Manatee Express Mentor Group - closed (Page 18)

Hi everyone,

What a summer it has been, and not in a good way!  Well, except for the mountain climbing trip to the Grand Teton.   My running has been pitiful, my biking has taken a back seat to work, and swimming has been haphazard at best.  It's time to get serious!!!  Our mentor has been out there trudging away, getting ready for another HIM, and I can't seem to put it together enough to even do an Oly. 

Let's all try to get back into this!   GOAL:  Gulf Coast HIM on May 9, 2009!!!!

Well - I have been training - keepin steady on the course for GC- HIM!!  I have not ran in any tri's since June...been takin a break and just building on my endurance and strength.  I have been running alot - now the weather is gettin cooler - it's so much nicer for runs and biking....I have been swimming consistently - starting back in the Masters class next month as well.  My runs are coming along - I am running sub 9's most of the time now - and I can see me running a sub 8 maybe someday...but for now - I am happy with where I am with running - major milestone with me running in the 8's...not run like that since I was in the ARMY and was much younger then!!    My weight is right where I want it to be - am 180lbs now - WOW - I have slimmed down !  I had to go and buy new clothes cause all my other stuff just too big for me now.  Noticable dif when running and biking since I am 20lbs lighter....I plan on keepin myself at this weight - between 180-185.  So  - that's what's happenning here...running a 10k race this coming weekend...I am shootin for a sub 60 min finish....I think I can nail this one!  Lookin forward to tri's next season....but for now...just keepin the motor running and makin strides on all 3 sports so come next season I will be kickin some butt I hope!!  

Good week last week.  2 bikes total of 74 miles, 3 runs total of 13 miles, and 2 swims for a total of 3200 meters.  The bike and the swims were somewhat difficult to push through as I have become very inefficient, not that I was ever truly efficient.  I am doing quite a bit of weight training as well due to new requirements/standards put in place by my magnificent employer.  Something to the effect that we all have to be lean and mean yet able to carry our body weight in addition to our own through a 250 meter obstacle course.  I am certainly happy that I have my 20 years in now and it is all downhill from here. 

Great job Papa on losing the weight as I have had some issues with that over the last year.  Must have something to do with being almost 40. LOL.

Ken you are an animal and I wish you luck on the upcoming HIM.

Well - I have to start this blog off with a big ole congrats to my wife - she PR'd her 10k this weekend!!  Time: 52:08!!  and she placed 2nd in the Athena's ....she finally got her recognition for her hard work and herd her name called as she was awarded her 2nd place medallion...she brought home actual hardware this time!!  not a t-shirt or a hat!!  So - big ups to GyGy...she again proves she is the bomb and makes me one proud hubby!!    As for me - I had to miss this milestone since we had no one to sit the kiddo's for us that morning...I was bummed I missed this race and missed GyGy's award ceromony...but...I did my duty.  So - with that..I decided to run my own 10k distance run this morning...and low and behold...I PR'd my time as well....not as fast as my wife...she's always been a faster runner...but not too shabby for me....I ran it in 54:50 this morning!!  WOOT!!  So - my goal was to run a 10k in under 60 min....so..I did it!!  So - I had no fanfare and no beer waiting for me after my run...I was alone and timed myself...but..in my book...I won...and I am damn proud!!  Anyway - I have another 5k this coming weekend...time to reap the benefits of my last 5k race and bring this one in under 25 min...I am sure I can do it...the last 5k I ran I came out way to quick if you call recall....not gonna do that this time...but I will crank it up since it is a 5k.....I have an itch to break this 25 min mark...and dammit I am gonna scratch it!!  After this race I plan on gettin some more time back on the bike Ken..I know...I can get 100 miles a month in easy...I just gotta make the time.  That's the weekend recap folks..hope you all had a great one!!

Cheers !

Cheers !

Hey everyone,

It's race season in Florida!  We wait for the weather to cool down, and this is the time of year when all of the running races occur.  I raced for the first time since the 4th of July on Saturday, and really surprised myself.   I've been so miserable this summer -- what a vicious circle.  It would be hot and humid, yet I'd go run anyway.  And of course I'd do terribly, so then I'd get down on myself, which would make the next run even worse.

Then voila, the weather changes!  It's amazing what a difference 10-15 degrees makes, then add some lower humidity and it's really fabulous.  I didn't feel like I was well-trained, but I decided that I needed to be mentally tough and just go for it.  It worked!  This old lady won Grandmasters, PR'd, and ran a sub-8 minute pace. 

So as you can probably tell, I've been a little run-focused lately.  I got a recovery bike in yesterday, and a couple of swims in last week, but mostly I've just been running.  I guess that won't help too much on Saturday -- I'm doing a sprint tri on Pensacola Beach.

And how about Ken -- another HIM this year!  He and Marcy just like to punish themselves, don't you think???  We've all got to work out a schedule for our training -- we only have 7 months until Panama City.

Good luck this weekend Ken!!!

Congrats on your PR, Rusty!  It's exciting when you see progress, isn't it?  Now that summer is over I hope to see a lot of progress myself.

I raced at the Santa Rosa Island triathlon yesterday, and my race report is up.  My swim was the worst I've ever done, so I'm really going to need some work in that area.  Started off nervous which didn't help, then I started thinking about Patrick Kane (the triathlete who died during GC HIM).  I shut that part of my brain off and said "suck it up, buttercup!".  The bike was ok, and my run turned out to be the best part -- I ran a 25:25 5K after 1/3 mile swim and an 18 mile bike.

Now I need to buckle down.  Signed up for the Reverse Duathlon (9 mile bike, 5.6 mile run, 9 mile bike) on the 18th (Ken should be there) and a local 10K on the 25th.  So not much swimming in my future!  But after these fall races I plan to work on my swimming and hopefully be prepared for the Gulf Coast HIM in May.

I'm not seeing that happening!  Your bike is so much stronger than my run, and you get to double up on that.  Wish I could figure out a way to do better at the bike -- any last minute suggestions?

Weekly recap is reflective of the time of year -- biking is difficult because the sun is setting earlier, and once daylight savings time is over it will be reduced to weekends only (or trainer -- ugh!).  And I've put swimming on hold for a while.  But my running is going spectacularly -- I ran 8:10s at the end of a sprint tri last weekend, very fast 300s in the rain on Tuesday, and a fast training 5K at the end of  27 mile bike ride on Friday.  Perhaps this is my year for running????  We'll see...

Fellow Manatee's,

      After my first run in sub 35 degree weather this morning I am in need of some guidance from those that have run in the cold before.  I was cold when I started and got way to hot in the middle of my run, a short 4 miler.  I wore those long spandex pants and a long sleeve Nike dri fit wicking shirt with a fleece pullover on top of that.  I also wore some cheap gloves and a beanie.  I had to lose the beanie and the fleece was to warm but after a few moments with it tied around my waist it quickly found it's way back on.  Any help would be greatly appreciated with this matter.  I have to keep up with you guys for the Gulf Coast HIM next year.  Don't worry Papa I didn't forget after I talked all of that smack to get you into it.  On that note is there a good place to register on-line for the event.  Take care all and have a Happy Holiday season.  Happy Veteran's Day to you  PapaHawk.  Hooaah!!!

Hey everyone!

I've been a slacker, and now it's time to get back on track.  Don't want to gain any weight over the holidays!  Anyone have any serious goals for December?  I'm thinking that I need to match my miles run from last year.  In 2007 I ran 833.12 miles, but right now I'm sitting at 722.06 miles.  In the next 5 weeks I need to run 111 miles -- anyone want to join me?  It could be a good warm up before we start seriously training for the Gulf Coast HIM!

Cheri

Fellow Manatees,

        I hope everyone had a great holiday season and that training has been consistent and productive.  I feel very bad in that after stirring the pot very vigorously to get my fellow triathletes to participate in the Gulf Shores HIM in May that I am not going to be able to participate.  Duty calls and I will be deployed for a couple of months to some far off distant land.  If you read between the lines you can probably figure it out.  Nonetheless I will continue to train while I am gone.  Many mountain bike rides instead of road bike rides through the Northern Kentucky countryside and some running in some fairly significant temps.  This also puts a damper on my personal goal of completing a full Ironman before I turn 41 but I will just have to adjust my schedule to left a bit.  Good luck to you all and the best of luck at the Gulf Shores HIM.  See you when I get back and maybe we can do it next year and finally meet face to face.

Chip, be safe and thank you for protecting us.  I'm in awe of your sacrifice. 

I signed up for the race this weekend.  Your pot stirring helped me!  I'm not going to commit to next year before I do this once, but if nothing else I'll come be a cheerleader next year when you are there.  But if I survive this one, we'll see about next year.

Thank you again for all that you do!

Cheri