2010 Molly's Mentor Group - IS ALL FULL UP (CLOSED) (Page 9)

That is how I feel!! Except Friday never comes...lol...  I am terrified, what am I thinking?!? I will hang on to what ptri keeps telling me....stay calm and focus on the base....deep breath

If only I could listen to my own advice...
Great article, hilarious and true.
 

That is a great article. 

I am having an obstacle week. I am sidelined from the bike to recover from yet another injury in my calf muscle. So I run an extra day and now my heel hurts. Really. My heel hurts. Same leg. I can't take it. I think it all comes down to pronation.

Then I have a weeks worth of obstacles all due to the working mother thing (sick kids). What kind of overachiever with two small kids, a busy career and an ambitious husband takes up endurance multi-sport?

I am feeling rather gloomy that I will ever manage to pull this off.

Okay, tomorrow I may go to the other masters swim class I don't normally go to. I see the physio on Monday. When I bill my own clients, I should just have them pay him. It would be more efficient.  And I won't lose momentum because last week on Friday I felt on top of the world watching my log graphs get taller and feeling so fit in my own skin. I will sort this right leg knee, calf, heel issue.  This week is my rest week moved forward a week. Maybe I'll do some yoga. 

Edited by mhoerger 2010-01-27 2:50 PM

Well to all those in the north, it seems there is gloomyness in the ari. There is less than 2 months until Spring! There is light at the end of the tunnel and it isn't a train! (hopefully Mother nature doesn't start cursing me to say that with a huge snowstorm)

Happy Wednesday everyone! There have been a few comments about motivation and my husband had to remind me this week that most of you  (his suggestion was to back off the technical stuff and stick to motivation and basics). So with all of that in mind, here's my two cents and a little bit of my background. I was always overweight my whole life through high school. I think when I graduated from high school I was about 180+ pounds. I still did sports, but I was overweight. I went to college and because I lived on campus, I had to walk. Amazingly without even trying, I lost about 35 pounds. Then I had the good fortune to be in a suite, living with an aerobics instructor who  was kind enough to get me involved in step classes and eventually spin classes and I lost another 5 pounds by the time I graduated. I moved back to Las Vegas (home) and my mom turned 50 and decided she would run a marathon. That following spring she did the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon at 50 years old, having never run any race before except a 5K at Christmas. My sister, my husband and I watched her at the race and my sister and I decided if our mom could do it, so could we. The next year we did the same marathon, my mom, myself and my sister. From that point, I was hooked.

When I am seeking motivation to train, I think about that girl in high school and college. I think about going shopping and buying size 24 pants (and now i can wear a 2). I think about how unhealthy I was and that motivates me. I also think about my kids and about setting an example for them. I prefer to train in the morning before work so I also try to use my time to think about the day and what I need/want to accomplish. I think about upcoming races and how it feels to cross that finish line and have my kids run with me down the finishing chute and my husband waiting at the other side. 

Each of us has our own motivation for why we have decided to take this journey. When it is tough to get in a workout or to keep your motivation, focus on the things that got you to the gym/bike/pool/track in the first place. And don't beat yourself up for skipping a workout or a week or even a month. You can't make it up or get it back. All you can do is conquer the workout you have in front of you. At the very least, when that alarm clock goes off, you're up, you're awake, the day is moving ahead. You might as well get up and get out the door. Even if it is for 15 or 20 minutes (and let's face it, sometimes between work, family, school and other commitments that's all we have) at least you did it. You trained when someone else rolled over and went back to sleep.  

Ok so that's my two cents...for what it's worth 

That was awesome, Molly! Thanks - you should start a side career as a motivational speaker (with all your spare time, right?)

Pamela

Thanks Molly!  Perspective is everything!  I heard on a podcast once that one of the successful triathletes (could be Craig Alexander, but I could be wrong) says that he just tries to "start" his workout everyday.  The hardest part sometimes is just getting out the door.   Usually just starting is enough to keep him going, but on days that he feels like crap, he changes his plan or goes home and rests because it's his body's way of telling him that he needs to rest.   I figure if someone of that caliber says it, it holds true definitely for us regular folk!  

I try not to miss a workout because I do feel guilty, but I also have a lifelong hip issue that I have to be careful of, and if I have pain in my hip, I take time off or do something different.  I usually try to "start" my workouts in the morning, even if I don't feel like it because I usually finish them, and feel good that I got up and did it.  But, sometimes it's hard.   I also have 2 kids, am looking into going back to school (again) for yet another Masters this fall, and am doing some of the pre-req stuff, have a husband, house, volunteer work, etc., so fitting it in isn't always possible.  Things happen, and I try not to beat myself up over that day (and I try to eat less on the days I don't exercise to compensate, but it doesn't always work that way!).   I get up early before my kids and husband are up and that's MY time.  I get very little time just to myself, so I've chosen to spend it working out.  So, that's what I've found works for me.   Everyone has to find what works best for them and the right motivation.  I also like being able to write my workouts down in my little book and check off that I did it.  Makes me feel like I accomplished something on my "to do" list for the day.

Thanks Molly, that does help. I finally had a run today and it felt great. I had done the same run a week before when it felt much harder. I am reminded that sometimes several days off can be good for the body.

Not to derail your attempt to be less technical, but I need some help deciding how to train for my season. I am at a loss as to what to do.
Here's the scoop:
March 7th, Indoor tri at Lifetime Fitness(swim/bike/run in the club for a set amount of time, winner is the one who goes the farthest).
April 17th, Half marathon--maybe--pending cooperation from the shin splints I have.
May 8th, Longer distance bike event--maybe 60 miles?
May 22nd, sprint tri--already registered.June 5th, century bike ride(yay!)--registration opens next week.

Then the planned races get a little foggy, and might change:
June 26th, open water sprint--maybe.
August 7th, Battle at Midway, olympic distance? (I'm scared but will probably do it).
August 14th, sprint tri (if I don't do the oly at BAM, or I skip BAM all together)--maybe.

So aside from picking and choosing which races, I have NO IDEA what to do about my training. I need help! Do I pick an olympic level plan, but superimpose the half mary run training into it; or do I pick a longer distance training plan and change the swim training down to allow for the run and bike race, then ramp up the swim in June/July? I am basically starting from zero right now--maybe 2 workouts/week for the past few months. And shin splints which MIGHT be on their way out if I baby the run training. I have a bike and trainer at home, gym membership (for the pool and treadmills...and weights).

hi everyone-
  sorry i have been M.I.A. after a few months of craziness my boyfriend and I finally moved into our house. At any rate, I am back.. I've been training but not as long as I'd like. I even signed up for my first triathlon of the season in early May. Hope everyone's training is going well

Happy February everybody. I hope your training is going well and everyone is getting enough sleep and fuel along the way. Please post your January totals in the group. Keep in mind that this is not a competition but rather a chance to see your improvement, or alternatively where you need to improve, over time. 

January's totals:
Bike:	22h 28m 04s  - 386 Mi
Run:	9h 27m 09s  - 61.48 Mi
Swim:	10h 10m  - 28900 Yd
Strength:	1h 50m

 

Not sure if this is what you wanted me to do:

January's totals:
Bike:	10h 49m  - 10 KM
Run:	6h 29m 36s  - 52.07 KM
Elliptical Training:	1h 15m
Stretching:	1h 00m
Yoga:	1h 30m

January's totals: Bike: 5h 35m Run: 7h 10m 27s 44.58miles Swim: 8h 11m 16600yards. Rats!! I can't seem to get it to look like the above. I tried to copy and paste but it still bunches up the numbers. Sigh, oh well, here they are.

Edited by cggale 2010-02-01 12:43 PM

January's totals:Bike: 2h 45mRun: 5h 08m Swim: 4h 20mPilates: 6h 00mThis is with sorting out an injury keeping me off the bike, so February should look more balanced. I went to the physio again tonight and he's referring me for orthotics, which should help a lot. I've got the all clear to keep doing everything so long as I progress slowly. I've had to promise not to try and change my running form as that probably caused the heel issues. Lesson learned.

January's totals:Bike: 10h 00m - 183.6 KMRun: 8h 34m 06s - 69.08 KMSwim: 10h 35m - 18400 M

Edited by ptri 2010-02-01 5:42 PM

I would recommend using an Olympic training plan given the races you have scheduled. The olympic plan should get you to run somewhere between 6-10 miles on longer runs which should be a great base for your half marathon. Also, if you do a longer bike ride during your race season the Oly training plan should give you a nice base where adding maybe 5-10 miles on a longer ride or two will make you fit enough to ride a 60 mile bike comfortably. The other thing you can do is decide which race/event is your "A" event meaning the event you really want to go all out for and then pick a plan that will help you achieve that goal. Then you could use the rest of your events as training days and/or just for fun events. For me I use the latter approach simply because I race at all distances and use the shorter distances to help me gear up for a longer race. I hope that helps! 

I can't get my info to copy and paste. It's probably a sign from  the tri gods to not bother putting those sad little numbers up. Given the way January 2010 went I should be glad it wasn't 0s across the board  

February is already looking better!

btw, I finally broke 140#!

Edited by blockertri 2010-02-02 11:17 AM

January's totals:
Bike:	4h 14m
Run:	8h 23m  - 43.13 Mi
Swim:	58m 30s  - 3050 Yd
Skating:	1h 30m

I'm happy with January's totals overall.  In December, I was happy to have 25 miles running, so 43 is great for me.  I was only able to swim twice.  Am hoping to get there once a week this month.

January's totals:
Bike:	10h 38m 06s  - 182.32 Mi
Run:	11h 48m 12s  - 63.34 Mi
Swim:	4h 53m  - 9900 Yd
Strength:	6h 35m

Additionally I lost almost 10 pounds. I was focused on running in order to lose weight. All of my running was on a treadmill. I realized the importance of replacing your shoes about every 100-150 miles as the 2 year old shoes I was using caused me pain. I have now taken about 10 days off of running, and I think I am healing.
As for the bike I just finished the same ride I did on January 2nd, when I officially "started" my training. The result was 2.4 mph faster over 38 miles. Basically today was one of my best rides ever considering the route I took. Which leads me to the "technical discussion"...

I have used a heart rate monitor off and on while biking (mostly off), but after having many discussions with our mentor and finally beginning to understand how to alter riding habits based on heart rate I am now a fan and will use a monitor whenever I can. I used to generally ride with all leg and no aerobic, basically putting my bike in the toughest ring I could possibly pedal in. Molly has convinced me to stay around a 90 revolution cadence and use both legs and heart. I basically manually counted my cadence today and would you believe when I was most comfortable I was at 90 rpm's exactly. I relied on increasing my heart rate and saving my legs, which for me is a new way to ride. The end result was a great ride of almost 40 miles, which included 3 hills of 19-22% grade with a low to high elevation difference of 800 feet throughout the ride...so there are some decent climbs.
If you don't use heart rate monitor or don't quite know what you are looking for, I would highly recommend discussing it with Molly.

That you can swim over 3000 yards in under an hour is impressive enough! I'd consider myself trained as a swimmer if I could do that!

Great job in January everyone! Miles are looking strong and ready to add more in February. Keep it up.

I am pretty disappointed with my training times in January. I really wanted to see a lot more of everything. Its amazing how easy it is not find time when things are coming at you unexpectedly. At any rate, now that I am in a new house things should be better. We ended up having to gut the entire house which was completely unexpected. Now I have to find a pool to swim at in my new town.

Has anyone else read, " Born to Run" If you haven't and you are looking for a good read... Its about ultramarathon runners and the Tarahumara(tribe in Copper Canyon that run ultramarathon distances because they just love to run).

January's totals:
Bike:	5h 55m 30s  - 82.2 Mi
Run:	7h 03m 09s  - 48 Mi
Swim:	1h 01m
Soccer:	5h 50m

I am not really that happy with my training. I keep talking about the pool and haven't made it out. I may join a class at the end of March. As for running, I expected more but the weather is keeping me away (poor excuse I know) I have also had some other personal stuff come up recently and it's completely killing my energy. I may need a break for a few days.

Hey all,

Hope everyone has been having a good week.  We're having a snow storm right now and the weather is just nasty.  Wind, sleet, snow...everything.  Ughhh.  On the bright side, it's friday, I'm indoors with a nice cup of coffee, kids are getting along, and the Colts are in the superbowl.  GO COLTS!   Cheers.