Posts by wesmckean

no.  it's not pointless.  the most fundamental concept of a healthy lifestyle is discovering things you enjoy doing.  For me, it's swim+bike+run.  For you, it may be butt lifting (or shredding)...  LOL :-)

nice work :-)  "not walking" is over rated.  I ran 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons using the Galloway run/walk method for three years before I ran my first 5K non-stop.  Have fun with it, and good luck!

FYI, I did run/walk for 3 years before I ran my first 5K from start to finish.  Your long run pace should be 1-2 minutes slower than race pace.

Congratulations on the weight loss!  Good luck with your goal.

Wes

Original Post by melkor:

Original Post by oldguysrule:

Original Post by anthony_christianson:

I must say, everytime I see that Rachel Cosgrove article about training for Ironman, I just shake my head.

Is it calories-in vs. calories-out or not?  

I seriously doubt her claim of eating only 2500 calories per day.  Did she log it?

Also, the 374 hours at 13 hours a week?!?  She trained that hard for over 28 weeks? 

Apparently she didn't do any speedwork, hills, or weights?  Who was her coach?  A magazine?

I have a feeling she is embellishing a little or omitting some truth to make a better sales pitch.

Sorry for the rant.

The real truth is losing fat while only doing cardio is *gasp* plausible.

I totally second that rant. That article makes me want to puke. If anyone reads it carefully, how can they believe anything else that she says? Much less buy one of her books.

She ate more than she burned, and gained fat. She reduced her strength training, and lost muscle. It is all right there in her article, if you just ignore her hype and read the facts of what she says.

People are really non-objective when it comes to assessing their own situation. I think that that is pretty what happened in that article. I bet in retrospect, she'd like to retract it. In later interviews she has mellowed the story considerably. It has been removed from many sites where it was posted previously. etc.

 

 I'm more inclined to believe that training for an Iron Man means doing very long training sessions that result in an enhanced hunger response leading Cosgrove to eat ALL the things and not being too accurate with the calorie counting.

...

Yes! Thank you. Then she has the arrogance to tell everybody else that the way life went for her is the way it WILL go for everybody else, and the sheeple believe.

it can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be!  Head over to BeginnerTriathlete.com and do some research.  They have some free plans and articles and such.

I highly recommend picking out a beginner friendly triathlon for a first, such as My First Tri or Try a Tri series.

Good luck!

Wes

so, you're a jumping into running feet firsts :-)  good for you!  your goal for your first half marathon should be to finish with a smile on your face.  A Disney event is a good choice!

I am very self motivated.  My training time is "me" time, and I solve a large number of my problems while training.

Get ye-self a free training program from the web.  Keep your pace conversational (easy enough so you can talk), and enjoy yourself.  There's only one first half marathon!

Good luck!

Char, if your number one priority is XC, then you might consider other forms of exercise as a way to bring balance to your body.  You want to develop a strong core (to support your running) and strength train your upper body primarily.  Strength training your legs will affect your cross country training.

To add muscle, I think most everybody here will agree, you need to run a surplus.  Adding muscle, and thus weight to your frame will also affect your XC performance.

Not to be repetitive, my advice is seek a balanced approach to your training and exercise, and focus on your goals, and let your body do what it is going to do (and not worry about it).  Happiness, after all comes first.

on my recovery days.  I drink beer.  work hard.  play hard.

you have options.  You can start the plan where the running time on any given run is fifteen minutes.  You can start at the beginning and run a little harder during the run segments, thus taking advantage of your current fitness.  Or, you can follow the plan to a T and add one or two running days where you just run for 15+ minutes.

Important thing is to listen to your body and make sure you are not over doing it.

Good luck!

Wes

plot out a half mile or mile out and back and loop it as long as you want to run.  The more comfortable you become, the longer out you can extend your run.  I understand your concerns about safety.

As far as weight loss goes, I lost 50 lbs swimming, biking, and running.  You CAN lose weight running, but like all forms of diet, you have to control your calories, and that's all mental.

Good luck.

Wes