Susie's Tri Girls - Closed (Page 8)

I am glad your son is OK.. sometimes I wanna put a helmet on my son at all times.  Anyway hope you had a Happy Birthday. Terri

HI everyone,

Karen, glad the trainer fest was a success. Sounds like fun. Wish there was something like that around here.

Jennifer, glad your son is one the mend.  Both of my boys had their share of accidents.  One we even have on video (in case we ever want to relive the horror of watching our 5 year old go flying over the handle bars of his bike and land on his face - so much for the helmet).

 Jennifer and Terry, Congrats on the "new bodies".  If that's not motivating, what is?  Anyone else who has weight loss as a goal want to chime in on your progress? 

As far as sighting:  This is what I learned last summer at an OWS clinic I attended.  When you get in the water look for a large fixed object to sight on, that is straight ahead, or in line with your swim, such as a building or large tree etc.  Try and keep that object in the same place. If your swim course is not a straight point to point you would have to find objects to sight on for each change in direction.  Also, sight often, expecially if you know you are a 'crooked swimmer". All you need to do is lift your head slightly then resume your stroke.  I've gone way off course in a couple of swims by getting into a rythem and forgetting to sight.  Another problem I've encountered is the foggy goggle issue.  You can sight all you want, but if you can't see through your goggles it's not going to help much.  I've tired the supposed "anti-fog" goggles.. the anti- fog spray...spitting in the goggles.  Still have the fog.

Hows the week looking for everyone?

Susie

Thanks Jennifer!  I'm going to try that. There is a scuba shop not to far from here. The stuff I bought at Sports Authority didn't work.

Susie

So, are you official for the tri and half mary?

Well, I'm official in my head for both the tri and the 1/2 marathon, but active.com wasn't working for registrations, so that had to wait. I'm going to try again today.

Ahh...the beach in Dominican Republic....get some sun for all of us! I've been SO happy with the wonderful weather we've had, and now we're fogged in. Can't see 20 feet in front of you. So it will be awhile before we see the sun again!

By the way, Suzie, I've updated my goals. Would you take a look and make sure I'm on track compared to what I'm currently doing/have scheduled? Thanks

Jennifer, it's looks like if you continue to add the 1/2 mile per week you will be on track for the 1/2 mary.  You may end up adding a bit more per week later on in the spring as you get stronger  since you will want to build in a taper week  prior to the race.  Also, you don't necessarily need to run 13 miles before the race.  Making it up to 12 is good.  I know that people who train for marathons never run the full 26 prior to the race. The furthest I ran before my IM was 20 miles.  I think you should begin to taper down your 2 minute walk to 1 minute.  You are making great progress so I think a 10 minute run with a 1 minute walk is very realistic goal.  Keep up the good work.

So, tomorrow is my appointment with the Ortho Doc for my knee.  Hoping it's nothing a little PT can't fix.  The killer is that I know I'm going to have to do some off time whatever the outcome.  I'm not good at that (I'm great at giving the advice, but not good about taking it). 

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week. 

Susie

Thank you for the advice, Susie. I will work on reducing my walking to 1 min. I'm glad to know it won't be a problem if I don't get all the way to 13 miles before the 1/2 marathon.

I hope the doctor gives you news you can live with! Hoping for a speedy recovery for your knee.

Hi all,

So the verdict on my knee:  something is going on with my knee cap. Could be patellar subluxation, which means the knee cap is unstabe.  I found out that I am susceptible to something like this due to the fact that my knee caps are somewhat misaligned, they point slightly outward. Plus, it can be an overuse injury. So, it's nothing too scary (no surgery), but I am in for a bit of a recovery.  I'm off of everything for a week, except for some upper body strength work.  Then I can swim, do the elliptical, and spin at light tension and no standing in the pedals. No running for a few weeks and no exercises that include squats or a lot of pressure on the knees - in other words no more SES class.   I have to do these straight leg exercises twice a day and ice.   I'm bummed, but at least this is happening at the beginning of Feb.  Hopefully if I am a good girl, I'll be back in action in plenty of time.  Marv, who is one of the leaders of our Tri group told me that one should approach injury recovery with the same level of commitment and determination that you apply to training and don't rush it.  Wise words.  It is so easy to want to rush recovery.  This will certainly be a test for me as I am most impatient with these types of things.  But if I'm not patient, I'll end up with more trouble in the end.  I'm still contemplating going to see this chiropractor that specializes in multi-sport, endurance athletes, not necessarily to speed up the recovery, but to work on a plan to help prevent future problems by addressing some of the physiological issues that I have(ie: tight hamstrings, misaligned knees, etc).

So, learn from my mistakes.   When you feel pain - STOP.  Listen to your body.  I thought I could train through the pain and I should have stopped.

Hope you've all had a great week and Happy Friday tomorrow!

Susie

You're right it has been awfully quiet around here.  But, we are all excited in Chi-town...it's forecast to be 52 degrees tomorrow!!!  HEAT WAVE! Break out the shorts.  Of course it will probably be 30 the next day, but that's Chicago weather for ya.

Well, Lori, I certanly hear you about taking painkillers prior to training... been there, done that.  However, this time if I don't actively work on recovery I will end up in a lot more trouble.    Two days down, no training, doing the excercises and icing. Tomorrow I will go to the club and do some upper body strength and pilates class (I will be good and avoid anything that may put strain on the knees)

So what's happening ladies?  Anything fun planned for the weekend, training or otherwise?

Susie

Suzi, Sorry to hear about your knee. The kneecap thing is exactly why I gave up cheerleading and ballet in high school. Not fun!! I hope you can mend soon...

So this morning was my very first 5k. I was very conscious not to go out too fast, thinking for sure I'd be worn out 1/2 way through. I really wanted to try to do it without walking at all, but I knew that was a pretty tall order, since I've been walking 1-2 every 8-10 depending on the workout. I started near the back of the pack, which I found out wasn't necessary. There were lots of slower runners in there, and I found it frustrating to not be able to hit my stride because of all the people. That's okay though. I got into a nice rhythm, knowing it was faster than normal but figuring I could always slow down or walk if I needed to. Before I knew it the 1 mile marker came up and I yelled a little "WooHoo!" at the guy standing by the marker. He had to have thought I was nuts! Mile 2 was of course tougher, but I was good until about 1/2-way through it, when both my right shoulder and right side started hurting. I decided to walk for 1 min, and just move my arm around, then I continued my run. The last mile I realized that was all I was getting, so I'd better make it count. I wasn't fast by any means, but I finished in 32:31, which is considerably faster than the nearly 14 min/mile I've been running! All in all, I'm very happy with how I did, and though I was exhausted and completely spent, I wasn't in pain or feeling like I would vomit! Good news!

My 14 yr old son ran it in 21:16, and my 12 year old in 25:20, and I think I had a respectable time- even for my 14 yr old who said I wouldn't be able to even run 1 mile. I guess I proved I wasn't "Old" after all!!

Thanks for the good vibes everyone.  I'm staying positive about all this.  One of the other leaders of the tri group ( Hong) is a chiropractor and has been giving me advice.  He brought me a pair of "super feet" inserts.  Anybody use these.  He knows what he's talking about and is helping me, but I feel a little funny about all the advice he's giving me in that it's his job outside of the club . I see my kid's pediatrician at the club all the time and would never think of asking him for some medical advice about the boys.  I guess this is different because Hong is a tri club leader, but...

Way to go Jennifer!  A time to be proud of...and now it's your benchmark to beat!  

Patricia, selling your house is SO stressful. Add on the fact that you're getting ready for a trip.  YIKES!  I hope the neck strain is temporary and doesn't interfer with your trip.

I too was up very early on a Sunday (5 am after going out last night and not getting to bed until midnight)  I was a volunteer at the Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon.  I was a wave leader and took two different groups through.  It was great to give incouragement to everyone, especially the complete beginners. It was also inspiring to see some really talented athletes.  There was one woman whose name I would see at sprint races, always top 3 in her age group.  Met her today.  A fun way to spend the morning...and now time for a nap!

Susie

Jennifer, I'm sorry you're sick and coming off a great 5k.  I don' t know about everyone else, but we have a lot of "stuff" going around, including strep.  We've had quite a few kids out sick.  I'm a believer in Airbourne and zinc.  I took some Airbourne today since I had a scratchy throat. 

Hope all if well with everyone else.

Susie

Hi Ladies -

Sorry I've been out so long.  I'm really discouraged.  I've been on travel and had some terrible deadlines at work that have put me into 12 hour days including my last  2 week-ends.  I have been working out whenever I can but it seems like I have no energy!  With the cold weather I go to the club where it's hard for me to get any real distance in, once I've gone around the track 52 times (only 3 miles) I'm about to go crazy.  I feel like I'm going backwards and I wanted to improve over the winter. Swimming as gone okay but not great either, I'm not improving for sure. :-(

I'm gone again next week but at least I'm in CA so maybe I'll get some outdoor runs in.  I do so much better outside, an hour seems like nothing outside, I can never do that on the track inside.

I have also been having some trouble with my knee, Suzie, I'm thinking I might need to get it checked.  I don't have terrible pain but it just keeps bothering me, especially as I start my run.  I just want to be sure I'm not causing any damage.  I just hate being old!

Oh well, enough griping I guess, I know things will get better when I get these big deadlines out of the way (next week) and it warms up outside!

Ruth

Hi there everyone!

I agree that this is one of the less motivating times of the year.  Everyone is getting sick, we're tired of winter, tired of less sun light .....  I'm so over winter right now, which, living in Chicago is not a good attitude since it can snow into April.  The kids at school all have runny noses and coughs.  I've been taking Airbourne everyday and at the first sign of a scratchy throat I take Zinc lozenges.  So far I've been staying healthy (hope I didn't just jinx myself)

Ruth, I hear you on the knee thing. It can be difficult to figure out when you need to finally go see someone about a possible injury.  If you are unable to run even a mile without pain, or the pain is now coming a other times, could be time to have it checked out.

My knee issues:  After two weeks of no running, or spin and no more SES class, the knee has improved a little, but still giving me trouble.  The frustrating thing is now the OTHER knee is starting to hurt.  WTF!!! (sorry ladies, but I get very annoyed with these things). I have an appointment  next Sat. with that Chiropractor I mentioned before.   Must get this figured out because I just registered for the Chicago Marathon, although that's not until October, so I'm hoping I'll be all better and ready to go by then.

Let's help each other get through February and into Spring!

Susie

Hi and Happy Valentines Day to everyone. Hope you had a nice day. My husband and I started our day by going to a fellow BTers house for the 2nd Trainerfest. It was a lot of fun. I rode pretty good, 24.5 mi. in 1.5 hrs. I feel fortunate to live in an area with so many great people to train with. I know here in MI we can have some crappy weather but, we seem to get creative at times and it is not so bad. I hope you all start to get the motivation going again, spring is just around the corner.

Susie, I'm happy your knee is getting better, looks like you had a decent ride today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Karen

Friday I managed to swim 600 yds, nothing yesterday, then I rode my bike on my trainer tonight for 8.6. I'm still really winded and drained, struggling for breath when I do anything, so I'm just going to have to work up to what I was doing before. It's a little frustrating, but I realize I still have plenty of time.

Sorry to hear you other ladies are also having a tough time. It's definitely hard to stay motivated and positive when life gets in the way. Isn't this about the time the New Year's Resolutioners stop going to the gym? We know it's not a resolution for us, and we'll get back in the swing of things! Hang in there.

Hello and Happy Monday!

Karen, I think it's great that you have the trainer fests.  What a fun idea. 

Jennifer, glad to see you up and about.  It is frustrating when you get knocked back and have to battle to get where you were before.  But I'm sure you will get back quickly once you are fully recovered.  And you are so right about having to battle when life gets in the way, be it illness, family matters etc.  Sometimes your priorities are not training, and that's fine. I've met some people who can't put things like this into prespective, and it creates a lot of tension in the other areas of their lives.  It is so important to create a balance that works for you and your family.  Sometimes I've had to miss a workout, or cut it short.  That one day isn't going to make it or break it for me.  Attending my son's meets  is more important. 

Well, the sun is shinning, the temperature is tolerable and I'm off of school today (President's day) so I'd better get going.  It's a rest day for training and I've got errands to run.  

Have a wonderful day!

Susie