The Second Wind Group - CLOSED (Page 7)

stegaman - that's looks like a pretty good brick workout to me and a good weekend plan.  The 2nd water bottle idea is a good one...I am thinking of getting one of those double water bottle holders that go behind the saddle.

gomesbolt - My wife reserved "born to run" at the library so I should get it in the next day or two.  I buy tons of books so I'm thankful when she makes a preemptive strike and borrows it for me.

I'm curious where everyone went....there were alot of introductions but not many posters any more. I wonder if everyone is too busy training.  

Sounds like your getting it all worked out dprocket. I'm sure you will find the right balance.

stegaman - have fun on your swim. I don't own a wetsuit either. My first OWS last year was in May and the water was 68-69 degrees. Yes, it was cold but very refreshing! I'm from NJ and the water is only cold in May. It usually warms up pretty quickly and stays warm June through most of Sept. I think I would feel restricted in a wetsuit and if I did buy one it would be short sleeved or sleeveless and probably only 3/4 legs. Just enough to keep the core warm. Depending on how comfortabe you are in the water, one suggestion is to swim around with a buddy - it's much more fun that way!

Planning on a 3 mile run tonight with my daughter. I love running with her...she has a pace that pushes me but yet actually works nicely once I get going.  Have a 20 mile bike ride tomorrow with a 1 mile run after. I have been down and out with a migraine all week and haven't done a thing. I hate when that happens and then I lose my motivation. Hoping to find it again tonight. I think that's the hardest thing I run into. When for some reason workouts start to lag, I have such a hard time starting back up again. How do you guys stay motivated when things get you off track?

So my June lineup is 2 practice sprint tri's our club is putting on. One in a pool and the 2nd a lake. Doing the ColorMeRad run in Philadelphia with my daughter. Looks like a blast and we should be rainbows when we are done! I'm also doing a 5k run my club is putting on. Starting OWS the first week in June for the whole month. Planning on getting in the open water as much as possible this summer.

TGIF and Happy Training!

happy monday.  I am please that my weekend of training wasn't completely terrible, but it was pretty close.  My open water swim did not go very well.  When I got to the lake, the wind was blowing around 20 mph, which made the water very choppy.  I was OK when the wind was at my back or to my right, but when it was in my face or to my left, it would blow water in my mouth whenever i tried to breathe.  Also, the water was very muddy, so I couldn't even see my hands under the water while swimming.  I was expecting limited visibility, but not complete blindness under water.  All of this freaked me out a little bit.  I plan on going back out this weekend to give it another try, so hopefully this time will be better.

Saturday afternoon, I completed my 30 mile bike ride in 25 mph+ winds.  The gusts probably hit 40 mph.  The crosswinds were blowing so hard that I felt like I would get blown over if I rode in areo.  It was nice, though, for those few miles that it was at my back. 

Sunday, due to rain all day, I had to move my 8 mile run to the treadmill at the gym.  About 20 minutes in, all of the TV's on the treadmills turned off and wouldn't turn back on, so the next hour I had to stare at a blank, black screen. 

I completed all of my workouts, and I'm glad that I did, but I'm glad this weekend is over.  It was still raining this morning, so I skipped my run and I'm turning today into a rest day.  I have 13 days til race day to figure out this OWS stuff, and hope to get in 2, if not 3 more open water swims.  Have a good week everyone.

stegaman - Sounds like you had loads of fun this weekend!  I think you need to have tough ones like that.  

My weekend workouts bombed out.  I'm starting to question whether a HIM is in my future.  I just am not sure I can devote the time needed to do it.  My weekend have been jammed up and I see no reprieve in sight.  I just can't see myself finding time on a Sat. or Sun. for a 3hr bike and then another 1.5 hours for a run on the same day.  I figure I need to do that at least 3-4 times to get ready.

Anyway, I got a 22 mile bike in on Saturday morning before we headed off for a marathon of soccer games, soccer parties, and graduation parties.  I also have picked up some sort of head and chest cold and have been hacking up gunk all weekend.  

I had planned to work out again on Sunday afternoon but that didn't work out because I ended up watching after my 18 month old while my wife slept (she works one night shift every 2 weeks!).  She was suppose to be napping but didn't want to cooperate.

This morning I was still hacking up stuff so its turned into a 2 day rest period.  The good news is that my calf seems fully recovered and I plan to run long tomorrow.

I am 1/2 way through "Born to Run" and its a great read.  I'm starting to think "light and easy" when I run next. 

What kind of shoes does everyone here where to run in?  I'm wearing some Nike's but think I need a better running shoe.  I'm not about to start going barefoot but am curious what everyone here has.

My apologies for being non-existent lately.  I have been reading up on everyone's progress.  Keep up the great work.

For me, just been plugging away at my base volume.  I have a sprint in 2 weeks.  Spent this past weekend in Greensboro watching my 8-year old in her first long course swim meet.  I really wanted to join her in that Olympic size pool.

I also wanted to share with the group that today is a special day for me.  It was 11 years ago today that I suffered a stroke.  It just happened out of the blue.  To mark the occassion today, I swam 1,111 yds for my pool workout.  Yes, I just stopped just shy of halfway on that final lap.  Hard to believe it has been that long, but amazed to see what the Lord has done in my life since then. 

Hope you have a great day and week of training.  I am planning to bring my bike down to Myrtle Beach this weekend to get in a couple of rides.

Sorry guys and gals, but I'm going to have to bow out of here. My work situation needs alot of attention (read I need a new job ... yesterday) and I'm putting triathlon (and BT) on hold. Hopefully it won't be too long. I'll be praying for y'all.

sorry to see you go.  good luck with the new job.  God Bless.

Hey guys, I'm typing this going 400 mph at 30,000 feet. I'm on my way home from Tucson. The customer wanted to do Lunch, so I had a bunch of time this morning to go for a trail hike/Run in the Tucson mountains before it got ridiculous hot. I love running in stuff like that. It conjures images of Caballo Blanco for those who read Born to Run...

Stegaman, great lessons learned. I usually go with an aero bottle and a Camelback Podium Big Chill bottle. That's ~45 oz of fluid. A few years ago, I bonked hard on a long ride where a large group of very good triathletes (including 4 elites, 1 pro, and 1 pro golfer) who I had no business riding with dropped me about 36 miles away from the start and I bonked out in front of Celine Dion's ridiculous house on Jupiter Island. I was lucky two older ladies who are actually now in my masters group were riding by and gave me some salt tabs and knew where the nearest circle K was so I could buy water, Gatorade, and some gummi bears. On that ride, I had my aero and a 16 oz bottle. Not enough.

On the run after ride, I almost always do a run even if it's short. To keep that feeling and to figure out my pace. I get some real bad runner's knee on bricks. I know it sounds strange, but I run through it and it works. Remember, don't over stride and ignore the speed after you dismount from the bike. On the OWS, are you breathing both directions? I wasnt very good at breathing to my left until my first swim on the tri course in the ocean and I kept swallowing sea water. Then I learned to do bi-directional breathing and now, if I'm swimming with the waves/wind coming from the right, I just breathe left the whole time. Another thing is to make sure in the race you slipstream on someone. If the wind is blowing from the right, get on their left ribs and let them eat the wind.

Dprocket, it sounds like that crud that was down here in FL made it up there. It's darn persistent. I hear you on the HIM. Only thing I could figure is that if I got buy-in from my boss to train more during working hours and make it up when I should be sleeping or something. We have a gym at work that has spin bikes and I think I can type and ride at the same time but I need a keyboard protector... Olys are good enough for me for a while. As for the dwindling numbers on our group, it happens with every group I've been in. I dropped a few years ago. Maybe those of us here should go PM and inspire the others. You guys know how to do that right?

Chick, amazing story. What caused the stroke? That is really a scary thought that one day fine, next minute stroke. So cool to hear about your kid swimming. Do you drag her to Your swim workouts? Is she running short tris yet? 

J1Woody, very cool about running with your daughter. How old is she again? 14 right? Is she running for a high school team yet? Keep in mind The Citadel has excellent academics and you get to visit Charleston...just something for her to think about...

GomesBolt, to answer your questions you asked.  To this day, I have no idea what caused the stroke.  I got up that day like normal, got in the shower to get ready and then all of the sudden I lost my balance, kept falling to the left and things were spinning so fast.  I could not support myself and crawled out of the shower, still falling to my left. 

I do not bring my youngest with me to swim when I workout.  Too early for her.  She has enough practice in the afternoons 3 times a week.  It is a blast to watch her swimming.  She is taking after me as I did the same when I was her age growing up.  

Last summer she did a small kids triathlon.  It was one length of the pool, a 1/2 mile bike and a 1/4 mile run.  She loved it.  What was really great about it was the parents were able to help their kids.  So for me, she needed no help in the pool.  She was not that great at riding a bike back then so I actually ran next to her in the bike segment to help her out.  Then when she got to T2, she took off in a dead sprint.  No way I could keep up with that lightning.  I just high-tailed it to the finish line.  I can't wait until she can do a sprint triathlon with me.  She can't wait either.

Good morning everyone.  I hope your training is going well.  I know some of us have some races coming up in the next few weeks.

I wanted to ask everyone a question regarding gear.  As you know, I have an endurance ministry called The Second Wind (http://thesecondwind.net/).  Many in the group are beginning runners that we are helping to complete their first 5K.  There are a few of us who are triathletes.

I am planning on getting a custom triathlon top made that will include the Second Wind logo, the key verse - Isaiah 40:31 and more. 

What I wanted to ask the group was if anyone would be interested in purchasing one of these tri tops?  As of right now I do not have the design of what the top would look like, but I wanted to get an idea of interest from the group.  From a pricing standing, if I order 5-9 tri tops, they would be $67 each.  Once we get to 10 tops, the price drops to $59 each.

I am really excited to get a custom top made as for any of you who have raced, there are so many teams that you see in triathlons and right now, we do not have anything for The Second Wind related to triathlon.  We just have dri-fit shirts for running.  The top would be a great way to get God's word in front of fellow competitors and provide that encouragement they may need.

Anyway, let me know if you would like to purchase a top.  I figured it could not hurt to ask the group and to also see what the numbers in regards to quantity for ordering will look like.

Thanks.

Chick - that sounds like a great idea.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'd be able to commit to a jersey at this point.  I've recently spent a small fortune on gear and I may be wearing either a TNT or FCA jersey when I race next.

That's great to hear about the kids racing.  My son (8) is going to do a kids Tri this summer.  My other son (6) will do one too but we've got to get him a little more comfortable without the training wheels.  We're trying to find a date.  I was proud of my oldest son got 3rd place in his elementary school for their 1.2 mile "marathon" a couple weeks ago.  I ran with the kids and he shot out like a cannon with no semblance of pace at all. I stayed behind with a slower group and never saw him until the finish line.  It was so funny.

Gomesbolt I was starting to wonder about you since you dropped off for a day or 2.  I was used to seeing like 4-5 posts a day so I had to check your training log yesterday to make sure you hadn't fallen off the map.

Chick - that is awesome the way God brought you through the stroke and you're here today doing runs and tris.  It's a testimony to God's grace.

I'm still interested in hearing what shoes everyone has....I think I'm going to get fitted tonight at my local running store.

Chick, you can count me for one Jersey.  XXL as even when I'm at my slimmest, the tri-top sizes aren't designed well for people who are shaped like a silverback... I was thinking that you could put the full verse on there so that it serves to inspire people as you're in front of them.  But then again, that would mean you're inspiring people you just passed... When I wear my Team Semper Fi shirt, I always get people asking where they can donate.  In this case, we just want their soul...

dprocket- I wear Newton Trail Shoes.  They're a little pricey, but I am such a heel striker that they keep me landing on my forefoot.  They're like barefoot shoes, but with protection for your feet.  I wore them on my trail run yesterday and my feet and legs felt fine when I woke up this morning until I went out and hammered on the bike.  If you decide to go with Newtons though, you should start-out by running in bare feet 1/4 mile, then 1/2 mile, then 1 mile, a few times a week.  They make your calves hurt bad at first.  But once you shorten your stride (stop overstriding) and you increase your cadence, you start running Easy, Light, Smoothe, and lastly Fast.

I'd like to ask for your prayers if you have some time.  I put in for a change of positions at the same company that would involve what I think is the best move for my family and my career at the same time.  My wife is actually accepting of it (it's closer to her family), but she's not fired-up about it (who likes moving?).  My biggest fear is that the people making the decision about the job will reach out to my chain of command and then I still won't get the position and I'll be stuck with bosses who think I'm being underhanded by not going to them first.  This is the first time I've had to go through this because before this postion, I was in the Military where I moved every 2-3 years. 

I guess the prayer I would ask for is for the Lord to do whatever it is that he sees at the best move for my family first, and for me second.  I thank the Lord every day for having a job that pays well, that I enjoy, that allows me to provide everything we need and almost everything we want as well.  I also thank him for great and healthy kids.  Last, I thank him that he had Chick start this group that helps us to give voice to our faith and our hobby (Triathlons) without getting the outright persecution that you see in other parts of the BT community. 

Thanks for the feedback on shoes, everyone.  Still interested in hearing more opinions.

Gomesbolt, what kind of business are you in?  (I'm sending you a direct message, btw)  I'll be praying for that situation.  Have you considered talking with your direct manager and letting him know that you've prayerfully considered the situation and feel that it may be best for your family to move positions?  I know each corporate culture is different, however some bosses (I'm one of them) tend to be very understanding of situations like this.  Not all of them are, however.  I know I would appreciate the heads up, but others may see it as a sign of being disloyal and untrustworthy.

Can you put the same clipless pedals on it as you have on your bike?  I think the biggest problem with the old nasty exercise bikes is that you use your quads so much and you get an inbalance in your pedal stroke.  This is exacerbated if you don't have toe clips or clipless pedals.  If you can get a circular stroke, some riding is better than none I think.  A guy I know around here said when he was riding a lot, he'd do 80% of his riding on a trainer indoors.  He said you have so many more injuries, sicknesses, bike problems from riding on the road.  Basically, save those things for the race.  I was actually thinking of getting a spin type bike for that reason.  Just set it up like my tri bike.

That makes total sense.  No, I can't use my Look clips (clipless) shoes.  I'd have to look at it and see if I can replace the pedals but right now its not set up that way at all.  I guess getting a trainer makes the most sense but I'm going to hold off on spending the bucks at this point.  

Honestly, at this point, my I'm not real concerned about the ride.  My OLY on 6/16 is 19 miles and that does not concern me a bit.  Not saying I'm fast, but for me the challenge has always been the run  (and the run after the bike) so I'm focusing more efforts on that right now.  

I may tinker with the pedals and see if it's even possible.

I ran another brick last night, and this one was much better than last week.  It certainly helps when the wind isn't blowing at 25mph, but i'll think i'll give myself a little more credit.  I biked 25.6 miles in 94 minutes and ran 2.75 in 27 minutes.  Having a bottle of gatorade and a bottle of water on the bike helped a bunch.  I consumed both of them over the couse of 90 minutes and felt much fresher when starting the run.  In my transition, I tried a gu for the first time, and I was impressed.  It tasted pretty decent and helped me keep my energy up for the run.  The only change I would make for future bricks is to bring another bottle of water on the run, because it was really hot outside. 

Goals for the weekend:  more OWS and a medium bike and medium run as I start my taper for my OLY next sunday.  Have a good weekend everyone!

Good to hear man.  Pay attention to your nutrition for the full day before a brick too.  That's really important because that's what's fueling your workout. 

Since January when I started back to training, I have carried a camelback podium chill bottle with gatorade on every run.  It's like taking your hydration into your own hands instead of putting it in the race director and volunteers hands. 

I couldn't sit still last night at dinner so I decided to go out for a run last night. I hammered out a 10K in just under 1 hr. (9:39 pace).  I don't know if I'll be able to keep that for next week since it'll be about 20 degrees warmer (and the whole swim and ride thing before it), but I also had to deal with some stomach problems because I ate a full dinner, so we'll see.  That's the last 6 miler until the race.

Good luck on your OWS Stegaman! Focus on where you're swimming to, not what you're swimming in... 

Stegaman - Good job on the bricks and I just checked your logs and it looks like you followed it with a good run this morning. It seems like you're in a good spot going into your race.

It's good to hear you guys talking about nutrition as this is an area where I have lots of questions. I was intrigued by a topic on the TriTalk board about salt tablets. As I go along dealing with my calf issues, I think I'm slowing understanding the problems more and am able to take a number of steps to resolve them. I am starting to really think I don't have a "muscle strain" as much as just severe cramps in my calves (bad enough that I have a hard time walking for 5-6 days after). I thought hydration was the key, but have also realized that maybe it's also nutrition as well. Even though I drink over a gallon of water a day, I literally crawl out of bed and start running (ok, I usually make a stop in the bathroom...but that's a little too much info). What I'm thinking is that I'm dehydrated crawling out of bed. Even though I drink a bottle of water on the way out the door, I'm wondering if its not enough and if its not absorbing into my system quickly enough before I start cramping up badly. How does everyone hydrate in the morning?

Nice run Gomesbolt. I have mentioned a good buddy of mine who's an ultra distance runner. I checked out his 1st triathlon time from last year that was an Oly distance. His swim was slow, his bike was average, but then he fired off 7 miles at sub-6 minute pace. My gosh I can't run that fast for 50 yards, yet alone for miles at a time. It must be nice to be fast. LOL.

Hey everyone!

Sounds like your all sticking with your training pretty well. I have been doning my workouts pretty consistently. Ended up buying the Garmin FR70 and love it so far! Still trying to figure out all the modes but it has everything I need and I can use it during triathlons. : )

I haven't been on as much because I started Graduate School a week ago. Wow - it is a LOT of work! I am trying to balance working full time, tri training, and school work and running kids around by myself completely through the week due to husband's work schedule. I do plan on sticking with my workouts though. I also lost 8 lbs the past month so things have been going well!

Chick - Hard to imagine what it was like to have a stroke out of the blue like that. So glad you were able to make a full recovery and train as you do now. God is good!

dprocket -I like Saucony running shoes. It's a local (state of PA) company and they run wide which works for me. I like taking spin classes through the week when I can't get out to the road rides. I think it has helped build my stamina and helped with my cadence a lot so I am all for it. I think mixing up training is a good thing.

Gomesbolt - Yes Sara is 14. She has been thinking about Cross Country next year but I honestly don't know if she will have the time for it. She is in competitive dance now and she spends 5 days a week there and dances all summer, along with some weekends away for competitions. She ran over a mile last night with me and I am proud of her for working so hard at it. She gets cramps in her side and has to walk. Is there a way to help those? I know I get them when I start running after I haven't run in a while and it seems to just take time for them to go away.

I think it's great that some of your kids are involved in runninig and triathlons. If I could only get my 12 year old into something. He has done traveling soccer for years but quit last year, tried wrestling baseball and gymnastics. The only thing he likes right now is basketball and that's only a short season. We bought a basketball rack and are working on putting it up so he can practice. But other than that he is not active at all. I did get him to go biking while Sara and I ran a few days ago, but he didn't want to go yesterday. She did get him to do some dance moves and sit ups last night and they were laughing, it was cute. We are really concerned since he has gained so much weight and he doesn't eat very healthy foods either!

Well, hope you all have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend! Thanks to those who serve and have served in our military to help keep us safe!

Gomesbolt thank you for the personalized reminder of the great sacrifice these men made.  I often think about how my life would have been different had I joined the armed forces...and I was close. There was a time in my life after high school where I was kind of wandering and I did not have much direction.  I considered that but ultimately God led me a different direction.  But I recognize now that the freedom that I had to make that choice, and the privileges that I have now to work, spend time with my family, worship God...all came at a great cost by many and for that I am grateful.  

On Friday night I went to another local running store and at this store they really impressed me.  Earlier in the week I went to a LRS and the employee had me remove shoes/socks and she watched me walk across the room.  She measured my feet (.5 size smaller than I've ever measured in my entire life) and then proceed to bring out one of each: Saucony, NB, Adidas, Brooks and one other brand I can't remember.  I tried them all on.  The store was very busy and for some reason something didn't feel right.  I had a mixture of "neutral" and "guidance" shoes and for some reason it just felt formulaic.  So, on Friday I went to a new store that is actually run by  a large Midwest-based race organization (UltraMax).  I went in hoping to find someone who would evaluate me and make a more personalized recommendation.  THe 1st shop was OK, but something just didn't feel right.

At Ultramax they did the same thing, but also spent some time hands on my feel feeling flexibility, my arches, etc.  Then, I ran on a treadmill and they videoed my stride.  Next, we looked at my stride on video and they used a software system to evaluate my gait, pronation, etc.  Everything was logged on a form specific to me and then they brought out one shoe: a pair of Mizuna something.  They felt pretty good in the course of conversation they brought out two more pairs.  A different pair of Saucony and Brooks (from the previous fittings at the other store). After a long batter of test walks and runs I decided that the Brooks Glycerin 9 were my preference.  (Chick mentioned these and I've seen lots of other Triathletes listing these in their gear).  I started looking at colors and eventually an employee remembered one other style that was in the back (it just came in).   It was black and green and I really liked it.  I was ready to buy but the store insisted I try on the green pair as sometimes the manufacturers will tweak a few things even with just a color change.  I liked them and bought them. I noticed when I got home that somethings was different.  I had bought a pair of Glycerin 9 shoes but in looking at them closely, I actually came home with the brand new Glycerin 10 shoes.  The box shows I bought an orange pair of 9s.  The 10's are supposed to be $10 more expensive and so tomorrow when they open I will call them to let them know what happened.  I'm guessing their inventory is a bit off now.  They didn't even have the 10's on the shelves and I'm certain the employees didn't even realize they were different.  I've done a couple of short treadmill runs and am eager to try them on the road today. 

This store was phenomenal and I really felt like they tried to understand my injuries and my running style.

I hope everyone has a great day with their families remembering the sacrifice of many for our freedoms!