Ernesto's group (4th season) - Closed (Page 8)

Ernesto mentions the "Big Book" and I swear by it although as I've mentioned before I am training slightly different.  A year ago Ernesto recommended that I by it and start training according to his method.  I was in LA moderate temps and a nice breeze off the ocean and most of the time I had to walk to keep my heart rate down.  I had zero aerobic base.  Moving to Colorado Springs and the altitude changed my training HR number but I am still following the plan.  I even convinced my husband to read the book and start training that way.  As he mentioned he's been a runner all his life, I'll let him give his own testimony as far as his personal results.  The book also gives great nutrition advice!  I'm not doing the weight challenge because I know that as soon as I'm eating properly again the few extra lbs fall right off.  

Today I went for a 1 hour "moderate aerobic" run.  Slightly higher HR do to adjusting to the warm temps after the winter.  Scott and I decided to run our "Falcon Trail" since we hadn't been on it since last year.  I forgot what those hills were like!  Even though the HR was high, my RPE was moderate and I could of held a conversation...  

1:02 12:34 for a distance of4.94 HR 161.  Here's the link if anyone is interested

http://connect.garmin.com/player/166076960

I hope there's room and you'll have me!

Name: Andy / Username: Climbinggonzo

Story: This is my second season of triathlon, I'm coming off an obsessive first season where I bit off a bit more than I should have and have continued that trend this year.  I grew up an athletic kid, I played soccer through high school and played division III college hockey in MN.  I stopped playing soccer because I got tired of all the running.  Heh, now look at me.  Running is by far my weakest discipline.  I never ran more than 2 miles until just over a year ago.  Biking is not too far behind running, but I'm at least closer to the MOP.  Swimming is where I excel.  I just wish it paid better dividends in my overall time!  I'm a stay at home dad which gives me an excellent amount of time for training.  I also coach youth hockey, from the youngest all the way up through high school age.  I'm specifically a goalie coach and I run one summer goalie school and coach at another during the summer.

Family status: I'm married to an excellent runner and triathlete in her own right, with two awesome boys ages 5 & 8.  My 8 year old just ran his first 7k on St. Patrick's day.

CURRENT TRAINING: I'm currently using a BT custom HIM plan leading up to mid-June.  Then I'll be starting a BT custom IM plan going through November.  Training logs are accurate and up to date.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: A races - Escape from Alcatraz 6/10 & IM Arizona 11/18.  Other planned races - Tinman (near Oly distance) 4/28, Chain of Lakes Sprint 5/5, Fargo Half Marathon (looking for my first sub-2:00) 5/19, Buffalo Oly (tentative, week before Alcatraz but a fun race) 6/3, Escape from Alcatraz 6/10, Point to LaPoint 2 mile swim 8/4, SuperiorMan HIM Duluth 8/26, Monster Dash HM 10/27, Ironman Arizona 11/18

WEIGHTLOSS: Currently 168 and struggling to maintain that.  I'd prefer to be just over 170, I just have a hard time getting enough calories in. 

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I picked this group because of Ernesto's enthusiasm and that he's done IM AZ.  I'm excited to work on my goals.  They may be a stretch but I don't think they're so far out there to make them not truly "goals".

2012 GOALS: Sub 2:00 half marathon, sub 6:00 HIM (SuperiorMan 8/26 I hope), 2:10 run in a HIM and finish AZ in less than 14:00, ideally low 13:00.  Oh yeah, also sub-30 minute HIM swim and sub-1 hour IM swim.

Not a tri training plan - but something I would like to personally achieve.  I haven't seen a tri plan with 6 runs per week - however, the Endurance Nation HIM plans do have you 5 runs per week at least part of the training.  I do think there is evidence to support the benefit of shorter (30 minutes or so) easier runs in addition to your longer and more intense runs during a training plan.  I get that the bike and swim training can supplement the aerobic base - but there is a lot to running frequency and consistency.  Just my two cents.

I have to agree.  I don't think it's sustainable during tri training but last fall I started the Barry P plan where you take your weekly mileage and divide by 10.  So if I were running 30 miles per week then your short run would be 3, your medium run 6 and your long run 9 miles and you'd follow a schedule where you ran 3-6-3-6-3-9-0.  Over time - as it got more comfy - you'd increase your short run by a mile, then your medium and long.  It was all very gradual and I felt great.  Over time you'd add in tempo and track runs.  I didn't get that far.  In November I ran 100 miles which was a first for me.  But ya... it's definitely more difficult once you add in the bike and swim.  I wish my work had a shower so I could do easy short runs on my lunch hour.  Oh well. 

Story: I am a young consultant that spends Mon-Thur at client sites in various cities across the map. I competed in the 2011 Chicago Sprint Triathlon after a 6 year break from competitive running and am completely hooked to the sport.

Family status: GF of 5 years who is currently completing her masters in cell molecular biology.

CURRENT TRAINING: 5 Days a week between 30-45 min runs, 45 min bikes, and 20 min swims

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Chicago 2012 Sprint Triathlon- August 26th, 2012

WEIGHTLOSS: 5lbs since March. More interested in improving performance than weight loss since I'm pretty skinny to start out (6'0" 155 lbs)

I hope everyone had a good Easter with their families!

I'm adding myself to the challenge also keep track of my weight change, but I'm going the opposite way as I'm trying to gain some weight.  A little more than a year ago I was at 180 lbs and since I started doing triathlons a year ago, have drop about 25 lbs.  I'm eating a lot right now but with the IM training I can't seem to keep the weight on. 

Picked it up on the Kindle yesterday. Just started it but makes alotta sense so far.

Thank you for letting me be part of this group. It is obvious after reading everyone's posts to date that we have a good group.

Name: Mike

User Name: mikar_68

Family status:

I am happily married for 23 years and have 3 kids (12,11,9). They are all very supportive and my oldest (daughter) and my 11 year old son are participating with me in my first sprint tri of the year. They are excited and I am very excited to do this with them. Of course they are young and will probably beat me. lol

Current training:

I LOVE the Triathlon Geek training plans. They seem to test me in so many ways. However, a friend of mine talked me into doing the free Endurance Nation 8 week fast camp with him so I switched to that 4 weeks ago. WOW! Talk about intense. Just in four weeks I can see big improvements in my speed and endurance. I plan to go back to my original Geek HIM plan as soon as I finish the final week of Fast Camp. I am currently putting in just over 11 hours of training per week at this time.

This years races:

This is my second year in the endurance world. Last year I completed 4 sprint triathlons and this year I am planning on finishing my first OLY, HIM and Half marathon in addition to the same races as last year. I might sneak another HIM in if my first goes well.

Carmel, IN. Sprint Tri

INDY Mini marathon

Pokegon OLY

Warsaw Optimist Sprint tri

Racine 70.3

Grand Rapids Inaugural Titanium 70.3 (If Racine goes well)

Wawasee Kiwanis Sprint

Tri The Creek Sprint Tri

Weight Loss:

I am currently 52 pounds less than when I first started my triathlon training a year ago. I now weigh 189 lbs. and hope to be 180 lbs before Pokegon OLY. According to the race weight book I read it says this is where I should start for my optimum race weight. For some reason the last 10 pounds seem to be the most difficult to shed. I hope you will help hold me accountable for these last 10 lbs..

2012 Goals:

 My first goal is to manage my family and training better this year. I have realized that my training dominated last year and I hope to not let this happen this year. Obviously my second goal is to reach the 180 lb. mark before my OLY.

My last big goal is to have PRs at all my sprint distance races that I competed in last year. I don't think this will be hard considering my slow times and my timid approach to the OWS. I have to say my first couple OWS were a little scary. Especially since I had very limited swim experience to begin with.

That is enough about me. I am excited and ready to hear the rest of your stories and questions as we move forward together in this adventure.

Bad weight loss week, I went in the wrong direction. Too much stress and food, not enough training. routine should be normal, and I should be back on track this week.

Can't really trust my weight/BF% this week, having some intestinal problems for the last 4 days, already skipped two training sessions, and this week i should be topping my training hours, only four weeks to 70.3 race... Will try to get some brick training today, let's see if i can do it.

About my previous post about aero bar's cycling..., i expressed myself poorly. what i meant to say was that i can't ride in a straight line, i ride and feel going from one side to another, maybe in a half a meter radius. Not sure how to say it other way, im missing the words for it.

Will try to check the fitting, any good links for information on how to adjust the bike?

Slow run this morning. 60 minutes at 6.7mph... so I guess that put me at 6.7 miles! All I could think about with the Maffette book which I will be buying today.

I had a lot of doubts about his training method. If you pull up this thread from last quarter you see my series of questions and Ernesto's patience with me while I worked my way through it. I have to admit, it has helped me increase volume, gain speed over longer distances, and remain injury free. It was really big for me to increase volume and gain speed. Before I started using it, I would rabbit and then blow up on longer distances. It was very frusterating to run near the fromt of the pack only to get passed in the last half mile and have nothing in the tank to fight it off.

 I didn't go for his diet plan, I am more of a old school count calories, food pyramid kind of guy. Lost a lot of weight that way with walking being my exercise choice before I got into triathlon.

Take it easy though...