marmadaddy's Group - FULL

I'd love to be your mentee Mike if you still have room!  You sent me one of my 1st Inspires and I thought that that was really neat!

I am 39 Yrs old and currently weigh 240lb.  Nobody believes I weigh that much, but it is what it is.  The giant thighs hide most of my weight.  I quit smoking, for the 2nd time, 2 months ago and I didn't want a repeat of the 1st time I quit.  I gained 40lbs.  I went back to smoking after the events of Sept 11 had me on the verge of losing my mind and sanity.  After 5 years of grieving, I was tired of disrespecting the memories of my friends by not savoring everyday as if it were my last.  I get great inspiration from thinking about them and what would they do if they had 1 more day back. When it came time to quit smoking this time I had a plan, joined a gym and began exercising so not to gain weight.  It worked!

I've always wanted to complete a tri of any distance and since I will be 40 in a week I thought what a great mid life crisis to have.  I related a lot to Brian's story in that I haven't really received the support from my wife and others that I feel I should have.  In fairness to them, a little of 2 months ago, I was smoking 1 pack per day and eating sweets as if they were oxygen.  They are starting to come around. 

We can get more into this later.  My goal is to complete (respectably) an OLY in Sept. and HIM in 2008, maybe a full at end of 2008. 

Hi everyone, this is great! I hope you'll add each other to your 'friends' list. Having a few people to check on your training and help motivate each other is incredibly valuable.

 I see some of your are already registered for races, that's great. Registering for my first race was the single most motivating thing for me. There was no backing out at that point.

Hey Mike: 

Not sure when this all kicks off, but since you asked about a training plan in PM, I'll open it up here.  As of right now, I have no plan. My race scheduling had no forethought or planning whatsoever.  I just wanted to commit to races, so I can't back out.  In retrospect, I understand now about scheduling "A", "B", "C" races etc.  With that said, here's my schedule:

April 22 Mini-Sprint (1st Event ever)!  18 weeks away

June 17 Sprint (14 m Bike) 26 weeks away

July 8 Sprint (8 mile bike) 29 weeks away

Sept 16 Olympic (39 weeks away)  "A" race?

Sept 30 HIM (41 weeks away)- NOT Registered, just a dream, but too close to OLY.

I was looking at the 20 week 3x week OLY balanced, maybe do it twice before my OLY??

Because my wife and I work opposite shifts and I watch our son during the morning hours almost all of my run/swim training will have to be done at gym, with almost all bike training on trainer.  I may get 2-3 hrs on weekends for outdoor training. (Hope this doesn't cause too much of a hassle).  Anyway thats where I am at.  I currently do not use/or have an HRM, but I can comfortably swim 1 hr+, run 1hr bike 1hr.  But not really sure if I am pushing too hard, or not hard enough. As for the saddle on bike, I didn't get numb when I rode on road, only on the trainer? I will look into new saddles either way. 

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing back from you on that training plan.

Tim

Hi CTD, welcome to the group. That makes 5! Sounds like we have a great group.

Now to actually train.

Hi all...

Mike was kind enough to let me join the group after a bit of pleading...  quick background...

Am 35, married with a 16-month old and another one due in August... was always very athletic in high school and college.  While in grad school, I started smoking and stopped exercising.  Got married, happy, fat, and lazy.  Last March, my weight was up to about 200.  The doctor told me I needed to lose about 25 and somehow I started eating right and walking on the treadmill for an hour a day.  By July, I had lost 42 pounds.  Goal achieved, I needed something else.

I read about triathlons on Wikipedia and the line "Triathletes are extraordinarily fit..." appealed to me.  So I found this site, and here I am.  I'm doing some biking, a little running, and trying to get acclimated in the pool, but like Brian, I still smoke.  That needs to stop.  Soon.  Otherwise I won't be doing a triathlon.

I'm shooting for a sprint in May, another one in June, and a 3rd in July.  I had planned to do one in mid-August, but my wife's due date is 8/10, so that'll probably not happen.  Instead, I might attempt an Olympic distance in September.

Cheers to all and thanks for doing this Mike!!

Tim 

I will begin my training plan on Monday December 18. I am planning on starting at Week 3 so the taper will coincide with my first race.  Mike I chose 20 week Sprint 3x Balanced.  My first mini-Sprint is 18 weeks away. After the mini, I plan on doing the 20 week 3x balanced, as my OLY will be 21 weeks from the mini.  I will have 2 other Sprints in between, so I will have to figure out a taper.

 I know this will probably sounds hard headed, but should I follow the plans to a T, as long as life permits.  What I mean is if I am scheduled for 24 minutes on bike, but feel good can I go longer? Or should I stick to plan and cherish the rest? I kind of already know the answer, but need to hear it.

Thanks! Tim

I'm officially starting training for a marathon today, so it's a big day for both of us.

It's generally better to do a bit too little rather than a bit too much. You want to finish each workout feeling like you could go a little longer. This helps to prevent injuries. As you become accustomed to training and you get to know how your body responds to different workloads you'll be able to better gauge when it's ok to go longer. For now it's best to be conservative.

Being patient with your training can be tough but for endurance sports it's crucial.

Hey Mike,

I was thinking about doing to 0 to 1650 in six weeks swim program.  It's supposed to get you to be able to swim 1650 yards without stopping.  (ha!)  These are the yardages (3x a week) for each session:

week 1: 700 yards

week 2: 900 yards

week 3: 1250 yards

week 4: 1500 yards

week 5: 1600

week 6: 1650

doesn't this violate the 10% rule over the first few weeks?  should I be doing this, especially considering that currently, I have to rest for 30 seconds or more between 50s to get my breath back. 

I just thought you were going to track the smoking Tim and the new and improved quit smoking Tim!

I warned you.