We Don't Just Tri - We Do (Season 2) - Closed (Page 11)

Wow love the workout area!

I live in a very small 2 bedroom townhouse. I'm actually debating whether to junk the dining room table which we never use (we have a breakfast bar area we do use) and do a mini gym. I have my trainer right in the middle of the couch and dining table. Right there basically in my living room. I'm so stylish LOL

I'm going tomorrow for a Running Assessment. I've been having some nagging achilles issues and I think it's time (I've been running long enough and have settled into my stride and distance and such) to have someone take a look at all I do to see if there are things I'm not doing right that might be affecting the achilles and just generally speed and strength and form and all that. I'm quite excited to go get this done. The place that does it also does full bike fit assessments so if I like the running one I may go for that as well. They will help you find exercises to help you out and assure your form and all that on the bike are good. This place does video analysis and quite a lengthy workup so I'm hoping to glean much I'll post what I find out. Tomorrow is also my run day so we'll have to see how I feel after running these tests...might be a short workout!

I thought I'd share the results of my running assessment. I had an amazing 2 hours getting this done. There were all sorts of tests we did to see about mobility, strength, flexibility, form, and so on.

The two most pressing problems (which were readily apparent to me once pointed out lol) are reduced ankle ability on the right leg in dorsiflexion and weakness in core (glutes) with hip flexor tightness and rotation issues. I'm also hyper extending my left leg (likely to compensate for the right leg weakness). It was so strange to see video and it was so glaringly obvious because I swing my right leg out (not a ton but noticable) as I run because my ankle mobility just doesn't work well. I can barely get 90 flexion if I try to flex the ankle up to knee (hope that make sense) so my body is compensating. When combined with a running form that has me more "sitting" on my legs instead of leaning from ankle slightly forward it is causing the issues. The therapist was just amazing to me because it was so thorough and explained that I understood it. Since my former (very long time ago!) background was in body building I know muscles but not much about movement - back in the 80's it was all about just building muscle and you were't really trying for movement (well, flex muscles but that was it) so I have limited knowledge of this (flexion, rotation, etc).

I've got 7 specific exercises to work on and I started last night. I find them difficult and it's really hitting home what's happening.

He told me not to change my gait or form quite yet until we get the support in place or it may cause injury...my form is my body's compensation for the issues. He did advise to not extend the length of the runs for 2 weeks until we see if we can at least get that internal hip rotation moving, that ankle flexing and going through its axis correctly and the glute muscles actually activated and doing their thing. I thought it was great advice.

Since I'm at 9 miles in my long runs and my 1/2 is not until April 27th I've got plenty of time to work on going longer distances even with a 2-3 week break as long as I don't lose the gains I've made. It was absolutely worth the $200!

This is really cool. Where did you get it done? How did you find the outfit that did the test?

I don't know that you need to double the distance but you might want to a distance greater than your race distance. For IM training my training distances don't surpass the race distance and for HIM it is close to race distance. Again, you may want to go longer but not by much. You might also pose this question on one of the training forums.

I take a Hammer Recoverite after my workouts. Reoverite has a mix of carbs and protein. If I have time I like to get in the hot tub. Massages are great for recovery. In fact, it has been suggested that I bring a massage therapist along on my Ragnar Wasatch Back race which will be about 50 miles of running over 25 hours, just for the recovery effect.

Thanks. There is an athletic club - Merritt Athletic clubs located in Owings Mills. They are 24 hours. The local one here does not have a pool but one of their other clubs nearby does. It won't be the cheapest option. But, the fact that it is very convenient and open 24 hours is helpful based on what I anticipate my schedule being.

Edited by sundevil87 2014-02-09 8:52 PM

Hey all. I had a great week of training. I made all of my planned workouts with the exception of one strength workout. I was also about 20 minutes or so short on my long bike ride.

This coming week may prove to be a challenge as I figure out my new schedule here in Owings Mills. I did get my long run in on the treadmill after arriving at the hotel. I'll have to register with the fitness center I plan to use. Until I do I will not be able to get swims and bikes in since this hotel doesn't have any kind of bike trainer. Luckily this week is a week with lower volume.

A friend just posted that it is only 22 weeks until the Boulder IM. I know time will fly and it will be here before you know it. This is where a focused and disciplined training approach will come into play if I'm to achieve my IM goal.

good morning all,

had a good last week didn't miss a session and even added in some footie (so technically no rest day, I know bad thing) this week is a recovery week so nice easy paces.
the week before last my weight showed a gain of 0.4kg which was acceptable as I had been ill that week and been out the night before my weigh in but this week shows a loss of 2.2kgs. (4.8lbs) I am not looking to lose that much each week I believe it is accumulative over the 2 weeks.

There was an article in Runner's World (this supplements it: http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-prevention-recovery/get-a-runnin... this month about getting this assessment and they had some clinic names. I actually did not go to the clinic/facility they said but googled instead. I found some good reviews for the place I went too - and I saw that at least one of the major cycling clubs had used this place for their bike fit assessments so I took a chance. It's called Sport and Spinal Physical Therapy. Here is what we did: http://www.ssptdc.com/services/running-assess.asp

This is the group that Runner's World had for my area: https://www.medstarhealth.org/Pages/Services/Orthopaedics-and-Sports...

I actually have an appt. with them but it took a long time to get in. I left it (and need to cancel) in case I couldn't find something sooner.

Very useful!

Edited by AlexJouJou 2014-02-10 4:15 PM

I definitely need to get one of these done! I have been told I have the same issue of swinging my right leg, I don't notice it, but my wife and a couple other people have mentioned it, which tells me it must be pretty noticeable. I think there is a local orthopedic office that does this type of assessment. No is a good time for me since my race plans have all been put on hold, found out over the weekend that I will be spending a few months on vacation (haha) in a nice sandy location near the Persian gulf. I won't be taking a bike with me so it will be running and I will have access to a pool. I had plans to do a marathon in May and a HIM in June, but will have to look for something later in the summer after I get back and can do some biking. Hopefully I can get a lot of running in since that is my weakest sport!

Been kind of lazy the last few days, between working nights and then working all weekend with little sleep and then finding out my races are on hold I kind of lost my motivation, hopefully I can get it back and get in a good routine before I leave and definitely while I am away.

I hope everyone is doing well
Dan

Everything happens for a reason, Dan, keep working it out

Nice assessment, Jo, seems like the investment is worth it.

I have been training fairly consistent, slowly walking less and jogging more minutes, swimming freestyle more, with less of my "easy" stroke aka breast stroke. Not have done much bike but I know I can handle riding an hour or so, so not very concerned for it for my May short sprint (250m s / 20km b / 2.5km r). Continung to strenght train 2-3x per week and will keep doing so for some time, although will reduce it once I approach this race to concentrate more in the s/b/r, but start it up again shortly after it.
My concern is the running after the bike, so am following a 12W sprint training plan but subsituting the running portion with my walk/run C25k plan, which should have me running 5 k by race time, but still concerned about dead leags for running after bike.

Ack! Had a bad week last week. It was like the "old" self possessed me and all the bad habits ( poor diet, too much wine with dinner and no exercise) came back. I had to regroup yesterday and get back on track. I am glad I have a race next month to focus on. 

 

Have any of you "stumbled" or lost focus for a time in your training?

 

Edited by MamacitaT 2014-02-11 11:20 PM

I do all the time unless I have a specific goal, for me I have to have signed up for a race to truly keep my focus. I think the other thing is to make sure your family knows what your goals are and that you need their help staying on track. If they know it is important to you they will help you. But, sometimes some rest and good wine is good for us also!
I just went through the same thing so you are not alone, regroup and get going again, you'll be right back in the grove in no time.

On my first Tri i was fully prepared to use my mountain bike, until I found a good deal on a road bike, but I trained most of the year on a MTB, I put some street tires that i could pump up to like 85 PSI and I was able to do pretty good on it, made many a rides with friends on road bike and kept up pretty good.
I'm not sure you could get a very good position on areobars and if you are doing a sprint there probably isn't much advantage?

I think it happens to us all. I made a comment a few days ago that I needed to make sure I was able to maintain focus.

Staying on with a group like this can be helpful of course as can signing up for an event if you don't have one (as was mentioned in another post. But don't let one day or one week deter you - just get back on track.

Hey all, had a much slower week this week. Luckily it was a recovery week so not too much of an issue. I started my travel to Owings Mills last week. I was happy with the amount of work that I did manage to get in for the week.

I settled on training at the Life Time Fitness in Columbia. Turns out that the additional cost of upgrading my membership was much less than it would be to set up an account with a new gym. It is about a 30 minute drive to get to the facility. That will make it necessary for me to train only at night at LTF. The hotel I am at has the strength training equipment I need and a treadmill. So I will run and ST at the hotel and swim and bike at the LTF. I will have long nights at the LTF since I will do a swim followed by a bike work out. I've asked my coach to limit the length of my swim and bike w/o to no more than an hour each on those days. When I'm home I will get my longer swim, run, bike workouts in on the weekend. Not good for my family time after begin gone all week. I will have to try my best to get up early and do the the work before the family is up and going.

Hopefully, the full-time travel will only last six weeks or so before I go to more half-time with two weeks at home a month and two weeks a month on-site.

I didn't post my planned workouts for last week though I did get the completed workouts loaded. I have my workouts for next week up. You will see the definite up-tick in volume for next week. Because of the lower than planned volume from last week I am a little short of where I should be but still plenty of time before any significant races.

I raced a mountain bike my first race.

How long is your race? Aero bars are probably not needed for a short race - they are for longer races, but I wouldn't suggest riding a longer race on anything other than a road bike or tri bike.

Glad you are figuring it out! I'm doing the Lifetime Tri on 3/9 there in Columbia. Using it as a test overall to get a feel for a tri in a easier indoor way

Love the facility!

Questions for the experts,

I went for a run/walk routine over the weekend and below are my results:

RUN
35m 51s 4.44 kms 8m 04s /KM
Running Index 30 - need to improve!
AHR 155 (85%)
MAX HR 186 (102% ?!)

I have a few questions:

-For those using polar, how accurate is the running index?
-How do you calculate your Max HR, obviously I can't be running at 102% capacity (I am 37 yo)
-Is it OK to be that high in the HR in any case, at some point I was going with all my effort just to keep jogging (but at a slow pace) but I know that my body is still getting used to running.

I did the routine as follows:
10 mins brisk warmup walk
3 min jogging
90 sec walk
5 min jog
2.5 min walk
3 min jog
1.5 min walk
5 min jog
5 min cooldown walk

the problem is if you don't program your HRM with your personal Max HR then it figures it out from each of your workouts.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=...

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=...

now im no trainer so please do some research for yourself as I did but with a moderate warm up on a treadmill start adding pace every minute until you are running flat out for as long as humanely possible then cool down and look at your measurements.

I did this and got a Max HR of 204

The only way to determine true Max HR is to have it done by a lab. That kind of effort must be observed by professionals. I had one done when I was at the US Army War College (my max HR was/is 181 - it is probably time to get it redone as I'm sure it may have changed by now) and there were several technicians involved. They monitored blood pressure, HR, VO2 Max, etc. It was a very controlled exercise.

Barring that kind of test, everything else is an estimation. You can find a number of article or resources that can help with that. Everybody's body is different. I wouldn't get overly concerned from the Polar results it terms of your estimated max HR as long as you are feeling ok in terms of your RPE (rate of perceived effort). My wife has a very high HR when she runs. So high, it even threw the technicians at the War College (they did the test for spouses also), they made her stop when her HR went over 205 or so. Whenever she runs her HR is high. So high that you might think there was a problem - she has always that something wasn't right. But when she had it done at another place they said it wasn't abnormal and set her training zones accordingly.

As suggested earlier - do some research on your own. Look around your area for a sports lab that can do a proper test. They are much more common than they used to be and they aren't too expensive.