Eriq's Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 10)

Hey all, it's quiet around here.  hope everyone is doing well.

90 mins indoor biking last night.  Decent pace, read the past few days newspapers for the first 30ish minutes, and then watched a film.  Overall, a good workout. 

Probably into the pool tonight for the never-ending attempt to develop better form, speed and efficiency.  It's a long process, but I'm still working at it.  If nothing else, I'll take another step to improve my swim endurance tonight and that's a worthwhile cause unto itself.

Hi all,

Couple of questions:

• How much warm up should you do for a swim......I did none and jumped into 5 x 200 and some 100s today......steady pace across all.
• At what point in base building does one start to add speed (Swim bike and run)?

57 degrees in boston....we are hoping for an outside run later today.......for our long one instead of lots of laps.

Hope everyones training is going well?  What sort of total time and mileage did people do for January?   Are you on track with your plans?

Jeff

hey everyone, hope your week is going well. i've been quiet as i've been moved around at work. got temporarily placed on graveyard shift and covering for a few people at work. so i've been strugglingt to get in my workouts much less spend time on BT. 

So it's the last day of the month! Post your January totals!!! Let's see how much time/mileage you got in the first month of the year. I'm interested to see where everyone is at.

Swim warm-up will be different depending on your volume. For me, my warm-up is anywhere between 600-800yds. It'll usually look something like 200 easy, 100 kick, 100 pull, 2x50 drill 1, 2x50 drill 2. Drills for a 50 might be 25 catch up/25 free or 25 closed fists/25 free.

Speed work... some will say that it is good to include speed work even during base building. Some well known runners/coaches who promote year round speed work: Alberto Salazaar who coaches Galen Rupp (3:50.92 mile!!!) and Mo Farah (Olympic 10k gold medal) and Tirunesh Dibaba who owns the women's 5k WR at 14:11. WHAT?!

Same for swim and bike. When it's early in the season, you aren't so focused on volume. It's easier on your body to focus on intensity now rather than focusing on BOTH volume and intensity later.

Jana - I do the same thing. =P Ever since my wife was studying to be a PT and I started endurance sports, all we do is analyze people's form. Swim, bike, run, working out in the gym, walking gaits, we analyze everything, it's terrible. HAHA! Hopefully that helps you think about your own form and leads to improvement.

I made it to the pool tonight and really tried to focus on form....and by golly, I think it worked.  My areas of focus were high elbows and rotation.  Still not perfect, but my stroke felt really smooth.  I felt as if I was swimming 'downhill' and think I was going pretty fast.  (There was a Master's class in the pool at the same time, and I was keeping up or going faster than most of them.  Sure, that's an unscientific way to measure speed, but it's all I got since I lost track of my lap count.)

At the end of my 1500 (or perhaps 1600?) yard set, I also did some bilateral breathing laps.  This part has always been a weakness for me - they've always been fairly labored.  With my renewed emphasis on high elbows and rotation, even the bilateral breathing laps went smoothly.

So long story short, it was a good evening in the pool.

hey don't worry about it. that's the thing with triathlon, it can take up a lot of time but you have to keep your priorities in order. no reason in messing up family and work just to train. hope everything works out on the homefront.

i love my fizik saddle. i can ride in an aggressive position for hours on end without any issues. haven't ridden anything else so couldn't say. some people swear by the ism saddles, might be worth a look. many LBS have trial saddles that you can rent out and use what you pay for the saddle towards a purchase.

January totals.  My first month back at things, may of done a little too much but I feel good and want to get another month of base building in before I start pushing on speed.  However, I have started pushing a little. 10 miles on the bike tonight and the second 5 miles was two minutes faster..and a mile cool down for 11 miles and 33 minutes total.  Feel great.   

Monthly totals:
S: 11675.53 Yd  - 3h 30m 36s
B: 125.64 Mi  - 6h 59m 22s
R: 75.68 Mi  - 13h 38m 19s

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Jeff

January totals....not that much.  It was my first month back focused on training.  Mid-month got busy with work, so I missed a week or so of training.  But all that being said, it felt good to start more serious training again, albeit indoors.  I'm really looking to warmer weather to do some longer runs and bike rides under some blue skies.  Heck, I'll take warm weather and clouds, just warmer weather please!

Bike: 9h 30m - 180.74 miles

Run: 4h 42m 34s - 32.2 miles

Swim: 1h 13m 15s - 3600 yards

Finally figured out how to get the totals for the month on TP. Very cool!

January:

Swim: 7:15 (13000 meters)

Bike: 14:56 (119 miles on the road; not sure how to calculate 8 spin classes)

Run: 14:52 (94 miles)

I am pretty happy with those numbers, especially since I was sick in bed last weekend, and I have complained for several years that I could NEVER get into triathlons because I wouldn't have time for all the training. Maybe it's the season of life, now that my kids are older and I'm a little more established in my (second) career, but the time seems to be there if I can plan ahead, remain flexible and adjust when needed.

While it was a beautiful morning to get in a 15 mile run in the foothills of South Mountain in Phoenix, living in this wonderful, warm place does have its dangers-I managed to catch the edge of a sidewalk and went flying! Got a nice bloody knee and elbow; glad to have gloves on so my hands were spared. After years of trail runs, Grand Canyon crossings, etc, etc, and only having one spill, I guess I can laugh that my second spill was on a neighborhood sidewalk!

Hoping to do a 35-40 bike with a local group tomorrow morning and then tag on a 5-7 mile at the end to see how that feels. The longest run I've done after a bike is 3 miles, so I'm interested to see how my legs would do with a little more.Hope all of you in the Midwest/East are encouraged that Phil didn't see his shadow today! Spring is just around the corner, right??

Danelle

January 1-31 Totals for me. Yikes! I've actually never looked at my totals. But here they are...

Swim: 9:57:28 - 28,500 yards (wow, seems like a lot!) 

Bike: 17:02:03 - 250 miles (probably short since most was done indoors)

Run: 9:08:06 - 59 miles

Super Bowl Sunday morning brick - 90 min bike, 30 min run.  Got up early, turned on the DVD player and started biking.  19.42 mph pace for 90 mins, I was happy with that.  Then changed into my running shoes, put on a dry shirt and fired-up the treadmill.  T2 time, approx. 3 mins.  Ran for 30 minutes, 8:48 mile/minute pace.  My legs were a bit squishy for the first few minutes, then they 'settled down'.  Overall, a pretty hard, but rewarding, workout this morning.  

Not sure I did enough bricks last season, so my plan is to do at least one long-ish brick per week this season - today was the day.

I was about half-way done with my 30 min run when my daughter came to the basement and started playing with her legos.  She was still in her pjs and said in a very matter of fact tone, "Daddy you look sweaty." I asked her if Mommy is up yet, and my daughter replied "The Mommy is still asleep."  *The* Mommy?  Who says that?  Oh well, my daughter kept me company for my last 15 minutes - it was a nice surprise.  Definitely better 'entertainment' than my ipod.

Hope everyone is having a happy sunday.

ERIQ - man, you had a big January.  congrats.

Nice brick and quality daughter time.

I am taking my 14 yr old shopping for new running shoes as she is on the track team.

We did a nice 8 miles today.  Inside, 160 laps......but had a 6 year old to play rock paper scissors on each lap.....that lasted for 20 laps or so but helped pass the time.  Build the base!!!!

ERiq - great month - I like comparing notes and get motivated by others progress and challenges that we all have to work through.

Long ride and swim tomorrow.

Enjoy the super bowl.

You guys are funny.

Friday was a huge swim at 4,000 yds. Did a nice pyramid set - 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100. With rests in 5sec increments so 5, 10, 15, 20, then back down. then 3x200 at HIM pace then 4x100 hypoxic sets so every 25 yds was breaths every 3, 5, 7, then 9 strokes. That was hard!

Saturday was a good brick session. 90 min bike with 4x12min tempo intervals with 5min RBI. Then a 30 min endurance run. That was pretty fair. But probably partied to hard after and I paid for it today. I was supposed to do a 90 min run with 4x10min steady state pace so 7:04-7:29 with 5min easy jogging in between.

I got through 1 interval. It was harder than it usually is so that 5min jogging was more like 5min walking. Pushed into the 2nd interval and about 6mins in through that I got light headed and my legs started cramping. I walked the rest of that interval and the 5mins and tried to give it a go. I got maybe 3 mins out of my body before it gave up on me.

I know how and when to push my body. Today was definitely not one of those days. I know I've posted about pushing through those walls and getting to the next level. But today was one of those times when I had to respect that barrier and take it easy. No sense in digging a huge hole that I'm going to have trouble digging myself out of so early in the season.

Hope you all have a great week!

Where is everyone?

Allie - what was your January like?

I look forward to hearing others progress.

Jeff

I'm around, but it does seem quiet...perhaps everybody has the flu...

Went to the pool tonight and swam for some amount of yards.  I lost track within the first 4-6 laps, so I really have no clue how far I swam.  From a time standpoint, I was in the pool for 50ish minues.  Early last season I was swimming 1:45-1:55 per 100 for long swims, so working backwards, I think I swam 2700 yards tonight.  That said, my form is better and I'm more efficient in the water, so perhaps I'm faster than 1:45, but don't know for sure.  

Overall, it was a decent swim.  Didn't feel as smooth as last time, but it was a good swim.

Tomorrow, probably interval training either on the bike or treadmill.

Happy Wednesday.

Sounds like everyone is punching along.

Today marked my worst swim ever. even my first one. While my form was feeling good, i struggled with breathing and my times were really really slow compared to that of last week. I felt my body rotation was good and my arms were moving well. I felt confident but my times did not reflect it. about 30 seconds slower per 100 m.

On the bike I am noticing gains with strength and endurance so thanks to Eriq for providing me with those workouts in a previous post, they seem to be working.

I am focusing mostly on swim and bike since it is cold and I despise the treadmill. However i am just trying to maintain my run fitness level by running about 4-8 miles a week when able.

I got my new Shimano TR-31 shoes today and loved them on the trainer. Anxious to try the flying mount and dismount when the snow melts.

hey party people. i'm still on graveyard shift and it's been hard to get my workouts in but thanks for keeping active. don't EVER feel like you're posting too much or asking too many questions. that's what this group is set up for. so have at it, go crazy!

awesome to read all of your progress!!!

Brian - good work on that swim. 1:45's huh? We're kinda in the same boat. For my HIM pace intervals i'm around 1:35 and IM pace stuff around 1:41-1:45 depending on the day. anything in particular that you are working on? I'm working on stroke rate stuff and keeping that reach when i up the strokes per minute.

Danelle - awesome with the run. looks like you'll kick all of our butts on the run. as far as nutrition, i have a pretty strong stomach but i still try to get most of my nutrition in on the bike just because of the sloshing around with the run. even if that means taking a quick bathroom break coming off the bike, it's worth it in my opinion. and with anything, PRACTICE IN TRAINING! try something out in training one day and if it doesn't work out, try something the next time around. you just don't want to try something new on race day.

Jana - neg 15 degrees?! i was complaining that i was overheating on sunday's run because it was almost 80 degrees out. =P length of run intervals can be tricky. what exactly are you trying to accomplish? speed work? endurance work? my guess is speed since you were turning up the intensity. so for VO2 max type of work, 30-120 secs sounds good. recovery can be even more than the 1:2 ratio as you want to make sure that the intervals are the same across the board. you don't want to fade as the workout progresses.

Thomas - i'm wondering what's going on with your breathing. if you can nail this down, i think it will drastically improve your swim. will you try something out for me? do a length or two on your back while kicking very lightly. take note of how your body is in the water? are you staying afloat? are you having to kick hard to stay near the surface? where is the surface of the water in respect to your head/face/goggles? i'm wondering if it's a balance issue...

as for me, my bike is kinda semi broken. i was on the trainer the other day and all of a sudden the armpad on the right aero extension started swiveling. looks like one of the bolts broke. half of the bolt is stuck inside the extension so i'll have to drill it out. and that bolt is very rare. none of the local bike stores or hardware stores carry it. still trying to find a place where i can buy it instead of buying a replacement armpad kit for like $40! in the mean time, i have one armrest. i think there was a pro in kona last year or the year before that had to ride like that...

Hi all,

Sorry I've been quite for the last week or so, very busy at work, but have been managing to get my workouts in.

My Jan figures are:

Swimming is coming along, I'm trying to roll my body more, and that seems to be helping.

Bike is still my weak area, not least because I don't actually have one so I'm using a stationary bike in the gym.

I do have one question.  When I do a really hard bike session I sometimes get cramps in my calf towards the end, or even at the beginning of my run in a brick session.

Any thoughts on how I could control this.  I guess more stretching, but any other ideas would be appreciated.  Doesn't happen on the run other than if I follow a bike session.

As a total newbie it's really good reading all your tips and ideas, so thanks.

Tony. 

Tony - good to hear the swim is improving. Working on body position will do wonders in improving your swim. As for cramps, could be a nutrition thing. How long are your workouts and are you taking anything in? If it's 90 mins or less, you should be fine with water and could even do without if you are properly hydrated before hand. If it's an intense 90 mins or anything longer, maybe add some electrolytes and/or maybe something more.

Or it could be position, form, etc. A lot of things can come into play. If possible, try to slide the saddle forward to mimic a tri position. This effectively makes the seat angle steeper and should save your calfs a bit. You might also want to spin out a bit before the run with an easier resistance and a cadence that matches your running cadence.

Also, just give it time and your body will get used to running off the bike.

And stretching... NO STATIC STRETCHING before or during your workout. Many studies show that static stretching before and/or during exercise can increase risk of injury and sometimes even hinder performance.

Jana - the intervals will naturally get harder as they progress, but what is important is that you complete them all equally. So if it's a distance interval, say like 200s, you cover the same distance each interval. Or speed, you can maintain the same speed for the same amount of time each interval. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

And in my broken bike news...
I tried my tried and trusted LBS for that bolt with no luck. They did however direct me to the small little hardware store 2 blocks down the street. This place had a TON of fasteners of all shapes and sizes. I was able to find the bolt I needed! Not very many places carry a wide variety of metric bolts. Not even some of the local bolt/fastener distributors in my area had them.

So 76 cents later, I had the bolt I needed. I successfully drilled out the broken bolt out of my aerobar extention, though I did break 1 drill bit when I wasn't really paying close attention and applied too much force. Just a little bit of Loctite added to the bolts and I was back in business.

Tried swimming on my back today and my feet are about 2 feet under the surface. When I ad my hand to provide push my feet raise up. When only using my feet to kick the sink well below the surface. My face is the only thing exposed and it feels like I am a natural sinker, not floater.

On the freestyle today I noticed I may be bobbing up and down to get a breath but it is just what I feel like. I tucked my chin in and it seemed to help. I have a long reach but it seems like my pull is really ineffective.