Gray Guys/Girls Masters Focus Triathlete Forum (all levels welcome)--CLOSED (Page 4)

Hi,

Is there room in this group for one more?

I am Robin, 53 and an adult onset athlete. I somehow stumbled upon triathlon when I was in a weight loss mode in 2008. I had started running doing the c25k program. I have always trained by myself and stumbled upon this site. I did my first sprint that summer and was never more proud of myself. Since then, minor but annoying health issues helped me put on the weight I have gained but I have still been plugging at races a few HMs and a couple of Olympic distances. like others here, I only really can do 2-3 races a year.

My goal this year is to shed the excess weight (40 lbs would be good) if for no other reason than it sure would be easier to run and bike! I would really like to do better that DFL in the NYC tri this year, too

Married for 18 years with two semi-adult step kids. (24 and 25).

Yes, I did Richmond.  THe course is beautiful and all---but my body hated every minute of training. My knee quit at mile 18 and I had to walk it in to finish.

When is the lake swim in C'ville?  Sounds like a fun one and I have toyed with that in the past.

GREAT.

I am currently trying to get my training together for the next few  months.. I have an Olympic plan set up but my foot surgery is not healed as far as I had hoped by now. I can't run.. heck, I can't even walk very well, so I am going to have to be heavy on the bike and swim. Of course getting to my pool is always a challenge. It is 35 minutes away and the hours are odd. Life's challenges. Can I count the Polar Plunge I am going to do on NY day as a training swim?

I am in the process of redoing all the 'Swimming Techniques' articles on my website and adding a couple additional articles - 'the catch.' and 'endurance training' to name a couple.  Hope to have that all done in the next week or so.

As to your body rotation and breathing.  It is not at all uncommon for a swimmer to have proper rotation to the normal breathing side and improper rotation to the non-breathing side.  The simplist way to fix this is a) concentrate on even body rotation and, b) learn bi-lateral breathing - breathing to both sides.  That will be a challenge at first but it will pay off in the long run.  Imagine being in an an open water swim in the ocean, you are only able to breath to your right side, and there is a 20 MPH wind and a 3 foot swell coming from the right.  You are going to be drinking a lot of tasty saltwater.  On the other hand, if you are able to breath to both sides, you simply breath on the side opposite the swell and presto, no intake of salt water.

The easiest way to learn bi-lateral breathing is to incorporate it into your workouts.  Maybe breath every third stroke.  If your swim fitness is such that you prefer to breath every stroke, then maybe breath to the left on odd number laps and too the right on even number laps.  Another way to learn quickly is to do your next workout only breathing to your weak side, then alternate breathing after that.

Hope that helps.

Originally posted by JREDFLY I hope everyone is having a great day! I think it is unanimous that Scott was running away with our last contest and will be awarded the coveted Black Dog Mug - with bragging rights! Scott PM me your address. To give the new people an idea on how our contest works I will attach the last results I have due to the last thread disappearing (the names have been changed to protect the innocent). Stu can be thanked for creating this thoghtful matrix where it not only rewards the people that have quite a bit of weight to lose but gives points for not gaining weight and strong incentives for time working out. This is how it works: Gain 5 points for no weight gain. Gain 10 points for every pound loss and lose 10 points for every pound gained Gain 1 point for every 30 minutes working out (swim, bike, run or weight training) I will let the boss-man set the dates for the contest but we usually weigh-in and report on Sundays or Mondays at the latest and I try to post the weekly results by Tuesday night. It keeps everyone engaged and gets the competive juices going. For you new people, I was in your sneakers last year, please do not hesitate to ask questions the experienced people on this thread are thoughtful and a great resource. Happy holidays everyone. James

Are you only counting S/B/R workouts or any logged workout in this?  Just want to be fair since some of us do a lot of non S/B/R stuff too.

Are you only counting S/B/R workouts or any logged workout in this?  Just want to be fair since some of us do a lot of non S/B/R stuff too.