swbkrun with us!!! - Closed (Page 135)

While I woke up to 4" of snow and a winter weather advisory, I know it must be Spring somewhere.....SO, who's doing their first Spring Race this weekend?  Spill it!

If there isn't a race in your near future, tell us what you did during the off season that seems to really have made a difference to your performance.

Hi gang - back from a brief trip to Baltimore for a conference.  Whew the last 3 days have been a blur.   I don't remember much after breakfast on Sunday w/ Erica and Christina (and family).  I just did a quick catch up on the posts. 

Saw the pic for the first time.  I love how Christina's kids look so cute and my kids are lurking like Children from the Corn.

No racing this weekend for me.  I am in mid taper and hating it.  My legs are working, I'm eating everything in sight and I feel like Jabba the Hut!  So that means taper is going well, right?

 But I'm done stressing and I'm looking forward to next weekend no matter what happens.

Happy Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :-)

Nothing for me just getting prepped for the trip to Florida in Tues. Good luck and Have fun for those who are.

My race this weekend was cancelled so first race isn't until the end of the month. 

As for off season stuff, I think I posted this earlier but really focusing on the reason for each workout and making sure I am getting the most out of it.

agreed. When wearing orthotics you need to get back to a neutral shoe. FWIW, I wear Brooks Glycerin.

good luck racing peeps.    nada here.    spring.... the cherry blossoms have been and gone. 

my off season hopefully starts at some point during the evening on may 21st.  i'll let you know how it goes.

Ha! I'm about 5 weeks behind him... The way summer is shaping up, other races will be few and far between, but it's all good cuz there's nothing like summer with the kids. (Remind me I said that fondly come August, please!) But as for the other off-season... Was gonna say I drank beer. But I didn't. I did some slacking, and lots of running. We'll see how that helped the upcoming seaon. On the slack front, I remember lots of days I thought about doing early classes or swims but told myself just to take a pass and sleep in. Now when I'm up early I'm thankful for those days of sleeping in.

We are finally starting to see signs of spring here. Looking to be in the lows 40's this week.

No race -1 st one is a 10k start of April.

Didn't really have an offseason. Went from marathon training, took a month 'off' and then back on the s/b/r/ horse.

But I have noticed one thing. Training for that marathon almost killed my legs. I had pains/tweaks everywhere it seemed weekly. But now that the s/b/r thing is back in full effect, I feel so much more balanced.

And my running, albeit shuffling, feels SO MUCH stronger than it was last year.  

One more week to go before I race.  I'd like to say I'm more excited than I am, but after last weekends running disaster who knows.  I'm staying positive though.  

Off season payoffs, core strengthening without a doubt.  It's been the best thing to improve not only my training, but I can feel it in my posture and overall body comfort level.  Plus I'm starting to get a glimpse of some abdominal muscles again so gotta love that!!! 

liar.  and i have pics!   so funny what you say about other races few and far between this summer.  other than that 5k swim i mentioned a few weeks ago, i'm not sure what i'm going to do.  and i really don't care to care about it yet. 

i don't really see much talk about looking at the season holistically rather than just the event when selecting a big race.    this may not mean much if you're dead set on one like i was with texas because the timing is that day.  but if you have options it might be a good idea to think about what else.  and when is that what else gonna be.  and it seems its not just race wise but time of the year. there are some definite advantages to picking one later in the season mainly you can set up your season for that race.  but getting out of the gate early might be better for folks like us with kiddos.  

training too.... i've trained for spring, summer and fall him's and each training regime is different simply based on the time of year.  maybe the summer and fall were more similar.  and to me training through the winter is more difficult mentally.  good thing the long course at alpe d'huez is in july!

this time of the year is cool to because its dark when you get to the pool and its the cold grey light of dawn when done.  lots nicer in a outdoor pool. 

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=244295&posts=1#M3389984

If you guys know anything about knee injuries, please check this out for me!  It's a bit of a growing concern for me since I've never had a knee injury before.  Thanks!

Jorge's Winter Maintenance Plan.  Best thing ever for the bike.  For the run, the best thing I did was just sucking it up and running outside to keep my run fitness through the winter.  The best thing I did to make a difference in my swimming performance is...well..starting to swim!

It sounds like it could be patellar tendonitis.  http://www.distance-running-tips.com/pain-in-knee-running.html

Dude you don't even have snow!!

But seasonality is so true. I can't imagine signing up for an April 1/2 again. I only had 2 outdoor rides prior to Texas. So many pros and cons to early season vs late season races. I couldn't imagine doing anything of length before late June (ie, Coeur d'Alene)  Just wouldn't feel like I had the built enough outdoor base on the bike. Anything to late(ie, Arizona) and trying to get in all those rides the last month or so could be iffy. Canada obv. geographically fits me well. As well, with Michelle being a school teacher and having the summer off makes it that much better.
I have other races lined up. 10k,1/2 mary, sprint,Oly, 1/2 iron all in that order. But they so are not a focus at all. Its all about the build to the one race.

Its amazing how your mindset changes once you sign up for "THE ONE." I found even in Vegas, mentally I was checking out/I didn't want to get hurt/wasn't a focus. That probably isn't the best mindset either, as it takes away from the races that you participate in. Then you ask, "Why race the other races then?" Only answer I'd come back with is  I enjoy racing.

I don't know if anyone here is considering racing Branson 70.3 in Spetember, but here are some posts fro ST (First gives a code for $50 off the entry fee):

The K-Swiss IM 70.3 Branson will take place on Sunday, Sept. 18th!

With the amount of STer's wanting tough, challanging courses with NO DRAFTING, the race should be plenty full!

We will even provide STer's with a $50.00 discount for the race.

Sign up at www.ironmanbranson.com and put in this code - CCIMBRFC - all capital letters.

"Rarely do we get to work with city organizations that bend over backwards to make an event great?...a closed four lane highway for the bike course...insane!

Bear in mind that it was unseasonably hot last year and that brutalized a lot of racers. However it looks like a great really tough course!

An "ST'er" is a slowtwitcher. Go to Slowtwitch.com. It is a different triathlon site. A lot of industry people, pro triathletes, and a boat load of people with small Charlie Sheen complexes, but they had theirs first! (Note: I am the IP editor there. My first column was last month another is almost ready for publication.)

Doug

No racing yet and I didn't have a season to be off from since this will be my 1st, but I am joining a new  gym next week and changed my plan to swim 4x a week cause that still sucks, o and I bought a swim cap and swam in it the 1st time yesterday. I didn't think i needed one since i'm basically bald but figured I would get one since I would have to race wearing one, I dont know if its in my mind but I think I felt a difference

I'm racing a 15K trail race this weekend! Woohoo! It's almost kinda sorta spring here. Typical Midwestern March with sunny and 60 one day followed by windy and 28 the next. So who knows what the weather will be like on Saturday, but it's guaranteed to be muddy!

Good luck to the other racers, and happy training to everyone else!

It started snowing here yesterday afternoon while I was out doing my long run for the week (11 km).  By this morning we had about 4 inches on the ground, but I expect it will all melt by the end of the day.   We also had a couple pretty good shakes yesterday and early this morning - 7.2 on the Richter scale yesterday.

As for performance, I think that my consistency (4-5 runs and 3-4 bikes per week) is going to pay off.  My cycling is still at a very easy pace aerobically, but I think I may now have a base that will allow me to push harder.

I disagree with the response saying ITB.  It could be patellar tendonitis as Suzy mentioned, but it could also just be tight muscles.    If it is below the kneecap, my experience says adductors or vastus medialus (the quad muscle closest to the inside of your thigh).   This is an area I have problems with when I ride too hard while also ramping up my running.  

Take a look at this for the adductors:

http://www.athletestreatingathletes.com/self-muscle-massage-series/self-muscle-massage-pt-7-adductors/

and this one for the vastus medialus (she labels it VMO on the pictures).  I'll bet on this one.  It is probably really tight.  Have your husband use both hands to work that whole adductor/quad area.  If it is tight, repeat after your bike rides and runs.

http://www.athletestreatingathletes.com/self-muscle-massage-series/self-muscle-massage-pt-6-quads/

I am no expert on this. But I am currently in PT for this right now. I will say this... go see a PT or someone professional and FIGURE IT OUT NOW. I am in week three of no running and Physio.

That area is the Patellar Tendon. Turns out my MCL was weak from an old injury and I had bad Core, Tight Quads that ruined my range of motion and eventually the Patellar took all the abuse it could and Rendered me useless right now. Not sure what your root cause of this is. But that is def the Patellra tendon area not the IT if it is below your knee cap.

I am 3 weeks in. Had to scrap my HM for spring and I have no sign of when I am allowed to run again. I am finally allowed to spin with some resistance as of TODAY..

I have been allowed to swim. Which I can only do two days a week due to pools and work.

Not trying to be overbearing.. But I skipped that little issue and pushed on for one more run in the snow and it Totalled me.

but that is Def The Patellar Tendon area. It may only take some Pre-Wrap to help it. But then again It may be a sort spot stemming from other issues.

I am working hard to improve my Core, more stretching, More Core,,, some Core.. some ultrasounds, Tens Machine Core... and did I mention Core oh and a massage that helped greatly for my tight quads.

Just my 2 cents from someone that is going completely Stir Crazy not running with my new running group we started here.