Fred D and Jason's (Tri808) Half Ironman Mentor Group CLOSED! (Page 2)

Welcome Dave.  Marine biologist doing a 3 mile OWS?  Is this work related?   

Swimming is what I struggle with most, so hopefully you're a fish with lots of tips to share!

Welcome Scott.  I have been making up my own training plans from basically the day I entered the sport.  I find that experimenting and evaluating feedback from my body is one of the reasons I'm drawn to endurance training.  Every year I draw up a spreadsheet with general training guidelines and over the course of that year, it probably gets edited about 20 times...LOL.

Kate, I also have tremendous respect for athletes like you who take the sport head on, ask a lot of questions, absorb a lot of knowledge, and apply it to very consistant training. 

Hey Nicole.  My GF was actually an avid scuba diver before getting into tris.  She'd do a dive on Sat and Sun almost every weekend in the past.  Once starting tris she cut it down to 1x a week, sometimes diving right after a sprint race...then when she trained for her first HIM last year, it got cut out completely.  She's taking the year off from racing this year to try and balance training and maybe 1-2 dives a month, but for whatever reason (hoses needing repair, bad weather, no dive buddy available) she's only been able to get out a few times.

Hey Matt.  First of all, thank you for your service in law enforcement and great job on the weight loss and lifestyle change.  280 miles on the bike sounds like loads of fun (to me anyway ), but I would advise trying some type of chamios creame if you have not already.  Even the most trained rear ends will need some form of help to be on the saddle that long even though.  And always better to apply before the problem starts.

Hi Sara.  It sounds like you've got a big training summer ahead of you.  I like your idea of trying to swim and run as many times as possible.  Frequency is a great way to gradually build up volume.  As for the cycling injuries, were they from crashes or just from riding?  Were you fit properly on your bike?

Last July, I was out riding and I got hit by a truck.  I was thrown off the bike and landed on my left knee.  Over the past 10 months, I've rested, done physical therapy (quad/hamstring strengthening), a cortisone shot, ART, had my knee scoped, more PT, more ART....ignored the pain and ran through it (and dealt with the ramifications of that!).  None of those things helped me get through this injury, so I found a new doctor and he thinks that my issues may be due to weak hips/glutes, so he has me going to a new (runner/triathlete) physical therapist, starting tomorrow.....so I'm hopeful that I will finally get to put this behind me.

Thanks for having me here!  Looking forward to the discussions we'll be having in here!

Name: Ann-Marie
Location: Orlando, FL

Profession:  Attorney for a law enforcement agency

Story: This is my 4th season doing triathlons.  The first year I stuck to sprints and the last 2 years I added HIM (one per year).  I also run HM and marathons.

Family Status:  Single with a big ole German Shepherd who comes with me on short runs.

2013 Goals:  My A race is Rev3 Florida in November.  I did this race in 2012, but the swim was cancelled as a result of Hurricane Sandy, so I'm going back to finish!  I've done one sprint distance tri so far this year, have another scheduled for this Sunday and another in August.  May do an oly in September.

Weight Loss:  I've gained about 5-7pounds over the last year, so I'd like to lose them.  For the last month or so I've been eating a mainly vegetarian diet - 6 days a week meatless.  I'm still trying to figure out how to eat this way, but think once i get in locked in the weight will come off - that and stopping my night time snacks

Current Training:  I'll start my HIM training the end of June until then I've been running 4 days a week, swimming 2 days a week and biking just enough to keep in shape for sprints.  I also take a weekly TRX class which kills me, but is a great core workout.

Last year I used Finks competitive plan for my HIM.  This year I purchased Endurance Nation's HIM plan.  I'm not really sure why I changed to Endurance Nation other than I couldn't sleep one night and found its website!  Going forward I'll be curious to see how the programs differ.

I'm really excited to be part of a group focused on HIM.  I know I will learn a lot from you all.

Holy crow!  That's a terrible, and likely terrifying, way to injure a knee.

It's fantastic that you're both sticking with it and looking for alternatives (all docs are not created equal).  I hope the work you're going to do on the "kinetic chain" helps with the knee.

Matt

So, not a Professor of English?

Seriously, though, what subject?  Also curious, does the academic schedule provide more flexibility to train, or are do class schedules or research limit you?

Last question - was the DNF related to the marathon injury?

Matt

I'll be really curious to hear how you like these, as well.  I'm "between plans," at the moment and building my own, but it would be good to have a base to work from (not really having ANY idea what I'm doing).

Really looking forward to what you find the pros and cons from each to be.

Matt

Uh oh, another Matt McSomething…  

I'm curious, as it seems I'm following a similar race skedj, are you planning on training for the Oly as an A-race for the first part of the season and then cutting over to more specific HIM for a later season A-race, or are you just "training through" the Oly on the way to the HIM?

(the other) Matt

Welcome Jamie.  Sounds like you've got a big schedule.

Permission to come aboard?

Name: Gary.

Location: South VT

Age : 35

Profession: this AND that. 

Status: married  2 kids 5/7

Current training: Preparing for 70.3 in Lake George, NY. Starting BT plan on Monday. This will be my first try at following a training plan. Been doing some really good base training- mostly run/swim through April. It is May 2, and I'm already struggling with life scheduling. I am a baseball coach and scout leader. This week had kids sports every evening, every day. This does not lend itself to HIM training. I do most of my training by moonlight, after the kids are asleep. Wife is almost OK with my training requirements, but it is early in the season, so that could still go bad. ALSO: Need to get a good bike. 

Weight loss goals: More like weight GAIN goals. 

Other: If I was going to be known as the skinny kid, I wanted to be known as the redic fit skinny kid, so four years ago started training and racing 5K, a hill climb, sprint tri, then 10K, a 12K, HM...  The GM at my (previous) employer was into tri's, so I thought doing them would be the equivalent of playing golf with the boss. I have done 1 Sprint race, but have done several Sprint distances s/b/r during training. My only tri scheduled last year was cancelled. 

Welcome Gary.