mcgilmartin's 2013 Mentor Group~ let's get swimming! CLOSED FOR TRAINING (Page 11)

Honestly not really, at least in the sense of physics.  I was referring to the fact that I'm not nearly the athlete I was when I was in college.  I have a personal goal to drop 16 pounds and get to the weight I was when I did Ironman Kansas in 2010.  I was in the best shape of my life between late 2009 (Redman) and late 2010.

As you well know, the laws of physics will handicap a heavier runner.

Bryan, totally run, Man.  You have a half coming up... swimming won't propel you across that finish line.  Running more and concentrating on run technique will.  You need any last minute help with training?

Usually the swimmers ear products are a mixture of rubbing alcohol and vinager (acetic acid) which drys the ear out and also helps restore the proper pH to the ear to reduce inflammation/risk of infection.

Bryan

Steve, best post ever!  2013 is going to be a great year.

Saturday - 48 minutes swim + 48 minutes run

Sunday - 97 minutes bike ride

Run and bike nicely in zone 2.

That marks the completion of week 3 of my training schedule (21 for 21 in terms of workouts). Happy with that and looking forward to taking it easy during the upcoming recovery week.

Nice work, Max!  Enjoy that recovery week, you have earned it!

Next week do another TT and see if you've improved at all.

So, this week has more swimming - I am trying to do a 0 to 1 Mile in Six weeks plans.  I'm on week two so today will probably be 900 yards, maybe a little more if I'm feeling good.  Just to make sure I commit to this I went and bought jammers so no more swimming in regular trunks.  Lets see if the diference is really that noticable.

I'm also just a few miles away from my running goal for the month - should hit that this week too.

After I settle into the new routine it will be a trainer and TrainerRoad.

Step-by-step.

That's great, Bruce!  Keep it up!

The weekend, training wise, was uneventful for me.  I did make it to the pool, but stayed in the kiddie section with my toddler.

I, like Bruce, am also doing the 0-1 mile program.  Last week was all swim.  I just finished day 1 of week 2.  Just the sheer volume of swimming with minimal stops has increased my T500m time.  I checked my watch after 500 meters and clocked in at 13:45.  More than a full minute faster than my time trial last month for the same distance!  This is the kind of progress I was hoping for when I joined this group.  Let's hope it continues.

Bruce, how would you describe your level of swimming when you started the 0 to 1 mile program?

How do you like swimming in jammers ?

going to be a light running week or two for me i think... something going on with my right knee that is begging for some time off 

I was always a pretty good and confident swimmer although I was never on a swim team, I did go to the pool a lot as a kid, did survival swim training in the Air Force (minimal) and I generally enjoy swimming.  But - I have not swam in a year almost, so I was mostly out of practice.  I am a mid-pack swimmer generally and could do Olympic-length swims, but poorly because of the open water challenges (tides and whatnot, not fishies and the unknown in the murky depths).  I have not taken a lesson since I was 6, just watched TI videos to pick up a few techniques that I try to work into my swims.

I LOVE jammers.  I did not think they would make such a difference, but it was noticably easier in jammers.  I have not really timed myself, it just felt so much easier.

BTW, my swim sessions are basically just swimming with no drills.  I keep repeating to myself:  butt up-head down; relax; stretch out on the recovery; relax; rotate; relax; ooh look at the bottom of the pool.

Back to the pool tonight:  Week 2, Day 2.

Nice job Steve!! 

I have been running in 26-28 degree weather lately too, which is way colder than I would prefer.  However it beats the heck out of the rain and 40 degree biting wind that we normally get this time of year. 

What is a GSC 10?

I had a three day weekend due to the market holiday so here are my weekend workout stats.

Saturday first swim in a long time 45 minutes. 21 min 500m TT

Sunday Long Slow Run 12.4 miles and plyometrics build up for March marathon

Monday 40 minute swim working on drills 19 min 500m TT

This is awesome everyone!  Glad to see your swimming improving already.  The more you stick to it, the better you are going to get.  Then you can concentrate on the bike and run (where the race occurs).

I've been pretty busy lately (luckily that includes lots of workouts ) but I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts. I got in a run Sunday, swim Monday and a bike and run this morning. Tomorrow is a day off, or maybe just some upper body weights and pilates. 

I survived the first 2 weeks of the half marathon training plan and was really worried about this week (week 3), especially since the first week left my legs and hips pretty sore. But after last week I think it actually won't be quite as bad. I haven't run more than 8 miles since college back in the day, so this week's 10-mile run will be hard, but I felt pretty strong after running 8 miles Sunday. I definitely felt like I could have kept going. Today's speed work was really rough, but it was after a spin class so that didn't help. But I did it and made it out of the Y alive!

The best part is that I bought actual running shoes before starting the plan, a nice fair of Brooks, and the knee pain I was having after about 3 miles on every run since October instantly disappeared. Between the nice shoes and working on my form, I think the problem is gone. Hope so anyway. The 13.1 would be impossible otherwise.

I gave up one of my 2 weekly swims to add a day of running and I think it shows. I did the 500 and 1000 TTs and my time was down almost a minute on the 500 and 2 mins. on the 1000. But there's no way to work another swim in, which is frustrating, especially since swimming is my favorite. I'll just make the most of the one swim for a while. Thanks for the workouts Matt, it's nice to try something different!

Have a good week everyone!

Glad you guys are enjoying the swim suggestions.

Here's one a little more challenging:

100 swim

100 fist drill

100 kick

5x200 (the first three go descending, the 4th one should be easy, and the 5th as an all-out)

100 swim

100 kick

100 easy cool down

Always listen to your body.  I know the Marines like to say that pain is weakness leaving your body, but it's really your body telling you to knock it off!

You might want to check on your logs and see what you were doing leading up to the injury.  Anything change?  Did you ramp up volume?  Logging training is invaluable.

Slowly starting to feel that swimming is 'clicking'. Did 500m today in 12m34s. This gives me a T-time of 2m36s, correct Dave ?