Bonnie Crawford's Group - FULL (Page 4)

Rachel you should come get your parents and take them wherever you are! I am not without power as they are. Apparently it is cold enough here to get solid, 100% sleet. McAlaster was a little warmer and got freezing rain which coated every power line and every tree near a power line. Those poor people are in really bad shape.

The ice is so solid, our car does not leave tracks in the driveway, no foot prints. I think my daughter will be out of school until Spring Break. Monday we discovered running and diving on your belly was just as fast as the sled. After a fun time sledding and sliding we dropped in to check on our 70 and 80-year-old neighbors, Jeannie and Earl.

Jeannie invited my daughter to help her go out into the back yard and feed the geese on the neighborhood pond. When she mentioned picking up my 48 lb. daughter I insisted on tagging along. A bit skeptical, I asked, "Jeannie, are you sure you can get back up the hill?"

"Oh yes, this is my third time today to feed them."

The three of us ventured out the back door and tentatively scooted across the patio, neared the crest of the yard, then thuwmp, thuwmp, thuwmp. All three of us slid into the fence. After regaining our breath and a little composure Jeannie scattered the corn which bounced and rolled 20 feet.

We all gave our best effort of returning to the house to no avail. Two steps up, thuwmp. Two steps up, thuwmp. I'm making every effort to get up the hill while also trying to catch Jeannie each time she slides back - not a fruitful combination. She is working so hard at digging in the heels of her shoes, but still falling uncontrolably back, she toots on me (my daughter's favorite part of the story).

Finally we decided to slide along the fence row to the corner and pull ourselves up to the edge of the house. That got us close, but not quite there. I instructed the other two to stay put while I went in to retrieve Earl's ski poles he frequently used like a cane. I managed to climb to the corner of the house, shimmy like Cat Woman along the brick, and race inside. Just as I was coming back to save the day my daughter was pulling Jeannie in using a stick she found.

The geese have no idea how pampered they are!

This is totally off topic, but fun to share, and an unexpected workout.

We're getting 5-10 more inches Saturday!

Sounds like you had quite an adventure! My parents are toughing it out... GA is a bit far for them to evacuate! Hopefully they'll have power again soon. They got a new generator and heater yesterday :-)

On the pound-per-week, I'm delighted to report -5 since last Thursday! Whoohoo!

Rachel

Sounds like everyone is having quite the weather adventures across the country.

Great job on the weight loss progress, it sounds like everyone is meeting their individual goals quite nicely

Here's some info on the Danskin - If you're *at all* interested in doing one as your first triathlon, register now. The races (there are 8 or 9 nationwide) fill within weeks or days of registration opening.

In Seattle which is the closest race to me and held in August it usually sells out by March. Just FYI, it's a major production but honestly one of the BEST experiences ever. It's all women of every age, shape, size and ability and no one has to finish last because Sally Edwards (a multi-time Ironman finisher and head of the races, always does). This was my first ever triathlon and I'll never forget the experience and being able to share it with 4000+ other women was AWESOME!

Kate - I'm doing IM Coeur d'Alene which is in Northern Idaho, the last weekend in June. My head spins when I think about how soon it's coming up.

Rachel - Sounds like you're making great progress on your biking. Don't worry about not being where you think you should be. Triathlon is such an individual sport that it helps to look only at what you can and are doing. I've had a really hard time with this as I've compared myself to people who were training more than I was. Now I don't worry about it. I'm doing this for me and the only one I'm really competing against is myself (and that pesky little clock).

Work was crazy this week being in Louisiana and I only got 2 hours of sleep on Tuesday night but I did manage to complete my planned workout Took yesterday off as I made my way home and in spite of an awful day of eating yesterday (evidenced by +1 on the scale). I'm back on track today.

Have a great rest of the week!

When I go onto the Danskin website it, the page for race registration says under construction, check back later. Is there another place I should be looking to get my registration for Seattle?

I will be gone for most of Feburary, so don't want to miss the entry.
Carol

Registration might not open until late January or early February so I'd keep checking back in.

How's everyone doing this weekend?

Did you all have a good week? How'd the 1 pound lost challengers do?

Nate, Kate, Rachel, Sarah, Carol - What was the best fitness related thing you did this week? Did you go further, faster or harder in a workout than you planned? Did you try something new? Share your win

I was down .2 this week which was a positive for me since I'd had very little sleep all week and was flying here and there and I tend to eat less healthy choices when I'm on a plane

My win this week was that I took my lunch yesterday in spite of the drizzle and cold and went for a 6 mile run on the river. I felt great and actually worried that I was going a little too slow but when I finished I figured out I was running faster than I expected. Hooray!

My fitness success this week is lost 1.5 lbs and went skiing for the second time after a 5 year layoff. I got over my fear from the first time out and skied intermediate runs all day..it felt really good. I needed to get over that initail fear of falling, and fear of broken bones

Today is my rest day so went to REI and bought new Keen walking shoes.. they feel great.

Carol

I weigh in tomorrow and am pretty sure I will not be making my 1lb. goal this week. I've been eating too much and not enough veggies. Today, I'm back on track and will have to do double time next week to catch up.

My best fitness thing - today I swam 1500 meters - the length of the swim in my event. It was my first time and I felt good.

So did anyone have wisdom to offer on my strength training question?

"I went to a Rep Rebok class at the gym this morning. It is a group weight lifting class. I've always enjoyed going, but the endurance style of lifting contradicts a great article I just read on this site in the article section "Strength Training for Triathlon." The article promotes a more time efficient, high weight, low rep style. What do you guys subscribe to? "

Sarah

Weigh in today . . . . (drum roll please) down .8!

I am happy with that knowing how naughty I've been. This week I will focus on healthy choices.

Bonnie - way to go running in the rain, FAST.

I found out yesterday that my intended triathlon has been postponed until '08. USAT is offering OKC an opportuinty to host an Olympic qualifying event and city planners believe they should focus all of their attention on that one.

I am investigating other local events and went to the Danskin web site. I like what I saw there even though it was very little. It doesn't even say what distance the events are. Carol, I'll keep checking back with you.

Long bike ride today - indoors again.

Sarah

Awesome job on the loss Sarah! .8 is still .8 and over time those add up

All of the Danskin races are Sprint distances (5-800yd swim. 12.5 m bike, 5k run)

Watching the Saints game and then I'll hop on my trainer for a fun 2 hour ride.

Sarah -- weight question. I guess the answer depends upon where you are. I'm at my maximum strength phase, but I've been working out for a while. If you haven't been working out, you need to establish a foundation before you go chugging those heavy weights around. You can do real damage to supporting tendons and ligaments. All the teeny stabilizing muscles need to be developed before you do heavy stuff. Start light, work up slowly. The body takes time to adapt. I'm into the heavy stuff now, and it's no picnic. The potential for damage is a lot greater, and I'm pretty conservative.

Body weight's the same, but I've been pretty aggressive so far, so to be expected. Eating all the right stuff in the right quantities and at the right times, so it was a good week. Funny what happens inside your head when you get serious! Winning thoughts just seem to fall in place. It's a happy place to be, for sure.

My peak moment this week ... probably my seven-miler on an icey path in the snow. It was pretty nevertheless, and not another hardy soul on the trail.

Nate, how are you doing? Haven't heard much from you lately! Hope all is going well.

Kate

Hi ladies,

Everything is going well for me. I've decided to focus on my indoor biking for the winter as we've gotten hammered with snow the last week. I'm on my exercise bike 6x a week and I'm trying to alternate my intensity days and do 4 days of high and 2 of medium.

Last night I decided to buy a new ab crunch bench as I wasn't feeling the burn from doing crunches on the exercise ball. Here's what I got:

http://www.impex-fitness.com/proddetail.asp?ModelNumber=TSA-410


Saturday night I did 90 crunches on the ball and didn't really feel much yesterday. Last night on my new bench I did 3 sets of 10 and then tried to do a 4th and couldn't...

I can definately feel the burn today.

Weight wise - I'm continuing my downward trend. I weigh in every Weds. Last week I was down 1.6

I took my daughter to the local junior high to swim tonight and my wife met us there. After playing with them for a while I decided to swim some laps. Great workout, but man, I have alot of work to do before next summer. :D When I got home I really didn't feel like biking, but I forced myself to do it, and it ended up being a great ride tonight.

Yay Nate! You Rock!

We all have a lot of work to do. I did 1300 in the pool last night and my shoulders are really feeling it. Sad, sad, sad.

Keep up the great work, guy!

Don't sweat it Kate - I had almost the same thing happen in the pool to me yesterday as well. Was supposed to do 2100 and ended up only doing 1150

My coach last year told me if you start a workout and you aren't feeling it in the first 15 or 20 minutes. Stop. Get off the bike, get out of the pool etc. Don't force yourself to do miles just to do them.

Great job on the loss and the workouts Nate! Sounds like you are staying on track very vigilently.

Off to ride my bike to work. Brrrrrrrrrrr!

Thanks for the sympathy, Bonnie. I am not loving living here in the North ... using the indoor pool ... running in the snow, blah, blah, blah, and feeling very sorry for myself.

Bonnie, where are you keeping your training logs? I'd love to take a look at them and see how far off the mark I am, being six months behind you in training. Share, kiddo?

Talk to you later.
Kate

You Ironwomen are putting in some amazing distances. Your shortened workouts are pretty impressive to me. I'm so thankful to have your experience available to me.

Nate, I like your new bench. It looks like the beginnings of a full gym.

Well, Thursday was my off day; the first one I felt I really deserved. It felt so good, I bagged Friday's short run! Ha. Victory = yesterday I made up the short run at my best pace to date.

Sunday was my long bike which was 88 minutes. My legs felt great, but my sitting bones were just screaming for me to get off the bike. Afterwards I had the great idea to jump on the treadmill for a cool down and crank it up to a slow jog to see how it felt to run after biking. Near tragedy. If I had not grabbed the sides when I did my face would have met the tread in a very unpleasant way.

This is progress considering I could hardly WALK after my first bike ride. I have to believe there will be much improvement in this area.

Sarah

Kate - All of my logs are here so you should be able to go to my blog (leopard8996) and see them. I'm feeling totally fine with the biking and running distances and workouts but I'm honestly concerned on the swimming front. I'm not really fast just steady and all of my 1/2 IM training I stayed right around 1500-2000 yd workouts. Well, double that for an IM and yikes I'm struggling. So I may cut back a bit on the swimming and see if that helps or add a day or swimming and even out my yards that way.

Sarah - Sounds like you just did your first brick I recommend walk/jogging after every bike ride even if it's only for 5-15 min so you can get your legs accustomed to running off the bike and the feeling of that. It's very different. Don't start out too fast and trust me we all have a breaking in period where we feel like we are going to drop into a heap because the legs feel like jelly.

Nate - Way to go on the continued losses. Can I ask a nutritional question? As I was checking out your blog I noticed there weren't a lot of fruits and veggies in your menus. Is there a reason or are you just trying to find some you like? Just curious.

Carol - Will the Danskin Seattle be your first race or did I read this is your first race after a break? How's your training coming along?

Rachel - We're a few weeks into January, how are you feeling about training? Do you feel different? Does it seem more purposeful because you're "training" as opposed to exercising? For me this is definitely the case

Great bike ride today although I refueled a little too much with some trail mix that I had in the house. ARGH! More fruits and veggies for me tomorrow. I think maybe today it was the lack of protein. I'll have to review my logs.

FYI - I keep all of my food and training logs here so if anyone's interested feel free to check them out and ask questions. That's what I'm here for

I try to get as many veggies and fruits as I can. I only like a limited selection. My serving sizes for veggies however are 2 - 3 x what a normal serving size is, so I'm getting more per serving than most. Yesterday for fruits and veggies I had 2 apples, 3 helpings of salsa, 2 or 3 servings of carrots and 1 serving of green beans (leftovers). Most days I get the 5-7 servings in, but I'll admit there are some days where I don't.

Veggies and fruits I eat:

snap peas
peas
corn
green beans
raw carrots
celery
tomatoes
lettuce
vegetable soup
salsa
apples
bananas
(other fruit if it's on sale)

Yes, Bonnie the Danskin is my first tri. I have run marathons and done bike centuries but nothing that includes swimming. Which by the way is coming along, I am up to 700 m in my workouts.

I have company from out of town this week, so training and dieting are a little on the back burner.

Keep up the good work everyone.
Carol

Happy Weekend everyone!

Hope you all had a good week What does everyone have on tap this weekend?

Nate - Have you tried Broccoli? It's my favorite vegetable. Before WW I hated it but now I actually crave it sometimes. It has to be steamed very soft so it's almost falling apart but yum yum it's delicious.

Carol - Way to go on the swimming. At 700 yds you've almost got the Danskin distance covered.

Kate/Sarah/Rachel - How's the progress coming along?

With less than a week to go in the month of January, it seems a great time to take stock of what you've accomplished already this month.

Have you increased your frequency of workouts? Have you gone further than you expected to? Are you getting faster in any of the 3 sports?

Question - Are most of you walking or jogging or a little of both? The reason I ask is because I just got a new IM watch for Christmas with 2 interval timers and I know a lot of people who swear by run/walk intervals for the running portion of a triathlon. So I tried it out today and I was SHOCKED by how fast I went and how good I felt at the end.

I was doing 4 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking for the entire run today which was 1:17 and I ended up doing 6.5 miles. YAHOO!

While you are just starting out I'd suggest doing the opposite if you can. 1 minute of jogging or running followed by 3 or 4 minutes of walking. As you progress in endurance you could start running for 30-60 seconds longer and reducing the walking time. I think you'd see tremendous progress

I've mentioned my six neighbors who are doing triathlon together -- there are five others training for marathon together. They have been talking about the benefits of run/walk intervals but with longer run portions. The 4/1 formula sounds intriguing. I will try that on my next run. Is the idea to stick with 4/1 and increase speed/distance or move towards 5/1, 6/1, etc.?

I've really tried to focus on pace when running. I have a tendency to run fast and die.

Last week my short run was 24 min. and I ran on the treadmill w/o stopping for the first time. My pace was 10:43, fastest to date. My long run, 44 min., was my first time outside in two weeks and w/o the pacing aid of a treadmill. My overall pace was 11:36, something that impressed my running friend until I confessed to walking 10 of the 44 min. Very erratic pace!

Yesterday's 26 min. short run was much better. I stayed steady with the aid of my Nike +iPod after learning how to obtain more frequent pace updates from my virtual trainer. LOVE the Nike +iPod!

Training is all good, but I'm gaining weight. I can look at my food journals and see there is usually one thing every day that if omited would have turned the whole thing around. Yesterday it was fried cheese. I am behind on losing 1lb/wk but it is possible to obtain 20 by the end of the 20 weeks - and wouldn't running be so much easier then!

Sarah

I absolutely despise broccoli...



some exciting news for me though. the deal I've had with my wife for the last 6 years is if I got to my 10% goal, my reward would be to get cable tv....well, I got to my 10% goal a few weeks ago, but we decided we couldn't afford the extra $50 a month right now for cable, and after looking into just getting an hdtv tuner for my tv decided I didn't want to spend the fortune that they cost either (not to mention I couldn't find one local)....so what we did decide to do is get me a pass to our local jr high pool. it's $60 for this semester until june 15th. they are open m, w, f 7-9 and sat 1-3 right now I plan on going 2 - 3 times per week to work on my swimming :D

Way to go on getting to your 10% Nate! Sounds like a great deal on the pool as well. I'm betting you can do a sprint by the end of the summer

Sarah - I think most people generally stick to 3/1 or 4/1 but they speed up the 3 or 4 minutes of running. Seems like that's what I'm doing which is fine by me. Keep up the good work.

Kate - How ya hanging in with the cold?

Rachel and Carol - Any fun workouts on the schedule this week?

I did a very fun 36 mile ride yesterday in 2.5 hours in the cold but beautiful sun. It was a lovely day for riding and my legs felt totally fine at the end which is always a relief.

Have a great day all!

Congrats on achieving 10% Nate. What a great feeling that is. Pool membership sounds way better than cable TV! Sounds like you are happy with the adjustment in the reward plan.

So, is your wife participating in any of your exercise or weight loss activity?

My husband says he is on our tri team, but he hasn't actually begun any training. I'm sliently cheering for him. Whenever I break the silence it seems to come out like nagging!

I had a good 97 min. ride yesterday, alone, in the dark cycling studio at the gym. I've got to find a bike! Biking on a budget seems to be an oxymoron.

Today is a light day of weight training and stretching. Tomorrow = long run. Can't wait to try the run/walk system intentionally rather than from threat of collapse.

Sarah

Last day of the month - How'd everybody do?

Please check in with your thoughts and training totals for the month. I am really loving the logging tools we have to use here

One cool thing I did was look at my training leading up to my 1/2 Ironman last summer. My biggest training month was June and I've already exceeded my mileage in Janurary. WOO HOO!!!

Hope everyone found this first month of discussion helpful. As always feel free to ask questions or for advice or tips.