Meulen's 'Let's tri this Thing!' beginner mentor group-CLOSED (Page 42)

Brian - hooray for taper!  Enjoy it and the final prep for your race!

I am now going to say something that I NEVER thought I would say.  I did a 10 mile run yesterday.  Yep, double digits.  And it felt GREAT.  I really enjoyed it.  And I think I walked around for the rest of the day with a silly grin on my face!  Of course, I tried to do some yard work in the afternoon, but I was pretty tired, and didn't have a lot of energy to put into it.  But, since it was finally a nice day, I did spend a couple of hours outside puttering around.  But, I found that I was hungry all day!  I think I may try a protein shake next time.  Anybody have any good recipes - no peanut butter?

My answer to the QOTD from a couple of days ago about why I did my first, and then my second, triathlon?  Yes, I am a little  late, but I wanted to answer!  Before I lost all of my weight, I was an out of shape bum who was suffering from acid reflux, headaches, body aches, and pretty low self-esteem.  I was in a car accident, and long story short ended up the gym for some physical therapy.  The guy I worked with there was amazing and really made me look at myself and my health, which was clearly more than he was there for.  Anyway, I started to feel better all around, and after my therapy was done I ended up joining the gym on my own.  From there, I started shedding more weight and got it in my head to run a 5k.  I started running around the walking track outside the gym and finally told my husband my plans.  He was incredibly supportive, and I did nervously did my first 5k.  And I loved it.  And I did more, and it got to the point where I knew that I would be able to finish without any problems.  I think part of what I enjoy is the challenge and I found that doing a 5k was not necessarily a challenge any more, if that makes sense.  I mean, I know that I could have concentrated on getting better, and that would certainly be challenging, but I wanted to do more.  So, I don't even really know how triathlon specifically came to mind, but I looked at it as my next challenge - it just seemed like a natural extension to running.  I decided to do a sprint, and told my husband in the late fall, that the tri was my new goal for the next summer.  He could not have been more encouraging.  In fact, he surprised me with a new bike for Christmas that year.  I did my first tri that next summer, and I was hooked.  I find it so much fun.  I feel healthy, my body feels better, and I have an incredible joy about myself.  I enjoy the way I look and feel and enjoy challenging myself.  And the more I do, the more I want to do.  That first sprint tri has lead to an Oly, my first HM is next month, and I am still toying with a HIM for the fall.  I love triathlon!  Sorry for the rambling!

Karen

Got hit with another cold, my 3rd this year already I think! WTF? Usually colds will stay with me for up to 2 weeks, but I'm determined to kick this one quickly and get back to good training. Managed to do my short run on Saturday and my long run today, but I skipped my long bike ride yesterday. Got 11 hours of sleep both Friday night and Saturday night and about 10 last night. Sore throat went away Saturday night and hasn't returned, but my cough is a little worse. All in all I think I'm getting better and hopefully I'll be fine for my swim tomorrow morning. Nothing grosser than snotting in the pool, right?! LOL

Good news: I found a new running buddy! He's just starting out and is the same height as me, which is awesome. Everyone else I've tried to run with has longer legs and our pace is never the same.

Karen, you are my hero!!!

Henry- thought I was getting sick again too, but hopefully it's just allergies!

Yesterday was the first ride outside like Michael said! We live just 2 miles from the city so you can imagine all the traffic on the river trail- people jogging, biking, walking their dogs, and great great grandparents! It was difficult to drive over 12 miles an hour, plus towing a trailer and one of my children with everyone's food and drinks attached. But it was a gorgeous 84 degree day and I'm looking forward to the riding season!!! I still can't believe Michael got ANOTHER flat tire!!

Meulen - 2011-04-11 1:02 PM

libramom - 2011-04-11 11:53 AM

Karen, you are my hero!!!

Henry- thought I was getting sick again too, but hopefully it's just allergies!

Yesterday was the first ride outside like Michael said! We live just 2 miles from the city so you can imagine all the traffic on the river trail- people jogging, biking, walking their dogs, and great great grandparents! It was difficult to drive over 12 miles an hour, plus towing a trailer and one of my children with everyone's food and drinks attached. But it was a gorgeous 84 degree day and I'm looking forward to the riding season!!! I still can't believe Michael got ANOTHER flat tire!!

That's gotta be awsome training though. Sometimes, I think I should put Anne in a trailor and call it a day, instead of risking pushing her! I've only had flats in succession like that. Seems they happen in groups! Run your finger around the inside of the tire to make sure something isn't stuck in there puncturing your tube.

It's definitely not something left in the tire because it was two different tire on two different bikes.  The first was on my road bike, and the second on my mountain bike.  The great thing was that they both happened when I was close to the car so I did not need to do any roadside repairs (although I was completely prepared to do so )

Yay for your new running partner! I hear you- I'm only 5'4" too. If you lived in Pgh, I'd run with you....though I've been totally sucking lately so you'd probably pass me. The other day I ran to the cemetery where it's normally peaceful and quiet except that day some high school kids were smoking pot and playing obnoxious music. I knew that if I continued running, they'd stay, but if I sat 25 feet away from them infront of a tomb stone and started meditating, they'd leave. Sure enough, less than two minutes later they all got up and left. I'm a dork like that, but it does work just in case anyone is in a similar situation.

LOLOL You totally rock. I haven't been in PGH for years, but it's good to know where to find a running buddy if I turn up! Same goes for you in MPLS too. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the only people I've ever passed are the walkers.

Well, I have finally recovered from my vacation.  Went with the family (wife & 2 kids) to Florida for a couple days a week on cruise (Royal Carribean Alure of the Seas, but that's another story).  You never stop on these ships & I needed a vacation to recover from my vacation!

Anyway, they had a running track whick I would estimate about half mile oval.  Ran 5k, 5 days.  Did 4 spin classes ( they had an innovation I had not seen, but some of you probably have).  Every participant wore a heart rate monitor & you HR & % max, with age adjusted zones were projected on a screen for everyone to see!  Instructor, called several people out for not working hard enough.  No hiding!  Anyway, I was glad I did exercise, to make up for my dietary & alcohol indulgences!

Things are finally warming up here & I went for an run, outside, again today.  Hopefully will get outside on one of my bikes within a week or 2.  Once I make the transition, I tend to avoid gym for 6 months, again.

My sporadic winter with various injuries, aches & pains & other challenges & left me woefully undertrained & my 10k today let me know this in no uncertain terms!  Hopefully,gonna get consistent again.  I have a long way to go, but the journey is the training!

Anyway, that's my little confession/vent/plan!

Hope everyone is well...

Looks like a few of you die-hards are going to keep the thread going...congrats!

good! we'd pass the walkers and then go to an all-you-can-eat indian buffet. HA!

Meulen - 2011-04-11 10:02 PM Welcome back Richard! You guys on vacation are killing it! Props to you training when you could be laying on the beach sucking down margaritas.

seriously...what's wrong with those people!!!

I do believe you've got yourself a deal! :D

Changed a tube & tire for Chris last night! Didn't *ahem* time myself...that's probably a good thing. I hate changing tires!

My inexperienced opinion is that if one gets a flat on a 13 mile sprint course, it's probably not worth the time it takes to patch it. Do you more experienced ones agree or am I just making excuses? I mean, I would still want to finish, but do folks usually just DNF in that scenario? Hopefully I won't have to deal with it at all!

Henry

I would definitely change the flat and keep going! After all this training and the blood, sweat, and tears that go into getting me to the start line I don't care if I have to throw my bike over my shoulder and carry it the rest of the way (even though that would probably disqualify me, ha) I WILL cross that finish line and finish the race!

Ugh, that's so sad and scary for me to think that after all this hard work that its possible to be knocked out by a bike issue that has nothing to do with physical capabilities!

That's racing!!!  

very true! but i'd rather be the person carrying my bike to the finish line than the guy in the race who did a walk-swim-hop last year. he was, thankfully, disqualified. i guess he didn't think people would notice he didn't know how to swim.

It's kinda funny you guys brought this up.  During my Olympic Tri a guy got a flat 4 miles from the transition area.  He carried the bike over his shoulder and walked back and then went on the run.  The sad thing was, he still beat me.  Never even saw the guy.  My wife told me about it.  I would definately change the tire.  You should be able to change one in less than 5 minutes.  I did that my first tire change.  You could always practice this to get faster.  Sounds like Michael is getting plenty of practice. 

I am so stoked.  My wife has been inspired by me and started to run.  She had been doing Kettleworx with me for a year now and lost a ton of weight and gotten really toned but had not tried any running.  We do go for "slower" "easier" bike rides together every now and then.  But she wasn't wanting to run.  She tripped me out being able to run 2.5 miles without stopping her first try.  It was slow, but it was steady.  I have slowed my running down to accomidate her and actually I am feeling better than I had been.  Now all I have to do is get her into swimming.   I perhaps see a sprint tri in her future.  She just doesn't know it yet. 

great about your wife, dale!!! you must be inspiring!

and now, completely unrelated- there was a "fight" that broke out in my yoga class last night. luckily it was in the back of the room and i don't think many people who were in the middle/front really noticed. it was something about this lady who moans and groans (yes, she's annoying and i have confronted her about it before, but she still does it) very loudly during class. she sometimes even moans during our final relaxation....how weird is that? anyway, the woman infront of her, i guess, got really upset with all of her moaning and purposefully (i saw it) kicked the moaner in the face while doing one of the poses. the moaner started moaning louder and finally the kicker turned around and said, "you are the most obnoxious person i have ever seen!" and walked out!

and then things are extraordinarily insane at work this week. is it a full moon?