guys at Grigio can do a rough fit, but there's really just one size option for me.

I hate to buy things then regret it after. You are wise to think it through rather than buying impulsively like I have done in the past. Are there any drivable fitters not right near you but close enough for a day trip? Then you could get their feedback.