Madcow's Group- FULL! (Page 8)

fungi32 - 2009-03-17 4:12 AM Congrats looks good to me I know one 40-44 male you would have smoked

Make that two

That is really cool that you are losing weight.  My legs and feet are feeling better since I dropped a few pounds.  You have really been training hard!

I feel your pain.  I've been struggling with my weight since I quit smoking in 1991.  I pack it on evenly so although I don't have a big gut, I still need to lose another 20 to get to a healthy weight for my age/height.  The hardest part for me is to not eat after dinner, I just take it one evening at a time.

Congratulations to all you!!  It looks like your training is going great.  I have been working out almost every day and haven't had a lot of computer time, but I am still with you in spirit!  We went out of town for spring break and did a lot of walking, but only got a couple of workouts in.  I am still getting back in the swing--amazing how quickly I can lose my endurance.  I swam a mile today, but with drills and kickboard exercises, it tok almost and hour and a half.  Have done a couple of brick workouts and survived.  Have lost a couple of pounds, but can relate to those of you who are trying to lose weight--it really doesn't come off very quickly!  I am doing a 1.5 hour spinning class and a 1-2 mile run tomorrow.  Am still VERY slow but am feeling better about the possibility of actually finishing my race in April.  Have a good weekend! 

The weight loss thing is killing me. I lost about 20 pounds, then stopped. I have been hovering around the same weight for months. The good news is, I can have really bad weeks and not gain too much, but I have had really good weeks and not lost any either.

Kevin, for me, I stopped eating at night after talking to my dental hygenist. She suggested I floss after I eat dinner and not eat again. I started doing that around 7 pm and then wouldn't snack because I didn't want to floss again. I think that alone contributed to some of my weight loss.

I am getting really excited for you guys. We have some races coming up in a few weeks. Now is the time that you should be making a list of things to pack for the race as well as making sure you are training with the stuff you will be using during the race. The number rule in triathlons; Nothing new on race day!

Here are some of the things you should have:

Prerace:
TIMING CHIP!!!!! If they have one. Put this on before you leave the house. 
Sweat shirt/ jacket, sweat pants,
Flashlight/headlamp (for walking around transition)
Stapler (for attaching your number to your bike)
Water/Gatorade
Bike pump/ spare tubes
Swim:
Goggles (2 pair)
Swim cap
Wetsuit 
Bodyglide
earplugs/noseplugs (if you use them)
Cheap old flip flops to walk to the water. Must be shoes you don't intend to keep or you can your family pick them up for you.
T1:
Bucket of water for cleaning feet (Optional)
Small towel (optional)
Sunscreen (optional)
Chapstick (optional)
Bike:
Bike (duh)
Helmet
Sun glasses
Bike shoes
Race number
Race belt (You should look into getting a race belt. Most race expos will  have them for sale and some expo booths will give them away. They save you from having to saftey pin your number to your clothes and you can easily move your number from your bike clothes to your run clothes if you change them). I highly recommend one.
Bottle of water for your bike. Most of you are doing sprints, so nutrition isn't necessary for the bike or run. You will probably need a drink of water at some point, so I would put a half a bottle of water on your bike and take in water from the aid stations on the run.
Socks (optional). If you are going to use socks, you need to practice putting them on with wet feet (no fun). If you are not going to wear socks, then you need to practice riding with no socks now. Nothing new on race day. The same goes for if you are going to put on a shirt. Practice putting it on while you are wet. I have seen my fair share of people trapped in a shirt in T1
T2:
Sunscreen/ chapstick
Run:
Shoes
Socks (optional)
Hat/visor
Post race:
Same sweat pants and shirt from prerace or tshirt and shorts
sandals/ flip flops
Water/ gatorade (hydrate, hydrate, hydrate)

Camera

I have found that trishorts are the best thing for racing. You can wear them during all three legs of the race and not have to change them. For the women, I know some women wear their swimsuits, then put on trishorts over that and a shirt. Or some wear tritop and trishorts or a sports bra with a tritop and shorts or any combination that you are comfortable with. For the guys, you should practice wearing your wetsuit (if you are using one, with whatever shirt you will be racing in. If you are not wearing a shirt for the swim, then you should practice putting on one for the bike.

I am sure I am missing something, so I might add to the list later.

Tomorrow we will go over how to set up your transition area.

This will be fun.

I have been taking it easy the past two weeks on Drs. orders, and plan to resume my regular workouts next week if my blood work checks out.  The iron pills I am taking aren't making me as sick as I thought they would, only minor stomach problems so far. But I am still experiencing extreme fatigue.

I don't start with my tri coach until May 2nd.  I plan on running a Mothers Day road race, (there is a 5mi and a 2mi) and I haven't decided which one to enter. I will see how the training goes.  I am excited to support all of you in your up coming races.  It is so exciting!!!

Kevin, it is so nice to see the picture of you and Kathy up.  I visit her training log every now and then to see how other women are training, and she is totally amazing, and an incredible writer as well.

Also, if any of you wear Brooks shoes or clothing, you should look into the Brooks ID Program. Basically they sponsor athletes with a 40% off discount. It really helps. The shoes I normally wear were this months web special, so instead of $95 a pair I got them for $45. Needless to say, I stocked up for the summer

BTW, how often are you guys changing your running shoes?

One piece of advice I got that has never failed me is, only wear your running shoes for running, not walking around the mall and not to work...only running. And you should change them every 300 miles or 6 months. Once I feel my knees starting to bother me, I change my shoes and they are like new...my knees that is

Getting excited for my first race later this month.  My weak link is swimming and I've been tagging along on KathyG's lessons during lunch on Fridays.  I am at the point where I can swim and rotate to breathe and stay balanced in the water.  I've been doing the tarzan swim for my entire life and I can't believe I am really starting to swim "right".  Thanks for the list, Tom, and your encouragement!

Yeah, Ipods are a no-no, because you will need to hear emergency vehicles in case of an accident.

Yikes. I have had my first two days of training and I am wiped out. I forgot how tiring it is to train. I still have two more days before my rest day. Help.

My coach has me swimming on Mon and Wed and some sort of run/ bike combo or brick on Tues and Thurs. I have Fridays off with a long bike on Saturday and a long run on Sun.

Right now the mileage isn't huge, but the intensity is higher than I am used to. I haven't put on a heart rate monitor in years. The good news is, I have lost some weight so I had to adjust the HRM strap to make it tighter (usually I had to keep making it looser).

Tonight I think I will join the Master's program at my pool. From what I have seen, they aren't really that organized, but joining a group should keep my busy during my swims. I will just have to swim some before class and maybe a little after too. We'll see.

How are you guys doing with your training so far?