Steve-'s Distance Endurance Group - CLOSED (Page 11)

Sounds like a date with the computer. I have been dodging the pain now for a month in the calf all came on when I switched back into a Stability shoe. I was doing better when I was wearing a neutral shoe. Guess I am just hard headed waiting it out in these shoes and  will be back to a neutral shoe. Arches feel weird and feet are sore in the am after long runs any answers.

I'll be in on this if you are able to do another conference type call.

Steve - maybe check in to RockStar Triathlete - they do live/conference calls and have a web based type thing.  Maybe it would make things easier, but I'm not sure if it has any costs.

Either way - I'm in.

Steve - I'll be swimming Friday.  I'll take my video camera and see if I can set it up for a few laps.  Do you need front and side shots or just only side?  I'll load it to YouTube and then post the link here.  Thank you, in advance for your help!

left and right sides as well as from the front swimming towards and away from camera.

Steve, here's a couple short videos of my swim.  the guy who recoreded for me got 1 length R and 1 L and 1 lap head on.  I hope it's enough to work with.  Seeing this makes me realize how slow this was.  These were taken after my workout (not an excuse), but I felt like it was my normal stroke. 

M2U00152.MPG
M2U00151.MPG
M2U00150.MPG

Now I see that my R hand enters the water too soon, huh.  I should have done this a long time ago.

I did my first swim this morning with a masters swim class. Really enjoyed the workout, but have 2 observations:1. running endurance does not transfer completely to swimming; and2. swimming makes you hungry! Ann-Marie

I swam 5 days these week and my hunger was off the charts. It drove me to the brink of insanity. Hmm....maybe it was the swimming??

Or maybe it is because you stopped eating processed food and sugar???

Hmmm...i'm having trouble viewing them...

Ok...figured out it was my browser crashing so I opened up on another computer an all worked fine.

You want me to post comments here or shall I PM them to you?

I eat pretty clean except around the holidays. I was a vegetarian for 13 years. I know how to eat. I eat organic, very little processed and mostly gluten free. We even put up onions, garlic, carrots and fingerling potatoes from my husband's organic garden. I can't really do dairy either because it causes all sorts of havoc on my stomach flora.

I am fairly certain my hunger is the result of increased training load and not coupling protein with complex carbs. That is the experiment for this week.  

I'm fine if you post comments here - if you want to PM something specific, that's cool too.  How about this - if it benefit could others in the group, then post it here.

Hey peeps, guess who is still alive?  Thats right, me

I have been crazy, crazy busy.  Recently took a new job within my same company, and then recently turned the big 40.  My wife made sure we celebrated that all in style, and I haven't been home much at all these last couple of weeks.

With that said, I have caught up on the thread and it looks like all is going good here.

Some notes:

Suzy- I do random workouts with my athletes.  Sometimes it may be something as simple as rest/swim/bike...your choice, do what you want, keep it easy.  With that said, there is always a method to even the randomness (i.e. recovery day hidden as a random swim, etc.).  Having been coached for 2.5 years myself, I really think we need that freedome every now and again.

On the shoe support issue, I have flat feet myself, but Brett from ESI had shown me the same research that Steve refers to about strengthening and stabilizing.  I have been running in neutral shoes now for 1.5 years with great success.  However, I NEED to say on my core work, but more importantly stabilization work.  When I talk about stabilizing, I am talking about ankle/calf/foot work.  This means wobble boards and bosu balls and ankle bands and side leg lifts and "toe curls with the feet.  There are a bunch of little muscles that can and should be worked often in and around the foot.  With that said I did have a little succes with the superfleet support inserts,  but it did bring on some other issues when coming off the bike or when my feet started to swell on longer runs 16+.  The plastic in the superfeet is too thin for my flat feet.  So, that is why I stay current with my stabilizing work.

Steve - Please post your analysis of the latest swim post.  I think the entire group could learn a few things from viewing the swim file and reading your analysis - no pressure

Suzy - The slow twitch/fast twitch discussion is very interesting and not an easy one to nail down.  I have read some good books (The lore of Running, and Phil Skiba's Scientific Training for Triathletes - btw great physiology reading in both).  And what I learned was that  without taking physical biopsies of the muscles, its very difficult to determine what types of fibers your body has, and/or which ones are more widely used.  Of course, as coaches, we train the many different systems and have a good idea which athletes are more likely to be one or the other.  We will work on endurance (slow twitch) and speed (fast twitch) and there are even more theories on how the different fast twitch fibers (I or II) can be trained more like the slow twitch.  So, my simple answer, is that you probably already know your strengths....the key is to get stronger at your strengths AND your weaknesses and train ALL the systems to get the most out of yourself that you possibly can.

Hey all,
I just got a tattoo on my foot yesterday (yay!), but now I'm not allowed to run till Wednesday or swim for two weeks and I'm already feeling cooped up. And my hubby tells me I shouldn't bike till Wednesday either. Does anybody have any exercise ideas to keep me off my feet till Wednesday? I was thinking doing core and upper body strengthening exercises. Or has anyone else gotten a tattoo on your foot and have a differing opinion on the biking matter? It doesn't hurt to wear shoes so I don't see what the harm is in biking tomorrow.

first and foremost just to clarify each muscle contains slow and fast twitch fibers as well as some fibers that can be trained to act as either slow twitch or fast twitch.  slow twitch or fast twitch MUSCLES do not exist.

Scott message was spot on.  w/o biopsy you can't know your muscle fiber composition.  and quite frankly, it's a moot point because you train to your weakness and you then get as good as you'll get so knowing the composition of fibers doesn't really matter....but there are always exceptions; such as Chrissy Wellington's story of entering our sport.

I'm not quite sure the true purpose of your question as I think you are searching for an answer that you may not have directly asked; however, the answer to the question you did ask is that while you can change a certain percentage of the "adaptable" fibers to act as one or the other, anything more than that you can't change (or so current research tells us).  If you have a high amount of fast twitch fibers (known only from a biopsy) then perhaps explosive sports may suit you better; long jump, high jump, 100m dash.  but pretty much anything in the sport of triathlon needs primarily slow twitch fibers and lots of them.  the only time triathletes use fast twitch fibers is when they are doing something primarily anaerobic; which doesn't occur often...but can occur when climbing up a short hill at a hard effort or sprinting to the finish line...basically any effort that depends almost exclusively on the anaerobic energy system and remember that any effort lasting longer than 60-75 seconds is primarily aerobic (not anaerobic) in nature.



Edited by Steve- 2010-01-17 10:12 PM

Hi all.  I hope your Monday/MLK Day is going swimmingly.

I just wanted to post that after much deliberation, and a lot of thoughful consideration I decided to go with support soles to insert into my running shoes.  I was at REI yesterday morning and I was going to go for the "Superfeet" brand (http://www.superfeet.com/) of inserts since they came recommended and I got a thorough first hand explanation as to their benefits and positive qualities.  REI is awesome (no real need to say that since everyone already knows that) since they had all the Superfeet varieties out for testing.  So I got into the Orange ones and went for a run around the block.  In a word: Awesome.

But, as I continued to deliberate, I also found another brand on the racks.  They were "Sole" brand inserts (http://www.yoursole.com/products/footbeds/signature/dk-plus/) and again I found the ones that would be applicable to my use/mileage/activity level and off I went.
In a word: Awesome-er!

I went online directly to the www.yoursole.com site and they had exactly what I wanted (plus an added feature of being Nike+ compatible which I didn't see at REI) on clearance.  I ended up buying a couple pair along with sandals that provide heel and arch support for after events and general summer wear with support.

Of course, I can't tell you if they work or not, since I haven't extensively used them and I have to wait for FedEx Ground to arrive but I will in the near future...I'll keep you posted.

I will definitely continue to rehab and strengthen my areas that will help in the process but I am hopefull now that I will be able to reduce the amount of arch flex to avoid the tendonitis flareups.







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You have Dean on your feet?  

My feet are about the only place I don't have tattoos, but, I'd wait till the scabs went away to put the extra friction of running or cycling on the area.  Not letting it heal properly could discolor the work and add to the scar tissue.

There was a discussion here http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=192945&posts=18&start=1 the other day about swimming after getting a tattoo. 

 

I am disappointed that I didn’t wait longer to let the eyes on my arm heal before playing hockey.  My c/a rubbed on them and caused a light spot in one of the blue areas.  (I’m a goalie, and love gear.  Tri gear fits nicely with me being a gear .)  Whats a few more days when the tattoo will be there FOREVER.

Edited by DTraitor 2010-01-18 6:44 PM

I got a tattoo on my upper arm and only waited to swim 6 days. I also had some minor surgery done at the same time. I didn't have much scabbing at all. My tattoo guy uses really, really good inks and state of the art guns. I barely bled at all. A testament to a good tattoo artist and healthy living.

I need to get my foot recolored, but refuse to take time off of training. Maybe next fall.

based on what your logs show...no consistent running since Aug; I think this works but you have to listen to your body.

the thing to remember is that it will take several months for you to form a solid base of fitness so focus on z2 runs primarily during this time.