Vinnie´s Inspirational Group - Closed for members, open for lurkers! (Page 6)

Hi Jenn,

Good to hear the outdoor rides are becoming more often now, and one thing you will realize is that when you are in some sort of training program, time goes by very very quick! Let us know the update on the knee...

Over here, the big news is that I just signed for a race in 10 days!!It came suddenly and the opportunity was too good to be lost. Well, I suppose I will be going to bed hungry for the next weeks, and need to train quite a bit, not that I will be killer fit, but the idea is to be feeling strong and ready to complete an Olympic Distance race, in Koh Pan Gan, the famous fullmoon party island is south of thailand. Wish me luck! I will be seriously counting with my experience and base to get over this challenge...


Cheers,
Vinnie

Hey, y'all. I saw the ortho doc this morning. He gave me good news and bad news. The good news is that I can still race this month without doing more damage to my knees. The bad news is that the prospects of participating in more races are not good. My body is built for having children, not for running. I have an appointment next week for more physical therapy, and I'm being fitted for knee braces tomorrow. I also need to wear my orthotics regularly. He did not say that I can't run, just that it will probably be painful, and I have to decide how much pain I can or even want to tolerate. At this point, I still want to race this month, but probably not any more this year. The race here is in July, and we will be busy cleaning out, packing, and getting ready for our move in August. We also have plans to spend some time at Yellowstone with my husband's family in July. I will just have to wait and see what happens in the next month or so. I plan to continue training, at least swimming and biking, after the race in Galveston. I want to continue to lose the excess weight. (I've lost 27 pounds since I started training, and 62.5 pounds from my heaviest weight.) Maybe when I reach my goal weight I can try running again. (Only 40.5 pounds to go!) Maybe the stress on my joints will be less, and I will be able to tolerate it. Only time will tell.

Thanks for your support, thoughts, and prayers. They are appreciated more than you know!

Take care, and happy training!

Jenn
:-)

Hi All,
I had my foot casted for orthotics last week. Hopefully they will be in next week or the week after. I'm anxious to see how my foot feels with them. I am making the change to the LOOK pedals, I bought the Keo classic. They were on sale and were sold out when I went to the bike store, so I have a pair on order. I am also going to get a new pair of biking shoes to fit my orthotics, that way I can have them for biking and running. I started running again, Just 30 minutes twice a week. So far OK, but 30 minutes is nothing to what I will be doing over the summer. The doc also gave me this medicated patch that you put on an area of soreness and leave on for 12 hours. It really seems to work. Hey, I'm trying whatever it takes.

My younger son just called - pick me up! so gotta go.
One last thing: I got 3 of my coworkers to sign up and train for the half marathon I'm doing in June. They are all psyched. One of them I did a 1/2 marathon with me 4 years ago, but she since had gotten pregnant and stopped running. She is very excited to get back into it.

Take care,
Susie

Hi all,

Thanks for the news on the foot Jenn. One thing you will notice is that when you get to your weight goal, your ligs and joints will be used to the old and heavy weights, so you will likely be injury-free for quite a long time, I've seen that a lot.

Suzie, there is not more rewarding than getting people close to you to do some training and racing. I remember when I was in college, a guy who was kinda of a "bad boy" (drugs), took up running and asked me to help him out in training. I took him to the coolest running trails in our town, he was hooked!

Over here the big news is that I will start working for ironguides.net Marc Becker is the Head Coach, and he was a key coach in my development as a professional athlete. I will keep you posted on that.

Vinnie

Great news Vinnie! Also, how is the training going for your unexpected race?

Today I had an interesting training day. Started out like a usual Saturday. Spin class, then strength. Then off to watch both my boys in a gymnastic meet. My son's girl friend is doing the indoor tri at the club, so last week I had made an offer of taking her and my son over to the club so she could at least have an opportunity to see what the place looked like and swim in the pool. The pool at the club she belongs to is a 25 yard, and this is a 25 meter. Anyway, I thought I'd be taking them tomorrow, but do to several circumstances I ended up taking them at 4 this afternoon. I ended up running for 40 min on the treadmill, swimming about 30 min and doing some additional strength. My son has been working with his GF on building up her core and upperbody strength. As a gymnast, he has incredible upper body strength. He was trying to get us to do dips. Now, I thought I had some strength, but I just barely managed to crank out 1 dip at a time. Wow, I need to work on that!
So, I was not expecting to do a "two a day", but it felt OK and it was a lot of fun to spend some time with my son and his girlfriend. We had a good time together, which given my son's major case of senioritis bad attitude lately, it was refreshing. Plus his girlfriend is sweet but somewhat quiet, so this was a great opportunity to really talk with her.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

Susie

Hi Susie, the training has been up and down as I feel I am strong, but unfit. Basically, on the bike and in the water, I´ve been able to hold decent times and push heavy hears, but can't do that for too long, so I better be very careful on raceday to not kill myself with the race hype. Running is just hopeless with the 10kg I´ve put on in the last 5 months I plan on jog the whole thing, not that I have many other options!

Good to hear about your double workout day, it is fun isnt? In those situaitons we gotta just forget all training plans, recovery rules, etc, and go for it.

Keep the updates coming guys

Vinnie

Hey, y'all! Training is going well. My knees are better with my new knee braces. I did a "run through" of my race distance yesterday, and was able to finish. It took me about 2h45min (including my transitions), so I know I'm not setting any speed records. I hope to be a little faster on race day because I know my transitions were slow. (I had to change out of my swimsuit before riding my bike. It's a little chilly for wet clothes! Then I had to get situated on a treadmill because it was almost dark when I finished biking.) I am happy with my walk time. I've been able to slowly increase my walking speed, and I walked 3 miles in 49 minutes--11 minutes faster than when I started. I hope I don't finish last on race day! If I do, oh well, at least I will finish!

I have one week until I go to Texas. I'm excited about the warmer weather! I've signed up to take an open water clinic the day before the race. After 45 minutes of instruction, I'll be able to get in the water and swim some of the course. I think it will be very helpful because I haven't done an open water swim before.

We've started paperwork, etc. to get ready for our move. I never realized how much paperwork it takes to leave the country! Yikes! I'm glad we started early!

Suize, way to go on the 2-a-day! That's awesome!

Vinnie, good luck in your race!

Take care, y'all, and happy training!

Jenn
:-)

Hey Jenn,
As long as you continue to improve based on YOU, that's what's important. I'm always racing against myself, nobody else, trying to improve my times. If I do that, I'm pleased.

Good Luck in your race. Can't wait to hear how it goes. How nice to be going someplace warm!

The warm weather is taking it's time getting to Chicago. It may get up to 50 on Wednesday - HEAT WAVE!! But unfortunately, there is still quiet a bit of snow on the ground, so it will be very wet and mushy, so outdoor biking is still out of the question. Might be able to run on the street, but not the trail. But of course, in true Chicago fashion, after Thursday it is going to get cold again. We will not get any extended warmer weather until April, but the cold can sneak back at a moments notice. I ran a race at the end of April in which it snowed.

Happy Monday!

Susie

Hey gang! Sorry to have been quiet for a bit.
I just finished enjoying all the updates.
It is funny to hear Viinie, my Ironman hero mentor, express concern over being ready for his race. It is nice to know we are all mere mortals, testing the physical and mental limits of our bodies.

Jenn, I hope you are excited for your move. That is a big change but I trust it will all be ok. Glad to hear you did a test run of the race distances. I am in Galveston now and am going to race the course w/my brother-in-law this Sat. I have done two swims on the course so far. Not sure why but the bay in a wetsuit seems so much harder to me than my pool. not to mention my imagination conjures up lots of fears for me!

Also I was glad to read that Suzie has a better doc situqtion worked out. That will be nice to be able to work through and settle back into some training groove. I think you are a Warrior training for the bigger distances the way you are! Also getting friends fired up and in is inspiring as well. Good for you.

I hit my fundraising goal for Team in Training so that is something I am glad about. We had a great ride last Sat. Did an 11 mi loop in NW Austin. Had a couple of good climbs in it. I really pushed myself and did well on the ride. I had taken some rest days while I was at my parents' place out in the country. Had 5 of 7 days off. I could tell. Still settling back into the workouts.

Vinnie, please post us an update on your race! I am excited for you and am eager to hear your good race stories!

Happy training!
Brian

Hi Jenn,

Thanks for the training updates, it’s pretty interesting now that you have done the distance, you might be super confident, good on ya!!! On the open water clinic the day before the race, just take it veeeeeeeeeery easy when you swim the course, relax in the water and cruise the whole thing, you do not want to train hard the day before a race.

Brian, this is triathlon buddy, and tris doesn’t care on what races or results you have on your CV, of course that I got a pretty good base, bur if you haven’t trained for the race, you will be in trouble!!! So yeah, i´ve been trying to get some last minute fitness, basically trying to get my mucles, form and technique going again, as there is not much time left, neither I have time to work on endurance, so I will have to rely on my base for that, I really hope I will be fine! As I said before, I feel very strong on the bike and in the water, my splits aren't much slower than when I was training fulltime, but can’t hold the pace for too long, and running is the discipline I’m having more trouble with, I haven’t “trained” since Hawaii, just a random session here and there for 5 months! This morning I rode the trainer for 1h30 and will go for a short swim+run at night.

I will take some pictures and post to you guys, should be a beautiful venue, its called Koh Pan Gan, a small island on southeast Thailand.

Cheers all,
Vinnie

Howdy, y'all! I am so excited today! I reached another goal--30 pounds are gone! Woohoo! (I've actually lost 65.5 pounds from my heaviest weight. I have 37.5 pounds to go to reach my ultimate goal. Piece of cake!) I even resisted the ice cream last night when my husband insisted on taking the kids out to the ice cream shop. That was not easy! On top of that, I was able to run a short distance last night. Yesterday was just a walking day for me, no brick, so I walked 47 minutes on the Treadclimber, and decided to finish out my 3 miles on the regular treadmill. Then I decided to try running to see how my knees felt. I ran 1/10 of a mile at a time and walked in between. I ran a total of 4/10 of a mile. I know it's not much, but for me, running any distance is great. I don't think I'm going to do it again until race day. I don't want my knees to hurt again, so that I can't run on race day. I will try to run as much of the race as I can until my knees start to hurt. (The knee braces seem to be working.) I am so psyched for the race!

Brian and I have been in contact and will meet after the race. I'll make sure and take some pictures to post here for everyone.

Have a terrific, fabulous, fantastic day, everyone! Take care, and happy training!

Jenn

Way to go Jenn! The weight loss is a wonderful accomplishment. I'm sure you will accomplish your goal as you've come so far already. Keep on working!

Can't wait to see the pics from the race. Good luck to both you and Brian.

Vinnie,
Swim question for you: Today I noticed that when I was using the pull buoy I felt as though I was actually going faster and smoother than when I was swimming with kicking. So I timed myself doing a 100 meter and I was 144 which if I remember correctly is a second or two faster than my last best time and with less effort. What is that all about?!?!?! Could I be dropping my legs? I have never been told that was a problem for me in either of the swim clinics I have attended. Have any ideas?

Susie

Hi Jenn, your weight lost is just amazing, keep up the good work, I suppose right ow you are into what we call "training inertia", that means, you are moving foward with such a great momentum, that nothing will stop you from keeping up the fitness gains and weight losses.

Susie, welcome to the triathlon-swim world!! So, you felt like you were with a wetsuit, right? THe load on your shoulders is harder, but you go faster, smoother and feels on the top of the water! THis is exactly what is suppose to happen, pullbuoy is a GREAT tool for tri training, it emulates the tri-swim AND you get a bit of "help" for your tired legs from the run and bike training. Bottom line, use the pullbuoy as much as you want, specially when you are tired, you will work your triathlon-swim specific muscles even if feeling dead in the water and not being able to raise your HR.

Cheers all, tomorrow I have the olympic dist. DUATHLON and the day after triathlon, I rode the course today, HILLY but BUEATIFUL! Will try to get some shots taken.

Vinnie

Thanks Vinnie, that's exactly how it felt. I'm glad to hear that it wasn't because I had some bad form problem without the pullbouy. The other thing I noticed is that it seemed to really be helping me with rotation, which I know is something I still need to work on. I had been rotating only on my breathing side (left). I have been doing drills for bilateral breathing and still have to consciously remember to rotate on the right side, but it is getting easier.

Good luck tomorrow! That certainly is a full weekend.

Susie

Hi Susie, seriously, feel free to use the pullbuoy as much as you want, if you are training for a non-wetuit race, drop the pullbuoy in the week leading to the race, but if its wetsuit legal, you can use it 100% of your sessions.

Guys, on the race, I WON THE THING!!! On saturday, there was the Duathlon, 10k/40k/5k, didnt run well, rode OK, ran OK, was 5th overall, some Malaysian pro killed everyone.

But today, Olympic Distance, I HAMMERED the swim and bike as there was no running after, couldn´t believe how strong I felt on the bike, I suppose yesterday sessions was a "cleaning the pipes" day for todays race, I rode 8' faster on 40k on same effort (HARD!). Second and third place were guys from Malaysia, fourth ad fifth from Thailand, and sixth a french friend.

So yeah, happy with that, I didnt know I would be racing again, but facing it as an age-group, is WAY more fun than as a pro (even though the prize money was good!).

Will try to upload some pictures in a few days when I get the cable to PC back in BKK.

Vinnie

Way to Go Vinnie!!!!! Congrats on the race. How awesome to decide just two weeks ago and then go ahead and win.

I decided to use the Beginner Triathlete Beginner Ironman program. I met a women in the run club that used the program last year and liked it. So, I became a silver member and am ready to go.
Another question for you Vinnie:
I have a 1/2 IM July 20. My plan is to start the IM program a week early so I can put in a taper week the week before the 1/2, then finish up the IM program OR should I start 2 weeks early, do the taper week and then add a recovery week before adding on the last weeks of the IM program. The only problem with that last scenario is that if I add a recovery week I will only have 3 high mileage weeks left before I begin the 3 week taper.
What do you think?

Susie

Way to go, Vinnie! How awesome to have one the race! Great job!

I had good workouts the last 2 days. I didn't make it to the pool and gym Friday night because I had my eyes dilated and ended up with an awful headache. It happens everytime. So, on Saturday, I did a swim-bike brick. My swim went great, but the bike was slow after swimming 1300m. Today, I did a 1400m swim and 3 mile walk. I saw a physical therapist Friday, and he gave me a patella tendon strap to wear that seems to be helping along with my knee braces. I'm going to try to run some on race day.

I'm leaving for Texas on Tuesday. I'm getting really excited. I can't believe that I'm ready for a race in this short amount of time. I have amazed myself.

I hope everyone has a great week. Take care, and happy training.

Jenn

Thanks guys, yes, I was TOTALLY surprised on how I rode my bike yesterday, I have NEVER FELT THAT STRONG on a bike, and for the last 5 months, since Hawaii, I´ve rode outside like 3-4 times (but did MANY indoor on the trainer), go figure, I’m stoked with the performance, and this is the first trophy I really enjoy getting, written in Thai, handled by some Thai politician, etc.

Susie, For your question, I would place the recover week more like after the Half Ironman, just cruise along the week before, the week after, and get back into structured training 6-7 days after the race. That would be my advice, If you have to cut any week up, I would do the first taper week of the IM plan, 3 weeks before an IM is kinda too early to start tapering (assuming you REALLY cut the volume down, I prefer to back off the intensity and keep some volume at low effort). Lemme know what you think.

Jenn, one thing you can do on race day is do switchs of run-walk, as you plan to walk most of it, try to a protocol like 8’ walk / 2’ jog, time might go faster by doing this, you will enjoy more and get focused during the whole run course. Just make sure once you start running, you stick to the protocol,

Cheers,
Vinnie

Ok Vinnie, Let's see if I got this.
Put in a recovery week after the 1/2
Then proceed and eliminate the first taper of the 3 taper weeks for the IM.
The week prior to the 1/2 should I do the mileage but lesson the intensity or visa versa


Thanks,
Susie


Edited by suzimmer 2008-03-17 8:49 PM

Hi Susie, I think you got it right.

-Week before HIM, cut down 20% of volume, and pretty much ALL intense work, nothing should feel harder than "race pace" effort (a few strides here and there to keep you sharp are OK)

-Take the 5 days after the race VERY VERY EASY, active recovery stuff, 30' easy swims, 20' jogs, 30' easy rides, etc. Jump back on the plan on the weekend with volume only (zero intensity)

-Dont start taper until 2 weeks before the IM with your BT plan (cut off the first week of tapering).

Vinnie

Hey Guys,

WOW ! Congrats on the races Vinnie, that's awesome and certainly inspiring!

I'm sorry i've been away a lot. Work as usual...

Anyhow, Suzie you sound much much better! Great. Sorry it's still cold though.
Jenn and Brian, I'll be thinkig of you guys in Texas!! Please do post some pics.

Here the weather is all over the place. It was in the mid 70s a last week ago and now it'll probably pop down to the 50s this week end...go figure.

Regardless, I've been quite good keeping up with training, though with volleyball I can only fit in 2 (maybe 3) swims and one run per week, without collapsing. That should improve soon since I only have 4 vb games left before the season ends...but I really can't miss any practices or games since if we win 3 out of 4 games we'll move into the higher league! Yikes! and then beach volleyball season starts. I honestly am not sure i'll be able to keep up the 2 sports...

Also,I might be getting a bike on monday from one of the girls at the tri club. First time on a road bike...should be fun if I can manage not to crash.
Running has been going well too. I've been consistently running with a girl from the club who is significantly stronger that me and really pushes me every time! I tell ya she doesn't let me slack!! It's hard and I almost threw up a couple times(sorry, but it's true), but I'm finally starting to see improvement. I actually ran a little over 5k last night, 1.5k of which at quite high speed. I know it's not much, but it's more than i've ever done, so i'm happy.

Swim practices are good too: tuesdays with the guys: more of a team feel, and I get in mileage. Fridays are the best though. A lot of people don't come, cause it's friday night and the coach really focuses on technique, and I suppose they feel that if they don't swim a 4k it's not worht it. Anyhow, I like it better cuz the coach really takes time to correct us. Again, really hard, but really great. It's so good to have someone say: "this is good, this is not, this is how to correct it!"

Ah yes, and I dunno if I mentionned my next door neighbor has been coming to practice with me: he does Ironman distances. So that's good too: I have a constant reminder of the objective and it helps motivate me when i get lazy!

Suzie, you mentionned that you usually breathe on one side. I'm sure you have loads of drills, and you may already know this, but I find this one is really good for bilateral breathing and increasing your endurance cuz it mixes up the breathing:
It's a pyramid to be done with a pull buoy (paddles optional); also try to force yourself to flip turn as much as possible to maintain the breathing effort:
800 total at mid to high speed:
-100 breathing every 2 strokes
-100 " " 3 "
-100 " " 4 "
-200 breathing " 5 "
- 100 " " 4 "
- 100 " " 3 "
- 100 " " 2 "

Ok guys, I've posted a novel again, but hey it's catches back the absences!
take care
joelle

Thanks Vinnie. I printed out your instructions to keep with all my info. It sure is nice to have someone who really knows answering my questions. There is so much to learn.

Hi Joelle, Welcome back. I know how much work can get in the way of things. THis was a horribly hectic week for me. In the world of special education, the paper work can be unbelievable and this was one of those weeks. Fortunately, spring break starts tomorrow! Yeah!
Yes things are a bit better. At least I know what the problem is now and have a plan to hopefully get me through the summer. Thanks for the breathing drill. I can do the bilateral breathing if I am going slowly. It is very hard for me to sustain breathing if it is more that every 3 strokes when I pick up the pace, but I will try it.

Well, I'm wiped. As I said before, it has been a very busy and tiring week so it is off to bed. I would like to get to the club early tomorrow. I'm hoping that since a lot of people have the day off it won't be crowded early, but with schools closed, it will definitely get crowded as the day goes on. Plus, since it is the first day of spring, how fitting to be under a winter storm warning for tomorrow. Yes, we could get 6 or more inches of snow. Yahoo. (NOT)

Later,
Susie

Hey, y'all. I'm in Texas now only after a CRAZY day on Tuesday. There were bad storms in east Texas, so one of my flights was cancelled. (I have to take connecting flights to get from Spokane to Houston. There are no direct flights.) I ended up spending almost 8 hours in the Phoenix airport with my 3 kids. Talk about a long day! We were able to get on a later flight after the storms passed.

Now that I'm here, I've done a couple of walk/runs and a couple of bike rides. My dad borrowed a road bike for me, and I've had some good rides on it. It's a lot faster for me than my mountain bike. I didn't realize how much of a difference it would make. It's awesome.

I'm beginning to regret my decision to not use a wetsuit for the race next weekend, but I think it's a little late to change my mind. The water is supposed to be about 72 degrees. I'm hoping it doesn't feel too cold.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone. Take care, and happy training!

Jenn

Hi Guys,

Jenn and Brian, good luck on the race, I hope you guys will do a good job to kick off the season, don't get too much carried away with littles stresses you might have before and during the race, and DO NOT forget to celebrate what this is sport is all about, that means, go out there and have a blast!!! I want to see the pictures afterwards with smiles only!!

Joelle, thanks for the big update, and it sounds like you've nailed a great training routine even working long hours, good to hear too you are feeling better around the local tri community, and post for us a picture of your new ride once you get it!

Susie, good to hear the tips on tapering are helping, basically you gotta still keep the motor running but without too much stress, that means, some volume, but no intensity.

As for the race pictures in Thailand, http://www.phangansport.com/

Cheers all,
Vinnie

Hey gang!

Vinnie, I checked out the photos! CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING!!! I was so excited when I read that post a few minutes ago! Is that you at the top of the home page holding the trophy over your head? There is a group photo with a guy in a hat holding the trophy and then to the right of that there is a picture of a man with no hat holding up a trophy. Are you one of those two? I looked at some of the other pics. That looks like a pretty fit field of athletes! Some of those guys are really, really muscular and fit! Congratulations again on your win!

Jenn, I am glad to hear you are in Texas. I was wondering when you are coming into town. I won't make it to Galveston until Friday evening. I may try to call you when we are driving in. We will be there at 5am when the transitions area opens. I am looking forward to meeting you and getting to introduce you to my wife as well. We will have some pics, guys, and we will post them here.

Suzi, I swam with a pull buoy this week and experienced the same sensation. I think the main reasons it makes us actually faster is the fact that it does lift our legs a bit, and also really makes us twist in the water and that makes us much more efficient with our swimming. At Vinnie's suggestion I may do more workouts with it.

Jenn, the temp in the Bay is currently in the mid to upper 60's. Hopefully with one more week of warm weather it will warm up a bit more.

I have had several good workouts since my last post. Next month I am doing the MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin so I am focusing on building up my biking legs. I am really excited about next weekend's race. It will be a lot of fun to be out there doing our best and seeing "what we have" when it comes down to it.

This is likely my last post until after the race so I hope you all train hard, are strong, and stay healthy!

check back soon...
Brian