Prof40's Group -- Technically full but ... (Page 66)

hey guys just got back from a 10km ride not far but first time i have been on the bike for ages and boy it felt good! 2 mins outside my average time of about 3 months ago so im very very happy with that went for a short run last night nothing special just getting the missus out there with me. was very nice

if any1 wants they can add me to msn if they have it [email protected] u migght catch me around if u are lucky, considering our time differences

p.s to build up your lactic acid threshold try doing squats and lundges and holding till u feel that awsome burn!

enjoy and ride hard!

Well, 2 thoughts here.

First, there's nothing wrong with attempting each portion on its own, just to do it. Think about it -- how many people have ever in their lives swam 2 1/2 miles? Biked over a 100 miles in a day? Ran a marathon? Those are 3 true accomplishments! And doing each might give you an extra dose of confidence if you decide to try an IM in 2009. Plus, it is just so much easier to plan and do each when they are single adventures. Think about it -- an IM requires 6 months of training, 5 days of travel, room and board, and a babysitter for the 15 hours you're out on the course, plus the extra 3 hours in the morning before the race starts. Much more planning and logistics issues than picking 3 events to complete over the course of a year. So why not do a year-long IM? Schedule your 3 separately, and go for it! And if you like how they feel, contemplate putting them together for 2009.

Second, I'm usually dressed when I eat donuts.

Edited by prof40 2007-08-22 5:15 AM

Did it seem helpful? Nope. Was I surprised? Definitely.

Did it stop me from eating another donut yesterday? Not at all.

I need to get working again. Maybe today is the day!

And nice race results. Good job.

Sitting here in the pouring rain and bitter cold I am minded of emigrating. Again.

However, I did my first Oly on Sunday. The water was cold (allegedly 17 degrees but I think that was Fahrenheit) and dark orange in colour, the rain was horizontal and everything was wet but, notwithstanding that I completed it in 2:45:54 so I was quite pleased. The downsides were that the field was so small (only 50 or so turned up) that most of the race was, for me, a time trial and I took 5:50 in T1 which I reckon must be some sort of a record. Now idea why it took so long as I have been getting dressed by myself for years but I really took care over putting my socks on on this occasion!

The best thing was that I wasn’t last and I finally have some confidence that I will be able to complete the 70.3 next weekend.

Incidentally, I went for a run yesterday and did the first mile at 7min, the next 5 miles at 8:30 and the last mile at 6:45. Total surprise to me. I guess all this training has paid off in one way or another.

I hope everything is going well for everyone else. I apologise about being a bit quiet but I am getting my head down trying to clear my desk and cramming in as much training as I can (regular light stuff) before next Wednesday when I stop until the race.

When I get back I have a trip to Germany and then I am entered for the race that I did last year that started all of this madness so it will be interesting to see how much quicker I am (if at all!).

Liz, great result. Whilst reading about your eating habits I was heartened to see that you apparently were only eating the holes of the doughnuts. That seems very sensible to me albeit somewhat lacking in fibre!

Pene, well done on the car decision. Innate understanding is invariably inexplicable. I like prof’s idea of splitting the event into the component parts. Speaking as someone who has gone from couch potato to be looking down the barrel of a half IronMan in a year, do not underestimate the time that it takes to do this. I regularly spend three hours a day in the saddle and try and fit in another element as well. That is one side but the recovery side is hugely time consuming. I can spend days feeling sick and as if I have flu as a result of training and that is not a question of overdoing it but simply because I am forty years old and my body needs the time to regroup.

Casey, good luck with getting back on the training bandwagon. As Buddhists say, even the longest journey starts with a single step. BTW, if I remember correctly, you ride like a demon anyway so start with that.

Malphh, you have obviously been getting some exercise somehow. Can’t think what that would be but good on you for getting back on the bike. How’s the fitness instructor stuff coming on?

Prof, eat carbs, be happy. Run it off when you want to. From memory you go through these things in cycles. Sort of binge bust but spread over a three or four month period. You always tell us to listen to our bodies. Yours was probably saying that it needed some carbs for some reason. Your inner Homer talking to you!

Any suggestions on the emigration front? Satan fancies France or Spain but I can’t work there (should fit in with the locals nicely!) but I have a hankering after either the southern US or Australia. Any views?

mark you made me laugh out loud again with that donut hole comment...yes, here in the us we have these little blobs of donuts, that we call the "holes" because it makes us feel better, like we are really eating nothing. BUt the truth is, 4 holes add up to about 1 donut and they are so easy to pop in your mouth that its hard to eat less than 10!

Anyway, glad to hear you had a similar experience to mine in the rain for the race. It seems that im cursed to have bad weather this year for my races, I have learned that its worth it to change socks after you bike ride to start the run with dry socks.
Im so excited for your race next weekend! Hows the weather looking for Monaco?? You sound like you are more than ready. I will check your stats online throughout the race, Im sure they do the live coverage like the full ironman right?
And in terms of moving, it makes me nervous when you say "Southern US" -where exactly do you mean by that?? Im biased, of course, the US has the potential to be more of a cultural experience than Australia (sorry Malph!) but the South sometimes scares me a bit. My best friend lives in Georgia and I keep telling her to get out before its too late. ITs beautiful to visit I suppose.

Pene- my race rankings are a bit skewed because this race is the amateur of all amateur races. THis is the first athletic experience, let alone first tri, for a lot of these folks. But yes, you do get better with time. And Prof is right, the committment to do an Ironman is huge and a lot to take on. I like his idea of spreading it out. In fact, I might just do that myself next year!

OK guys. I just had my photo taken for my new security pass and I wanted to share it with you. To be frank, a bit of a vanity moment.

This is me having completed several triathlons and having lost around 30lbs and feeling a lot better with myself than I was since the first photo of me on this site wearing a burberry stetson!



Edited by Mark Stanley 2007-08-23 8:40 AM






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Good on ya, Mark, as they would say Down Under! Feels pretty cool to look in the mirror and see a different person looking back at you, doesn't it!

I need to go on a diet. I haven't lost anything since starting all this tri stuff, and in fact, gained weight. I tell myself it is muscle, but instead of seeing progress in the mirror, now I see room for improvement. Plus I'm tired of lugging it around on the run! Anything to make running easier is AOK in my book.

Okay, so Pharmacist dude was totally into me. Perfect gentleman, couldn't be complimentary enough, treated me to the most expensive dinner I've had in ages and even wanted to go for this fancy wine and escargot, but I declined. Can't drink for a sulfite allergy (or something) and I wasn't into trying snail just to say I'd done it. So we went with the portobello mushrooms instead. And as nice as he was, (we're talking lengthy phone calls where he almost proposed when I told him I eat venison) I just didnt' feel any chemistry at all. None. Zippo. Zilch. He tried to kiss me and I wanted to run and felt all squirmy about it. Not good. So I tried to break it to him gently and he didn't take it well. Wanted to analyze it and see where he went wrong. Well, he was like a cross between Jerry Lewis and a nerdy Ferris Bueller. Nuff said...............

If dating were as progressive as triathlons I'd be all set to go out there and train harder. But instead, with every "failure" you just want to go crawl in a hole and give up. I tried to run today and I just felt icky. It would be loads easier to not have any emotions. I'll have to work on that. Be Ice Queen instead of Catwoman

And Prof, in my defense, I'm not into eating guys or getting undressed around donuts. Just to clarify..... But it made a nifty visual to think of you naked having a carb binge. I'm thinking you just stand there in front of the fridge and let the hot fudge drip down your heaving naked bosom.....no wait, that's the Harlequin romance thing and that's about chicks.......let's see, dripping down your muscled triathlete six pack.........

No Mrs. Prof, I'm not hitting on him. He started it. Besides, we don't have a picture of you. I DARE you to post one. Perhaps with hot fudge.......

Ahh, bike trail cuisine at it's finest: Noah had a chili dog, 7-up and Texas toothpicks (fried green pepper sticks served in a fried tortilla bowl with lettuce, hot sauce and sour cream), Mose had vanilla ice cream and nachos with jalapeno peppers, and I had green tea, a gyro, and sweet potato fries! Then Noah had a raspberry slushy for dessert and of course we helped him polish it off before hitting phase two of our ride. We made 14 miles mountain biking and I had Mose in tow (God he's heavy!). We also walked 3 miles through the tunnels and Noah did some rock climbing. Mose and I attempted it, but he's only 4! And I'm 41! Anyway, I was surprised at the menu diversity and we had fun

Off to mow my jungle lawn now! We've had like a TON of rain lately!

Mark, how come my photo ID looks like a mug shot and yours looks perfectly acceptable for polite society?

Pene, hang in there, chick. Eat some fries, enjoy your Sunday, and do nothing. Why? Because it just feels good, that's why.

Ha ha. As a lawyer, to aim for polite society is seriously punching above my weight!

Any suggestions on how much I can do in a taper week? I'm gnawing the carpet here having gone from several heavy weeks to nothing in 24/48 hours and it's not good!

I think the week before my OLy, I did a few workouts. An easy swim, an easy bike ride, and an easy run. Maybe about 1/2hr of each. The plan I followed recommended the last run about 2 days before the race. And, then take your bike out the day before and run thru the gears, make sure there are no technical issues you need to fix. When are you getting to Monaco? I wonder if they have the swims the days before the race- I know the full distance Ironman's have swims every morning the week preceding the race, Gatorade sponsors it and you go and check out the competiton, swim a little of the race course, and then get a free gatorade water bottle when you are done! Ive gone and done the swims and pretended to be an Ironman ( ;

Liz

Thanks for the guidance. I think I'll follow suit and run/swim/bike a bit over the week. I get to Monaco on Friday (race on Sunday) and I plan to cycle the first segment of the bike (26k climb) and swim the first leg of the swim just for confidence. I hope that there are no technical isues with the bike. I'm an absolute luddite when it comes to that!

PS I like your style. How many times are you going to collect the bottle before you get a tattoo?

Well, Mark, just ask your angels to look after your bike for you. On my MS ride, on mile 1 before we even left town, I hear this thing fall off my bike. I stop. I look all around at the bike. I look at the bike bag to make sure it wasn't partly open and the CO2 cartridge is still there. I give up, ask for protection, and get through the rest of the 74 miles. Wa-la! I'm so excited for you this weekend! I hope you are feeling very proud of yourself and very confident!

I'm depressed. (I know, I know....same old story, different tune). No one seems to think I can pull off IM 2008 or should even try. I'm slow. I know this. I had an injury. But it is doing great and my run is getting incrementally faster. I'm now as fast as I was back in May. Which isn't saying much, but I'm not taking any chances on going faster than my hamstring is ready for and blowing it all up again. And when I am feeling weak in that leg, I stop. Usually at a 5K. And that will go up no more than a mile or so a week to start. I have, however, done one 13 mile run, one 75 mile bike, and one 2000 yard swim. I made huge progress on the bike this summer--from being absolutely terrified on the tribike of everything, even the stupid clips, to enjoying it and looking forward to the century ride this Sunday. I did all open water swims this summer, and though my yardage isn't massive, I am finally relaxed in the lake and find it enjoyable as well. The run is my achilles heel, but I have always known that it would be. It is the thing that gives me the most satisfaction, just because it is sooooo friggin hard for me! I missed it when injured, and feared my leg would never again feel good. It is going, albeit slowly, and I will do at least one if not two half mary's this fall--even if they are 3 miles run, 7 miles walk, and 3 more jog miles to the finish. I may even walk a full with tiny jog/run miles in there somewhere just to gawk at the guys and the fall leaves My IM dreams are not to qualify for Kona. I'd rather visit Hawaii with a hunky man and get my exercise in other ways (okay, just let me have my fantasy--I'm old and may never find Mr. Harlequin romance novel, but then, ya never know about a catwoman.....) My IM dream is just to run the best race I can and jog (or even crawl) across the finish just before midnight.

I think if I wait til 2009, I will lose the little bit of enthusiasm I have left. I'm not afraid of hard work. Hell, I've been working hard all along! Our bluff buster's tri group now has 31 Ironman finishers--6 of them just did Louisville. Some are on their 3rd IM and we have at least 2 who did Kona. There is a chick who is a personal trainer and could easily work with me (she did her 3rd in Louisville). So, now, do you all still think I should pass on IM 2008? I'm so torn about it that it is making me very depressed. I'm not sleeping well, I could give a crap about food (unless it is fried, laced in sugar or resembling chocolate), and even guys don't interest me much (I passed up a 6'3" Marine type from Match just because he didn't seem to have much in the intellect department--but the catwoman part of me wasn't even clawing at the chance--and that is unusual for me!) Help me decide........................

Pene

It’s hard to make these choices when you are surrounded by people who have done the thing that you have your heart set on. Their success is almost contagious and it makes everything else mere stops on the route.

However, ask yourself what you want. Do you want to finish an IronMan? Why? Do you want to do it next year? Why? Is it to validate yourself in any way? Or is it because you are fit enough? Is it peer pressure? Do you see it as being a pinnacle of this sort of race? Do you want to be the best? Are you ever going to be happy with anything other than perfection?

I talked to my boss (who has completed several IronMan races) and he opines that endurance racing is not as much about fitness as it is about mental strength. After the swim and the bike your body is about ready to give up; your mind takes you through. Now, is your mind going to be happy to have given it your one big shot and to have crawled over the finish line at 17:59? From your posts you don’t sound like that type of person.

Completing an IronMan is to pass a huge test of physical ability, mental strength and, last but most importantly, to play the odds well. Every race is a series of “ifs”, each of which must be answered either by you or by luck, for you to finish (if I can get a good swim, if I can get through transition quickly, if I can get the right nutrition on the bike etc). Only significant race exposure (at all lengths) will give you this.

If you go through the various training programs on this site one of the common threads is that it assumes that you have reached a level of consistent fitness some time before (for 70.3s they talk about having completed several shorter distance races). This is not because you have to graduate from one level to the next but simply because it is an indication of the fitness level and race ability of the athlete. I am doing a 70.3 at the weekend and I would give my eye teeth to go back to the beginning of the year and train more and, most importantly, compete more. I have done one Olympic, one sprint and very little concerted training and, to be frank, I am regretting every last gung-ho moment of it (to the extent that I am seriously considering putting off for a year my ambition to race IronMan France and instead take part in several 70.3s, sprints and Olympics). Interestingly, I am not bothered about the swim, bike or run as all these are in my control; I am worried about the “ifs” and the “in betweens”.

Maybe it’s just me but I would say that unless you are, for whatever reason, limited to only being able to compete next year, put it off, enjoy your life and training, spend time rolling about on the floor with your kids and book yourself up with shorter ones for 2008 and hit 2009 chomping at the bit.

BTW, being an IronMan is an achievement but so is being a triathlete. Get yourself a 2008 goal that is a stretch (but still doable) and end it on a high. If you want to know what mine is, it is to do an Olympic in less than 2:15. that means shaving 30 mins off my previous PB which will take a year (at least). Find something that doesn’t send you into paroxysms of angst and stick to it.

Just my opinion.

Thanks Mark,

You are, of course, right. I am just sad that I committed online and verbally, and to myself, to do this next year, and I am finding myself not in the best light to actually follow through. I hate going back on things I say I will do. I feel like I lose power that way. And I feel sad about giving up a dream or putting it off. I don't expect perfection. Not at all. I just want to do one and brag about it forever!

So, now, do ya think a 70.3 is entirely doable for me by next June? Assuming I survive the century ride and at least do a half mary this fall.......and perhaps do some TI swims in Minneapolis with Quiana's friends. I will do the Oly 2 weeks prior to that as it is the same course I did this year, except longer! Then I figure I'll do the WHOLE MS150, and maybe even do the 200 as they offer that option, and do a full mary next fall. That might be ambitious enough for this old lady, huh?

HI Everyone!!!!!!!

I Am Back and I just did a race last Sunday!!!!!!

Pene- Sometimes it's O.K. to Change Dreams. Follow your mind and heart.

Everyone:
Here's a Dream We Can All Physically Accomplish!!!! Well I think we can since I am the newbie and I am thinking of this for next year.

Be Part of the Guiness World Record's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never done an International Distance but I think I can Train for 1 year to do this distance for Next Year!!!

The Accenture Chicago Triathalon is breaking world Records at this distance.
They set it in 2006 with 3,731 people finishing this distance. This Year they broke their own record with 3,808 people finishing. (Unofficial I looked it up in the results for this year 2007)

Now look the time dosn't matter!!!!!! It only matters if you finish the race!!!!!!!
I think I can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I can do this ( begginer triathlete, older and not the best shape; however I am improving... I am doing this to get in shape and for fun, So Can You!!!!
Start training now to be part of something big!!!!! Lets shatter this record again next Year!!!

Forget the what If's and focus on the right now's

I am back on land and on a computer!!!!!!

I am craving anything ice cold_= Ice, Icecream, snowcone, Icee, frozen Daquri, frozen grapes,
and fudge bars or frozen choclate eclairs.

watergirl -check out the Nissan water bottle with the flip top , I have one in cherry red!

Train Outside when the weather is still nice!!!!

Have A good Week!!!!!

Sounds like a good stepping stone goal :-) If you do a TI workshop, you might see me!

Of all the things in the world to get freaked out about.....you're letting this get into your head?

Why? It's just a race, against yourself, that most people in the world have never heard of, and that very few care about. It's expensive -- race fees, travel costs, etc will run you $2,000, in addition to all the equipment and other costs -- and time consuming, requiring 6 months of 10-18hour weeks. And for what? No one will adore you. No one will worship you. And very few will understand why you even bothered.

Here's what I'm saying: if you want to do it, do it. If you don't, don't. Stop asking other people what to do, and stop comparing yourself to them. Besides, other than Florida in November 2008, I'm not sure there are any other US IMs with open spots still available for next year. Your decision might already have been made for you.

Exactly!

Prof--IM Wisconsin is 2 hours from me, so there aren't many travel fees involved, especially if I stay at the Red Roof Inn for $45 a night. So it will cost me more like $600 total. And I can sign up September 10, right after the Ironman on September 9, because I'll already be there as a volunteer.

And thanks for your opinion that it is no big whoop. I imagine that's why you did Lake Placid and took on a mentor forum. Because it is all just no big deal--right? I'm sure when you are old and have grandkids on knee, you won't even mention it to them...............

As I've said before, it isn't like triathlon is just exercise for me. It has literally been the thing that has saved me this past 8 months. It gives me focus other than my pitiful existance as a single mother, deeply in debt, with no way out of it, lonely, I mean REALLY lonely, and completely overwhelmed with how to manage things until these kids are grown. I have loads of depression and this has worked for me--until now. I want to see this goal to fruition. If I fail at it, I fail at everything, because my self worth and self esteem are all tied to it. I can't even explain why. It's a spiritual thing for me. And right now I am in grief over having to postpone it a year. But I understand that it seems silly to you==your life is pretty peachy I think. You have a lovely wife who loves you, a career that you do very well and get paid well to do with no real stress over bankruptcy or the IRS taking away your building, and you are already a gifted triathlete who can run 160 miles in a month and make it look effortless. Plus you are a man. Walk in a woman's shoes for a month and tell me life is no different for the genders. I have to be the mother and the father. My mother, however, like you, would say I am having a pity party and should snap out of it.

So, I will make my own decision, and keep it to myself.