MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 9)

Very good workout tonight. I'd been struggling for a long time and when I struggle my philosophy is "Do SOMETHING, even if it's just a little. Move, don't quit" and that's what I've been doing - a little jaunt here, a jog there. Over the past few weeks I've found myself actually pushing myself when I got tired - an extra 15 minutes here, a few extra inclines or pickups on the dreadmill there. I"ve had a few one hour runs this week and I think tomorrow I might kick the tires on 8-9 miles.

Hi Jito,

I absolutely LOVE and am addicted to Bikram.   Over the years I have done various yoga classes and also tried Moksha (also hot yoga) but most of them comes close to a Bikram class and what it can do for you.   I've been told you either love it or hate it - no in betweens - and I believe it.   

There are several things that distinguish it from other types - one of the main things being the certification required by the instructors - several weeks (8-12?) of eight hour days being taught by Bikram himself amd/or a select group of master teachers.   They must also be re-certified on a fairly regular basis.   It is totally scripted with a sequence of 26 postures that are done twice with each posture building on the last one and each on targetting a specific part of the body - both internally and externally.   The first 50 minutes is more cardio based (standing) and the last 40 minutes is strength (where Bikram says the real work begins).

There is no beginner, intermediate and advanced distinction in class - you have seasoned vets beside newbies.   It's not all about how deep you can go into a posture - if you do 10% of the posture with correct form you reap 100% of the medical benefits.   Trying to go too fast or deep into a posture and you are just wasting your time and possible injury.

It has corrected a serious thyroid issue for me; has totally realigned my hips, knees and ankles, working through a serious knee injury that gave me grief for a couple of years and I am at the point where some major shifting/re-alignment is occuring in my hips again - really opening up. 

It has also been a great way to get the legs/hams, glutes stretched out after some tough workouts - I just wouldn't do that to the same degree at home.

Didn't really have a lot of weight to lose, but definitely some.   It has really changed my body shape and dropped my body fat% substantially.  

I think there was a time when alot of athletes stayed away from Bikram during the training season but that seems to be changing.   At our club there are close to a dozen triathletes (mostly men) who have said these classes have helped them to be able to complete several IM's.    And I can see it, based on what it seems to be doing for me.

I really can't say enough about it.   The other thing I like about the instructor training is the consistency you get no matter where you train.   I have done 5 classes here in BC in 3 different cities and if I was to close my eyes, I would forget where I was practicing.  The Bikram teacher community is pretty close-knit too - the owner of my home studio has taught in all of the studios I have tried here and we are always getting visiting instructors from different parts of North America.

It is much like any discipline - the more you do it the better you get - you need to work at consistency and getting a solid base initially.   Doing it once a week will just kill you.  

They usually have a good rate for new people to try it out for a month.  If it was something you liked. the best option is getting a year membership of unlimited yoga.   Otherwise, it can be costly.   They usually offer a special a couple of times a year for an annual membership.  

Hope you get a chance to try it out, and look forward to hearing what you think about it.

Anne

I don't know very much about barefoot running but I took a Chi running clinic and I know you've talked about changing your running style too. I bought a pair of Newton shoes. I'm not sure what I think yet I figured they would be a good way to try getting to try wearing a more natural shoe. I started wearing them for short runs first, I'd wear them for a mile and then change into my other shoes. My toes seemed to bother me a bit and I'm not sure if it was the shoe or changing the way I was running or just that my toes were hurting? I stopped wearing them but I think I'm going to give it another try. I'm afraid of making too drastic of a change. Do you wear a stability shoe now?

Johanne

Good job Jeff! Did you intentionally take off from swimming for the off season? I've taken the last couple of weeks off and I'll probably take another week off and then I'm ready to get back into the routine.

Other than a race day, I'm not sure I've ever done a triple workout

Good philosophy to use to get out the door sometimes!

I've had my toes get sore from time to time...chalk it up to various things - tension / curling toes, heat/foot swell, etc.... I tend to get one toe with a 'tough nail' from rubbing and figure its part of the territory. I do wear a stability shoe. I was wearing a motion control shoe when i went for the orthotics and the doc said to ditch them because they were limiting my movement too much. I've heard good things about Newtons. I've tried various shoes but like you, if its close to a race or I'm in a deep training mode - I don't want to reinvent the wheel LOL. 

I'm constantly losing toe nails. My feet are ugly! Funny, that you said you wouldn't have bunion surgery again. I went to a podiatrist and he said I should have bunion surgery right away or I risked getting a fracture based on the angle of my toes. I got a second opinion. The second doc had me change shoes and wear Superfeet and over a year later, my feet have been doing ok. Everytime I get a twinge though I think, the bunions are acting up! I think I'm going to pull the Newtons out and use them for part of my shorter runs and see how it goes. A couple of my friends wear those Nike minimalist shoes and really like them too.

What's your first race of 2012?

junthank

I liked your info on breathing zones and found myself paying more attention to how I was breathing while I was running today.  I will push myself to see where I am when I start panting just out of curiosity.  It took a fair while to look for your original post until I found it on page 6.  I think I will find it useful until I build up my endurance.

Merry Christmas to all and hopefully a happy new year.

Merry Christmas to all!

I still need to post a bio but I have 22 people for dinner tomorrow so it will have to wait 'til after this weekend.

Anne - so happy you're back!  Hello Jeff and Trina!  Hello Steve newbies!

Denise

Steve - Hope you have a blessed and peaceful time with your loved ones over Christmas!

Sooooo I've been sick with a head cold this week. Last time I trained was Monday and I'm kind of going nuts just sitting around the house. Going to go hit the mountain bike trails today - probably just the beginner and intermediate courses to get the blood pumping again. This is the first time I've had a cold since I began triathlon training, so today should teach me a bit about training after illness.

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Did my long run this morning, 7.51 miles in 1:39:00 mostly is zone #4.  Was  the only one to RSVP to TNT running coach so I did it  on my own. 

Really impressed by Tsvi's (tkatzhyman) graph and workout plus Jito's as well and it makes me feel like a bit of a minimalist with my Value Village and Walmart gear and wrist watch HR monitor (not embarassed).

Just wondering what I should've asked Santa for Christmas.  Santa asked me for a list but I couldn't think of anything but in retrospect I think I missed an excellent opportunity to gather a couple more pieces of useful, helpful gear.  Out of curiosity what equipment have you picked up that turned out to be very useful to you? Or, what wasn't really worth it?  Maybe I can get some good things at a Boxing Day sale after Christmas.

After reading about Tsvi's workout it got me excited to run some more.  My week totalled only 7.8 miles in 3 runs but I have to say I really enjoy the great feeling when I finish a 5K run.  I sure never thought I would say that and I'm looking forward to my next run.  When I retired 3 yrs ago the thought of even just a 3K walk was daunting. 

Folks -- Here's a summary of who's in the group based on my reading of the posts so far.  26 persons as best as I can tell -- no doubt Steve will give each of us our own special letter of the alphabet!  You can cut/paste this table in to your profile and you'll be able to access people's logs via the hyperlinks.

A couple of other things. 

You'll need to add members to your friends list so they can see your logs (believe Anne, Okey, and Denise all have their logs currently blocked from the public.

And, apologies here, could not find the real name for "bonbon2252" or "retiretotri" in the earlier posts.  I'll tweak the table as soon as I get this info.

Happy Holidays!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=416633                     

Goals:

Hello everyone,

Denise - Make that 23 for dinner tomorrow, what time do I need to be there?

Dave - That was some old weather to run in. Great job on the 2.8 miles.  Im still trying to man up on weather in the low 40's.

George - Other than my bike, the HR is the best thing I have purchased.  I was looking for a HR due to health issues and didnt want my heart to expolde when I was out.  I was looking at a polar for $100, but I can aross some refurb garmin 305's on ebay for $130 so for an additioal $30 I get the gps which I really love since I can now just go run without a plan route and know what I did without getting in the car and measuring the distance. 

Croixfan - Nce job on the chart. Thanks so much for putting that together for us.

Sarah - I have a friend that runs in those toe shoe things where it looks like gloves on your feet. He loves his and has ran several half marathons in them.

Anne - Thanks for your input on the Bikram, I think I will try it our next week.  So your classes are around 1 hour 40 minutes a session??

Jeff- Great job on the pool. That is on my list to get back into.  I think in the last 3 months I been to the pool once.  I hope I can atleast get in 75yards.  I went to the pool about 4 weeks ago and I about died, its weird how much you an go downhill without going.  I think I did around 900 yards 100x9 and it was tough doing it, but 3 months ago I would swim 1500 yards with arnd 800yards non stop and feel good afterwards. Again great job getting back at it.

Trina - I hope you are feelig better and ready to get back at it.

Tsvi - Great job oon the run

Gene - Yes, using my garmin and I then import to garminonnect.com and also BT.  I plan to keep the HR down and slowly increase the distance.  I want 2012 to be a better running year than 2011.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day tomorrow.

My old running group disbanded for the winter a couple of weeks ago. I managed to find another group of guys to run with. The new group is composed of guys training for marathons. I was worried how I would fit in but was able to keep up pretty well last week. This week they stepped up the pace to 9 minute miles in very hilly terrain. I hung on for the six miles but it was definitely a challenge. I suppose this is good for me.

Did you ever notice that you never notice how hilly an area is until you start trying to run in it?

CURT ! that's awesome dude! thanks for the hyperlinko table.

Ouch! Sorry about your fall Gene. I hate when that stuff (when you least expect it) happens. Dumb tennis ball.

My son started to vomit, among other bodily functions,  just after dinner tonight. Luckily he didn't blow chow at church. LOL

No hint he was getting sick but oh boy...its gonna be a long night and not sure how Santa will make his way into the house with all the fitful sleeping he's doing. Poor kid.

Christmas eve traditions complete here -- watched "A Christmas Story" complete with the leg lamp, Sonya read the kids the Christma books, I performed to "The Grinch".  I made the mistake of acting out the tale as she read a few years back / now it's a requirement / kids demand the performance.  They were even gracious enough to buy me a snazzy pair of Grinch black pants to go with my Grinch shirt.

Tomorrow we'll celebrate Christmas and Amanda's birthday.  Should be fun.

Let us know how the Xterra wetsuit is, I'll probably break down and get one this year too.

Well my Mom jumped on the Triathlon Christmas Band Wagon. I racked up though, so I am not complaining. 

Giro Selector Helmet!

A trainer (the one I was using was borrowed) 

Spinervals DVD

Road ID membership & Visor & Hat 

Some new Running clothes and much needed socks.

However all of this was offset by the amount of candy that was also included haha.

Well going to make use of the trainer now. Merry Christmas Everyone!