Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 60)

I'll have to check out the podcast.  Thanks.

Ok I have few friends because they are mostly high maintenance.  Not being sexist but I can only imagine how much worse that can be dealing with girls.  Ok maybe that was sexist, but you know it's true.  Here's how you handle that.  Call her tomorrow afternoon.  Say "Hey I'm planning out my training for next week.  What days are we doing Zumba and when?"  She won't say everyday.  Write down the 2 or 3 days she mentions and put those in your plan.  When she calls you on a different day say you can't you have to SBR but you will see her on your next scheduled Zumba date.  Better yet, after each Zumba class make her run with you.  Immediately afterwards.  She'll eventually quit bothering you to Zumba knowing she'll have to run afterwards.

Maybe the previous advice is proof why I don't have any friends.

Ceril, I totally get it as far as the friend thing goes, and it's tough to navigate.  I have a similar friend in terms of us getting each other going, but kind of taking different paths now.  We had always done races together (as in from start to finish), and the only goals we ever had were to finish.  I initiated the talk this year about us not waiting for each other.  Felt kind of bad since I'm pretty sure earlier on, I was the one holding us up more often than not.  But it's been OK.  We train together occasionally, and go to races together, but do our own thing on the course.  It's great to make it more about the social aspect if that's YOUR priority.  But if your goal is to really improve on the traithlon stuff, I agree with Dennis....you gotta engrave your core S/B/R training on the calendar and fit the Zoomba around it...if it fits.

Dennis, how was your cold bike ride this morning?  Thanks for the heads up on Kona...DVR is set to go.  Your back to the pool on Monday, right????

First section of "pool school" filled up w/in an hour of posting, but another session opened up, and I think I'm in.  10 people per class, 5-6 sessions including underwater and above water filming/critique, recommended drills, etc.  Been doing upper/core strengthening every other day, and hopefully boot and wrap will come off on Monday so I can start getting in the pool.  Picked up a pull buoy (thanks Dennis).  This ankle thing may guide me into focusing more on my weaknesses...a silver lining of sorts.   

Ugh!!!  Technology snafu's and friend drama.  I though this exercise stuff was supposed to RELIEVE stress .

Got a spot in pool school, so hopefully I'll be swimming like Dennis soon.  Dennis you ARE swimming on Monday, right???

I go back to the doc tomorrow, so hopefully can start doing something after that...other than nagging other people .

Yay for Sunday hours at that LBS!  Amazing how many gadgets we have to keep up and running!  That's great that your gym offers S/B/R instruction too!  Sounds like you are totally ready to rock your training.  Are you following a particular plan? 

Running is still on hold for the ankle to heal up properly.  Wearing the boot for one more week, but got rid of the semi-stiff wrap thing that caused bathing to involve a garbage bag and duct tape, so I'm calling it a win.  Start walking next week and see where it goes from there.  My run mileage for 2011 is sitting at 946.  May have to let go of the 1K goal .  But I'm good to start swimming as of today .  My friend (the one I mentioned earlier) also got into "pool school" so we will get to do that together.

Dennis, how's the cold weather biking?  Back to the pool this morning?  Winning friends and influencing people? Just kidding...I know underneath the self proclaimed tough guy, you are super nice and an awesome teammate!

Karen, you snowed under with holiday preparations?

Steve, if you pop in, know that we miss you and appreciate all the great advice you have dispensed to us. 

I am really quite sorry for not being online at all for way too long.  I was on vacation for a week during Thanksgiving and then my entire family had the stomach flue from hell two or three times and our van may well need to be burned to kill the smell.  I am on my 3rd round of something stomach related and have not worked out in nearly 2 weeks.  In the middle of that I took on Principal responsibilities for a school and the responsibilities of the Director of Education (in addition to my regular job responsibilities) and well put in 80+ hours last week working as long as 7:30 am to 1:00 am on some days last week.  So hopefully I can get caught up here with you guys, but again my sincere appology for dropping off the face of the earth.  I was just really in survival mode here.

Oh my Carol so sorry about the ankle that completely sucks! I hurt just reading about it.  Looks like I am not the only one going through adversity, challenges for the group as a whole.  Nice bike though....

Unfortunately I will be out of town maybe again for another 2 weeks at Christmas, depending on whether some of my vacation time will be revoked related to new responsibilities.  Hang in there everyone.  Life is a long term endeavor as is tri training.  Heal well, nurture the body and soul and enjoy your families over the holidays.  Don't go too nuts with the comercialization of Christmas, but do get the toys you need ...er want. 

Ooohh!!!! A Steve sighting!  So glad you are (mostly) OK.  I always worry when internet peeps drop off inexplicably.  Ugh, that stomach bug that just keeps giving sounds horrrible.  That's the worst kind of sick. Getting well trumps training, and so does keeping the job(s).  Pop in when you can, but more importantly, hope you get some time off to enjoy Christmas w/ your family.

Ankle is doing well, and I feel ready to walk sans boot, but doc wanted it on one more week.  Better safe than sorry I guess.  Been working mostly upper body and core every other day, and added in swimming on the other days this week.  Good in a way since I had let go of most everything except running before that.

Ceril, how are the gym instructional sessions going?  Still enjoying your trainer?  Have you been able to get your new bike out on the road?

Dennis, don't make us hunt you down.  How is training and/or life?  When does your IM training schedule kick in?       

I'm alive.  I'm never really busy but this week I have been.  Glad to see Steve didn't abandon us on purpose.  I've been reading the forum from the emails but never have time to login and type a proper message.

So how did the Saturday morning ride go?  It didn't.  It was 27.  I got 2 miles out and my face and fingers were painfully cold.  Came home.  Went to LBS and picked up a thicker pair of gloves with a removable wind proof finger cover.  I also picked up a nice balaclava for the face.  Went back out Sunday at 32 and everything was perfect.  I also doubled up on the socks to help the toes.  My shoes just have toe covers but not sure full shoe booties would even help.

The balaclava over my head caused one issue.  2 miles into the ride I realized I felt weird.  A quick pat of the head reminded me that I forgot to put my helmet on.  The head cover caused me to think I must have put it on I guess.  I rode extra careful home to get it before I went on out.  I planned on riding between 60-70 miles.  I didn't get that in though.  About 30 miles in I started to feel a pain in the outside of my left knee (like the ITBS from the fall in my right knee jumped legs).  I decided to head home but that was 25 miles away.  I rode for 40 minutes, took a rest and then did another hour of riding home.  The knee hurt more when I wasn't applying a lot of force to the pedals.  If I was riding with decent force, the knee pain wasn't so bad.

So I have been foam rolling and taking the past 3 days off to let it heal up.  This is really the first time I have had any pain riding the bike.  I think I know what caused it though.  During the break I took on the ride home, I decided to take a picture of my bike since it was so nice and shiny from being washed the day before.  After getting home and looking at the picture I realized my seat has tilted itself back where the tip of the horn is easily 1-1.5" higher than the back.  I knew it seemed harder to get on the saddle when mounting but just blamed it on the thicker tights.  I think that tilt caused my leg to extend different than normal and over that distance caused some issues.

I'm thinking about running tonight and then perhaps doing a little on the trainer in the next day or so if the run turns out ok.

When does IM training start?  I guess it has.  No official plan just building aerobic base and mileage to finish the race.  No speed intervals or anything special, just training each sport 3-4 times a week.  My long runs should get up to 2 18 milers in April, quite a few century rides before a 112 miler in April.  The custom plans here call for basically the same thing.  I'm trying to train 2 weeks on/1 week of recovery.  That should allow my body to heal a little better and help prevent injury.  We'll see.

So who watched Kona?  They could've done a better job on the Chrissie vs. Miranda battle.  It was quite intense when I watched it live.  I'm not sure they even mentioned that Chrissie had never been first off the bike.  

Dinner timer just beeped.  Let me get the food up and feed these kids.  I'll try to not be such a stranger.

Nice job Dennis on gearing up and getting out there in the cold.  Do you ever think we can have enough/all the right clothes and gear?  I just picked up another basket and set of clear plastic drawers to store the stuff that is overflowing out of my current workout basket.   Ugh, sorry about the knee pain.  At least you have an idea what caused it, but frustrating when you have one thing after another like that.  Part of the journey, but one that would be good to skip.  Will be fun to watch your journey to IMTX.

Yes, I watched the summarized Kona special on Saturday.  I guess I don't find the pro stuff as interesting as the AG stories, so would love to see more of those.  I can't imagine the "OMG, I'm actually here and doing this" feeling.  But I HATED it for the lady who barely missed the time cutoff.  I know....it's about the journey, gotta have standards, blah, blah, blah, but to come THAT close just hurts.

Took the boot off and went for a 2 mile walk today.  A bit ahead of schedule, but stuck to the sidewalks and watched carefully so as not to step on the pecans.  Ankle is understandably stiff, but not really what I'd call painful.  So far so good.  Starting to see a bit of definition back in my arms and abs from the weights, crunches, etc.  I may not run great, but I'll look good trying.

Ugh, sickies be gone from Steve's house!  (but don't land here)  Hopefully you're not missing the endorphins too much.  Maybe time to go back and nail a HIM or two in 2012 if you're so inclined.  Work sounds challenging for you and for Dennis these days. 

Speaking of work, I may just have some.  Did a bit of contract accounting work for a friend, and a "real" client is on the way over to meet w/ me shortly and has contract in hand.  Also have an interview next week for more potential work, so we'll see where it all leads.  I'm like the reluctant entreprenuer, just really struggling with whether I want to officially hang out my shingle.  So trying to do the opposite of my old "overanalyze it" self, and maybe just ease into it like a long run and see what happens .

Oh, and I recommend Swimoutlet.com   Bought some swim hand fins and a "grab bag" swimsuit.  TYR competition suit, you pick the size, they pick the color.  Lucked out with a really nice suit in a color that I like for less than 1/2 of retail.  Nice! 

Just stopping in here - wrote a whole note that my computer deleted - darn!

Steve - stomach bugs suck!  We had it here one christmas which was pretty horrible (disinfecting house now!)  Hope there's a light at the end of the tunnel for work.  We're in overdrive on work here too - end of the year push - lots of overtime, working today and tomorrow on top of extra during the week.  I need to wrap presents and this year we are hosting the family (about 25 people!) so I need to find time to think about details - maybe on my trainer ride later.

Dennis - Sounds like a cold ride!  Brr!  That's why I haven't taken my bike out on the road yet - I'm a wimp! (and I don't have proper gear)  I'm loving the trainer rides in the morning - I miss it when it's not on my schedule.  Hope your knee is back to normal.

Carol - yay for swim and core stuff and yay for healing ankle and yay for muscle def!  I'm getting back into the groove here.  Had my swim clinic on Thursday night which was very helpful for me and better yet the instructor also is a part time lifeguard there and said that if we swim when he's there, we can ask him for free advice  It was also an ego boost because I could see how far I've come since I started as there were some real newbies in the group.  I think I just need to log more time!  I have the cycle clinic and treadmill clinic later today so I'll let you know how it goes.  I get bad shin splints and feel like an elephant when I run on the treadmill - so we'll see what they say.  Also, a friend just gave me a book about Chi-running.  I've been loving the new bike so much - I need to really get in the pool and on the treadmill much more.  I may have to neglect the bike a little this week.

Work and fast approaching Christmas are making things crazy here.  We booked our trip to New Orleans in January (for my 40th birthday!)  I have the sprint triathlon at the gym on Jan.13th and we fly out on the 14th - I can't wait!! (my birthday is the 16th)

I'm planning on 2 sprints for 2012 - an early one in June that is wetsuit legal and one in late July.  If all goes well, considering one for mid/late September as well.  I have A LOT of work to do before then, but really psyched about it.

Looks like you've found a clinic for everything.  I swear by ChiRunning.  I went to a ChiRunning clinic back in April I believe and it was well worth it.  My running is 100% influenced by what I learned there.  Have I mentioned how happy I am you are back to posting regularly?

Went out this morning for a group ride.  Left out at 8:30 with the temperature right at freezing. 60 miles later it had warmed up to 50.  No real knee issues.  The left did have a little paid in the front but that's different than last week.  My knee gets pain there when I push big gears hard.  There were just 3 of us so we decided to alternate pulling but while we pulled, we pulled hard.  Way harder than I have been riding over the past couple months.  

I also talked them into riding my first century with me the first of the year.  They want to ride one each month during 2012 so it works out pretty good for my IM training.  The joined the UMCA and are doing the year rounders challenge.  I don't care to join and spend $55 for this.

Thinking about running tonight and even considering riding 30-40 tomorrow morning

Hi there overworked people!  Hope things will quiet down enough for everyone to be able to enjoy Christmas.

Ceril - gotta love free swim advice!  It IS fun to think back and realize how far you have come.  If you don't mind me asking, what gym do you belong to?  Sounds like they offer some things that most of them don't.  I read (skimmed) the Chi running book as well, and picked up a couple of good concepts from it.  Slight forward lean from the hips and arms are like spun wool surrounding a steel core. I know there is a lot more to it, but those were my main take-a-ways and I think have helped me quite a bit.  So you're doing a tri for your birthday in addion to a trip to New Orleans.  Nice!

Dennis - glad your knee is feeling better.  Better safe than sorry with it.  Those smaller group rides are really nice.  Glad you are finding some century ride buddies.  Our bike shop has a "century of the month" supported ride w/ 100 mile and 100K distances.  I hope to do it one day, but am not at the speed/endurance I would need to keep up AND do that distance.  Anyway, glad that things are on the upswing for you!

Walked 5 miles yesterday, and another 4+ today in addition to swimming and weights/core work.  I think I have a loosely defined six pack going in my abs .  Ankle feels pretty good walking and only very minor swelling and bruising left.   But my gait must be different because I'm getting some almost blisters on the outside/back/sole of my feet that walking never caused before.  Think I'm subconsciously leaning more back instead of forward to keep from flexing my foot much.  No Chi Walking points for me!  Tried running a few steps, but pain said not yet.  Probably time to get on an elliptical to see if that will buy me some cardio other than swimming.  Can you tell patience is not my best thing right now?       

ChiRunning in a Nutshell

1. Run with a slight lean from your ankles NOT your waist
2. Try to keep a cadence of 90 strides per minute.
• Download a metronome and set it to 180 bpm.
• Concentrate on swinging your arms with the beat, not your feet.  If you focus on your feet you will strike the ground harder than necessary.  If focus on the arm swing, the feet will naturally follow the same rhythm
• Wear your HRM.  If it goes high trying to keep the high cadence, shorten your stride to compensate.  If it feels like baby steps, you're doing it right.
3. Concentrate on lifting your heals to move your feet.  Just think about lifting your heals, not moving your feet forward, they will do that naturally.
4. Good posture.  Best thing to guide this is to pretend you are holding the sky up with the crown of your head.
5. Engage your core
6. Concentrate on one of these traits at a time.  I think #2 and 3 are the most important in my opinion.  Quick short strides will prevent you from heal-striking. 

Yes, I typed waist and meant ankles.  You will understand the brain to fingers disconnect better as you get older . 

Ceril, very nice that your gym offers all that. I was hoping it was a national chain.  Glad they demystified the treadmill.  Keep that mojo going over the holidays!

Ran 3 miles today and ankle is doing OK.  Hoping I'll be up to an informal 10K with a few friends by Chrismas Eve morning. 

I didn't realize you had made that mistake.  I wasn't chastizing you I just know if you tell somebody to lean, they will naturally try to bend at the waist instead of leaning from the ankles.

Good job getting a run in.

Hey Dennis, no worries.  What, you don't read minds?

Since our group has dwindled, and I doubt Steve is going to mentor again right now (Steve correct me if I'm wrong), I signed up in Experior's group.  It's still open if anyone else wants to join in.  I'll continue to check in here w/ you guys as long as anyone comes out to play . 

Steve, if you're reading, I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated your willingness to share your knowledge and encouragement with us.  My mindset about training and racing is forever changed because of you.  Thanks to you I understand so much more what it takes to get better.  

Dennis, you are the nicest self professed "not nice" guy I've ever met.  You've led the group in terms of testing your limits with longer races, and have encouraged me to set goals higher than I thought possible all along the way.  I cannot wait to see you race IMTX!

Each person in this group has been an inspiration, and because of you guys I have dared to dream and try things that I don't think I would have otherwise.  You have been to every race with me, replacing the voice of self doubt in my head with words of encouragement.  Thank you!

If you really wanted us to join that group you would have left a linky to it.