Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 13)

Jim....funny!  Sounds like it was her body on your mind???   Sometimes those workouts that start poorly or I really don't want to do turn into some of the most satisfying.

Randy

A friend invited me to do a 5K this weekend and I agreed, thinking it would be a great way to hang out with her (and get my run in). Later I realized that something significant has changed in me -- I no longer think of 5K as an intimidating distance.  

Also, yesterday in Boston it was close to 90 degrees, so I grabbed my new wetsuit and headed to the beach. I made a bit of an impulse buy on those 50% off Xterra Vortex 4 suits -- and I'm psyched that I did because my first tri is in June in the ocean and I am going to be warm and toasty. I could have stayed in the water for an hour yesterday --- in APRIL! This will go a long way in giving some piece of mind for my season opener, which is 10 weeks away.  ::grin::

Jen-good news on the 5K and the wetsuit test.  Always good to spend some time in the wetsuit before using in a race. Some people eel so confined or restricted in a wetsuit that it causes them to panic.  Glad you had a good swim.

Swim workout planned for today at lunch.  Hope everyone has a good day.

Randy

I've got a training log question. 

I'm following a the BT 16 week Sprint 3x week training plan, doing my best to just focus on volume. So when I have a bad day (or sometimes, just an average day) and I end up walking for part of the run, I'm not sure what the best approach would be.

Today's plan was a 17 min run. For various reasons, I couldn't hack it today and walked about half of it.   

In the future should I count minutes walking as "run" minutes, or should I log them separately? 

Also, if my plan says 17 minutes is it worth it to take a break and continue running? If so, my workout ends up looking more like a 25-30 minute workout, including warm up and cool down.  Is this defeating the purpose of the short run? At my level, I'm not at risk of over training, but I'm curious what others do as you increase volume over time. 

Hey gang-need some help on sunglasses.  Anyone have a particular brand or type that they like for running/triathlons. I have a pair of old Nike sunglasses that I usually use when biking.  My race helmet has a visor so I don't ususally wear glasses in races and I wear a visor when running.  I would like to try using sunglasses for running/racing.  I've looked a bit online and there seem to be lots to choose from.  Do you run/race in sunglasses?  What do you like?

Thanks

Randy

Ok, I've got a topic I'd like to discuss.  Bricks.  How often do you incorporate bricks?  Do you do them as true bricks eg immediate transition?  This makes the most sense for simulating race conditions.  I know of one athlete who always made a point of running after the bike, even if for just a quarter mile as he said it helped train his muscles to get used to the transition.  Do you always do them in the S/B/R order?  From my own experience, I've done them in all different orders but believe that doing the swim last leads to a very ineffective swim with poor form, thus I try not to do this. 

Appreciate your insights!

I've been wondering the same exact thing. Again, I have no expertise in tri as of yet, but I've realized that I'm capable of more than my training program requires, so I'm just doing what I can now. Last night, I did 2,000 meters in the pool and then ran 4 miles on the treadmill. I didn't do a quick transition, but there was probably about 10 minutes between. Even more than the training for race conditions is the fact that I don't see how people get in the time/miles without frequent bricks. I'm taking at most one day off between work-outs, and I'm only training for a Sprint tri. I really like the brick workouts I've done so far, which have just been a few, because I feel like that's where I'm getting the real feeling of distance, both time and actual distance.

[

I probably average 1 brick b/r a week.  Typically they are fairly short runs....15-20 minutes.  I think it is important to know how your legs will feel coming off the bike but I am a little skeptical about "training" your legs to perform better off the bike.  May be more of a "mental" training as a person becomes more comfortable with how the legs will feel.  I will do a fairly hard brick Sunday a week out from my olympic race.  An hour bike building to hard/race pace over the last 30 minutes then 30 minute run building to hard/race pace.  I'll feel it after that workout and it should give me an idea of where I stand going into the following weekend.  I think you get alot more out of a hard brick workout than just running after a moderate bike ride.....big difference in how the legs feel. Typically, I will only do these hard bricks heading into a race......hopefully they get my mind ready for how much the run is going to suck....

Randy

I have a pair of inexpensive Ironman brand sunglasses. I got them from Sports Authority for $20.  They have a rubberized, flexible frame which is why I bought them (in addition to the cost, and they also look good). Foster Grant makes them but they are an older model so I can't find them on their site.

I am death to sunglasses so I don't spend a lot for them. These have held up well for the past 1.5 years. I actually sat on them for about two miles during my last ride. I had hooked them through the hole in my saddle. No damage to me or the glasses :-)

I wear sunglasses on the bike to keep bugs out of my eyes and to keep from tearing up so, my requirements are low.

Just to clarify....I only consider a brick to be a workout where I do one sport and then as quickly as possible transition to another.  I frequently do what I call "doubles" where I do more than one workout in a day.  For instance tomorrow I will swim at lunch then bike in the evening.  Given the gap in time I don't classify that as a brick.

Randy

Randy - I have a cheap pair of $5 Sunglasses from Walmart that almost look like a pair of Oakleys. I am also looking for a decent pair and have tried on some Oakleys in the store and they seem to be very comfortable. its just a matter of convincing the wife to spend $200 -$300 on a pair of sunglasses that I will most likely lose in a few weeks. :-)

Jimmy - I am usually incorporating a brick workout once a week. Most of the time I stay with the S/B/R order. I usually leave the pool, get dried up, walk to the car to grab my bike and get going. That time can be anywhere between 10-15 minutes. once I get back from the ride I put the bike back in the car and only run maybe a mile or two.

THIS! I am in agreement with Jason....he does a much better job of putting it into words.  Yeah, the legs always feel out of sorts for the first half mile or so but usually come around.  I just concentrate on leg/stride turnover and try to shoot for a little slower pace for the first mile and build into the run.

Randy

Sorry I've been a bit absent recently.  Quick MEGA congrats to Dewayne and Jason in your races!  Dewayne, I'm glad to know I'm not the only senior citizen in the group ;-)  Jason, like your mojo... and they'll be talking about this Boston Marathon for years - from the race reports I've read this was one to survive - people who wanted to break 3 hours coming in at 4+, etc.

Thanks for asking the sunglasses question, Randy... been thinking about finally getting a pair.  I'll probably go the Walmart approach.  Sadly, it doesn't look like I'll need them for this weekend.  Looks like rain instead... maybe I'll just wear my goggles throughout the race :-)

Bricks.  I do them out of time necessity - usually 2-3 miles after bike class.  I think it has helped - can't say if it is more psychological or physical though.  I'll do a tri workout every now and then too... though with 5 minutes or so between the swim and the bike.  I also like to swim after a hard workout to cool down a bit, but I almost always start having massive foot cramps after about 800 yards or so.  But it is refreshing... just wouldn't attempt a OWS or it might be my last workout :-)

Have a great day everyone... I'm waiting for the clouds to part and then I'm going to bike/run.

Cheers,

Stu

Hey Stu-hope things clear up for your race this weekend.  Anyone else racing?

Did not have a swim workout planned today but wanted to get out of the office for a few minutes.  Decided to do some "testing" to see where I am as compared to early December when I last tested.  For my test I will do 3X300 yards on 30 seconds rest.  In December I came in at 4:57/54/48 for a 1:36.67 average per 100.  Today the 300's were 4:43/43/37 for 1:33.67.  I figured I would improve since I had taken some time off from swimming in October and November of last year.  But, hey I'm pleased with the improvement.  I don't think that I've become that much better of a swimmer but maybe my overall fitness is a bit better and perhaps I was more willing to suffer a bit. The last 200 yards were tough and I thought my form had deteriorated a good bit.....really surprised that the last set was faster than the first two.

Short ride and run on tap for this evening.

Randy  

Dewayne-sounds like fun!

Randy