Mamma Amy Knows Best - Mentor Group Year One - CLOSED (Page 12)

Yes... Freaking, freaking out. I dont feel my swim is anywhere it needs to be, and I am crampping big time 2 hours into my workouts no matter the water intake durring. God's speed on the marathon this weekend.

Running... Mouth absolutely, musscles require oxygen.. a lot of it. I wouldnt even consider limiting myself to my nose for the required amounts.

Swimming... I use a nose clip. I have always used one and now is not the time to try change. I too have sinus issues... it just easier for me. As I look at it... I'm not Macca so as long as it works for me...why change it.

That equates to 10 minute miles - Nice job DLB!

Sounds like we have some great runners in our group who are much more experienced and faster than me so I am sure they will be offering much better info but for an FYI I just started using the Hadd approach, running longer but slower so I  can build up my resistance to using lactic acid which causes your muscles to breakdown later in races. It is suppose to build your aerobic capacity which for example burns fuel at 36 mph. When you go beyond your aerobic threshold you are going anaerobic  which burns fuel at 2 mph. So just like a car, if you only have so much fuel for a race, wouldn't you like to burn fuel at 36 mph rather than 2 where you run out of gas too soon. I have been doing this using a heart rate monitor (very cool) running between 75 and 85 % of my max heart rate which is approximately 220 minus your age but there are methods that get more accurate. This is all new to me and I may be going down a wrong path but at least I feel it is a safe form of training where I won't get injured. Just thought I would share this with you and I'll let you know how I make out.

Hey Amy,

I was checking out your race online, what's up with the 6:00 AM start? Usually the earliest start we have up here is 7:00. Is it a Florida thing?

Lower heart rate = lower pace. It isn't easy when I know I can run at a 8:30 pace and I am running longer distances at 12:00 miles to keep my heart rate at 125 bpm. Hopefully next month I will be running 11's at 125 bpm the next month 10s, etc.

The whole theory is based on there should be a correlation between your 5k, 10k, half and marathon pace and if not you are either not runnng long enough or running too fast. For example: 5k = 8:00 pace, 10k should be 8:15, half should be 8:30 and marathon should be 8:45. You can see each step up I am adding 15 seconds. If this is not the  case and there is wide diparity as you go longer you are going anaerobic too early and burning too much fuel. The marathon should be 99% aerobic.

This theory is a long process which takes months and was tailored for sub 3 hour marathoners (which I am not). I am trying to tailor it for a somewhat beginner for shorter distances. Not sure how it will work out but I will give it a shot. Like I tell my kids all the time patience is a virtue.

I began my tri training on Friday and came down with a miserable cold on Saturday and it is still killing me today. I am going to take today off and rest up and get back to it tomorrow. I am hoping to get a 2.5 mile run, a 30 minute bike ride (about 6 to 8 miles for me), weights for my legs, and AB's in tomorrow.

Hope everyone is still kicking butt! Now, back to sleep.

Weighing in at 181 - What the heck, up 3.5! Didn't cheat on the diet and worked pretty hard doing treadmill running because it has been so cold up here. I didn't get any free weight training in and didn't do my long run. I can do 1 hour on a treadmill but not 2.

A week like this makes you want head out and get that burger and fries but its not going to happen, been there done that. This is about the long haul and a healthier life style.

Weighing in at 239.

Consistency has been my nemesis this week. Too many weird hours at the office. Looks like everyone has been progressing well.

Oh geez no kidding it is one early morning! When my running buddy suggested we meet to carpool at 4:30 I was all prepared to tell him he was nutso and then I worked backwards from the start time and realized it wasn't too early.

Most of the reason is definitely the heat. Yesterday the high was 78 or 79 maybe. But different from up north we hit the high of the day as early as 9 or 9:30 so a lot of the race is pretty warm.

I think the other reason is that we run over 2 main causeways connecting Miami to Miami Beach so I think they want to clear those roads as early as possible. Now that this race has gotten so big we have a pretty big group of walkers completing the half- marathon. I was cheering in my friends who finished the full at the 4 hour mark and there were still lots of people finishing the half marathon at the same time.

To be honest this race is one of my least favorite races. I would never want to try to get a fast time at this race. The course is just too crowded. The start corrals are too big, they do split them by time but in true Miami fashion nobody pays any attention. I was wearing a bib assigned to corral G but I just walked into the Corral D (with all my friends) and then under the ribbons until I was in corral C I think. Plus they only wait one minute between corrals so the start is a mess. Then the course never thins out crowd-wise. The water stops are only on one-side which with 25k runners is a total mess. But they have fixed the crush of humanity at the finish so that's good.

So for me I think of it like a longish supported training run. 2:08 including a stop at a port-o-potty which took forever.  Since it's the home town event I'll keep doing it but I have to remember to sign up early so I don't pay a lot.

Have a great day everyone!

There are definitely people who make their own schedules. I started following a training plan when I stepped up to the Oly distance because I was concerned about making it the distance.

Yes if you are a slower runner you want to add minutes on to the plan for the run parts.

If you want to incorporate a 1/2 marathon into the training plan I would modify the long runs to build up to that and also lengthen any mid-week runs if needed. But strange as it may sound you don't need to do as much running as a stand-alone running plan if you've got all three disciplines training at the same time. There is some cross-over endurance training effect from the swimming and biking.