Tee Cris' Group - CLOSED (Page 5)

Nice job Rachel!  We thought you left us

Nah, you can't get rid of me that easily!

RunningJayhawk - 2009-02-04 3:35 PM Good. I can't be the only girl regularly checking in. This isn't a boys club, ya know! How's the half planning coming along? When is your race again? ...speaking of races...we should gather all of our key races dates and put 'em in one big list for fun so we know who to virtually cheer on and when! What do you think?

You are just chock full of good ideas!  The training is okay.  It was really cold here today in NC so I stayed in.  (It was lik 30 which is really cold.  I know it's not Chicago- I lived there for 7 years- but I am totally climatized.)  It will be back up to the 60s this weekend.  My HIM is May 2/3, whichever is that Staurday.  I am really excited but really nervous!!! 

I'm planning on:

Lonestar HIM - April 5th Galveston, TX

IM Coeur d'Alene - June 21st Coeur d'Alene, ID

We have sprints and Oly's throughout the year around Dallas and I'm waiting to see how this IM training goes before I commit to any.

Interesting news of the day:  I got out the door at 5:30 for a run today.  Not sure how it happened other than the reality of kids and work is setting in lately and this seems to be the best time to make sure it gets done.  Funny what an IM will do for motivation and training habits! 

March 29- MAP (sprint distance)

May 2- White Lake HIM

June 27- Tri-Latte (sprint distance)

I am thinking of doing 70.3 Augusta but I will probably(well, hopefully) be too pregnant by then.  

One MIA reporting in....

I had a 2 1/2 week break in January... started up again about 2 weeks ago and I've been sticking with the plan. (insert lame excuse here about full-time college, full-time work, and two kids aged 3 & under)

I just caught up on some of the recent conversations - here are my contributions:

My bike is a 1992 Diamondback Sorrento mountain bike.  I'm going to use it for 2009 and when I show myself that I am sticking with this hobby, I may treat myself to a bicycle purchase in early 2010.  The bike has been very loyal and is functional, and I can't justify an additional expense at the moment.

The sprint triathlon I'm training for is on July 26, but I'll be signing up for at least one 5K taking place in/around April as an interim goal.

That's the update from here in NJ - I'm slowly making progress and thanks to everyone for keeping me honest.  There's definitely some accountability with being involved in a group.

AJ

Barb -

Columbus, NJ... as in home of the Columbus Farmer's Market on 206?  If so, I'm about 15 minutes north of there in Hamilton Township, just north of Trenton.

Thanks for the kind words and I will definitely keep you posted on my progress. I'm definitely excited at the prospect of a more active lifestyle and I'm thankful that there are people (like you, Todd, and the rest of the group) who are interested in helping others.

Tough to believe we're 5 weeks into '09...

aj

Way to go AJ!   Glad to see you here again!!

Barb hit it on the head.  I got into this through friends who were just starting out and at the time I was just running some road races here and there.  I always went to a gym or ran but had very few goals or events that I was working toward.  I decided to see what it was all about and signed up for a sprint.  After that race I analyzed all the things I could have done differently and was totally hooked.  All of a sudden the daily workouts had a purpose.  Having races to look forward to and trying to improve is the key for me.  I also have some friends here locally to compete with and that really helps.

Make it to your first race and see what happens.  The lifestyle part may kick in at some point.  Come by here and let us know how you're doing - good or bad.  We're here to help, and we're always trying to pull more people into the cult

Thanks, Todd.  It's nice to have people willing to help.

Here's a newbie question:

Any hints on how to find a decent pair of swimming goggles?  The pair I'm using leak a bit and fog up pretty easily. I would like to think I have them adjusted properly for my face, but for all I know I may not have them on properly.

I did some research on amazon.com to see people's opinions and I'm guessing it's like most other pieces of equipment; it all varies based on individual's taste, body shape, expectations, etc...

Looking forward to hearing the thoughts of the group.

Happy Friday everyone...

aj

 Yep, good-bye snow! It was really nice. Almost 50 degrees. I worked out in the morning though, did 40min ofcrossfit type stuff with my wife. Hoping to run outside today. 

I went on my longest ride ever today, 31 miles.  Yay!!!  It was kind of slow but I hav4e to start somewhere and there were some killer hills.  I ran out of gears to shift to and seriously thought I was going to end up walking the bike up one hill.  Then, a short little run. 

Hi Everyone, I'm still here, been a little quiet recently on the training/posting front, but for good reason - I went for it this past weekend and took a Total Immersion Workshop (aka Bootcamp).

After taking a look at the TI video (thanks Barb) and trying it in the pool myself and still not feeling great in the pool, I decided to jump in and give the workshop a try since it was in Philly this past weekend, and - it was TOTALLY worth it!!!

Basically the workshop was broken down into 4 two-hour pool sessions with hour long breaks in between where you reviewed videos of your individual progress throughout the weekend (both above and under water shots).  They worked from the very very basic (e.g. floating) all the way up to full stroke, in a very structured, build upon the last step approach.  My initial fear going into it was that it was some sort of "proprietary" stroke, but really what it's all about is a pretty fundamental way of teaching a normal, very efficient stroke.

So, onto the results... During the first pool session on Saturday, they video'd a 25m lap - it took me 24 strokes, I only breathe to the right, and I felt winded 3/4 through.  By the Sunday afternoon final taping, I finished the same 25m lap in less time, was able to breathe bilaterally, did not feel winded/fatigued, and only took 7 strokes!!!  What an improvement!!!  So, with a few more months of practice, the swim on any distance shouldn't be a problem considering my new form and new found confidence in the water!!!

So, for now, my race plans are still pretty simple:
- Philadelphia Sprint 6/28
- New Jersey State Sprint 7/28 (AJ, I'll see you there)
- Marhsman Sprint 9/4
- Quakerman Olympic 9/18

Now, off to sleep to rest my aching new found swim muscles!!!

KD

Kevin, WOW!!  Good thing you didn't listen to us about using the money for private lessons instead.   Congratulations! 

I've got to ask one question.  Was it 7 strokes or 17?

Thx!!!  The stroke count was actually 7 - essentially the stroke uses your hips as the driver, limited kicking (really only for balance) and one heck of a glide in a very streamlined position, all with very very little effort - it's almost like to perfect gold swing - the harder you try and swing a club, the worse off you are!!!

The good news is I also walked away with a pretty custom training plan to keep my momentum going and burn in muscle memory.  Plus, there are a few TI coaches in Philly that are available for brush-ups later.

I highly, highly recommend giving it a try, especially for IM distance swims since the key take away from TI swimming is form vs. effort.

KD

Kevin-

That is tremendous news - congratulations on making such a dramatic improvement in such a short period of time.  I'm looking forward to hearing more about your progress in the pool. (and I'm a bit jealous because I definitely could benefit from the workshop experience)

My company (J & J) is putting together a team of people for the Philly Triathlon in June, so I'll definitely see you there (as well as in NJ).  We're raising money for the Cancer Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I'm very excited to be a part of a group - not sure how many people we'll end up with, but the guy leading the group has done 7 triathlons of varying lengths.

Congratulations again on the great workshop weekend - keep the swim updates coming!

AJ