Experior's Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 10)

Yeah, it was just bizarre enough to make me wonder whether it was a joke, or a lost bet...

I definitely agree that running with kids is about keeping it fun.  I would add, though, that sometimes my kids don't want to go.  My oldest, especially, is frankly a bit lazy when it comes to physical exercise (but not when it comes to reading books or putting together complex Erector Set creations!  He's a geek just like his Dad was...).  My kids do not do organized sports, and so my wife and I feel that it is important for them to do something more or less regularly, and we landed on running as a good family activity.  So what I'm saying is that sometimes I do have to get creative about getting them out the door, but we are committed to making that happen.  I don't yell at them or threaten them.  Just try to remind them how much fun it is.  And indeed inevitably once we get going and start having a conversation while we run, they get into it.  Recently we set a schedule of running 3 times per week, and they know the schedule.  That has really helped to make it a regular occurrence for us (but they had been running for over a year when we got around to this -- I don't think that the 'schedule' thing would have worked early on).

As for how much, we started off going once around the block.  That's 1/3 of a mile.  My 5 year old (who was 4 when this started) would start getting pretty tired before she got around and I'd have to pick her up and carry her the last leg of the block, or walk with her.  The 7 year old (6 at the time) could go once.  The 9 year old (8 at the time) could easily go one, and occasionally he would go two.  We did this on no particular schedule for several months, and occasionally they'd tell me that they wanted to go further, and when they did, I let them.  Last summer, each of them set a goal to run his or her age many times around the block (so by then, 5, 7, and 9) by the end of the summer, and they easily met that goal.  Their next goal was 5K on Thanksgiving day, which was a blast.  We had four generations of my family doing our self-made family 5K 'fun run'.

So yes I'm comfortable letting them run 5K, but not every time out.  In fact, most days we go 1-2 miles depending on the time and how they appear to be feeling, and I think that's about right.  The boys often make a game of it -- racing to the ends of blocks and such.  My wife takes them about half the time, and I take them about half the time.

Best of luck with it.  I really have loved running with my kids.  It's a great chance to talk with them.

Hey Manuel - forgot to add I have stopped during an OWS race. In my first I got caught up in the frantic start and felt a bit of panic and loss of breath. I stopped for a few seconds, swam a bit of breaststroke, got my head together, composed myself and got back into it, worked wonders!

That's a great point, Neil.   It is worth learning some form of breaststroke, because it allows you to keep it your head largely above water and facing forward.  It's great to use when you are in a 'situation', and no matter how strong a swimmer you are, 'situations' can occur.

Good morning everyone.  I hope we are all headed into great weekend.  What do we have going on this weekend?

It's time to get back to a routine.  All of these snow days and the kids being out of school in "SC" all week has about done me in.  Bike on Saturday, pool on Sunday.  Like many, I must get comfortable with the pool again...

Long run (if you can consider 6 miles a long run) and maybe a long bike session (1hr + easy). 
Plus a huge honey-do list to catch up with.
oh! Bike shopping continues ...

Y'all have a nice weekend.

- Manuel  

Swam this morning already.  Had a good swim.  When I first started swimming I could swim just a 25 and was out of breath.  I then got to the point where I could swim 50 with 25 free and 25 elementary backstroke.  Then I got to where I was doing 50's with 25 free and 25 breaststroke.  Today I swam all 50's freestyle.  I was paying close attention to stroke efficiency.  I counted some of them and one was 15 strokes on the 25.  My average was 17-19 stokes per 25.  So all in all today's swim was good.  Going to bike this afternoon.  Run on Saturday.  Swim, Bike and Yoga on Sunday.

If all goes as planned, I'll be running tonight, biking in the morning, and running Sunday.

Michael, thanks for replying to my question about running with the kids.  I'll let you know how it goes if he runs with me this weekend.

Hockey game on Saturday, first 5K of the Frozen Foot Series on Sunday.  Hoping hockey doesn't irritate my knee too much for the run.  I was good about icing/resting it all week and taking anti-inflammatories.   I may break down and make a doctor appointment next week, perhaps all it needs is some PT! 

Good luck to all of you with your training!

Lots of great stuff going on here!

Bill, congrats on the swim progress. Your stroke count sounds very good.  You must have a pretty solid form already.  Keep that up and you'll continue to see great improvements.

Good luck to Melanie in her 5K, and anybody else who is racing this weekend!

I went for my first ever deep tissue sports-specific massage today.  Wow.  And ouch!  The therapist was great, and communicated very well.  I decided to let him do what he felt was best, as I know nothing about this.  There were moments when I thought that out and out torture would have been preferable.  Now I'm pretty sore from it, but I'm hopeful that in the next day or so I will see some benefits.  Anybody have experience with this?

Run in the morning, looking to increase the distance a wee bit and a ride with the gang on sunday. First time out on the bike since the snow hit in early December looking forward to it. Looking forward to spending time with the family.

I've exceeded by bike and run targets of 50 & 15 miles for this week so just need to swim tomoz morning before off to play rugby in the afternoon. Not sure on Sunday yet, depends on my body Sunday morning, I can afford a rest day if needed.

General question, what do u like to listen too while training? Maybe we could introduce each other to some new music. I'll get started, uk indi electronic. The editors, White lies. Blood red shoes. I also like the killers and been a huge kings of Leon fan since they had beards.

run on the treadmill this afternoon (ugh! it's just so icy out) and a swim tomorrow in the a.m.

Hi everybody!I have been really sick with some virus I guess and have not done much of anything for the last week so have not been on here. I have a lot of reading to do! I may try a short easy run today. And I am with you on the ice Laura, if only treadmill running could be more interesting! I used to belong to a gym that had an indoor track that was elevated and kind of meandered through the building so on every lap you ran past weightlifters, the cardio equipment, the basketball court, windows where you could see classes, etc. And it was all window on the other side so you could see traffic, snow and ice, stores, houses etc. Loved that on bad weather days. Well, just wanted to let you all know I have not died, yet. Have a great weekend to everyone!Jan

Just thought I'd report back about deep tissue massage.  I woke up this morning still feeling some effects of it, but overall better.  I just got back from a bike and run, and was really able to hammer for a while on the bike.  It'll be interesting to see what I feel like tomorrow after that, but overall, I think that the massage was a good thing, and did not set my training back as far as I thought it would yesterday.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend.  Weather here is, for a change, perfect.  50 degrees and sunny. 

I rarely listen to music any more while training.  When I bike on the trainer, I often stream something from Netflix --- usually some mindless action/thriller that I can tune out during the hard parts of the ride and not lose the thread of the plot.  On my easier runs, I listen to whatever iTunes randomly puts onto my Shuffle, which could be anything from 80s punk to old folk music to classical guitar.  I'm not a big fan of mainstream pop or rap/hiphop, but I can enjoy most kinds of music.  (I'm not sure whether I've mentioned this, but I was in fact a professional musician -- orchestral horn player -- for a very short time.)   On hard runs I can't listen to music.  It is sensory overload for me.

I'll check out those bands that you mentioned.  Thanks!  I tend to like indi stuff.

Anybody else have stuff you like to listen to?

Had a great ride today, weather held off for a small window and got a great hard ride in, a couple of good hills, working on cadence and trying to spin the hills. Only just over an hour but it was intense/ I call it S.h.i.t training (pardon my language all). Short,High,Intensity,Training. works for me when time is an issue, I seem to get good reults with it as long as it's done in moderation.
As for tunes
I listen pretty much everything when I train. I love the Ipod. Keeps me going on tough days. especailly long sessions. Linkin Park,Coldplay,Raidiohead,Michael Buble, Classic rock,Muse, its all good. For trainer sessions I go to a website http://www.trihardist.com/search/label/podcast
some really good podcasts for spinning check them out. Jamie Morton is her name great site.
keep on training people
Dave

Love it.  I'm definitely going to steal s.h.i.t. training from you.  And I completely agree that when time is short, high intensity is the way to go.

I have started wearing compression tights after training when I can, really helps with recovery

I only listen to music if I'm on the spin bike or dreadmill. I always fear that I would get too reliant on the ipod in training and therefore struggle in a race. I'm still into 80s new wave and punk stuff, love The Jam, The Clash etc. Lob a bit of heart thumping dance music on too when I'm spinning!

Hi folks. Went for the first ride since the snow cleared this morning with a few friends. It was pretty cold but very very windy. I am trying to ride more on the front of the group so worked harder. Had several long head wind sections, one for about 10 miles, stayed on the front for most of it and worked hard. Had a few great tail wind blasts which I nearly hit 40mph! Did just short of 48 miles at an average of just over 14mph. Experimented a bit with nutrition, started taking gels again (previous bad experience on a marathon with them) and all went well. Felt tired towards the end but seem to be recovering well. Really happy!

Sounds like a great ride.   It also sounds like you've found a good strategy for getting a good workout out of a group ride.  I think that's really important.  I love group rides, but it can be a little too easy to sit in and just cruise.  On the other hand, if you find the spot in the group that will really make you work and commit to that spot (could be hanging onto the back, could be pulling, could be sitting in -- obviously it depends on the group!), the group can be a great motivator.

Compression tights -- I agree.  I wear them about twice a week after my hardest sessions, and I think that they help.

Hey everyone.  I thought I'd report back on the deep tissue massage for anyone who's interested.

I felt better during (and after) my long run today than I have in a long time.  The best hypothesis at the moment is that the deep tissue massage had a lot to do with that.  So yeah, I'll be going back for more torture.  If I can get rid of the last remaining issues with my messed-up right leg, I can start dropping the pace, but I'm worried about trying that yet.

I have had few deep tissue massages in the past as you say, aagghhhh during it but feel great afterwards, will start having them again. Good sprint session on the humber bridge again tonight, couple of mile sprints at around 6.15 per mile.