Chris' Group - Closed (Page 4)

Thanks for letting me in, having never done any sport at all really apart from walking around the golf course or the odd bit of work in  the gym every 6 months or so. I started putting on weight and then One day i woke up, bent down to put on my socks and could feel my stomach getting in the way. That was the first reason, hitting 40 was another reason and the last reason was that i wanted my kids to see me doing regular exercise and hopefully that would influence them to do the same.

i wasnt that much over weight, i am 6ft 1 and was 15 stone 2lb i am now down to 14 stone and can put my socks on again without feeling my stomach.    

One of my friends had done a couple of triathlons and i liked the idea of doing 3 disciplines so i signed up for a local sprint triathlon and never really looked back.

I am doing a duathlon on Sunday (4k run, 20k bike, 4k run ) will let you know how i get on.   

I do Crossfit every morning for an hour in crossfit we do a lot of strenght training two days upper body two days lower body and core every day, also stretching.   As far as wetsuits, I bought an exterra and got a really good discount with the code from BT.

Ana

Good luck on your du Dave!  Do give a race report on how things go.  I'm "running" a 5k tomorrow morning.  First one back.  Not looking to be fast, just looking to finish.  Leg was pretty sore after my practice run on Tuesday, but its calmed down.  Taking it easy tomorrow, just excited to get back out there.

Laura

Wow - sometimes it's hard to keep up!

Doug - I'm not a joyful runner either.  At least not yet. Sometimes, when I run on a clear night, I get a shooting star as a reward. Makes the whole run worth while!

Ana - I've heard good things about Crossfit and it sounds like you really like it!  Good that it keeps you doing all the right things.  Keep up the good work!

Laura - Good luck on the 5K and let us know how it goes - how you felt overall and how your leg did.

Dave - Good luck to you too on the Du.  Like Laura, we expect a full report! 

All - I fear we may have lost a few.  Sometimes folks wander off to other groups, and sometimes they lose interest.  Sometimes they're just quiet .  I'd like to hear from each of you once a week or so to let us know how you're doing, and where you're standing with your triathlon and training goals.  The forum works best when we're all sharing and cheering each other along!

TTFN

Chris

Hey Cathy

I had some trouble to starting out.  Lost some workouts either because I hit the back button or didn't save it before I went somewhere else, or gremlins attacked. I'd say I am smart enough to avoid all of those, but obviously not - especially the gremlins.  Wicked little devils.  Anyway, on the forum home page, just below the general discussions are some techincal help forums.  There's a specific web page with directions for using the trainig log: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=434 . I'm sure you've already hit that page, but thought I'd throw it in just in case.  I found that the easiest way for me is to use the blog page instead of the calendar page.  But, again, if my bumble fingers don't cooperate I sometimes have to re-enter the data. 

In any event, if you can't get it to work for you, then don't worry about it too much, just keep your own records and let us know how you're doing! 

Chris

Hi All -

I had a lot of problems posting my workouts too. But, I think I have the basics down, and was able to fumble around and friend everyone. Chris - are you able to view my workouts, or do I still have some tweaking to do?  I am glad I took the time to figure it out. It is an easy way to keep track of things now that I have it down.  I'm sure I'm not taking full advantage of it... but enough for what I need.

I have an accomplishment I can report. This afternoon I simulated a sprint tri (almost). I did a 20 min swim, 12 mile bike and a 1 mile run (still taking it easy on that foot). Time sucked, but my whole goal is to just finish these tri's coming up in a few weeks.  I am happy to report I don't feel completely wasted (just partly ).  I started using those gels during my work out. I think it made a difference.

This week my goals are to get in to the gym two of my 5 lunches to strength train. I also want to start focusing on getting some of my times up. I'm only averaging about 12 miles/hr on the bike for example.  Now... considering the gale force winds we've been having, perhaps it isn't all horrible. But, I'd still like to get it up a bit. At least 15mph average.  Last, get in two runs this week. YUCK.

I do have a question for all - on the swim. Since I'm swiming in place, how long does a typical person (I'm not superwoman) take to complete a 1/2 mile and a 1 mile swim? This way I can start training for those approx. times to simulate my distance. 

Cheers all.

Arin

I didn't have a great week either. I only got 4 workouts in, but hopefully this week (and month) will be better. I have my first race of the season on the 22nd - a 10k. I need to try hard to not put too much pressure on myself to run too fast. My health issues prevent me from running as much and as fast as I used to, and I often rebel against that, only to regret it later. So this "race" will be for fun and for participation and I will do the best I can do ON THAT DAY. It will be what it will be!

Spin class tomorrow!

Your post is awesome. Thank you for the pic.

I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to organize my transition area two weeks ago. By the time I was done with the race my area was, let's just say, less than desirable.

I am sure I will revert back to this post often.

Thank you again

Mike

That is awesome. Congrats on your run.

WELCOME BACK! 

Hey folks,

This is sooo wierd.  I looked at my training log again today (thinking that I had finally entered the info correctly) and it switched my workouts to the previous month!  I think I will keep my own "manual" log. 

As I have said before, I struggle most on completing my swim workouts.  I came across an article on this website titled "Swimming for recovery".  This helped motivate me to complete my swims.  Check it out. 

Oh yes, by the way Arin.  How do you manage to fit exercise into your lunch time? 

Hi Cathy -

I'm lucky in a few ways. I get to make my own schedule. I usually don't schedule anything after lunch (or a little before), which allows me to eat in front of the computer after I'm done working out. Also, I can shut the door to the office and change in a flash. If I head to the gym, I've got 7 min. commute both ways. Still allows me to get at least a 40 min workout in. If there is no snow/ice, I run or bike right from the office. I can get a good 55 min. bike in.  I'm also fortunate that I'm not a big sweater.  It's not at all perfect, but at least I can get some excercise in.  My only other options are after 9pm when the kids get down (which takes me hours to settle down) or Sundays when hubby can watch the kids. 

Sounds weird, but it seems the more limited time I have to work out in my life, the more I want to work out.

Arin

Maybe the site is having a bit of a lag on the April Fool's thing.  That could explain Cathy's issues.  Last night I wrote a rather lengthy post and submitted it and now it's not here.  I will try to get it rewritten today - but probably not until after lunch.

Chris

Hi All, I finally caught up reading all of your posts! I was out of town for my 1/2 Marathon this past weekend. Had an awesome run through the Giant Redwoods up in Nor Cal. It was my first half post knee injury last May, and I'm happy to report that I made it through without any knee pain. I managed to keep my pace slower so that I didn't hurt myself which was my main goal.

I kicked off my official tri training yesterday with a nice 30 minute bike ride. I biked on the trail I usually run on and I still can't get over how much faster it goes on a bike! I'm a slower biker, but still, twice as fast as the run I also had my first swim today. Chris, thanks for the Total Immersion recommendation. I grabbed that from my local library and have been reading up on it. Today while I was swimming (for the first time in years) I was able to put some of the drills into practice and it actually felt really great. I think I might actually be able to do this whole sprint triathlon thing...and I've already started thinking...hmmmm...that Olympic distance doesn't seem too bad...it seems I'm catching the fever.

I'm going to try to incorporate those 6 strength exercises in. That sounds very daunting! I'm also planning to do bikram yoga at least once per week, so that should help with my flexibility. Since my injury last year I've been much better about pre/post stretching -- I just need to keep it going as my semester gets back underway and I'm more pressed for time (I'm a psychologist and university professor - hi to both of the social workers out there!!)

Ok, hope everyone's training is going awesomely.

Just want to report in that I managed to swim 750m straight freestyle with no breaks yesterday. I'm pretty pleased with this! The best part was I didn't have the false starts that I usually "warm up" with. Just hopped in the pool, decided to swim until I hit 750 and I did it.

It took 21:15. I worry that I am too slow for the race, but hopefully the speed with keep coming. Right now I'm just pleased with the distance.

It seems a lot of us have good things to report!  Tri feaver is growing.

I have good news for me too. I was able to do my lunch 12.5 bike with an average speed of over 15 mph!!  I feel good about this. No wind certainly helped.

I'm still struggling to do much strength training.  

Arin

All,

Sorry for the delay in posting.  I've had several days attack me at once this week.  But enough whining from me.

I see just about everybody's log now, so we're getting somewhere.   For those of you who are struggling with the logs, don’t worry about it too much.  It’s fine to report in here what you’ve done.

 I don't know about you guys, but I need a bit of a scorecard to keep names and screen names sorted out.  So at the end of this post I will list all the folks on the list with both names, e.g. daksgrammy - chris.  In general though, it’s easier if we all try to remember to put our names at the end of our post.

Sounds like most folks are getting into their training and having making some headway.  Arin had a good sprint simulation (that's always helpful), and Dave volunteered to work his event instead of running - it's good to get some perspective.  By the way, Dave congrats to your son too!  Tiffany did her ½ marathon without pain and that’s great!  Christie girl, just keep plugging away.  You did great on the swim.  Don’t worry about speed at this juncture, just work on form. 

For Christie and Cathy (and everyone else too), there are a couple of great videos on the BT site by Terry Laughlin where he talks about (and shows) the kind of swimming he teaches in Total Immersion.  Really study those videos and listen to him.  He’s a record holder and he swims behind  the fast guys so he can draft off of them.  Later when they get tired, he passes them up.  The point is to not worry about trying to go fast.  Go your pace. 

When you train less than you plan, don't think of it as not having a good week, but just that next week will be better!  There are days when my legs say “not tonight dear, I have a knee ache” and I know better than to push it.  That may put be behind where I want to be, but not behind where my body thinks it should be. 

I want to point out my mess up in the picture I posted on the transition.   I had a synaptic lapse and put my bike on the bar from the back of the seat.  That’s incorrect.  The seat nose should be what’s hanging on the bar.  Doh!

One thing I do want to address: I don’t want anyone to feel left out so if I don’t directly address a post that you make, please don’t think I’m snubbing you.  I just can’t remember everything without being able to go back and look.   My intent is to support everybody as much as I can and try to address your concerns.  If I haven’t gotten back to you on something you wanted a response to, just give me another shout and I’ll get on it.

Okay now for the scorecard in no particular order:

Tri_trying/Arin,      Mikcar_68/Mike,     Doug34/Doug,     Punkster/Cathy,     Enkidu87/Laura,     Davewatson1/Dave,    

Ariasx2/Ana,     Christiekate/Christie,     Motoxmom/Wendy,     Tiffanyosh/Tiffany,     Paygilr/Tanya,     Abahner/April,    

Teohannah/Teo,     Drsachinks/Sachin,     Cbergman/Carrie,     Daksgrammy/Chris

Chris

Guess I'll throw in my update.  First off, Tiffany you ran Avenue of the Giants?  Thats real close to where I live.  Glad to hear you enjoyed it, pain free. 

Life update--  I just turned in my last paper of the semester!  Thats right another semester down of grad school.

Triathlon Training--  Biked 5.5 miles.  Its baby steps at this point, and just getting back on the bike is tricky.  My knee is broke (with my femur off by a mm or so, it grinds with my platella, hopefully that gets better).  My legs are a 1 1/2'' leg length discrepancy which presents lots of challenges.  Mostly as it seems that it kills my back.  Then just getting back on the bike, I'm still kind of scared of that thing (but don't tell anybody).  It was good to get back out there tho.  With getting active, it is clear how much muscle I've lost...  gotta start somewhere tho.  I'll make it back!

Race Report-- Ran a 5k.  Turned out to be the hilliest/trail run "road" 5k ever.  Managed to finish, but my leg was none to happy.  My time was slow too.  That'll teach me to see a race map before I start.  Oh well, it was great to get back out there and pin on a race number.  Even found a new training partner perhaps....  always exciting!

Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow.  Get out there and do something.  Remember half the battle is just getting out the door.

Laura

Hey all!

Looks like folks are plugging away - that's great! 

Laura Congrats on both the 5K and another semester done! Hope your leg is feeling better by now.  Might be good to give it a wee rest before challenging it again.

Arin - I'll check on the feet protection thing.  I know you can't use fins, but I was thinking you could use those five toe shoe things.  I'll verify to see what's legal and get back to you.  Congrats on the cool gift - I'm jealous!

Doug - sounds like you're about ready for your 1/2M.  Let us know how you're doing.

Dave - how'd the OWS go this morning?  Sounds like you had a good bike ride too

I have been fighting off a cold or something for the last few days and so didn't run for about 3 days.  Ran last night and I could tell I wasn't ready for it.  I finished the run - after checking on a loose beagle pup (friendly little girl, but no address on her tag and the phone was not working).  She got tired of me and ran off to find someone new to play with.  Not unusual for me to interrupt a run for some critters - horses, dogs, cats, bats, birds...

Today when I get off of work I'm going to go get fitted for some orthotics and see if that helps a nagging knee problem and a iliosacharal joint. 

Chris

Thanks for checking on the rules for the shoes Chris. Those 5 finger shoes were exactly what I was thinking.  I shudder to think about how much I've spent on this new little hobbie of mine. Shesh. 

I'm also curious what you find out about orthodics. My knees KILL me on my run. I don't know if it is my genes, stride, or just things inside my knees getting in shape.  I've never been a runner, so don't really have much to compair the pain to. But, it takes a good day to feel okay again after a run.

I fear I have very little to report about strength training this week. I will, will, will do more strength training this week!! That is my goal.

Arin

Okay – this is a really long post.  I apologize for that in advance.  Most days I can’t write my name in less than 50 words and today I want to talk about a couple extra things. 

Race report – I did a Super sprint this morning 250 yd OWS, 8 mile bike, 2mile swim.  First of the season for me – this is a great little race, good for an opener, or to reacquaint with the sport, and a great newcomer’s race.  My list of lessons re-learned.

I did not drink enough fluids and I forgot Endurolyte before the race.  Consequence: My calves cramped up badly, making it nearly impossible to run more than short distances at a time.  Took forever to cover two miles having to stop and stretch every half mile and walking a good portion.

I didn’t swim to the outside.  Consequence: Got pretty well abused in the pack.  Had to slow down and move to the outside to get away, costing me more time.

Forgot to put my water bottle on the bike before the start of the race and so naturally forgot it.  Added to the dehydration issues.

My observations through the race – I’ve noticed that the more serious some folks get about triathlon, the less they become good ambassadors for the sport.   This is not a blanket statement about all serious triathletes, just my observations on some. 

My philosophy on competing in triathlons is pretty similar to my philosophy on flying.  There are a very small number of the general population who do either.  Consequently, we who are currently involved need to be good ambassadors,  as well as supportive and encouraging to newcomers.   There are people who may not seem to be triatlete material, but we don’t know that.   Our actions and attitudes can determine whether or not they are willing to go another lap, another mile, or another race.

My race this morning was a women’s only super sprint.  It’s a race specifically designed to introduce women to triathlon, although it makes a great season opener for non-beginners as well.  I saw little girls as young as 10 getting their first taste of competition, as well as women who have determined to wrest back  control of their bodies and their lives.  There were also many experienced ladies, some with a great number of triathlon notches in their belts.  A quick look at the bike rack saw cruisers, mountain bikes, road bikes, and some very high end triathlon bikes.

For the most part, I think everyone was friendly and supportive – the volunteers were great cheerleaders – and I talked to several newbies who were having a great time.  I did, however, see some rather less than encouraging attitudes by some of the more experienced racers which saddened me.   That said, I’d like to take the opportunity this forum gives me to review some race etiquette – in no particular order. 

Family and friends love to come watch and they make great cheerleaders.   Make sure they know where the racers are coming and going so they don’t get in the way.  It can really throw off your game if you’re having to dodge hapless bystanders while you’re trying to get in or out of transitions, or on the course itself.  If you’re one of the lucky fast ones, you, too, need to stay out of the way.  The race isn’t over until the last runner comes in and the way should be just as clear for that runner as for the first.  They trained and paid too.  They deserve that respect.

If you see someone in the water that’s clearly in distress, wave for help and stay with them until one of the lifeguards arrive.  It won’t cost you that much time and it might save them.

If at all possible, get in the water before the start.  I’ve seen several folks who have not done so before they jumped in with their wave and then had adverse reactions to the cold water.   Or the jump itself if it’s not a beach entry.   That’s a terrible way to end your race before you even start.   I have learned to do this as I have terrible diver’s reflex – where the cold water on your face causes you to gasp involuntarily.  I know I have to spend a few quality minutes getting my face in the water just to be able to breathe.  Another swim related request:  Please make sure your finger/toenails do not become weapons of mass destruction.  A little preventive maintenance is in order on that front.

Let the cyclist you’re going to pass know you’re coming up on them.  “On your left!” makes sure they know you’re there and can avoid an unhappy collision if they happen to swerve just as you make your move.   As you’re passing them, offer some words of encouragement: “Good job!” “Looking good!”  “On the home stretch!” 

If you’re running with some of your team mates or new friends you just made 60 seconds ago, be cognizant of the blockade you create.  If you’re running/walking  on a narrow path, run single file until it widens out again.  Try to be mindful of those who are coming up behind you and make room for them to pass you.  And if you’re the one coming up from behind, a polite “Excuse me ladies (or gentlemen)” is so  much nicer than a grunt or “coming through.”  

Be sure to thank every volunteer you pass.  Without them, there would be no race.  They got up early to come out and help – let them know you appreciate that.  The same with the cheerleaders.  That may not be your family members, but they are encouraging you just the same.  Smile for them – don’t scowl.  And in that vein, root for your other race-mates.  Maybe you came in early, but it won’t kill you to stay until they’re all in.  Grab a drink and go back to the course and cheer them on!

Above all, don’t take yourself too seriously.  This is supposed to be fun.  If it’s not fun for you anymore, if it’s become only about the numbers and where you place, then you need to find a new hobby.  My husband and I have as our motto: “Not Serious – Just Committed.”

Chris