Destination MoP is FULL (of motivation!) (Page 14)

I do find I am less sore when mixing in the swimming and biking with the running than running alone.  The running always makes me sore, weight training or no.  But then again, I'm over 50... I'd probably be sore if I watched TV all the time :-)

If you are just starting with the swimming, that could also make you sore, especially if you are somewhat tense when you swim.  That should go away once you reach a maintain level of fitness and/or are able to relax your stroke.  While I haven't been doing many weights, I do have a routine for stretching and exercises that seems to have helped my legs recover faster.  Still working on finding the right solution for my back (other than surgery).

Do you take a rest day each week and have a recovery week?  Do you build up your distance too quickly?  Do you stretch before and after?  etc. etc. 

Your other question of fitting it all in is an excellent one.  Any ideas, MoPers? 

Here's where I am on that issue.  At some point, we have to have an honest conversation with ourselves (and / or family) about what we can do and set priorities.  Of course, this doesn't only apply to triathlons, but many things in life.  Probably good to remind ourselves that from a health benefit perspective, training for a sprint is plenty.  Anything after that is a goal for ourselves that we have to balance out with all the other things competing for our time and energy.  Still working on that conversation, personally :-)

Stu

I am interested in seeing everyone's response on soreness and fatigue levels and what you have personally done to combat them.

For me, swimming really helps me recover after a hard run or bike; however, one of the biggest differences that I have noticed so far with my HIM training, is that I haven't been sore. :-/ Should I be concerned that I'm not working hard enough in my sessions?

@ Erin - I have to say, running with you gave me a huge confidence boost that I didn't expect. I rarely ever run at that pace, but it was awesome to gauge how I felt before and after the run. After all this is an endurance sport, and I felt at that pace I could persevere any distance.

@ Stu - Thanks for the encouragement on my training log. I like that you are keeping a watchful eye. Keeps me honest!

Thanks Stu, I do have at least one scheduled rest day and usually end up with one more some where along the way in the week.  I will have to try the swimming or biking after the run one day and see if that helps.  I guess I could swim after weights as well and see how that goes.  Right now I tend to lift on running days, so maybe I am doing a double wammy. I do usually stretch - more so after my workout than before. I have found that it takes my legs a while to warm up so I try to do something else first if I'm at the gym before my run (slow bike, eliptical). Other wise my legs are not in full swing untill past a mile or two into my run.

Is it bad that I'm still doing all my other workouts when I am sore? Should I be letting my body fully recover (mainly lower body soreness) between?

Thanks everyone!

I would do my weights (for legs) on a non-running day (or at least on a recovery running day).  Same thing for swimming weights - if you're doing upper body work, try not to do it on the same day as the swim if possible.  Also, I would lean toward lighter weights with more reps than heavy unless you have a coach that is telling you otherwise!

Glad to hear you have a rest day.  Those are important :-)

OWS clinic hosted by TriColumbia on June 5th --- near you --- I think.  

@Stu: Congratulations on getting through the moving and long car ride without impacting your back.  My back personally has improved greatly (probably from all this working out ) and I celebrate the activities that DON'T hurt my back that used to.  Like yesterday I gardened for a couple of hours, bent over digging in the dirt and my back was fine.  That's exciting, lol!  So good job, hopefully that was a sign that you're making progress healing.

@Valerie: I know how you feel.  I want to start fitting in some weight lifting too but it just seems like there's no time to fit anything else in.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to lose a rest day or have one more double workout day a week.  As for being sore, I don't think it's bad for you but it does make it hard to be motivated to work out when you're already hurting.  I usually get really sore after the weekend's over because that's when I squeeze in all my long workouts but then I'll take either Monday or Tuesday off and that rest day really makes a difference for me.

A few things I do to try to help with soreness: 1) drink lots of water 2) follow tough workouts with a protein shake 3) take fish oil and Ibuprofen after tough workouts 4) soak in a bath with epsom salts.  In the past I've also used fancy post-workout recovery drinks but those can get pricey.

@Christine: That's awesome to hear that you got benefit from our run on Saturday as well!  Before that race I was starting to feel kind of down about running.  I felt like I've been working pretty hard, for a good length of time and I just wasn't seeing much progress.  But now I have such a positive experience for my first race of the year and I proved to myself that I am more capable than I was giving myself credit for.  I'm not worried about the run anymore, I know I'll be able to do it.  So thank you for that!   And that's awesome news that you AND your hubby got 2nd in your age groups in your Sunday race!

Here's a question for everyone: what is your nutrition routine for pre and post races? 

After my 5k on Saturday I felt great for most of the day.  I had enough energy to go do my swim workout shortly after the race.  But by that evening I really crashed.  I felt kind of nauseous around dinner time until after I'd eaten and then by 8 pm I was completely knocked out, fallen asleep on the couch.  So it seems like I didn't fuel myself properly and ran out of gas by the end of the day, lol. 

Just to piggy-back on Erin's question, I want to remind everyone to be very aware of hydration needs as we head into the summer training / racing season.  It's a bit of a "double whammy" as most of us are both upping our training time and effort *and* the heat is coming more into play.  My one piece of advice is that hydration is not only a "while you're training" issue, but in addition, something that you should be constantly thinking about.  Summer is my time for G2 cocktails which is 3 parts water to 1 part G2 over ice.  I drink it all the time.  What made me think of this is that I weighed myself after my long run on Tuesday and I had lost several pounds of water on my run... also, that I was cramping in my swim yesterday.  So, drink lots of water throughout the day... 'tis good for you in so many ways!

Stu

Went to swim training this morning (@5:15 am) and the pool was closed due to 'high chlorine levels', guess someone left the chlorinator on all night.  So that was a bummer start to the day.

On Hydration:  I have a slight headache and felt dehydrated this morning, need to up the water intake.  On my 3rd water bottle this morning already and feeling better.  Will be running this evening during my son's soccer tryouts by doing laps around the complex.  I plan on keeping some water stashed at one end of the field and take a drink each lap.

On Soreness: My legs stay sore most days, right now I'm contributing it to my body not caught up to the training level yet.  Soreness hasn't stopped me from doing my training.  Fatigue hasn't really been an issue at this point.

On Fitting it In: Strength training hasn't made it into my training cycle yet.  I'm pretty happy with my current 9 training sessions per week (3 each of s/b/r).  I think I would have to substitute Strength training for one of my other training sessions.  I may add Strength training over the winter months and go to 2s/2b/3r/2str training cycle per week.

-Steve

What is "G2"?

I believe that G2 is a Gatorade product.

As for soreness, I'm at a good point in that I'm no longer really sore.  I do get some leg soreness after a long run and some after biking, but not too bad.  I don't do major weightlifting, but I do attend 2 classes a week that include squat, lunges, hand weights, ab work.  On those days, I usually do a lunch time ride earlier in the day then exercise class at night.

Clinic on June 11.  Sandy Point State Park.

Very nice video.  Inspiring.

I have decided to return my Merrell Pace Gloves.  Got them at REI so returning will not be an issue.  I've run in them about 8 to 10 times.  The first four runs were fine.  During the remaining runs I started noticing a little bit of soreness here and there.  Especially in the achilles area.  Nothing terrible but definite something I started paying attention to.  Last week I had terrible tightness in my right calf during a run.  Afterwards my calf really hurt and I was limping.  However, this went away within a day.  My next run (in the Merrell's) was fine and next in my Brooks was fine.  Then Tuesday ---- halfway through my run sudden calf tightness and pain in the one leg and achilles in the other --- wearing the Merrell's.  Today I got dressed with a semi-sore calf and headed out for a run in my Brooks and stopped within 1 minute.  Calf and achilles very sore.  I even have some bruising on my shin of the sore calf.  So no runs for a few days.    And no more barefoot running training for me.  I already have a mid-foot strike and probably shouldn't have messed with things.

On another note I started using the Finis Tempo Trainer during my swims.  Cadence work has really improved my running so I figured I would apply it to swimming.  Wednesday's swim was pretty good and I felt an overall improved effort.  Sets seemed a bit faster without real additional effort.  Rather than flailing away, I had some structure to my stroke.  I am looking forward to more tempo training tomorrow.

On Soreness:  I rarely get sore after workouts anymore.  I'm only sore after very new weight training or core training exercises.

On Fatigue:  Fatigue is a completely different issue.  I do get really, really tired by the end of a week if I've commuted by bike everyday and gotten in all my planned swims and runs.  By Friday, my legs are beat.  I usually sense this starting Thursday and my Friday commute efforts are adjusted accordingly.  I did try to swim @ 5:30am twice a week for a while.  This didn't last - I was falling asleep at 7:30pm.  

On Hydration:  I try to get in 48 ounces of cran-water a day.  It is usually the heat that gets me before hydration is an issue.

On Fitting It In:  I am lucky in that I can get my cycling in while going to work.  Honestly don't know how I'd train if I couldn't do this.

There was a great article in the Washington Post today on Diana Nyad.  At age 61, she is attempting to swim 103 miles from Cuba to Florida and set a new world record.  I plan to think about her & her quest during my swim tomorrow.

I've just got a wetronome, which I think does the same thing.  I haven't had chance to use it yet, but was wondering how you work out what tempo to start at?  It's been suggested to me that I work out my current strokes per minute and then just increase the pulse by one, and gradually increase it.  Is that the sort of thing you're doing?

Yes, I think start by lengthening time between strokes to develop a longer stroke.  Then once the technique for a longer stroke is good start decreasing the time.  Then you get more longer strokes overall.  For me, I see this as a several month project.  I also think it is helping me really focus on one stroke at a time and sort of comparmentalize my movements (if that makes any sense).

A couple of good articles / thoughts on swimming since it seems to be the topic of the day:

Gary Hall

Total Immersion Presentation

I actually haven't seen the entire Total Immersion video due to tech problems, but it seemed to be heading in the right direction. Enjoy! (and if you haven't checked out BTs articles, there's lots of really good stuff to be discovered)

Stu

P.S. Yes, G2 is the low sugar Gatorade product. Not endorsing it... mainly just plugging drinking water and replenishing potassium due to the season!

All this talk about strength training I decided to skip a rest day and add a strength workout yesterday.  And talking about soreness, holy crap am I sore today! LOL  I debated with myself today on whether to skip today's workout as a result but I compromised and made it a shorter workout.  It reminded me though that usually when I workout sore, once I get warmed up I don't really notice it anymore.  I'll have to keep telling myself the next time I try to talk myself into skipping a workout due to soreness.  On the other hand I have taken unplanned rest days and they can be really rejuvenating.  So there is a happy medium between toughing it out and taking a break.

While I was out biking I saw people swimming in the lake, the first I've seen so far!  So I'm hoping that's a sign that the water is warm enough (well at least to survive without getting hypothermia, lol).  I think I may go try it out myself tomorrow for my first OWS experience.  I'll take it easy, nothing crazy while I'm alone, but it'll be good to feel it out.

While other people will probably be getting together with family and friends and having cookouts this weekend instead I think "what a great opportunity to get in extra training time!".  I feel like I've lost my mind, lol.

Have a great, long (lot's of training ) weekend everyone!

Melanie - thanks for the OWS links!  I found one on Jun 4 at Sandy Point State Park as well & am waiting to hear details from the organizer (http://www.feelthewater.com/Calendar_Swims.html).

Has anyone had a problem with hands going numb while biking?  My last ride, I had a lot of problems with this and I was trying to be good about not holding too tightly and tried to adjust my hands periodically, but had to keep shaking them out.  Any ideas?

Thanks!

Glad you found a swim.

I have numbness in my hands too lately.  This happened many months ago and I made adjustments to the seat height, moved the seat backwards (I think) and height of the hoods.  But it's resurfaced.  When I first got my bike, I retaped the handlebars and that helped for awhile. 

I incorporated cadence training into my running about 4 years ago.  Completely transformed how I run and helped me with faster turnover.  Started out with the Chi Running book and a metronome.  Have upped my cadence and set new PRs over the years and now listen to downloads from PodRunner and MotionTraxx.  I now run with 180bpm music tracks for regular runs and up it to 182+ for speed training.    

Hope you are feeling better soon.  It's hard enough to train without having to handle dizziness and shortness of breath.