Prof40's Group -- Technically full but ... (Page 51)

That's so great of you! What a great way of contributing to her quality of life. Chronic disease can be so hard, especially when insurance gets maxed out like that. ((hugs))

Anyone know of a wetsuit that doesn't choke so much?? My throat still feels very badly bruised on the inside. Like eating carrots scratches it and talking loud bothers it. I am thinking the sleeveless design is too cold, too. Sleeveless is for temps above 72 and it won't be that warm by then, and certainly hasn't been to date. Just thinking of putting the choky thing back on almost sends me into a panic. I'll look tomorrow at the bike shop. More darn money. Oh well. Gotta be able to breathe. Any suggestions? Watergirl? Mark?? Rob--how does yours feel? Thanks for the book offer, btw. I'll take all help available. I'm also thinking just maybe the bloody mucous came from the choky wetsuit and maybe not my lungs (I hope that's the case). Rained tonight, so no OWS for me Likely not until Sunday afternoon........

KANDERS--CUTE avatar! Love the hair do! And you are looking very nicely toned! Haven't heard from you in awhile, but hope all is well and you are having fun!

Today was a fun day for me. Got a new full sleeved Zoot wetsuit that will be 10 times warmer and way less choky. And a one-piece tri suit (orange and black--oh my! well, might as well make a BOLD statement, eh?) as it won't be as difficult to keep it from bunching up under the wetsuit. The other two piecer kept rolling up on me.

Mowed lawn in the beautiful weather and the kids are having sleepovers this weekend. Lots of activity at my house!! And I RAN on the track WITH spectators who were for some odd reason playing softball in the middle of the track and WITHOUT my inhaler!! It's getting a little easier, nerve wise. We'll see how it goes with 274 other tri people and their spectators watching......

SEAN--you little stinker. You popped on and then disappeared on us again. What's up, bro???

I have a new mind expander for you all----I was looking around and found this woman triathlete who was talking about being under trained for a tri and she was told by a woman at her gym to taper even with the undertraining, with the statement "some of my best ironmans were when I took a couple weeks off before hand". When asked just how many IM's she had done she said, "26. Ten in Kona". Holy cats!!!! See, mind expanding, isn't it???!!!

My OWS today went well!! I went with my friend Tracy and my new wetsuit fits GREAT! No choking, or not much! And it was about 10 minutes which isn't too bad (I'll keep practicing). AND I'M HAPPY! Yeah!!





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Sometimes when you fall it is really hard to hear the crashing thud sound. I have fallen in so many places in my life that I could only hear an echo of the tri training falling apart. I am sad and shame filled when I look at this page- I see all the hard work I have done going in reverse. I an not yet internally motivated to get back on the horse and I know when I do I need to slow down so I do not hurt myself.
So I am going back in slowly today, walking and running, working my heart and motivation muscle more than my body. I still plan on doing my 5k on Saturday and the tri at the end of the month but I need to be gentle with myself, I do not want to hear the thud sound until after I cross the finish line of the mini man tri!
Quiana BGT

Okay, cut that shame crap off!! I mean it! You put in about 3 hours a week of swim for May. That's rather remarkable. An hour of swimming is exhausting and you are doing it every other day about. You haven't fallen, you've just been doing "swim focus". That's perfectly okay!! Master the swim and you are THERE! Just look at how many hours Prof put into his swim for this one tri! He focused on it. And the aerobic conditioning of a swimmer is profound! Now keep up the swim and add in a little more bike or run. I'd pick bike, cuz you are already a great runner--just look at how many races you've done already! I haven't done a single running race outdoors yet. And it nearly sends me into an asthma attack to even think about running in front of others. But I'm not giving up. So you can't either!! Period! I won't let you!

I'll be there with you at Minneman...if I catch up to you, I will not let you DNF, I promise!!! ((hugs))

And that's why I constantly tell everyone NOT to sink any money into these endeavors unless you do a few sprint races and decide that you want to continue. It's too easy to spend money on the things the sales guys tell you that you need, or that the magazines suggest that you need, or that your own insecurity insists that you need, when in fact all you need is a pair of shoes, a bathing suit, and a basic bike. And by basic, I mean a Wal-Mart special, or that 10-speed in the back of the garage, or the dusty mountain bike in the basement with the flat tire.

I know, you don't believe me. And that's ok. But if you don't keep an eye on your wallet, you can spend a ton of money fast, and then you'll do a few races, and then you'll realize you would have liked this other piece of equipment better, but you didn't know that at the time of purchase because you had no experience, so now you're thinking of buying the new thing, and the old thing is going into that corner with the Nordic Track and the Thighmaster and the AbBlaster...

Here's my June challenge to you. Stop thinking. Just do*. Enjoy the experience. Stay off the scale. Don't spend any money. And let me know how it feels.


* True story: I'm on the boat at Alcatraz and the guy next to me has zipped up his wetsuit and is complaining that he's not getting a true reading on his heart rate monitor. He's angry and swearing and is raising all of our heart rates.

"Why the monitor?," I ask.

"So I can monitor my effort and exertion."

"But this is a race," I say. "Weren't you planning on exerting yourself?"

"Well, so I can gauge my performance during the race to see if I'm really exerting myself or if I just feel like I am exerting myself."

Pretending I understood his thinking, I responded, "Ah. Good luck on that then."

Here's the moral of the story: what do you think he saw? The Pacific Ocean? The Golden Gate Bridge? The incredible city views? Or that little window on his watch with the beating heart?

And hello to you, too.

Congrats on Alcatraz, Prof! Would have looked up your results, but by gum, they don't have any "Prof 40" listed, or even just plain "David from PA". And WHERE is your race report??? Hmmmm??? Cuz I wanna read it! {Big orange Bird Lady stomping her phoenix foot} But it does sound like you enjoyed the sites and had your spiritual experience. And you got back home alive without a shark bite, so that's groovy!

Don't underestimate me. I was having a frustrated day and vented here. But I'm not just going to do this one little tri and quit. I'm in it for the long haul. Was looking up a thread on registration for IM Madison and I put Sept. 10 on the calendar for "road trip to Madtown to register for 08". And I'm opening a bank account with a debit card to save for it. You stand in line and get a golden ticket and then take that to register online later through Active.com and you can get a ticket for one other friend, too. So, if anyone is doing IM Madtown (IMMOO) in 08, I'm happy to reserve a ticket for ya.

I know that in 15 months the asthma will be largely under control, I'll be swimming in the lake like a minnow, if not a dolphin, and I'll have huge gaping saddle wounds from being hours and months on that darn little expensive bike of mine. And I'll be ready. I was in the lake again last night and went a bit further and didn't drown. I'll be slow this first race, but it takes time to get that engine built. Period. And it makes more sense to do a sprint tri and build like I have planned all summer. I'm investing in ME. If you think about it, it's the only investment that truly makes sense anyway If you have no health or sense of self worth, you have NOTHING.

Mark--I was told in no uncertain terms, that I have absolutely NO business trying to accomplish 3-4 IM distances in a months time. Not yet. I need to build slowly, as I'm apparently not a superdude like yourself. But in 15 months, I'll be running circles around you so look out I need a bit of coaching like that because we all know I have more ambition than 25 women put together and no real sense of what is appropriate for goal setting for my conditioning. Fortunately, I manifested such a coach. Thank you Universe!

I like what I'm reading. Don't think you have to drive, though, to register. And I'm considering Madison in 2008, too. Or Florida. Or Louisville. Decisions, decisions.

And good to see that life has led you to your coach. Funny how things work out, isn't it?

Oh, and give me a few days for the race report.

Pene, if you're going to be running circles round me then be warned I have just weighed myself on the home scales and I am at 195lbs so the circles will be quite large!

As they say with the coach front, "when the student is ready, the teacher appears". I think that that is out of Lion King andyou can't get much more authoritative than that.

Okay Prof and Mark, don't worry. I'm over it. I'm just very gifted at beating myself up. And feeling guilty. So when it is pointed out that I spent a bunch of money on this and perhaps just maybe might not be up to being the next tri queen, it gets all the self beat up juices flowing and I come out swinging. I watched some America's Talent thing last night on my sister's TV (I don't have TV at home--just for watching movies that we rent) and there was person after person on the getting X'd by some English fellow named Piers. But they would courageously keep singing or doing their Human Slinky act or whatever undaunted. And then accept the criticism so freely doled out! Wow! I will be thinking of that brave little girl who just stood there and "took it" when I do my tri on Sunday. At least there will be no one there Xing me or saying stuff like "Clearly, darling, you aren't ready for this"! Or at least they better not, or I'll PUNCH them, if not physically, then verbally! (lots of scorpio in my astrological chart). The truth is, I simply don't know what MORE I could possibly have done to get ready for this. My conditioning is not the best. But I'm 40 years old for God's sake, and never ran an entire mile before this year in my LIFE! Or biked more than like 5 miles at a time. And I just sort of paddled around in the lake near the shore and pulled off leeches when I was a kid. Every bit of this is new to me. So what do I expect? I'm not going to beat out a bunch of people who do 10 tri's a year and have IM tattoos. Oh well. At least I get to see them perform up front and eat pasta with them afterwards. Maybe even get another t-shirt!

I'll be punching later to make my inner Piers shut the F up! I'll just have to find 2 other inner judges to say sweet things to me and advance me to the next tri adventure!! Well, Channel 8 covers the event, so it won't be millions of viewers, but it probably will be hundreds.....

I just don't know how to make this any more clear, but I'll try again -- ANYONE CAN DO A TRIATHLON.

All it takes is the drive and willpower. You don't need to go fast, you don't need to stand on the podium, you don't need to vomit after crossing the finish line. Someone will always be faster than you, and someone will always be slower. So stop worrying, and just go out there and do it.

I was wondering where that slime ball Piers Morgan had got to and now I know. Am I right in thinking that we have managed to export Simon Cowell to you guys as well? If so, I apologise for allowing such moronic filth to leave the UK without a restraining order. No one, and I mean NO ONE, deserves to be on the receiving end of the humorous quips and put downs that these pair of smug, smarmy, talentless imbeciles dole out. They signify everything that is wrong with modern society and what is worse, they make themselves richer out of encouraging people to enjoy watching them putting down people who try and take part, for some, with great personal cost.

Do not feel like you need to have a Piers inside you to make yourself compete as no one needs that sneering wretch as an incentiviser. There are so many better motivators out there and, more importantly, in you, so get in tune with one of those!

Wise words indeed.

We are all living proof of the fact that anyone can do this. None of us were born triathletes (no one is) and yet between us we have all done a race or two, finished a race or two and had a great time. For some of us the race is yet to happen but it will and success will be getting to the starting line. Finishing it is an added bonus!

Personally, I'd love to come first but I know that that will never happen but it doesn't stop me from doing it. I used to ride horses and compete on those. Never won anything. Broke loads of bones and had a huge amount of fun. I cannot remember the names of any of the winners from any of the events that I took part in (I can't even remember my own placings) but I remember having a bloody good time and coming home (occasionally via ER) with a memory.

Do not aim too high, do not be afraid of disappointment and enjoy yourself. May I be so bold as to say that you are not a world class athlete, you are just having fun in your life.

Thanks guys. Well, the other judges on the show were Mrs. Osbourne (as in Ozzy's wife) and David Hasselhoff. Hmmm.....wouldn't mind having Hasselhoff inside me.......... He's still pretty hot if you ask me Mrs. Osbourne sort of told Piers off, but otherwise she's kind of wishy washy! Maybe Super Nanny would make a good inner judge??? I'm thinking of dredging up Billy the Blue from Million Dollar Baby (the boxer chick from East Germany that fights dirty and ends up wielding the paralyzing blow to Mo Cushle). Nahh, don't want to fight dirty. That woman is a real boxer though and BEAUTIFUL!!

So, what do you guys do to reward yourselves after doing this stuff? I'm a reward seeking person (most of us are) and thought maybe if I bribe myself with something I'll go ahead and NOT have an embarassing asthma attack or panic deal where my arms go numb, or if I do, I'll get over it and just complete the darn thing anyway!!! Any suggestions? Got a hot tri dude that you can set me up with if I finish?? (kidding).

Helen, Robb--go get em guys! Helen is an absolute machine, so we know she'll kick butt. And Robb is our own super dude, too, and will be passing up people on that Stallion like crazy! Anyone else have a tri this weekend?

No tri for me this weekend, but I have the MS 150. I'm just hoping that the weather is nice!!

Wow Candace, didn't realize it was so soon!! I don't envy your poor buttsky after that ride!! Way to go! Hope the weather is nice, too! Do you camp somewhere overnight? Or do you actually get a hotel with a nice hot bath to soak in??? Are you nervous at all?

I'm not too nervous....well, I will be when I get there :-) I'm just hoping it doesn't rain!

I do get to stay in a hotel because I joined the local bike shop's team.....I'm soo excited!!

Hi!!!!!!
I am back from W.A and Ore. It was beautiful, climed a hill, mountain but not a real mountain with ice and snow, went to Sea side in Ore. to see the ocean, the water was a lot colder than I thought it would be so I didn't go swimming there, but a pool instead. Went bike riding on real steep hills, Going down is such a blast but you pay the price going up, I am a flatlander and rode halfway up then walked the bike, I will stick to riding on flat lands. I am still fighting an ear problem but waited to be back in Chicago to see my doc.
Thank you for the wise words. My first Triathalon is in two weeks and I am sooo nervous. June 24th with a 23rd packet pickup, confirmed my regisration today and all is well with that. Flying was horrible with the ears and I feel like I have ear plugs in when I don't. I will wait for two days to see if they clear up. I never have been in that area before so I will attend the course talk the day before too. Went to the store and bought a standard fits all sizes shift cable, my friend said he will install it. I have decided to ride the mountain bike for the tri, its more upright and easier on the back.
Went running a lot in W.A. on an outdoor track at a highschool, it was a very small town and I meet a lot of people. It was fun. I actually left my car keys with my warm up pants and no one stole them!!!!! It was by accident but I was oh so glad it was a small town. I hope I didnt miss too much. I will go back and read at a latter time to catch up but now I have 300 emails to go thru. I missed my computer as I didnt have one with me while traveling. But maybee that was a good thing too as I did a lot of car ridding.
I hope everyone has a good day!!!!!
Sincerely,
Jeanette.

Welcome back, Jeanette! I went to Sea Side when my sister lived there. The ocean WAS a lot colder than I realized, and that was in June. I put my foot in but that's all. Prof was swimming in 57 degree water--AMAZING!! I would die of hypothermia!

Anyway, welcome back. Missed your enthusiasm.

Prof--waiting patiently for your race report

I go for an OWS (my 5th) tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn (6 am), then one more time on the bike course, and at least a run/walk on the course to see if there is a little hill or something for the run. This taking it easy is driving me crazy. I can just feel the fat creeping back on with all this sitting around. How did I ever do the couch potato thing before???

hey, Ive been on hiatus as well but mainly from working in the ER for 9 out of the last 10 days. Ugh. Now I have 5 days off, work 3, and then another 4 days off- during which I do my first Tri of the season!

Im excited for all of you who have races this weekend, GO TEAM!, and remember the first race of the season is just a warmup. I mean, its easy for me to tell you that when I already have begun my anxiety countdown to my race on June 17th. I had anxiety last weekend when I did my practice race- I basically did all the distances for my race in sequential order and it went OK. I mean, I think I can finish the Olympic Distance race. It is a such a mental thing, jumping up to the next level of racing. I mean, this distance always seemed so crazy for me, and now here I am all trained and ready to go. Im tired of this traininng, I just want to race!! Wasnt it nice Prof, finally getting to see the fruits of your labor??
Btw, Prof, Im glad to see you made it back from the shark infested waters of San Fran Bay- yes, where is your race report? We want to hear it all, the good,the bad, everything! Did you enjoy the city??

Pene- breathe-when you get into the water, just pretend you are in labor again- and do slow breathing- and then be really glad you arent in labor....the tri will seem like a piece of cake after that!! Im serious, if you have birthed 3 children, this will be NOTHING!

Jeannette, glad you like our little corner of the world over here in the NW- I bet you got some of the great weather we had last week! Yes, the ocean is freezing here and yes, the people are really nice. My sister has lost her wallet 3 times in Seattle and has always had it returned to her.
Robb and Helen- have fun racing together! thats great you guys are in the same neck of the woods.

Androgenie- I cant believe you are doing the MS 150, that is a ride that sounds like torture to me> its a wonderful wonderful cause and if I hadnt already given money to the MS society out here, I would have donated to your ride.

forgive me if I left you out, my steam has run out and I need some sleep! Seriously, for those of you racing this weekend, just imagine your online friends there cheering you on and dont forget to enjoy the moment you cross that finish line. Smile, the race pictures always look better if you smile.

Watergirl--you always know JUST what to say! You actually made me cry this morning when I read your post. I forgot about birthing breathing! I DID practice it this morning, and it helped a lot!!! I did my 5th OWS and had the entire lake to myself. It's supposed to storm today and the winds are 45 mph and may go up to 75 mph soon. So the water was "interesting" today! But I did 800 yards!! No asthma. None at all. Even though the water gave me an icecream headache at first. I practiced the crawl not far from the beach for awhile until I warmed up and then decided to go to the rock and back, which my tri club Prez admitted is actually 700 yards! I knew it was farther than a 400!! I'm slow, but I wasn't racing today. Just trying to gain some Mermaid consciousness and do more crawl, even with the incredible waves! Mission accomplished.

Then I did a jog on the tri course and discovered that it is a BEAUTIFUL run! We go along the lake to a different park that I didn't know existed. The roads are newly paved and some of it is nice dirt road. I went slow, but it was a swim/run "brick". Have to remember bug spray, though this weekend--nasty biting flies

Then I went home, as with the storms and wind, I didn't even bother to bring my bike. Didn't want to get caught out in it. But when I got home, I did a little boxing and then biking the hill loop by my house. I reasoned that it was like a swim/bike brick (sort of) due to the cardio and "arms" aspects of boxing which are similar to the swim. The uphills went great. But the DOWN hills.........well, let's just say I'm a Scaredy Catwoman and I let myself walk the bike down one of them. There was an old patient that came back in his pickup truck just to see if I was okay, as he wondered why I stopped to walk down a hill. Fear. What a trip. Maybe it was the huge hind wind that did it. Yeah, that's it. Hind wind. Well, the clips are going good at least. Aero bars are going so-so, but maybe it's the wind. Yeah, that's it. Darn that wind. I almost hope it's really windy on Sunday so I can continue to use that as my excuse

Jeanette--you just go ahead and use that mountain bike of yours. Whatever it takes to be comfortable. The aero position does aggravate my middle back and neck quite a bit. Is taking some getting used to. Have had my friend the reflexologist "adjust" my mid back and my sister the massage therapist, do the same. Just to get by until I find the time to go to a real chiropractor. I can't exactly reach my own midback...... Good for you practicing hills! Now I'd suggest you go out in a lake a few times. It's different than a pool. Maybe you will have no problem, you super dolphin, you, but it helps to try it a few times in the open water. At least for me it did. I plan to go out at least once a week and swim in the lake all summer long. I'll do the pool, too, though.

Go Androgenie, Helen, Rob!!! Yep, I'm still nervous, but not as much as earlier in the week. Today was actually FUN! Slow, but fun