Baowolf's Winter training is FUN group..no really it is!! (OPEN) (Page 10)

Mostly running in weather is about just putting on a windproof shell. I did my run in 40F yesterday just in shorts and a shirt. My usual long run on Sunday is in 20 to 25F temps, but can be in 5F to 15F as well and I just put on a windproof leggings, jacket and gloves. If it is colder then a balaclava (spelling) for the face. My coldest race was a marathon in 40F temps in the rain. I was fine during the race but had about a 10 minute window to get dry before my temperature would have dropped dangerously low.

Great news kind of to hear that hyperthyroidism is the problem. Knowing will allow for treatment rather than just taking the edge off the symptoms and making you think it was something else.

Sorry Phil, but I hold that title!

I don't have quite the resistance to cold as you Steve! I usually follow these guidelines from Runners World to make sure I don't get too cold. It might help others who are on the fence about attire: http://www.runnersworld.com/what-to-wear

Congrats!!!!!!!! How did you win it? I can't think of a nicer and more deserving person to get a VIP pass.

I'm not as tough about the cold as Steve is either. I really have to push myself to go out when it's in the 40s and will only go in the 30s if you hold a gun to my head. But I did do one marathon when we started in the low 20s, ran on the beach, had hellish wind, and finished with it still around the freezing mark. In Florida. Maybe there is a reason why that is my worst marathon time.

Phil, rock climbing......makes me smile. You always do fun, non-traditional things. Cool.

Really hope everyone starts feeling better. Sounds like we have too much sickness right now.

I am on the Snapple Triathlon team and they earn points for placing in races around the world. They won 3 VIP passes 2 HIM and 1 IM for this year. The contest was to tell your best story about racing last year and I shared my IMCDA adventure. They decided that I needed a good shot at redemption this year and gave me the IM VIP pass. There must have been hundreds of stories so I was surprised that I won. I am happy that my wife will get pampered a bit during my race she always comes along to races with no complaints about how long the day is for her. She is a pretty amazing person, much better than I deserve.

That's the secret to a great marriage - both should feel like that got much better than they deserve. Fantastic job winning the VIP slot and I'm very happy that your wife will get some pampering that day.

I've been quite happy running in temps down to zero, even in the negatives. As long as I've been covered up and use body glide in the right areas, it's actually quite pleasant with the cold air... the blizzard however was another story. It was like thousands of mini daggers hitting my face! I put up with it for 5 miles but that was it. I think that's what put me over the edge.

I don't like feeling this way. I was up all night and whatever it is, it's getting worse. So much for kicking off my plan again on Monday! :-(

On a positive note, if anyone's doing IM Boulder, then I may see you from the other side of the fence. I just volunteered to be in the T1 tent to help people out in general. See you there!

It's a nice and warm -22 F today. Hopefully it warms up to -5 before my run today!

I was waiting for our actual cold weather folks to post. I was thinking about you on my 40F run in the rain with 30 mph winds today at lunch. It was a bit cooler than if it were snow because the rain soaked through my outer shell. Ah the RR, KK here it is, long.......

Ironman Coeur D’ Alene!

It was an amazing day at IMCDA in many ways. The journey for me started 6 months ago with some big training and weight loss. However, 1 week before the race I was training hard and ended up putting my back and shoulder into spasm. I went to a massage therapist on Monday and that did not help at all. The 750 mile drive to Coeur D’ Alene was extremely painful and I ended up with a doctor prescribing muscle relaxants 2 days before the race. For 3 days I was in agonizing pain, being unable to sit in a chair, just lying flat on the floor alternating ice and heat or pacing in circles. My family was worried about me and my friends thought I would not be able to even start the race. Both physically and emotionally it was very intense. At 4am on Sunday morning I decided that even on muscle relaxants and my back all locked up I would try to stretch it out as much as I could and attempt the swim. I told my wife that I may only make it 10 yards into the swim and turn around and be done for the day, but that I was going to at least go out and try and see how things went after training so hard.

Around 6:30 in the morning I had all of my gear set up, had my wetsuit on, and was lined up to see how long my back would hold up. It was not a good day for an Ironman in that the winds were up around 15 mph at 5am and with the lake at 61F it had a main swell of waves from the wind coming straight in at the beach of maybe 1 to 2 feet and a cross wind causing some diagonal chop from the southwest. At around 6:50 I crossed the starting line and into the cold water. I just set out to see if I could at least finish the swim. It was much worse in the water than it looked from land and the other swimmers were affected by the waves with much disorientation and swimming into each other. I found that during the first thousand yards that I was able to maintain a good swimming position and though my shoulder was still pretty locked up, my back was mostly ok. It was tough going as the sideways chop often smacked me in the face at the top of a 2 foot swell and sometimes I didn’t get air, but water, but I made it through the first lap (1.2 miles) and entered the water for the 2nd lap. My shoulder was a bit weaker on the second lap, but I finished the swim feeling alright.

I waved at my family and headed on to the bike. The bike ride at CDA has roughly 4000 feet of climbing and has two loops with a couple of 25 mile sections that are mostly uphill and straight into a 15 to 20 mph headwind. Anyway I got on my bike and headed out only to find that I could not put any weight on the handlebars with my right hand due to my shoulder getting worked from the swim and still in spasm even with the muscle relaxants in my system. My thought in the first 100 yards of the bike was crap, after surviving the swim my day might be over in the first miles of the bike. Well, there was nothing to do but move ahead as I could and see if the shoulder would loosen up and allow me to put some weight on my right hand as the race progressed. The first 10 miles were very awkward trying to ride the bike mostly 1 handed, but then slowly my shoulder did loosen up and I was able to put some weight on it. Over the course of the next 7 hours at times I could put some weight on my right hand at others not so much, but I just kept going as I could. The 2nd loop into the 20 mph headwind for 25 ish miles, mostly uphill was tough, but I just kept at it. It was a great relief when I finally got to the turnaround at mile 95 and headed mostly down hill and down wind. I knew I could finish the bike at that point. I finally got to the bike finish after a tough 112 miles and painfully put weight on my right hand as I hit the brakes to get off the bike.

Then it was on to the 26.2 mile run. I was optimistic about the run and headed off at a decent pace, trying to work out my legs after the long bike ride. The shoulder remained stiff, but the back was holding up ok, so the first 8 miles were pretty solid. At times I wondered what affect doing the muscle relaxants might have on my body during an Ironman, but things were holding together and I waved at my family at mile 13 ish and headed out for the 2nd half of the marathon. Things got a lot harder on that second lap. I was starting to feel muscle groups that had been strained with compensating for back and shoulder issues for 11 or 12 hours and fighting the relaxants in my system. By mile 17 I could feel the impact of each foot impact all the way from my shoulders, down my sides as my muscled slid over my ribs, and felt my hamstrings tightening up. At that point I knew that the run was going to take much longer than I had hoped. I started by walking the next half mile and then tried to jog again, nope no good yet. Muscle relaxants also have a dehydrating affect, so I had to start to be careful of my fluid intake and started taking in more water. At mile 18 I was able to jog for a couple minutes before needing to walk again. I just kept going, walking until the pain eased, then jogging until it increased too much again. I walked up the hills this time, jogged down them. At mile 21 it started to rain. I was a bit concerned that with my decrease pace that I might have a drop in my core body temperature, but the rain only lasted for about 15 minutes. The miles were coming a bit slower, some jogging, some walking, just monitoring the muscle groups for how much they could take at any given time. The miles passed slowly, mile 22, 23, 24. I knew I would finish the race at this point, but wanted to finish sub 14:00:00 if I could. I passed mile 25 and tried to run the rest of the way, but couldn’t. I walked another 2 minutes and then dug deep to get to the finish line in the best run I could manage. It was a long straight run with the crowd now thick and cheering, I focused on just getting that last half mile done, high 5 ing kids along the way as I could, not too steady on the run at this point, trying to smile through the pain, a quarter mile to go, 100 yards, there it is, the finish line. As I ran down the final 100 feet of the finishing shoot and crossed the finish line after 140.6 very tough miles I heard the announcer say, “Stephen Bratton, you are an IRONMAN!” I quickly looked to the audience and saw my wife, she nodded with approval and relief. I was surprised that a friend (from our mentor group) Samantha, who had volunteered at the race, had stayed late to put the finisher’s medal around my neck herself. And it was done, 13 hours 57 minutes, sub 14. Not how I had planned it, but a race well run with sweat and determination.

I then healed up and rebuilt my fitness for IM Lake Tahoe only to have the race called 5 minutes before the race start while I was on the shore because the smoke from an arson set fire was too think for safety. It was pretty emotional, everyone just stood there for about 10 minutes before we stared retrieving our gear. On the drive home I had my wife drop me off 95 miles from home to at least get in a good bike ride. The smoke was bad even 200 miles away from the fire, but it took the edge off my frustration.

I warned you, a long read.




Edited by Baowolf 2015-02-06 5:36 PM

Hi everybody!!

Just a little message from me. First of all, goodluck to all the setbacks and health issues; fingers crossed!!

My plan is working so far so good.Together with my wife I found a rythm in training. Now I can sit on my bike for 2,5 hours and swim for 45 minutes without resting. The breathing works.
Running is giving me some trouble. Every time I go out I feal great, and then after 3-4 km. My calve starts aching, I have to stop. I' m going to see a physio therapist, it feels like a knot, massage helps, I don't know...we'll see

Greetings from Heerlen, Netherlands

Michael

Have the Doc tell you if you have a pulled muscle in your calf (one or both?). If it is pulled you need to rehab it for 6 weeks or you will continue to strain it and it won't heal for 6 months..... I have been through that a couple of times now.

Hello trainees!!

New to triathlons but eager to dive in. Live in Marin County, CA and have a training partner as clueless as I am. We run and do yoga pretty regularly, and are training for the April Marin half marathon. Looking for help on gear (especially bikes!) and good first triathlons to try in CA in May or June. Thanks all! Craig

What distance triathlon are you going to start with? What do you want to know about bikes? What is the longest triathlon you think you will do in the next 10 years?

Hi Michael

Welcome Cthigpen

WOW, Way to power through an IM. heck, way to power through just getting up and getting going. Great accomplishment.

Edited by ceilidh 2015-02-07 6:00 AM

Good morning all, sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Life happens.

My training has been going pretty good. Here's my Jan numbers a little late -
Run - 160 miles
Bike - 253 miles
Swim - 7 miles
Total - 421 miles

Feb should show some improvement. Especially in the swim and bike miles (crossed fingers).

Awesome race report Steve/Baowolf.

Welcome Craig

Ken - I'd be sky-writing those numbers for the world to see, but then again you were probably too busy training!

Steve, you are an inspiration - esp. as you learned and kept training, never gave up.

David - Not sure you can continue calling yourself a newbie - doing really well.

You too Robin.

Have been using the treadmill at my college and drifted into the weight room. There I was a slightly heavy, middle-aged woman wondering around trying to get the feel of the place. Started to feel like the young guys were wondering if I was lost - though I'm sure they didn't even notice me.
Pride got the better of me and I dropped to the floor for three sets of 12 push-ups/ lat pull. Did some back work with heaviest weight I could do 10 reps with, kicked with a 25# kettlebell and ended with some ab work. Got back a bit of that swag you get when you're pumping iron. Felt nice, but back to my focus on endurance work.


Thought I'd get in my first swim of the year, but forgot my goggles - hated that I was glad. I can't wait till I enjoy swimming as much as I do running.

Mitzi

If there is still room I'm in.
Bio coming soon.

Kelly

Yep common in plenty of room.

Nice run miles there!

Edited by Baowolf 2015-02-07 4:49 PM

I'm back..

NAME: Kelly W

STORY: I have mainly been a runner most of my life. Seven years ago had the opportunity to work and live on the Big Island of HI. While there I witnessed my first Hawaii IM in person. It was the most amazing experience in the world. I knew that day I wanted to be a IM some day. I trained doing some sprints and Olympic distances for a couple of years then started training for a 70.3 everything was perfect until I had a panic attack 1 mile out on my open water swim. I'm not real sure why I survived that dreadful day but I did. From that day forward I haven't been able to get back into the open water. There has always been that regret that I quit but I'm ready to try again. I am using my training as a tool to battle depression and anxiety that has been keeping me sedentary for the last 12 mo.
I live in Seattle where it's pretty mild but often wet.

FAMILY STATUS: Married, one beautiful daughter, cat and dog. Working full time

CURRENT TRAINING: None.

THIS YEAR'S RACES (2015): I am signing up for a sprint in about 3-4 mo. from now if all goes well maybe another.
WEIGHTLOSS: In the last year I have put on 20 pounds. Currently at 144. Ideal training weight 125. I have some work to do.

Welcome Kelly. Exercise is good for both depression and anxiety. For OWS you will have to gradually get used to swimming in open water. This would preferably be done with a partner in a boat/canoe/kyak for safety and in a wetsuit for comfort/safety floatation and having a safety stroke such as backstroke or sidestroke where you can keep your face out of the water in the case that your respiration rate goes up. It would be good to rule out a medical condition or medication side effect that caused the first panic attack, because then it is an easy fix and may not ever return. However, the anticipation of another one while swimming could be pretty difficult to overcome.

With anxiety, depression, low motivation anything, the main secret is to just start out slow, build slow and gain confidence as you go. Try to not find excuses to not do something. Walking is fine. etc.

Steve, just read your RR again for IM CDA. Crying, again. You are so incredibly tough! Glad that Snapple realized that you are a VIP - wherever you go.

Welcome Kelly!

Late last fall, I realized that I could get into Marathon Maniacs if I did the marathon at Tally. (3 marathons in 3 months). So today is the third. I was nervous because while I have trained almost as well as I could, it's not the way that I should have trained. But yesterday at registration, found that a precious friend will also be the race so I feel better about the whole thing. Today will not be a PR but I'm hoping to just enjoy the day. Having some ITB issues but now after reading Steve's RR, I'm ready to tackle anything.

Yes c'mon in Kelly! You have found a great, supportive group of people. We all have struggles and are at different places in our journeys.

Pam, how did I let your mary sneak up on me? Hope you are out there having a great adventure on the course, and that the ITB issues remain in cheque. Look forward to hearing about your race!

Steve, yes awesome race report, and so glad that sharing it snagged those VIP passes! Your wife sounds like a great supporter, and it's very nice to see her rewarded as well.

Settling into my work routine and figuring out life, income, etc. with hubby retired. It's been a lot of change to absorb, and I haven't coped well with it diet wise. I'm feeling really uncomfortable with my weight and do not want to "invest" in yet another size up in clothes! Insulin requirements and blood sugar volatility have also gone up. I'm up 30+ lbs over where I was when I was in my best shape a couple of years ago, and it is NOT muscle. I need to face the fact that, while I can work out more intensely than I am right now, it is the "calories in" side of the equation that I must work on.