kagoscuba

Get the clipless and the aero bars! :thumbup: Oh, and you WILL fall, usually when you stop or get sluggish on a hill. It's more embarassing than painful.

So, my fellow lap-banders who have thought about or do triathlons - what are your goals? My A race is the FL HIM in May. I'll be 20 months from band to 70.3 miles, and I cannot wait. I may not be fast, but I won't quit!! :thumbup: For those of you wondering if you can...stop wondering and start moving...it can be done!! Small steps first though. Walk a mile, jog a mile, run a mile, then it is all just numbers. :thumbup:

Knowing what I know now, I'd go with a treadmill. I bought an elliptical, and it is just a nice hat-rack now. I moved from elliptical, to treadmill, to running outside. During the winter I have a membership to a gym to use their treadmills. Thankfully, by the end of this month, I'm hoping the snow and ice will be gone, so I can run all the time outside. I could care less how cold it is outside - it's the ice that stinks.

Great February for me: Biking - 212 miles Running - 61 miles Swimming 12,000 meters Strength - 3 hours FL 70.3 in May...I can't wait!!! :thumbup:

AZPete...do you do sub-threshold runs for most of your training, or are you out to set a new PR on every run? Did you run longer than HM distance in training leading up to the race? I have a HM scheduled for May, so just looking for general ideas. Right now I am running 6 days a week at a 4,2,4,2,4,4 mileage rate. In a couple of weeks, I am looking to bump those up to 6 and 3.

Yes, I've had people tell me I exercise too much, and they are typically lazy-a$$es. As long as you are not hurt or burnt-out, work as much as you want; caveat - make sure you work up to a certain level...don't try a marathon if you haven't completed a 5k, for example. Yikes, I though tNJ was cold - Montana is insanely cold. I run outside into the single digits, but negative temps? As we say here, fugggedaboutit!! Keep on doing what you are doing, and if you are interested, get a bike and an indoor bike trainer. The bike trainer is about $120.00. It's boring as hell biking in place, but with the temps you described, you don't have much choice.

First bit of advice? Get off the "dreadmill" and run outside. Unless it is below 20 degrees, there is no reason I can see to not run outside. Second bit of advice is to run "sub-threshold." Most beginning runners try to run to exhaustion and burn out. When you finish, you should be tired, but you should not be doubled over gasping for breath, unless you meant to go "all out." If that means running 15 minute miles, then so be it. Better times will come, but not if you "kill yourself" and burn out. I have a signature on my tri site that says, "I run like a gazelle, if it has a lion hanging from its neck." 10 months after I started running, I may need to change that soon. Tonight I ran 2 miles in 16:39; you can get there too; it's just a matter of running smart, not running harder.

Yeah, I'm probably going to hurl, but I've got a 70.3 scheduled for May 17th. The Ford Ironman 70.3 in Orlando, FL. I can't believe 18 months after surgery I'm even thinking about a HIM, but without challenges, what is life but another boring day in the office? :shades_smile:

Last September This July It has been an amazing journey. :redface:

You are welcome! :wink2: I started exercising 4 days after surgery, per my doctor's recommendation. Ab exercises 2 weeks later, full weights after 6 weeks. I started easy on the elliptical machine. From October until April I was doing elliptical, weights, and ab work 4-6 days a week. In April I started mixing in running and biking - slowly. In July I started swim workouts, and I have now quit my gym and am doing biking, running, and swimming (local Y) on my own, as well as weights at home. My suggestion is to take it slow. I did not fall out of shape in a year, so I can't expect to be back in top form in a year or less. Make planned improvments methodically and don't increase exercise amounts (time, weight, effort) more than 10% at a time, then allow for that increase to stabilize for a minimum of one week before increasing again.

One additional picture. This was taken 366 days after my surgery. It was during the Jerseyman Triathlon

wow...you all certainly know how to make a fella feel great!! Thank you very much for all of the extremely kind comments!! We can and will achieve greatness together.

Thanks Lulu! Yep, I have an end-of-season Tri scheduled for 10/12. Depending on babysitting, I may not be able to make it though. My wife is going to Boston that weekend, and our normal babysitter flaked out by telling me this morning she can't make it on 10/12. Hopefully, something will work out, because races don't give refunds and I've already paid my entrance fee.

I'm in! goals for October are 12k meters of swimming, 200 miles of biking, 50 miles of running.

Most people are capable or waking up and exercising for one hour before glycogen stores from the day before are depleted and the body starts using itself as fuel. That being said, I and many others hate working out on an empty stomach, and that can affect you too...just not as much physically as you might think. It is best to get low sugar food into you prior to working out. When I do tri's (they almost always start early and I have to arrive at 0-dark-thirty to set up), it's bananas, Clif bars, Peanut Butter, and some Water to get me fueled. The worst thing to do is start eating or drinking high in sugar items, as they will give you an initial spike, but if you have continued exertion will cause your blood sugar to crash, thus making you feel lethargic or faint. I learned this the hard way, as I learned Gatorade as a pre-race drink is the LAST thing I should have had. Of course with the training I do, I do not follow the band regimen "eat three times a day" strictly either. I eat five small meals a day, in order to be ready for my afternoon workouts.