Aaron Davidson's Group -- Closed. (Page 67)

I've got about 18 miles to go and plenty of time (unexpected injuries aside) to achieve it...woot!

Last night, we got a nice dump of snow. I was out with my girlfriends and had to take one of them home. She lives up the big biking hill that has been my nemesis for the last couple of years (it is a mile long grind...pretty steep). I know I'm ready for a season when I can make it to the top without having to walk. As we were crawling up the hill (snow plows hadn't come yet, still snowing and pretty slick), the car just stopped moving forward and started moving backward. I popped it into park (every time I would take my foot off the brake when it was in drive, I would slide backwards) and waited for a bit and then finally got it going (far enough up so I could turn around - didn't want to back down the hill in this weather!)...justification (in my mind) that it really is a tough hill...if the car can't make it up the hill without a break - there is nothing to be ashamed of me not being able to make it up it! Next season - I will not walk this hill.

Kids are off from school, my husband is off from work. I've still got to do some work - but all in all should be a nice finish to the year. It has been wonderful getting to know you all and watch you achieve your goals. Thanks so much for all of the thoughtful feedback to my sometimes inane questions and all of the inspires...it makes me get the workouts done if I know people are looking at them!

Have a great end of the year and best of luck to all for next year!

Just arrived in Salt Lake City. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and thanks for a successful tri year. I plan on returning to tri training when I get back home. Also, if I get my new job I can BT full-time.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and enjoys this time with family and friends.  You have all been great new friends to me this year and wish you all the best holiday season.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.  We're bracing for a blizzard up here in the northeast.  Supposed to get 15-18 inches of snow and 50 mph gusts tonight and tomorrow.  Wish us luck!

It was a quiet Christmas for us this year, inlaws in town the next 2 weeks though.

Sounds like mother nature heard you say you didn't have any snow yet!  Stay safe.  We had a nice Christmas snow, didn't get it as bad as everyone else around us, just a few inches.  I'm ready for winter to be over with now. ;-)

hey all.

sounds like this blizzard is getting most of you in the east. I hope nothing too bad.

We've had a few beautiful days since saturday - some good saddle time! but there's a decent cold front coming that is bringing moisture with it. So, we'll see how much more I get in. I'm hopefull it's not bad - I can deal with the cold lately (especially with the new glove the wife got me!).

anyhow - in case I don't post here again - Happy New Year to all of you!

Here's to a happy and healthy new year to all of you. Take care in the weather out there!

(one last) Wooot! for the end of the year. I made the 3000 miles biking/1000 miles running in 2010 (as of 1:30 today...I cut that a little close). Seriously, if you had asked me even a year ago if this was 1) a goal that I had or 2) a goal that I would achieve, I would have laughed...now, with any luck - all this volume will help with my preparation for the Pumpkinman HIM (that I officially signed up for last week...).

I hope you all are enjoying the new year's festivities....have a great one!

Happy New Year Team!!

Happy New Year everyone.  Here's to full recoveries, a year of PRs, and a bunch of healthy entrants at the starting line of IMCdA!

By the way, that's some serious accomplishments for 2010 Jennifer.

Great job Jen!!!!

You kicked my butt!!  Here are my totals for the year:
http://rene-guerrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/2010-bikerunswim-totals.html

I agree...that is HUGE! ...congratulations Jennifer!

Great job Jennifer, that is truly an amazing accomplishment!!

OK, I'm curious what kind of Christmas tri swag everyone got??? I know Aaron and Rene got some fast and sweet looking triathlon bikes, how about everyone else?

I got some nice compression bike and running shorts, cycling jacket and a singlet, everything I asked for from Santa, so very happy.  If nothing else this season, I'm going to look and feel good (imo...lol)!!

Congratulations Jennifer!!!  That's huge!  H.I.M... here you come!!!

Hello everyone... I'mmmm baaaaaack!  I have had 2 days of tri-related training... IN A ROW!!!  And boy did it feel great.  So happy to be back in the swing of things.  I'm hoping to sign up for my first race of the year early next week.  I'm going to start off with an XTERRA race.

I didn't get ANYTHING triathlon related for Xmas... the funny thing is... I didn't need anything.  I kinda went crazy buying stuff last year leading up to the HIM, so I asked for nothing.  My wife and I cut way back because of the job uncertainty.  My favorite gift... My new DeSean Jackson Eagles Jersey.  GOOOOO EAGLES!!!  Hopefully it will bring me luck this Sunday!

I got some winter running stuff, which is badly needed.  Very jealous of those bikes!  My winter training is going great, I'm keeping up with Jorge's bike program (on week 10) and running frequently.

The big news is that my company just got sold.  We haven't been doing well lately so it was no surprise, but it was rough.  A lot of people got wacked, and a bunch more got short term transition contracts.  My job was preserved, but I'm thinking very strongly of taking an offer for a position in another company.  Either way, I'm going from a 5 minute commute to 50 minutes, so hopefully I can still fit training in. 

Usually training is a great stress relief for me, but with the semantics of closing the deal and handling some transition stuff and getting courted by the new company's execs (lots of lunches and dinners and late night meetings ), for the short term, it's very disruptive and upsetting.  The next few weeks will probably be a little off.

My husband totally surprised me with a waterproof iPod...that should get me swimming! He also got me some great running gloves (I have been using glove liners) - they are warm when you first put them on, and then stay cool as you warm up. The girls got me a great Zoot running shirt (high-tech fabric, reflective stuff on the sleeves). All were completely unexpected and VERY appreciated.

So sorry to hear about your company Warren...there are times I get frustrated with my job - but at this point I am happy to still be employed and fortunate enough to be able to work from home (which really cuts down on the commute time). I have been through one company purchase and it is a stressful time for all.

Bill - great to hear you are back! Good luck and don't come out of the gate too fast, eh?

Matt - I hope the hip is healing well...keep thinking positive thoughts.

Matt... sorry to hear about your company, but that's great news about the new job.  I have a commute of anywhere from 35-55 minutes and it isn't too bad once you get used to it.  But going from 5 minutes... it'll be an adjustment.

My employment future is still very much up in the air.  I hope to have a job here when the merger is complete, but I'd give it a 50-50 chance right now.  So many variables.  So I'm out looking for a job just in case.  I have an interview next week at another bank, but my preference would be to stay here.  Very stressful.

Looking forward to the NFL playoffs this weekend and, in particular, the Eagles game on Sunday.  We're having a bunch of people over and it's a 4:30 game, so I don't anticipate a Monday morning workout!

Personal, non-tri post coming, so feel free to fast forward.  This is more of a therapeutic exercise for me than anything. 

Thanks everyone all for your thoughts.  It's been a very stressful and emotional week at work.  I've been at a startup from day 2 (not quite day 1 but very close!) and we just got acquired in a distress type sale.  The new group is really gutting the personnel to get some profit out, and is targeting only a small percentage of people to go forward in some new roles.  Personally, I'm very fortunate, but so many of my close friends and most of my work and effort over the past 8 years is being flushed.  That part is really tough.

My workouts have been hard to fit in with all the lunches and dinners they've been subjecting me to. It's been exhausting as they suck my brain for information and ideas, as well as wine and dine me trying to convince me to stay on.  Hopefully next week will be easier, but I'm still trying to decide whether to stay on or jump ship to another great opportunity. 

I realize I'm ridiculously fortunate to still have a job and actually have great options at such a tough time for so many.  On the positive side, I've been able to get jobs already for several of the engineers who were let go.

I know the feeling going through the career stuff. The last three years, every Monday after Thanksgiving the big layoff announcement is made at my company. I've survived each one, but this past one was nerve racking. Now - we've been told we are operating slimmer than needed and can sustain this head count for 3.5 yrs which then we shall have either new products or purchased companies to support future growth.

I'm hopeful this is true. Going through each November wondering if I'll have a job the next year isn't fun.

Keep your family close to you as well as your faith. There is a plan for us, despite what we think the plan needs to be.

Wow. I really like this sentence.

And x2 on everything else Jeremy said...the good news is it sounds like you have options - which (as you said) in this economy is unusual. Keep using exercise to keep you grounded if you have the gumption.

And Jeremy - the once yearly thing sounds awful. I hope they are able to hold off for 3.5 years.

Got a question...for the winter, I had planned on the following workout schedule - but after struggling with it for the last few weeks (the last week of December excluded since I *decided* to cram all the last minute distance into that final week), I have come to the conclusion that it's not working.

I have been doing the following (pretty closely):

M - Swim 2000-2500  Run 4 miles with speed work
T - Bike (Jorge's challenge) Run 6 miles easy
W - Swim 2000-2500 Run 4 miles tempo
Th - Bike (Jorge's challenge) Run 6 miles easy
F - day off
S - Bike (Jorge's challenge) Run 6 miles easy
Sun - Bike long, Run long (try to swim)

Sometimes I will swap the regular bike with the long bike so I don't have to do a long bike and a long run on the same day - but this is the only way I can figure out how to fit in 3 swims + 4 bikes + 6 runs...the big problem is I am WIPED on Sunday and am having a really hard time fitting in the third workout that day.

I'm not following any specific plan for the swim - two of the swim days are random workouts that I have found that seem fun, the third swim day is long and steady

The run - I'm loosely following the half marathon plan from this site to prepare for a half marathon at the end of February. I am also trying to follow the "run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard" adage.

Any suggestions?

After thinking about this further last night - would moving the long run to the middle of the week (Wednesday) help?

Just realized that one of the reasons the long run is on the weekend is so I can run outside in the daylight...maybe moving the long bike to the middle of the week....?

Edited by itsallrelative_Maine 2011-01-10 7:23 AM

Jennifer, my first thought is holy crap that's a lot of work!  I think my half schedule was less than what you're doing right now.

I definitely think separating the long run and long bike is a good idea.

What exactly isn't working right now? 

I don't think I could do much if any tempo running while I'm doing Jorge's bike plan, but I have found that personally I need more recovery from intensity than from distance.