Tri Mark's Madness Group-Closed (Page 15)

Sure, I am up for it!  I survived tax season and have once again rejoined society   I have a few more than 8 pounds to lose (ok..way more than 8!) and a race at the end of July to prepare for so count me in! 

I forgot to mention that, since I'm retired, my long workouts are scheduled for midweek - so I'll still be able to get those in.

Boy, that's some schedule you've got. Makes me tired just reading about it.

I just read a bunch of last year's Racine race reports - sounds like it was awful - rain and then high heat and humidity.

Denise

Mark,

Do you know how they assign waves at Racine?  I had assumed I'd be in the last wave (because of age) but after reading the race reports, that may not be the case.

my first tri i did i hear those discs coming by and go "what the heck are those!".  They def dont sneak up on you.  They are bold as they fly by!

My goal is to always beat as many people on the $$ bikes with disc wheels! Just cuz im jealous that i dont have that kind of set up! One day!

Hey Jacqui, I'm happy to be support for good nutrition! I was about 11 lbs up from my lowest weight (which is still 10 lbs above where I want to be ultimately) when I started training in October. I'm down 8 from that and feel good, since my lowest weight was at the end of P90X last summer. My goal has been to be under 160 on race day (May 7) and I've been at 158 for the past week, so I just need to maintain it.

Let me know if you have any nutrition questions.

-Henry

Tried practicing this technique in Master's class this morning. It was hard to apply the new concepts w/out doing the drill where you isolate your forearm by hanging it over a lane divider, and I was in class so I couldn't do that, but I think it made a difference! I swam much longer distances and didn't get as out of breath as usual. I was circle swimming with 2 others and it seemed I could have gone a bit faster than either of them, and usually we seem to have about the same pace. I am definitely going to keep working on this! I did notice that my shoulders got a lot more tired & tense though because with always keeping my elbows higher (not stretching out as far under water) my shoulders never relaxed. I will pay special attention to this next time I'm in the water.

Thanks for the link Mark!
-Henry

Henry,

I've noticed that the natural tendency when doing this is to "shorten up", or not fully extend the arm during recovery and extension.  You need to make sure that you don't lose focus on reaching from the hip as you extend out, and that you keep your timing right.  I believe very strongly in front quadrant swimming.  That means both hands are simultaneously in front .  It's almost like a catch up stroke where you touch both hands together.  Your extended arm stays extended as your recovering arm moves forward and begins the process of the entry.  At that point the extended arm is now catching and pulling backwards (with a high elbow).  This lengthens your stroke, minimizes the number of strokes it takes to cover the same distance, and minimizes drag.

Did anyone work like an animal today?

I know I did.  Today was track day as I cram for this half marathon a week from Sunday. 

15' W/U

8x400m (1:35-1:40 per lap) coach gave me the option to run or walk 400 in between.  I walked half and ran half this time, as I was fearing the final portion of the run

Rest of time, Tempo Run @ T pace of 8:00 or under (about 19 minutes).

Total run 1:15:02

T pace would not normally scare me, but most of my track workout end with easy cool down after the sprints for like 10 minutes.  It's an entirely different thing doing T pace after that workout.  I did manage to hold 8:01 on rolling hills, but I had to really kick at the flat on the end for the last 2 minutes!

45 minutes of strength at the gym and I'll be done for the day.

on paper today im supposed to knock out a tempo run and weights with some stretching. been a long work week! Hope i can get my butt to the gym afterwork.

Looks like i'll have to do the run on the treadmill .... better than nothing!

That was exactly my experience, my strokes were shorter, stroke rate went up, I was slower and my bilateral breathing was messed up.  Today I went back to primarily concentrating on full extension and long strokes and secondarily thinking about the high elbows - and things fell back into place.  I'm not much faster, but I feel like I am using way less energy with the high elbows.

Also went for a short two mile run after the swim.  Three weeks ago, that little run was taking me about 20 minutes - today I did it in 16:42, and half of that was with a 30mph head wind and driving snow in my face to the point I could hardly get a breath. 

Mark, I think your speed interval workouts are paying off - I don't think I would have gotten that much speed increase by just runnning further and further each week... thanks!  Now if only I can get that kind of breakthrough in the pool.

-Ron

Thanks Mark, "catch-up" was one of the drills I chose to work on today, so that's good! Hopefully I can get used to this new technique by May 7.

Mark, it sounds like you had an awesome track workout today!

I did not workout like an animal but, despite having a nasty cold I did run and swim.  I just ran 4.5 miles at a fairly easy pace (my knee keeps acting up so I did not want to push it) and then swam 650 yards.  I started eliminating my "breaks" at the end of each few laps.  If I feel winded (which I still do often) then I switched to a side stroke or back stroke rather than stop completely.  The swimming is coming along...

Henry,

Do you have any particular eating plan that you follow?  I don't eat wheat and TRY to go somewhat easy on processed carbs  (except immediately before, during and after exercise), but I struggle with carb cravings and then going crazy eating junk at night.  

You've done an awesome job getting down to your racing weight.  I am sure you can maintain your loss for your race in just a few weeks.  That is exciting!

Jacqui

Mark,

couldn't keep up with your studyly track workout!

only made it a 40 min tempo run

10min WU

20min build up to 6:40 pace

10 min CD

Legs felt tired.  I trained through a HM last week and ran 3 days already this week...might need a day off. Long run this weekend.

Jacqui,

I think you'd benefit from some of Matt Fitzgerald's books.  There are just a few basic steps that you really need to look at.  The challenge is not to deprive your body if you're training under heavy load.  I define heavy load as more than 1.5 hours per day.  If you are under that, I think it's much easier to work at a deficit.  If you are over that, you have to be very careful about creating a deficit.  For instance, I want to race about 6 pounds lighter than I am right now at my A race.  I have to lose it either VERY slowly between now and Aug. 14, or quickly in the week leading up to the race in my taper mode.  Either is possible.  What is not possible today is to work at a 300+ calorie daily deficit.  I have to make sure I am repairing my body in the build phase.

So let's look at your eating carbs before and after workouts.  You have about 2 hours of fuel in the tank before you start the workout and before you take in any calories.  Your body is smart.  If you take in 200 calories, then go run 30 minutes, your body will use the cheap carbs you just gave it as fast as it can before it looks to the reserve tank.  In this case, because you at the carbs, the reserve tank is stored glycogen in the muscles.  We have not even begun to think about burning fat (our ultimate goal).

If you don't eat those carbs right before the workout, your body will burn a combination of the glycogen and stored body fat, depending on the type of exercise you are doing and the intensity.  When going long and slow (zone 2 HR), you are primarily burning fat for fuel, and some glycogen.  If you go higher intensity, you are burning glycogen primarily, then fat when it's exhausted. 

I believe very strongly in the eating afterwards to allow your body to repair itself adequately and replenish the stored glycogen.  This requires a balanced approach, however.  You need protein and carbs.  But not just any carbs will do.  You need "resistant carbs", which are whole grain, leave you feeling full, and don't break down rapidly in your system.  You can do some research on that.  If you like cereal, look at Fitzgerald's quality score system. It's eye opening.

Finally, the late night carb thing, you just have to ditch it.  That's my issue.  Not necessarily late night, but mindless eating because I'm not being pulled 1000 directions at once, my body is slowing down, but my mind has all sorts of things to think about and nothing do to.  So eat!!!.  Horrible habit.  The only way I have had success with beating that habit was to make sure that I write down everything that goes in my mouth.  By doing that and tracking calories burned, I have a bar graph on Training Peaks that shows me my daily deficit.  I want to win the battle EVERY DAY, even if only by 100 calories or staying neutral.  A footnote to that is that the Garmin grossly overestimates calories burned.  Take 20-30% off to be safe.  It's amazingly inaccurate on the bike where I can now measure within 1% accuracy on calories because the power meter tells you how much work you've done. 

Anyhow, I really recommend the quick start guide by Fitzgerald.  If you're not working out more than 1.5 hours a day you can do that diet.  If you are, you need to modify very specifically and we can work through that.  I did it for 8 weeks in the winter and dropped 8 pounds fast.  I've put a little back on in muscle as I've lowered my body fat percentage, but I'll take that conversion as long as it's in my legs where it helps.

Well done Ron.  Running after a swim will typically be very slow and difficult anyhow.  I have a long/fast run this weekend, for instance, and since I'm just over a week away from a key race, my coach instructed me not to swim Saturday masters (she coaches it) because swimming 4500m then trying to do a long run near race pace would leave me disappointed. 

That's a huge drop in pace for you, keep it up.  Changing intensity (increasing) does work.  Not only will you go faster, you will change the shape of your legs and you will go farther.

I'm feeling a little bit frustrated right now.  Since my HIM last month, my riding has been feeling good.  I've been happy with it and I've been enjoying my training in general.  The thing is, for the past two weeks even though I feel like I am putting in the effort, my heart rate does not agree (yes, zones were determined by testing).  I've been through this before and coach said not to worry about it but  I am worried.

What causes this sort of mismatch between perceived effort and measured effort such as heart rate?

Low.  I feel like I'm working but my heart rate indicates otherwise.

No power meter.

My hunch is that you didn't fully recover from your last race.  I don't recall if you've done that distance before, but it sounds to me like your muscles may still have micro tears that didn't heal.  I went through that  bit after IM.  I felt just fine by Wednesday, so I started running again.  I wasn't tearing it up or anything, just 5k here and there. I did a 40 mile bike with a friend and I felt like I was working my as$ off.  I wasn't.  I did a half marathon and I was working my butt off, but really my legs were just dead. 

If it's a consistent thing, I strongly suggest a "reset".  You have a coach, so I'd discuss it with him/her too.  What I mean by reset is a week of different type of training.  I do the elliptical machine when I'm tweaked or on rest weeks.  I don't do strength that involves my legs, just core.  Different things than you normally do.  Then come back after 5 or 6 days of that reset and "pop".  Higher intensity to get your body right back into rhythm.  Redo baseline tests like 5k with HR.  Time trial on the bike.  Reset your baselines and test them again in a month. 

I think the risk for you if you don't do something to change the pattern is that you could get injured.  Worse yet, if you're just not getting your HR near where it needs to be, your time spent training is really not all that effective.  It's a shame to train that much and not get the benefits.  I caveat all of this by saying it's just my opinion based on similar experiences and you should talk to your coach, but it really screams rest and recovery to me.  That's the challenge of a hard early season race.