SWBKRUN MENTOR GROUP - FULL (Page 4)

Hi Steve,
My name is Lori, and I am from Chicago! Looking for a mentor right now.... I thought you might be a good source of info and motivation for me. Just joining the site tonight. I am going to try my first triathlon in July 07, and in your intro you mentioned your wife doing the Danskin triathlon. That is the one I am hoping to do first! The July 7th race is in Pleasant Prairie, WI (about an hour north of me).

I am 45 years old now, overweight but almost at my goal/~ I lost 60 pounds since about a year ago. Now I work out every day and have developed a new committment to it. I was an athlete in high school and college, but after marrying a spectator back in 83, I slowly became one myself. I have been divorced for about 10 years but the weight that crept on over the years took a toll on my self confidence, and then more weight came on. Now I am really focused on regaining what I once had. My confidence and enthusiasm is at a high point right now.

I used to run cross country, was on the swim team and lifeguraded on the beach during high school and college. Running comes easy but my speed is very slow~! I'm only doing 10-12 minute miles right now. I have not begun swimming or biking yet. I have a copy of the training program from Michael Pate's Total Sprint that I found on this site and plan to start with that. Since the race is six months away, I feel I am at a good starting point time-wise.

Love to know your thoughts, advice, questsions, etc... thanks!
Lori

NICE TO MEET EVERYONE! Seems like we have a nice diverse group of people.

I worked out on the bike in the gym tonight for the first time. I havd always used the eliptical type machines. I really did not care for the position of the bike. Since I have read how important position is to prevent injury, I know that I will need to log miles on the real-thing. I have an appointment first thing in the morning at the bike shop and I will let you know what happens. Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Like many of us in hear it seems, I am a go-and-get-it type of person. I am glad that a few of you have prevented me from buying goodies that I simply do not need at this time.
I followed instructions from a beginner 16-week Sprint routine today for my basic bike work out an would like to share something. I have never used this method before but I really must say that I do not feel nearly as "tight" or sore as I have in the past.

5 min walk, 3 min slow jog, stop and stretch, 5 min walk, 35 min bike, 5 min cool down, stretch, 5 min walk.

I took the time to actually follow these guidlines and it felt great!

I am going to go on a walk/hike along a beach trail near my house tomorrow afternoon with my wife and I will be "resting" at the SAN DIEGO CHARGERS play-off game Sunday GO BOLTS!

That COMPU-TRAINER is sick! I think I would get hooked on it like a video game! Holy cow man....$1500.00. That is a killer idea and a great way to workout.

Sounds like everyone has some good goals set up. My gym opens back up today. I usually do workouts Mon, Wed, and Fri. Our town doesn't have a pool (well, we have a college that has a pool, but it's for students only), so if I swim I usually have to go 30 miles in any direction to hit a lake or pool. Luckily, my swim is my strongest. I was planning on running this morning, but it's raining and really cold. I'm not so hardcore that I will risk getting sick. Instead, I just did some home workouts. Push-ups, crunches, and leg lifts.

It's awesome that everyone here is really pumped about triathlons. I can say from experience that it is definitely worth the hype. When I was training for my first race, I often thought, "Why the heck am I doing this?" But crossing that finish line was all I needed. You see, I never played any sports in high school. I was in band as well. Nothing bad about that, just not the most active of school activities. I have always been envious of the people that could get out there and compete in sports. I have always thought that I am just not built to be an athlete. So, when I actually finished my first race, it was a huge accomplishment for me. As my wife and I were leaving the event, I actually started tearing up thinking about what I had accomplished. My wife was really awesome at supporting me and still is. Quick side note: If you have a significant other, bring them along to the race. One of the best experiences is coming around that final corner and seeing your loved ones cheering you on. So, I'm still not an athlete...I'm now a tri-athlete! Just finishing that one race has giving me more confidence in a lot of areas of my life. It's awesome having conversations with people and they ask you what you like to do. I love the look their faces when I say, "I like to run triathlons." That is always followed with a blank stare and a gaping mouth.

Anyway, this is an awesome group. Use this site! It is an amazing resource. I was able to hook up with a few people from here at my first race. And my wife was able to hang out with the sister of one of the other BTers while I was racing. Great way to make friends. Also, as the race draws closer, don't freak out about the thought of a huge competitive race. I'd say about 95% if the people at my first race were just there to race. Of course, there were the ones everyone new was gonna win, but most everyone was there just to have fun. So keep that in mind...HAVE FUN!!!

I always seem to have the longest posts. I'll try to work on brevity.

My plans for this weekend:

SAT: 25 mile bike ride. Just finished, although it was a little harder than I thought it was going to be.
SUN: short brick (7 mile ride, then a 10 min run), just to get the feeling of the transition. I hadn't tried this before my first sprint Tri last year, and was surprised by how tough those first 500 yds of the run were. If a really nice fellow racer hadn't started chatting me up, which took my mind off the pain, I probably would have tanked.

Oh, a cool site to track bike training that might be worth checking out:

bikejournal.com

Went on an hour fast-pacedwalk with my wife yesterday. Just over 3-miles and believe it or not I actually have a little shin-splint in one leg this am....what a whimp! Today is an OFF day and I am leaving for the Chargers play-off game shortly. I have a swim work-out on Monday night. I will try to mix in a short bike on Monday as well. Tues I am being fit for my new bike. Looking forward to catching up soon.

I had a good run today, followed by a little session of stretching...But its cold here and after a walk back to my place afterwards and a quick sit down, my legs are tightening up pretty quick. Does anybody have a good stretching routine that they wouldn't mind sharing?

This ice storm is really cramping my style

It's been so cold and icy here this weekend that I've done nothing. I really need my bike trainer to get here.

Didn't do much today. The weekends are time for family and church at my house. I will be shooting for a Saturday early morning workout in the future, but the rest of the day is dedicated to family. Hope the coming week is great for you guys.

Boy this weather has reeked craziness around the world.. Just hang in there to all.. Before we know it it will be way too hot for everyone..

I hope it's ok if I join your group?

Here is a little bit about myself.

I am a soon to be 49 year old (next Wednesday) married with no kids, who just over 2 years ago decided that I needed to lose some weight. I was about 250lbs on a 5' 9" frame, so way over weight. I started on the South Beach diet in Sept 2004 and lost about 40lbs before starting to run on a dreadmill in January of 2005. I was building up to about 3k per day on the dreadmill and then decide to take a 10k clinic at the local Running Room store with a view to competing in a 10k race on Canada Day. The clinic started on April 1st and I competed in my first 10k race on May 1st and finished in 1hr 2minutes. I then did two more 10ks and couple of 5's over the next few months, ending with a 1/2 marathon at the Toronto Marathon. In early 2006 I was down to 185lbs and feeling great. In 2006 I completed 17 races of varying distances, including 3 1/2 marathons and a full marathon (Ottawa in May in just under 6hours). I was injured for the marathon with Achilles tendonitis and then ITBS just past half way at the actual race.

In the summer of 2006 I decided to try tri's for a change of pace and to hopefully reduce the wear and tear on the Achilles and provide me with some cross training. Using my old heavy MTB with big knobby tires, I completed a Duathon in Grimsby (the weather cancelled the swim), in about 40 minutes (1.5k run 10k bike, 2.5K run). My first ever multisport event was great and I was hooked. I then did a real Try-aTri (370M swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run) a couple of weeks later. The swim was hard for me, mainly due to doing the breast stroke most of the way.

Next two races I moved up to the sprint distance. Both of these finished in about 1hr 40 minutes, but this time I had invested in a Fuji Aloha Tri bike, which increase my speed by about 10k/h to average of just under 30k/h. Still the swim was my nemesis finishing the 750M in 19 minutes, again mainly breast stroke.

This year I want to compete in a couple of sprints to start with the goal of moving up to the Olympic distance by mid season.

Currently I am still running and starting to work out a training program for the beginning of the season. I have running three races booked so far, and 8K on Jan 28th, a 1/2 on March 4th and a 30K at the end of March and am busy training for these races.

Looking forward to participating in this group and getting some great motivation and tips for this year.

Welcom Rich

Thanks Steve.

Steve,
I would like to know what (if any) suppliments you would recommend to us beginners in training. I would like to have the quickest recovery possible, maintain energy levels, and build muscle strength. I know that the training in itself has and will continue to shed the extra pounds. I know that there are some great suppliments on the market but every single store (online or not) seems to point you in a different direction depending upon what they are selling. Let me know....

http://www.sportquestdirect.com/

I have used this stuff almost since day 1. Great recovery drink as well as pills. Once you start getting into your longer rides/runs you will starting taking carbo load (straight carbs!). They have a great supply for all this stuff. Thermolytes for your sodium replacements.

I have also bought stuff from (http://www.personalbestnutrition.com/cgi-bin/pbn/index.html). I believe the owner is a frequentor on BT. Brian Shea is his name. Plus they have a TON of ARTICLES ON NUTRITION! Hope this helps.

Ok, so lets just go over a couple things. I like to look @ your training logs and see how things are going, as well I like to leave little notes for you guys! I would also like some feedback (constructive-I am sensitive!) on what you guys want/need from me in order to make your NEW WORLD a lot easier. There are 14 of us in the group and I think that this is plenty. Too many more and we forget about each other..... Here's the list:

Me/Steve- Seattle Wa.
Terrance- Tallahasse Fl. (FSU STUDENT)
Ryan- San Diego Ca.
Mindy-South Florida
Benson- Houston Tx.
Jim- Somewhere in Texas
Jared- Canyon Tx.
Paul- Beaverton Or.
Jan- Northern Virgina
Adam- St. Loius (also a college student-CHIROPRACTOR)
Dave- Atlanta Georgia
Lori- Chicago (BOO BOO BOO the BEARS!) We still love you though!
Dusty-Searcy AR
Rich-Somewhere in the world of Canada heh!

Dusty- This is well put... It is a UNBELIEVEABLE FEELING when you cross that finish line. Not only the first time, everytime. Knowing what kind of work/time you put into prepping for each race! It's a huge accomplishment. On the spouse kick, I have it pretty good considering my wife beats me in all of our RACES! SHE ROCKS, but one thing we got away from was taking a race off to watch the other. We missed that. We are always racing together (WHICH IS ALSO NICE, but you think about yourself what your racing), and missing our cheering section! We each get chills when we see each other on the course, but it is different! If you do not have a spouse that participates in the this sport, MAKE SURE YOU THANK THEM ALL THE TIME FOR LETTING YOU TRAIN! It takes time, commitment, and you change when you get it this sport. Your more confident, you watch what you eat, you go to bed earlier, and all this may affect your spouse if you don't make them aware or comfortable with the "NEW SITUATION!" It truly is a great sport, but it is very easy to get caught up in it! I MEAN YOU ARE A 3 SPORT PROFESSIONAL! IT TAKES TIME! A

PS, DUSTY I FIGURE IF I QUOTE ENOUGH, I may have post as long as yours!

Steve,

I am learning the basics of the training log and would like to make sure that you are able to view it. There are far too many things for me to fill out daily, but I will fill out as much as I can on a regular basis. I appreciate your help thus far. Now that we have a complete group, I feel like we are really getting started! Good luck everyone

LOL!!!!! You still got a way to go to become a "Post Hog" like me.

On a training note, I went back to the gym today. First time since 12/27/06. All I did was run on the treadmill. I wanted to see how far I could go. I got to one mile and was like, "No prob." Then came 2. Then I was like, "I have to do 3.1!" Had to keep telling myself, "Don't quit! Don't quit!" I will probably regret it later. The last time I ran that far was my race. I anticipate being sore tomorrow, but I did it! It was an awesome feeling. Now I just have to add a few more miles for my next race: Half Marathon Relay. Thanks again for being a mentor. I look forward to learning a lot from you and everyone here.

GREAT JOB DUSTY.... That is awesome. If you pushed yourself that hard yesterday, BE SURE to take it somewhat easy today. Give your muscles a rest. Maybe run half that time, or distance, and throw in some walking and solid stretching! GREAT JOB!

'Terrance- Tallahasse Fl. (FSU STUDENT)'
Go Noles!!!!

(I grew up in St. Petersburg).

I grew up in Miami! GO CANES! Hard to say now given their reputation!

Well I'm a Husker...from just outside Omaha...so in the spirit: GO BIG RED!

============================

I like the 'Canes, too. Just don't mention that team in Gainesville!