Birkierunner's group - CLOSED (Page 10)

Hello out there!

I had a nice 4.5 mile run this morning, but no biking or swimming yet this week. To fix that, I'll plan a swim tomorrow morning.

And track training tonight! We will probably do some kind of repeats, speed work of some sort.

How's everyone's week going so far? Weather treating you guys alright? What plans are going on for Superbowl Sunday?

Supposed to be 72 here tomorrow so I am sure its nice in Charleston!

Pretty good week so far.....Sprints for 6 Monday, 10 mile run Tuesday, swam 2,000 this morning and have 15 miles to run in the morning.  Was really hoping the weather would hold for the weekend but it looks like it will rain.  Probably do the bike trainer Friday morning, Swim & Bike Trainer Saturday and take Sunday off.  Hope everyone is doing well!

So let's talk swimming! Who does drills, who likes drills, what kinds do you do, which do you like/hate etc.  Also I quickly threw together a list of the people in this group for reference.  I also added these people to my friend list so they can see my workout logs.  I like looking at other peoples workouts to help motivate me and give me ideas in my training.  Feel free to add me to your list if you so desire and look for me to throw out random inspires to keep everyone on their toes.  Have a good Thursday & I think I will do a lunchtime run today as it is unseasonably warm around here (40's)! 

Here is the list I have, let me know if I forgot anyone....

I love drills! I think they've helped me a lot. I like to kick on one side for the length of the pool and then switch sides. It's helping my bilateral breathing.  I also like doing a partial "catch up" when you wait to pull with your extended arm, until the working arm almost reaches it; it seems to help me with my glide. And "finger tip drag" across the water for high elbow recovery.

Who has a good drill for the push at the end of the stroke?

Mitch....that sucks...but is awesome!

Alright...I joined this group because I am new to this....so here goes.  As previously stated, I bought my first bike a month ago....have done some rides on the trainer....and one decent (1 hour+) outdoor ride.  I know nothing about gears.  I bought a Cervelo P2.  It says in their site that the cassette is a Shimano 12-25.  1) I have no idea what that means   2) How many gears are on my bike?  3) Would the smallest gear be the easiest gear.....the small ring on the crank and the small ring on the cassette?  Would this be considered first gear?

Yes, I am a total newb to bikes.  The BMX bikes I had when I was a kid had 1 gear.

My go-to drills are the catch-up, and also the one where you kick on your side with the bottom arm extended, then switch sides every length.

My tri coach from last year suggested one that is kind of fun aimed at helping with rotation from side to side:

• swim 3 strokes free, then turn to your back and swim 4 strokes backstroke,
• turn back and swim another 3 strokes free, turn and another 4 backstroke. Repeat for the length of the pool.

Turning on the uneven 3's just ensures that you turn to a different side each time.

Another one is simply counting strokes for the pool length, and strangely enough, this one is hard for me! I *always* lose count! I guess I am so used to repeating whatever number lap I am on that I inevitably end up repeating myself somewhere instead of counting.

thanks for the info for us non-swimmers

Thanks for doing this list....as the "supposed mentor" of this group I have been meaning to make a cheat sheet for myself that I can have beside my computer so I can keep BT usernames associated with people's first name.  I finally got my laptop back last Friday after having the hard drive replaced....was off BT for the most part because of that.  I just got back last night from a meeting in Denver.  Glad I got out of there mid-day yesterday because they got socked with 20" of snow last night.  I would have loved the snow but I needed to get home.  It was 70 degrees there Monday and I was running in shorts...now 20" of snow.  I used my Garmin 910xt for the first time and it was nice to have a way to accurately measure distance while running in a new place.  Still haven't come close to figuring out all the different options it has.

No worries on being new to bike gear.  Everyone has to start somewhere.  I'm assuming the Cervelo P2 has Shimano Ultegra components.  That is a very good component set and is one step below the Shimano DA component set (non-electronic).  I'm pretty sure the P2 Ultegra group would be a 9 speed setup.  That means your rear cassette on your rear wheel has 9 cogs on it.  Being a 12-25 (which is fairly standard) means your smallest cog has 12 teeth on it.  This is the hardest gear to pedal because its so small.  The 25 is the largest cog on the cassette and (obviously) has 25 teeth on it.  It is much easier to pedal than the 12.  The 12-25 setup is good for a course that is average...meaning not too mountainous or extremely flat.  If you plan to race on a course that is extremely hilly you may want to purchase a 12-26 or 12-27 cassette which will be easier to pedal on hills.  You will need to make sure your chain length is compatible with whatever cassette you go with.  Conversely, a very flat course will not require you to be in the big cog as much...so you can get by with something like a 12-23 or even an 11-23 if you become a strong cyclist.  As for your chainrings up front, the smallest chainring is easier to pedal than the larger chainring.  You can get into complicated discussions about gearing but those are the basics.  Changing cassettes requires some special tools but is very easy to do.  The Park Tools website has some good instructions on how to change out cassettes...or have your local bike shop show you how.  Hope this helps!!

Sorry TriRx!  Not sure how I missed you.  Maybe we can put our real name next to the BT name just to have username & real name in one easy place.  That'll make Birkie's printable list easier too.

In response to the gearing question that was always confusing to me when I got my first road bike years ago.  I always just went by feel and then started looking down regularly at the gears to see how the "feel" related to the gearing.  It doesn't take long to figure out what is a good climbing gear and what is a good flat gear for you personally.  When I was starting out I always remembered that the smaller front gear was the easier one.  Then the back cassette is just the opposite (smaller is harder).

I never answered my swim drill question, so I will do it now.  I hate swim drills and do very few.  I mix up different strokes sometimes and throw in some kickboard, but I haven't found too many drills that I truly like.  Or maybe it is that I give up on them too soon because I feel like they aren't helping.  Either way, I am definitely of the belief that you can't go wrong with swimming a ton of freestyle if you can endure that much excitement in one workout.

The good news is the weekend is almost here and I am looking forward to at least two or three workouts in the next couple days.  Anyone a big fan of either NY or NE this weekend?  I am a Packer fan and don't really care who wins this Sunday.

Superbowl: I don't really care, but my daughter is rooting for New England. I watch it for the ads and the social aspect. Lots of friends are coming over, and that will be fun!

Jim, thank goodness your laptop is fixed. I hate computer problems - my computer is my work, so it can not be down for even one day without me having to do something about it. Same with internet. It's a drag being this dependent on the computer, but then again, it also allows me to work from home, so... a fair trade-off, I suppose.

Hm, well, my tri training has turned into just running. Last week I neither swam nor biked. When work picks up and deadlines are looming, it becomes really hard for me to force myself to do anything that might take an extra 30 minutes or an hour. A run is easy - tie my shoes and walk out the door. But the other two require more equipment and possibly driving somewhere.

ALright....playing the newbie card again.  How do I add you as a friend?  

Regarding swimming....I had my 6th journey to the pool today.  I was feeling pretty accomplished in completing a mile or more straight swim.   Took a workout from the Matt Fitzgerald book today (3rd week Olympic Tri Level 6) and thought I would give it a try.  I am now a fan of these workouts....I was not pushing myself nearly as hard with a straight 1 - 1.5 Mile swim.  Here is what I did....it felt like my run sprints with the threat of drowning  I was liberal on the rest intervals....need to get better at pushing harder.

Warm Up 300 yards

Drill Set  9x25 (3xsighting 3xstrokereduction 3xthighscrape)

Fartlek Interval  8 x100 (25 easy/25 hard 10 second Rest Interval)

Sprint Interval  4x50 (20 second RI)

Kick Only  8x25  (I felt like I wasn't moving and my hamstrings tightened up)

Cool Down 300 Yards.

ALright....playing the newbie card again.  How do I add you as a friend?  

Regarding swimming....I had my 6th journey to the pool today.  I was feeling pretty accomplished in completing a mile or more straight swim.   Took a workout from the Matt Fitzgerald book today (3rd week Olympic Tri Level 6) and thought I would give it a try.  I am now a fan of these workouts....I was not pushing myself nearly as hard with a straight 1 - 1.5 Mile swim.  Here is what I did....it felt like my run sprints with the threat of drowning  I was liberal on the rest intervals....need to get better at pushing harder.

Warm Up 300 yards

Drill Set  9x25 (3xsighting 3xstrokereduction 3xthighscrape)

Fartlek Interval  8 x100 (25 easy/25 hard 10 second Rest Interval)

Sprint Interval  4x50 (20 second RI)

Kick Only  8x25  (I felt like I wasn't moving and my hamstrings tightened up)

Cool Down 300 Yards.

I bought one share of GB Packer stock a few weeks ago, so you can guy how much I care about this game....

Yeah...painful isn't it?  I guess in some ways I was rooting for the Giants bc it validates the fact that the Packers didn't lose to some lucky, mediocre NY team.  The Giants had a heck of a playoff run and deserved that Superbowl.  Let's just hope the Pack can get back to winning again next year!

All right, unfortunately I have to start my work day now.  I hate when work gets in the way of fun stuff like Superbowl & Triathlon blogging.  Happy Monday to all!

Tuesday already??

I am still on my running-only kick. Feeling lots of scheduling pressure with work projects and the kids, so I am getting my running done either in the pre-dawn hours or on the weekend.

Thanks for that swim workout - it looks interesting. I should really focus more on drills, but when I swim (similar to when I run), I like to rack up the distance. I'm not speedy, so distance gives me that sense of achievement.

On the topic of being not so speedy, there is a fun trail run coming up that I would like to do. There is a 5 mile run that is very popular (maybe around 150 people) and a 10 mile run that gets less than 50 participants. If I did the 10 miler, I would most likely be the slowest runner out there. Depending on who shows up, maybe by 5 or 10 minutes. That dampens my enthusiasm and I'm thinking of bailing out on the 10 miler and just doing the shorter course. I'll keep you posted.

What's everyone else up to this week?

Did a lunchtime run today outside.  Pretty chilly with a "feels like" temp of 15 and zero sun, but it never seems to feel quite as bad as it sounds (as long as I dress correctly).  I am hoping to do a short little bike later tonight just to continue to get some easy miles in each week.  Slowly building that base of mine so I can eventually build an Ironman on top of the base.  That is the goal anyway.

I'm keeping my eyes on the weather in the hopes that our planned ski trip for the Presidents Day weekend will work out. It's just to NC, which is fine for a quick trip with the kids, but we were looking at zero snow and mid-40s temps at night. More mud than snow.

Ran again last night, a tempo run this time.

2 days out for me... fighting the worst cold I've had in years!!!    

Can't wait for this one to run it's course!