Baowolf's New Years Resolution Group-Closed (if are stuck with no group PM me) (Page 2)

wow, okay. honestly I think I'll have to reign myself in from wanting to be your slave simply out of shear amount of excitement that is going to be pouring out of me. Just so you know I'm totally available and I'll trust you will ask for whatever you may want or need. Oh, and I just purchased two twin size air mattresses for guests, so feel free to use them if you want.

Samantha we can do more than the bare bones, I just wanted you to know that we wouldn't want to put you out or expect lots of stuffs. If you want to have a party, we are game for that too 8) especially of the rest of the gang makes it to the starting line healthy.

Jorges program is solid, the trick is hitting the intervals hard enough. Power is more sensitive than MPH, so easier to be more precise in your workout. You want to do a time trial to find your LT power/speed/HR, then use that to convert to your workout intensities.

Ya I don't run on ice either. I got a pair of yaktrax once, the broke on my 2nd run. Not a fan. They also tweaked my feet some as you hit the ground oddly if you are not in snow a couple inches deep.

Steve - ok, got it! I do hope the others make it out ready to have a great race day. It will be fun no matter what!

Welcome to all the newest members!

Today was another successful day for training. I did jog/walk for 32min and covered 2.18 miles, yes! I'm trying to focus on good stretching after my workouts so I will hopefully limit neck pain and tight calves, so I spent about 20 more minutes stretching and just moving my body to promote loose muscles over-all. So my employer offers many options to pursue health by offering challenges, classes, coaching etc. Today, as I already mentioned, they did a body work-up and I have until November to meet some goals they set for me. I really think they are achievable and they point me in the direction of losing inches/weight/body fat that I already want to go. And from Jan 13-Feb 7th they set-up a virtual race for any employee who want to sign up. We choose an avatar and then race on route 66 (over 2100 miles). The challenge allows us to use anything we do during the day to count towards our mileage in steps. Even cleaning the house adds up to a certain amount of steps per minute. Anyway, it should be fun to watch my avatar move along the route and try to beat other people.

No more chocolate....aaaahhhhhh!

Howdy to our group members, new and old!

Pam, how is your mary taper going?

Randy, great journey you have had thus far! My best advice to you....work on swimming now, not later. Requires patience and time unless you are a natural born fishy. Several of us in the group went from zero to passable or better on swimming, so ask any questions you have along the way.

Samantha, great that you have that work program to help keep things balanced and on track. So glad to be in the fight with you!

Mike, welcome back! I look forward to drooling over your swim times again this year! Maybe you can teach me some swim tricks when you come to TX.

New Mike, welcome to you! Great weight loss story. Oh, and I'm officially jealous of where you live!

Carl, good to see you! And I will try to spell your name correctly this yr !

Wassim, I love the training logs here! I see you are already using them. They are great for accountability and motivation, and will allow Steve and others to give you better feedback on your training questions.

Jennifer, funny you should mention the cuboid bone. That was where my stress fracture was. Ha, I had never even heard of it before and thought the doc was making up a new bone when she told me. What instrument did you play in the band? My father was a high school band director, but I strayed from the musical path .

Steve, thanks for hosting a mentor group once again! I would be a bit lost without it I think.

Snacking is definitely my weakness too. My strategy is to do other things I enjoy during those prime snack times. I love reading, but it often gets lost in the shuffle of life. So even if the snack attack is in the middle of the day, instead of going to the refrigerator, I'm going to pick up my current book and read a few pages.

If I missed shouting out to anyone, it's me, not you. I blame middle aged brain fog for most things these days!

As carol said, there are some late bloomer swimmers here, and if there is any useful advice or info to pass on, would be happy to do so. Its never too late to learn how to swim -- my first swimming lesson ever was at the tender age of 43, and in the past 3 years have managed to work up to a respectable 'pretty sure I won't drown" level.

Glad to see so many folks joining up, and yes, a big thanks to Steve for again heading up the group. He's a fantastic resource who isn't afraid to tell you when you may be heading down the wrong path, or to let you know when you are kicking butts.

Howdy!

Yep - the cuboid bone...someone explained it to me as the lode stone in your foot (that key, critical stone in an arch that if removed can compromise the entire arch). I literally feel your pain. I've got an appointment with an orthopedist in a week an a half for a more scientific diagnosis...at this point, I'm so desperate for a solution that I'm willing to try almost anything.

I played flute through high school and college (even got to go to college on a music scholarship). I loved playing, but looking back on it - I wish I had participated in swim team! All those folks that have swim team experience are beating me soundly to T1 every single time!

Hi there. I would like to join the group if there is an opening.

NAME: sinnerman/ Anish

STORY: I am 39 year old guy, relatively new to all three sports with no background in either. I first started down this (financial ... ) rabbit hole in 2008 after seeing a magazine article about a local sprint triathlon. I was a weekend mountain biker so decided to give it a try. After a lot of help from a buddy, I dispelled the notion that I knew how to swim and actually learnt to try to swim. Since the goal was to just get to the finish line without going to the ER, I followed a simple plan to swim 4 X week, run 2 X week and bike 2 X week. I focused more on swimming since it was going to be open water (wet suit legal)s and I was very nervous. I did finish the race but had the worst swim of my life and decided never to be a part of this insanity again. Two weeks later, signed up for the next sprint triathlon a month later. That went marginally better and I was hooked. Due to some life circumstances I was unable to train or race from 2009-2011. I got back into it again in 2012 with 2 more sprints. I was able to devote more time to training in 2013 and did 3 sprints tris and 1 'sprinternational distance' (tad bit shorter than olympic distance). I also did the 100 mile swim challenge at the local Y and was training to do a 1/2 marathon in November but was sick and had to back out last minute. I have never joined a mentor group before. and am looking forward to some guidance and insight.

FAMILY STATUS: I am happily married for the past 7 years to a very supportive wife with 2 children (1.5 yrs and 4 yrs)

CURRENT TRAINING: I am starting trainng back this week after the holidays and looking forward to the year. I am also looking at find a good training plan on BT for a 1/2 Ironman that would be appropriate for me.,

GOALS: I am in the solid BOP range. I would like to move to the MOP and beat my previous years times on the same races.
I also plan to run my first 1/2 Marathon in Spring and 1/2 Ironman this Fall along with local sprint races.
Any input suggestions would be welcome.


2014 RACES: Palmetto Half Marathon (4.11.14)
Lake Murray Triathlon (5.4.14)
Tri Midlands Triathlon (6.21.14)
Langley Pond Triathlon (8.30.14)
The Dam Triathlon (10.11.13)
Additional local sprint and mtb races for which dates are not available.

I am trying to decide which 70.3 I would like to do as my first one. The two options I am looking at are Beach to Battleship 70.3 and Ironman Augusta 70.3. Any suggestions or feedback about these races would be great.

I look forward to meeting new folks here on this forum and getting to know you and learning from all of you. I am still dinking around with the settings so will be sharing my logs soon.

Thank you.

....................

- Anish



Edited by sinnerman 2014-01-07 4:31 PM

Oh, I love seeing all the new people here and also seeing some of our regulars returning.

Samantha, I'm so jealous that you will get to meet and host so many people at IMCDA. Your posts are awesome; I can see you excitement about everyone coming! I would be the same way.

Welcome, welcome, welcome to everyone. I wish I could type out a long thing to each of you but I'll cop out and say "Ditto" to Carol's posts above.

Anish, you will very quickly see that I'm the wrong person to give tri advice to anyone but I've got to say something since you mentioned Augusta. Lots of people from our area love Augusta. The swim is supposed to be glorious because it's all downstream. They say that a log thrown into the river at the start would make the swim cutoff. If I ever do a HIM, that will be the race that I do. I'm hoping that hubby will go for it this year.

Oh, Carol, let's don't talk about my taper. I was still sore after that trail HM last weekend (can you believe even my triceps were sore?) and while I would love to go out for some easy miles, it's cold here. I know everyone from the North is making fun of me but when the temp is only 32 at 4pm, it's not a day for me to run. So I'm trying to do stretches and thankfully tomorrow I have my massage which hopefully with knock the PF out of me and maybe cure some of the aches and pains I'm feeling.

Quick thing to all of the parents out there. A coworker lost her 19 y.o. son this weekend. And then I found that another coworker lost a child on the same date - 25 year ago - but still..... Just love those little ones. My 15 y.o. is 8 inches taller than me but he is still my baby.

p.s. Going to attempt "No Choc" too. Kinda of easy since I'm not a choc-oholic like my hubby is. But I do like occasional choc snacks so I'll give them up. Whew, thank God you didn't do something craycray like "No wine".

Edited by Pink Socks 2014-01-07 7:32 PM

This is definitely the year for unique names! I look forward to getting to know all of you. What I have I will share and I know I have plenty to learn from all of you!

Swimming will come with time in the pool, and getting some coaching whether through personal/group lessons or joining a masters club is worth the investment. For me it was especially worth it since I was going for IM distance and needed to get better/faster anywhere I could, so learning some key swimming techniques gave me an added advantage. Though I'm am still not a fast swimmer....that's Mike D's department

Took the advice of taking my tire into the bike shop instead of the entire bike (I still can't believe that thought didn't occur to me) and today I set it up on my trainer. Wasn't sure how it would go with my wrist, but it went great! I can't use my right hand to shift at all, but other than that I pedaled away. I have some work to do if I'm gonna get back where I was, but it felt great. I rode for 30 minutes and did 6.5 miles. Day 3 back at it and I'm tired - and so very happy.

Pam - thanks! IMCDA is going to be a super fun weekend. If only more of you could make it out. Sorry taper isn't going so well for you, and 34 is cold and I don't live in Florida. Though I would still run in it if I had a long run and would rather die than do it on a treadmill. A family I am friends with lost their beautiful 22 year old daughter a year ago today and it has been a rough journey for them. Life is precious and worth treasuring.

Day 1 - no chocolate for me!

Edited by anthalynn 2014-01-07 11:04 PM

20 mile trainer bike ride and then 2 miles in the dark 25F tonight. I still needa week to readjust to the altitude. My family opened an Christmas box of chocolates and cookies last night and some kind person brought in a bag of candybars at work. Still holding in there. I have found that I am already eating more fruit though. 1 banana and 1 apple today.

To do a HIM will take more run and bike as well as lots of swim. Most HIM plans are 4x run 4x bike 3x swim per week. Ideally long run tops out at 15 miles, long bike at 65 and long swim at 3000 yards. Functional plan tops out at 13 miles run, 56 mile bike and 2500 yard swim. So anywhere in that range should work. Remember that your long run should never be more than 1/2 of your weekly miles and LT work counts more than regular miles. Also don't add more than 1 mile per week to your long and do take every 3rd (if older than 40) or every 4th (if younger than 40) week as a recover week (.6xlong miles).

Hey all I'd like to jump into this forum. Y'all had with the talk of chocolate...

Name: Wayne

Story: I picked up cycling (again) back in 2003 as a way to lose more weight. This is after I had just lost 60lbs for the wedding day. Anyhow, after getting back into cycling, one day i came across an ad for the Mission Bay Sprint down here in San Diego, and a fledgling triathlete was born. I did a few sprints and at least one olympic per year with a goal to do a HIM. In 2009 my wife and I had beautiful twin boys, I received a promotion at work and the training dropped off while the pounds came back (about 35-yikes!). Since '09 I've done about one sprint, one 5k and a Mud Run a year...with minimal training. Well, last year I decided that 2014 was going to be the year to complete my goal of completing my HIM and I signed up for Hawaii 70.3. Training plan officially starts next week. I've been building my base back up the last few months. Feeling the most confident in my swimming as I have in years. Running is still my weak link. As I tell my friends, this body was not designed for running. I currently weigh in at 235lbs,6'1". My biggest challenge will be fitting in training around my travel schedule at work. But, as they say where there is a will there is a way!

Family: Married for 10 years with twin 4 year old boys, a crazy dog and a crazier cat.

2013 Races: Mission Bay Sprint, Carlsbad 5000 (5k) and Camp Pendleton Mud Run (10k w/obstacles)

2014 Races: May 31- Hawaii HIM, April- Carlsbad 5K, October- Mission Bay Sprint and I'd to throw in an Oly sometime.

Weight Loss: I've lost about 15lbs in the last couple months and ultimately I'd like to get sub 210.

Training: Starting the BT Beginner HIM plan next week

I'm here for advice and encouragement while giving back the same to others in the group. Let's make this a great year!

welcome and Hello to everyone.

Decided this AM that 4 didn't seem like a reasonable temperature for an outdoor run, so I went to the gym and hit the dreadmill. Felt pretty good, and I'm still in run/walk mode, I'm slowly raming up the 'run' part of it. Still not quick, but will get there in due time. My running goals are a 10k in under an hour by April 1 (a local race that day). I think its doable.

Supposed to warm up over the weekend, and I'm contemplating an outdoor bike ride on Saturday morning. Would be awesome to do it!

Mike, 4 degrees huh....yes, definitely some treadmill weather you're having!

Anish, welcome! What Pam said re: Augusta 70.3. Have heard the same from many people about the swim. Be the log!

Wayne, welcome! Ahh...another group member to be jealous of re: where you live. I did the Carlsbad HM in 2011...what a beautiful place to run! Hawaii 70.3 sounds like great motivation for you to work out that training schedule.

Jennifer, anything that takes you to college on a scholarship = good! And the breath control that you learned playing the flute probably set you up for an easier transition to swimming. Sure hope you get some answers and progress on your foot!

Samantha, congrats on getting the trainer set up!

Pam, those trail races can definitely be full body assaults...er...exercise, especially when you go 2 out of 3 falls with the course. Hopefully the massage will help to work the kinks out. LOL on the no wine thing. My old boss lost a bunch of weight and became an ultra runner. One of his big things was "no liquid calories". But as you know, ultra runners are craycray!

Steve, sounds like you have some of the same chocolate pushing friends that we do. Good job on passing it by!

So, I went out for a 3 mile walk yesterday. Foot not too bad while walking, but afterwards and into today PF pain is worse than ever. Discouraging to have that much pain without even trying to run. I guess resting it over the last couple months did zero good. For now, doing the stretches and foot roller more religiously, and will try another walk when I recover enough to not limp. Swim on tap for today, and day 1 of no chocolate was a success.

I'd like to join if you'll have me.

Name: Phil

Story: Been doing triathlons sporadically since 2009. I was a competitive swimmer in high school so naturally it’s my best discipline. I took on cycling as a hobby and I’d say I’m about average, but I’m definitely a below average runner. I’m pretty proud of my times, though, consistently in the top 25% percentile overall, and around the top 35% in my age group. My longest distance is the Olympic distance, the Savageman 30.0 in 2013, where I got a 2:48:48. I want to make a jump to half ironman distance this year. I used to use triathlon training as a motivation to stay in shape for the other sports I play, but now I use the other sports as cross training for triathlons!

Family status: 31 years old, recently engaged, with 1 super-hyper puppy (Vizsla/Weim) that I intend to take on bikes and runs when he’s of age!

CURRENT TRAINING: Past few months have been slow for me due to the holidays and traveling. In the winter, I try to stay in the pool where I practice with my masters swim team 1-2X per week, then 1X run, and 1X bike trainer. During the bulk of the season, Feb-Oct, I try to put 4-6 hours of activity in per week. Other activities I participate in are recreational basketball 1x week, adult league football 1x/week in the spring/summer, adult league soccer 1x/week in the summer/fall. And I snowboard during the winter weekends (maybe 5x a season).

THIS YEAR’S RACES: I’m looking at Eagleman, Timberman, or Syracuse (I reside in Virginia so the Northeast is likely where I’ll stay), with a local sprint before that like the Kinetic or the Smith Power both in Virginia. Maybe Savageman 70 (I want a brick!) to finish off my season.

WEIGHT: I’m 5’11” and around 180 right now. My race weight is usually 175, but my goal is to cut it to 165-170 this year. I have a sweet tooth that is never satisfied.

PREVIOUS RACES: Savageman 30 (2:48:48), )Luray Sprint 2013 (1:41:21), Giant Acorn Sprint 2012 (1:19:48), Bath County Sprint 1010 (1:32:08), Patriot Sprint (1:27:37).

GOALS THIS YEAR: Complete a half ironman whilst keeping my run under 9 min/mi.

LOOKING FOR IN A MENTOR: I am primarily looking for nutrition advice, and answers to any questions I have regarding nutrition. Also, a workout critique. I am getting up there in age and injuries are a real concern, especially regarding running. And running advice, most of all, would help me because I want to improve my running speed and distance. My previous long was a Chery blossom 10-miler in super-flat Washington DC, where I posted 9:46-minute miles.

Phil - welcome. Does the Savageman 30.0 have the bike go up the Westernport Wall like the 70.0 race does? If so, how'd you make out? Does it go on Killer Miller?

Love the description of the swim for Augusta re: the log. I'd love to do a current aided swim like that. The NYC Tri last summer had a good current, but not as strong as what Augusta seems like.

Would also love to do the Hawaii 70.3 HIM. It will be as close as I ever get to racing in Kona (I think the bike of the 70.3 does use part of the same course).

Speaking of Ironman, on the way in to work today, the license plate on the car in front of me said "KONA". I think its a sign for me to sign up for the lottery

I'd love to do all these races. Just need to win powerball first so I could afford to do them all

Hi All, Sorry for the absense, more in body than spirit as I have been stalking.

Steve, incredible numbers as always and amazing to see the recovery. I have dealt with some cold but to perform the way you did in Lk Tahoe, spectacular.
Glad to see people mending, Carol, Mike, Samantha.
Pam The new avatar is cute.

Hope to be more involved this year and up my game again. Ran 2 tri's last year doubled from 2012. Not going to double again exept maybe in distance. With my daughter in private school money is tight but I am looking to sign up for a HIM. HITS Hunter NY looked ok although a lot of climbing on the bike.

Last years totals were up with 478 miles run, 685 miles biked, and 70K yrads swam. So nothing crazy but I have kept active. Your journeys are always in mind and provide a lot of inspiration to keep going.

Welcome Phil. You have come to the right place when asking for nutrition advice. Steve is very, very, very good on all of those questions.

Carol, my love, so sorry about the foot pain. Do you think the 3 miles, although walking, was too far for right now? Have you been doing the marble pickups? Personally I thought that the marble pickup was dumb but I noticed that it really seemed to help my foot. Please get to the doctor so we can get this cured so you can do C2C. Hugs.

Joe, so glad to see you back. Quit being a stalker and start posting. Thanks for the compliments on the avatar. Changed hubby's avatar and found that old pic of us at Warrior Dash. We were Pebbles and BamBam. But after the race, we were just filthy.

Dang, I couldn't believe it but went for my massage today and she had bite size Butterfingers - my favt. I passed on them tho. Did find tho that a lot of my PF issues are due to imbalance in my back.

Oh, I'm getting excited about Louisana marathon. Pulled up the course today and it's gonna be beautiful thru LSU campus, canopy road, old historical neighborhoods, Capitol. And the elevation change goes from 20 ft above sea level all the way up to a whopping 60 ft above sea level. Sounds tough, doesn't it?

Edited by Pink Socks 2014-01-08 7:07 PM

Welcome everyone, plenty of room.

Basic race nutrition rules: 1 gel 15 min before race, then 45 min to 60 min into the race start your 300-350 calories per hour on the bike and then 200 to 250 calories per hour on the run. This is true all the way through IM distance. However, with an IM you have to really be careful on calories in and water in for the last 10 miles of the run. That extra bouncing, especially if you are at higher elevation, and a little too much water can make the tummy a bit iffy. I change over from gels to gatoraid the last 5 to 10 miles of an IM and really monitor the water intake. Fluid intake varies a lot with temperature. My water intake can double or even triple from cold to hot weather.

Run basics: don't add more than 1 mile per week to your long run and long run can't be more than 1/2 of your weekly miles, preferably 40%. Get a solid base in before doing half mile and mile repeats and hill work.

Injury prevention: under 40 years old, recovery week every 4th week, over 40 recovery week every 3rd week.

Make sure your shoes are good for you.

PF folks, do you have high arches? I heard recently that it increases your risk. Some thoughts were ya rest, ya possibly insert for the arch support, stretching, icing, abusing the offending area with golfballs etc, but then strengthening as you recover. The coach recomended that you should have some significant relief in 5-7 PT sessions. Other things to look at, have you shifted to a lower heal shoe, are you a forefoot runner where your heal never touches the ground?

Phil - you can join our no chocolate challenge if you want to fight against that sweet tooth. Hawaii HIM..nice!

Mike - I watched IM world championship 2013 last weekend and for the first time since starting training I thought "I'd maybe like to do that race".

Joe - Welcome back! I see your mileage posts on facebook and it always makes me smile to know you are still at it.

Pam - way to pass up the butterfinger! That would've been hard for me. I also love the new pic. Is the Louisiana marathon you are excited about the one you are tapering for?

Carol - I too am sorry that your foot is still not good even after just walking.

Day 2- no chocolate. I did great all day, then all evening I've been craving it. Bah, I'm gonna do this! Another tready run for 25min. 3walk/2jog. Then I did squats, lunges, stretches and a bit of arm work.

Saw my OT today. He was happy with my progress from last week. I told him I started running and he was pleasantly surprised that the jarring motion didn't hurt my wrist - I have also been pleasantly surprised. I asked if he thought a HIM in August was doing and he said absolutely, and then when we talked about get my wrist back to where it was pre-surgery he told me I will not like him if that's the plan. So I guess I'm in for some pain. I so want my full function back that I'll take it.

Mike - Way to go losing 30 pounds! Weight is something I've never paid attention to, but not because I'm skinny but being intentional with my diet is not my favorite thing to do. What have you been focusing on and what will you continue focusing on to lose the next 20? I ask because I love hearing the methods people take. And getting your weight under control to stop the onset of diabetes is such a big deal and major accomplishment. I wish there were more stories like yours because it is such an attainable reality for so many people if they could just get the weight off. Yes, easier said than done. But your proof that it's possible.

Welcome all! So nice to hear everyone's story. It is fascinating to me all the different ways people come to triathlon.

Carol - sorry about your foot. It can be so discouraging to rest as you are prescribed and then find out the time off (and the fitness lost in my mind) didn't make any difference. I hope you can find someone to help with the diagnosis and treatment.

Mike - your swim times are awesome and you are in a cold area - how do you get yourself to swim when its 4 degrees? I really struggle with this. The last thing I want to do when its cold out is get in my swimsuit and get into the cold water. My swim workouts are easily the first dropped from my plan when time/weather intrudes. I know I need to get over this, but I still struggle.

Pam - the elevation gain on your marathon sounds just like my cup of tea. Best of luck!

Samantha - glad to hear running didn't bother your wrist - that is great news!

I have managed to stay away from chocolate for two whole days! Woot! I will probably be challenged tonight. We have a Japanese exchange student here this week and a popular activity is to make chocolate chip cookies. Must resist the urge. Having the student here has made fitting everything in quite a challenge, but I managed to eek out a run last night between dropping the student and my daughter off at Tae Kwon Do and picking up my other daughter at gymnastics. I know I should get a swim in this morning - but with the temp (it's 9 right now) and the lovely wood stove blazing away along with the 9am conference call, it's probably not going to happen.

Lots of good stuff flowing out there already.

First, I read over my initial entry (phew, that was long-sorry). I was not over 2300 lbs, Haha. I had put on some weight before my 1st marathon late last year but had not exceeded the 1 ton line... I was over 200 lbs, LOL.

Steve, I am still trying to figure out the achilles thing however it is not severe. More of an irritation now. Searching for an answer of how to eliminate it though. I don't want to stop w training or moving toward some goal or I fear I will fall back into my sedentary lifestyle quickly. Next step is another chiropractor that is supposed to specialize in foot issues for athletes or a PT of same ilk. I have names for both. Meanwhile want to take my focus to swimming and biking. Biking doesn't seem to bother it and I don't think swimming will either. Running shorter distances (< 8-9 miles or so) doesn't bother it too much.

Samantha - thanks for the encouragement & suggestion. I really appreciate it! I am managing to get runs in on warmer days, treadmill or indoor track, but not as regular as I would like yet. Getting there. I will think about incorporating that into such runs.

One of the big questions I have right now is about what gear I will need if my goal is to do a HIM. I don't have a suitable bike.

Not sure if I should go for a tri bike or road bike. Waiting to figure that one out - looking for something used that will be good enough to get started with. I am not terribly flexible at the hips & wondered if a tri bike would be too uncomfortable. There is an exercise bike at my gym that seems to be configured like what I think is more like a tri bike - more bent over, aero bars, etc. Will try that.

I would like to have something that is at least somewhat comfortable and yet fast enough.

Started off getting swimming gear - cap, kickboard, googles - cheaper stuff as I want to start building some kind of base there. That all comes this week.

Other question on bike - when folks speak of using a trainer at home are they talking about using their bikes with a device that allows them to spin on them or an exercise bike? I was thinking I wouldn't be able to ride much even if I got a bike now, w weather but if I could do that it could allow me to get used to bike, etc.

So much gear needed it seems. Not sure where to start. I will work on the swimming side for a bit but wonder about needs and priority to give to:

wetsuit (no chance for OWS anytime soon around here)
tri shorts or suit
bike
biking shoes

And thoughts about tri bike vs road bike, etc. Finding what appear to be pretty good tri bikes for around $450 and up around here on Craigslist...

Was thinking bike might be something to hold off on some until I am sure I am going to be in for this as it is probably largest expense.

On Steve's chocolate challenge, I am in. It is not a huge thing for me, although I keep the dark chocolate-acai berries treat around & hit it regularly. I struggle at times w huge cravings for snacks/sugar but seem to do best if I can cut out most of the raw sugar from my diet and get sweets from fruits, etc. Working to get back to that since the holidays & letting loose some.

Peace all. Sorry for my early morning rambling. Hopefully at least somewhat coherent.

Randy

Carol, thanks for the encouragement with the swimming development. I will need all of your help in this. Haven't hit the water yet, but plan to get rocking next week. Found a starting swimming plan that I will try. Will have many questions I am sure. This seems the ideal time to hit the swimming hard.

So sorry to hear about the foot injuries. Hoping that heals very soon and well so you can hit it.

Randy

After our son was born the wife and I decided to try Nutrisystem of all things, it's a useful tool in that it really teaches protion control and how to eat. I'm not a big believer in the Paleo diet or really anything for that matter I stay away from drinking calories with the exception of a couple of V-8's every day. I try to eat a lot of fruits and vegtables, and really just watch my portions. I'll have a fast food burger every now and then but it's no longer the double quater pounder, it's a regular single patty burger and a small fry, and only once in a great while. And of course endurance training really helps in keeping the weight off.