Ernesto's group (5th season) - Closed (Page 5)

Count me in for the January challenge.

Ernesto, thanks to your advice and reasoning, I'm about to pull the trigger for the 4th go around at IM 70.3 Texas in April.

Any suggestions on existing ~20 week plans out there with the ultimate focus of IMTX in May that you would recommend?

I'm in . 

A bit late to the game but hopefully not to late to join up.

NAME: John / Jables

STORY: I'm 28 and recently married. Me and the wife are planning on starting a family in the next couple of years and in my current state I won't be able to keep up with the kids down at the park, which is my main motivation for training for/attempting triathlon. 

The reason I'm going for triathlon over other methods of getting fit/losing weight is the fact that theres 3 different parts to it, which should stop me from getting bored just running/swimming/cycling, plus its a race and the competitive side of me will push the rest of my lazy self to try harder.

I originally decided to start training last month, but a bout of illness stopped me, then the old excuses (its raining/too cold/too dark/etc) started catching me again. I'm hoping the new year and new bike (yay) will keep me going.

FAMILY STATUS: As stated above, married for 5 months and starting a family in the next couple of years. Currently got 2 cats.

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently nothing, picking up my new bike tomorrow so back to cycling and trying to get my running back up to speed. Then at some point in the near future I will go and find out if I can still swim.

2013 RACES: I was planning on a local sprint in May, but I need to check if I've missed the deadline for signing up, then building up from there (hopefully getting up to olympic distance by the end of the year)

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS: I am hoping to lose a fair bit of weight during my training, I'm currently about 4.5 stone over weight, and would like to see that gone by the end of the year.

WHAT WOULD MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I am a keen learner, a good learner (I take on board what people suggest and try to adapt accordingly), and I don't mind asking potentially stupid questions.

For the upcoming January challenge, here is an example of how everyone in Ernesto's current group is posting the information for the December Challenge:

In my case I'm giving a quick description of what I did today (a run at lunch) and then updating the info in Bold under my name. From the tally we can see that Mitch and Matthew are beating everyone else during the Dec. challenge!

"Finally got a 7.4 mile runch after several days with too much food, drinks and little sleep"

Mitch Swim 4 - Bike 15 -Run 21 - Rest 4 - Total 40 Time 30:54:39
Matthew Swim 9 - Bike 10 - Run 11 - Rest 4 - Total 30 Time 36:51:51
Jackie Swim 0 - Bike 4 - Run 18 - Rest 4- Total 22 - Time 32:37:51
Mark Swim 4 - Bike 9- Run 10 Rest 7 Total 23 Time 20:17:00
Jim Swim 0- Bike 6- Run 14 Rest 5 - Total 20 -Time 15:41:14
Ernesto Swim 2 - Bike 8 - Run 11 - Rest 7 - Total 21 - Time 28:08'18"
Charlotte Swim 1 - Bike 8- Run 7 Rest 3 Total 16 (To Goal: 14) Time 9:59 (To Goal: 10:01)
Joe Swim 9- Bike 4 - Run 2 - Rest 1 - Total 15 Time 10:05:12
Gabe Swim 0 - Bike 7 - Run 8 - Rest 11 - Total 15 - Time 16:30:00
Chris Swim 0 - Bike 0 - Run 13 - Rest 8 - Total 13 Time 11:57:41
Samy Swim 1 - Bike 0 - Run 10 - Rest 8 - Total 11 Time 8:03:23
Andy Swim 2 - Bike 0 - Run 6 - Rest 12 - Total 8 - Time 5:30:47
Barry Swim 1 - Bike 2 - Run 2 - Rest 7 - Total 5 - Time 2:58:52
Scott Swim 1 Bike 0 - Run 1 - Rest 2 - Total -2 - Time 2:

910XT going away. Not even close!!!!

OK i will look into it. Looks like as long as i use it its worth it. Are they better then other brands or should i not enen worry about others and get the 910

910XT hands down!

Jackie
www.funafterfifty.com

roadrhino - 2012-12-26 3:36 PM Absolutely interested. As a complete IM novice, I am certainly open to what the experienced Ironmen do.

Tiffany,

Basically, all Ironman training is primarily adapting your body to the extreme loads of swim, bike and run for very long periods at very low intensities.

The skeleton of any 20 week plan should be:

- One long run per week.

- One long ride per week. Since you are a teacher I would do the ride on Saturday and the run on Sunday. Do it the other way around and your ride will suck (because the run has a much higher impact).

- Three swims a week, two for very good swimmers. 3K yards or meters per session divided in three blocks of warmup (500), a main block (drills and endurance sets) totaling 2K and a warmdown of around 500.

- Two or three more runs (alternating the amount every week). These runs should be around 45 minutes, never more than one hour. At least one run per week has to address speed.

- One/two additional rides per week, one to one and a half hours long, at least one with intervals.

- ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, take a day off every week, preferrably Fridays. This way you let yor body absorb the two mini blocks in a week.

- Always make Mondays an easy day, maybe the third swim (easy and shorter than 3K) is the ideal workout to flush out the metabolites from the long sessions on the weekend.

If you do the math, you have to have days with more than one workout. Nature of the beast, you signed up for an IM. If you want to finish (and finish in one piece) it is better to hurt in training. The more you sweat in combat, the less you'll bleed in war.

It is absolutely necessary, super important that you start rehearsing race nutrition during the long rides and runs. You need to know what works for you (everybody is different), your sweat rates, etc. Ironman Texas has a particularity, the marathon is very hot (ran it once and was on the sidelines last May watching Gabe). Saw a lot of meltdowns, some of those in people that looked extremely fit and ready, but probably failed to address nutrition/hydration/pace properly.

More to come...

Ask away.

E

Welcome to all the new folks out there.  Having been with this group for a year now, I can say this mentor forum MAKES A DIFFERENCE (if you commit and you invest).  We can all attest to hearing the collective and individual voices in this forum during training sessions, long races and other decision points in our endurance training.  

Ernesto is a wise and patient mentor as are many other voices in the group.  We are a friendly, supportive, compassionate and family/life oriented group.  We do this sport because it compliments our lives, but does not define it.  We slip, we fall down and we get up again.  

That said, this group is not about excuses but accountability. When the alarm goes off at 4:30 am to get out for a 90' trainer ride before work, I think to myself how would I feel having to post that I blew off a workout because I'm tired, blah, blah, blah.  If you follow the collective wisdom of Ernesto and others your performance will improve.  I far exceeded goals and expectations I set for myself this year and I attribute the motivation to keep going at times to this group.  While my family and friends get the gist of a PR or breaking a barrier, these folks get it and being able to report back a triumph (or even a failure) to this group is so worthwhile. 

There are no right answers or dumb questions so please never hesitate to ask.    

I'm in for Jan.

@Gabe,  we were trying not to scare anyone away from the Jan challenge   Mitch and Matthew were superhuman this month!

I used to run with my Camelbak.  One time I didn't have it adjusted right and it rode up and down and rubbed blisters on my shoulders.  I didn't even notice until I got done.  Just be careful to adjust it so it doesn't do that.

@Tay, nice bike.  I can't read what kind it is, but it's impressive that you can hold it above your head.  Oh, to be young again!

Hey you peeps that just ran your first marathon.  I'm about 10 weeks out from my first.  What was going through your mind while you were training?  What would you have done differently now that you actually did the marathon?

I brought a new pair of Saucony Cortana 2s home today.  They are the most expensive and best cushioned running shoe I've ever purchased.  Can't wait to see how they perform.  Now I have  7 pairs of running shoes.  At least they are cheaper than bikes!

Jackie
www.funafterfifty.com

I'm in for January. Going to be interesting as I am planning to send my bike to the shop this week for "crash service", and do not want to get into the pool until all my wounds are healed, so doing anything other than running is going to be challenging.

After going over the crash time and time again, I was able to determine the culprit of my crash and subsequent damage. I realized that it wasn't my fault, it wasn't the bike's fault, it wasn't even the conditions fault...it was the asphalt!

To those new to the group...Yes, if you want to benefit from the knowledge of Ernesto and the rest of the gang, you will have to put up with my sense of humor once in a while.

Heh, forgot to add that, yeah I'm in the UK, just outside of Wigan if anybody knows it.

Hey Jackie!

Me and my husband completed our first full Marathon this October up in Washington DC.  We ran the MCM.  I will be honest in saying we both agree we dont want to ever run a full marathon again unless it has to do with a full Iron Distance  I dont see that happening for another 50 years so we are safe from the training lol  I live in North Carolina and it is steaming/soaking hot and humid in the summer and fall.  For our long runs we would leave our house at 4 am and go to the base or Air Station (hubs is a Marine) to do our training.  We basically ran laps up and down a few long stretches of the base at five miles a piece.  The reason we did that is because every 2 miles we had a cooler set up with water/Gatorade/Perpeteum and snacks.  We didnt want to have to lug around our Camelbaks so this worked out perfect for us.  Our longest run was 20 miles for training...for some reason 20 was easier then 16...we both run with mp3 players which we never do during Triathlons as they are not allowed (even though I always see people with them).  I couldnt of made the training runs or the race without my music.  You asked what was going through my mind.... I was thinking how much better it would be if we could just sell our bibs and go volunteer at the Beach to Battleship full distance close to our house LOL We ran the marathon for the Semper Fi Fund and had to do fundraising to get in the race as it sold out in less then one hour (30,000 spots!)  The long run on the weekends sucked up all our time and Triathlons came to a hault, my bike started looking neglected...the pool sounded so much better even though I can hardly swim! 

What would I have done different..... the one thing I wish I could of done was unavoidable.  From June till November I move out of my house up to Charlotte while we film a TV show.  I come home on the weekends and usually I am soooo tired all I want to do is wash clothes and sleep and get ready to go back up Sunday night.  These months were the months I needed to do more running during the week.  My job has the worst hours in the world so running before or after work is impossible.  I might have a 5:00 am call on Monday but by the time Friday comes we are coming in at 3:00 pm and working till early Saturday morning.  I did not get the proper workouts in to be more prepared.  I am looking at my running log right now and laughing....I was injured in March while running and then in April I had surgery and then in May I had a fire eqstinquisher fall off a wall in a store and land on my foot...had to have surgery for that...got healed up and then it was time to start filming AND try to train for the marathon...I wish I could of had more time to train!  I also got caught up in all the online reviews on how fantastic the marathon was going to be....I guess if you have never been to DC it would be exciting.  The organization was great but so many things we did not like...long walk to the start, confusion at the start corrals, everyone running to the front corral even though they were going to walk,  running way back into residential areas with not a soul around....after mile 15 we both got bored.  We had one goal for the race and that was just to finish.  The finish line was a disaster with thousands of people all trying to get on the Metro at once...the line wrapped around three buildings to even get in the subway platform.  We had to walk 10 blocks to the next station and that was the last thing I wanted to do after running 26.2 miles.

One other thing....during our training we had the coolers set up with liquids and also snacks.  I have run half marathons before and have never had the problem I had during the full...I was starving!! I had my usual breakfast and then packed my fanny pack with my gels.  I guess I should of brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with me! haha!  I had read food was going to be at the aid stations but that was not the case...the *food* was the following.... one station had Oranges, One had Cappucino flavored GUs (disgusting)  one had sports beans and at mile 24 they had Dunkin Donut holes.....by the time we got to the donuts I was soooo hungry I couldnt get enough of them down my throat.  Those were the only *food* stations.  The end of the race was dissapointing as they gave you a  box that was your *recovery meal* inside was a hard bagel, a fruit cup, small piece of dark chocolate and a pack of wheat crackers...no gatorade, soda, beer, no hot pizza, no bananas ect.  Very dissapointing.  I dont know what I could of done different since I cant really carry food items with me.  I have never had this happen so I am always open to suggestions on what others do.

  I do not like running and got so burned out thats what lead me to my first Sprint Tri....I am still very new to them but became addicted!! I like half marathons and those are the only running events I will ever attend again.  Well thats my little experience, I will shut up now and I wish you the best of luck on your race!!!