ADollar79's Group--closed and in the base building phase! (Page 14)

Just an FYI if you are interested....

This month's edition (march 08) of Triathlete magazine is their event edition.  It basically lists EVERY triathlon in the nation.  It is also coupled with a Kona magazine that gives all the 411 info on ALL Ironman and 70.3 races. 

This edition is a good one to hang on to so that you can begin buiding your seasons well in advance. 

I don't mean to use this as shameless self promotion (I can do that on my own, lol) but if you ever wonder the importance of base building, running slow and trusting your training....then look at my race yesterday.

In November & December I was nailing ALL of my runs.  My December mileage was the most I had ever run in a month.  It was slow but steady.  I did the majority of my work in zone 2 (65-75% effort)

January was an awful running month.  Despite trying, I was not hitting my long runs.  I put this in my blog about a month ago chronicling my long run attempts.  

12/8   12 miles 1h 50m  (9:10 pace)
12/21 13.75 miles 2h 09m   (9:26 pace)
12/29 12.16 miles 1h 53m  (9:15 pace)
1/5     12 miles 1h 53m   (9:20 pace)

Then over the last 2-3 weeks, I had a slight injury set in and contracted the flu.  Personally, I came VERY close to pulling out of the race all together.  I was under strict doctor's orders to hold back during the race.  And that was the plan....it wasn't an "A" race.  

So what happened yesterday?  Well I somehow set a PR and cruised at an 8:30 pace for the race.  I actually didn't feel like I was pushing it.  It felt like a stroll through the park.  I was conversing with people at miles 9 & 10 (they weren't amused, lol).  I actually picked up steam over the final three miles.  

Again, this isn't a shameless plug for me.  Instead, I wanted to illustrate why base fitness is SO important.  Also, I want to demonstrate that sometimes you have to just trust your training.  

Life, work, finances, illness, injury....things get in the way.  But the beginning of the your training (weeks 1-4 or 6) are some of the MOST important....especially as you add distance.  You put in the work early and it comes back around.  I think I ran 2-3 times in the two weeks leading up to the race.  I was a mental nutcase (more than usual). But on race day...the body knew what to do because I had put in the work.   

What does your training plan prescribe?  Is it only minutes based???  How far are you typically swimming before your form breaks down? 

You definitely don't need to be swimming 44 minutes straight.  I would take your average 100 time and determine how far you would typically go in 44 minutes.  For instance, if you typically go 2:00 per 100, then you would expect to swim 2000-2200 yards per workout. 

Swimming is a bit different than the other sports in that it isn't necessary to swim the entire distance of your race in training.  For Ironman, the swim distance is about 4200 yards.  NEVER did I come close to that.  I fact, I am not sure that I ever swam more than 1500y in a given set.  And only 2-3 times did I have a workout that reach 4000y.  Most of my swims were in the 25-3500y range.  I built the endurance to deal with that length and coasted during the IM.  

Here is a BT article on swimming with workout examples:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=528

I just came across this article on BT that focuses on eating habits and how to develop a more structured diet.  A lot of it is common sense but it bears repeating since most of us don't follow what we already know. 

read the article and it explains how to do the drills.  At this juncture you need to focus on short distance reps to get your form under control.  Feel free to look at my logs.  I spell out my entire swim workout each time.  Some days I focus on speed (10x100) and others I focus on endurance (4x400).  But I rarely swim long distances.

23 miler tomorrow is going to determine whether or not I decide to run the full marathon on 3/30.  I'm feeling a little behind the 8 ball with being sick the past 2 weeks.  But I hate the thought of dropping down to the half, so I'm giving this run tomorrow a go. 

Keep your fingers crossed  

You can't get an accurate idea unless you hook it up to the rear wheel. 

Good luck!!!!  I am running to ING half course this morning

Bonk.  Bonk. Bonk.  

Crappy run.  Am actually considering dropping to the half instead.  Then, I'd really really enjoy the race and it wouldn't be something I'm dreading.  I'm just a wee bit worried about injury after feeling some twinges today.  I don't want to be injured for St. Anthony's. 

God, I hate feeling like a quitter though.  My 18 miler felt great, but then I was sick for two weeks and the run today felt really bad. 

Hmmm...maybe I'll mull it over during my ride tomorrow! I have a noon windtrainer class at someone's clubhouse, but I'm thinking I may go for a ride on Silver Comet earlier in the morning to get in some extra time. 

Dollar - you still going to Stone Mountain? 

That is the plan.  I am shooting for a 10 am departure from the top of the hill at the restrooms (by the museum).  Let me know if you are interested.  I am more than happy to ride with you for a few laps. 

ScotinSeattle - 2008-02-16 10:07 PM Oh my God. I rode my bike! I rode my bike!!!!!!!!  Ahhhh. Sunshine! Nothing but sunshine. It felt great.  18 miles on a nice flat trail. Wonderful

Nice job.  Did you have to dust it off first???

Ha. I did!!! It was REALLLLLLLY dusty.  You know the funny thing. I recently bought new shoes which were originally $105 and I got them for $35.  The original price costs more than my bike! hehehhe, ah but I love it.  Just felt SO good to be donned in lyrca and clipped in. I loved it. Hoping for the same again next week. I like the fact all my bike rides on my OLY plan are on Saturdays. My hubby works those days so I have all day to do whatever I please.

I might aim for a partial ride around Lake Washington this coming weekend as the weather looks promising. Keep your fingers crossed for me  

Awesome!  I think as we all get on our bike a bit more we will begin to love training again.  It typically signifies the end of the winter funk.   

Workouts for the week.  Also, I want everyone to post the date of their next race and how far (or close) it really is.  This way we can begin to mentally prepare better.

Next race:  ING half marathon 3/30 exactly 6 weeks....THEN Powerman Alabama 4/13...exactly 8 weeks.  Time for me to get on the bike!!!!

Mon--3 mile easy run/ 2500y swim
Tues--60' spin class/ 40' LT test
Wed--Weights-stretching/ 3 mile run/ 2800y
Thurs--60' spin/ 45' tempo run
Fri--yoga / 2200y swim
Sat--2.5-3.0 bike
Sun--1:45 run; 60' recovery bike. 

I am tired just thinking about all this!!! 

My next race is the ICE Breaker mile swim on 4/5.  I'm not doing any training for this, it's just a practice for my first swim wih a wetsuit.

My next real race is the Big Sur Marathon on 4/27 - 10 weeks away!  Ahhhh!!!!

This week:

• Mon - An hour run
• Tu - 1.5 hour run
• Wed - 45 min run
• Th - 50 min run
• Fri - Off
• Sat - 45 min run
• Sun - 2.5 hr run

All of this is depending on the work schedule and how much the boss yells this week...Can you tell I'm starting the countdown to my last day on March 14?!?!?

Next race? ING Georgia Half Marathon on 3.30.08. Hee. I'm actually excited about it now that I've switched. God, what a relief. I'm treating it like a nice fun run. No worries.

Big race? St. Anthony's on 4.27.08.  I did decide to do a duathlon since it's next to my parents house - good excuse to visit them and get a practice race with my bike before St. A's.  That will be on 4.6.08.  I'm just doing it to work out any kinks before St. A's.  

I'm actually going to be working with a trainer starting this week, adjusting my nutrition and working on dropping some body fat. He's going to work the schedule into my tri training. It's time to get strong and lean!

Here's my schedule for the week:  Not too bad!!!

Mon - 40 Min run -  already done

Tues: 53M bike, 26 min swim

Wed: OFF

Thurs: 26 Min run

Fri:  44 Min Swim

Sat: 1 Hour 28 Min bike

Sun: OFF

MY 1st race is a 10k on March 9th. Going to do that with some other BTers. It's quite a hilly course too. Oh well. 

Then I'm off to Scotland for a month and won't have another race till May!!!! Urgh.  

So guys - I submitted myself to this contest, and I just found out that I'm a finalist. It's uh, pretty exciting. The competition is tough - there are some pretty well known bloggers that made it. 

If I win, I'll be on a sponsored team with some pretty kick arse athletes.  Which is something that I can't even comprehend.  But my goal is really to show people that even a beginner can set some big goals and motivate other people to get involved in triathlon.

The info is here, on my blog, and you can watch the video too. http://pbj.typepad.com/peanut_blog_and_jelly/2008/02/cast-your-vote...

If you want to help out and vote for me - send an email to [email protected] with my name (Sarah McKibben) in the subject line.

Voting ends on Wednesday at 11:59PM and then they'll narrow it down to 7 videos.