Baowolf's Create your Own Saga Triathlon Group (OPEN!!!) (Page 9)

Good to catch up on everyone's posts. Congrats to the IM's, and to Dennis on his HIM. Sorry to hear about your health issues Pam, give yourself some slack, be kind to yourself.

I let life get in the way of tri's this summer. Overall, I am less busy than all of you so I have no excuses, just explaining.
Each year a do start training a little earlier and did manage an oly last year, but leave too much training for the summer, so if I slack I'm not ready for my race.

I'm finally starting to see that people train all year. I'm thinking of committing to a HIM next June and here's my plan. Does it make any sense?

I have a 19 week plan starting 9/4 - a BT plan that will get me to the point where I will be ready for the 5 month HIM level 3 plan in Fitzgerald Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide. The BT plan is basic time and distance (figure I'll go for the distance as I'm slow) and the Fitzgerald plan has more speed work detail.

Is this how you guys plan a season?

Dennis - what's your plan for next summer?

Mitzi



Edited by MuscleMomma 2016-08-22 9:53 AM

hey mitzi, good luck with the trianing! i try to follow a simple plan as well, but i'm thinking next year i might do a training peaks plan that has a coach that can keep me accountable thru email or calls or such (i've heard other triathletes do this).

brad, good tip! the shoes have been awesome in my last couple races. and they seem popular amongst the tri crowd; saw em all over omaha.

dennis, sorry to hear about dakota. i will rue the day that needs to be done with my pup. gl with IMLP! hope to take the plunge into my first full IM one of the days. howd timerbman go?

jimmy, great race results!

i'm having a pretty busy month! nationals in omaha a couple weeks ago was so much fun! it was nice traveling for a tri. no problems transporting the bike. weather was hot when i got there but cooled down for race day. tons of triathletes flooded omaha and it was cool seeing em downtown etc. swim was on par with past performance (26:31); didnt do well in my age group but my time was ok. didn't pr cuz there was a few rolling hills for the bike (bike 20.3 mph avg) but pr'd my run leg split by a few seconds (7:56 avg pace). (photos: https://www.flickr.com/gp/phifatech/95SQb2)

last weekend i did a sprint relay (luray triathlon) with my wife and we had lots of fun. she did the swim, and came up dead last among all 18 relay teams (750m, 32:14) so i had a lot to make up for in the bike and run. the bike was 16.7 mi and 1000ft climbing, and i did my best to catch up. 19.8mph avg speed (50:45) was good enough for 1st in the mixed relay division and 2nd among all relay teams. since we were in the 2nd to last wave i did LOT of passing. never really experience that anymore because i'm always in the first wave (or 1st wave after pros) in individual tris i compete in. the run was some more rolling hills, and i avg'd 8:02 (2nd division, 4th among relays). my wife and i ended up sharing the podium together, 2nd place in the mixed relay division! we were super excited about that. not many can say they've shared a podium spot with their significant other in a triathlon!

my tri club did really well last weekend too. one member is elite (not pro) got 3rd overall both days (oly sat, sprint sun) and won 1st in the double competition (combining times for the oly and sprint). another buddy (who also went to omaha with me) got 3rd in his age group. and a first-timer finished his first tri at the oly on sat. (photos https://www.flickr.com/gp/phifatech/MQ4v64)

anyway, the season continues. i got a dragonboat compeition this saturday where we have races in 200m, 500m, and 1000m. i'll be rowing prob 8 races then. and my soccer team made the playoffs and have a bye this week, and our first playoff game next week (semifinal match). then in sept i have my last tri, nations tri in dc, a sprint that i'm hoping to do well in. and a ragnar ultra relay mid-sept that i'm totally not ready for. any ragnar tips?!

WTG Jimmy! And Phil, that is incredible that you and your wife shared the podium!!!!!!

August totals below.
Run: 21h 11m - 100.4 Mi (Wow, I'm so slow in this heat.)
Core Training: 3h 40m
Home Improvement: 3h 00m
Misc.: 3h 30m
Stretching: 1h 00m
Walking: 8h 00m
Yoga: 2h 00m

Very cool Phil.

Dennis - do you do any sprint work? I didn't do enough to notice an increase in speed, but do think it built my fitness level - felt stronger running. Do it on a track to protect the knees. I see plans that include sprint work to train the muscles for speed. It could help.

Mitzi

Hey gang. My town mostly burned down and I was evacuated, power, water, internet etc., were down for a couple weeks. Anyway I will try to catch up on posts. Hope everyone was doing well in my absence. Late so gnight for now.

So sorry, hope things start coming together for you soon.

Wow, Steve, so sorry!!!!! Did you lose house or other stuff? Thank God you are ok.

We had a hurricane at the first of the month. We were so fortunate but 2 houses down had trees down and 4 houses down had a tree thru their house. Several neighborhoods around us were hit very, very, very hard.

hey team been a while since i've heard from you all but thought i'd drop in and say hi. steve, hope you're back on your feet; we're all rooting for you.

sept:

swim ZERO
bike 7:35, 112 mi
run 15:16, 87 mi

soccer 2:00, 5 mi

total time: 25:22

definitely slowed down the workouts. i think due to rest days. had a couple big events in sept. nation's tri i finished 8th in AG, and i again qualified for AG national championships, which is in omaha again so i probably won't go. just feels good to be invited! the nation's tri turned into a duathlon, because the potomac river has been nasty all summer. that's too bad cuz swimming is my best discipline (though the other ones are catching up). i kinda had to run a little hobbled because of a sore hamstring from soccer.

a week after that i participated in my first ragnar relay! it was an ultra (6 people splitting 200+ miles). incredible experience!!! i had legs of 7, 9, 4, and 6 for a total of about 36 miles, and we finished in about 34 hours. 3 of our team of 3 (all the guys) were first-timer ragnarians, and the 3 girls have all done ragnars before. i was pretty scared of the thought but after it was done i was glad i did it. again, an incredible experience. i highly recommend it.

i got my first marathon coming up, end of oct, but before that i'm heading to texas for the us open triathlon in dallas, for one last sprint to close the season up. i'm not ready for the marathon at all. but wish me luck!

Wow, Phil, you have been busy! Congratulations on qualifying for nationals again; that is wonderful. And also congrats on the Ragnar. Road or trail? Where? I want to do another and I want to do as an ultra option. Good luck on your marathon. You will totally slay it.

Totals are as follows for last month. My training has not been what it needs to be but I'm accepting it.
Run: 20h 49m - 101.7 Mi
Core Training: 1h 30m
Home Improvement: 7h 30m
Walking: 2h 10m
Yard Work: 4h 00m (after the hurricane. In my yard and neighbor's yard.)
Yoga: 4h 40m

Congratulations Phil on all your accomplishments - nice range of activities.

Hope Steve is doing well.

I've been trying to start training for next summer, but no matter how little I do the knees are sore, or I pull a shoulder muscle. Took the week off, will start off even slower this week. Have to follow Steves advice - 2 min run/1 min. walk...

Mitzi

Thanks guys! i hit another milestone last weekend; placed first in my AG! Small field at US Open Triathlon in Rockwall, Texas; got 11th out of 199 overall, and only got 1st AG because another guy in my age group who beat me bumped up to 1st overall. Still, a win is a win!

That's fantastic! No "only because...". It's a big mass of people and when it all settled you were #1!

Wow, Phil, that is absolutely incredible!!!!!!!! Amazing! And 11th overall? Excellent. I agree with Mitzi - never use the word "only".

It's quiet around here.

November Totals.
Run: 26h 41m - 133 Mi
Core Training: 2h 45m
Home Improvement: 20h 30m
Stretching: 1h 00m
Walking: 5h 30m
Yoga: 2h 05m

my oct:

swim: 52 min, 1.7 mi
bike: 6.5h, 99.5 mi
run: 11.5h, 70 mi

soccer: 4.5 h

totals: 23.3 hours

my season's over! my first marathon is in the books. marine corps marathon went probably as well as i'd expected. 4:40. And I signed up for my first Ironman Sunday too, IM Copenhagen 2017! Got something to look forward to next year!

After a summer of sporadic training I got serious in Sept/Oct. Must have done too much too fast as the knees started to hurt and the shoulder gave out. Did nothing for three weeks, until the knees stopped hurting. Did what Steve always says to do which is start with 1min run/2min. walk etc.

Taking my first private swim lesson this Friday. She works with triathletes, with a focus on immersion swimming. Have heard lots of criticism of that style, We'll see, I'm hoping to be more of a swimmer, I'm never going to be fast.

Hope Steve is doing well. He certainly has endured quite a lot of extreme weather out west.

Mitzi

I hope all are doing well.

Nov totals:
Run: 9h 44m - 47.3 Mi
Core Training: 55m
Home Improvement: 25h 30m
Walking: 1h 25m
Yoga: 4h 30m

Ran a marathon in November but it was slow, slow, slow. My body was too beat up from all of the renovations we are doing to go any faster. Good news is that most of my really strenuous work on the reno is done. I will still have some more walls to paint but I'm going to wait until the kitchen is complete and the granite is done before picking out the wall color. But got all of the ceilings painted and the priming done everywhere so walls will be last.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Kathy. I love the name of this group, "Create Your Own Saga." So here goes:

I am 51 years old. I have maintained some sort of fitness throughout my adult life with running, tennis, and yoga. When I hit my forties, my hips started being bothered by all of the running, so I turned to swimming and cycling. And yoga - I love yoga! I did two sprint tris last year and had a great time. Then a bunch of family stuff piled on, in addition to a new full-time job and my husband being unemployed (oil business in Houston). But a new year is about to start, and I am hoping for the best.

Family status: Happily married for 27 years to my wonderful husband. Two daughters, ages 18 and 10. One dog, three cats, one turtle, and several fish.

Current training: Getting over a nasty bout of bronchitis, so I'm starting back slowly. It's going well, so far.

2017 race planned: Lifetime Indoor Tri in January.

Weight loss: Nonexistent. Ten pounds appeared in my late forties and are stubbornly hanging around.

So I am looking forward to being in this group! It helps to know I'm not the only one with a "saga." I found all of your stories very inspiring. Here's to 2017 being the best year ever!

Welcome Kathy! Nice to have you here. I too love yoga. I'm not real good at yoga but it has helped me so much with so many things. Good luck in your training for your tri.

welcome Kathy

This is a great group. Many people have been around quite a while, lots of support. It's been unusually quiet lately, but I expect that to change. I need to get back into the swing of training and posting myself.

I've been struggling with knee pain so I was taking it very slow, taking days off, getting nowhere. Now I know that I have mild OA in one knee, moderate in the other. At least I know what's going on.

I've posted here and on a women's tri site and am amazed at the number of triathletes dealing with OA in the knees and hips. All have shared their ongoing success with sprints, HIM's and IM's!
Most say that training, if mostly off roads, actually helps, as does strengthening with weights.

So my goal is training for a strong summer of sprints and olys. Staying in shape through the fall and doing the feared HIM in 2018.

I'm taking Total Immersion swim lessons (standard swimming led to real shoulder issues, but were addressed with some injections). Treated myself to a decent road bike, and I have a good trainer. I didn't realize how bad my bike was - it was a cheap road bike, but somehow that it was cherry red made me forget that. I love my new bike, it's so light and actually allows me to make tight turns.

Onward to summer 2017!

Mitzi

I know these threads are now archived but I'll finish up for the year.

December's totals:

Run: 11h 03m - 52.6 Mi
Core Training: 15m
Home Improvement: 34h 30m
Misc.: 3h 00m
Race Volunteering: 3h 00m
Walking: 50m
Yoga: 40m

2016 totals:

Swim: 25m
Run: 201h 06m - 990 Mi
Core Training: 24h 05m
Home Improvement: 111h 30m
Misc.: 6h 30m
Pilates: 1h 00m
Race Volunteering: 6h 30m
Stairmaster: 29m
Stretching: 2h 00m
Walking: 39h 15m
Yard Work: 4h 00m
Yoga: 48h 35m

Sorry for the long absence. I am relocated to a new home, work is busy, irritated knee appears to be healing (nothing significant as far as I know) and getting back into workouts again. I am signed up for Vineman again this year, but will not be completing it fast, just don't have the time given so many changes and work and such.

I am late to opening a new mentor group, but hopefuly they keep the door open for me. I will try to check in more now that we are out of fire season and into flood season. (25 mile long lake rose 3 feet in 4 days this week).

Anyway feel free to visit or join the new group should it materialize. I will try to be more active now that things are starting to settle down. I will be living under the same roof as my wife for the first time in 18 months so that should help. Being a single dad takes a little more time than being a team again.

Merry Christmas, happy New Year. Time to take those extra holiday pounds off ugh.