Tri Ritter's Mentor Program "Smashin' it 2011" CLOSED (Page 4)

Hello! Welcome to the group. What is your name and where are you living in Colorado? The IM Austin 70.3 is an awesome and challenging course. I did that one last year. Sorry to hear you are having to spend time away from your husband, but we appreicate is service for our country. I think for triathlon you will be over doing it with cross fit. If it was me, I would only do one or the other giving the demands for triathlon.

Hello, write a brief bio first!

I don't lift weights really anymore. For strength training these days it includes doing pull paddles, over gear on the bike, and running hills. Giving the demands of trying to train for 3 sports and working full time, there needs to be also time for RECOVERY!!!

Quincy is right about the brain thing. She got the right side and I got what was left. Bad humor is my specialty.

So my real name is Allison although my screen name has been thndrcloud for so many years that I also answer to Thunder.  I'm 33, married and a stay at home mom of two girls (13 and 7) and a boy (2).  I'm 5'7" and currently 144lbs although I was racing at 138 last year and hoping to get down to 135 for this year.

I started tris in 2009 after trying to lose the weight from my pregnancy and failing on my own.  I wanted a goal and since I'd just started swimming at my gym I thought I'd give triathlon a shot.  I finished my first sprint with a BOP time and a new addiction.  It was during the off season that I finally lost 30lbs and when I raced the same sprint again in 2010 I knocked 34 minutes off my time and moved to FOP. 

Last year I raced 2 sprints, 5 5ks and a half marathon as well as doing a 100km charity bike ride.  I'd been planning to try an Oly and hoping to cap off last season with a HIM but a move and some family drama nixed those ideas.  This year I'll be doing a sprint, a couple Olys and I'm registered for IM Racine 70.3 in July.  I'm also hoping to do a half marathon this spring and possibly a marathon in the fall once I see how the summer shakes out.

Sadly, my training log is current and blank.  I took one week off to prepare for Christmas then lost a week to a broken toe which I made worse by trying to run again too soon which also aggravated my left Achilles which I injured in October and followed that up with getting sick for a week.

Everything is doing better now and I'm planning to try getting on the bike trainer today for a little bit and ease myself back into things.  I'm hoping to try swimming later in the week and possibly running this weekend.  Once I'm back into the swing of things I'll be starting a HM training plan shooting for an April race then starting HIM training in February.  I'll be doing the first 22 weeks of the Be Iron Fit intermediate plan.  In February I'm also going to be doing a masters swim clinic that will meet twice a week for four weeks to see if I can improve my average swim times.

The run is my limiter which is why I spend so much time on it.  Last year I dropped 4 minutes from my 5k time and PR'ed in October (thanks to Quincy and her awesome pacing) with a 27:12.  My training runs went from averaging 11 minute miles to ~9:45 at the same heart rate and I finished the HM in 2:06:08.  My times are respectable but I know I have a lot more speed than that and really want to tap into it.

I know some folks in OnUrLeft, but I am not in it. 

As for last season, I just didn't achieve the times I wanted to achieve.  The run was the culprit.  Hopefully, I can maintain from my half marathon training and roll into my tri season. 

I am manager in public practice, so I have a little more flexability with my schedule than when I was a senior.  The training helps me deal with the stress of busy season better ! 

Will the CPA"s be giving advice as well?  LOL  sure would be nice. 

I'm taking graduate courses and get tuition reimbursement from my employer 50% up to 2500 for the year. If I don't get tuition reimbursement on certain things can I claim it on my taxes? will it make enough of a difference? I usually file with HR block just cause they are a trusted name this will be my first year filing joint with my wife.
Thanks,
Grant

Edited by ksimp2 2011-01-10 8:00 PM

Edited by ksimp2 2011-01-10 7:59 PM

Hey Trout, I think the most likely causes of your shin problems is biomechanics. You could be overstriding, very hard heel striking, over pronation or the typical too much too soon, too fast problem. I used to have and still have some "light" shin problems occasionally. My shins typically feel better when I think about my running form. Try to stick on soft surfaces as possible and have your running biomechanics evaluated if you can. I have orthotics as well and I also Ice after all hard runs.

Hello! Welcome to the group. What is your name and where are you living in Colorado? The IM Austin 70.3 is an awesome and challenging course. I did that one last year. Sorry to hear you are having to spend time away from your husband, but we appreicate is service for our country. I think for triathlon you will be over doing it with cross fit. If it was me, I would only do one or the other giving the demands for triathlon.

I've come to believe that it has to have something to do with my biomechanics.  Probably over pronation and maybe the hard heel striking.  I'm ruling out the 'too much too soon' thing.  Do you think brand of shoe could be causing/contributing to the hard heel striking?  I wear New Balance trail shoes.  I've worn New Balance for awhile because I've perceived them to have the best support for me.

Tough for me to find anywhere to run these days with the snow so I've been running mostly on the treadmill.  I stick to the softer berm whenever possible outside.

I have an email out to my alumni list for a good sports podiatrist in my general area (Buffalo-Cleveland-Pittsburgh).  Unfortunately, I don't think I'm close to anyone that could check out my biomechanics.

I have a buddy who is a pro trail runner, Rich Burgunder from that area who has good connections. I'll ask him later if he knows a good sports podiatrist. I was told by a store RunOn! (www.runontexas.com) to go with the shoe that you notice the least. I've also been told heavy shoes tend to promote too much heel striking too. I have the Glycerin 8's by Brooks which aren't the lightest, but they are comfortable to me, plus I have some new orthotics in them too.

I guess I opened up the can of worms so I'll answer the question with a PM.  I'd like to keep this forum for tri training, encouragement and related questions going forward.

PM's are welcome.

Good morning all...

William, I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction for learning about and choosing a hydration setup for my bike.  I am not particularly well versed in race nutrition, especially on the bike.  And I feel like it's time to figure it out...can't do a HIM on a couple of gu's and half a water bottle (pretty much my Oly plan).  I need to figure out the hardware (I have a tri bike) and the drink (I am tending towards a do it yourself with maltodextrin).  I've see the setups where the straws come up between the aero bars, which I THINK would be awesome?!?

My only other race nutrition "experience" was training and running the Chicago Marathon in October...I didn't throw up and I didn't pass out, but that's about all the positives I can muster about THAT situation...I don't like the tendency I see where people blame race disasters on nutrition BUT I have a new respect for paying attention to it in longer races.  

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer.

Regards,
Q 

Hello Quincy,

racing a HIM and nutrition is tricky. You will definitely need to stay fueled while you race for many physiologic reasons. Everyone is different and responds differently to nutrition. What I typically do is take a powergel every 30 minutes. I take one before the swim and every 30 minutes after that, on the run I take one every every 20 minutes or 3 miles or as needed, I also love some coke when I am feeling like crap . As far as hydration there are several different setups you can use. I have a profile design bottle in front and bottle cage on the down tube and an Ardunel bottle system for the rear. You can also choose to go with a bottle that you can lay on the front of your aero bars and also I hear SPEEDFILL is real popular, which runs from downtube and a long straw is drawn up to your aerobars. I typically use Cytomax since it is the cheapest, and I think my stomach handles it ok. Right now I am trying HEED by Hammer since it I got free at a party For the HIM, I go with 2 water bottles only and remove the rear for weight reaons, except in warmer weather I will leave it on and go with 3. I'll use the handouts if needed. I'll either go with 2 bottles of cytomax or 2 bottles of cytomax and 1 bottle of water (lesson learned the hard way).

For olympic distance race I with a gel before the start and maybe a gel in the middle of the bike or after, and maybe one in the middle of the run depending how I feel. I take all my water bottle cages off, except my profile design on the aerobars.

The best advice I can give you is to practice this in training.

You can set up a big weekend to find works for you.

Friday: Hard swim with race pace intervals + 15-30 min aerobic run
Saturday: 3 hour bike w/ 2x30 min intervals @ 70.3 effort and 15 min ez spin between
Sunday: 75-90 min aerobic run or progression run as 30/30/30 or 30/30/15
Monday: OFF.

I've always just used Gatorade and Clif Shot Bloks for my nutrition.  I tried Hammer gels, three different flavors, and they all tasted awful to me but other than that I haven't really done any experimenting.  Should I be checking out some other options or am I good just sticking with what's worked?  Do the other options offer anything I'm not getting now as far as calories, sodium or other nutritional goodies?

Stay with what works if you are experienced, some do have caffiene

Off to the pool for a quick, lunch hour swim.  It's been awhile and I need to get back into my worst discipline.

I prefer INFINIT drink.  It eliminates having gels and sodium pills to take during the race.  It lets you customize your drink to your needs.  I used it for Buffalo Springs 70.3 and I didn't have any issues under some tough conditions. (the only issue I had was that I couldn't run, which was a training issue)

not sure if this is still open but I guess I can always just cut an paste this into another group if you wont take me

Dave

I live in Barrie Ontario Canada which is about 1 hr north of Toronto. I am 36, I am married and have 2 kids. I recently started back at school taking electrical engineering moving from a career in business / sales. I also work part time. My wife is also in school and works part time.


In September I started running as a stress outlet. The idea of triathlon crept in somehow. I lost a few pounds, ran my first 5km race after a couple of weeks of training and bought a very used tri bike. I figured with my competitive swimming back ground I would be okay in the pool but I guess the 20+ years away from swimming took its toll (no kidding!!) I am currently on the 20 week running focused Olyimpic plan (run 3 times, bike 2, swim 2) I also try to fit in a upper and lower body work out when time permits. Snowboarding also fits in there from time to time as well. Overall I swim like a runner, run like a swimmer but my biking is improving (I think?!)


Goals;

right now I am looking at some sprint distances and an Olympic. I would really like to do the Muskoka 70.3 but that might be a goal for next year. Im 5'8 about 175lbs so I could loose a few but wouldnt really say that loosing weight is a huge goal.

What I am looking for in the group.

Motivation? I think I am doing okay but dont really have anything to measure against so I am a little in the dark

www.facebook.com/dlarocque121