BHannahs's Group - FULL! (Page 13)

Conventional wisdon says that if it is in your chest, rest until you are better, but if the discomfort/congestion is in your head, it's okay to train.  Important to listen to your body with any illness.  If I am feeling like the bug has just zapped my energy, I don't train, but if I feel my energy level is okay, I do my swim, bike, or run and just take it a little easier.  I find swimming to be the most uncomfortable of the three when I am sick. 

Bike shorts (more equipment Q’s)

I’ve been using my running shorts while biking. These are just some Columbia shorts that have the mesh lining built into them. They’re fine for running (not ideal mind you) but never the less fine for the relatively short runs I do.

Biking has been a whole other story though. My saddle is a hard saddle and I’m relatively used to it now. But on longer rides (hour plus) I start getting uncomfortable with all the movement from my Columbia shorts. I finally bought a pair of Izumi bike shorts and I can’t get used to the padding. I’m told that tri shorts have smaller padding and I was thinking of trying them out to see if I’m more comfortable.

Anyone else find the padding to be annoying? What do you use for biking?

Hydrating while running?

It’s getting hot and humid here and I’ve been taking a water bottle out with me for my runs. I’m wondering how you carry your bottles. I have a single bottle waist pack that carries my bottle only trouble is that it bounces way to much when the bottle is full. I end up carrying the bottle in my hand until till it’s half full then I can put it in the waist pack. I find carrying the bottle in my hand to impact my stride and I just don’t like carrying it in my hand.

I’m thinking of getting a fuel style belt. The smaller bottles seem like they would be less bouncy and the elastic waist seems like it would be more comfortable.

Anyone have one and use it regularly? Any other methods that you use and like for carrying water while running?

It takes a little trial and error to find a short/saddle combination that works for you.  On any ride 1+ hour, I will wear tri shorts or bike shorts.  Anything 50+ miles (unless it is an HIM), I will wear bike shorts.  I have had good luck with Performance Brand and Pearl Izumi, but everyone is different.  If you feel like you have too much padding in the bike shorts, get some tri shorts with a smaller pad and give those a try.  Even if you don't like the tri shorts for longer rides, they will be useful for sprint and even Olympic distance events. 

As the weather gets hotter, it is even more important to stay hydrated on runs.  Unless you can plan all of your routes to go by water fountains, convenience stores, or somewhere else to get drinks, you'll likely have to carry something with you.  A lot of people like the waist carriers with either 4-6 small bottles or 1-2 larger bottles.  You may find they work for you.  Personally, I have not found one where the bouncing of the bottles didn't bother me.  I have a hand held bottle holster that I use.  It holds a bottle and has a pouch where I keep my phone, ID, and a few dollars.  Some people don't like to carry anything in their hands when they run, but it works for me.  I take it on any run longer than an hour (in fact, you can see it in my left hand in my avatar picture - the same one on my training log).  I fill it before I go, and if I am going on a substantially long run,  I plan the route so I can refill it on the way.    

Brian,
I did notice that you carry your water bottle in your hand I think you may have mentioned it before too. I haven’t been happy carrying it in my hand.

I measured the beach I usually swim at from two fixed points this morning. I felt a little weird being out on the beach at 5:30 in the morning with a 100' tape measure in my hand but I wanted to get an accurate measurement of the distance. 

Too many embarrassing/obsessive stories to even count!  Here are a couple... 

I needed to get a practice swim in my first wetsuit.  I did that practice swim in the hotel pool at the Luxor in Las Vegas.  Got a A LOT of strange stares from people 'hanging out at the pool'. 

When I get a workout in during the workday, I have to go to and from my desk in workout clothes and 'wash up' in the work bathroom (sink shower with a washcloth and towel)).

On the really embarrassing side, I posted the experience below following another Vegas training session...

So, the training aspect of the Vegas trip was eventful.  I went for a run on Saturday morning that was going to be a little over eight miles along the strip and back to the hotel.  I've run the strip before and couldn't wait, as it is a fun run.  I left at around 6:30am, which is a great time of day to be out.  Since it's Vegas at dawn, you tend to see all sorts of strange stuff at that time of the morning.  Little did I know that I was about to be a part of the bizzarre parade, and probably end up in the stories of many others when they descibed the weird things they saw on their trip.  With about a mile left in the run, my chest started stinging a little bit as if I was chafing.  No big deal, I thought, I'm almost done.  When I got back to the hotel, I prepared for the walk of shame through the casino.  I'm always a little self conscious returning to the hotel after a training run, since you have to go all the way through the casino to get to the elevators.  It was even a little worse than usual this time, since we were staying at Hard Rock, and they have become even more of a hangout for the young and pretty since last time we stayed.  As I'm meandering back to the elevators, dripping in sweat, I tried to avoid the stares of the people in the casino, with their tight skin and judgement.  The he!! with them, I thought, I just ran 8 1/2 miles while you were sitting in here drinking and gambling. 

I returned to the room and wandered into the bathroom.  I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and was HORRIFIED - there were two half-dollar sized blood stains on my shirt (a bright yellow shirt, by the way - trying to be as visible as possible) over my nipples.  Yep - the telltale sign of a long unlubricated run gone bad.  Geez - how long had they been there?  No wonder people were looking at me a little funny.  I just thought that people were a little unfriendly, not having any idea that they were looking at me like a crazy person and shielding their and their childrens' eyes from a sight that would haunt them for years to come.  I had been oblivious to my condition.  Before I knew it, my caring wife had ordered Neosporin from room service (who knew they even offered that?) to help them heal.  She said that the entire hotel staff is probably referring to me as 'bloody nipple guy'.  We thought that would be the end of the embarrassment - however...

 Now that I have suffered the 'injury', I was using the Neosporin to try to heal up as quickly as possible.  They are feeling a little better now - thanks for asking...  We got dressed to go get lunch at Red Rock casino.  When we arrived at the Red Rock, we saw that the Neosporin had soaked through my shirt and now I had two greasy spots over my nipples - I just can't win.  I had managed to bring the embarrassment to a second hotel, and my wife was fortunate enough to be included this time.  I told her that if anyone asked, I would just tell them that I am lactating (I had a better sense of humor about the situation than she did - of course, I have also begun to wear spandex in public so maybe I am not the best person to ask).  I (we) suffered through lunch knowing that the world could see the bizzarre markings on my clothes.  After lunch, we decided enough was enough.  I went to the hotel's store and bought a new shirt to wear while we were there.  That did the trick - no more stains.

Just to put the icing on the cake, we went to the pool on Saturday afternoon.  Some people hear pool and think relaxing, partying, drinking, hooking up, showing off your breast augmentations, acting like a jacka$$ - at least that is the impression I got from everyone else that was there.  As a triathlete, I hear pool and think training opportunity.  When we were there last July, I took my goggles (at least it wasn't my wetsuit) and swam the length of the pool numerous times to get some yardage in.  My wife was quite embarrased by that behavior since it is more of a hangout, see and be seen pool, and I had thrown that to the wind by training instead.  This time, I assured her, I didn't bring my goggles, so no training.  However, when I got there, I just couldn't help myself.  I had to do some balance drills and work on flip turns if I couldn't swim.  My wife was mildly embarrased, but not as bad as if I had worn the goggles.  After the way the day had started, me flipping around in the pool didn't even phase her.  Maybe to the others there, I just looked like I was an old guy (yes - at this pool, 37 would be considered 'old') splashing around.  I suppose that is bad enough without anyone knowing I was doing some drill work.  

So, once again, training causes me and my supportive spouse embarrassment on a Vegas trip in a trendy (and unfortunately getting trendier) hotel.    That evening, she said: 'If you are just looking to draw attention to yourself in the most embarrassing way possible, what are you going to do for an encore?  Why don't you just take a dump in the middle of the casino floor and be done with it'.  I guess that pretty well sums it up.  Never a dull trip when we hit the road! 

Training question

It’s less than a month to my first tri of the year. My anxiety levels are already starting to go up.

I consider myself a strong swimmer but my swim is still weak. I may try to squeeze another swim in during the week to try and boost my swim. I’ve been focused on technique and haven’t pushed the distance. I’m feeling like I should be a little less strict on the technique in my swims and get a few long swims done before the race. Technique aside I do feel like I need to build up a little more endurance on the swims.

Anyone have any thoughts on this.

I hope some of our swim experts will chime in, but here are my thoughts...

Time spent on improving technique in the pool is never wasted.  Improving your efficiency will allow you to go further with less effort, and usually faster.

If the swim is your biggest concern going into your event, switching out another workout for an additional swim is probably the most beneficial thing you can do.  Maybe have one of your sessions focus on technique and drills while another is just a long continuous swim that covers more than your race distance.  I know that, for me, covering my race distance in training is a big confidence boost.

A real life example:  When I started my IM training plan last year, I was doing 2 swims/week, generally just long steady efforts.  My plan required swimming 3x/week and added drills at least once/week.  While there was no discernible difference in my overall speed, my comfort in the water got much, much better.  When I got in the water for my event, I felt good and had a solid swim.  It really set the table for the rest of the day to go well, since I came out of the water well under the cutoff and without using a lot of energy. 

Keep us posted with your progress, Adam!  

And, by the way, relax, trust your training, and HAVE FUN.  Your first event will be memorable - enjoy it! 

Carly - Is that Gail Bernhardt's swim workouts in a binder for triathletes?  I think I mentioned to you that it was Gail's plan that got me through IMAZ. 

Race nutrition?

My sprint is coming up in a few weeks and I’ve researched this so I kind of know what the general consensus is but I figured I might as well ask here. I didn’t have any nutrition plan last year and after the race I felt like I should have “fueled up” on the bike so I’d have a little extra energy for the run. Most people have said that for a sprint it’s not necessary to worry about taking in calories during the race. While this may be true I feel since this is something that I don’t do very often and have only done once before that a little extra energy boost might benefit me.

I’ve used energy gels, cliff bars and energy drinks in the past and I have my favorites. I started using gels (1 gel per ride or run) on my longer training sessions recently to get used to using them and make sure my body is comfortable with them during these types of activities. It makes the last few miles go a little easier  so it’s been fine - no stomach problems and easy to ingest.

My plan is to have 1 or 2 GU gels during the bike ride. I might do one at the start of the bike leg and one near the end of the bike leg. Any advice on what’s a good a time during the race to use them and what’s been your experiences using them during a race?

PS Last year I stopped at the aid station on the run for an energy drink and after the race I thought that was such a waste of time. The aid station was 1.5 miles into the run, I only had 2 more miles to go so I don’t think it was of any benefit to me just wasted time.