Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 15)

LORI and SARAH and LAURA -

How is the vibe in Badgerland?? Badgers can be fierce and horned toads/frogs are just mostly silly; you'll be fine!

Allen is what it is, it has become way too cosmopolitan for my redneck tastes. It was a well organized, small run. Nothing planned except a short swim/bike Monday

I have a bike question for the group...  I have a standard road bike (a Giant TCR)
Should I consider aero-bars on this bike? 

I am kind of a gear geek and while I wouldn't consider a tri specific bike at this time (since it is my first season) Just wondering if aero bars would be a good idea or not.  I know that on a standard bike the geometry is not optimally setup for aero bars would it throw the handling off too much?  

On a training note - When they talk about increasing 10% per week - is this in reference to volume or intensity or both?

Thanks!
Alex 

It's very exciting!  Let's hope for a win....just look at all that RED in the stands!  Yeah, I saw the mascot for TCU and I said to my husband...That's their mascot?!?  Not what I expected!  Badgers don't look too fierce until you see their claws...I think the badger would take out the toad and not even know it!  None of  that even matters, really!  

Also, I teach middle school and the girls are WAY worse than the boys as far as drama goes!  But instead of telling you all you should look out for, I should say, CONGRATULATIONS DUNCAN!

Okay, I am signing off now to watch the game.  I was browsing around out of nerves...can't this game just start?!? 

Wow, thanks everyone for the input.  I will need to look into these compression calf sleeves, I never heard of it.  I know back in the days when I did race I did have calf issues so this will be something to look into.  I will also need to look into this gel and also the jelly beans.  I did read something about gel when looking through other folks forums but I was not really sure what they were talking about.  Back when I raced I I used to drink some kind of carb drink before training and races and it helped out a lot.  The taste was not good and I dont remember what it was called but it really helped.  I am a coffee drinker atleast I was before I started to workout.  I used to drink about 3 shots of espresso every morning with some milk, but I was not sure how it would affect my stomach during workouts, i will have to play with that.  Again thanks everyone for your input.  This is what I love about this group, when someone has a questions we have 27 other folks that can relate and give guidance.  I really do feel we all will benefit from this. 

Thanks
George

Try clip on aero bars! I think you will notice a difference, see if your LBS will let you experiment a little
the 10% refers to volume-either time or distance. I'm not sure how one would quantify intensity

Seven in a lane, ouch.   I'm always on the treadmill or in the pool by 5:00, don't miss any family time if everyone else is still in bed.  We have three Y's within 15 minutes from my house and have never seen more than two per lane, usually one per lane with an open lane or two.  Seven per lane puts it in perspective, i won't get grouchy on the rare occasion that i have to share.  We get to a couple of Chiefs games a year, they put on a good show and it's a great family friendly arena.  Happy new year.

I've been doing 2-3 days a week using the BowFlex for strength training, working on high reps with low weight for building endurance strength.  I do curls, tricep curls, bench press, shoulder press, lat pull, and loaded crunches; it's a 20-25 minute workout and i do it while my wife is on the treadmill.  it helps with my flexibility, and really helps keep the stiffness out of a shoulder that I separated a number of times and had surgically repaired.  I'm really into the whole triathlon thing as a vehicle to stay healthy doing something I enjoy, not to worried about times and places in races, but have done OK in my age group.

ALEX - I have a road bike, too and I had aero bars put on. My local shop isn't real knowledgable about tris but they knew enough to recommend I add that to my purchase. I love the bars and from all that I've read, they are a must to be competitive. I've never had a bike fitting but I think I just lucked out and my set up is perfectly comfortable for me. Maybe that'll be your case, too if you decide to invest in them.

STEVE - Thanks for the website on swimming, I'll peruse it tonight. You'd asked why I felt I was so slow. In response, it's because I'm still learning HOW to do it. I did the breaststroke for my first sprint tri 5 years ago and then took a few swimming lessons to learn freestyle. I couldn't go 10 meters withhout choking/sputtering/panicking. My second year I did a combo freestyle/breaststroke and finally my third year tri I did freestyle the whole way. Woot, woot! We have no aquatics person in charge of our local Y so although I asked around, I couldn't find someone to help me get to the next level. I'm now traveling two hours round trip once a week to a WONDERFUL instructor and am really excited to be making some progress. I'm generally a patient person so I'm confident I'll be able to get to the point of doing an IM swim well within the time constraints. That's what I'm concentrating on this winter, any ways. I appreciate whatever I can glean from you and the group, though.

OK, I guess I need to set a few hours aside to get caught up with the group since I'm feeling out of the loop and need to change that.

Middle school AND high school! I have 2 girls, one was more the typical girl with drama attached. Middle school brought friend drama and high school brought my parents are idiots drama Our other daughter pretty much stayed drama free. Overall, we had it pretty easy with them. Now at 20, 22 and my son at 24, life is great. 

Edited by zeefraugtries 2011-01-05 9:02 PM

George,

I also use post recovery drinks, within 30 mins, similar to what others are using, although I am careful to only do this with workouts greater than one hour. I also include a fibre with the protein as it greatly aids me in final phases of digestion.  I believe, the fibre is also important due to the possible long term complications of too much protein power within the system. I suggest that you look this up for yourself. Additionally, using water or milk will also change the bodies ability to absorb - do some research and figure out what you want and when, adjusting your choice of ingredient accordingly.   

I also take a few supplements and the most important has been my nightly magnesium tea - every training night regardless of effort. That is, a little bit of magnesium powder in hot water. With any type of supplements/enhancements, I would suggest that you add one thing at a time and determine if you can notice a difference. Magnesium is said to aid endurance athletes and, for me, the difference was noticeable straight away. However, I had been training hard prior to taking, although I wish someone had told me at the beginning - hence my post.

Hope this helps,  take care,
Whato

JOHANNE - What was the secret with having one daughter being drama free? Was it just her personality or were you perfect parents by then? Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. We have a 9th grade son who hasn't gotten serious with girls yet and thus is drama free but our 8th grade daughter discovered boys last year and we've had nothing but drama since. Life as parents keeps us on our toes.

Thanks, Johanna. Good wisdom! I'm impressed with your 2001 race calendar. I see a full marathon. Have you done one before? I'm wanting to add a full to my calendar and it would be a first for me. I'm probably looking at the fall, though since tax season kind of ruins early season events for me.

Napa will be my first full. It's a little scary but I'm following my plan and so far so good. I work a little walking in during my long runs and I think I'll have to do that for the race too. My last 15 mile day I ran 20 min and walked 1 min for the first 10 miles then I had to do a 5/1 ratio to finish. One of these days I'll be fit enough to run the whole thing but I'm a big believer in working my way up slowly. So far I think it's helped me stay fairly healthy. I wanted to do it early in the season so I can get it done and then focus more on tri stuff.  Which full are you thinking of? Are you an accountant with the tax season issue?

The next town over has a full in November that would work well in my schedule but I've done the half there the last couple years and it's a little boring of a route so I'm not sure. I'd like something new since that will be more exciting and motivating. I'm like you and think I'll need to do a run/walk scenario. I met a guy on one of my halfs that had trained exactly for that - to run to the first mile marker then do a 1 minute walk and then run to the next mile marker and walk a minute before doing that again, etc. Sounded like an interesting way to break up a long run. I think I'll try that when I start training. Yes, I'm a CPA so January through April 15 find me stuck to my office and computer. I work out of my house so I have flexibility built in which I can't complain about.

Good morning everyone.

Just to pipe up on the compression socks talk, my wife got me a pair of, well, compression bandages for the calfs which I use after long runs.  They are a big help.  I'd really like to get my hands on some real compression sleves / socks, but I haven't found them for sale in Taiwan yet.  Mind you, I've barely looked either... haha.

And thank you everyone for the good thoughts and wishes.  I'll be sure to pass them on to my wife and daughter.

-- Duncan

DUNCAN - Aww! Congrats on your lovely daughter and may she recover quickly.

STEVE-Wisconsin is in mourning after today's Rose Bowl... BUT we shall be victorious tomorrow with the Pack bringing down the Bears


Taught a New Years Day spin class...High heart rate stuff. Tomorrow, hoping to get a nice run in. Temps have gone from 40 yesterday to the teens with zero windchills. Brrrr! 

Nice job to all you dedicated runners on your New Years eve/day races you guys are making me feel like such a slacker!!! :-) although I did get a run in outside early New Year's eve it was a balmy 50 degrees here in Ohio a New Years miracle!!! Not as good as Duncan's though!!
Duncan- Congrats on the new baby girl!!! Hoping things are getting better and you will have her home in no time!!! Girls are amazing!!!
Roger- Thanks for the information haven't had a chance to read it yet but hoping to get to it tonight!!!
Alex- I saw that you do Tae Kwon Do, I trained for many years in Kickboxing and Tae Kwon Do I really miss it sometimes!!
Steve- Those are my 2 girls Olivia and Emily in the picture. It is very inspiring to have them waiting at the finish line cheering me on!! I have been checking in and reading everyone's posts but I am usually more of a lurker, I don't have much experience so it is great to hear other peoples ideas and what they are doing to get better.
I was thinking maybe closer to the spring I will take another round of swimming lessons to tweak anything that is going wrong!
Thanks for your input- I haven't had my bike properly fitted but my husband did his a couple of years ago so maybe that's something I should look into. I have been doing some biking but have been focusing on my swimming and running so I think it's time to get back to the biking since that also needs a whole lot of work! So I am going to check out the link from Roger!
Happy Training!!!
shannen

Steve,
What's your opinion on breathing on one side or both sides? 

Happy New Years Everyone!!!

Sorry I was MIA for a while (apparently even a couple of hours missed means alot of catch up to do let alone 1 day...good stuff) but I was slaving in the kitchen all day yesterday for our New Year's dinner. Everything went off without a hitch but I am glad I scheduled a rest day today!

Duncan...congrats on the arrival of your little girl! I have a 4 YO daughter and she knows how to play daddy! She is definatley daddy's little girl!!

Laura....congrats on finishing your first 10k! You did more than I or alot of other people did so you should be proud of that!!!

I still have a little bit of reading to do to catch up, but I'll be back in my normal routine on Monday and look forward to all the discussion in this group. I am ready for 2011!!!!

David

I've got some Zoot compression socks that I wear when I run and bike and they help my legs feel less heavy.  I've got some early onset varicose veins, so the socks help quite a bit.

Alex....I also have an older road bike and am kind of an accessories junkie when it comes to triathlons!
I installed aerobars after my season last year and was able to train on them for a couple of months before it got too cold. I love them and am so ready to race with them this year. I always had a problem with my fingers going numb from the pressure on my hands, but the aerobars allow me to ride comfortably. If you go that route...definately get is some road time before you race with them. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to getting down in the aero position without feeling out of control. Plus you will need 3 or 4 rides to adjust them to what feels best for you. Otherwise I can tell a big difference when I hunker down in the aero position....plus you look really cool!!!
David