2016 Clyde/Athena Tri-N-4-Weight Loss Mentor Group - Open (Page 9)

Good work on the treadmill Robin. Well done

I had a whole week to enter into the log... It looks like I neglected the thread as well...

2/22: Walk- 1.62mi (30:50)
2/23: Nada- I wasn't aware that I missed a day until I went to log it this morning...
2/24: Wednesday Rest Day
2/25: Run- .37mi (5:02)
2/26: Swim- 800yds free (20:00ish). Neglected the run again...
2/27: Bike- 9.26mi (43:52), Run- .38mi (5:01)
2/28: Walk - 1.63mi (31:35) Heel is split open from dry skin again. Couldn't run, but i dang sure could hobble

Weight: 274.5 (+2)

I've gotta be honest. I compare myself today to last summer... and I'm really discouraged. I am fully aware that it is my own fault for putting the weight back on by neglecting every aspect of diet and training. I look at Memphis in May looming a mere 12 weeks away... and I'm worried...

Now for something completely different!

I got a call last week from one of the local Tech Schools. Which one will remain unnamed for the moment, as I really don't want to jinx this too badly... I have an interview on Monday for an Automotive Technology Instructor position. I've never taught, per se, but I've trained quite a few new hires over the years. Thanks to common core, I also do a lot of teaching of my own kids in the evenings. TBH, I wanted to pursue a Music Ed career after high school, but getting my scholarships yanked before I even set foot on campus put an end to that. Right now I am hoping for 1-2 classes a week, and we'll see where it goes from there.

Saturday - 15/20 - Walk - 1h 20m 37s - 4.50 miles - 17m 54s /Mi
Today was a nice easy paced walk around the River Rd. For somebody w ho wasn't even trying I am rather happy to be breaking the 18m mark. Temps were only in the mid 40's, but there was no wind, rain, or other yuckiness.

16/20 - 1h 02m 11s - 13.00 miles - 12.54 Mi/hr
What a beautiful day for a bike ride! Three laps around the River Rd, working it reasonably hard, but more interested in having something left to finish three laps than killing the clock. 12.5mph isn't too shabby for me considering my fastest time on a real bike has been only 14.5mph.

Rod, I LOVE the video! Wondering if I want to incorporate that into my training this summer? NOT! I gave up volunteering to be clubbed when I retired from the prison.

Robin way to go girl! Way to listen to your body rather than that gung-ho chick in the back of your head. And a PR to boot.

Looking at February I guess I can't complain. It has been my most successful challenge month since November. Although I really do have to incorporate much more swimming into it. Still trying to figure out the logistics of a 0500 wake-up, swim, and then leave for work form the Y. I think I have it figured out. We shall see.

Rick, hang in there buddy. I can so relate to where you are. I had been up 15 from the same time last year. Now, I've chiseled it down to 10. Persevere, my friend, but wisely. This is truly a case of "slow and steady wins". +2 is nothing buddy. Look at it this way. You staved off the other 5-7 pounds the average American gains per year. So only picking up two is actually a successful effort. Now focus on losing maybe 24 lbs this year. That's only 2 lbs per month. You can do that!

And as luck would have it, I too am attempting to break into a second career in education. I know how hard it can be. I wish you the best of luck with your interview and, hopefully, subsequent placement. My current long-term substitute position is hopefully laying the groundwork for me to slide into one of the three anticipated openings coming up in June.

Actually... I was down to 245 at one point last summer, so I've reclaimed 30 of the 35 I had lost. I think that's what has me in a funk... But I've done it before, I can do it again.

I see this is an open group, Would love some encouragement. I have a few sprints under my belt, but this past 6 months I have been a clinic director for a running club, and to say the least my focus was lost. I am currently at 243. I do not have a specific Tri in mind this year, but would like to add one by the end of the year. I do have some motivation to lose the weight, as I have planned an Hawaii vacation for August.

Anyhow, looking forward to motivating and being motivated. Read through this years' post and I really like what I see.

Have Fun,

John

17/20 - Walk - 36m 01s - 2.00 miles - 18m /Mi
I just HAD to do this today, after all it is a leap year. Squeezed a gentle walk in between school and assuming "Grandpa duty", watching the 2½ yr old while teh 8 yr old goes to Cub Scouts with Mommy.

Hi guys,

I'm back at the office, and back in front of a computer, so here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for,

My Wanaka Half Ironman race report: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Rick, I've spent the last year comparing my fitness to myself from 2012/2013 (before I got fat again) And I know that Mike spends half his time wondering why he can't preform like a 21 year old marine. We all get discouraged when we think about what we could do then compared to what we can do today.

So, as my wife always reminds me, when I complain about not being as fit as I was, all you can do is worry about today, and how you're going to make improvements tomorrow. Always look forwards, never backwards.

The fact you had a tough time, and made some losses in tri goals doesn't matter. Just focus on what you can do to move forwards from where you are now. 12 weeks is a long time, you can get there

WOW!! Great race report and a strong effort to finish the race. Looks like you experienced a lot of different challenges throughout the race and lived to tell the story. Pics show that it was a very scenic course too.

Well Done

Hi All

A mixed week for me training wise. 3 Bike sessions, 3 Runs, 1 Gym and my monthly game of golf. Still no swim sessions despite my best intentions.

Being the end of the month I measure my progress against the goals I have set. I'm ahead of schedule on running and the bike, slightly behind schedule on weight loss and way off the mark on the swim. I'm reviewing how to get back on track.

On Sunday I went to the venue where my race in November is going to be held. The swim looks ok as there are a few sand banks if I run out of puff, getting to T1 will be a challenge running in some deep sand and then a 300m run. The bike and run route have some long hills. At least I know and can train accordingly.

Even though it's our first day of Autumn it's actually too hot to run today (33C / 91F) I'll run this evening. A bit different to some of the weather you're having.

1/21 - Swim - 05m 21s - 250.00 yards - 02m 08s /100 yards
First swim since beginning of January. First 0500 swim. I managed to get 250 yds in, but by the end of the last 100 my left arm (the weak link) was screaming surrender. Not a problem, I have plenty of time to ease into this before Pleasantman in early May. If I can get an additional 50 yds each time I will be satisfied. I met the leader of the local tri club (didn't even know there was one) and a few of her regulars. They are all the typical whippet-thin types you see on podiums. But she is also the person who received my e-mail about adding a Clydes division to the local Lumberjack in August. She was really happy to meet me and thanked me for the suggestion.

This whole 0500 thing is new. I am learning as I go. First of all, for those of you who cannot live without your morning coffee (tea in my case), I strongly recommend a high quality thermos. I can personally recommend Thermos brand. I made my tea at 900pm last night night and as I am writing this my tea is still too hot to sip 11 hours later.

The next thing I have learned is that you absolutely MUST pack or layout your gear the night before. Thanks to that I was able to get up and out in less than 10 minutes. It took me 20 minutes to get from the house into the water. So I can't afford to lay there for 15 minutes "motivating" to get up. It was 0545 before I started laps. That was okay this morning with the short swim, but as the yardage adds up that won't work. Even so I arrived at school 20 minutes earlier than usual.

And the last note for today, I have to plan a better breakfast than stopping at Burger King on the way from the Y to school. Being an unassigned substitute I don't have a set room and so I don't always know where to find a microwave, which would make oatmeal an "iffy" proposition. Right now I'm leaning toward a protein shake and a high fiber meal replacement bar. "Yummy".

What a great job! I LOVE the smile on your face at the finish line. (I love the singlet, too!) Way to tough it out and keep going. That was one beautiful course, too. But damn, I looked at the elevation chart for that bike. WHOA! That would have made me cry!

I am going to take your advise and learn to fuel better, do more long bikes (and runs) and bricks. I have 2.5 or so months to get my act together to get to the end.

Proud of you, Man!

Edited by ceilidh 2016-03-01 7:43 AM

Andrew, great race report brother. Congratulations on getting our group's first HIM of the season in the books. Can't tell you how impressed I am. I'm sure you will figure out how to "suffer better" as time goes on.

Had fun last night made an awesome new dish: Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Ginger Dressing. It was pretty darn god, Needed a little more consistency with the zucchini. BTW I love to cook.

I did a home BW workout for the arms. It hurt. But was a good hurt. Then tried to take the dogs on a walk for 20 minutes turned out less than 20.

Still felt good for the night.

J

What an awesome race report, thank you. As new member to this group, it inspired me greatly. Made me think about my own fitness levels, and encouraged me greatly. Awesome job at finishing. Keep it up and looking forward to the next one.

Loved your report thanks,

John

Thanks.

You know, it's only a short flight across the ditch to Queenstown... Only 51 training weeks till the next one... you know you want to

Thanks

Yes, the elevation chart is painful, but it doesn't tell the wind story... it was worse than you think.

If you're interested the shirt comes from scudopro.com I'm not sure if it's the fastest out there, but they have plenty of unique options. Good quality too, I've had that jersey for 4 years and it's still good as new.

As for my taking my advice, that all sounds good, but don't prioritize bricks, they are quite over rated as a workout. You're much better to separate the workouts and get good quality runs and bikes in. Doing more bricks in training wouldn't have helped me at all. Note, I usually have no issue with running after a bike, assuming the bike was paced correctly.

Thanks mate. Yup, we all need to learn to 'embrace the suck' more...

Thanks, hope it inspires you to great things. And that you learn from my mistakes.

Aussie Turtle That's 7 workouts for the week. Plus a game of golf. You're doing ok, keep up the good work. You talk about if you 'run out of puff' in the swim... Mate, if you're concerned about that you need to get to the pool ASAP. You've got till november but you can't fake the swim. On the bike you can soft pedal, on the run you can walk... but on the swim you end up in a rescue boat and your day is over. You want to be 200% confident of finishing that swim. Go for a swim this week. You know you have to.

Mike Good job getting to the pool. When I'm doing morning workouts, I'm the same as you. The gear has to be out, ready to go. I roll out of bed and get on my way as fast as I can. Drive through breakfast are not helping you tho. I have wheetbix (cereal) at work after my morning swims, not much to prepare for that. I'm personally not a fan of shakes for meals, but if it works for you it does seem like a nice easy way to get the meal in.

Also guys, I've now done 2 HIM's. I did some things better first time round, and some the second. So I have learnt a lot. If you have any questions (especially those of you planning your own HIM this year) please ask away. I don't claim to be an expert or anything, but I'm happy to share what I've learnt from my own personal experience.

1/21 - Part 2 - Walk - 38m 31s - 2.00 miles - 19m 15s /Mi
I scored a twofer today. It still only counts for one day on my March Challenge, but I haven't done a twofer in MONTHS! When I got home it was a pretty pleasant afternoon, mid-50's, no wind, and not too sunny either. Forced my 8 yr old grandson away from his tablet and took him for a walk. Since I had already swam today I only did my short 2 mile out-n-back on Valley Rd. It was a mixed success. I tried to tell myself that I wasn't worried about time, because of the swim already being in the log. But when I got to the turn around point at 21:15 that went out the window. I made the return trip faster than my usual 17:30 avg pace. As LJ was sprinting ahead and then waiting for Pop to catch up (He actually told me, "C'mon slow poke!") I kept wishing that I had his energy and speed. Then about 1/2 way home I started to chuckle because I may be slower but I didn't have the cramps in my ribs like he did. Once again, experience overcomes youth.