Brian's group - FULL (Page 8)

I believe the trainer is going to be better than one at your gym.  Just because the geometry is the same, since it's the same bike. 

As far as pedals go:  I have had 3 pair.  The first two were the first two clipless styles made.  They definitely had their problems, and that's probably why they aren't on the market anymore.  I have been riding LOOK pedals since 1997  and don't have any complaints.  Neither do I have any comparison to other pedals on the market today.  There are probably some that have cleats that are easier to walk in.

I finally got one of the tests done that Brian asked for at the beginning of the group.  It took a while to find a good place to fit it into the training.  5 mile bike time trial - 24.42 mph.  Now, I just got to get the gumption to do 5K run.  ugh.  I am nursing a rotator cuff injury so I really don't want to do any all out 100m swim TT.

How long does the fatigue last?  I do well when I am not working and working out, but in order to reach my goal by august I have push through it. It is more of a mental fatigue than body faitgue.  I am sure the fact that i work some nights does not help that .  Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Amber

Five days with no kids. Wow. I can't imagine that. Our kids stayed with friends for my 40th birthday (a year ago), it was the first full night my wife and I had been without kids in seven years (I guess that's the cost of living approximately 10,000 miles from your extended family). I had forgotten how long and leisurely breakfast can be!

So given time zone differences I guess I'm up first...

Goals - OK I didn't actually write down any concrete goals. But broadly they were (for the season) complete the five Jersey Triathlons (each longer than the last culminating in Olympic distance late august). There were no speed or time aspirations, although I now find myself calculating my "expected" finishing times prior to the races, and establishing times that I am "happy", "happier" and "delighted" with. In the build up to this I am doing the BT 2X balanced 16 weeks "Sprint" training programme, and will shift into the same "Olympic" programme post the Sprint Triathlon.

I guess the surprise to me has been that my running speed is relatively so much slower than those I am competing with. But actually my running speed is up some 10% - 20% from when I started training in February, and there was no "time or speed" in my goals. However I already find myself working on 2011 goals - and faster run times will definitely be in there! The largest negative and toughest thing I have found with training, is that I am finding it causes lower back and neck to stiffen (hence there is a lot of Yoga scheduled in my week - which is an added time burden I hadn't counted on). This in itself doesn't bother me, except that it does for me reduce quality of sleep and sometimes leads to really bad nights, it also means I won't schedule in exercise for evenings after work, which means earlier mornings than otherwise. Overall manageable with lots of Yoga, but am open to suggestions! (I am yet to try a deep tissue massage, but will soon).

Overall achievement of goals is on track, and I am really enjoying it a lot. We'll see if that remains the case as the volume of the Olympic training schedule picks up.

Best thing about exercise. That's a tough one, nine times out of ten (so far) I really enjoy the training sessions and look forward to them. Probably the best thing, (and I never set out to do Triathlon for this reason), is the changes in my body. I've lost 5kg since February, have a considerably(!) flatter stomach, feel more toned, my wife tells me I look and seem younger, and I generally feel fitter than I think I ever have.

I'm slightly concerned this exercise stuff could become addictive!