Counselor's Group - FULL (Page 8)

The swim was good, of course everyone has heard the horror stories about the "washing machine". I'm actually a much better swimmer (I think) than the time indicates. I kind of just felt people out when we were all just wading there. Quite a few people were hanging back so I figured I'd go toward the front, but on the outside.
It was actually much better than I thought it was going to be, my wife video'd the start and it looks aweful. At one point it looks like I'm swimming on top of a guy. I had one guy swim over me and I think I swam over another, but it was never like I was going to drown, just a little bumping and continuing on. I was really surpised. One nice thing about it was most guys don't kick hard like they might in the pool, since they are trying to save their legs, so when you do swim up on someone it's not like you're going to broken fingers. I know for the first 200 yards another guy swam right beside me, within a foot, as we angled toward the bouys, but it never bothered me. I only wish I would have swum harder, but hindsight is 20/20. When I came around the turn-around bouy I was thinking maybe I should push it but I didn't want to be winded going into T1. Should have warmed up more and started out faster, then coasted in.

As this was my first tri I didn't know what to expect on the bike. It was 3 loops around the park...good for specators, bad for getting racers thinned out. I mean people were riding in the middle of the road like it was a joy ride. So I mostly stayed to the left just passing these people by. Some people were really pissed that many racers weren't staying to right, but I really didn't care, just part of the experience. The biggest problem area was on the hills on the opening stretch of the bike course. The back stretch was much faster and thinned out pretty well.

It was such a beautiful day, 70 degrees at start, sun shinning, nothing was going to get me down unless I didn't finish. I could have sprained my ankle and I still would have hobbled in, hopefully I have more days like this.

I really think doing longer workouts attributed to my success.

I'm totalled addicted!
Next reace is a Dual June 17. I'm going to try to do 4 more tri's, 1 other dual, a 1/2 Mary and some 5 or 10k's

Edited by VeganMan 2007-05-22 1:22 PM

Awesome job, VeganMan! A sub-6 on your last mile? Unreal! That's really great!!

Well, my "big" news is that I finally got my bike out on the road (not just the trainer). Uh, note to self: Tri-bike is much different than my old touring bike I used to ride. It's going to take some time to get comfortable with not having brakes right there and finding my balance when looking up or trying to move from the aero to the up position to grab said brakes without wiping out...could be awhile on that! Well, the NICE thing was that on the road I felt like I was moving fast whereas on the trainer it's nothing but solid pedaling and (obviously) no sense of motion.

Anyway, VeganMan and Amy, keep posting the great news — I hope to one day join you guys in being able to say, "I did it."

I'm going to do a little more bragging:

Last nite I logged my 50,000yd of the year...that's like 30miles!!

I really love the water. We had an instructor come in and demonstrate the TI drills for us, then watched us do them. It was great!

Can you say Iron Man!
Awsome...dont you just love milestones! You should be proud of your accomplishments! I am glad you share them with us...what an inspiration for me!
Keep it up!

I get my bragging rights in two week!

When you start to feel overwhelmed...what do you do?

Just curious for what anyone else does...sometimes I feel like there just isnt enough of me to go around for everything!

I dont want to really give anything up right now, because this is important to me, but finding the ballance has been hard!

I exercise mostly at lunch so I dont take away from my family...but with the tri just around the corner, my weekends are full with exercise, family, errands etc! aagggg

I just know that there is a ballance...

I can't help you in the capacity I'd like to as I don't have a family, it's just the wife and I.
We have made a commitment together to be healthy and live fuller lives...in our diet and getting outdoors.
I guess it's a matter of priorities; if we had kids they obviously would come first.
Try writing them down. Try writing out a schedule of what a typical day or week looks like.
In order for me to spend more time with my wife, I started running in the early AM. She works late on Tue/Thur so Wed nite is the only nite I get home from training kind of late (8pm). Weekends on the other hand consume a get amount of time for working out, at least they will. I'm building up for 3hr bike rides and 2 hr runs on consecutive days.
Do what you can to not be overwhelmed, think about something positive, like how blessed you are to have a family or to be able to train. You're only as happy as you let yourself be!!

Good luck! I'm pulling for you!

Had a 5mile run race last weekend at Boys Town in Omaha. Ran a 35:56, not bad but I was hoping for a better time. The 9mile run and 10mile bike the day before probably had something to do with it.

Thanks for all the wonderful tips and support!
I have been feeling much better this week...after taking the mind set that "I can only do what I can do! And that will have to be enough!" Seems to be working fairly well...

On another note! I did my first Tri yesterday! And I have to tell you I'M HOOKED!

It was amazing...I really didnt know what to expect, but our little group got there early enough to go over the transistion areaa, warm up an part of the course, and warm up in the bay too!
I felt ready...
So we were signed up a "small team" so our wave went first...all teams were first so there were so something like 6 teams...not to bad!
We were told to stay on the left outter ring of swimmers because some of the people were going to be very competitive and etc...well I found myself WAY ON THE LEFT! OOPs, so I probably swam 100 yards more than I needed too...Lession #1...swim closer to the booies (sp)...I was hit, swam on, and I hit and swam on...but it was not as bad as I was imagining...
T1 took much longer than I was thinking! I got stuck in my wetsuit! oops...I had used body glide, but my feet just didnt want to come out of the darn thing...so more practice there...or just the next time pick a tri where there dosent need to be a wet suit.
The bike was my weakest..it was very hilly, but I managed to make it through without having to ever walk! Very proud of that accomplishment! Even though my legs felt like there were going to fall off! The route was very hilly, lots of curves and was open to traffic! So staying to the right was very important...most of the bikers were very thoughtfull, hollering out that they were passing...which was very nice! A Pleasant surprise!
They had us dismount at the top of the hill as we came in, and had to walk the bides down, for me this was no problem because I didnt have bike shoes but for those who did, I noticed a lot were taking off their shoes...
T2 was an easy one for me because I didnt have bike shoes, so I just threw my helmut off and away I ran...we had to run up steep stairs to get to the road, and my legs were killing me from the ride, so I just took it easy...it took me a lot longer to get my run legs that I was thinking, probably because the bike route was tougher than I thought too! It took about 1.5 miles before I felt that I could pick it up...but I did...
I finished the race!
I finished with a smile!
I finished in 1:15.14.4...
I AM HOOKED!

Awesome Amy! Congratulations! I'm still lightyears behind you as my running is strong but my biking is very weak and my swimming non-existent. However, your update is encouraging to me. Again, way to go — keep up the great work (and fun)!

Dan

Where is the race report? Need more details.

I'm so happy to hear your enthusiasm. I wish you continued success.

Hi all!
Been pretty quite this week...hope I hear back from you all!
Our little group is just that...little! But I sure enjoy shaing with you all!
Keep up the great work...cant wait for the next race logs...

As for me, I'm running a 10k on the 4th of July, doing another tri on the 14th of July then a 26k trail run on the 29th! and maybe...just maybe another 10 k on the 21st...but that one is still to be determined!

Happy training all!

Hey all,

Well, I have to put my racing on the backburner now — huge convention coming up in August...I'm editor of the daily paper for it. Long story short, I have a ton of work to do to ahead of time, so right now, just getting to run is a plus (sigh). However, it is GREAT to hear of your accomplishments, so please keep them coming...my biggest accomplishment is that I had a nice 14-mile training run last weekend.

Oh, on a personal note, we have peafowl at our home (one peacock and one peahen), but we're getting another hen hopefully this week. What's cool is that our first hen started laying eggs this year...not sure if they're fertile or not, but the kids are excited about it. Sometimes, when I get depressed about not being able to train as much, my kids really help bring perspective...there is a lot of "wonder" in the world if we stop long enough and look at things in a way we all should do more of — through a child's eyes.

Well, keep up the great job on the races!

Dan

sorry I haven't been posting, my computer self-destructed.

My original triathlon (CapTexTri) ended up getting rained out at the last minute--such a bummer! But it was good to practice getting completely ready to go. I felt much more comfortable at the triathlon I actually did get to do.

I did the Danskin Tri last weekend, and it was really fun! The OWS was much more different from swimming in the pool than I expected. I kept veering off course, and running into people. The biking was awesome, even the hills were fun. A lot of that had to do with the sweet road bike I borrowedd from a friend. It is really light, and riding it is always fun. The run was not so good, and in fact, was more of a walk...jog a little...walk again. But I recognized someone I had met before the swim, and so we pushed ourselves to jog to the finish.

My goal for next time is to actually jog the entire run!

Hi Everyone!
It's been a while...and I'm sure most of you have either found another forum, or have just stopped writing, either way, just wanted to say hope every ones race season is going as well as planned.
I have tri #2 tomorrow, and my 11 year old is participating in a "kid tri" on Sunday! Pretty exciting! I'm glad my enthusiasm has spread some!
Take care, and I hope to hear from you all soon!
Amy

Hey Amy,

Nah, I didn't find a new group...but I did "fall off the wagon"...or really I should say "bike." My trainer broke about a month ago and I just haven't been on my bike much since then. It looks like I won't be doing a tri this year after all...kind of bummed about that. But my work and family schedule just doesn't leave much time for that (because I'm still such a newbie on riding a triathlon bike, I'm hesitant to ride public roads as my balance is still questionable). My running is doing pretty solid though...I'll have about 50 miles in this week, which is my longest week ever...of course, the reason I'm able to get those miles in is I run at 4:30 a.m., I found another reliable running partner and the time doesn't interfere with family or work. Well, I do have one last hope to get on my bike more, and that's a local paved trail...it's only 3 miles long and has a lot of roads cutting through it, but it may be my best bet for getting accustomed to the bike.

ANYWAY, best of luck to you on your upcoming tri. Cool about your son getting involved — that's got to be an encouragement to you! Keep us posted on your accomplishments. Other people's successes always encourage me.

Dan

Haven't been able to have much of a "season" after my first race. Am studying for the bar now and preparing for a bike tour of Australia. When I get back in November, it's time for winter training though!

I hope to do an oly at the end of next summer.

I have my third multisport race in just two weeks. Today, I registered for the Kansas City Marathon on Oct. 20. I also plan on doing a weekend 200mile bike ride in September as well as a half marathon in Omaha. And am planning on 3 HIM events next season....
YES I'M ADDICTED.

It's been a great first year for me. 3 sprint tris, 1 sprint dual, a 5k and a 5mi run. I'm really looking forward to doing more!!! I still have a half Mary and Full Mary left this fall.

How is everyone doing?

Well, my first year of really wanting to do a tri ended with failure in that department, but at least I do have my bike and I am at least back on a trainer with it (I'm in the process of returning the "new" Blackburn ultima) and I pulled my old wind trainer out. My running is doing okay, I'll be running 16 tomorrow morning with some friends...and we're looking at either doing White Rock in Dallas on Dec. 9 or this little marathon in Mountain Home, Arkansas, in mid-November...probably throw in a few half-marathons just for kicks. My problem, as I see it, is that I bit off too much of a learning curve — I should have just gotten a regular bike and then transitioned to a tri-specific bike over time...I didn't have the time to learn how to ride in the aero position (that's still pretty scary for me — not having immediate access to my brakes). Well, practice will make perfect, and hopefully I'll be able to report better news as time goes along. Very cool about how you did this year, VeganMan! Keep at it!

Hello Everyone!
I thought I'd check in to see how fall training is going!
Veganman, how did your 1/2 go?

I completed 3 tri's, lots of 10ks and some trail runs this season...had an interesting thing happen though...during trail running, I pulled my TFL/ IT band and was off for 10 weeks (running) I thought the world had come to an end! I was destined to do the horrible elliptical for EVER...Needless to say, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, but then with a change of attitude, I decided to take advantage of the situation and really work on my biking skills (by far my weakest area up until then)...so, I had the wonderful opportunity to really focus on biking, and discovered what a wonderful experience I had been missing!
I live in a wonderful area for sightseeing on a bike (N CA)...and now I organize weekly rides for a group of about 20! How's that for fate!

I've slipped into winter maintenance for now, with hopes of finding enough time to train for a 1/2 next season! My son has joined me (1/2 heartily) in his enthusiasm for Tri's and completed a kid distance course this summer too! How neat is that!

I hope all is well with everyone!

You've all been such an inspiration to me...thank you!

Amy

Cool about the biking group!

It's neat how things work out sometimes.

Although biking has not been very successful for me, at least I've been fortunate with my running this year. Last Saturday we did 25 miles and now I'm in my taper for the MidSouth Marathon -- it's in Wynne, Arkansas, on Nov. 3. I'm looking forward to it. The tri stuff is still a "carrot" for me, but right now my world is pretty much just running.

Well, good luck over the cool months. It was 37 here this morning, so I'm guessing fall is definitely here.

Take care!

Dan

The end of my season actually took a turn for the worst.  After completing my final tri this year, I was going to start ramping up run volume to get ready for a 1/2 mary and full mary.  After four days rest I went for a short, low intensity run and when I finished had some uncomfortableness in my knees and didn't give it much thought...so I continued to do run sessions and the pain just got worse, I did two 1.5hr runs before I finally conceeded that I needed to rest.  I did however decide that the rest was sufficent to complete said 1/2 mary, so I gave it my best, finished and paid a tremendous price....I couldn't walk for two days and my knees were trashed.  I waited another two weeks and tried to go out for a short jog to see if I was any better....nope.  Just swimming and spin class for me now (it's too cold to bike outside without proper gear).  Hopfully I will be able to pick up running again in the next few weeks, but it might be eliptical and aquajogging to start.  I never thought I would sustain an injury like this because I usually think injuries are a mental thing, but unfortunately I am learning the hard way.  Looking forward to three HIMs next year!!!