Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 12)

You said, "I did a one-on-one with Paul back in '06, and it was far and away the best swim training I ever received."  WOW totally cool! 

ELLEN -

You're here! Good! I was getting worried about you!

First, the bike skills do make sense if (a) you are fit well to your bike, and (b) you have previously-latent abilities in that area. I mean, we all have those somewhere or other, and the lucky ones are those who can discover at leat some of them before they depart this mortal coil. So, without trying to analyze it too much, just accept it and build on it. it is always helpful when someone cycles well, as that is, after all, the largest percentage portion of any given triathlon.

Second, I too came to tri because running was too hard on me. There's a long story that I love to tell about this (and which mercifully I will spare you), but it involves a tibial stress fracture that led my sports doctor to say to me (51 at the time) "You know, at your age you're just going to keep hurting yourself if you try to do all that mileage. Ride your bike more!" (Here's where the story can get long, and I'll just truncate it here by saying that I took his advice, staretd swimming, bought a bike a few months later ------ and here I am! )
So, running is hard ON you, and you also say hard FOR you, so is the latter because of the former? That is, you're afraid to push the running too hard for fear of injury?

As for the swimming, don't wory at all that you are the (self-perceived) slowest of the lap swimmers,because at the very least you are faster than any of thsoe not doing laps. Think of it this way -- you're a sophomore in high school who has made the varisty team, but aren't getting much playing time at all. that's kind of a bummer......but at least you made varsity, which is both an accomplishment and an honor! The plan then becomes to get more playing time as a junior as your skills develop, and then as a senior you'll be all set to make a statement each and every game/match/meet!

For what you are "doing incorrectly"...........ah, the $64,000 question! I have spent what sometimes seems like the better part of the past decade trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong in the water, and the completely satisfactory answer continues to elude me; "teasers" are all I get! As you know from your high school swim days, the act of swimming is very complex and there is lots of room for the tiniest of faults to lead to serious problems, so at times it (solutions) is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

A different way to view this is to look for the "correct" way, whcih for us adults often means deconstructing our stroke. In a way, then, trying to work through Total Immersion might help you. As an experienced swimmer who is at least capable of swimming laps, what this will mean for you is to "surrender" what you are currently doing and start all over with the T.I. balance drills and all. This might be tough for you, as it is for many adults. Then again, many benefit tremendously from T.I., so it is definitly worth looking into further.

T.I. often gets scorched on the various triathlon forums, and it does have its problems. The biggest of these is when someone is ready to "graduate" from T.I., but doesn't know it; this happened to me, and it took me about six years to realize it!

You will learn that T.I. is big on body balance and position, and emphasizes glide --- and pays short shrift to more specific stroke mechanics. Accept this for now and go with it and see what happens; if it ends with just looking at the videos, that is fine. Also, what is it that you're not understanding about what Terry Laughlin is saying? (You are not alone in this, by the way!)

I could say more about T.I. and the pros and cons of it for adult triathletes who aren't natural-born fish, but that's another pile of verbiage I will spare you (at least for now!).

Let me know if anything I have said here makes sense to you!

bjva,

I had similar concerns last year. What I decided to do was: 1) pick my races for the year (starting at the end and working backwards); 2) picked a balanced plan, however, running is a strong suit for me and no matter what anyone will tell you running is the most important aspect of TRIs; 3) stuck to the plan and did no more and no less (some days that was hard). I would do it again. In my case I did look at bike specific training to learn what was different as that was once my weakest aspect. I modified the bike section of the balanced to be more technically focused. You may consider a similar thing for the run? Thus, focusing on form - very important when running and under appreciated in terms of its importance. It worked well for me. Remember you can start a plan and change after a week or two to another if it's not working. I would encourage you not to change plans once your more than 1/3 of the way into it - a strategy that has worked for me.

Oh and two rules (which I try an stick to), both of which I learned from folks on this site: 1) no more than a 10% increase in time each week; and 2) don't increase speed and distance at the same time. And, my golden rule, what is my body telling me today? How does it feel?

Take care, Whato

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 

I'm off to the pool, 2500 yards, then lunch and off to the gym to do a leg workout. Frankly, after that, I'm taking the rest of the year off! Yep, the rest of the year is OFF, COMPLETELY OFF. Haven't been able to say that in a while. lol

Praying you all have a wonder time tonight and all the best for the new year - may it be more than you would like and have worked for.

See you online, Whato

WHATO -

It sure was! In a nutshell, he watched me, then stopped me and made suggestions; this happened many times. Then he started filming me. First it was from the deck -- from the front, from the back, from the side. Then it was underwater - front, back, side!

He took time to go over this with me at the pool, and then the session was over -- but not really! The next step was the DVD I received which captured all of the footage -- but not really! What he had done was make "voice-overs", so while the footage of me swimming was playing, there was his voice, pointing out what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. IT ws soo much more than I expected coming into the session, having done a few previously with other people that were useful, but not even close to what he offered. Mercy!

He was living in Oakville, ON, at the time, and his wife had already returned to AU or NZ, and he was soon to follow. Man, I wish he still lived in Ontario!

And just bewteen you, me, and the diving board, his biggest take-home advice to me ws to incresase my cadence, my stroke turnover. There's much more to it than that, and he didn't want me to jump into it without first working on some smaller stuff, but that was the longer-term advice. He is also really big on Tempo Timers, but you probably already know that from romping through his website.

Great guy, great program, great service!!!

WHATO again -

And while I've got you here....just so you know....

I spent my first bundle of triathlon years racing at whatever distance I wanted, whenever I wanted. That worked well enough, but then I came up with the brilliant idea to get better at speed at longer distances via honing my speed skills at the shorter stuff. So, '09 was "devoted" to sprints and olys, and then the focus this past seson was more on oly speed. The figuring was to learn just how hard to suffer at sprints before I could even begin to push it fully (and suffer fully) at olys, and then use THAT suffering to learn how to do similarly at half-irons.

Unlike many of my other "brilliant" ideas.....this one actually was quite brilliant! I have certainly become much better at S and O, so I think that what you are doing in 2011 might well turn out to be.....brilliant!

(That's the plan, right? )







Edited by stevebradley 2010-12-31 1:14 PM

WHATO once more -

Hey, enjoy having the rest of the year off, you've earned it! And -- lucky dog -- you get an extra three hours to take off than I do!

JAC -

My, my, my, that certainly is something to be grateful for! Well, if you ever get lonely in that clear lane, you can always invite a bunch of us over/down there, where we will be more than happy to clutter it up for you!

Search the school a bit more throughly -- it might have a velodrome!

And thank you for doing your part to prepare 2011 for the rest of us; much obliged!

MEMO FROM: The Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do Department

Do not eat whipped cream straight from the bowl within at least ten hours of a race.

That's what I say.....but every time I traipse upstairs I feel the siren call of the whipped cream from within the fridge, and I submit to sweet temptation. It's all soooooo very fine right now, but we'll see if there are any gnarly after-effects druing the race. Urp?

JAC again -

FINALLY responding to your "more info bits" from page 6!

Your medium-/long-term plan sounds very wise. I have said to others, iI am a very big fan of not jumping into IM too early in one's "career". And, arguably, the later the better -- especially for someone like you who is still quite young!

I just believe that IM can be so daunting that every little bit of knowledge one gains about themselves carries with it huge benefits. This can be how well one responds to race-day stress, or what sort of race-food strategies work (or at least seem to), or what gear they are most comfortable in, or how adept they are at transitions ---- every little bit helps when facing 140.6 miles.

So, with the experience you have now, combined with a swack of sprints this year, and then sprints and olys, and then a HIM (or more!*), by the time you hit 41 you should be ready. I've said THIS here, too, but in case you missed it I'll just re-state that my first (of two) IM was in my fifth season, and as my 28th tri -- following 9 half-irons. *I am also a fan of that -- trying to do multiple HIM before a first IM -- but I know that not everyone, by a long shot wants to follow that route. But for me it gave me a great deal of confidence, knowing at least what it felt like to work hard for 5-6 hours.

I'll be quick to add that my "template" is not the gold standard, to be sure. Mostly, it worked for me, and to what extent it would work for anyone else is highly debatable. I have known many people who have jumped up to an iron very early on, and done exceedingly well. I may have done two of them (the 2nd was the following year, '05, and was then my 42nd tri), and even though I was mostly pleased with my perfomances, there sure was room for improvement! I doubt I would done much better had I raced IM earlier, but I'm just saying that even though I generally like the way I did things, doing them that way did NOT confer overwhelming success. Boo-hoo!!

LORI -

Just now responding to your full bio, posted back in the hinterlands of page six!

That's a sweet schedule you have, fully reflecting your running backgraound and current on-going love of it. I think I commented on your running from before, and reading your bio I know how it got that way!

Door County! I have lusted after that for a few years, imagining how beautiful the course must be. I even considered enough for thsi past season that i looked into accoms nearby, and there rally ween't a lot of them So, that kind of put the kibosh on the Door plans. That, and the fact that an ongoing groin/hip problem affects me during long drives, and seems to be getting worse. The good news is that it only bothers me when I am seated upright for a while, so I can swima dn bike and run with impunity -- as least as far as that particular is confirmed. The bad news in that neither my doctor nor my phsio/A.R.T. person can figure out what it is and how to address is. Rats.

Your planned training should easily get you to your 2011 goals. Easily! Is the hip problem all straightened away, or is that a come-and-go thing? How close are you to breaking two hours in a half-mar? With the bike training you are doing and will do, you should stpo feeling "new" to the bike very, very soon!

Finally, you are very lucky to have a spousal training partner. Everyone I know who has one benefits immensely from him/her.

Just got back from a 4 mile run with Dave. We usually don't run together because he's faster than me but for once he didn't have to slow down too much. This consistent running business is paying off

A few more things to do today and it's off to the wedding. It should be lovely.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's.
I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine (both workouts and healthier eating) next week. I've been over fooded
Bring on 2011!

JOHANNE -

More good startegy from you --- running four miles today is a fine "down-payment" on food at the wedding tonight. You're a cagey one!

Congrats on doing well at keeping up with Dave, and isn't it nice when there is proof that our effort are indeed not in vain!

JAC -

Oh, please never-ever feel you aren't part of the team. Heck, where would our Southern Hemisphere presence be without you?!

To my mind, for what it's worth, you're really neither closer nor further than some of the more far-flung members in the group who still live in continental North America. I thought a bit during the fall of having a group of Ontarionians only, but then I would miss all of the happenings in the great wide world. So, I am ecstatic to have you here; I may "live local", but I want to "think global" --- or something like that. Whatever.*

Just thrilled you're with us!!



*Mental note to self: Self, you are 62 in another 14 days, and the use of whatever is neither appropriate nor dignified; drop it within the next eight hours!

And this can accompany another age-based self-message, that being that turning my running cap backwards when I get too hot is the kind of thing that works well for someone sub-23, but far less so for me. I'm not sure I will change that, but I'm just sayin'.

And as for "I'm just sayin' ", well, that probably should be tossed into the garbage bin along with whatever.



And those only scratch the surface of a makeover I probably richly need!

Hello all!  I finished my first 10k!  Although I was a little disappointed with some things (see my race report), I have finished and I can use this experience to improve.  One thing that I realized is that I did not train nearly enough...however, I was able to finish within the realistic goal I had for myself. (I said 1:20, but realistically, expected 1:30) and I finished in 1:32ish (forgot to stop my watch, but it was chip timed, so I will find out my exact time when results are posted.  

Anyway, thank you all for your support!  I am going to take a much deserved nap/rest before the new years celebration with my husband!  There is a link below for my race report for those interested.  Happy New Year!
Laura

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/races-edit.asp?raceid=173520 

'First's' are great! Good job for sticking to it and here's to more races in 2011  

Wowza! I skip a day of BT so I can go out for a swim with my brother and some shopping and look at what happens.......I miss a bunch of pages of great posts. I will deffinately have to be more consistent with my viewing of this page in order to keep up with such an enthsiastic group. As my biggets struggle the last few months is getting excited and motivated, I have to thank all of you for your excitment and personal motivation you have shown here already. It really has helped me get some of my "mojo" going. Its been a great week of daily workouts since joining the group and can see that just being a part of all this will really be motivating. Well.......to do my part of motivating others let me share this favorite u-tube clip as I sign off for a little new year activities with family. I will wish you all a very happy new year. May you all be safe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo-nbnw8zSI&feature=related

All I can say is never give up!

Congrats Laura!  Great job!