2015 Clyde/Athena Tri-N-4- Weight Loss Mentor Group - Open (Page 6)

My Story: I am a 48 year old woman who has decided that I want to complete a Sprint Triathlon. I love swimming and biking(for recreation) and have been working on the c25k.

Hometown: Milton, Vermont

Family: Married, 3 dogs, 6 chickens

Prior races: I haven't done any type of races in the past.

2015: I am planning on racing in the Vermont Sun Triathlon on June 20th. I am both excited and scared.


I am willing to take any advice I can get. I am currently doing 3x week c25k, 2 days indoor cycling 30-45 mins. I havent really started swimming on a regular basis yet.

Really am excited about accomplishing this goal.

Yeah I am going to Florida next week and plan on going to the pool once I get back. I am glad to know that 48 isn't too late to start.

Welcome!!

Y'know... your trip to Florida would be a good time to get in an OWS

I am curious though... am I catching a hint of Looney Tunes in your screen name?

Yeah, I have 3 dogs. Buddy is in my picture in the pool. Hoss is a beagle mix and Feffer is a Yorkie Poo. My husband and I have weird sense of humors.

First of all, Congrats Rick!!! That is awesome! Also, Welcome Hossnfeffer.

Well, last week wasn't as productive as I had hoped, but it wasn't all bad either. I didn't get all of my runs and bikes in like I had hoped. Sick wife and kids meant I was on full-time daddy duty for a couple days. It did warm up and the sun did come out for a couple days, so I took advantage of it and got the road bike off the trainer and onto the road. A quick 20 miles on my lunch break and it felt good. I averaged a whole mile per hour faster than I did most of the times I did that route last year. I got two runs in, including my first ever 10K distance, and I ran the entire way. Diet was okay, but I added A LOT more protein, and that helped with the end-of-the-week slump, but then I did miss a couple days too. I hope that is the beginning of having energy by Friday. The scale even moved in the right direction. 2.5 lbs.

This week's goals: 2 swims, 2 bikes, and 3 runs.

Have a great week all!

Since I'm a Seattle native... I was fine up until the very end... hehehe... I completely agree with the commercials. However, the Fiat/Viagra commercial was a good chuckle. 43... That's forty-three and not four-point-three on the trainer, right... Holy Nutballs lady, you're crazy! I go nuts after 45 mins on that thing!

How is everybody holding up this week? Putting some good work in?

I have never seen a flip turn on a triathlon course. I don't bother practicing with them either.

Woo-HOO! A huge congratulations!!

Wow! I feel like such a SLUG right now. At my 14 mph average road pace, that's over three hours in the saddle. You're going to have to change the carpet under that trainer because the sweat stains are never going to come out.

Sunday Update:

Since my wife popped a 103 temp yesterday morning, our out of town trip has been postponed. That means I get to make my Sunday post on Sunday, and I only have to burn 1 vacation day at work this week.

Mmmmmmmkay... Last week I droppped 2.5 to get back to my Jan 4th starting weight. This week I somehow dropped another 3.5 to get down to 254. I'm not sure how this is happening as fast as it is... but I'm not going to argue... much. I have MFP set up for my goal of 0.5lb/week. Hehehe, after 2 weeks of big losses for me... let's see what this week has in store for me!

Diet: Managed to keep 6/7 days under my caloric goal. Sodium seems to be the one thing that goes over the most. I think it's from processed foods more than anything else. However, I'm not horribly worried because I drink 12+ cups of water a day... I'm always hydrated

Swim: Nada. With Amy working 4 nights last week, pool time just wasn't in the cards for me.

Bike: 30:00 spin on the trainer for 7.2 mi on Monday, and a 1:42:38 ride from hell for 22.87 mi yesterday made my week. I need to stop not bringing out the trainer to get my time in. At one point yesterday, I was struggling to maintain 8mph. Plus an avg of 13.4mph when I'm a 16.5mph rider is really not acceptable to me.

Run: I was more time-limited than anything this week, and that kept me to shorter runs around the block (0.4mi loop) on 2 runs. I don't know if it's a mental thing or not, but I'm starting to feel twinges in my rigtht soleus muscle again. I'm keeping it slow and steady, and new shoes are in the works.

Goals for the week: Diet: 7/7 days under caloric goal. Swim 2x (off work Tues and normal day Fri), Bike 3x (2x trainer and a longer ride Sat AM weather permitting), Run 3X (don't push it, but get at least 1 2-miler in there)

I have been reading through all your posts and I have been finding everyone so encouraging and motivating!! I would love to join your group if you still have openings?

Name: Suzie
Story: I am 43ys. I have been overweight all my life. Been yo-yo dieting throughout. My heaviest was when I got married almost 15yrs ago and at that time I was @300lbs (stopped weighing when I hit 290lb) Weight went down then up throughout. A year into my marriage my husband had a heart attack at the age of 37yr. You would think that would of been a wake up call and it was but only for a short time. My weight then hovered at 250lb. It wasn't until I was turning 40yr that for some reason everything hit me. I signed up to do a 10k run (more or less from someone that was laughing at me and told me I couldn't do it). At the time I didn't even know how far 10k was, and I had never ran a day in my life. A good friend trained with me, encouraged me, and I did it. I wasn't fast and to this day I still am not fast but it has turned my life around. That was 3 years ago and my weight is now @160lbs and I am still working on it. Last year I did my first sprint Tri and now I want more I'm struggling to find the balance of work, working out/training, my husband time and sleep. I work horrible hours 3pm-@5am. I am a Supervisor (RN) in a trauma hospital in surgery and I work a lot of over time since my husband is no longer able to work.

Family Status: Married to a very supportive husband for 15yrs no children.

Current Training: Just got back to the pool this month. My swimming is slow. Last year I could only Breaststroke but this year I am working on the freestyle. I love bike riding and my husband bought me a bike trainer (I live in Indiana so we have winters) and have been riding a lot on the trainer. Have been running some but ready to get back into a real routine.

2014 Races: Cicero Sprint TRI (June 2014), Kendallville Sprint TRI (July 2014), Huntington Sprint TRI (August 2014) Indy Mini 13.1 (May 2014) multiple 5ks and multiple bike rides

2015 Races: Signed up for: BSU Sprint TRI April 18th, Tri Goddess Tri June 14th and Fort4Fitness 13.1 run September. Will also be doing more 5ks throughout.

Weight loss: 3yrs ago I hovered at 250lbs. currently 160lbs

What will make me a good mentee?: I am dedicated and I would love to help support others and give motivation. I am hoping to find the same in return. I cannot find a supportive group where I currently live that wants to deal with a slow newbie. I know that I will never be fast and I am ok with that. I just want to do it for me and it would be nice to have others that I can talk with and ask questions with. My first Tri left me with a great feeling. My 2nd Tri I was miserable and didn't want to do another one again. I had to dig deep and find why I felt that way. I realized then that I couldn't compare myself to others and that I just had to do it for me. My third Tri I went in with a "Happy Heart" and it was great. I want to keep pushing myself and be the best version of me that I can be. I thought if I could find a supportive group that it would help me.

I currently use MyfitnessPal to track all my food and I am "Eating Clean" about 95% of the time. I adapted Eating Clean into my life over a year ago and I found that this has made a huge impact on my weight loss and just overall how I feel. Throughout my life I have tried multiple other weight loss "diets" such as: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, FormU3, Low Carb, Protein Power..just to name a few. I believe that any of these will work if you are willing and can make it work for your lifestyle. Unfortunately, many of us don't need a temporary "diet" but a eating plan that we can make work for our entire life. So I do believe that we are all different and what works for me may not work for others, but I know that we share the same struggles.

I am currently in Todd's Turtles for Newbies and that is an awesome group! I just was hoping to find more support and encouragement to help me stay on track. I've been struggling because I know that I will always be slow and at the back of the pact.

Welcome to the group, Suzie. Congrats on the weight loss so far. That is awesome!

Way to go with the weight loss last week Rick! As far as the speed on the trainer goes, don't put too much faith in the speeds you are seeing on your trainer rides. I don't think they translate very well to actual road riding. There are too many differences such as less resistance on the road, changes in grade which make less steady efforts on the road. I have read somewhere that one mile on the trainer is equivalent in effort to 1.5 on the road.

I joined a local triathlon club this week. I am hoping that as the weather improves, I can get out and do more activities with the group. I am especially looking forward to doing some group bike rides and open water swims. I also signed up for a local 12k run called Bloomsday that is in the beginning of May. My wife also agreed to allow me to do a half IM next year. There is one in the town I grew up in (Boise) that I will plan to do.

My week went well for the most part. Down 3lbs for the week. I pushed myself a bit harder on my workouts all week. I got most of my workouts minus my long run for the week. I came down with a stomach bug this weekend. I took the road bike out again on Wednesday and did a quick 20 mile ride at lunch. I found that my fitness level has increased more than my leg strength and endurance. I could go a lot faster in my lower heart rate zones, but couldn't get my legs to put out the effort needed to get into the upper heart rate zones for more than a few seconds at a time. More riding should take care of that though.

Even though I am not following a formal plan, I'm going to use this week as a recovery week. I will still try and get 2 bikes, 3 runs, and 2 swims in, my runs and bikes will just be a bit easier/shorter.

Have a great week all!

Welcome Suzie! I haven't heard of anyone wanting to join being told "no" yet.



Actually the 20-miler was on the road... Granted, there was a wicked wind (20+mph) coming from the south, but that was just disheartening overall.

Hi Guys,

Sorry for my absence the last week or so guys. I've been out of town on work. Which makes getting workouts in, and eating healthy a bit of a challenge.

First up, welcome to the group to the new people. Looking forward to helping each other achieve our goals.

Over the last 2 weeks, my diet has been mostly good. However the weekend of 31 Jan was a very bad one. I ended up bouncing up a few lbs that week. But the good thing is it was only one bad weigh in, this morning I am 2 lbs down on this time last week. Bringing me back to 6.8lbs lost overall.

My running has been OK. I've ran 6 days a week for the last 2 weeks. But the negative is I am yet to reach the 2.5 hours a week target I've had for myself. But last year I've now run for over 2 hours a week for 5 consecutive weeks. The last time I achieved that was mid 2013. So overall I'm happy with the progress I've been making, and the consistency I've managed.

For the next week, the goal is the same as the last few weeks. 1. Continue to make better choices for all of my meals, 2. Run 6 days a week for 2.5 hours total.

Thanks for the Welcoming!!
My work week is usually what plans my workouts so taking a look ahead I am hoping to get 2 swims in this week. This is my weakest area and I really need to work on this but unfortunately with my work hours and the pool hours they do not mesh very well but I'll do the best I can. I also have 3 runs planned and hopefully 3 bike trainer rides.

I'm pretty good at pre-planning my food days. I find that it really helps me a lot. I usually do all my prep work on Sunday's to get me ready for the work week. This week will be Turkey Meatballs with lots of veggies for work. Plus I grilled a few chicken breasts up to have on hand. Bought a big melon and it's all cut and ready plus some beautiful blackberries rinsed and ready.

Starting the week with a plan! Now if I can just stick with it!!

Robin
It has been hard when you are over weight doing different events and not comparing yourself to everyone else. I have a good friend that has helped me and we do all of our different runs together. Then when I suggested trying a sprint tri she was more then willing to do it and we did, but she hated it and I loved it. So I didn't think it would be a big deal to do one by myself and I was miserable. My swim was awful, and I was the last one to come in and I just felt like a stuffed, wet cow in spandex. My bike and run were ok but by then I just felt defeated. The crowd support was great at cheering you on, but I didn't know what to do with myself before and after because I had no one to talk to. I really had to push myself when I did the 3rd sprint tri. I went in with the chant in my head "Happy Heart" and I told myself that I was not going to compare myself to anyone and that if I passed someone or they passed me I would tell them good job or something positive. And I did and I felt so much better. Mind you, my swim, still slow. Now this year with my first Tri coming up in April, I am starting to feel the doubt starting to slip in. I know I will never be fast, but it would be nice to swim a little bit faster so that I am just following the last swimmer in by seconds and not minutes. I have been working on my freestyle but my breaststroke is still easier for me and believe it or not, I am faster at the breaststroke, which I guess isn't saying much, lol. I am hoping to find someone that I can start doing these with so at least I would have someone to talk with before and after. It just makes it more fun I guess that is why I discover BT and what I am looking for too, like you

My Tri that I am doing on April 18th is a pool swim..Do you think I will have to do a Flip Turn?!? I am still struggling with the freestyle. I haven't even started to think about learning flip turns, YIKES!!

That is good to know, Thanks. I can't imagine myself right now trying to learn flip turns too along with the freestyle