The Frozen (not so) North Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 6)

So Wendy - how did those bath salts treat you?  WAY TO GO!  Finishing first is an awesome accomplishment - but breaking your PR is something to really be proud of!  Keep up the great work! : )

Way to get back into the gym!  It's tough to get back on track after being sick - but you're off to a good start.

As for the HR Monitor - I use a Garmin Forerunner 305.  I really like it.  It actually has more gizmos than I actually need - but it does a good job of keeping me on track.  It's a great tool to help you during your workouts as well.  The one drawback is the fact that it's not great about keeping track of swim workouts. 

Have a great weekend!

I hope you are all enjoying a nice weekend! 

I hit the stationary bike in the basement this morning and it felt great.  I'm starting to like biking on the trainer more and more.  I love riding outside but I really miss the music and I'm always worrying about getting clipped by a car.  Riding inside is great - I can jam out and not worry about breaking my neck.  However, we'll see how I like it after doing it for two months....

I also signed up for my third tri ever - a sprint race in Hopkinton MA in 17 weeks.  The price was crazy - almost $80 - and I haven't paid for a wetsuit yet.  With diapers and daycare to pay for, please feel free to give me a load of crap/encouragement to make sure I make it to the starting line. 

Good luck to everyone who is doing the challenge.  I think it's a great idea to keep everyone motivated.

David, congrats on signing up.  I hear you on the entry fees - crazy and getting worse.  17 weeks sounds like the May 8 event?  I don't envy you on a swim that time of year!  Lot's of time to get ready at least.

Good job on the triple Tara, that's a full day.

My oldest was really sick today, so I stayed home with him and missed my swim workout.  But I did just get back from a 5 mile run and I have a bike trainer session planned for tonight, so the challenge is underway for me. 

Congrats Wendy!! awesome job.  As Warren mentioned first bling in the group...woohoo!

Good job David signing up for a polar bear plunge Tri...haha. Will the ice be off the lake in May??

I thought the challenge starts Jan 16?  Are we starting earlier. Let me know

You're right Scott, 1/16-2/13.  My bad, my ADD is in full flare up.  Now I can wait another week to start swimming!

For all those who are serious about using heart rate (or power meter) training, please read this .  It is the latest blog entry of Jorge, our resident BT bike coach.

It sounds like a good weekend for all! I got in a trainer ride on Saturday, a run Saturday afternoon and a long run today...but it was WINDY! There were a couple of points I felt like I could be blown off the road. It is disappointing to me how much that slowed me down. The long run really wore me down - but got to go swimming an hour later and boy does swimming help me with recovering from a long run - just getting the weight off my joints, cooling down a bit, using my upper body a bit more...I really liked that.

Woot! Our first race and it was a good one! Great job breaking the hour on a 10K...fantastic!

And yes - race fees can be ridonkulous...there are two locally to me which are small and hence pretty cheap - the first one is in July, a sprint and is $35, the second is over Labor Day weekend, an Oly and $40...both price tags I can heartily endorse....and the question still stands - will the ice be gone before the race? That could be some serious cold!

Lovey - fantastic job on your long run. I LOVE the idea of having a coffee shop being one of my pit stops. (Note to self: figure out a route where I can get this to happen). You did great! How did you feel after/the next day?

Great job all fitting it in...one more week to the start of the IM challenge.

Thanks Everyone for the Congrats.
If I can do it you all can too!!!

A Question to our seasoned competitors...Do or did any of you have problems being anxious at the start line? Seems like the closer to gun going off the more anxious I get, then it takes me a half mile to calm down and by then I'm sure I've used up alot of energy that could have been put to use more wisely, like climbing the first hill! 

I finally got to the gym....after a 2 wk hiatus between writing chapters... 5mile Hill Push on Bike 20min...1mile run...11minutes
 

I was stiff and sore. I stretched and walked about a quarter mile after my run and stretched some more. When I got home I took a loooong HOT shower (don't have a tub in my bathroom). I was tired too but I had 2 basketball games to go to, grab lunch, grocery shopping and fixed a light dinner. Then I was out like a light on the couch.. I woke up to a quiet house because my hubby had put the kids to bed and was watching TV. My long runs like that are usually slower, at least 1 min per mile slower. I think that's why I was stiff and sore. Plus i missed my Thursday run because I was helping out a friend and really needed to be there for her so i skipped my run. By sunday morning, I was fine though.

Next week long run is 16 miles so I am going to try and add a fourth run in the week to help prepare.

Absolutely...I think it is one of the primary reasons people have difficulty on the swim - you are all amped up, the gun goes off, you start out a little fast and then you have a hard time catching your breath. I try really hard to just be present in the moment - and by that I mean not focusing on a mile or two miles down the road, I'm focusing on the people around me, the scenery, etc. I also try really hard to go out a bit slower than I think is normal (because, like you, I am sure I'm spending energy I will want later).

Quick favor to ask of the team: When responding to inspires - please try to click on the reply button - that way your response will go back to the person who wrote the original...otherwise, they have to go back to your log and find their original inspire and then find your response. Thanks!

Good Morning!

I'll be finishing up Phase 1 of the C25K Aggressive this week.  Still can't believe how much I've bounced back from taking more than a month off.  Haven't been exhausted!  Thanks for the HR tips, and monitor suggestions. 

Question RE: Monitors- Do prices make a huge difference reflecting the performance of the monitor?  My catch is this...my heart has a tendency to skip (not any kind of threatening condition), and when I've used treadmill/elliptical monitors, they go from  a pulse rate of 138 to 46 to 200 in about 5 seconds! LOL

Put swimming in my schedule book this week.  It will happen.  I'll try the Ironman challenge, though I'm not biking...someone said something about being "creative".  I can do that!

Absolutely anxious at the start.  For my half, I had zero doubts of my preparation or plan, yet I think my highest heart rate for the day was standing the water waiting for the starting horn.  I guess if you're not hyped for the race, you're probably not alive!

I have noticed in some of your logs comments about sore knees or hips after biking. Often that can be the result of a poor bike fit, or the cleats on your bike shoes (if applicable) being misaligned...if you have the inclination - getting a professional bike fit can help 1) make you more aerodynamic and 2) make your bike more comfortable for your specific geometry. In a pinch, you can always go to your local bike shop and ask them to take a quick glance at you on your bike and make a few suggestions. It really made a difference to me!

I've also seen a few comments about shin splints and a few other common running/overuse injuries.  I'd like to offer two solid options:

1. Find someone who practices A.R.T. (active release technique) and become their best friend.  I have an ART guy who has literally made it possible for me to do this sport.  It is a miracle solution to all types of soft tissue problems.  He also got my wife back to running after 3 years off due to a groin problem which couldn't be figured out even with trips to sports specialists who work on the Boston Pro sports teams.

2. For help with self diagnosis and self correcting your problems, go to this web site.  Leigh is an amazing physical therapist, multi ironman finisher, and she's the one who got me into this crazy sport, and she doubles as my unofficial coach.  The site is full of info on taking care of yourself.

Thanks for the info Warren & Jennifer!  I need to use my foam roller more.  I know it will help my ITB issues as I s l o w l y  ramp up my miles this winter and spring.

Most HR monitors will skip around a bit and if you have some extra beats it will effect the monitor's performance.  I mostly go by my averages. To be honest sometimes I use the monitor as a tool to tell myself to push a little harder since my HR may not be that high and I know I could go out a bit more.  I have used a Polar in the past and liked it a lot.  I switched to the Garmin 110 this spring so I could get some pace information and am very happy with it.  I wouldn't invest in one that doesn't use a chest strap, I don't think those are reliable at all.

Haven't been on for a day or so.  I did a bike last night for 35 minutes and had my swimming lessons.
I took today off.  I had a trip to an afterhours clinic with one the kids so I will attempt to do yoga tomorrow,
Heading off to bed.

Take care everyone.

Everyone doing okay? Anyone buried by the snow storm? School was cancelled this morning (by a 5:15a phone call!) - which also means no swim for me today...what do you all do when things conspire to throw your workout off track? Do you scrap the workout or try to fit something else in?

Stay warm and safe (for those of you on the Atlantic coast)!

I'm definitely snowed in today.  Our kids school was canceled last night, so at least we didn't get the wake up call.

I just chalk it up to a forced rest day when I'm unable to work out.  Rest is such an important and overlooked part of training.

If a run gets scuttled, I may try to do something similar like a plyometrics session or something.  I stopped tracking strength workouts a little while back so I don't log the "replacement" sessions.

I have a snow day today, am working from home.  I am going to hit the gym during lunch (it is in my apartment building) and hopefully a treadmill will be available.  I am over the snow already this winter!

Snow day here in RI.  We got about 10 inches and it is still filtering down.  I usually run in the snow.  I stick to the neighborhoods and run in the middle of the street.  There usually aren't any cars out and if the plows have been through I'm golden.  Will probably do just 2 miles today.  I have the trainer at home so I can always switch my planned workouts around if the weather is bad.

My swimming is taking a hit though.  Lap swim hours are very limited already between team practices and swim meets.  We have had too many closures for snow as well.  This is probably my biggest frustration around winter training.  Lousy pool hours, Grrrr!

Susan, I just read your blog and commented on your question about heart rate monitors and calories burned.  I know that weight management isn't on everyone's list, but here's something I posted in a previous group and I stand by it!

I could go on for hours and hours on this topic.  It's my real passion.  I actually would like to make nutrition a second career if I can figure out how to manage it and keep the house.  I advise some athletes on nutrition, though they tend to be in more "explosive" sports than ours - either football, hockey, or body building.  I'm still learning about nutrition specifically for endurance athletes.  Mostly the differences I'm seeing are not major overhaul of concepts, but realigning some specific balances of carbs/protein/fat.

I don't have a ton of time today, but at some point I can share as much as you want on the topic, maybe offline because it can get lengthy and specific for you.

The short answer is that specific diet details depend on exactly what you want to do (fat loss, performance peaking, muscle gain, etc) and it's also dependent on your own body and physiology.  I know that's not really an answer, but it's the truth.

The core elements of any good diet are pretty basic though not always easy to follow: eat as many foods without an ingredient list as possible, eat everything as close to the source as possible (unprocessed and local is almost always better), any grains you eat should be whole grains, fats are not your enemy, don't starve yourself, cheat every once in a while.

For us, scholl closed anhour early yesterday and had a 2 hour delay this morning. Mind you, my youngest usually gets on the bus at 9am. A 2 hr delay means 11am start! I had to leave him with a neighbor. We got 4 to 6 inches. I shoveled last night while the kids were asleep, took me an hour. This morning only took me 20 mins, including putting salt down.