esc's Goonies Never Say Die mentor group - closed (Page 4)

le sigh...I had a nice little happy Friday post written up and BT ate it.  Friday the 13th gremilns I guess.

No Mayo - 2012-01-13 8:21 AM Today's a run/swim day for me. This is my first week back to training after a long hiatus, but I've been bad about getting any bike time in. The big excuse is that my bike needs some love before I can ride. It's been collecting dust for 2 years, but I haven't found the energy after work and refuse to spend $125 to have somebody else do it. Tomorrow should give me plenty of time though Any advice on what to do? I generally clean the chain & sprockets, spray wd-40 down all the cable housings, clean & check the brakes and derailleurs, and adjust them if necessary. Other than that I haven't a clue.

I wish I could offer some helpful bike maintenance advice...I can only manage the basics.  I usually just wipe down the chain and sprockets until the rag comes away clean then re-oil.  I can do some basic derailleur adjustment if need be.  Youtube has a wealth of how to videos.  I always watch a few videos before I make any adjustments.  I'm lucky enough to know a good wrench so if I need anything major I just take it to the LBS.

If you want to learn more about doing your own bike work, check with your local bike shop and see if they offer any classes.  If not, ask if they'd be willing to give you a quick class on the basics.  Changing a tube, cleaning and taking care of the chain/gears and the like.

I live in the south side of Denver in an area called Highlands Ranch.  Pretty close to all of your family.  As I just moved back to CO from SoCal, I found it hard to adjust to the weather for training and possible races.  Super short season from what I was used to  If you do make it out here for a race, let me know and I will try and enter as well.

Joey

Joeyj1974 - 2012-01-12 6:47 PM

Joeyj1974 - 2012-01-12 4:40 PM

amm777 - 2012-01-12 1:00 PM I think I'm going to start with a try a tri or super sprint I belive that is what they are called. 400m swim open water, 10km bike then a 2.5km run (sorry I'm Canadian not sure in miles) then maybe by the end of summer a sprint which i think is double the lengths. With the abundance of water up here, lol, most are open water swims.
I have a great pair of running shoes which i think i can use while biking (just longer to tie up during transition) I have a crappy mountain bike that is at least 10yrs old. And a decent sport swimsuit, as I love to swim. Willing to upgrade some just looking for advice on what.......
Hope this helps
Thanks

Small world I just noticed your profile states you are from Pueblo. I assume it is Pueblo, CO.  I was born and raised in Pueblo and now live in Denver..  Crazy.  Not sure about pueblo, but Highlands Ranch has a tri series that includes a pool sprint tri in June and then another sprint/oly in Aug.  I think I will sign up for both since they are in my back yard.

Joey

I feel like a huge dummy right now.  I just realized I quoted the wrong person...  Sorry amm77.

 no worries

I am so glad to find an open group with such an awesome name!  

So if you will have me, I would love to join.

Name: Kat or Mary Kathryn depending on who I am meeting - hopefully I will be Kat to y'all.  (username: KatNWater)

Story: I am 37 (how the heck did that happen???)   I, as many of you all, have had a long road to get where I am now.  I swam competitively from the time I was 8 yo until my senior year in HS.  I raced the mile when I was on a private team, and the 500 free when I swam in HS.  So distance swimming is my thing.  Due to having an incredibly insane family, I ended up homeless my senior year of HS and the following year.  I don't dwell on it, and I had some incredible friends who really helped me out, and I only mention this because it's part of the story.  I managed to gain 80 lbs in that 2 years and went  from an athlete who could have competed in the college level to an over weight couch potato who took up smoking and drinking way to much.  A few years later, I decided it was time to get the former athlete back.  I wanted to take up swimming again, but at the time, the only masters swimming group was over 50 miles away.  I needed a sport where  I could swim, and I could do it on my own.  Triathlon fit the bill.  I was already a distance swimmer, I knew how to ride a bike, and though I detested running, surely I could figure it out.  ( how little did I know at the time) I really watched my diet and started walking.  Hey, you have to start somewhere.  Another year passed and I lost 60 lbs., learned how to run, and did  my first Tri - oly distance.  I was thin and fit, and married and ready for babies.  I had my first baby and gained 80 lbs.  Yikes, I was back where I started.  I decided to run a marathon, watched what I ate, lost about 40 lbs, and finished a marathon in a completely unrespectable 6  hours.  Then I had another baby - gained 50 lbs.  Now I am more than back where I started - yikes. Did another oly, &  decided to marathon again, trained, lost 50 lbs, and I think I would have finished in about 4:30 if it weren't for that stupid tornado warning.  Got pulled from the course, and managed to acquire a nasty case of Achilles tendinitis.  Stopped training all together and - wait for it - gained 50 lbs.  Another year passed and I yearned to be that athlete I was once upon a time.  Which brings us to March of 2011. I was fed up with my weight, and my lack of training.  I was tired of the yo-yo.  I met with a RD and started my FINAL weight loss journey. I started running and learning how to eat (food=fuel. period. food does not have any other significance) In October, I picked out my first Tri of my new life.  I am going to respectably finish the Gulf Coast Half IM in May.

Family: Very happily married for 13 years.  My DH has Rheumatoid Arthritis, which does present more challenges than an "average" family, but I firmly believe that everyone is dealing with something and this is just the thing that we are dealing with.  I am a stay at home mom to 2 boys, ages 6 and 8.  This is the first year that both boys are in school, and I am declaring it my first semi time off if 8 years.

2011:  No big races, just working on the weight loss.  I did do a local 5K where I dropped my PR from 30:45 to 26:27.  I think I am the most proud of that than any other running accomplishment.

2012: Gulf Coast Half IM in May, and Nashvegas Half IM in Sept.  I may pick up a couple of Olys in between if I can scrape up the entry fee.  Shooting for Beach to Battlefield Iron distance in 2013. "Mary Kathryn, you are an IRONMAN" has been a dream since I crossed the finish line in my first tri.

Weightloss: I have lost 50 lbs since March.  Doing it the right way with sound nutrition and lot o exercise.  I have between 20 - 30 more lbs to go.  My RD and I set a goal at 30 more lbs, but as I have gotten closer, she thinks that I might need to stop at 20 more lbs.  I will trust her on this. 

Tri specific: Swim - no worries, I think I may be part fish.  Run - I have learned to love running, and I feel that I am at a really good place with my run.  Bike - I flat out stink. I have a true love/hate relationship with my bike.  I am terribly slow, and my quads hurt within 30 seconds of getting on the darn thing.  Expect lots of questions about how to ride a bike....

Other:  in case you haven't noticed, I talk - a lot.  I am interested in a mentoring group because there was a 5 year time span between my two tris, and it has been 4 years since my last tri.  Also, I think that I might need some input and encouragement as I embark on the huge undertaking of a half IM.  I haven't been using the BT training log, but I have played around with it some.  I will start logging here, and be sure to share it.  Also, I really am an excellent swimmer. I taught swim lessons with the YMCA throughout college, and I teach private swim lessons now.  I would be more than happy to offer suggestions ( as best as one can without actually watching you swim, and having to type answers instead of just showing you the small tweak).  

coolgenes - ugg! the all night cough is miserable.  Feel better soon!

Joeyj1974 - way to power through the swim.  To quote Dory "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

jeffnboise - well, since you offered... my chain is slipping on the 3 lowest rear gears.  I tighten the cable with the barrel adjuster on the rear derailluer, and it seemed to fix the problem.  Anything else I should worry about there?

I put it 40 minutes on the bike trainer today, followed by an easy 4 mile run.  Bike was hard to finish.  Quads hurt, as usual, small gears, cadence around 85 - 90.  Run was amazing.  Legs felt the brick the first mile, but returned to normal shortly after.  It was cold and we had a light snow.  I live in the south, so snow is a novelty to me.  I really enjoyed being all bundled up and watching the flurries swirl around me as I ran through my neighborhood. 

Hi, Kat!  Happy to have you!  After reading your background and seeing all that you've come through to get here, I'm certain that you will indeed hear yourself declared an Ironman.

I giggled at your excellent swimmer comment...the wording reminded me of Dustin Hoffman in Rainman saying, "I'm an excellent driver."   The only downside to being an above-average swimmer is that unless you're also an above-average biker you have to watch all the speedsters whiz past on their pretty bikes.  Happens to me every race.  And I'm not really an above average swimmer these days!

Happy Saturday, everyone!  I'm suffering through another day at work.  If I can just survive the next 12 hours then I can cuddle up in my nice warm bed and sleep until I can't sleep no more.  I'm really looking forward to my three days off.  I've got to figure out how to convice The Dude to be my sugar daddy.  This working thing is really bringing me down! 

Other than work and sleep, I've only got a short run on the schedule.  What are y'all up to today?

Good luck with the sugar daddy thing...  

I am going to force myself onto the bike trainer.  I have decided that the only way to get better is to ride, so I am demanding at least a 30 minute trainer ride of myself 6 days a week for the next 3 weeks. Since I have a 90 min ride on my training schedule, I guess I will pick out a movie and hang in there.  I would love to go ride outside, but I have no cold weather gear, and it's 20 deg. this morning.  brrrr! 

Good morning everyone!

Just a quick update for me.  Boarding my flight right now.  No workouts for me today.  Got my half marathon in AZ tomorrow.  Staying engaged with everyone here has got me very excited about picking up my Ironman journey I desperatetly wanted before my land slide. With my lack of training up to this race, I'm only using this for the fun factor and to get in a long run for the week.  No land speek records for me, well if you call 2:10 a land speed  That is my PR, which was in 2009. 

Kate, welcome and I'm right there with you and we can do this!!  There never seems to be a platue, only peaks and valleys..  I'm either on my way up (gaining weight) or going down with tons of hard work.

Have a great day everyone.

Joey

You have 2 options.  One - mount the bike computer on the rear wheel.  Two - forget about all that and ride by perceived effort.  You can guesstimate a distance based on your average pace on the road if you want to keep track of miles.  Cadence isn't super important.  It is inefficient to mash the pedals but if you generally ride a higher cadence on the road you'll most likely keep that cadence up when you're on the trainer.

Emily,

I somehow stumbled into this website and in particular the mentoring groups.  I am a 52 year old husband (27 years) and father (two boys - 24 & 20).  I have completed two sprint tris two years ago but am getting the itch that it is time to train differently this time.

Is there still room in your group?  If yes, great!  I will write much more later.  If not, good luck to all of you.

Daniel

Hi Daniel!  You're now officially a Goonie.     Looking forward to reading your bio.

Have a great time at your race!  Let us know how it goes.

WOW!  Great Job group.  People racing, training, sweating and working butts off.  Cooooollllll!

Boise has had ZERO snow, so outdoor road biking is still an option-and I enjoyed that option today.

Ref:  Bike maintenance issues.  Send me an email, and we can solve the problems together.

Have a GREAT Sunday everyone.