left.right.repeat group -closed - Full of a bunch of winners...YEAH! (Page 56)

Sticka- Here's hoping the van can be saved!

Jennifer - Woohoo!!!  That is great news!  All that hard work paid off!  What is the skate drill? Congrats again!

Scuba - welcome back!

First picture on this link is in skater position.

http://www.onetri.com/total-immersion-freestyle-made-easy-drill-cards-p-3175.html

I'm offline until later. Have a great day all.

This month ends my second BT challnege. I have logged over 500miles on my beloved trainer. I have NEVER put in that much time in one month. I feel stronger and I am down a total of 6 pounds!!!!!! I would strongly encourage anyone who needs off season motivation to join a challenge...it makes what would otherwise be boring...kind of fun

Scuba girl...I agree ... my theory is...there are only 2 type of wetsuit owners...those who pee and those who lie about peeing!!!! Come on fess up....LRR.. Peeing on the bike is an art! Its very hard to do...sure its gross and I swore I'd never do it...but here I am fessing up...I actually was pretty surprised the first time I did it. I only share this info with my close friends and BT mentor group...LOL

Pete  are you coming to Boston?If so, we should get together!!! I know nothing about hockey...just my Red Sox....Jonathan Papplebon had a baby today!

 I actually took my parents to Gillete Stadium yesterday to the Patriots museum. My Dad is a big football fan. The Krafts have built a beautiful stadium, museum and of course shoppping Mall. It was fun even for a non football fan

Tommorow is the deadline for discounted registration for the 1/2 ironman I plan on for Spring...I will make it official tommorow.

I ran 10 miles the other day...longest in a while. I need to get serious...I keep saying this but NOT doing it!

I wish you all a Happy New Year

WAEF - Great news on the swimming. I'm sold. Just got back from a quick trip to Barnes and Nobel. I'm holding the TI book. Time to make a pot of coffee and dig through this sucker.

And words of wisdom as I start through this?

Ginny - I do not, have not and above all will not - pee in my wetsuit....unless there is absolutely no other choice except death.  I have owned 3 wetsuits now for all sorts of reasons and as of yet, have NEVER peed in my wetsuit.....and for you and Mav, I would admit it if I had - my wetsuit would be offended and may stop being buoyant.

Gary - great job...keep reading....chip timing - most are now chip timed and the splits are invaluable...there are some smaller tris that are not chipped timed but most are.  Wave starts - most tris are wave starts of some sort - no time penalty, they adjust chip time for your wave start....which is why it is critical that you start in the proper wave.  I have also done a couple of time trial starts which means everyone goes in the water individually about 3-4 seconds apart.  You will not be time penalized because of your start wave.

Waef - great news on the swim...it is soooooo cool when it comes together...congrats...I was really helped by TI.

Mav - no no no....you can Scuba must realize there are three types of people....those who have peed in their wetsuit, those who lie about it, AND THOSE WHO NEVER HAVE.  Not saying I never would...just the facts, I never have...in a pinch I would...but I don't and won't make a habit of it....we used to wear wetsuits racing catamarans and everyone knew who peed in their wetsuits.....you could smell them approaching.

FBP - sorry to hear about the Freddy Beach Urban Assault Vehicle....also known as your minivan....such a sad day...

Mav - 10 miles is great on the run.....when is the HIM?

Gtk - just relax....don't stress when you can't understand all of the book...it makes a lot more sense in the water - work diligently on floating until you can easily float on your back, balanced.  It helps me to have a little forward momentum....once you can float on your back, it is simply a matter of rolling over slightly and before you know it you will be swimming.  Between WAEF and I (I've been through the TI workshop) we can get you through it I think....just let us know where you are struggling....

Remember people....swimming is about balance....

HIM is june 20th

Mav - when you said spring, I thought you meant like March or April...that is spring in Tx.  June is Summer....SO you have plenty of time....don't be doing too much too soon or you will be in the old overtrain realm....be careful and have fun and do cool things with your fitness right now....

B

Mav - no, I'm not coming to Boston. The BC Eagles are playing here in Freddy Beach. Also on the hockey front (for those of you who are fans), tonight is a big game between Canada and USA at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Winner goes directly to the semi final game while the loser plays in a quarter final match. 

Add me to the list of those who will admit to having peed in their wetsuit, back when I was into scuba diving.

Hope you all have a great New Years Eve!!

Pete

Thanks for the swimming advice. The book is a bit confusing but the DVD helps. I can already tell I'm going to have a lot of questions. Kind of reminds me of when I taught myself to play golf.

On another note, my wife (Micki) and youngest son (Willy) suprised me with running shoes\clothes yesterday. The stuff was for them - not me - which is awesome. They want to start running so we're gonna do the C25K plan. I picked both of them up a HRM monitor. 

Question though - does the 220-age stuff work for a 12 year old? 208 max seems pretty high to me....

GTK - I don't know about the 220-12=208 but I do understand that their heartrates are significantly higher than ours....I would monitor it for a few runs and see what levels it goes to....there are some tests I think at the Polar website to test for HR levels/zones.  My advice for your wife and child are start slow....walk and run combo....no more than 10% increases in duration and/or distance in a week.  It's another one of those silly rules to avoid injury.

Bryan

Did a long, very slow ten mile run today. It was nice being out there.

I'm just incredibly slow. I think I am starting to accept it now. I'm one of the slowest people I know with all three of these sports, but the endurance is really coming along very nicely. On the bike, in the pool and with running. I can go for over an hour in any of the sports and not tire out. This morning I was on my feet for well over two hours and was fine. Same goes for the bike, I can ride over two hours now and be fine. And my time in the water is also increasing. 75 minutes yesterday. Most of it with minimal breaks (just long enough to check the workout plan and hydrate) and the last 800 done strong yet with no break at all. My endurance is surprising even to me. And it's more than enough to make up for any disappointment I might occasionally feel with pace.

Another positive, my pace doesn't intimidate newbies. It seems to inspire them because it is so easily attainable for them. They can't identify with doing tris or half marathons or aspiring to a full marathon, but they can totally identify with my pace. It brings it all back to earth for them. 

So now a girlfriend who is a lifelong couch potato decided to start exercising. We're partnering up the first few weeks to get her off to a good start.  Another friend was telling me that she can't run, but she likes to walk. She walks a 12 min mile. I told her it took me two years to get to that pace running. And I can only hold it for five miles, after that I slow considerably. Her face lit up and now she wants to start working out too. Maybe even sign up for a race with me. 

Another friend who hasn't been swimming in years is joining me at the pool on Monday for Masters swim. The team intimidates her, but I don't. So she and I will swim together. 

Little by little, my circle of friends is starting on their own journey. If my being so slow is what inspired them, then I'll never complain about being slow again. Instead I'll be grateful for it, fully embrace it, celebrate it and invite others to come join the party. 

Hey all!

Got a nice email from my swim coach telling me I am doing great.  Very nice.  I am probably going to sign up for one more round (4 weeks) of lessons. 

I guess I am out of the challenge as I did not workout yesterday.  Knee/muscles just didn't feel right.  Nothing specific but I decided to play it safe.  I have been reading/viewing everything I can on swimming including a time lapse pic of Ian Thorpe from 1997.  Good stuff on BT.  May buy the TI book/DVD but I have been myself lots of Tri goodies and need to hold back a little.  Hopefully bike ride to local pool, swim, bike back this afternoon.

WAEF - your training sounds fantastic!  Very nice job.

GT - cool that the family is going to start running!

FBP - I scuba'ed and surfed in college but for some strange reason I can't remember if I broke that rule

And you wonder why I nominated her for BT Triathlete of the month! You can nominate her too... http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=70635&posts=74&start=1 The more people write in, the better chance of getting selected

Thanks Diane. You're sweet. I appreciate the gesture very much. But the thing is I'd rather keep a low profile. My SO really wants it that way and I'm trying to keep peace. Even if I were selected, I'd have to decline anyway. This would draw more attention than he could accept.

Thanks anyway. This means more to me than I can express. I want you to know the admiration is mutual. Your example pushes me. You are driven and it keeps me going. Sometimes when I feel like stopping, I think of you and push on. We inspire each other. And I think that is very cool. 

WAEF - you have my vote also.  If you can't be the BT of the month I will nominate you for the Turtle of the week!  Much more low key but at least some accolades to someone who deserves it (insert smiley with hearts here).

Hey, I like the idea of a "Turtle of the Week" award!! I too will respect your wish WAEF re the BT'er of the month thing.

Happy New Year everyone.

Mrs FBP and I are just about to head out for our race. It is taking ALL and I mean ALL of my RESOLUTION to do this one. Usually I am super excited but today just dreading. We were out until 12:30 at a house party then at 1:15 I was out to pick up our daughter (19) at the party she attended and then waited up until our son (17) arrived home safe and sound at 2:00. He was the designated driver of a friend's car last night so of course we weren't resting easy until he got home.

Oh, and did I mention that it is -16c with winds gusting to 50 kph and so a windchill of -29c ...  

Race report and some pics later today.

BTW, the Canada-US hockey game last night was one for the ages. US up 3-0 in the first few minutes, Canada comes back to tie before the end of teh first perioid then early in the second Canada up 4-3, then 4-4, then Canada 5-4 then a long stretch with no scoring. Canada scored two goalds in teh dying minutes to make it 7-4 final. Game was played in front of the largest crowd ever to see a world junior championship game and is already being talked about as one of teh greatest games in the tournament's history. Teams may meet again before the tournament ends too. Yowser.

First Finish Line of 2009 !!

It was a cold one but we did it. Here's pictorial proof:

Some of the other crazy canucks

Mrs FBP is in on the right in the light blue jacket

There were even spectators on such a cold day

 FBP's big finish

 Frosty? You bet!

I think I crossed in about 33:00 - not bad considering the conditions and the fact that I stopped to take pics, chat, ran with one of my clinic students, etc. It was a great way to start off the year and hopefullyit's the first of many finish lines for the LRR group in 2009.

Happy New Year to all.

First finish lines have been updated....for our newbies....we count the finish lines on page one....and last year, we counted our finish lines as well as immediate family...kids and spouses....so we are off and "running" at a total of two right now.

Goal....100+

Here is one of the answers that got posted. It had me ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing:

The beginners start first so that the fast people can swim right over the top of you and push you down. Its an initiation ritual. You weren't supposed to know.

I've since found out that the "beginner wave" will start after the main pack without a time penalty

Ended up running a little over a mile today.  Took a walk break.  Came back, ice bath to soak knee, recorded my now high voice so I could join the Vienna Boy's Choir , and am working on the to-do list which now includes pedestals for the Washer/Dryer.

FBP - congrats!  Wow, the level of determination it took to run that is amazing. 

Swim practice tomorrow.

Gary - thanks for reminding me of the pearls of wisdom and insight that are contained within the earlier pages....I laughed when I read you post too...by the way, I am impressed you are 25 pages into the archives....I hope now you can see why I didn't want to start us all over....there is some great stuff in those early pages......Also, just think how envious the other groups will be when they see the number of pages and posts we have compared to them.....smile

WAEF - your thoughts are appropo....and spot on....I have discovered that we are all an inspiration....some to one....some to many....Personally, I would say speed is measured by commitment, perserverance, dedication and discipline.  And, hey, enjoying a nice course longer than others can be cool too....just think of all the things you see that they just fly by and ignore.

sTRIve and happy new year to all.....it's going to be a GREAT 2009,

Bryan

Happy New Year everyone!

I went to a 'race' yesterday... but they had no clock, and everyone did a different distance... There was no registration, no results... just a big running pot-luck party group run... so no race

Anyway, I had fun, I ran 3.88 miles ate too much junk, chatted with people, even referred people to BT.