Big Steve's Group (Year Two) - CLOSED (Page 4)

My main goal is to drop 30 pounds! that will help in all aspects of my training and performance.

I am going to focus on running and weight training or P90X for the first 90 days of the year. I will throw in some biking on the trainer and hit the pool periodically with my Tri group.

It was very dark on my run tonight! Forgot to charge my headlamp.

Running without a headlamp, that is hard core!  Did it once and swore to never do it again.

Had a nice swim this morning for only the  2nd time all month. Nice and easy 45 minutes - 2,000 yards.  Looking forward to any easy 5 mile jog in the morning on the treadmill.

Looks like a great mix of people.  It should be a fun year.

As far as training goals, my primary goal for 2012 is to finish IMAZ standing.    Actually, I'd like to make it to the starting line in one piece.  To get there, my plan is to:

1.  Use the 1st quarter of the year to build base endurance and drop weight back under 200.  Lots of long/slow runs and bike rides.

2. March & April, I'll be pretty deep into HIM training, but probably switching from a run focus to a more balanced workout schedule. 

3.  I'll probably drop a lot of intensity from my May & June workouts and again just look to build on base.  I'll use this time to try and bring my weight back to around 185.

4.  July I'll start up the Full IM training program - which should take me right up into the mid November race.

My training is all mostly by HRM or perceived effort.  Would love a power meter, but no way the misses will allow for that additional purchase this season.  (We're still ironing out a new bike purchase - which I"m hoping to bring home next week.  Stay tuned.)

Recovery ride on the trainer this morning.

Hour and thirty-five minutes, 27 miles, average heart rate 118, max heart rate 128, average speed 17.08 mph, average power 186 watts, max power 208 watts and average cadence 96.

Legs are definitely beat up from earlier in the week so this was a good ride for me today. A lot of the time for me I feel stronger the next day doing a workout like this as opposed to taking a day off. The day off leaves my legs stiff where as doing these recovery rides pumps the blood through and refreshes them. Don't be afraid of the low intensity work and it helps build your capillary system as well.

Let's see some workout reports. I have a 15 mile run tomorrow so motivate me.

That's the way I train as well. I have the Kurt Kinetic power meter for the trainer which is a cheap option and fairly accurate. I won't be getting the stamp of approval on a real power meter any time soon. In the last year between the trainer and the new TT bike I've used up my good will.

Congrats on taking on IMAZ. I'd love to do one but don't know if I'll ever have the time. My HIM volume is about what I can fit in. I'd need to double it for an IM and just cannot see it in the near future.

I'm looking forward to getting back up to 15 soon.  Had my longest run since the NYC Marathon today, a whopping 5 miles .  46 minutes @ a 9:20 pace.  Looking at a group Computrainer Ride tomorrow.  I love the group CT rides but disconnecting, shlepping, reconnecting the damn thing is a pain.

I totally agree. This is my first winter with a trainer having purchased it mid October when it became too cold and dark to ride before work. So the bike went in and nothing has moved. Now come the good weather I'd still like to do my recovery rides and some interval training on the trainer. I have to find a way to swap back wheels painlessly when putting it in.

As it is I'm mechanically clueless with bikes. In general I'm technical and have worked in electronics and IT my entire life but I've just haven't had to do the bike stuff so changing a tire is time consuming and frustrating for me at this point. I know I have to just suck it up and take a Saturday and change the same tire over and over again until I'm good at it but there's so many things I'd rather be doing LOL.

Michael, good luck with the new bike purchase! Looking forward to seeing it. What are you hoping to get?

Steve & Scott, yes it was an interesting run with out the headlamp, it makes for a slow run, not that it is much slower than normal! Fortunately I did take an extra flashlight, being in a rural area there are not many street lights and the drivers don't pay too much attention, a blast with my surefire wakes them up if they look like they don't see me, but I don't like to leave it on the batteries don't last long and are expensive!

Good Luck with that 15 miler tomorrow, Outside? looks to be wet. I am always motivated to run in lousy weather, I know my competition is home by the fire.

It's supposed to be intermittent showers. As long as it doesn't downpour I don't really care. If I do the treadmill the sun will shine, if I hit the road it will pour. Mother nature loves to taunt me.

Well Enjoy either way!

I am doing a small 5k, fundraiser for a 21 year old that was hit by a car and paralyzed from the neck down, sad, but hopefully we can raise some funds to help him out.

If anyone is interested I have created a table for our group, a good way to check on each others logs easily.

And just to be clear I stole the format from last years group and modified the names, I'm not this web savvy!

Group table

1. Click on edit on the upper left hand corner of your dashboard.

2. On the tool bar, there is a button for html, click it.  It's next to the question mark symbol.

3.  In the new window, scroll to the bottom and add this code- NOTE: Remove the 2 ** before and after code.

**<table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="6" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" bgcolor="lightblue">

<tbody style="text-align: left;">

<tr style="text-align: left;">

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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong> Big Steve's Group <strong></strong>(Year Two<strong></strong>&rdquo;<br /></strong></span></div>

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><a href="../forums/thread-view.asp?tid=202757"><span style="color: #000000;">Mentor Group</span></a></strong></span></div>

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<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="index.asp?memberid=151009">Stevepiv &ndash; Steven &ndash; New Jersey</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=194898">Mountaindan &ndash; Dan - Maine</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=293845">Krazytallchick &ndash; Kathy - Georgia</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=293962">Brechiej - - Belgium</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=200489">PrivateIdaho &ndash; Ron - Idaho</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=138263">Mandsberry &ndash; Michael - Virginia</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=209088">Garrunning &ndash; Jarrod - Utah</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=217089">Tmoran07 &ndash; Todd - California</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=284317">Chantal13 &ndash; Chantal - Toronto</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=106338">Margarita &ndash; Rita - Pennsylvania</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=278956">Amn &ndash; An &ndash; New York</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=271774">Wildgeneral - John - Pennsylvania</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=222735">Macm &ndash; Michael - Texas</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=225136">Lyman &ndash; Lyman - Pennsyvania</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=232475">Everlong &ndash; Scott - Massachusetts</a><br /> <a href="index.asp?memberid=289212">andtheregoesKatie &ndash; Katie - </a></div>

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</table>**

4. Click ok.

Very cool. If I lived a bit closer I'd come up.

Thanks for the member link list. Too bad we couldn't sticky that at the start of the thread.

Wow. I'm not very experienced in the forums world... my head's kinda spinning right now. First off, sorry Steve, I'm in North Carolina! And my big goals are kind of undefined... the massive one is obviously going from zero to half ironman in 9 months. I know that's plenty of time but I'd like to kind of excel. I want to run a <2hr half mary in late March, which is going to be hard since I just did my first run 2 days ago, 2mi at 9:50pace and I felt like I was gonna die. I'd also like to excel in my Olympic, in May. Not really sure if I should make getting faster for the Oly a big priority or just focus on building endurance for the half ironman.

After sitting around for the past 4 days doing almost nothing due to travel, I was excited to go to the gym this morning. 40min elliptical, 45min spin class, 1.5hrs swimming. Anyone else really hate swim caps, goggles, etc? I was planning on a straight 4000m swim but stopped at 2000m because my cap kept falling off and my suit was cutting into my hip. Ugh.

Happy almost new years! Anyone doing anything special triathlon-related? I wanted to try a 5k that starts at 11:55pm but I don't think I can push my foot that hard yet.

Cool member list links!!  I've put it on the first entry in this thread so its easier to find if anyone wants to use it.

Have you taken a look at TrainerRoad?  It just went live a couple of weeks ago and is like a poor man's Computrainer.  Anyone spending the winter on a trainer should take a look - it may be the best bike-related investment ($10 a month) I've made.

This is my first winter on a trainer and I started out just kind of aimlessly putting in the hours.  Now, with this thing, I have a structured plan and a wide range of workouts.   I can train with power using my HRM, cadence sensor and laptop.  You can even download and integrate it with Sufferfest videos, although I haven't tried that yet.

I'm not affiliated with TrainerRoad, and don't want to make it sound like an advertisement, but I love/hate it.

Went in to buy a Cervello P2, but ended up putting a deposit on the P3 instead.  The P3 was a bit more aggressive than I'm used to, but I'm such a novice rider, I'm not sure I won't adjust to it.  Also, while the added cost "seems" reasonable to me... not everyone in my family agrees.  I'm supposed to go in for a final bike fitting on Monday and we'll  decide which bike to go with then.  

You can't go wrong with either, sweet ride!  Good luck and spend a lot of time on the fitting, its the #1 contributor to the best ride possible.

Wow alot happens here in a short amount of time. My tri goals this year is to improve the run and bike. I already have a strong bike in most rides I can avg 20mph. During my him I had two flsts which slowed me down. My bike computer had me at a 19.somthing avg. Running is improving well I can avg 9 minute miles on most runs as well. Afterthe bike is a different story though. I am hoping with better bike endurance my run will benifit.

Mike, enjoy the bike shopping I almost bought a p2 but they didn't have my size. I ended up with a Felt B16 for a great price which has worked great for me.

15 mile run I havent done one of those in almost 2 years but itwill come back towards the end of summer.

I love running in the darkwith no light, When the moon is full

I agree, I had a little moon last night, but not enough.

I have some work to get up to those bike speeds for a constant pace!

Michael,

Also, while the added cost "seems" reasonable to me... not everyone in my family agrees

funny how that works! I haven't found a good excuse yet. When I buy backpacking equipment I tell my wife that it is my life insurance to make sure I get back home, that doesn't seem to work with the tri gear?

I've seen it but I'm not sure it will work with the Kinetic stuff which isn't an ANT device.

You're welcome, although I seem to have screwed up the code some how? I'll have to see if I can fix it. It works, but doesn't look as nice.

Good luck on the HIM training! My 2nd tri was a half, but I did not have the background that you have so you should rock it!