Triathlon etc. (was: Ellie)

[Guest guest]

Hi, ! So, do you follow the BFL program " clean, " or do you alter your

carb/protein ratio around your training? And what about the

cardio/strength-training relationship? If you rode 33 miles obviously you're

doing more than 20 minutes of cardio at a time :-)

OK, you said about your triathons, " ...it's truly for recreation " -- but you

know what, so is mine ;-) I mean, it's not like I'm making money at it or

anything LOL! The first Ironman was " to see if I can " and the one I'm training

for now is " to see if I can again, and maybe a little more easily, or maybe

having even more fun than the first time " or something like that. There is no

really good reason for anyone to do this other than prize money, fun, and/or

just plain insanity, and we have already established that I don't stand a chance

of the first one... :-D

I like triathlon for the same reasons you do. I like breaking up my training

with other training. Same with the races. If I do a triathlon that takes me as

long as running a marathon does, I don't feel nearly as beat up after the tri as

after a marathon, although the time is about the same. Because in triathlon you

get to keep changing what you do. I've been running for 20 years but just got

into triathlon the last 5 -- again, to see if I could (first one was a little

shorter than Olympic distance), and I found out I could, and I got hooked. And

as in running, I kept wanting to see if I could go a little farther next time,

and so on.... in running, it ended up with marathons and in triathlon, well,

we've already talked about that :-) I don't know what's next. Maybe

ultra-marathons, like my new idol . Or not.

A sprint tri is an accomplishment. An Olympic distance one is definitely no

small potatoes. If you do 4 or 5 this summer I'm impressed! The most I've ever

done in one season is 3. However, this past winter, when we were staying in

Arizona, I met a woman who does a lot of hard-core biking, had taken a few

months " easy, " and wanted to start increasing her distance again for some kind

of event she was training for. When we met we were both up to about 40 miles, so

together we started with a 50-mile ride; the next week we did 75; skipped a

week, then the next 2 weeks in a row we did 100-mile rides. I was whupped. She

was riding me into the ground. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, she's 68 and has a

great-grandkid. In her " active " season she rides 200-300 miles per week. I can't

imagine. Wanna know what she eats? She has it down to a science. Breakfast:

Oatmeal. Lunch: PBJ sandwich. Dinner: Just some kind of normal meal or pizza or

something. On the bike: Granola bars and Gatorade, plus she takes along her PBJ

sandwich if she's riding through lunch. ~Sigh~

You're right about seeing food as just plain fuel on long rides. I think about

carbs, protein, fat, calories in vs. calories out, and balance. I just realized,

if I can do that on the bike, I should be able to do it off the bike. I never

thought of that till just now. Thanks for the tip! :-D

Ellie

[Guest guest]

Ellie,

It's great to hear your input on training and tri's. I eat BFL style most of

the time but I definitely splurge more than I should and I change my eating

according to my training. This winter I was focused more on lifting and getting

cut so I reduced my PM carbs and lifted six days a week, went light on cardio.

Now I'm TRI training six days a week and having a hard time fitting in strength

training, and I definitely need more carbs to support my workouts so I eat them.

I don't get overly analytical with my food when I'm training for a Tri, it would

be counterproductive to " Diet " while doing the kind of workouts I need to do

now. I'd rather carry a few extra pounds and feel strong and be able to push

hard than bonk in the middle of a training session. I'm 5'7 " and have been

between 160-165 for about 12 yrs, even when I played college soccer. My BF

stays around 19-22% so I try to focus on that, I'm just not a skinny person and

I'm fine with that. I've found that tri

training has given me a better appreciation for what my body can do, instead of

how it looks. I'm sure not gonna complain about my muscular thighs when I just

toasted everyone on a long bike ride! haha I would like to find a way to fit

lifting into my tri training... i got pretty cut this winter and I'm starting to

lose it since I'm only lifting 1-2x per week... I don't mind working out twice a

day to fit in lifting but I don't want it to have a negative effect on my tri

training, what do you think? any ideas? nice chatting with you!

heather

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I'm really interested in training for some races. I should probably start w/ a 5

K and work my way up to an eventual marathon and tri. I'm thinking I should

focus right now on building muscle and gaining weight though right? Once I get

my weight and bodyfat up, then I'll be ready for some more hardcore cardio

training. I'm interested in the plans and programs you guys are on for training

though.

Shumaker wrote: Ellie,

It's great to hear your input on training and tri's. I eat BFL style most of the

time but I definitely splurge more than I should and I change my eating

according to my training. This winter I was focused more on lifting and getting

cut so I reduced my PM carbs and lifted six days a week, went light on cardio.

Now I'm TRI training six days a week and having a hard time fitting in strength

training, and I definitely need more carbs to support my workouts so I eat them.

I don't get overly analytical with my food when I'm training for a Tri, it would

be counterproductive to " Diet " while doing the kind of workouts I need to do

now. I'd rather carry a few extra pounds and feel strong and be able to push

hard than bonk in the middle of a training session. I'm 5'7 " and have been

between 160-165 for about 12 yrs, even when I played college soccer. My BF stays

around 19-22% so I try to focus on that, I'm just not a skinny person and I'm

fine with that. I've found that tri

training has given me a better appreciation for what my body can do, instead of

how it looks. I'm sure not gonna complain about my muscular thighs when I just

toasted everyone on a long bike ride! haha I would like to find a way to fit

lifting into my tri training... i got pretty cut this winter and I'm starting to

lose it since I'm only lifting 1-2x per week... I don't mind working out twice a

day to fit in lifting but I don't want it to have a negative effect on my tri

training, what do you think? any ideas? nice chatting with you!

heather

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

NIKERUNNING.COM!!!! NIKERUNNING.COM!!!! Holy cow I am addicted to that

site!!!! Go under training, and you can set up a training log and track all

your runs and it does the pace and everything for you...

But here's the cool part, the have specific training schedules as well! From

walk-run all the way up to a marathon, and for novice all the way up to asiring

elite, it has a specific plan for each person and each kind of race and it will

automatically input it on the little calendar for you... I kind of shelved the

whole 5k training thing just so I could finish up this challenge, but I'm

thinking that maybe for the next one I'll try to work in some of the 5k training

for cardio as well...

Re: Triathlon etc. (was: Ellie)

I'm really interested in training for some races. I should probably start w/ a

5 K and work my way up to an eventual marathon and tri. I'm thinking I should

focus right now on building muscle and gaining weight though right? Once I get

my weight and bodyfat up, then I'll be ready for some more hardcore cardio

training. I'm interested in the plans and programs you guys are on for training

though.

Shumaker wrote: Ellie,

It's great to hear your input on training and tri's. I eat BFL style most of

the time but I definitely splurge more than I should and I change my eating

according to my training. This winter I was focused more on lifting and getting

cut so I reduced my PM carbs and lifted six days a week, went light on cardio.

Now I'm TRI training six days a week and having a hard time fitting in strength

training, and I definitely need more carbs to support my workouts so I eat them.

I don't get overly analytical with my food when I'm training for a Tri, it would

be counterproductive to " Diet " while doing the kind of workouts I need to do

now. I'd rather carry a few extra pounds and feel strong and be able to push

hard than bonk in the middle of a training session. I'm 5'7 " and have been

between 160-165 for about 12 yrs, even when I played college soccer. My BF stays

around 19-22% so I try to focus on that, I'm just not a skinny person and I'm

fine with that. I've found that tri

training has given me a better appreciation for what my body can do, instead

of how it looks. I'm sure not gonna complain about my muscular thighs when I

just toasted everyone on a long bike ride! haha I would like to find a way to

fit lifting into my tri training... i got pretty cut this winter and I'm

starting to lose it since I'm only lifting 1-2x per week... I don't mind working

out twice a day to fit in lifting but I don't want it to have a negative effect

on my tri training, what do you think? any ideas? nice chatting with you!

heather

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

You know what? I think I'm going to let take this one. She knows you and

what kind of cardio you've been doing. I know how I would train for a 5K but as

a newcomer to the list and to BFL I think I'm going to hold back on giving

advice on the list yet -- other than to say, yes, start short and conservative.

Fair enough?

?

Ellie

http://www.elliesjourneys.com

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=ellirnr

----- Original Message -----

From: Tara Winnett

I'm really interested in training for some races. I should probably start w/ a

5 K and work my way up to an eventual marathon and tri. I'm thinking I should

focus right now on building muscle and gaining weight though right? Once I get

my weight and bodyfat up, then I'll be ready for some more hardcore cardio

training. I'm interested in the plans and programs you guys are on for training

though.

[Guest guest]

Tara,

I am by no means an expert, especially on the running part. I have done

triathlons and would be happy to share my experiences with you. I have to say

though that each person is different so what applied to me may not apply to you,

we have very different bodies (I have about 130lb lean weight, plus another 35

fat at 20%BF) and I never had to worry about losing too much weight. The

training for a triathlon isn't really as intense as you might think, at least at

first and depending on what distance you are training for. I trained for an

olympic (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) in 3 months starting out the

first week with very short 20-30 min workouts. Except for weekends I could

always get the workouts done in less than an hour. I did my first tri with Team

in Training, an organization that does endurance events to raise money for the

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The coaching really helped me and we trained as

a group at least once a week. They gave me a

3 month calendar with the workouts outlined for every day. And I raised

$5700.00 for a good cause. I'd be happy to share any of my insight with you and

I'm still learning as I go. I'm planning on doing 4-5 tri's this summer. But

you'll have to get running advice from someone else here, I'm a terrible runner

and would never run if I didn't have to! Good luck.

heather

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the site ! it sounds really great!

E wrote: NIKERUNNING.COM!!!!

NIKERUNNING.COM!!!! Holy cow I am addicted to that site!!!! Go under training,

and you can set up a training log and track all your runs and it does the pace

and everything for you...

But here's the cool part, the have specific training schedules as well! From

walk-run all the way up to a marathon, and for novice all the way up to asiring

elite, it has a specific plan for each person and each kind of race and it will

automatically input it on the little calendar for you... I kind of shelved the

whole 5k training thing just so I could finish up this challenge, but I'm

thinking that maybe for the next one I'll try to work in some of the 5k training

for cardio as well...

Re: Triathlon etc. (was: Ellie)

I'm really interested in training for some races. I should probably start w/ a 5

K and work my way up to an eventual marathon and tri. I'm thinking I should

focus right now on building muscle and gaining weight though right? Once I get

my weight and bodyfat up, then I'll be ready for some more hardcore cardio

training. I'm interested in the plans and programs you guys are on for training

though.

Shumaker wrote: Ellie,

It's great to hear your input on training and tri's. I eat BFL style most of the

time but I definitely splurge more than I should and I change my eating

according to my training. This winter I was focused more on lifting and getting

cut so I reduced my PM carbs and lifted six days a week, went light on cardio.

Now I'm TRI training six days a week and having a hard time fitting in strength

training, and I definitely need more carbs to support my workouts so I eat them.

I don't get overly analytical with my food when I'm training for a Tri, it would

be counterproductive to " Diet " while doing the kind of workouts I need to do

now. I'd rather carry a few extra pounds and feel strong and be able to push

hard than bonk in the middle of a training session. I'm 5'7 " and have been

between 160-165 for about 12 yrs, even when I played college soccer. My BF stays

around 19-22% so I try to focus on that, I'm just not a skinny person and I'm

fine with that. I've found that tri

training has given me a better appreciation for what my body can do, instead of

how it looks. I'm sure not gonna complain about my muscular thighs when I just

toasted everyone on a long bike ride! haha I would like to find a way to fit

lifting into my tri training... i got pretty cut this winter and I'm starting to

lose it since I'm only lifting 1-2x per week... I don't mind working out twice a

day to fit in lifting but I don't want it to have a negative effect on my tri

training, what do you think? any ideas? nice chatting with you!

heather

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Thanks! My biggest problem would be the swimming!

Shumaker wrote: Tara,

I am by no means an expert, especially on the running part. I have done

triathlons and would be happy to share my experiences with you. I have to say

though that each person is different so what applied to me may not apply to you,

we have very different bodies (I have about 130lb lean weight, plus another 35

fat at 20%BF) and I never had to worry about losing too much weight. The

training for a triathlon isn't really as intense as you might think, at least at

first and depending on what distance you are training for. I trained for an

olympic (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) in 3 months starting out the

first week with very short 20-30 min workouts. Except for weekends I could

always get the workouts done in less than an hour. I did my first tri with Team

in Training, an organization that does endurance events to raise money for the

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The coaching really helped me and we trained as a

group at least once a week. They gave me a

3 month calendar with the workouts outlined for every day. And I raised $5700.00

for a good cause. I'd be happy to share any of my insight with you and I'm still

learning as I go. I'm planning on doing 4-5 tri's this summer. But you'll have

to get running advice from someone else here, I'm a terrible runner and would

never run if I didn't have to! Good luck.

heather

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

This sounds really cool! I'm going to check it out. Even though my coach does my

schedules, I'm always interested in other ways they might be done. Plus I'm sure

there are other places at the site I'd be interested in. Thanks for this link!

Ellie

Re: Triathlon etc. (was: Ellie)

NIKERUNNING.COM!!!! NIKERUNNING.COM!!!! Holy cow I am addicted to that

site!!!! Go under training, and you can set up a training log and track all

your runs and it does the pace and everything for you...

But here's the cool part, the have specific training schedules as well! From

walk-run all the way up to a marathon, and for novice all the way up to asiring

elite, it has a specific plan for each person and each kind of race and it will

automatically input it on the little calendar for you... I kind of shelved the

whole 5k training thing just so I could finish up this challenge, but I'm

thinking that maybe for the next one I'll try to work in some of the 5k training

for cardio as well...