BigDH - Checking Off the Boxes - Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 7)

Welcome to the group Josh.  Nice job on the weight loss!  It sounds like you're already well on your way to your tri goal.  I set my goal of doing a triathlon when I was still obese, didn't know how to swim and had never run.  In my (limited) experience, consistency is the biggest key in reaching those goals.  some of us will never be the fast ones on the field, but we will finish.

Welcome Michelle.  I'm jealous of your open water situation.  It sounds beautiful and an inspiring place to be able to workout.

Welcome Steph!  I've found one of the best things for weight loss and maintenance is to have a goal with less of a timeline.  Does that make sense?  My biggest drive in getting to and maintaining a healthy weight is to improve my running and tri performance.  I think running is where the biggest effect is.  When I used to have deadlines, once they were past, it was too easy to let it creep back on.

Welcome activefaith.  What's your real name. 

Welcome Jeanne.  It sounds like you've got a good mileage base for your Oly in July.  Are you doing any of your training outside?

Wow!  Our group just exploded!  Can I make a request though?  Could everyone put the name they want to be called in their signatures?  I like to use real names when I can.  Some of ours are obvious (yeah, I didn't use much creativity in choosing my screen name...), but I find it hard to keep track and remember everyone's name from their screen names.

I'm off for a run in a couple minutes here.  Just popped on while eating breakfast and letting it settle a bit, then I'm heading out the door for a little 12k (7.5mi)

Welcome Josh, that's a great start to weight loss keep up the good work!  Sounds like our First Sprints will be within a week of each other, what kind of plan are you using for training?

Michelle, Steph, Jeanne and Activefaith, welcome to the group.

I've had a very nice weekend so far, my day driving the car at the racetrack yesterday was loads of fun.  I'm working on cleaning up finding the best video and will post a link to it incase anyone is interested.  Saw a friend from college last night, came home this morning, did a quick bike ride and now I'll enjoy the day.  tomorrow should be a nice short run and a quick swim.

Have a 5k coming up in a week, hoping to run it in around 27 minutes or less to keep close to my current training pace.

Room for 1 More?

 I've done 3 (and trained for 4) indoor triathlons at my local YMCA. These have been the extent of my tri's. I ran Cross Country in high school during the first running boom - have always loved biking and swimming too.  But running is what I've got the most confidence in.

Tomorrow is my first indoor/outdoor tri.  We swim 350yards, bike 11mi, and run 3.1mi.  I am so excite I can't tell you. I've been following a pretty good plan from this site - and feel like I'm in great shape.  Dropped about 18 pounds since last fall.  Last summer was rough - I developed Asthma and it was the first year in the last 4 years that I didn't do a fall Marathon. Slowly. 

I'm a skier, flatwater kayaker, computer geek who's currently working from home 7AM-3PM 5 days a week.  My wife is home schooling our younger of 2 boys in 3rd grade, and our other child is a 16 year old who spends 5 minutes a day on school and pulls in B's much to my frustration.

Hope there's room.

Wish my luck on my race tomorrow!

Welcome Ben, Donald, Michelle, Steph and Jeanne!

Regarding asthma:  I have experience with just "getting asthma".  In high school, myself and a lot of other swimmers on my swim team started to have exercise induced asthma as a result of poor air quality in our high school pool facility.  Too many chemicals and not enough ventilation.  I have had exercise induced asthma ever since.  I think allergies can bring on asthma also.  Ben - how did your asthma develop?  

I had a great bike ride today.  Felt much more comfortable on the bike today than last weekend.  Of course I also stayed off of the very busy roads.  I went and got all of the necessary flat repair equipment the other day and have it all stashed in a fancy satchel under my seat.  ;-)  

I'm looking forward to a good shorter long run tomorrow.  8 miles or so.  Should be tapering for the half marathon next weekend.  Although, I'm struggling with the fact that I'm not so sure that my running base is good enough to justify tapering for it - but I'm going to anyway.  

Welcome to the group Ben.  Good luck with your tri tomorrow.  Can't wait to hear how it goes.

Regarding the asthma, chalk me up as another one that developed asthma as an adult.  Although having said that, I have a suspicion that I've always had undiagnosed asthma.  Mine is mild, and allergy and exercise induced.  My allergies have gotten worse in the last few years.  Between that and getting pregnant (asthma is often worse during pregnancy - not that you guys need to worry about that), it became pretty obvious.  I've got it basically under control now, though I still use my rescue inhaler more then ideal.

Have you been taking medications for your asthma Ben?  No reason it should stop you from tri-ing or running once you've got it under control.  Certainly frustrating to develop it though.

Nice job on the bike Ryan!

As for me, I got both my run and a swim in today.  Saturdays used to be my zen swim night because the pool was always really quiet and I'd get a lane to myself.  No more.  It's getting busy there.  It was still a good swim though.  I was lucky in that I only had 3 people in my lane and we all were around the same speed.

Bike ride tomorrow and I'm hitting the highway!  Eek!

Hi everyone,

I'm jogging about three days a week currently.  My house is 2 1/4 miles from my commuter train station, so I'll jog home after work.  I've been averaging about 28 minutes.  I'm able to go a little over a mile just jogging, and then walk 100 feet / jog / walk / jog the rest of the way.  I've been starting to add some interval sprinting to the second mile, and I've noticed that's been helping my endurance.

I also add in some weight training a couple days a week.

In terms of a training plan, I don't really have one.  I want to up my training to a consistent 5 days/week, but am having a hard time with 5:30 am motivation.  I'm open to any suggestions on motivation or training regimens.

Thanks,

Josh

Here is a link to one of the morning sessions out on the track.  Sorry there is a lot of wind noise from the camera and open windows.  I still want to go through them all and try to pick up the most entertaining parts and splice them together but it might be a couple of days before I get that done

Track Day Video

Well, I had my first race of the season today.  It was a 10k race down Yonge Street in Toronto.  It's known as the fastest 10k around since the most of the street is downhill.  Unfortunately, going down hill seriously aggravates my knees.  So instead I decided to not actually register for the race, and to run the whole thing backwards (read uphill the whole way) so as to not upset my joints.  My father-in-law is training for a half-marathon so he wanted to run the race both ways anyway.  So he and I started at the finish line and ran to the start.  There we met my husband, and he joined my father-in-law in running back to the finish line.  A little confusing, but it worked for us. 

In any case, I beat my goal time even though the whole thing was uphill so I'm pretty happy.  I finished the 10k in 1hr and 7min and was felling pretty good so I tacked on another km for good measure.  My next race is a low-key 5k at the end of May (with any luck it will be warmer.  It was freezing out there today!) then on to the first triathlon.  I'm hoping to keep up this momentum.

Steph

First - thanks for having me!

Here's the link to the results -

http://www.areep.com/index.php?view=rv&ID=2021

 So - it was AWESOME!!!  Place 44 of 104.  I have no regrets.

My only disappointment gear-wise was my Garmin 305 did not measure cadence - the magnet had slipped out of place and I didn't notice.   I was all by myself on the bike and run  after I passed a few folks, so a little more competition might have sped me up!

My next race is a run - 3.5 miles on May 17- corporate challenge in Albany.  I also registered for another Tri today - the Hudson Crossing on June 12th.

*********

My asthma story started last winter when I was training HARD for the Love to Tri indoor triathlon.  Afer a brick workout I noticed myself weezing.  When I got home and used some of my wife's albuterol, figured it was a 1 time deal.  My GP sai to take albuterol 15 minutes before  working out, and that helped for a while.  Then in May - I had a bad attack.  Could not stop coughing after a fairly easy run in hot/humid weather.  I had to use albuterol every 1/2 hour.  Saw an allergest - now I take Advair twice a day.  I've always had allergies and I suspect I had asthma too but it was never diagnosed.  Since I've been on the med's it's been all good.  I do also still take albuterol before hard workouts.

***********

I looked forward to reviewing the threads.

Ben - way to go in your race - that's awesome!

Steph - sounds like a cool way to do a race.  Too much downhill - let's do it backwards!  I wonder if anyone has tried to run Boston that way?  

Answering Darren's question about what I learned this week, I think I would have to say that I learned to be a little smarter with my time management.  I was able to fit a few workouts into some tight time windows and made it work.  I swam while the kids were in swim lessons.  I woke up early enough today to run before work.  I fit in a bike after work on Saturday and before we had company over to the house.  I will have to get even better at time management as the season goes on, but this is a good start and it felt good.  

As far as tapering is concerned, i decided to taper it down.  I want a good time in the race this coming weekend and I'm willing to sacrifice a little future fitness to get it (although I doubt that it will have much noticeable effect in the future fitness department).  I ran 8 miles today (at faster than my goal half marathon pace).  It felt awesome!  

Look for two shorter and easier runs from me this coming week.  I'm going to try and sneak a strength workout in, a bike and a swim.  Then the half marathon on Saturday - in faster than 2 hours.  

Have a good week everyone! 

My big learning was just to do what you know!  I knew I should have checked my garmin after setting up - but I was too excited about the race and so I had no way to gauge my level of effort except for heart rate which was OK.

I have often seen folks running in the opposite direction of road running races - now maybe I know why? Maybe I can coind a phrase for it? STIDNAB = bandits backwards?

Morning all!

Josh, when it comes to motivation, the first thing you need is a plan.  There's plenty of basic plans on this site that are worth checking out, depending on how much you want to train.  Pick one, and report back. 

As for early morning motivation, you have to decide if it is something you need to do or not.  Nothing wrong with getting your workouts in the evenings if that works better for you.  If you decide that morning is part of the plan, then you just have to do it.  I agree with all of Darren's suggestions.  Get everything ready the night before.  I even decide what to do for breakfast (I have a small bite before morning runs, you may or may not) because I like to do a minimum of thinking in the morning.

Nick, cool video.

Steph, nice job on the race, particularly going uphill!  I do hills because I have to, I live in a hilly place, and I know it's good for me.  I wouldn't do it by choice.  Was that the Sporting Life 10k?

Ben, nice job on the tri!

Darren, my asthma definitely manifested as a cough initially.  And, it isn't the same as normal breathlessness when running.  It's like breathing through a straw.  Or, I sometimes feel like my throat is clogged up and I try to cough to clear it, but there's nothing there to clear.  And, it if I'm just out of breath, it goes away, but the asthma affects won't clear during a workout at all (without my puffer) and will continue for the rest of the day, or longer.

Not sure that I learned a lot last week, although light/moderate exercise did seem to help me get over my cold.

Next week I am going on vacation for 10 days, during that time I will pretty much be off of my training plan.  There will be LOTS of walking and I might try to do a couple Runs but no Biking or Swimming.  My biggest concern is where to pick up on my training when I get back, should I just skip the workouts I miss and pick up where I should be on the plan when I get back.  The Green Cells are the workouts I will miss.  If I pick up where I come back it's essentially a Recovery week after 9-10 days off.  So where should I pick this back up?  Should I do the workouts for the week of 5/16 when I get back and then just skip that recovery and pick back up with the 5/30 week?

So, I got out for a great bike ride yesterday.  I did have a bit of an uncomfortable start.  I live in a town, so it's quick for me to get to the highways and country roads.  The only thing is, I had to hit a fairly busy intersection to get there (highway 22 and 1A).  They've recently messed with the intersection - taken out the shoulder and made it 2 lanes.  The left lane is supposed to turn left and the right lane is supposed to go straight or turn right.

Anyways, I got on the right hand side of the left lane at the stop light, but there was a big truck that was going straight rather then turning!  I wasn't trying to turn yet because of oncoming traffic, but it still made me nervous.  I don't like intersections.  Is it better to get on the left hand side of the left turning lane?  Or did I do what I should and just got unlucky with dumb drivers?

Having said that, once I got through that, my ride was great.  Like I suspected, I am way more comfortable riding in the shoulder then I am riding through town with all the starts and stops.  I turned off onto a really nice road, which is actually part of the Calgary 70.3 route.  My plan called for 80 minutes so I rode for 42 and turned around.  It's a great road.  Rolling hills and on the way back, a spectacular mountain view.

I got back to town 10 minutes early (there were hills up and down both ways, but turned out more down then I realized on the way back).  I did a few loops in the neighbourhoods around my house, but still finished my ride a minute and a bit early.  It's kind of obsessive of me, but normally, I will make sure my garmin reaches the time or distance specified.  I was kind of bored of going in circles though, and you finish circles a lot faster on a bike then running.  A minute isn't going to make or break my training.

So, as for what I learned this week:

I LOVE biking!  I was actually a bit worried that I didn't enjoy it enough.  I used to get a really sore back when I rode my hybrid for long (I also realized this week that my seat was too low on my hybrid).  Riding the trainer through the winter wasn't overly thrilling.  But, I LOVE getting out on my road bike.  It's exhilarating.

Deb:
Riding in the middle of the lane at intersections is recommended I think.    But, at least where I am in Suburbia - I've been known to ride 2 sides of the box to take a left off a 55MPH road onto  a 45 MPH road.

Here's what I mean - When approaching the intersection where I need to take a left, I get in the all the way right in the right lane and go just past the intersection.  Then,  I do a little 180 degree turn and go back to the intersecting road hugging the shoulder around the corner.  Then, I do another little 180 and got straight thru the intersection.   Does that make sense?

I know it's slow, but it's better than risking it when the fast moving traffic is too hairy.  Best bet is to just plan your route to avoid lefts

Do you bike shoes and clip pedals?  I just got mine a few weeks ago on my "commuter" and now I really try to avoid left turns.  It's too easy to forget you're clipped in and fall over (like I did on Friday).

Ok, I have a bunch of reading to do to catch up but first - what did I learn and race report.

I had the Sudbury rocks 1/2 marathon on Sunday which was my first 1/2.

I drove up on Saturday to my grandparents place and  had a ton of Chinese food for dinner with my grandparents, mom and dad, aunt and uncle. The next morning was the run. I set out at a decent and very doable pace of about 5:20min/km. I was really really thirsty though and really felt the pounding in my legs. Normally my first few KM are a little rough but once I warm up I am okay.

I walked through every water station which was every 2km, not part of the plan but I was really thirsty. My shins and ankles were sore through the first half of the run. I also felt like I was carrying a brick in my stomach. Once I stopped to used the portapotie for the second time I felt better. Unfortunately by this time I had to hammer it at a 5min/km pace solid for the remaining 10km just to meet 2hrs, this is also when the heaadd wind started. My goal was under 2hrs which I felt was perfectly doable as I have run 21km in 2:03 - 2:05 in training runs without really pushing it. I had contemplated running and not crossing the line so my time wouldn't register but decided to run it in and chalk it up as a learning experience. I finished in 2:07, my worst time ever.

On the plus side it was a good family weekend and my son ran the 1km fun run and had a great time. I am contemplating running another 1/2 this weekend to redeem myself.

what did I learn? - Dont gorge on chinese food the night before a race, stick to the normal routine instead. Also I have learned that it is time for me to stop $@$ing around and to get serious.

Im like that, I went out for a 30km run the other week and we ended up at 29km, I ran another small loop around the block but left it at 29.5km. I felt I cheated so I punished myself with a 30km bike ride afterwards.

Dave!

Thanks for the fun race update.  Chinese food maybe a lesson learned?  I say good for you for hammering that second half into a headwind no less!