Famelec Brian's Mentor Group - FULL (Page 5)

OK, now that we're half way through the month, let's reflect a bit on what we've accomplished and what we can do better. 

How did your training go in the first two weeks of January?  If you're training for a specific race, are you satisfied that you're progressing adequately for your goals of that race?

In my case got mildly sick from being underdressed on my Jan 1 ride.  Not a good way to start the year!  I maintained my running plan during the first two weeks, though not my swimming or biking.  I skipped mid-week swimming and biking in the first week in the hopes of getting over my cold.  In the second week I swam a couple of times but skipped the bike (partly out of laziness, partly afraid of the sick thing).  I still have the sniffles but nothing bad anymore.

Clearly my challenge for the rest of the month is to get in the habit of riding mid-week again.  I use bike commuting as for my training, but I find it so easy to come up with an excuse for not doing it!  Once I'm out on the bike it isn't a big deal, but getting on the bike apparently is.  Our weather is back to normal again so that's no longer an excuse!

So my personal challenge for the next two weeks is:  1)  bike commute at least once each week and 2) swim three times in one week and minimally twice in the other.

What are your personal goals for the next two weeks?

Brian

Training going pretty good so far.  Seems I've been concentrating on the biking a lot lately.  Will add in more runs - and longer one's too.  Getting into the pool is no problem - it's getting TO the pool I am finding difficult.  Especially during the week.  Since finishing Born To Run, I am finding new motivation and skill sets to test. 

Hi All,

We are off  to Euro Disney for 3 days this week which causes me a training problem, so my plan for this week is to train twice tomorrow and wednesday, and then again on Sunday when we get back to catch up, also get my bike into the shop on wednesday before we go to get the gears set up properly as they have never been right (bought form halfords an auto parts place with a bike department but they were rubbish at putting it together) then the following week back to my normal routine and my goal then will be to get out on the road on my bike for my 1st ride outside of the year. Also i want to up my swimming from 100m freestyle before a rest to 150m in this time.

Good luck in the bat cave Kirsten ! Brian cycling to work and Deb getting to the pool.

Swimming is my weakness but am enjoying my swims using the lap tool on my watch to measure my length times and trying to improve, any form of comparison or measurement or target motivates me.

Good luck all

T

My training for the first half of the month went fairly well considering the chaos. My goal is to find and do a strength training program twice a week, starting this week. my progress towards my goals is a better then satifactory. also to famelec, I dont drink soft drinks, i do bring home the occasional sweet treat though, so i guess another goal is to stop buying the strawberry popsicles that i nurse each night after dinner.

Are you going to start running barefoot?  It seems that everyone who reads that book starts thinking about running barefoot or with the Vibram Five Fingers! 

Brian

Enjoy EuroDisney!  You may not get in a lot of training but at least you'll be walking a lot!  Over the years's I've been to the Disney parks in Paris, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.  It never gets old!

Brian

See if you can find natural popsicles in a Mexican grocery store or ice cream shop (ok, you might not have Mexican ice cream shops in Seattle.....)  My favorite is watermelon, though they usually don't get all the seeds out... I'm not sure that they're any lower in calories but they taste great and make you think you're eating something healthy!

Brian

If you need motivation I'll call you every morning at 5:30 am and again 5 minutes later to make sure you got out of bed!

Brian

My first two weeks of training went well.  Losing some weight and not getting hurt are big pluses

I'm focusing on a half-marathon in March right now, with my first Tri in June.

I'm running 3 times a week, and my shin splints have been disappearing now that I've shorten my stride.

I know that swimming is my weakest part of a Tri and will take a lot of work.  I've started going to the gym and actually got in two short swims last week.

With a week of rain in the forecast here in California, any bike riding will be on the trainer.

So my hopes for the coming week is to get in 3 runs, 2 swims and 1-2 bike rides.

A balanced, nutritional meal is going to have mostly complex carbohydrates, a little bit of protein (~3oz) preferably lean, and a little bit of fat preferably unsaturated.  If you want specific food suggestions, google terms "complex carbohydrates" "lean protein" "unsaturated fats" for lists that would be more exhaustive than anything I could give. 

Some general pointers:  Olive oil is good to cook with, it's better than pretty much any other oil you can cook with.  You need to really limit your saturated fat intake, like adding butter to things.  An easy way to tell the difference between a saturated or unsaturated fat is a saturated fat gets hard or stays hard at room temperature, like butter.  Eggs are a great source of protein but you want to use just the whites.  One egg yolk has about a days worth of cholesterol in it so if you just have to have the yolk, use one and then just the whites from the other eggs. 

One of the best things you can do for yourself is cooking at home because you know what is going into your food plus you are more likely to eat less of it.  Restaurant meals are larger in portion and typically have a lot more fat and other junk that you don't want plus it costs more. 

I have a sugar addiction too.  I like to say that chocolate is good for the soul.  A couple of ideas on curbing that is always have some gum with you.  If you getting a craving for something sweet, chew a piece.  I'll chew on a piece of gum till my next meal to keep myself from snacking on something worse.  Another idea to satisfy those bad cravings we have is to plan a cheat day.  Just like having a rest day from working out, a cheat day is one day where you can take a break from your diet.  On your cheat day, eat whatever you want but always plan your cheat day in advance.  It needs to be the same day every week unless your schedule changes dramatically.  The reason why is when you're tempted to eat something you're not supposed to, you're more likely to say, "today's my cheat day" and eat it if you haven't planned in advance.  Next thing you know, you had three cheat days that week. 

A few simple diet changes:  Cut excess sugars.  This would mean switching from regular to diet pop or tea.  If you're a coffee drinker, try to cut down on sugar (and creamer for that matter).  You can cut a lot of excess calories by laying off the sauce and I don't mean alcohol although that would help to.  We have a tendency to make healthy foods unhealthy by drenching them in unhealthy sauces/dressing like ranch dressing.  Pay attention to all the "extras" you put on your food and try to cut back.

Hope this gets you started.  Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. 

Caleb

I'm feeling pretty good about my training this month.  I can complete all the distances of my first race during each workout (don't know about doing them all in one day though).  My area of weakness is my swim but I'm seeing improvement each time I swim (not Micheal Phelps yet...mainly because I'm fatter, have more body hair, and don't smoke pot). 

One thing I want to improve on is during my swim workouts is actually doing specific exercises to improve my technique, not just flaying in the water for 20-30 minutes.  I also need to work on my endurance pace so I can swim more continuously without needing to rest as much.   

It hasn't been the greatest start to the month due to getting the flu, but besides that my diet has been much improved and I have found 2 training partners who also hope to do a triathlon this year for the first time, so if that isn't motivation I don't know what is. My biggest problem is definately getting up an hour earlier to fit the exercise into my schedule!!

Past training: basically I have been frustrated by my and my kids health issues so the gym and the diet have been in a holding pattern. And I have decided I am not going to obsess over it. It is what we needed to deal with at the time and two weeks this early on are no big deal. I also have to look at the big picture and realize that the core and strength work I have been doing since the fall have paid dividends and all the yoga I've done has really helped with back pain, core, and flexibility, so I DO have some "money in the bank" so to speak.

My training for the olympic distance race I am planning on in June officially starts in February, but looking at the training plan I am using, the first month is really pretty easy for me, so I know I am on track for that. The 10 miler and the sprint tri before the oly will just mesh in with the oly training, so I guess what I am saying is, I am very comfortable with where I am.

So for the next few weeks I will continue my off-season strength/core/swimming routine with 2x/week spin classes for cycling muscle development and outdoor running 1-2x/week for mental health. For the swim I am doing the first part of Ruth Kazez's IM swim program, so it's basically 1500m 3x week broken down into different chunks. I'll do that just to have structure until my oly/sprint/10m training begins!

Oh, and I hope someday my flake brother will finally send me my front wheel, my FIL will send my baby his helmet, and the USPS will not lose my helmet so I can actually have an entire, rideable bike and appropriate safety items...

I'll keep you all posted...

Oh, and I inspired all of you today. Hope you don't think I am too corny!

What kind of watch did you get?  I never remember how many laps I do.

Hi Brian.
Not completely barefoot.  Been wearing my socks.  My feet are always cold. :-)

Signed up for my first half marathon/marathon in 2010.  Couldn't just sign up to run just anywhere.  My husband and I decided to go to Greece this year for our vacation.  My aunt (who is a marathoner - 200+) suggested going during the 2500th anniversary of the marathon in October. 

So. . . we are.  Will be gone for two weeks to tour, run, and tour some more.  We decided to go early since I have cousins there I have never met.  Should be a great vacation and chance of a lifetime (for sure).

Sounds like an awesome trip Deb.

I hope to some day make it over to Europe, probably when the kids are a little older.

Sounds like this will be quite an experience!  Maybe you should dress for the race as they did 2500 years ago.  Quincy seems to be the expert in running costumes so I'm sure she can give you some good ideas!

Not including out-of-town weekend races, I've done only one real vacation/race and may do another this year.    For those with kids who are thinking of a family vacation/race, I think it's best arrive just before the race, get it done, then start the vacation.  If you arrive too many days early you'll be dragging your family along to check out the course when they really don't want to, you'll be worrying about what and when you eat whereas they just want a quick bite at McDonalds, you'll planning your last training runs/rides/swims when they just want to do something fun.  Ask me how I know!

Brian



Edited by famelec 2010-01-22 11:53 AM

Awesome! Opaaa! When it gets closer, remind me to give you some tips on acclimating to the time change, but since you're going to be there for a while, it shouldn't affect your race. What an amazing, fun trip you will have. I love Greece...I am assuming the marathon will be in Athens? Do you plan on touring any islands? I loved Crete and Rhodes and I have heard great things about Mykonos too, plus if you have family they will be able to tell you where to go to get away from the touristy places.

Oh, and Brian, as far as costumes go... it's pretty much nude if you're going for historical accuracy, I think...maybe laurels in your hair! There's always the toga but I am sure those will be a dime a dozen...

Make sure to take a ton of pix!

Hi all,
This is our first trip to Europe so I'm sure there will be a little culture shock.  Yep, the marathon starts in Marathon and ends in Athens.  My aunt ran the torch in the relay for the Olympics a few years back.  I think that's how she got in touch with this tour company.  Here is the link to the tour company we are using.  http://www.athensmarathon.com/index.html
We are booked on the 11 days tour, which travels all over the place.  Will probably go to Thessaloniki (Thessalonika - 6 hours north) also to meet family, but that hasn't been set in stone yet.  The gal that puts the tours together is actually here in Denver.  Small world. 

You know, I probably won't run naked, but the barefoot part might be an option.  :-)
We plan to check out all we can and take pictures and post them on Facebook during our vacation.  Kind of like a blog, so that everyone can see pictures right away - and so I don't forget when it comes time to scrapbook them.

I am always reading about marathoners/triathletes in government--where do they find the time to train when the're supposed to be busy making in a better world?

I am unable to add swimming to my week, I am still just getting bike and running in with less strength training than I thought. I am going to have to back up wake up time to 5 am so I have a change to get some caffeine in me, and then I should be able to do cardio and weights as I had originally planned. this sounds totally doable since I just woke up from a nap and let my kids watch Spongebob sqarepants while I snoozed shamelessly!!

Once in a while, despite the guilt, it's OK to let the TV be the babysitter when you're exhausted!

OK, everyone, just 7 days left in the month.  Make it a good one!

My goal is to fit in three swims this week which I haven't done all month. 

A number of us have started swimming more, though I've seen a number of comments that it can be a bit boring.  Sometimes what I do to make it more interesting is mix up pace.  Maybe twelve or fifteen 100s, but rotating easy, medium, and hard paces.  Anyone else have things to share to keep swimming exciting? 


Brian