Stickyrunner01's Group - The bus is FULL! (Page 8)

I generally don't bother with resolutions, but I think I'm going to have to go with:
1. Become a better swimmer
2. Become a better cyclist
(I think I see a pattern forming here!)
3. Become a better runner

Tom, I registered for the sprint distance triathlon in Warsaw, Indiana on june 26th. Will you be there?

Haha, yeah, I guess I left that option available!



I haven't actually registered for any races yet, but that one wasn't on the "short list". My "A" race is probably going to be Muncie 70.3 and I will most likely be hitting a key workout that week. Although, with the way I plan, I might just end up being there. I enjoy competing. To me, a race is a lot more fun than a training day. So it's a possibility.

What made you choose this race?

No resolutions, per se, here either. I prefer to think of them as annual goals I guess. Ironman Texas is my only sports goal so far this year. As race day approaches, I might have a time goal in mind but as of now, it's all about finishing. Staying injury-free is always a goal, especially with the volume I'll be doing over the next 20 19.5 weeks. I imagine I'll go for another 1/2 mary PR later in the year.

Outside of sports, getting married this year will be a huge event, and I want to enjoy that moment as much as possible. I also want to get more proactive at work with my career development. I'm ready to take on more and I've got to be my own advocate.

Resolutions/Goals for 2011:

Athletic:
1. Run half marathon with my bf.
2. Train consistently. 
3. Decide between an oly or HIM, register, train, complete!

Nonathletic:
1. Don't stress over little things.
2. Enjoy my last semester of college, get into grad school. 
3. Win lottery so I can pay for grad school without taking out any loans  

Well, I guess I picked Warsaw because it was close to home and because it was a short race.  I have to say that the anxiety already set in when I clicked on the button to register.  It's exciting to try something new and to push myself physically, and I love the idea of multi-sport, but the tiny seeds of self-doubt and fear still find their way into my thoughts from time to time.  Psst, let's keep that between us because I fake self-confidence very well 



Edited by jfought 2011-01-06 7:18 PM

Athletic:
1) complete two sprint tris
2) receive Krav Maga Blue Belt
3) be able to run four miles without knees hurting

Non-athletic:
1) Pay off grad school
2) reduce stress
3) eat healthier

So I saw a physical therapist today.  They offer a free "runner's clinic" the first and third Thursday of every month, I know about it through my local running store.  So I got about 5-10 minutes with a PT.  Basically, she thinks my problem can be attributed to my misaligned hip bones.  The misalignment wasn't really news to me as I've been told this before, but it's interesting that that may be the problem.  Because of the bone pulling on muscles in the region (such as the groin muscles), it could have been causing the issues.  So she gave me a few exercises, and we'll see if it helps...

I haven't really set any resolutions either.  For whatever reason this year I didn't really see this new year as a fresh time to set new goals, hrmph.  haha!

Being close to home is a GREAT reason to choose a race!!!   Last year I could not wait until my first tri, and I chose the first one there was in my area, which was the end of May.  Have you looked into what the water temperature is generally like for that race?  I guess end of June is pretty well into the summer, so you'll be fine without a wetsuit?

Samantha,

I was able to find a couple race reports from previous years.  One year the water temp was 60 degrees and another year it was 70 degrees.  It's only a quarter mile swim.  What do you think?  Wetsuit or not?

i am not a huge resolutions person.  I set goals all thru out the year so Jan 1 doesn't really mean a lot.  But this year I vow to change my weakness into my biggest strength - running.  I am in the process of hiring a run coach - actually Jorge who does the cycle plan here on BT.

I will continue to help my hubby get his life back after his horrible head injury and PTSD.  

And I want to hang out at 18% bodyfat instead of my current 22%

That is all!

Happy Training everyone!

My first ows was in mission bay san diego, the water temp was 65 degrees. there were 1400 other women, all of whom had wetsuits on, I was intimidated for sure!!! but when the time came to get in the water and swim .5 mi, I really didn't notice the cold much....the anticiption of the cold was the worst part!! but with that being said there are enough nerves to deal with so a wetsuit is comforting I think for a lot of swimmers.

I would recommend the wet suit.  I raced in Indy last year and left my wetsuit in the truck at the venue (long story, read my RR http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=220298).  The water definitely was shocking to my body at 75 degrees.  Once I got into a rhythm I didn't think much about whether I was cold or not but it'd not something I would want to be worried about while racing.  I am a pretty competitive person too, so I make a difference to me if I am fast or slow based on the wetsuit.  Many people don't particularly care about placement.  If you don't care and don't mind being cold you could skip the wetsuit if it were 70+ but for sure anything lower than that should be a wetsuit in my opinion.

I'd say go with the wetsuit.  I wore one for my first and the added buoyancy made me feel more safe and comfortable in the water... also VERY important that you do some OWS before your tri.  Pools are way different than open water, I learned that the hard way during my first tri and had a little panic attack which was just because of the unfamiliarity with swimming in open water. 

Yeah, 60, 70 degrees I would say that you'd probably prefer to go with a wetsuit if you can.  (60 is REALLY REALLY COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  I'm not sure if that was accurate, or someone just putting down a random number based on what they felt, but 60 seems especially cold given that it's in the middle of the summer.  During my HIM in September (Lake Huron) the water temp was announced as 59-60 degrees.  You dip your feet in the water and you don't even want to go out there.  I would have loved to get a warm up swim in, but I just couldn't bring myself to get in the water before it was time.  Actually race time it didn't turn out to be so bad though- I think ONLY because I was already so cold the water temp just wasn't so shocking to the body!!  (Air temp was in the 50s with wind, I did have a wetsuit.)

Anyway, I feel 60 may not be typical, perhaps dink around the event website to see if they say what is typical as well. (Maybe even try e-mailing them.)  I'm sure whatever the water temp is, you could just stick it out with no wetsuit, because I doubt it'll be dangerously cold.  As always, in the end it's what you feel comfortable with, but if you think that triathlons are something you want to stick with, I think you should consider getting a wetsuit.  If you check out the ads on BT, it seems like they always have a discount code for xterra wetsuits at half price.  That's what I did, and I didn't have any problem with my wetsuit.  The sizing chart worked for me... which is another point to consider.  I'm not sure if you anticipate losing weight in the coming months, but if so, you might want to hold off on a purchase.  Wetsuits are meant to be tight, so it probably wouldn't be good to buy one, and then lose a bunch of weight so then the wetsuit would become a bit loose.

Just as an FYI, a water temp of greater than 78 generally most people won't wear wetsuits as technically it drops you from being placed in the age group category.  At 80-something (82/84?) wetsuits become not allowed.

I have been sick with a stomach flu for the past two days, wow a lot transpires on this blog in two days.

OK here are my answers to the QOTD:

Running is definitely my favorite, especially trail running with no electronic devices. We have some great trails that I run near by, along a small river that goes 5-6 miles, hardly ever anyone on it. Love the serenity and peace I get from just listening to water and nature.
I have a mental block with swimming even though I have swam all my life I have a hard time enjoying it.
Biking I like mostly for the speed, still need to learn how to be more proficient.

OK New years resolutions:
Athletic:
1) Swimming - Don't drown
2) Biking - Don't get hit by a car
3) Running - Don't get eaten by a mountain lion (not sure if there are any in NJ, but if there is I don't want to get eaten by one)

Life:
Enjoy everyday and live for the moment as much as possible...it goes way too fast.

Now here is a question for the rest of you. I feel like I have been getting sick more often since I have been training over the past couple of years. Could be old age as well and my immune system is more sensitive, could use suggestions on keeping these viruses and colds away. I take lots of vitamins (multi, emergent C, D-3, B, and flaxseed) drink protein shakes on almost a daily basis, stretch.....but my butt was kicked twice last year with a nasty cold, and twice already in the past 3 months, with a cold and now this stomach bug. Maybe i am catching this stuff at the gym? Need to use the hand sanitizer more? Love to hear what you all do to try and stay healthy and keep the viruses from attacking


Edited by bfwhitt 2011-01-07 11:29 AM

Vitamins work (make sure to not overdo it!), but are you also getting vitamins and minerals the natural way?  ie are you making sure to eat a good amount of fruits and veggies every day?  Also, out of curiosity, what is in your protein shake?  For my post-workout snack, I like to make a shake made of milk, a banana, and some sort of fruit.  like blueberries, strawberries, and/or blackberries.  Lately since those are out of season, I've been using frozen fruit.  Doing this is an easy way to get a few extra servings of fruit in for me.

Thanks Samantha

Yeah I eat pretty healthy as well, no junk food, very little sugar, no soda, lots of water....try to get in my greens and fruits. My shake consists of a scoop of protein, tablespoon of peanut butter, non fat milk, blueberries, a banana, some peaches, flaxseed, sometimes yogurt,and ice....delicious....and fills me up.

Anyone know anything about zinc? Or zicam?

Maybe I should just start drinking a bottle of Nyquil every night ...LOL

Edited by bfwhitt 2011-01-07 11:37 AM

If it's 65 or warmer, I'd go without the wetsuit unless you REALLY want the bouyancy.

I swam alcatraz in 62 degree waters, and wished I wasn't wearing a wetsuit. I'm pretty comfortable in the water though. A quarter mile swim is pretty short so you won't be cold for long. It seems like that's a warm time of year so you'll warm up on the bike fast.

A wetsuit can be a nuisance, especially in your first tri when you're trying to figure out all the transitions and different equipment you'll need. Not wearing one saves you time in transition. Wearing one will usually make you swim faster, although the benefit decreases with swim efficiency. Triathletes get super attached to their equipment...I work with a guy who did tri's in the 80's. Back then they did the whole thing in a pair of speedos, nobody wore wetsuits.

Your choice but I think you earn major style points for braving the cold!

x2 on the vitamins.

I rarely get very sick.  Usually I get a couple of colds a year and one bug that seems to kick the crap out of me for about 24 hours but thats it.  Then I am back to normal for the most part.  I don't eat particularly well either.  I do get extra vitamins through fruits and veggies but I am def not a person who watches closely what I eat.

Has your training volume increased much in the past few months?  If so you could be looking at some type of issue with over training?  What about recovery time, are you taking any after long hard training periods?  Once when power lifting I was over training and ended up losing more weight than desired as well as losing quite a bit of strength at the same time.  Without much info in your logs before December, it's hard to make any decent guesses.

I don't really think much about this most of the time but....
Athletic:
1.  Get faster in all 3 disciplines
2.  Run a BQ pace for my Sept. 17 marathon.  (The race isn't a Boston qualifying race)

Non-athletic:
1.  Do more for my wife.  (She could use more help.  She's a pretty amazing woman to put up with me.)
2.  Allow myself to forget the small stuff and look at the bigger picture.

I got my trainer ride in for today.  I rode for 1:02:00 and got 20.8 mile in.  I kept a higher intensity than I might for a typical recovery week but I kind of had on the week before Christmas anyway (2 rides, 41 miles).  I think I have been cheating my self on my bikes since getting on the trainer.  I know, after looking at my data and really considering how I feel after my rides, that I am not nearly as tired as I probably should be.  I can recover from my rides within 20 minutes and I am not particularly sore from them....well....pretty much ever.  I've got to get more serious about the bike.

I am thinking about doing one of the HIM training plans on the site.  I don't have any races in mind but I want to see how close I am to that training zone already.  I kind of feel like I am close but not really sure.  As I said before, I am not really looking for a HIM this coming season because I want to drag my training and racing along slowly so I don't get bored fast.  I would like to keep my triathlon career as long as I can stay interested.  I feel like if I rush into racing longer distances I might burn out sooner. 

Am I the only who thinks about this in this way?

Wow.  This group has as many posts in two weeks as my last group did throughout the whole season. 

My 2011 resolutions

Triathlon
1. Complete HIM in August.
2. Train more consistently.
3. Get a new bike. 

Life
1. Get more done around the house and finish all those projects that have been going on for years.
2. Eat better.
3. Not make my wife feel that all I do is train. 

I've seen a lot of people on the forums with the exact same thinking. The longer distances will always be there, so there's not rush to them. I chose to do a HIM this season because I found myself really enjoying the long bike rides last summer now the longer swims too. The long runs. . . well, I've heard a lot of people say they didn't like running but they fell in love with it. I'm still waiting for that to happen.