GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 101)

I'm starting to think about some local bodies of water where I can practice open-water swims.

I have this really weird fear about my feet touching the bottom of a body of water that I can't see. So that is one anxiety. Then, to add to it, I was looking at information on a local pond that's near my house:

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pdf/dfwsamps.pdf

It says the pond has eels!! Yuck! I can just imagine swimming along and feeling something brush across my foot and thinking it's an eel.

Here's a quick question for the group...is anyone using an online food tracker?

Been thinking I should probably at least figure out what my intake is. This week it seems I am CONSTANTLY hungry...

TRACEY -

More thoughts on the bugaboos of open water swims later, but for now I'll just say that eels are like any other fish -- far more frightened of you than you are of them. I think of eels as being very secretive, so if there are still any there they are probably going to stay hidden and as far away from a thrashing, splashing human as possible.

(Secret dream: That on one of my open water swims in a protected bay of the St. Lawrence River, I will see a huge sturgeon. They are supposed to be present in the stretch of the river in which I swim, so maybe one day......)







Edited by stevebradley 2010-03-26 10:49 AM

Hi there,

I have used the BT logger for years, especially in the beginning.   I was losing too much weight (which made me more prone to injury during the peak season), and once I started logging, found that I wasn't eating nearly enough.    Problem is, once you start, it gets kind of addicting and CAN take up alot of time.   Now I just do spot checks every once and a while and will log for a week just to make sure I am on track.  

It also did help me identify that I was eating too many fats and not enough protein.  

There are other sites out there, but the BT one is convenient and has a good data base.

I would recommend trying it out for a while. 

I totally get what you are saying, but for me it is in the ocean that things brushing against my feet freak me out.  For what it is worth (maybe this helps?), freshwater fish (eels included) want nothing to do with you.  Eels feed almost exclusively at night, so they really are not out during the day BTW, so keep your swimming to the daylight hours when they are not active.

BUT...open ocean swimming, where I am sure I am a tasty part of the food chain?  FREAKS ME OUT.  I have watched one too many Shark Weeks on Discovery Channel.  I went to the site of the Lobsterman swim a week or so before the race to try and conquer my fears...The water was cold, salty (duh), and murky, the Jaws theme kept playing in my head (na na...na na....nanananananana), and I kept swimming into big blobs of seaweed which I was sure were jellyfish and then seaweed would wrap around my legs and.....ahhh  I wasn't really comfortable.   The race was better, there were so many people I was sure a shark would pick one of them first, and I was ready for the seaweed.

Speaking of swimming, went to the Y today, I called this AM before I left to make sure of lap times.  I got there, and they read the wrong ones (this week there is a meet) and I couldn't swim.  Boo.

Found the book on TI's website.  Looks like a great one.  Thanks for the heads up!

Yes, I forgot to mention the open ocean freaks me out too! For some reason ponds freak me out the most though. They're small, still bodies of water so I picture the water to be dirty and stagnant and gross. I can't imagine sticking my open mouth into them. Yuck. (Can you tell I didn't do any lake or pond swimming as a kid??)

Tracey

I've never consistently used online diet trackers for the reason Anne mentions (most of them are very detailed and can take a lot of time to keep up with).

But I have a little notebook where I always write down what I eat. I try to stay on track with about 1300 calories per day. I try to eat several protein sources each day (chicken, beans, dairy, soy products) and stay away from refined carbs (although I admit I love them!) I also have an extra 1500 calories per week to "play" with. I either save up the extra 1500 for a dinner out, or I spread them out throughout the week. I like to have a glass or two of red wine after dinner every now and then, so that comes out of my 1500 calorie savings.

I hear you about being hungry though. On days when I train harder or longer, sometimes I'm just starving. I feel like I need a snack every hour or so.

Tracey

Had a very good swim today.

I did 500 meters in 14:48, which is about 30 seconds better than my time from two days ago.

My bubble was burst a bit yesterday though when I did some calculations and realized that the 1/3 mile swim that I'll be doing in my races this summer is actually 537 meters.

Tracey

TRACEY -

Further to dispel your fears of open water.....

I do not have a cast-iron stomach AT ALL, but even when I swim in spots that have signs saying that the e-coli levels are high, I have never suffered any gastric problems. None! Nada!

I should mention, however, that when I have not heeded e-coli warning signs, it's been at places where I swim regaularly; that is, I know the "turf". (I'm not sure why that seems helpful or somehow safer, but it is.)

As with everyone else, I have a preference for water I can "see through"; murky is not my favorite. But ultimately, in open water all sighting is done by either catching forward glimpses of landmarks (or in races, those big orange buoys), so the clearness of the water is something I have taught myself not to value a whole lot.

Twice I have done the NYC Triathlon, with the swim in the Hudson. Both timeds the visiblity was virtually nil, and both times it was common to have "stuff" around you; sticks is the only thing I will mention here! But the swim is with the current, which is ferocious, so it certainly isn't stagnant. Gnarly, maybe, but not stagnant. And all it tastes is brackish, because along that stretch (~100th down to 72nd) it is still a tidal river.

Lake Winnipesaukee is beautiful, to be sure, so even though that is no longer your first tri, you'll love that swim when you get there.

TRACEY again -

Woo-hoo! Another record-setting swim!

Don't let the bubble be burst! First, think of it as time in the water, time spent swimming constantly, and less time spent on the same distance than recent times. As for that 37-meter shortfall (or is it a longfall?)........heck, it's still March and you're already cranking out 500m with impunity. Before long, 37 meters will be little more spittin' distance for you!

BOY, do I relate to that!   I still remember my first several attempts at open water swimming and I swear I almost had a heart attack, my heart was racing so hard.    We went to Frontenac (SteveB may know where that is) on a canoe trip and found some spots where I could walk out in the shallow water.  The first time I put my frace into the water, and saw all that STUFF freaked me out bad!    I really thought I would NEVER conquer that fear.  

Then for the longest time I would close my eyes in the water and sneak peaks into the deep now and then.   Now, I actually prefer swimming in water that is deep and dark and I even keep my eyes open.   I even find the weeds give me a sense of comfort - weird, I know.    Not when they are tangled around my legs, but when they are swaying one or two feet below me.  

Fish no longer bother me, but I still can't get past my fear of snakes.   

Great job on that 500 meters, Tracey.    Really, 37 meters is nothing; just a few more seconds.  

I was curious about the 1300 calories per day?   Have you had your resting metabolic rate tested?    I am asking because even at my height my daily requirement with NO training is 1340.    Alot of people, especially women, tend to restrict calories way too much which actually can slow down weight loss, if that is the goal.     Hope  you don't mind my asking. 

Anne:

Seeing all the stuff at the bottom: that will totally freak me out too!

I don't mind you asking about my calorie intake at all. I'm always looking for nutrition advice. I joined Weight Watchers several years ago and lost about 90 pounds. And since then I've always followed their "points" program. I'm about 20 pounds overweight right now (5'3", and 160 pounds), so my "allowed" points per day is 22, which translates into about 1300 calories. You get extra points if you work out, which you don't have to use, but I always use them because I feel like I need to.

Tracey

I didn't realize you had lost all that weight.  Congratulations and also on maintaining it.    Looks and sound like you carry your extra weight well.    I do and it isn't always a good thing because I don't have that urgency to shed the few extra pounds.   I decided to give it some extra focus this past 6 months and have finally knocked off 4 pounds.   

I love talking about nutrition and eating for training.  One of the biggest, most important things is getting variety every day and at every meal, sort of like strength and tri training programs.   Sticking with the same 'menu' causes us to plateau.  

I was at a seminar recently put on by a Health and Performance Centre and one of the things they talked about was your RMR.    The books and the docs can estimate pretty closely our required caloric intake, but when you get tested they can not only tell you the true number, they can also tell you if you are burning high or burning low and how many carbs/fats/proteins you burn.    Some people burn way less (up to 500+ calories/day) than they should and vice versa.   Over the course of a year this has a big impact.     This Centre works with cardiac patients and diabetics, etc. so with this information, they create appropriate exercise programs for them to achieve their weight loss goals and targetting the diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. 

I plan to get mine tested in about a month, before the high intensity training starts.    

Hope you have a great weekend.   Ken and I are just about to hop on the trainer.   -7* here today.  

Here is hoping Steve A is having a great day at his race today (or is it tomorrow?)

Just back from a chilly 16 mile run.  It was zero when I left, and my water bottle froze so I couldn't get my go-juice (HEED)...my eye lashes froze, but it was a good run.  My calf was good for the run - I love love love compression.

SO I am not going to pull the plug on the marathon as long as I can manage the calf issue, the 16 felt fine, it was a bit slower than I had hoped (10:20/miles), but I felt strong, like I could have kept going. 

Snuggling under a blankie with my dog right now.

Mandy

STEVEB,

Thanks for the comments on M-Dot and 70.3. Those costs are a little out there...

As for Fitz, week 2 at Level 5 it has a 1 hour bike ride in it. Not out of my realm but a longish ride right from the start. Unfortunately the weather here is quite cold so, I'll be doing it on a spin bike watching some tv. Level 5 is 9 work outs a week, vs 6 for level 4. So far I've been doing the swim directly after the run. I'll give that another week but may have to change to get up early 2 days a week to go swim before work.

I need to try your something in the butt trick...I was back to a knee down flutter kick towards the end last night. After the run towards the end of the swim, it calls for kick sets had the quads were really burning once I was really focused on keeping the knees closer to locked. Your Tharpisms are interesting. I'm not a fan of the WU and CD sets and his comments help put them in a bit more perspective.

How much do you want to know about the cube root?? I don't know where the comment about when adding power causes drag to go up by a factor of 9, but the cube root is basically the same as a root, but to the 3rd power. Forget about the root. Look at cubing first. Cubing is one more multiplication than squaring something (ie. a square of 2 is 2 x 2 = 4, a cube then is 2 x 2 x 2 =8). Or another way to see it is 2 to the second power (superscript) is 4 and 2 to the third power is 8. So taking the root is the opposite. The square root of 4 is 4/2 = 2. And cube root of 8 is 8/2/2 = 2. So to your comment on a factor of 9, well that is the square of 3. Probably not quite the basic explanation you were looking for...

Edited by smarx 2010-03-27 10:44 AM

Thanks for the comments on the food logs. I'll start with the one on BT. I see my biggest problem being figuring out what I eat that I cook and figuring out sizes/weights...

Edited by smarx 2010-03-27 10:45 AM

Hey all! Just a note of tjanks for all your kindness and support. Ill be trying hard for all of. You today. Conditions call for high 60s and high winds, so the bike should be interesting. Hope to report good news in about 11 hours.

Good luck Steve!!

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-25 7:27 PM

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-25 7:29 PM

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-25 7:29 PM

Well, I had lost 90 pounds, then gained back 60 during my pregnancy. My son is now 3 but I've managed to only take off 40 of those 60 pounds. Now that I'm a few years older and have had a child it seems a thousand times harder to lose any weight. So I hear you when you say it took 6 months to lose 4 pounds!

I would love to have my RMR tested. I've done the calculations you get in the books, magazines, etc., but as you say getting an accurate number is so much more useful. I'd like to get my body fat percentage measured too. I'm sure being near Boston there are places where I could have this testing done, but not sure what the cost would be...

-7 degrees?? Wow, I thought it was cold here and it's 32 degrees.

Tracey

Picked up my new bike today!!

I'm very excited. No clipless pedals for now though. The guy put on the regular pedals with the cages. My husband suggested I use those while I get used to the shifting and I agreed it was a good idea! Once I have that down, I'll take the bike back in to get the clipless thingies put on.

I was hoping to go out for my first ride on Monday, but it's going to rain. Boooo...

Tracey