Hokies 1st Timer's Group - FULL (Page 16)

Good 2 minute read about Keeping It Fun: 

http://www.endurancecorner.com/Mike_Coughlin/Keep_It_Fun

I really liked the following:  "it is important to remember that a deep enjoyment of training is the path to success"

Another good one titled: " Triathlon Purchases by Ability & Experience"

I like reading Joe Friel.  Short read.  Enjoy.

Jeff the link for your last suggested reading wasn't there.  Can you try re-linking it?
Thanks,
Christi 

Oops... My bad...  http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2011/02/triathlon-purchases-by-ability-experience.html

Team,

Weekend is here.  For those of you not on a specific training plan don't forget about the bike.  Safest place to build your endurance.  If your indoors on a trainer/spinner mixed it up to avoid the boredom.  I always do 10 minutes intervals of mixed cadence, mixed gearing and positions.  Makes the time go by much faster.

Go out and have some fun!!

Jeff,  Training right now is reading and surfing.....good articles, thank you. 

Christi,

Glad you enjoyed them.  Training your mind are you!!  Don't foget to take all that stuff you are learning and put it to good use!! 

The weather in Atlanta is glorious, I hope it is the same for everybody!

I did a fairly hard core trail run this morning. Short but I haven't done a lot of big hills since last fall so it was quite a workout. If my body isn't screaming at me, I've got a long bike ride on the schedule for tomorrow.

~Amanda

Oh for sure....I use "smarter not harder" frequently.    It's my favorite physical limitation coping technique.
C

I also really enjoy reading about the different disciplines. I got Friel's The Triathlete's Training Bible as a holiday gift, and have been reading through sections the last week or so. I'm going to switch up my schedule a bit next week based on some stuff I read, and incorporate some ST.

~Amanda

Amanda,

9+ miles = short? 

Hope the body is not screaming this morning and you enjoy your bike today.



Edited by junthank 2011-02-20 5:54 AM

Christi,

"Smarter not harder".... I like that.

Amanda,

I have not read the book you have.... but I have read the book he wrote with Gordo titled "Going Long".  I think I have read it a couple times.  He writes frequently on his blog.  One of my favorite blog sites.

Gang,

If your into watching TRI's the REV3 series kicks off the season in Costa Rica this morning.  Live streaming here:

http://rev3tri.com/live/

Coverage starts at 7:10AM EST - little early for you Christi!!

Hope everybody had a great weekend. I am enjoying the warmer weather, though a little sun on yesterday's bike ride would have been nice. I set a distance PR with 32 miles. I wasn't blazing fast, and it was a fairly flat ride, but not bad for my 3rd (ever as an adult!) ride outside.

With my swimming, I have been working through the TI drills but also doing 800-1200 meters of breaststroke. I was thinking it would be good to have a backup stroke, in the event during a tri I got tired and needed to back off the freestyle or if conditions were really crowded and choppy. Is this common in tris, seeing people use more than one stroke?

~Amanda

Amanda,

It was a great weather weekend in Sarasota as well.  Congrat's on the bike PR and keep getting on that bike.  Since that was only your 3rd ride outside I wouldn't worry about your speed just yet.  Continue working on your bike endurance (time in the saddle), cadence (mixed it up by developing a range of cadences - 60rpm - 90 rpm), and try out different gearing (i.e.. push a bigger gear every once in a while).  Finally, every now and then work in a short  transition run after your bike.  The run doesn't need to be long (in fact you don't want to run long after your bike).  Just 15 to 30 minutes.



Edited by junthank 2011-02-21 9:25 AM

Amanda,

Common?  Depends on the Tri.  If you go to a local Sprint Tri you are likely to see a lot of breast stroke  (back, side and other stuff as well!!).  If you go to the 70.3 World Championship your not likely to see it.  However, there was a guy at my pool that actually won his 60 year old AG (Age Group) at IM Louisville and was 2nd in his AG at Kona in 2009 who told me one of his main competitors (a German) did most of his swim with breast stroke.  He said that he would exit the water with over a 35 minute lead and the dude would catch him before the end of the bike leg.

Obviously freestyle is the stroke that you want to develop.  You will be able to travel much faster in the water doing freestyle.  Having said that, I understand what you are trying to accomplish in the water with TI and your freestyle stroke and your strategy is sound.  So keep doing what your doing.  Once your freestyle stroke is where you want it to be transition your swim workouts so that they are primarily freestyle based (throwing in the occasionally off stroke to mixed things up a bit).  Next, develop your freestyle endurance and you also want to develop different swim gears (i.e... Easy, Steady, Mod-Hard and Fast).

I use the breast stoke in my workouts to mixed things up (2500 - 4000 meters in a 25 meter pool is really boring).  I also have found that when I get fatigued it feels like my freestyle stroke starts to fall apart.  If I throw in an occassional 25 meter breast in it seems to reset my mechanics a bit and my freestyle technique feels better after I do that.  Perhaps that is not the case but that is how its feels to me.

Choppy and crowed.  Yes, in a race, depending on the conditions I might thru in a few breaststokes. 

Melissa,

12 weeks until the FIT at Siesta Key.  I can't wait!!  Gonna be fun!!

BTW - Thank goodness for the ladies in this group.  Within the last week I think we have lost all the men.  Without the gals this thread would be dead.

Keep your aspirations of doing that 1st TRI alive. 

Girls rule!

Seriously, I love this group. I feel like I can ask stupid questions here without getting ridiculed for being a newbie. I'm glad there are still a few of us sticking around, but hope some more come back to the group for support.

Jeff, you are absolutely correct - once I get the freestyle going, I will be switching over to that stroke predominantly. I know it seems the TI program is taking me forever, but I am feeling really confident with my progress. For example, the drill I am working on now I could say 'close enough' and move on, but I know it is not quite right and I can do better. Maybe I am a perfectionist?

I have a cycling question -- the balls of my feet get a little sore while riding. Is that something I will get used to, or is it a problem with cleat placement? Maybe it is my shoes, or even my socks? They feel fine once I get off the bike, but I'm wondering if it is just something I will get used to over time.

Regarding bike/run bricks - after my ride on Sunday I was kicking myself for not bringing my running shoes because my legs felt fantastic! I wish I could have gone for a very short 1 mile run just to see how it felt. Next time I will remember to bring the shoes and running shorts, just in case.

I still reserve the right to ridicule you about being an Atlanta Falcon fan!!!

Amanda,

It doesn't matter how long the TI program is taking you.  Much more important is the fact that the TI program is getting you back into the pool consistently.  If that trend continues your swim will improve and all the hard work will payoff.

+++

Regarding soreness from riding, it's hard to tell.  I have never experienced that problem.  It could be cleat placement.  Where are your cleats positioned on your shoe?  I have my cleats positioned slightly back from the ball of my foot.  A good starting position is to have the ball of your foot directly on top of the spindle on the pedal (i.e.. the cleat would be positioned to accommodate this).

If I were you I would experiment a bit.  Next time out move your cleats slightly (not much) back toward your heel and see if that takes care of the problem.  Another option would be to take your shoes to the local bike shop (LBS) and see what they think of your cleat position.

As you mentioned, it could be just getting use to riding with cycling shoes.  I have a road bike with clip on aerobars.  Initially my neck would be sore after a ride after getting the aerobars.  It took a little time for my neck to get use to being in the aero position on the bike.   

I'll be checking out your training log to make sure you do!!