SBR Utopia ---- Permanently OPEN!! (Page 15)

There should be no winky face after that statement!

Time to resurrect this baby:

Benefits of Other Strokes

I'm slowly easing back into training after Mutti (my 80-yr-old mom) and I had a mild virus--unfortunately I got food poisoning in the middle of that and was REALLY sick over the weekend.

I've made some nice gains putting in the other strokes. Just did a nice size IM workout last night.

Thanks all.  I have what my chiro/ART guy says are "feet designed for metatarsalgia" which is code for a f*** ed up foot with a high arch.   My second metarsal actually shows on x rays that it is larger than the others - should be all the same size- showing that it is taking an undue load

Current issue is small muscles deep in and between the first and second metatarsals.   Just got aggravated and inflamed in IM training and never got a chance to resolve as I raced through it.  Never hurt when I ran (or almost never), but sore walkig afterwards.  Just started to get a feeling of slight soreness after getting back on teh treadmill, and I was doing very light running (i.e., 30 minutes total with 3-4 x 2:30 run/2:30 walk).   I figured I gave it 6 weeks, if it needs another couple, might as well give that a shot.  And if not, I'll just deal with it during the season because I will need i think at least 2 months running before NOLA

At the moment it is not sore at all, so it's at that very frustrating phase of feeling like i should be able to run but know it's not quite there

Thanks all, for the great discussion on coaching.

For running, I feel like continuing as I have been is probably best for me based on my own experience and some of the information you have all shared.

Of course, I am always happy to have feedback on my plans so, feel free to be critical of my training/strategies.

Very nice! I did get over 600k last year, towards 700k, and that combined with instruction from masters helped a lot! Even with all the sickness and other problems the gains were substantial. Would love to hit 1 mil as well, but that's almost 20k/wk EVERY week the entire year. Already well behind pace from last week due to ... being sick.

Swim has been going incredibly well for me as well.  I did not swim hardly at all after our second was born in late May until about September.  The swim has always been my weakest of the 3 sports.

October is when I started really focusing on it and I am faster than I have ever been.  Just hit 1:12 100 and 2:38 200 yesterday.  I agree that the feel for the water is so much better when you are swimming 4x week....just feel smooth and fast.

One thing that I see brought up a lot in message boards is...I am swimming fast in the pool but it is not translating to OWS and racing...but I am coming out of the water fresher for the bike and run.  I agree thats great that we feel fresher coming out of the water, but I want my split to refelect the fitness.

Curious your opinions on why the times are not translating for folks in racing (OWS)?

Navigation is a bigger one than we want to admit. Being able to sight well and actually swim straight without the line underneath. It helps more than we think. Somewhere there is a video that does really well in illustrating how much we swim in s-curves. We also don't really have external cues in our pacing, and we're probably not quite as in tune with it as we think.

I am sure that definitely contributes.  I was also thinking that maybe some folks just default to kind of their comfortable cruise pace and don't take advantage of the fitness they have.  Although it seems like the cruise pace would increase incrementally with fitness.

I'll say it's a combination of both.  Sighting can be huge for sure.  Look a these two GPS tracks of me and another guy I swam with last summer.

As for the comfortable cruise, I think there are a lot of people who are very happy to do that and there is nothing wrong with it but if you have put the time and effort into it in the pool you should be able to push yourself a bit in a race.  You don't have to go nuts and gas yourself (I've done that and it's not pretty) but just give that little extra effort.  It can be beneficial for a couple of reasons.  1. you go faster (hopefully) 2. you can set yourself up to draft off someone faster

Mine's good, I think.  I'm actually focusing on it for the first time this winter, as in doing sets and such (as I've said), so we'll see what that brings in season.

For ME, my OWS times are crazy faster (though, sadly, not crazy fast!) than what I can hold in a pool - at least last season.  Could be that just as I got my form into something recognizable to real swimmers, I was by then only swimming in open water (I didn't hit the pool from May until late October, I think) and so don't have pool times to compare with at the same time.   Could be the wetsuit, I suppose...

I'm definitely faster in the pool the last couple weeks than I was indoors a year ago, but there's no way I could hold the paces I did last summer in open water in the pool - yet.  

Maybe my sighting is poor in the pool.

Matt

Makes sense.

So, help a brotha out.    What are the things in the POOL that I should focus on to be better in an OWS?

While the thought of competing in a pool swim is very cool, until I learn flip turns (uh oh) I'm only going to race a swim as part of a triathlon.  So, what are the key elements of a pool workout to translate to better performance in tri's this season.

I suspect there are more things that are the same than different, but there must be some key differences.

Experienced fish (or maybe tri-experienced NON-swimming-as-a-first-sport fish?) care to opine?  

Matt

OWS more!?  I live less than a mile from Lake Michigan and plan to incorporate OWS weekly as I get closer to season.  Typically when I did OWS I would just get in and swim at a nice cruise pace.  I plan to do a lot more faster OWS and surges during the open water sessions to get more acquainted to swimming fast in open water.

A set that I have been doing in the pool recently is 3x800 as (200 fast start, 200 cruise, 100 surge, 300 cruise) to kind of simulate a race situation.

Nice job on the swim times - I'm jealous!

I typically work on running this time of year because I don't have to worry about a crowded pool during Resolution January.  I do have another pool option but it's *outdoors* which isn't my favorite thing to do right as I roll out of bed.  But I understand rotating sports a bit.

Fred - do you find yourself more motivated to swim when your kids are competing?  I know I'd be trying to keep up

Originally posted by BrotherTri

Originally posted by Asalzwed

Thanks all, for the great discussion on coaching.

For running, I feel like continuing as I have been is probably best for me based on my own experience and some of the information you have all shared.

Of course, I am always happy to have feedback on my plans so, feel free to be critical of my training/strategies.

You didn't hear my views....... btw I am not anti coach just being cheap.

Ahhh shoot. I should have said, "Thanks to those of you who have shared their opinions on coaching." ESPECIALLY since I know Fred is keeping a close eye on what we say.

And thank YOU for sharing. Being cheap really strikes a chord with me!!

What is all this swimming you guys are talking about???