brick94513-GoGoGo Mentor Group - Closed For Now! (Page 94)

There's an interesting paper on emotional intelligence.  Suggests 5 dimensions.  Self awareness.  Self control.  Motivation.  Empathy.  Social skills.  Always interesting to draw from different areas when you're looking to solve a problem.

I'd submit that by asking the questions you are, you are already 90% of the way to where you want to head.

I've got lots of other crazy models perspectives if you're interested!!!!

The stuff of "dedication" to training, etc. is interesting.  I am almost 45, 2 young kids, busy work life...common story.

 I am also previous college athlete, very Type "A", don't like losing much!  I sometimes get caught up in the race results, etc.  Can't help it, the competitive spirit gets me.

Nevertheless, I step back frequently &  realize that training must change at my age.  I have family responsibilities which are paramount.  Work is a necessary evil.  I have to adjust my training for my body as I get older, although I hate to admit that (left shoulder still sore from July crash...that would not be 15 years ago!!)  I must fit in training somewhere in my schedule.  Somedays I miss it.  Somedays, like yesterday, I am just too tired.  That is my life.  

It is recreation for me.  I enjoy the training.  Want to fit into my clothes.  I enjoy the process.  I am too old to let it run my life or get too bothered by it.

My personal perspective...

Edited by GoGoGo 2010-09-09 5:00 AM

Do you have the link to this paper?  Interesting stuff.

Very true....  I think all of us here are in the same boat.  We are middle aged guys with family and professional responsiblities.  Triathlons are our hobby.

However, my competitive nature is too strong for my own good.  In my mind, if I'm paying to race, I want to win.  I find it hard to be happy with my performance unless I'm beating the majority of the competition and-or making the podium.

Could my own personality be contributing to my frustration?

Here's my take on goal setting, being really competitive vs. just having fun. Some of us tend to reach for the stars more than others. I'm probably on the conservative end - when I set a goal, I like knowing that chances are good I'll accomplish it. Case in point - my half mary last year where I set a goal of 1:52 (previous best was 2 hours). I ended up going 1:41. Or in my HIM in July where I wanted to go sub-6 hours and ended up going 5:38. Over time, my goals will get slightly more aggressive of course...but with a heavy dose of realism. Acheiving the goal makes this sport fun to me.

Then there are the optimistic ones - like a couple of the guys I train with. They throw caution to the wind when setting goals. They want to qualify for Boston, or qualify for Western States 100. They don't have a training plan of any sort. They have nagging injuries, are under trained, etc. Still, they reach for the stars. They will likely have a higher failure rate than me...but maybe their victories are much sweeter than mine since they are harder to earn. Risk vs. reward right?

If you'll never get close to a podium like me, and want your hobby to be FUN, which approach do you take? Would you rather experience frequent success by setting incrementally tougher goals that are relatively easy to reach...or do you set really aggressive ones, meaning you could experience lots of frustration when you fail, but a greater sense of accomplishment when you don't?

Maybe there's a happy medium in there, the question is how to find it!

Tim, this might be out of your area of responsibility but if you're working the San Bruno fire, could you do me a favor and save my aunt and uncle's house?

I was off work when the incident occurred.  However, I believe the entire operation has been handled through automatic and mutual aid with the surrounding communities.  We would only get involved if San Bruno requested resources through the State OES office.

Have you received any word on your relative's house?

Edited by brick94513 2010-09-10 9:48 AM

No word on their house yet. My cousins are taking my aunt and uncle by there today to see if they can get into the neighborhood to assess the damage. The fireball looked like it was at the corner of Claremont and Glenview. Their house is 5 doors West of that corner on Claremont. The pink house engulfed in flames they were showing on the news last night is 2 or 3 doors down from them I think. It looked like the fire was spreading more East than West.

At least they were able to get out safely and have family in the area to stay with until all this gets sorted out. Even if the house is still standing, I'm sure there will be significant damage (roof/windows/smoke/water). We have done Christmas at this house for as long as I can remember...I just can't imagine it being gone.

Scary situation to be sure!

Tim, do you like the lemon lime heed?  I just picked some up last week, but I don't think it agrees w/ my gut.  You want it?

Son had his second XC race of the season today.  Don't know what to do with the boy, as he just won't "go get it".  He ran solid at 17:20 for the 3 miles, but let the kid he was suppose to follow/stick with get away from him within 100m.  Oh well, he's only 15 and the maturity will eventually come.

Got home and headed out for my standard 3.4 mile course.  Managed to set another PR getting under 8:40 per mile.  Hoping to see under 8 by year end and under 7 by next year this time!!!

Have to get back in the pool a bit more regularly.  Avoiding my nemesis as it's more fun to see the gains on the bike and run. 

Way to go on the PR!

Off I go for an 18 mile run.

I hear ya.  It has been hard for me to work on my swimming lately too.  Its just never as fun as riding or cycling.  Or, is it simply not as fun because I'm not as good at it?  I'm going to really commit some time to this in the off season.

I have only used the melon flavored HEED.  But sure, I would take it off your hands if you think you can't use it.  Have you tried to mix it lighter than the directions state?

No, I didn't think of that.  I used 1 scoop/hour on 2 different occasions and both times I felt like I was gonna honk.  I thought it was just the heat out here the first time, then I used it for my 1/2 marathon down at Camp Pendleton on Saturday and ended up walking a ton because my gut was so jacked up.  I felt like I needed something more nutritionally both times too.  I was wishing I had a gel to slurp down or something to eat.  I didn't feel ill from the other flavors when I tried the single serving packets, only the lemon lime.  Strange.

OOoooh, speakin of some motivation to go swimming, I just got my orders last week.  We're moving down to Camp Pendleton sometime around Xmas.  I'm stoked!  I'm not positive what area around the base we want to buy our next home in, but I should be no more than an hour from the ocean regardless, so I will at least be able to try and get in an OW swim each week.  Woot!

Just keep your arse out of Afghanistan, there's not much swimming in that region!

Ha, that's for sure!  I think there's a pretty good chance I'll go, just won't know for sure if/when until after I get to my new unit.

So I posted a question over in the nutrition forum about running a big calorie deficit on long workouts. According to the numbers I ran, my 18 miler yesterday burned about 2,180 calories in 2.5 hours. I took in about 780. After the run I drank a 350 calorie Muscle Milk, and scarfed down two hot dogs at a BBQ.

I felt pretty good during and after the run, but it seems like that's a HUGE deficit and my long runs are only getting longer. For an ironman, you've burned a TON before you even get to the marathon. Is this standard to run a big deficit? Do I need to take in more? 300/hour seems to be the token advice.

I'm sure the sage advice is to 'see what works best for you', but remember you won't ever make up the entire defecit that you burn.  You will always have a negative caloric intake.

300 calories per hour is the average estimate.  Obviously, everyone's body is different, so there will be some deviation in this number.  Why 300?  Your body cannot absorb and metabolish much more this number while you are exercising.  Beyond this amount, food or nutritional supplements will sit and slosh in your stomach leading to GI upset and cramping.

Endurance exercise - racing is a deficit spending activity.  The primary fuel source comes from glycogenesis, the transformation of glycogen to glucose.  You are simply supplementing this process during exercise.

This is an extremely simplified explanation.  I have tons of literature on this if you want me to send it to you.

Especially while running, I find it necessary to take the calories in liquid form.

Dave, also bare in mind that almost all of the heart rate moniter calories burned are estimates. Infact, I haven't seen one that's not off by at least 2x. I know my garmin is almost 3x too high, according to the numbers in computrainer classes I took last year. I trust those numbers more since calories are really energy used. I would imagine a power meter would estimate that much more efficiently. I've had entire days that my calorien intake was 2000+ in the negative according to my Garmin, and I really didn't feel like I suffered from any calorie deficiency symptoms.

Well......

I'm finally off vacation after tonight. I flew in from Vegas on Sunday. Had a little emergency with the wife's cat on Monday, and did some golfing today. Tomorrow it's back to work, and back into a workout routine. I feel great having taken some time off other than a few runs and some strength training. btw....the quad runner excursion I did in Nellis Dunes was AWESOME!!!! and a pretty good workout to boot!

My 12 year old daughter ran her first XC race today.  She finished the 1.5 mile course in 13 minutes flat / 19th place out of about 60 kids.  She did great as she held the pace for the first mile and then slowly built all the way to the finish.  So much fun to watch the kids do well in what they pursue!

So the season winds down and everyone bails huh?  I'm guilty too.  How bout a QOTD?  Give me three things you learned/improved this season. 

I learned a LOT, since this was my first year, but there are a couple things that come to mind first:

I learned how to swim.  I remember my first 25 meters back in April and how exhausted I was when I grabbed the wall.  I still have a ways to go, but I've come a long way since day one.

I have improved my bike handling skills.  My first 'hill ascent' ride scared the bejesus out of me.  Now, I'm comfortable riding in traffic.

I learned how to listen to my body better and comapare RPE to my HR zone and use that as a guide to push harder/slow down.

Good questions!!

1. I learned a ton about my body. This is my first year too, so I learned about nutrition/hydration/fitness and pacing etc...etc....etc!!
2. I learned to swim and made some pretty good strides. I really want to get below 2 min / 100m's this winter. I need to find a way to keep motivated to swim.
3. I really improved my bike and run times. I've added almost 3mph on my avg speed over a similar distance TT training ride I do, and my 5k times have gone from 22:30 stand alone to 21:10 sprint tri!!

I'm not done this year for sure, but playing the rest by ear. Nothing really planned. I am doing a metric century this weekend, if the weather holds out. Other than that, I just took a little break and vacation, and I'm looking forward to getting going on my winter training!

I'm still here, just not as often....

Let's see here, three things that I've learned:

1.  Priorization.  This year I think I tried to keep my training volume too high for too long.  As a result, I've been broken for most of the year.  Next year, I'm going to focus on optimal training for the olympic distance XTERRA racing and intermittently build for HIM rather than trying to hold the higher volume.

2.  While swimming remains my weakness, this year has taught me to deal with contact in the water much better.  My confidence builds with each race that passes.

3.  Train to your weakness and don't be afraid to leave your comfort zone.  While it isn't always as fun, hopefully the benefits will be greater in the long run.