Baowolf's Mentor Group- Closed (Page 11)

Late night swim kicked my butt, only 2300 yards, but did a pyramid getting faster 1.5 sec per 100 x 7 and then 50s x 3 then back down. So fastest set was roughly 15-20 seconds per 100 faster pace. I need to get a couple swims in a no current pull to recalibrate my pace. I stroke harder when I go faster so not an exact science when counting strokes = distance. Hopefully I can do some 100s in the pool at 1:45 in a month. Our city pool is open 5 weeks a year. Oh well late and off to bed. Take care everyone and have fun, except Samantha.. you just get through this week 8).

Glad to hear the swimming is coming along, Steve. You'll be hitting 1:30/100 before you know it!

Did my bike workout for the day. A nice 1 hour torture session with the Sufferfest. But now its time to get cleaned up, and head off to work. Have a great day everyone!

Hi all!! Quick question re swim wkout.
(This is part of the main set)...

Then 4x(4x100):
#1 RI = 20"
#2 RI = 15"
#3 RI = 10"
#4 RI = 5

What is RI??? ?

Uh....Rest Interval, maybe? You take 20 seconds between each 100 in the first 4x100, then 15 seconds in the second set, then 10 seconds in the third, etc. That is a butt kicking 1600 yard set you got there....

Question for Steve, or anyone who may know -- I'm having a bit (a bit, not much) of calf soreness this AM, a few hours after my bike set earlier. Not had this happen to me ever after biking. Seems like a weird thing to have happen. Any ideas? My form on the bike seemed solid, but maybe I was getting lazy and had a bit of 'toe point' ???

Edited by Mike_D 2013-05-30 8:39 AM

Thx mike. Makes sense!

Yups rest interval is right. Less recovery time as the set goes on is ... fun.

It may be from toe pointing or just cumulative calf abuse. Use a roller/marathon stick, increase diligence in stretching, ice if it really buggs ya.

Doubt I will see 1:30 in this lifetime unless I am going down a very strong river, perhaps a waterfall. I have been focused a lot on the pull for the past year, and the kick for the past month though I don't kick that much when swimming. I think the swim 4x per week is helping but man sustaining anything under 2:00 / 100 takes a lot of focus if it is more than 50 yards. I think I can waterski at 1:30 /100.

Elena - that is one tough swim set.

My recent swim Ah-ha was when a swim instructor suggested I try a pull bouy to get my legs and but up. Think I always figured it was to isolate the stroke and focus on your pull but I tried it. Of course legs go up, head and chest go down which is not necessarily comfortable. With my race coming up and the use of the wetsuit it was a good challenge because the wetsuit does the same thing (legs up, head and chest down). After those short excersices, my times dropped and I was able to swim 2x farther continuously in the pool than before.

Went for a run last night and completed 4.43 in 46 minutes or so. NJ weather is crazy though, as saturday's run was 35 degree morning gaunt, and last night was a 81 humid mess. Legs were a bit tired and so cut it short of what I wanted to do but figured better to save some gas for the rest of the week. Another sticky hot one today so yeah for a swim today.

Swimming without dragging your legs is probably the biggest change you can make to improve your swim speed if youa re droppy in the back. When I only kick using a snorkle and a mask I can test out my balance. Fist drills also help with that. Breathing should actually be easier if your legs are up near the surface of the water.

Hey All:
I'm still alive too. Mike I was sort of up in your neck of the woods for the extended long weekend (we have a place on the Cape). I ran the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge for my company early last week and then we left Thursday night after work for the Cape. I did a 5 mile race on Saturday morning. We lucked out with the weather for that one because although it was windy (normal for up there), it wasn't raining!

Pam - welcome. I see you did the Twin Cities Marathon. I did that one as my first marathon in 2010 and really enjoyed it.

Pink Pam - I loved the story about your run. It's fun when they turn out like that.

Carol - glad to hear you are trying the strength stuff. I am definitely going to be doing that too. I just run weird and apparently always have. I had someone stop me once on the way out of the gym to ask if I was OK. He had seen me running and thought I was limping! My gym has a family practice doctor's office and a physical therapy office in part of the front part of the building and it turns out he's one of the PTs. He said I should come in to see if they could "fix" that - I don't think I want to fix what appears to be mostly working for me...

All of your swim workouts are impressive. I will wander back to the pool soon!

Courtney

Hi! Got in that long swim. Swim drills are actually tough for me b/c when asked to add in speed, my form goes all to heck a d actually swimm slower! So I do what I can the best way i know. Couple wks ago i decided to inquire about lessons w a coach but have only played phone tag w the gal going on 3 Wks now! geez. Frustrating when they don't call you back!! Don't know if it would make any difference w HIM 6 Wks away. Planned get an 80 minute ride after my swim. But after doing a few errands and eating( starved) I had exactly 80 min. So headed to garage to pump up the back tire and when I pulled off the pump hose the air continued to leak out of the tire! Never had that happen. Faulty valve? Maybe i was too rough? Just leaked right out. So Since my changing-tire-skills are.. um slow, I figured I'd just run and then change the tire after picking up kiddos. Signing off to do just that. Maybe I will time myself ! :D

Edited by EV3110 2013-05-30 4:04 PM

I think I'm still having a bit of fun even though this is a big week for me. I think it comes from the fact that I'm pretty impressed with the last month of my training. I have been really dialed in and getting my training in with less mental effort than previous months. It is way more of my routine now than I expected. So yesterday I swam 3200 and ran 5. Today I bike 60 and ran 2. Tomorrow is 5k swim. Decided the 10k race wouldn't work for me since I have my last big training sessions to get done, so I'll watch my friend and cheer for her.

And Steve, I know you wouldn't lie to me about my preparedness and I am so thankful for that.

It is getting so close now and I am get really excited when I think about it. A little ball of excitement builds inside me and sometimes I think I will burst.

Night all!

Samantha that little ball is gonna grow about 10x over the next 3 weeks.... all part of the emotional roller coaster, just name it and let it follow its course.

As to the question on how to send someone a personal message, you put your cursor over their avatar and an option screen comes up one of which is to send them a message.

Good morning everyone! I'm pleased to report that I've gotten my lazy butt out of bed for the first two days of this work week to get in some trainer time so things are starting to look up. I'm more excited about being able to start running in the next few weeks. My PT's have told me that I can probably run now but to be honest; I've been pretty darn good holding myself back...I can wait a little bit longer!

Does anyone here have any "go to" websites for their biking needs? My wife has asked me to put together a list of gift ideas for Father's Day and my birthday...the only one I know of is Nashbar.com

Steve, thanks for the response on the PM's. I ended up emailing Ron and the issue was that my browser (where I can see my name and any PM's) is white and not red...so I have to highlight that area...when I did, viola...PM's lol

Pam: I love reading about your great running day. I think you're starting to get your mojo back!

Carol: Hope you are on the other end of that cold now

Courtney: You weren't too far away from me either. Mike lives on the Plymouth side of the Cape, I live on the Wareham/Onset side...heading toward Providence.

Ken: How's the swimming cram sessions coming along?

Joe: Good to see you checking in and continuing to get that training in!

Mitch: I know I'm a bit late with this but great job with the disciplined training. The milage is starting to creep up slowly.

Elena: Did you get that tire fixed yet? Please continue to share for those like me...who have no clue about tire changing etc!

Time to get ready for work now...UGH! Have a good day all!

Samantha -- best of luck with the taper. Sounds like you are SO ready for this.

Hot hot hot here, so of course I deferred my run from this AM to tonight . I'm finding if I don't get at least 6 hours of sleep, I can't do anything in the AM. Had a late night last night, and there was no way I was going to function this morning. So short run tonight, some biking, and more running over the weekend. Can't believe the HIM is only 2 weeks away. Holy carp! Will try to get in some OWS tomorrow as well. Will be cold in the ocean (60 or so) but will be good to get in some swimming.

Samantha, I completely understand the little ball. With my HIM this weekend, I am a serious mess. Playing out all kinds of scenarios in my head. Completely visualizing the race. I know that I have put in the work and now I just have to go out and execute. Allow muscle memory to carry me. With your training, you will do awesome.

Elana, you are really going to be a pro at changing tires.

Jay, I completely understand finding that motivation. Coming back from my "injury", I struggled with motivation as well. But now that I have gotten back into my routine, my motivation has completely returned. Doesn't hurt that my race is upon me.

Mike, we are getting hot here as well. My race will be on the hottest day of the year so far. Yippee. So much for a spring here in NC. We have gone from 50's to 80's in about 3 weeks.

For me today, I have an easy 5 mile run and then off to packet pickup. I have huge butterflies flying around in my stomach.

Hey Everyone!!!
I am back home from beautiful Orlando, FL from vacation. I am sad to say that I only swam twice, and I ran once. Shame on me. I did relax a lot which was much needed. I got to bust it back into training starting this weekend. I got my next triathlon on June 29th. I am motivated, I am motivated, I am motivated!!!!! Got to get into the routine!

Ken- Your going to do great on the Half!

Ken -- go crush it! You're doing Raleigh 70.3? if so, I have a buddy at work who had to pull out of the race earlier this week due to a hammy pull which just happened. He is truly bummed out about it. I'm already getting butterflies about my HIM in 2 weeks, but more about the run and my near total lack of run training.

Temps went from mid 40's to mid 90's here in 5 days.

First race this year (and first HIM of the year ) for me is 2 weeks from tomorrow and I'm having my first twinges of pre-race freak out. I'm sure it will subside, but knowing I've been injured and not as trained as I should be has me likely more anxious about this than I otherwise would be. Maybe this last big weekend of training will help sooth some fraying nerves.

LOTS of races coming up! I love hearing about the jitters everyone is having. (and feeling a bit jealous, I freak out during taper, my wife won't even let me use the word!),

I have a very good feeling for all!

Keep up the good work.

I just hit 100 miles running for the month. It's been a very long time since I've done that. Feels good.

On a personal note the family is out of town in Palm Springs. I had to stay for work. I'm filming a show for WE TV as the featured mixologist. If you all happen to watch Keep you're eyes out for David Tutera's Unveiled in a few months. Gonna shoot down to the Springs late tonight...

Ken, hope you have a great race! Your posts have made me think back to my OWS tri's, and the swim-a-phobia that accompanied them. The feeling I think most about is that once I got in the water, it was like a huge relief swept over me. No more wondering, analyzing, sweating whether everything was just right. All that was left to do, was to actually swim. Brain off...swim on. Hope the same will be true for you this weekend.

Mike, very cool that your race is coming up as well. If one aspect has to be a bit of a reach, the run is probably the best of the three. I forgot to mention before, how amazed I am at your swim progress. I assumed you had been swimming all your life.

Jay, good for you for not rushing the running!

Samantha, dang girl...amazed at your training...mental and physical. When you get your IM medal, I think you should frame it, along with a graph of your training log.

Mitch, how exciting re: the TV show! Great PR for your business, and fun all at the same time.

Pam, how is the toe doing?

Mitzi, any luck with the wetsuit?

Steve, you are definitely on the comeback trail! Nice workouts.

Sad to say I cut short a 3 mile run this morning. Dang, my rt. glute was not happy, as in every blasted step was painful. Did get my balance/foot strength stuff in and my feet are already feeling better. I've ditched the orthotics, and guessing that the increased glute pain is change/growing pains. Time will tell. On the plus side, I finally got approved to visit my friend, so one weekend a month starting in June, I'll be going to prison. Visiting hours are liberal -- 8-5 on Sat and Sun. I'll spend Saturday night at a nearby hotel, so we will have some serious gabbing time .

It's hot here too! I actually ran at 5:20 this morning since I didn't get out yesterday.

Jay - we did pass right by you on Wednesday. Instead of going up 495 to the Mass Pike like we normally do, we cut over toward Providence because we had a lamp pickup to make in Cranston (my husband deals antique lamps so we often make detours to various auction houses to pick things up).

Ken - Good luck in your race!

Samantha - you sure sound ready to me... Try not to go too crazy during your taper!

Have a great weekend everybody!
Courtney

Just as a reminder, if you are going to be racing in the heat you should do some training in the heat. It usualy takes 2-3 weeks to acclimate to running in hot temps. Also as temps go up make sure you bring enough water. My water use almost tripples when temps hit 100F over a 60F ride/run. It is stil nice here mid 60s so I have not had to make the transition yet to carying that much water.

Oh there was a question about where to buy stuff. BT has a discount with Trisports and they tend to have a decent selection of most tri stuffs. Biketiresdirect is a good source for tires and some stuffs. Nathbar is ok but you have to follow their stock closely to get the right sizes and get stuff really on sale rather than kinda on sale. Roadrunner often has decent prices on shoes and sometimes family footware has a buy 1 get 1 half off sale that works out ok for shoes.

Samantha, are you going with a neopreme swim cap for CDA?

For new folks when I talk about my pool it is a little one http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/photos/get-photo.asp?p...

Edited by Baowolf 2013-05-31 7:08 PM

Alright, May is officially done, lets see your numbers (you don't have to play if you don't want to, but it is fun because you will do better next month):

Swim: 15h 06m 15s - 30000 Yd

Bike: 28h 03m 08s - 500 Mi

Run: 16h 12m 50s - 103.7 Mi

I am very happy with those numbers. Puts me right on track.

Ideal ratio would be something like 12.5% Swim, 54% Bike, 33.5% run and actual was 25% swim, 47% bike, 27% run. Run and bike durations will, however increase faster than swim time will.

Edited by Baowolf 2013-06-01 1:30 AM