Fast Twitch Tri-FULL (Page 4)

OK, this is one of the things I have been pondering. It is easy to see the usefulness of power in a long course race, but I see absolutely no use in short course racing. (maybe a mix in HIM). BUT, as I came up with that thought, I simultaneously thought, yes, BUT, power would be extremely useful in short course training. I think it is all too easy (especially on the bike) to not train as hard as we ought to in interval work. 

I don't use power and if I was to start using it, I would have to sacrifice race wheels as one of the disadvantages of sharing this hobby with a spouse is the great sucking sound it makes as your money flies out of your wallet...

Great point about Trainerroad. Does anyone here use it? That might be a great compromise for me as I tend to do my intense bike stuff on the trainer anyway...

I really like trainerroad even if you are using your own power meter.  Allows me to watch stuff on my laptop with my metrics on the bottom of the screen rather than trying to look at the computer on my handlebars and the screen at the same time.  They also have a really good library of workouts.

DOUG -

Very fine bio, knowing you as I do from the other group.  And that said --- you really DO have a lot to say.  I think you have hit the main crux of it in your final section about being "a good contributor", but beyond what you say about moving from Clydesdale, and moving from thoughts of finishing to thoughts of placing , you know swimming and have accumulated some very valuable experience as a racer; there is a LOT you have to offer!!

Can you use it with Jorge's winter cycling plan? I am assuming yes.

I think that Jorges winter plan is on trainer road.  Yet another reason to give it a shot...

That's the one.  I sighed relief when they canceled the swim.  I was ready to do the swim, but there were some serious waves last weekend, plus a high rip current warning.

We got to bike on very wet roads, with a couple of the "puddles" covering the entire lane.  While I'm just back to biking I did enough when I was younger that it was pretty much a non-issue for me.  I checked the photos and only saw two people on road bikes with faster times than mine, the rest were tri bikes.  My running dropped me back though.

The early part of the year was prepping for the Peachtree 10K.  I do it every year, some years I walk a fair amount; combination of lack of training and high heat/humidity (July 4th in Atlanta, GA).  This year was a good year running it from my training.  At this rate next year will be faster and better.  Our middle daughter is a distance runner and did the bike leg (relay team) of the Turtle Crawl sprint tri in May.  I helped her prep and then helped the trio understand what they needed to do.  They took 1st place in the relay division!  I enjoyed being there around the tri so much I decided to get back into it.  Scoured Craigslist and bought a bike in late July and signed up with LA Fitness to have a pool.

My weight is around 167-170 now; upper 160's.  A month or so ago I was bemoaning with a co-worker that did a couple tri's this year that my weight was stuck around 174-176 even though I was doing more.  Well, that changed a few weeks ago, and I'm not sure why.  Haven't really changed much, and some days I feel like I am eating quite a bit.  If it get down to 165 I'll definitely pick up my eating.  If it gets much below that I'll start ramping up the calories.  I'm a bit big for low 160's.  I was there and lower in college until I filled out, and that was skinny.

PATTI -

Allentown, NJ ---- kind of close to where Hightstown Tri is, yes?  As I was cobbling together my frenetic September, that was one I had considered.  Had I known you would be part of this group, i would've done it, for sure!

Very nifty bio, and at some point I have to know where "pugpenny" and "Coach Booger" come from.  Makes me think of a grunge band.....but i'm guessing that's not really the origin.  (Or is it?!?)

Therea re definitely some "outside the box" aspects to your background and some of the small battles you have waged along the way.  It is very inspirational to read this, and I will go over it (the bio) a few more times just to make sure I have it all in mind correctly.

You mention "being the best athlete" you can be, and you have very successfully combined a bunch of experience and successes to make that a reality.  Your 2012 races show a real mixed-bag of results, but the two podium efforts show what you are capable of when all is going right.  DNFs and stuff like side stitches happen, and the best you can do is turn away from them and focus on the next race.  Onwards to 2013!!

To that end, a pro bike fit should make a huge difference for you.  It's too bad that next season is quite a ways off, but where you are you can make a fairly early start with Devilman (www.piranha-sports.com) south of the Pine Barrens, or the one near Toms River that is put on by the people (can't remember the website) that does ClamMan (which I did in '11).  Both of thsoe are in late April or early May).  I'm eyeing Devilman myself!

No good reason why you wouldn't enjoy olys, and I hope you will give one a shot.  it is still a very reasonable distance to do, and the recovery is quite quick and easy.  it is telling to me that you view an oly as "twice as much fun", as opposed to being "twice the distance".  Your attitude is admirably positive, and suggests that are a "glass-half-full" kind of person.

As if that's not enough, there is also the comment about getting "revenge" at certain races.  GRRRR!  (Hear her roar!!)  Again, admirable AND positive!

I have had many bouts of jumping into races pretty much at will, and it's a blast.  It may not be the best way to be the best you can be, but for pure exhilerating fun, it can't be beat.  I should tell you (lead you not into temptation.......) that this past season ended with me doing races on Sept 1, 9, 15, 16, and 23, and then Oct 6 and 7, so i'm no stranger to piggybacking races.  And FWIW, those races were in, respectively, NY, ME, NY, NJ, CT, VA, and VA.  (No rest for the wicked, eh?)  that's why i was eyeing Hightstown -- if it's somewhere kinda sorta close, I'll consider it!

Congrats on all the weight loss, and the subsequent feelings of............... not quite remembering when you were last so light.

Finally, that's a beautiful quote from a beautiful human, Chrissie W. --- and it's not hard to see where your inspiration is for having a strong mind yourself!

h

GANG!

Me......need......break.

I've been at this for a few hours, and am hungry AND bleary-eyed.  I am literally a two-fingered typist and maintain COMPLETE eye-contact with the keyboard, so these marathon getting-to-know-you efforts take a lot out of me.  Tougher than the fianl days of training for an "A" race!!

See you all in a while!

Yup, Jorge's plan is on there.  It's also great because TR is far from a finished product.  They are still working on a lot of enhancements to make it better than it already is. 

I'm a huge Trainerroad fan.  They have a great library of workouts that are tailored to specificity rather than just mindless riding on the trainer.  Of course, you need to know what you're trying to accomplish.  But that evil Jorge has his plan on there too. 

Yikes!!! A ton of posts.  My e-mail box is full!!  Oh, dangit!!! I just added another one!!!  \

It's on TR, but it's different than the BT one, and a lot shorter.  Kinda a light version without the endurance rides.  My favorite workout on TR is "Crag", one of Jorge's.  I even designed a playlist for it timed to the intervals.  Tuh tuh tuh tuh tuh tuh tuh Too Much Time on My Hands.... (subtle to hint to one of the songs on the warmup, otherwise I'm a grunge monster on the harder intervals).

SAMANTHA -

Glad you got here!  See you and your bio tomorrow!

So here's my bio..

NAME - itritoo - Dan Edmonds

LOCATION - Marysville - WA

MY STORY - I gained a bunch of weight after getting married in 2001.  In 2007 I decided it was time to change.  I started going to the gym and lifting weights and had some success losing weight.  In 2008 I was bored with that and my weight loss hit a plateau, so I started running and swimming at the Y.  I have always loved cycling so that part was easy.  I dropped a bunch more weight and did my first event that summer.  I have been hooked ever since.

FAMILY - Married to my great wife for 11 years.  We have 3 kids - Boys 8 and 6 and a 3 year old girl.

CURRENT TRAINING - With young kids my training is squeezed in around their schedules.  I bike commute as often as I can and then run or swim at lunch.  I run on the treadmill or ride the trainer at night.  Saturday mornings are long ride or run time.  I take a full rest day every Sunday.

WEIGHTLOSS - I went from a high of 220 in 2007 to my current weight of 158.  I would like to lose another 8 pounds, but so far lack the discipline (diet) to get there.

RACES - I do a number of local sprint races every year.  I have continued to improve year after year.  I have done 2 olympics.  My first attempt went well.  My second attempt was this last summer and I had a not so good run.  I am focusing on the olympic distance next summer as I need to redeem myself.  I do mostly running races over the winter and am going to try to race once a month.  There are lots of 5/10K's to choose from.  I will also be doing a half marathon in January.

2013 RACES - My A race next summer is the Coeur d'Alene Olympic on 8/10/2013.  We are going to make a family trip out of it and spend a week hanging out.

GOOD MENTEE - I have learned alot over the past few years and look forward to learning even more.  I have mostly lurked on BT since 2008 but am excited to be part of this group.  I hope I can be helpful and share some of the thigns I have learned.

JOE -

Your family reminds me of what I saw at Skinnyman Triathlon (Skaneateles, NY) last month:

A guy doing the race was hanging out with his family post-race, and along with what I assumed was his wife were four kids, probably all under the age of six.  They each had identical red t-shirts, except for what was on the front of each, shop-printed in a circle:  Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3, Thing4.  I thought that was very clever, and when I said so to the guy, he was very blaise about it, leading me to think that those kids have been out in public a few times in those t-shirts, and to great acclaim!

Nice progression planned, with the 5k, then the 10k, then the sprint.  Sensible, sensible, sensible, and leading nicelt into next season's tri plans.  Especially with a marathon behind you, I can't see any reason why you couldn't handle the oly later in the year.  Do you have any history with overuse-type injuries, or are you one of those rare and fortunate bionic creatures?  

The 16-week sprint plan is an excellent path to follow.  Did you manage to pick it up right at week one?  If so....are you at about week 9 or 10 right now?

And, what plan are you fixing to follow for Phoenix Marathon?  I will check in a while to see when it is, and also give me a few days to get my feet on the ground here, and I will look at your logs.   Log-stalking is good vicarious fun!

KATE -

My middle name is Wentworth.  I swear to god..........and I would much prefer your daughter's middle name to my own.  (Ask her if she'd like to trade, okay?)

You're another fish!  Sheesh!  I think it's a conspiracy to get a bunch of you here to frustrate me, make me rue the life that left me living in an area without pools and going to schools that didn't have swim teams.  Waaaaahhhhh!

But i can see why you're a "designated ringer" for a 70.3 relay team, and I just hope for your sake that the cyclist and runner are equally blessed with ability at what they do.  Were you a freestyler at univ, or one of those other strokes.  Or a master of all??

I wouldn't worry too much about balance in your life, as your post fairly drips with an awareness of it.  You seem to have done really well, though, at fitting in training and racing along with family (and is that the retired horse's ears in the photo?) responsibilities and devotions. 

Don't worry about the "slacking off".  We all need our down-time, our recovery periods, and time just for soemthing other than working out.  So consider it an off-season, or even just a mini off-season, and pick things up when the time seems right.  Hopefully, you will get loads of encouragement here, and if you combine that with a BT, you should be ready to EXPLODE upon the race scene in '13.  That Xterra course better watch out for you!

NAME:  Shana Norwood

STORY:  I started out lifting weights in 2009 and progressed to Turbo Fire. A co worker of mine suggested that I try a triathlon and I did my my first in 2011. I've done about 12 sprints since then with a few 5ks and 10ks thrown in.

FAMILY:  Single mom with a 12 year old son and registered nurse.

CURRENT TRAINING: My first love is swimming so I swim almost every day.  Working on my running which happens to be my weak area.  I'm a spin instructor and love to ride the bike but don't get to ride as often as I like to.

2012 Races:  Did 7 sprints this year

2013 Races:  Have one race (sprint)scheduled so far.

2013 Goals:   Improve my running and biking

WEIGHTLOSS:  I'm maintaining at 148-150 lbs. I'm 5'8.

GOOD MENTOR?? 

SHANA -

Yay!  You made it over!

I'm off to bed now, but I'll get back to your bio tomorrow.  But your race totalsa re imopressive, especially in such a short period of time.  I gave some thought to coming down there this coming weekend for Big Cajun Tri, in New Roads, but wasn't able to get my act together.  There is a half-iron in New Roads, on Nov 10, I think, but as it's getting kinda cold up here.....i'm not sure I can do enough quality/quantity bike work before then to make it worthwhile.

See you tomorrow!

Well I said I was excited about this group.  Bio comes tonight.

Story:  Just completed my second season of triathlons.  My very original story of what sparked my triathlon interest was watching Kona on TV. That was in high school, at which time I completed an indoor triathlon.  It took roughly 8 years for me to get around to become "serious" about wanting to do a "real" triathlon, which I did in 2010.  That year I did 4 sprints, which lead up to an HIM.  That HIM was quite the devastating race because an injury I didn't know was coming just imploded with 6 miles left on the run. (I now know in retrospect it was an injury waiting to happen.) I finished the race, but it was not a happy time.  I am still managing the injury from that summer to this day.  It just requires diligent flexibility exercises, basically.  2011 was an off year for me, and I pretty much started back fresh in 2012.  Which means this is my first "off-season" that I'm heading into, so I'm eager to see how much I can improve upon the summer when I have a whole upcoming winter to work through!

Thanks in advance all! 

Name: Darrell Kriechbaum

Story: I mt biked raced in the late 80's into the early 90's and then became self employed in 94.Then while laying in bed for most of Nov . and Dec. of 2008 recovering from quadruple hernia surgery and battling crippling anxiety for the previous 3 years with meds I realized that changes were needed. So I signed up for the local New Years Eve 5k and completed it in 36 or so minutes. After that I took a couple weeks of swimming lessons at the public pool since I never learned to swim, ran with a local running group and  was to afraid to sign up for a tri until 2011.  So I did 2 sprints in 2011 and a 2 sprints and an oly in 2012. After my oly experience I haven't decided if I like sprints or oly's better. What ever the case I love the tri community and what the sport has meant to me and my health ( haven't been on any meds since spring of 2009).

Family: I have the best wife, two wonderful kids and the proud grandfather of a 20 month old grandson.

Work : Owner of a rapidily growing remodeling, cabinet shop and handyman service company that is growing faster than I can find quality people which makes me work unreasonable hrs quite often. This wasn't bad when I was in my early 30's but is killing me now that I'm 48.

Current Training: I'm really trying to make it to the pool a minimum of 4 times a week this winter while getting as many runs and bikes in. I have come to understand that I can only b$&tch so much about being a lousy swimmer and can't expect better results with out swimming more. Later this winter I am going to attempt Jorges winter cycling program. Consistency in my training is my biggest goal.

2013 races: April, spring classic duathlon 5k-15m- 5k , June, Blue Lake sprint or oly Sept, Portland Tri Oly. Hopefully 1 race a month from April through Sept.

2013 goals: Consistency in training  whether it's a half hour a day or more and then racing to the best of my ability. Get my 5k into the 21's from 22:45, better my pr in a sprint of 1:20  and mostly improve my swim so I am not playing catch up.

Thanks for the confidence in my swimming Steve   I must admit that I probably don't spend enough time on that discipline but my background, and the fact that many triathletes count it as their toughest discipline keeps me FOP in my smaller local races.

Ah the injuries!  And I'm not quite 40 yet!  Right now I have a shoulder issue which a sports med has concluded is not a rotator issue but rather a delt issue caused by a weak rotator.  Also just developed severe kneecap pain which I'm guessing is chondromalacia because it only hurts with things like lunges and stairs and luckily does NOT hurt at all while running.  Phew!

As for the new bike, I went from an entry level road bike to a nicer road bike--the Specialized Tarmac.  I'm geeked because it's carbon and has Shimano 105's.  I have issues riding aero due to a neck problem that makes it tough to keep my head back, so a tri bike is probably not in my future.

And Steve, are you a Tiger's fan or just not a Yankee's fan???  You see I'm from Michigan, right??  GO TIGERS, WOO-HOO!!