Hey Hinds, shouldn’t you be on the elliptical or something?
welcome PH…
An old guy like me is limited by my ability to recover. I had a great run yesterday. I went fast (for me) and long (for me). I feel great. The temptation is to go out and do it again. If I do, I will crash.
Along the same lines is susceptability to injury. It is no fun getting old.
Hey Matt, is that you? What Lifetime do you go to? A lot of my running buddies have started running from Lifetime in Troy. They also do some weird Spinning combo class on Sat. mornings. A group is running the nature trail at 8 on Saturday.
Hey Eric. Thanks for the note. I’m meeting with a couple of friends at 7am (have a 20 month old so can’t be gone all day), and we’re going to go for 2 hours…what nature trail? Maybe we’ll try to do a loop that includes that and meet up for part of your run?
Heard from Bennett that a bunch of guys were planning to run this weekend and get a spin session in…any plans for a Sunday ride? If the rain holds until the PM, might try to get out on my bike and put 2-3 hours in. Maybe do the Pine Lake loop?
-bz
My limiter for the past 9 mos. has been school.
I’m trying to go back and get a masters, but I’ve had to take a bunch of prerequisite courses. I have classes (w/labs) 4 nights a week and also work the regular 9-5 grind.
I try to get most of my training done in the AM. Some mornings are better than others, though if you’ve been up till 12m doing homework.
I could also rightfully whine about not having accessible places to ride too. Having to drive a minimum of 20 min to get to a location relatively free of traffic kinda takes the fun and spontenaity out of it.
This is fun. I like whining.
Time and 25 pounds of fat.
The West Bloomfield Nature Trail, meeting in the parking lot at Orchard Lake and Lone Pine (near the Damman Hardware).
I am riding my Computrainer Saturday morning, and if I am up early enough, meeting them for the end of the run. I am planning on running on Sunday, with a ride beforehand if it’s warm enough.
Nothing limits your training efernand.
Its funny, automatically I’d say time. But I spend plenty of time doing nothing. Like watching TV, reading on the can, meeting friends, going to movies etc. I’d like to say I don’t have the energy either BUT last spring’s trip to Tucson proves opposite. I managed to train a whole week riding all day, swimming etc. SO, ultimately I guess its my own lack of self-confidence. I do get competitive in the pool or at track workouts but in terms of overall mental state, I don’t think that I can be #1 in my age group. I don’t think “Hey, I want to go to nationals/worlds”. I know its something I have to build up to, and I think that it will take me years to get to that state so I sell myself short.
When we’re pack riding and doing 40km/h I soon start getting tired/pain and I think to myself “I might hurt myself more than help myself”. Do I give up too easily? Maybe.
But even then, this fall we got a new coach with our club and my running was improving tremedously. I was being careful (since most of my injuries are run-related) yet I still managed to get PF. So when do I know when to stop?
Maybe the other poster had it right. I need guidance. I need a coach to tell me how hard to push, when to push, when not to. I need a phsyio to take care of me like a really rich pro. Maybe I need a dietician to prepare my meals for me. Maybe I need a lot of support, and that will raise my confidence to push myself further.
How would I change this? Well, it would have to come from myself. I don’t think anybody will be able to tell me “You can be #1!”. Unless I tell myself and BELIEVE that I can be, that alone will limit my training more than any other factor you can throw at me.
The whole job/money thing keeps it in check. 
Family, work, international travel for work (about 2.5 months this year), and (I don’t think anyone has mentioned this) other sports. Once summer comes and I get to Canada I focus on windsurfing. Since I live in Arizona the summer is a good time to take a triathlon break.
“other sports”
Although I don’t scuba dive as deep and as often in the Great Lakes as I once did, scuba causes quite a physiological dillema with triathlon. Your body has an uptake of nitrogen after diving and exercising should be avoided after diving because it can actually possibly induce decompression sickness, also known as “the bends”.
So far this year, training has won out over hunting and fishing. And rabbit season’s over in a couple of weeks!
limiters to training.
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motivation - evey once in a while I just have to say screw it and break down and watch tv. my wife has 180 channels and not a damn thing to watch.
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time I have more of it than I think I just need to structure it better.
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Moving/being transferred/learning a new territory - that ate up dec and jan and is decreasing. one move to go, into the new house!
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work but it’s flexible to some degree so I just need to structure my time better.
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this damn forum - It’s awesome but can kill 60 min before you realize it.
Wow, I am surprised that I haven’t seen much mention of “other interests.” Cerveloguy mentioned other sports at least. What kills me is that I have WAY too many interests and areas I like to learn about. Currently it is gardening (first time setting up raised beds) in the Southwest, Tri-training of course (but my wife and I are not doing enough bike training -grrrr), soon golfing, working, juggling (literally), home repair, trying to study Spanish, and painting.
MUST CON-CEN-TRATE ON… ONE… THING… 
It’s just my personality
"I haven’t seen much mention of “other interests.”
I’ve noticed that some tri-geeks don’t have other interests. It’s all work…train…work…train…etc. Believe it or not, I actually know people like that.
Tom,
I went out the door this am with a rant that fits in within your question. I have not really seen anyone else snivel about the following, but sometimes these get me down like the straw that broke the camels back. These are all in addition to the normal limiters.
#1 It seems like I am continually doing major loads of laundry for training clothes and spreading it out all over the house for drying, (I don’t put in the dryer because the clothing holds up much better). This is much worse in winter due to more clothing required and not being able to dry outside and I also ride a Mnt. bike so some gear gets really dirty / muddy. Bottom line: about an hour and 1/2 a week to keep clothing clean and put neatly away.
#2 It seems like I am constantly loading unloading bikes, gear, running stuff, swimming stuff in and out of my vehicle and putting away in the garage. Sometimes I feel like I am running an out-fitters company. Bottom line: 1/2 hour week.
#3 Bike maintanence. Clean, lube, small tune ups, etc. Doesn’t always happen but 1 hr. a week.
#4 Packing up for a race. 1 to 1/2 hrs on race weeks.
stupid work: it just gets in the way of EVERYTHING…
I have an addictive personality (shocker), which I assume many triathletes can relate to. I don’t seem to be able to do anything without doing it “full throttle”. I am also interested in many different things (Studying the Bible, improving my Spanish, landscaping, home improvement, etc) and trying to do them all in my classic addictive style is hard to do. I’m eliminating the things that are least important … the internet (at home) is disconnected monday.
The time wasted on the net will be used toward more important things … like getting my work done by a time that allows me to get to bed at a decent hour, without sacrificing any time from family & training. I’ve been getting 5 hours of sleep, which is fine for work & training, but I don’t feel it is optimal.
I have things to work on to be the person/triathlete I want to be. Those things require time. That time has to come from somewhere. Eliminate what’s least important.