Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 2)

Dave, wow you are at a tough point in life right now.  We will be here to encourage you, support you, and offer up creative ideas to manage it all.  But I'm afraid that from time to time I will forget exactly how demanding your commitments are right now and you will then need to remind me, or selectively ignore my advice!

I'm sorry about what you and your Dad are going through right now.  I lost my Mom to cancer in a similar manner and it was so hard to watch her decline and suffer. 

So you hate running, began running, and in 1 month did a 25 minute 5k.  I would say you are a reasonably athletic individual.  Kudos.

Any time I encourage you to train on weekdays I feel like I'm doing a dying man an injustice.

Any time I encourage you to train on a weekend I feel like I'm making your kids orphans and your wife a widow! 

How about a simple idea for the weekends?  Run with your kids on their bicycles.  I've done this with my 11 year old.  On the mtn bike trails it works great as he doesn't get too far ahead of me and needs me to push him up hills.    And if your kids swim, look for a kid's triathlon in your area this summer.  They will usually be 50m or 100m of swimming depending on the age.

On weekdays, perhaps 30 minutes of running before work?

Welcome to the group Bobby, Karl, and Dave!

I'll echo what Jeff said about taking your kids on a run while they ride bikes. I've done runs this way with my 10 year old daughter and I've done runs this way were the rest of my family (wife and both daughters) rode their bikes along with me. Make it an easy run. Easy enough that you can maintain a conversation. If there are multi-use trails near where you live this can be a great way to spend family time and get your workout in.

Welcome, and I'm a new entry into the 50-54 AG so we'll get along just fine.  I used Total Immersion to learn to swim 2 years ago as well.  I was a recovering hockey nut, so no worries.  There's hope for us all!

STORY: My story started about 10 years ago. I was in a car accident and I broke my back. Doctors told me I would be in pain the rest of my life and I wouldn't be able to do the things I did before the accident. Guess what doctors, I'm swimming, biking & running! Anyway, last summer I was a week from my first Tri and I fractured my back. This time I didn't let it get me down and I'm back and kickin a$$! I give this group of mentors and fellow BTers a great thank you for all the help and motivation. Without you guys and gals I wouldn't be where I am now.

FAMILY STATUS: Married 15 years. I have 2 kids (well, adults now) a daughter 19 years old & a son 20 years old.

Job: I am a Chef. I work for Caesars and I am a chef for Harrah's Casino here in Lake Tahoe.

CURRENT TRAINING: Training as hard as I can! My biking is good. swim is ok. My running is getting there..

THIS YEAR'S RACES:  My races are in my signature. Trying for 1 sprint, 1 Oly, & 1 70.3. Also, cramming in a couple Century races.

WEIGHTLOSS: Since getting back to training, I have lost 30 pounds. I am 6' and 157 lbs. 12.5% body fat.

Welcome to the group Bobby, Karl, and Dave.

So, as usual the weather up here is crazy. High winds (40mph-60mph), cold, snow, blah blah blah...

So today I finally got into the 9 minute miles (ya I know they're high nines), but I'm getting faster. It also looks to be a nice weather week, next week. Time for a long ride. Gunna hit the hills that I will racing on for the century race.

I'm still a gym rat (not recovered!).

I think I'm putting in about 6 hrs per week in to the strength training.

Yes its a tough time, each day is a challenge but I am happy to spend the time with my dad.

I have done the run/bike thing with my kids and it keeps me pretty honest as the kids dont really do "walk breaks" My son who is 10 is also a budding cross country runner so we go out running every once in a while which is fantastic. I bike to work when its nice, kind of short at 20km each way but its something. I sometimes run with a really good friend of mine sunday mornings. At home I will be working part time at the place I did my first coop which is 80km away so I will be biking into there once per week. 

Ask a busy person to get something done and it gets done. Thats what I have to do.

You are definitely in Allison.

Post another bio with that spectacular 5k PR from last weekend.  If you don't, the four mentors may have to take a vote and decide you aren't allowed in the group. LOL

I was unable to locate a avatar that fit my current style, image to the left is a close representation of how I feel when I run  

NAME: Matt

STORY: To say I am competitive is probably an understatement.  I have always wanted to be the best at everything, unfortunately DNA kind of hampers that and I have to work extremely hard to improve.  Late in 2010 I finally got frustrated enough in Team sports (Basketball, softball) that I had to look for another outlook.  I guess I am not "team" friendly anymore, either that or I couldn't stand that the other guy didn't want to win as much as I did.  So I looked for something where the results were completely on me.  I tried golf, but was terrible and it was going to be very expensive to continue (who would pay $45 to walk around a golf course when you can pay $70 to run around a state park).  I completed my 1st tri in June of 2011 and have been completely addicted since. 

FAMILY STATUS: Married with 3 kids.  Trust me you will hear all about them, they are my pride and joy and I love to talk them up as much as anything

JOB:   Production Manager of a Plastic compounding plant, This is where the triathlons have helped me the most.  It is amazing how much stress can be reduced by swimming/biking/running around the local parks.

CURRENT TRAINING: My current training involves running, then running some more.  Then when time permits I run some more.  Working towards a Half Marathon on 4-22-2012, but the fun training starts on 4-8-2012 when my Half Iron training program begins.  (Its going to be a fun year)

LAST YEAR'S RACES: Completed 4 sprint tri's, 2 Adventure race's (Kayak instead of swim), roughly 10 5K's, a 10K and probably the one I am most proud of is the Half Marathon I completed in November.  My 1st 5K in over 17 years was in April, which is why the half stands out.

2012 RACES: Scheduled races: Glass city Half Marathon in April, Maumee Bay Sprint in June, and to celebrate my birthday I will complete my first Olympic Distance in July.  (August: Olympic at Great buckeye Challenge.) Not anymore, I have changed this to be my 1st Half Ironman.  I will also continue to improve my 5K time by doing every one in Shelby county.

WEIGHTLOSS:  Not setting much of a goal here, in 2011 I lost 33lbs going from 230 down to 197.  Ultimately I wouldn't mind getting down around 180, but I am not ready to give up some of the good stuff just yet. 

As of today I am at 191lbs, Can't resist the Friday night Pizza and Beer!

2012 GOAL:

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: Even though I have a season of Tri's under my belt, I am still completely clueless on a lot of things.  I am open to trying just about anything to improve my times and always willing to admit I was wrong! 

Just a quick note before some much needed sleep.  Looks like a good diverse group is forming here.  Always excited to see what challenges people bring to the table.  I got in a pretty solid bike effort this evening.  It was windy and about 48 degrees, so a bit of a chilly ride.  Still managed about 28 miles before dark.  Was going to run, but I had a ton of dishes to do before Kate gets home from travel tomorrow....trust me, it's better for me to do the dishes than to run. :-)

Karl, glad to have another gym rat in the group.  I personally do very little lifting, but Jeff and Dirk are/were both gym rats and I think we will all tell you that some strength training is definitely worth it in the long run.  So don't give it up entirely!

Dave, I applaud your efforts to further you education and start a new career in electrical engineering.  Going through engineering school is no easy feat and adding that to being a husband and father...I'm amazed.  I'm sorry to hear about your father.  My grandfather passed of colon cancer before I was born.  I'm so glad to hear you are making the most of your time with him.  One of the best things about the mentor group is that we are here for each other for everything even if it's not triathlon related.  For example...it just dawned on me that my young life of being able to just go out and ride hours on end any day that I want is now over.  I'll be married in the fall and will always have another person to think of.  Not sure what made me realize this today, but I will think of it both as a blessing and a blesssssing?????  I will tell you that this sport will help you out, help you clear your head and keep your body healthy.  Your commitment will only prove to make you a stronger and ultimately faster athlete in general.

Allison,  do you really think we'd kick you out? I mean...come on.

Matt,  I guess I didn't realize you had lost upwards of 40 lbs over the last year or so.  That's such an awesome accomplishment and I think it really deserves some attention.  I applaud you as well.  I'm always amazed every time you post about your running improvements and we can all look to you with confidence that when you set your mind to something, it is perfectly achievable. Congrats on everything so far and welcome back for another round!

Right now the group is up to the following.

DirkP - Dirk

jgerbodegrant - Jonathan

wbayek - Warren

JeffY - Jeff

blbenson - Bobby

Jo63 - JoAnne

guitarfrk75 - John

mambos - Matt

JonnyVero - John aka “Vero”

KWDreamun - Karl

DaveL - Dave

trigal38 - Dina

Cagolddigger - Stan

abergdol - Allison

Very exciting to see the new mentor group take off so fast. I thought I would just copy and paste my Bio from the last group but when I read through many things have changed! All for the better.

USERNAME: Trigal38  Name: Dina

STORY: Lifetime fitness junkie. I've been running for 20 years, cycling for 15 and swimming for 10 years but all just for fun and fitness. No races, training plans, Heart Monitors or any of that until I started tri training. I was invited to visit a swim for fitness class at the Y a few years ago. Turns out everyone in the class was training for triathlons. This group encouraged me to attempt my first race. I guess that would have been in 2009. I raced 4 sprints and 1 OLY that year. Every race I thought "I think I can do better". 2010 I raced a lot of the same events but really wanted to get faster. It was a painful year with lots of races in crappy weather. I did not understand pacing, had a lot of painful races and was only a couple of minutes faster.

FAMILY STATUS: Happily married to my very best friend for 15 years. We have two young children. My son is 6 and my daughter is 4. My family is the focus of my day, training is my Mommy time off.

Job: Part time everything. I teach preschool 2 mornings a week (at least until May), Toddler Gym at the Y 2 mornings a week and the rest of the time I am a stay at home mom. I was a full-time preschool teacher for 13 years before we started a family so teaching is just in my blood.

CURRENT TRAINING: I think I can, I think I can. I am recovering well from some injuries. My back is not 100% but it is very managable. I am currently testing the waters while I attempt to increase intensity on the bike and swim while also adding 4-5 short runs to the mix. I've come a long way since January!

Last years races: I started off the year great with an age group win in a fun local spring and meeting my goals for my first HIM. My goals were pretty simple - finish the race and don't get sick. Battled a foot injury the rest of the summer and was honestly a little burned out from following the HIM plan so obsessively.

2012 races! Another change, I actually have my eye on some races! I have not raced anything since June of last year so we'll see how rusty I am.

WEIGHTLOSS: I don't have any weight loss goals. I am always trying to tweak my overall nutrition by cutting back on sweets or salty snacks and eating more vegetables. And I still need to try to drink more water!!

What will make me a good mentee: I love to learn new things and have an open mind about various training methods. One thing I have learned over my lifetime of fitness is that I know very little about how to train. I like to take a skill I've never tried and learn about it. Maybe it will work for me, maybe not but it is fun to try something new. I'm also on BT daily, love to check on group members and send some inspires along the way.

Dirk and group

I'd like to join and continue the gains I've made over the winter - Your help will be great during the start of the season.

Will post bio tomorrow.

You have joined the right group. Very supportive members, who take the time to answer every question.

I really hate to read about your Dad. It sounds like he is a fighter and your commitment to his care is admirable.

owl_girl - 2012-04-04 10:49 PM Hi!  I don't know any of you guys and gals.  Can I join your group?  I'm intrigued by having 4 mentors!  Cheers! 

Your in.

Post a bio as soon as you can.

Also, I would like to post this as a reminder to those that have been involved with us in the last mentor group and those that are new to this session, we are a 4 mentor group.  Meaning that four of us make up the mentoring:

1. Myself - Dirk
2. JeffY - Jeff
3. jgerbodegrant -Jonathon
4. wbayek - Warren

NAME: Karl, my Username is KWDreamun  I got that name  because I LOVE KEYWEST!!!  I love the attitude and love Jimmy Buffett music.

STORY:   I've always been sort of athletic but never a big guy.  I was always ashamed to take my shirt off in public since I was  so skinny.  I started lifting weights but my passion was bass fishing.  I knew I wanted to fish professionally in high school, thus my grades may have suffered from so much fishing..lol  anyway I got my accounting degree but fishing was my dream.  I had the opportunity to finally fish the pro trail and qualified for the top 100 in the nation.  But then I had my son and being gone 300 days a year was not fun so I hung my fishing up.  I couldn't sit home and do nothing so I again started lifting weights.  I LOVE lifting.  Well fastforward, I'm now 50 and I was watching TV and saw the Kona Ironman.  It just hit me I wanted to do that.  I told my wife I can't swim but I'm not going to let that hold me back (actually I'm struggling so much it might).  So in January/February 2012 I got a bike and started training.  I guess it is on my bucketlist or maybe a late midlife crisis.  But I'm hard headed enough or stupid enough to try it at this age.

FAMILY STATUS: Married for 17 years I think.  My wife is the best for me.  Very supportive of my fishing years ago and now this tri stuff.  She is a marathoner but is thinking of hanging those shoes up and just doing 1/2 marathons.  I'm trying to get her to get a bike since she loves to swim.  My son is very athletic and he is a baseball fanatic and very good.  I spend a lot of time w/ him and he is on a travel team so that takes a lot of time too. Here in FL we play baseball 10 months out of 12.  We also have a very spoiled wirehaired dachshund.

JOB:  Tax instructor for the state of FL

CURRENT TRAINING: I train early in the morning and again after work if I can. I take my son to the gym after his school if he doesn't have a baseball game.  I am struggling w/ swimming.  I've had severe shin splints in the past so I'm being very careful.  I like to train 7 days per week. The days I don't train I feel awful.  I like to lift at least 3 days prefer 6 but I can't get my tri training in.

LAST YEAR'S RACES: None  Just starting

2012 RACES:  I have done 5k's, 8k's, 10K in a few weeks, I completed a dualathon 5K,31k,5k. 

WEIGHTLOSS: N/A  trying to gain.

2012 GOAL:  Goal is to do a sprint tri if I get the swimming down by mid summer and an olympic in the fall.  Signing up for a couple of 1/2 marathons in the fall.  Taking the running very easy due to the shin splints.  My MAIN GOAL IS TO LEARN TO SWIM AND ENJOY IT...MAKE IT MY STRENGTH!!!

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I have a very great sense of humor and love sports.  I do not get offended and am open to suggestions.  I am also willing to help others.

Welcome to the newbies- Bobby, Karl, Dave, Owl Girl (sorry, I couldn’t find your real name), and AJ.  You picked the best group!  I am glad so many people from the old group stuck around too.  I enjoyed re-reading your bios and refreshing my memory now that I have gotten to know you all. 

Jeff, I have always wanted to do the Mountain Lakes Triathlon.  I spent 3 years in Birmingham, AL before moving back to Fort Wayne, and I should have done it while I was down there.  I hear it’s a blast. 

Karl and Bobby, it sounds like you are off to a good start for beginners.  This group will get you to where you want to go J 

Dave, it sounds like you didn’t hesitate  to fully jump in to the sport!  Also, I am sorry for everything going on with your dad.  This group will be a great support for you. 

Jonathan, you are a wise man to know that it was better for you to do the dishes.  Lol.  I hope the wedding planning is going well. 

Matt, I echo what everyone else has said- your journey has been an inspiration for all of us.  You helped me to stick with the plan. 

AJ, congrats on the baby.  Your “pregnancy weight” will come off quickly with your training, so don’t stress too much. 

Wow, busy group.  I'll do a total catch up today but had to respond to your posts Dave. 

I echo Jeff's thoughts - lots going on in your life.  Cherish these last days, weeks, months, whatever you have with your dad.  It's all a gift and you won't regret one second of the time you spend with him.  Remind us to keep it all in perspective, and keep in mind we are more than just a triathlon group.  This is a great place to come for support of all types.  I very recently just lost my "second" dad and having a place to air some stuff out was awesome.  We're here to help you out on your tri journey of course, but no worries posting anything and everything on your mind.

And I'll just reiterate to everyone that family is most important.  Many of us can get carried away as this sport seems to attract the addict types, but never forget this is a hobby and not the real business of your life.

Warren is absolutely correct on all points.  We, as mentors and mentee's are more than people who are looking to get into better physical conditioning or faster in our race performance.  We are people who have successes and failures just like anyone else.  Keeping life in perspective is far more important than any training we do.

This group, as a few other people have said, is meant to support each person as an individual person and not as a triathlete only.  In former mentor groups I have aired out a few things myself and found the atmosphere to be very friendly and encouraging when those time come up.

______________

As a side note:

I will be re-reading all of your bios and getting to know each of you a little better today and posting question, if I have any, for some of you. 

I would have done some of this last night but a surprise visit from my nephew only allowed a couple of quick posts.  He reach the end of his enlistment in the Marine Corps the end of February and is now looking to go full time in the Air Force as a firefighter (USMC) doesn't have firefighters as a MOS and it has been his TRULY lifelong dream to be a firefighter.  Oh I could tell you stories of his firefighting aspirations.  I guess as a Marine you might be able to say he was a "firefighter" in Afghanistan though.  HUH, I hadn't thought of that before.  I'm going to mention that to him when he decides to get out of bed............lazy Marine

I read his letter of commendation when he was released last night.  His CO offered a lot of incredible words about his tour in Afghanistan.  His CO has done 6 combat tours in either Iraq or Afghanistan and said that his desire to be point man on a consistent basis, his ability to navigate the rest of his squad and knowledge of tactics kept them out of trouble when the fire fights occurred.  Obviously I am quite proud of him and the other 2 Marines that remain active or reserve in my family.

Anyway I had planned a 30 mile ride last night but ditched it when Michael came into town.  I'll plan on a 40 miler today after an easy 3 mile run.  BTW, I have already begun my Easter weekend.  I love my "normal" work schedule!

It looks like you may challenge some of us with running if your running that many 5k's in a year.  Do you race all of those 5's or do you just enjoy the time running with all of those people.  The race atmosphere can be a really motivating experience even if you aren't interested in placing overall or in your age group.

Your job made me think of the prohibition days.  Warren may remember those days first hand but the rest of us are too young and can only watch movies and read about those years.  Are you the Elliot Ness of your town?

I'll post a link to my swim video for you to use as a beginners point to get a few ideas of what you should look like as you progress forward.  also I would suggest taking someone to the pool (or having a life guard or another swimmer) take some video of you swimming and post it here.  Video of yourself can be very revealing to you about what you are actually doing versus what you think you're doing.

I recently  just got my first video of myself and I have some work to do myslef.  Anyway, here's one of my videos for some ideas.  Keep in mind I have some of my own bugs to work out, so don't take me as Michael Phelps brother here.

NAME: Allison

STORY:  I started running about 8 years ago for exercise and then started racing about 5 years ago.  I did my first (and so far only) sprint triathlon in 2008 and won the beginner division.  A couple of weeks later I found out I was pregnant and took a break from tris to have my daughter and then my son last fall.  I have been anxious to do another tri and have decided that now that I am done having children I am ready again.        

FAMILY STATUS: I have been married for almost 9 years.  We have two beautiful children- a 2 1/2 year old daughter and a 6 1/2 month old son.  My current profile pic is from our first post-pregnancy run at 3 1/2 weeks. 

JOB:  I think my friends and family thought I was going to be a student for life, but after 11 years of extra schooling I finally graduated in May 2010 just before turning 30.  Straight out of school, I took over an orthodontic practice and have been working hard to grow it.  I love being an orthodontist, but learning how to run a business when all you learned in school was how to take care of teeth has been a stressful process for me. 

CURRENT TRAINING: I have been following the mentor group's advice of running often and slow (probably about 5 days a week), which was a dramatic change from my previous method.  Now I need to increase the frequency of my bike and swim workouts.  I used to train a lot more hours, but I am learning to balance my workouts with family time and work time.

LAST YEAR'S RACES: Last year I got pregnant in January, so I didn't compete in any triathlons.  However, I ran through my entire pregnancy.  I competed in running races at 19, 23, and 28 weeks pregnant and placed in my age group in all 3 races (I won a pie in one race.  Perfect for a pregnant woman- lol). 

2012 RACES: I am planning to compete in some local sprints and complete my first olympic distance triathlon this summer.  I also plan to do my first half marathon.  Also, this year I have a goal to compete in at least 1 race each month.  I think it's good for my motivation.  I got out there in the freezing cold in January and February.  My biggest accomplishment came unexpectedly in my March race- I set a new 5K PR of 21:27 (the official results were posted yesterday).   My previous PR of 22:46 was before I had kids, and I killed it! 

WEIGHTLOSS:  I am happy to say that I finally returned to my pre-pregnancy weight a few weeks ago.  I'm not sure that I want to lose anymore weight or I would have to buy an entirely new wardrobe.  Exercise is more of a stress relief and feel-good mechanism for me.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I still consider myself a beginner.  I could use as much advice as possible!  I've already learned so much from this group, but I am anxious to pick up more. 

Welcome all the newbies again - AJ, Owl_Girl (whats your real name?), Karl, Bobby and Dave.

Dirk - Your nephew sounds like quite the guy! Plus, how have you already begun Easter weekend?! The weather is so nice today I WISH I could get out on a 30-40 miler!

----

So funny story - I was at the pool this morning and I decided (in a chlorine-induced moment of madness) to try doing some flip turns. I could do them when I was a kid, so I SORT of know what I'm doing, I'm just not very... accurate.

So I go in for my first one, over the top, right close to the wall, have a LITTLE trouble finding where to place my feet. I push off HARD, forget to flip over (so I push off on my back), completely miss the right angle and shoot almost straight up out of the water and into the air. The dude in the lane next to me had the FUNNIEST look on his face and I swear I had so much hang time I could probably have waved at him.

Fortunately they got better after that.

On the plus side, I was playing around with stroke rate and my Garmin - my stroke rate has gotten slower over the last month or so, but I'm still moving at the same speed. SPL has gone from 20-22 to 16-18. I tried pushing the rate up (as high as 26, but settled around 22) and did one 50TT and one 100TT - Times were 46.1s (1:32/100yrds pace) and 1:36 (1:36/100yrds pace, duh!) for the 100. Considering I could swim all out and barely break two minutes in Jan, I'm feeling pretty pleased with those. 

Better news is that I was able to hold a 1:50 pace over the following few intervals while still playing with stroke rate and effort level. I'm pretty pleased with the consistency across that, although I'm going to have to do some more work on endurance.

Yay swimming!

John