Todd's Tri Turtles 3 (Beginner, Sprint, 5K, 10K) Basically Closed (Page 13)

Sorry to hear, Todd. You're absolutely right, life is precious and it's important to stop and appreciate the beauty. Sympathy to you and your family.

My condolences Todd. Thanks for sharing a great perspective.

My condolences as well, Todd. Do what you need to do.

Thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

I am very sorry for your loss Todd. My thoughts and prayers will be with you and your family.
Be with your family.

I had my first workout in 2 weeks today. I needed to take some time off, but instead of rest my body seems to have just fallen apart due to the lack of exercise.. My knees hurt, my quads are tight, and back is out. Not exercising is really dangerous for me.

I'm eye-balling a sprint-triathlon in mid August. It will be good motivation to get back into full training. Hope everyone else is doing well.

My condolences. We'll turtle on without you while you are gone, don't worry about us, take care of family.

I went for my first run today since crashing my bike. Well, crashing is a little harsh, but anyway. Nothing is hurt but my bruises hurt when I run since they are in main moving parts. I did 1.5 miles with the boy on a hot and humid morning- neither one of us enjoyed it much, but a good workout for him to learn to push through. Then I biked to work, which was slow, but everything felt fine. Next run on Thursday, so the bruises should be feeling better still, I hope!

I've been running off and on since fall of 2010 and last night was my closes call with a car EVER.

It was supposed to be a swim night with my tri training group but unfortunately the weather conspired against us and we had to cancel the ows. Our trainer gave a great talk about nutrition (the time was definitely NOT wasted) and at its conclusion I decided that since I had my tri suit on and had my running shoes with me and I had the time, I'll do a run.

I was about a mile out into the run and had crested a hill and was on my way down the back side when I heard an oncoming vehicle coming from behind me. This stretch of road had decent width shoulders but they were pretty angled so was running just inside the paint. I felt perfectly safe until WOOOSSSHHHH!

What I heard and assumed was ONE car coming up from behind was actually TWO cars - one in the "normal" lane and one PASSING that car! Again, I had just crested a hill, but the crest of the hill was at least 150 yards behind me. This car doing the passing had to be doing 65 mph in a 55mph country road and no lie it came within a FOOT of me! I literally JUMPED as it screamed past me! (And yes, I was a bit vocal too.)

Lessons learned:

1) No matter how aware you are of your environment "things" may not be 100% predictable. I heard the car but the proximity to me and its speed were NOT what I was expecting

2) I have not run with headphone in a long time. This confirms to me that I can *live* with out it while out running!

3) In hindsight, I should have texted my wife to let her know my plans had changed. Running this road was NOT part of my plans last night.

4) I've had a roadID bracelet for awhile (I have some bad allergies to some antibiotics) but the lettering on it is hard to read (too much time at a desk and keyboard) so it's time to get a new one that's readable.

We'll that's all for now! I'm very, very happy to be here today!

Sounds like a scary run, but I"m glad you made it out unharmed. I usually get mad when I bike ride and there are two lanes the cars can be in, but they choose to be in the lane closest to the pedestrian. It's sad that people are so ignorant. Be safe, and please update your road Id. For those that don't have one, it's well worth the purchase.

Glad you're ok!

FYI RoadID has an app now too that can track you and send alerts if you want. Or I just have the home screen showing my wife's contact info in case of emergency.

Be sure too when running to run against the traffic direction (left side of road in US) so you can see what's coming your way. Even with that, there are some folks who just refuse to give you space it seems....

Mark

Good point about no head phones, or at least leave one out. I stopped using head phones for that very reason, but my experience wasn't as scary as yours. Glad you're OK!

I need to give roadID plug. They really have great customer service! I have been wearing one of these since 2011. Because I'm an IT guy and am at a computer all day, the tag gets worn as it rubs on my desk surface. I emailed roadID yesterday to say that the lettering was getting hard to read on the tag and they had emailed me back and shipped out a new one by the end-of-business that same day.

It does not get any better than that!!!

I had a great workout today training on my duathlon course. Miscalculated the first leg and only got 1.6 miles but that was ok. The bike course was a challenging, hilly course. Trying to distract myself.
Run 1.6 miles - biked 13.46 miles - run 2 miles.

This week my workouts have been intense to burn off family stress.
My aunt passed and the funeral in on July 12th in Jamaica.
My mother was rushed to the emergency room last night with jaundice, leg swelling, nausea, fatigue all due to an enlarged liver. Enlarged liver could be so many things so we are waiting on test scans and biopsy results. My day would be devastated if anything happens to her. They take care of each other. He is diabetic with one leg amputated right below the knee. My sister is stepping in as best as she can. Luckily my mom is in the hospital my sister works at.

On top of that, we are scheduled for vacation July 14th in Jamaica! We couldn't change our plans and they couldn't push the funeral later due to church availability.

This would be the first time my hubby and kids have left the country. It's hard to enjoy while so many other things are going on.
Praying my mother's solution is treatable.





Edited by Lovey 2014-07-04 2:52 PM

Re: headphones.

I highly recommend either yurbuds or some other earbuds with "ambient aware" setup (you can still hear sounds around you). You can easily hear traffic, etc with them. Also have some Redfox wireless and they work well too for this.

Hang in there Lovey,

You certainly have a lot happening in your life. Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.

Rod

Tracy, sorry for your loss and your mother's illness. I know how strong you and your family are, so I know yall will make it through.

Thank goodness still was only a close call because it could have ended up much worse. I also agree in the importance of having a road id but did not get one myself until after a friend was taken out by a dog and left uncouncious on the road. It just so happened that a person who knew him came by and was able to notify EMS and they were able to get with his family for medical history.

On a side note, you said that the car came up from behind you. Are you running with the flow of traffic when you are running. I would always suggest to run against the flow of traffic, as a matter of fact it is illegal here in Texas to walk / run with the flow of traffic, you always have to go against the flow (cycling is with the flow). It is also great because even the most inattentive person will notice you if you start waving your arm as they are approaching if they are to close.

I'm back now and really want to thank everyone for their well wishes and patience. I have been away from the group so much more and done so much less then any of my other group and I apologize for that. I am getting back at it as I have noticed that by not working out I am not getting that much more accomplished at work and just don't feel quit right not working out. I have figured out how to make things work in the past and will do so again. Once again, I apologize for not being around more and will be there in the future. Get ready for the Inspires and me generally agrevating you on an almost daily bases.

Hi Turtles

I haven't been too active on the forum recently as I've been working 12 - 16 hours a day 6 - 7 days a week over the last few months. I've now finished the project so I'm now a man of leisure for 6 months or so. Working these hours impacts lifestyle, eating and sleeping habits. I starting training for my first tri in January and my fitness and endurance were improving slowly but steadily in swimming, bike & running. I was losing weight and my belt size was reducing too.

THE DOWNSIDE

Working crazy hours I often found myself having a meal and then going straight to bed for an hour or two. I anticipated that my training would be interrupted so I joined a local gym that was open 24 x 7 but when there are only 6 hours turnaround between shifts I chose to spend my time either sleeping or with the family. I'd put on all the weight I'd lost and my fitness has deteriorated back to my couch potato days. I was pretty much "running on empty" and caught a virus that really knocked me around. I lost 4kg in 4 weeks due the virus.

The last time I trained was in early May and the winter weather has now settled in making it difficult & unpleasant to train outdoors. I've also developed arthritis in the right hip & knee and been walking with a slight limp and putting up with the pain.

There have been times when I've thought about quitting the pursuit of completing a triathlon but I've dismissed them and I remain committed.

THE UPSIDE:

I don't have to work for 6 months so this means there is a lot of time available for training and travelling to warmer climates before my first event in November

The Arthritis Foundation recommends aerobic activity such as walking, swimming, bicycling, tai chi, or yoga, muscle-strengthening and stretching exercises to reduce the impact of arthritis. I just need to convert walking to running and this reads like a training plan.

Even though I'm pretty much back to square 1 in my preparation I've got 4 months to prepare for my first Tri. One of my sons and his girlfriend are also talking about doing their first tri too so we can keep each other motivated.

Looking forward to the next few months and getting back on track.

Thanks for reading. Putting things in writing helps keep me focused.

Rod

Best of luck starting up again Rod!

It's the middle of the night and I have triathlon fever. I can't wait to jump back into a training program. To make things work better this time around, I'm considering early morning and/or night time workouts.