Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 11)

Early spin this morning and swim this afternoon.....that's 3 days in a row for swimming!  Trying to get in as many workouts as possible before heading back out of town tomorrow.  Heading to Birmingham......its my 25 year law school reunion and my wife's 30 year HS reunion....both taking place in Birmingham.  We will do my thing tomorrow night and wife's on Saturday with return home on Sunday.  Will be up early again tomorrow to get a bike workout in.  Should be able to get in a run Saturday and hopefully a run or bike Sunday when we get home.

I'm planning on racing in 2 weeks.  Going back and forth between olympic or sprint.  Both are at the same place/date.  Olympic is a pretty big event and sprint does not draw nearly as many.  My concern is that my travel every weekend leading into the race will have me less than ready come race day.........

Randy   

Classic Dark Lager at the Blue Mountain Brewery - Yum... oh, did I misunderstand AGAIN?

And it's still Thursday, right?  Cuz I have a boatload of work to wrap up before the weekend!  (actually not a boat, but this is a family board)

4th day in a row of training... hour bike followed by 3 mi run.  Starting to get back in the swing of it again :-)

Stu

Early bike workout done! I almost stayed in bed.  Just did not want to get up. 

Who is racing this weekend?  I know Jason has the Boston Marathon on Monday.  Seems like we had others racing this weekend?

Randy

Hey Randy - thought you and Gil might enjoy this article on Matthew Centrowitz and mile strategy.

Thanks Stu-looks good. I'll forward it to Gil.

Have a good weekend.

Randy

Just got back from a 1 hour 20 minute bike ride which was horrible ... I don't think I have ever had that much headwind on a ride. Even downhill I felt like I was standing still!

Tonight I am judging at our quarterly testing which is a lot of fun. A few students will actually become black belts tonight ... if they pass the testing of course. That is always fun but also makes it for a long night. 

Tomorrow morning I have a 5k race here locally trying to beat my PR. I hope I can get some swimming, riding and running in over the weekend. I am on-call so I never know what to expect ... be on a call all weekend or actually have time to relax. 

Good luck to everyone who is competing this weekend. 

Good luck Jason!

I just got back from a 5k race. It was a local 5k here and had somewhat of significance to me. I had lost 50lbs exactly one year ago and this was the first race that I had done in almost 10 years. I came in at 31.49 minutes last year. 

My goal was to beat the time by 5 minutes at this years race. I came in at 27.18 minutes and missed my target by just about 30 seconds. When I finished I looked at my watch and it showed I had just run 3.3 miles which gives me a 8 minute 19 second split ... love it ... fastest I have ever run.

With that done ... swim this afternoon ... have a good weekend!

Thanks everybody for the advice about choosing a bike.  I feel more confident going with my gut and knowing that I will ride more if I really enjoy and like the bike.  

Love all the chatter about race clothing. Michelle, I have to say I felt like a HUGE DORK showing up at my first tri in my one piece (see photo) but I did not have to fuss with it once during the race and guess what? My transition times rocked. 

Best of luck, Jason. Everyone here in Boston is rooting for a cold front to move in quick, but looks like that's not gonna happen! They're predicting a nice tailwind though.   

Awesome job, Michael!  I well remember those breakthrough runs... great feeling of accomplishment!  And there's more where that came from... which is also pretty motivating.

I went for a long run this morning.  Legs felt pretty strong and it was a gorgeous day, so I went 10+ with some hill sprints at mile 8 thrown in for good measure.  Not sure yet if I'm going to train through next weekend's sprint tri or not.  I know I've got a juggling week at the end of April where my training will be down, so I really don't want 3 of 4 light weeks at this point in the season.

Mentor Michael - follow-up question on that great post from a few pages back.  When one runs slowly (zone 2), is it important to keep the same fluid form, or is shuffling okay?  Not that I have good form even in a race, but when I run slowly, it really degrades.  I've always tried to keep my slow runs at a pace where I still maintain good form (such as it is).  Or does it not matter... shuffling (or walking as you mention) is just fine or potentially even what you want.

Looking forward to hearing about Boston!

Stu

Shuffling is better than not running.  (There's a debate amongst swimmers about whether swimming with poor form is actually worse than not swimming at all.  I think it's a closer call there.  I don't think it's a close call in running.  Running is better than not running pretty much under any circumstances unless you are causing yourself injury.)  BUT:  If you can maintain good form, so much the better.  I think it is a GREAT idea to stop every so often during a long run to regroup and regain good form, much as we do in swimming when we do long sets with short rest interval.

So in your long runs, if you feel like form is degrading, I'd highly encourage you to stop for 30 seconds or so every few miles.  In my experience, it really does wonders for your energy level and ability to run with good form.

Way to go Michael!  Progress is awesome!!!

I did a morning swim followed by a run this afternoon.  Treated myself to a ride on my Harley this evening!!  Now going to hospital to work the night shift.  I hope it's not too busy.....

Nice PR Michael!

I need to get my butt in gear and get back out there.  I really haven't done much since the race a couple of weeks ago.  The first week, I was nursing my ankle.  This week I was slammed with work, but truth be told, it felt nice taking a bit of a break.  I was going to ride today, but just kind of let it go.  I am scheduled for a run tomorrow.  I think it is time to get back on the horse.  

Someone please tell me this little hiatus is normal after a bigger training block and race?!?!

Totally normal.  I'd say that 2 weeks out is the right time to start making yourself get back at it. 'Till then, it is beter to give yourself the physical and mental break.  SO yeah, now's about the time to get back into the rhythm.  It will seem 'normal' again very quickly.

Yeah, I'm loving this SC weather! My wife and I did the Greenville Mud Run yesterday and today, and it's felt wonderful outside!

Hello All....sorry to be absent all weekend.  We had a good trip to Birmingham and had a great visit with old friends but no chance to check in here.  Was able to get in a good run yesterday and another when I got home today.

Beautiful weather in South Alabama today as well.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Randy

x2!  That's a fantastic result.