Experior's Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 15)

Hi Neil, condolences to you and your family, take care of one another. T.

Neil:

I am very sorry to hear about your loss.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Take care.

- Manuel  

Neil - I'm so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law's passing.  No words ease the pain, but please know you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Life, we will never understand it properly.

3 weeks ago, my wife lost her gran and as you can imagine it has been very dificult for her.

Today, at 33 weeks and 3 days pregnant mrs T gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Amy Elizabeth Joy, 4lbs 3oz. Joy being her Gran's name.  As you can imagine coming 7 weeks early does not come without complication but i have never seen Mrs T look more beautiful than she did tonight holding our Daughter for the 1st time.  mummy and baby are both healthy and as a new Dad, i am utterly overwelmed by it all. 

This new journey for me is something i have looked forward to for as long as i can remember and am looking forward to  my new life with my family.

I hope everyone is well

T

Neil, I am so, so sorry. I will be thinking and praying for you and your family.
Jan

Life is funny.  Within 24 hours of one another Neil is dealing with the heartache of losing a loved one, while T experiences the amazement of child birth. 

My sincere condolences to you Neil.  I am sorry for your loss.

And congratulations T, your world is about to be turned upside down! Glad to hear that Mom and Daughter are doing good.



As for me, I've been running a bit but not doing any other tri training.  Sorry for the lack of contributions to the group, I'll try to step up my game.  Hope everyone is doing well.

Edited by Jeff1975 2011-02-16 1:31 PM

Sorry to be so delayed here.  Things have bee insane!

Well, you've got other things going on now!  But I'll answer.

A rule of thumb that people use for HIM and IM is that you need 1 day of recovery for every hour out on course.   By 'recovery' they do not mean, necessarily, taking a day off (but if you feel you need to, then that is the best option), but taking it easy.  Maybe do a 20-30 minute easy spin on the bike, or a leisurely session in the pool.  Also, remember that 'recovery' extends to the other parts of your life -- try to stay off your feet as much as possible, and keep your nutrition decent.  Get plenty of sleep.

For shorter races, the formula doesn't work as well.  This is especially true for half-marathons and marathons.  The recovery cost of a marathon can be nearly that of an IM, simply because (a) the effort is much higher, and (b) running beats you up a lot more than swimming or biking does.  I would be inclined to say something like one day for every 30 minutes on course.  But it is very individual.  Listen to your body.  If you try to go hard and can't, don't push it.  Keep the intensity very low until you begin to feel that you have your energy back. 

Neil, my thoughts and condolences are with you.  I'm happy for you, as well, that her death was peaceful -- that is really a blessing in the midst of sorrow.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!   Take it one day (and night...) at a time.  Sleep whenever you can.  Enjoy her.  They grow up quickly...

So, everyone, I have an odd, but also a little depressing, experience to share with you.  Today, after my swim, I was walking across a crosswalk (one that has big neon-yellow posts and big red signs saying "Stop for pedestrians --- it's the law").  Cars are pretty good about stopping there -- it is in the middle of campus, and frequently crowded with pedestrians.  Anyway, the cars had stopped and I was crossing.  I had just passed in front of the stopped car when WHAM!  I got slammed by someone on a bike.

Now here's the depressing part -- this kid (around 20yo, so since I could be his Dad, he's a 'kid') was TEXTING while riding his bike.  That's right, he was traveling at 20mph, down a hill, in a crowded and busy part of downtown, texting.

Well, I ended up with just scrapes and bruises, although I had to spend the afternoon in the emergency room as the EMT's insisted that I come in for x-rays, and of course since I was breathing with no gunshot or knife wounds, I was at the back of the queue for quite a while.

The kid?  It looked to me that he definitely broke his collarbone, and possibly his wrist as well.

Wow, our little group sure has its ups and downs this week. 

Congrats, T, on becoming a new dad, albeit a little early!  It's good to hear mommy and baby are both doing well.

Michael - what an absolutely crazy, weird accident.  Thankfully you didn't sustain any worse injuries than you did.  Not that I am wishing bad things to the bicyclist (please don't think I am), but hopefully he has learned his lesson that texting while operating any type of vehicle is not a good idea.  It could have been a lot worse for him, too, especially if you were a car and not 'just' a well-conditioned triathlete!

Congrats, T, and Mrs. T! What fun is ahead!

Texting, on a bike? That is really weird but I am not surprised really. I am glad you did not get hurt any worse, Michael.

I don't think anyone will believe this or understand this-I thought my flight left in the morning, but after checking on it, it leaves Sat am. I blame it on working night shift, but my daughter and I are very disappointed. We both thought we would be in the ocean tomorrow night. Oh, well Sat night is almost as good. So it was like 70 degrees or something today! Shorts and a t-shirt run on the trail. It was quite a mushy, muddy mess from all the melted snow-love it! I hate cold but I really like to get sweaty and dirty!

Bless you all, have great workouts and I will check in later.
Jan

Oh, I believe it.  I've done exactly that before.  Have a safe trip!  Yes, the warmer weather is nice. 

About to head out for my long run and thought I'd check in.  I hope everybody here is having -- and enjoying! -- the same beautiful weather that we've got going here.

Low 70s this weekend in Memphis ... 

Long Run (6 miles) this morning and long ride (at least 15 miles) on the bike (first time on the road with the new bike).

Take care, everyone.

- Manuel  

Let us know how the 'virgin' ride on the road goes with the new bike.  That's exciting!

6 miles yesterday, last mile was faster than the first.  Legs feel pretty good today.  Looking like it's going to be a beautiful day so I plan on being outside on my day off. 

First ride on the new bike on Sunday (13 miles).

There is a new trail in Memphis that was built on top of and old RR track. It is pretty flat and as of now, it is a 6.5 mile freshly paved road. These are the highlights:

1. learned how to clip/unclip without letting gravity complete its course (i.e. did not fall).
2. Bike needs to have seat adjusted to a higher position. it was not a comfortable ride.
3. For some reason I felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on my shoulders/neck. Again, not a comfortable ride.
4. Found out that 20 m/hr on the stationary bike DOES NOT translate to 20 m/hr on the road.
5. Shifting gears is fun. I wish I had a better idea of what gear does what, i.e. is the largest ring for flat terrain or hills? Or vice-versa? 
6. Drinking on the bike .... let's say it is a work in progress
7. Eating on the bike ... haha ... not happening as of now
8. The seat can eventually be friendly to you
9. I felt like I could have kept going for another 13 miles ... I was fresh. Although not a comfortable ride.
10. I can't wait to go back to the trail ...

Take care
- Manuel  

Glad to hear it was a successful first outing!

Here are a few answers for you.



Great!



Fitting is a complicated business.  I've spent a lot of time reading and learning about it, including a couple of hours with a very good fitter.  I'm still not 100% confident.  I'll dig up a few notes for you to get you started.  If you want to post a picture to get advice, here's how to do it:

Make sure you are wearing reasonably tight fitting clothing -- in order to assess fit one needs a good idea about where your elbow, shoulder, knee, etc., are.  Set the camera up to be pointing straight at the side of the bike (no angles).  Get on (on the trainer) and pedal for a while, then 'freeze' with the foot nearest the camera at the bottom of the pedal stroke, so that the crank is in line with the seat tube.  Take the picture (obviously you need an assistant for this).

Take another picture straight on (camera in front of the bike pointing at the front wheel).

Video is even better, if the quality is good enough to freeze-frame and see something.



You'll learn to take some of that weight onto your core.  Here's an experiment to try.  Get on the bike, and without changing your position, put all of your weight on your rear end.  You will feel your core seriously engage as it holds your weight off of the bars and shifts it onto the seat.  Now go the other way, allowing your weight to shift forward onto the bars.  Your core will relax and a lot of pressure will be put onto your arms and hands.

Somewhere between those two extremes is what you are aiming for.   The point of the experiment is just to get you to feel the range of possibilities, and in particular what it feels like to engage your core to take some weight off of your hands.  Over time, you will find a good medium between the two extremes, one that works for you.



Yep.  It all depends on how the trainer is set up, but don't sweat it.  Don't try to compare indoor and outdoor riding -- they are two different beasts.



Over time, your body will select a cadence (revolutions of the pedals per minute) that it prefers.  The point of the gearing is to allow you to maintain roughly that cadence without (a) having to mash too hard on the pedals (you will quickly get too tired to continue) or (b) not having enough resistance to be able to maintain speed (a.k.a. 'spinning out').  Find a cadence that is comfortable, at a level of effort that you can maintain for the duration of the ride, then switch gears to maintain it.

While were on this topic, try not to 'cross-chain', meaning:  don't put the bike in the largest cog on the rear and the big ring front.  Similarly, don't put it in the small ring up front and the small ring in the back.  OK, go ahead and do it once, and then look at the chain.  You see how it is sort of 'stressed' to get all the way from one side to the other?  That's not good.  Avoid it.



You'll get there.  Practice on the trainer too.



Great!

Hello?

Hi Gang

I hope you are all ok. Things are getting back to normal here, hmm i hate that word, the funeral was very dignified, I wrote and read the eulogy which was a challenge but I'm pleased I did so. My wife. Janet, is fighting allsorts of emotions but is getting stronger each day. I have returned to training which is helping me, ran on Friday, did some strength work on Saturday and was due to ride today (Sunday) but my back brake was solid and I had to turn home after about 30 seconds. I tried to sort it but alas failed so did a 10 mile run instead, loved it despite my legs being very sore from the previous 2 days (not looking forward to the morning)! So how are we all doing, training going well I hope.  It's great to be training posting again, let's crack on team!

Neil x

Hey everyone.  Sorry I've been a little silent.  We've had some difficult family issue ongoing here as well.  Taking care of young kids along with older parents has taken a toll on me (and my training this week...).

I've got a couple of longer posts in the works that I hope will be of interest, but in the meantime, what's up with everyone?

I did manage to get in a really solid ride today, and that has definitely cheered me up!  I'm enjoying playing with the new power meter -- it sure is teaching me a lot about what I need to work on.

Soldier on, everyone!

Hola, amigos,
Back from Mexico and trying to adjust to 30's, ice, sleet, tornados after 70-80 degrees, sun, beach and ocean.
I could go on and on about the trip itself but I will just report about the swim, which is one thing I was hoping to accomplish-practice swimming in the ocean.
We stayed in an all inclusive resort 15 miles south of Cancun. I was warned about rocks on the beach and water so I took water shoes. Well, the rocks were actually boulders, gigantic slabs of rocks with sharp edges of all varying heights and sizes, some not visible under the water until you ran into them with your shins or a wave crashed you against them. My left leg has several large bruises from our first trip into the water. The life guards pointed out farther down the beach there were less of these rocks so we entered there from then on. Also, the swimming areas was roped off about maybe 25 yards out and there were red flags flying on most days. It was very windy and the waves, while they did not look that bad to me (but what do I know being from Missouri?) they were really strong and I got knocked down and dragged across the sand a few times. We did not get in on red flag days, but yellow and green flag days were still pretty rough to me.
Anyway, my daughter and I were able to swim out to the rope and I practiced swimming parallel to shore along close to the rope. By the 3rd day I was able to get in to swim it was a little better but I really had problems with:
1) water going up my nose from waves and then going down the back of my throat. I tried to spit it out but that involved some stopping and gagging, coughing, etc.
2) sighting for waves-I guess you do that? I breath to both sides normally and by the time I turned to breath on the side to the open ocean I frequently would open my mouth to breath and find a wave crashing in my face or breathing toward shore a wave washing over me again water in my mouth or nose. This is swimming parallel to shore. Swimming out was easier to sight for waves.
3) swimming back in and sighting for waves-do you look behind you as you swim?
4) swimming back in I found myself swimming and going nowhere or being sucked backwards as a wave was coming in but then the wave would give me a nice big push when it did come but I felt like I was wearing myself out like crazy in between.
5) and just being totally worn out period from swimming just the little bit I did. I would swim about 25 yards away from my daughter and use her to sight to come back-so 50 yards-about- and I would need to tread water to rest a bit before doing it again.

I have arranged to take a few swimming lessons from a triathlon coach I know but I only have 2 months!! I am kind of freaked out now. I am not worried about drowning or the water, etc. just not being able to finish in the hour you are required to finish in or be disqualified and not be able to do the rest of the race. I can breast stroke really well and forever so that ends up being my rest stroke so I think I will finish but what a bummer not to be able to finish in the time allotment. Any help, advice, anything would be helpful!
Thanks!
Jan

Hello. 

Good to see some of you back on the forum. Today is the last day of February and here are my totals vs my goals. I feel very happy with my progress and I have received great info and encouragement from this group. I still need to work on my biking mileage (I got a mag trainer) so that will be my main focus in March. The run is fine and I think I will start increasing my wkly mileage this month as well. The swim? I swam 600m non-stop this morning and thought that I could have gone for another 300-400 so I am pleasantly surprised. 

Take care,
- Manuel  

February's totals:
Bike:	5h 59m  - 80 Mi ---- Goal: 120 Mi
Run:	6h 32m  - 41.2 Mi --- Goal: 50 Mi
Swim:	7h 10m  - 12591.69 Yd ---- Goal: 12000 Yd