Jeff Y's Group - CLOSED (Page 16)

Happy mother's day to all.  My sister and I ran the 5k today and she ran the whole way, beating her goal by almost a minute.  She did a 36:04.  She also is already ready to sign for her next one. 

And at the last second my 14 year old (who never runs) decided to run it.  He went off on his own and ran a 27:00!  He's asking me about setting up a running schedule so he can try out for cross country next fall.  What  have I done!

As far as HRM, I have a Polar 725x bike version, and supposedly you can't change the battery.  It's a closed watch so there's certainly no easy way to do it.  I'm convinced it's dying.  I guess there must be a factory way to have it replaced - there's no way they wouldn't have a battery replacement method.  If it costs much, I'd have to wait and maybe look into the all in one versions.

Congrats to you and your sister for the 5k run.

As far as your son running CC for high school that would be a nice way to spend time with him over the next few years.  My youngest daughter is (kind of) running track and I have been hoping she might want to run with me sometime over the summer.  But first we have to get her past her injury.  I am pretty sure it's overuse.  she hasn't ran much at all during track season.

Try checking you tube for a video on replacing the battery in your HRM.

If you want to ensure that your factory warranty stays intact then you will want to send it off to Polar for replacement.  The cost is not unreasonable.

Are we talking about your wrist unit, or the chest transmitter?  From your symptoms, I'm suspecting the chest transmitter not the receiver.  The transmitter may be user replaceable even if the wrist unit isn't?

Anyway, there really isn't anything about their stuff that makes changing the battery harder to do than with any other...it's just their warranty policy.  Just saying that if you try to do it yourself you won't run in to any weird technology.

Completely fallen off the wagon with only 2 of the last 7 days with proper workouts. I feel lazy, tired, fat and pissed.  Back at it hard today.  Hate it when life gets in the way of training.  Time to start really focussing on nutrition and get a few pounds off my frame before racing starts.

Rant complete.

Happy mother's day to all the moms in the group!

I know how you feel.  Get that weight off, it helps like crazy.  Just don't be surprised or discouraged if you feel flat while training with a calorie deficit.  It's temporary and can be reversed with one big meal.

I needed a rest day Friday, so took it off completely (except for weights).  Saturday was just a short mtn bike ride, amounting to a rest day also.  Sunday was a mini brick with my daughter, so another rest day.  Then this morning my alarm malfunctioned and I missed my morning workout.  Yuck.

I will get in a 5 mile run after work, and I needed the rest so my mind is fighting my emotions on this.  Tough being OCD. 

I will be doing my first Sprint on 4 June

Not having a bicycle repair kit finally caught up with me. I decided to wake up at 6am to get a ride in before my wife left for work and the kids woke up. Three miles into it my back tire went flat! So I had a nice 3 mile walk back to the house.

Guess I will be going to the bike store today and stocking-up. But before I go, what are the Must have items I should have in a repair kit?

Deb (colwin21) - 5/15 5k

Dirk (dirkp) - 5/21 half marathon

 Greg (gti123) - 5/22 *** FIRST TRI ***

Jeff (Jeffy) - 5/29 sprint tri

Bryan (bdj6020) - 5/30 duathlon

webert (Tim) - 6/11 (and HIM on 6/18)

Warren (wbayek) - 6/18 Sprint tri

perdium - 7/24

Ryan (chopadog83) - 6/11 Olympic (b) 7/31 Olympic (a), 8/7 Xterra full (c)

spare tube, co2 inflator and 2 cartridges....never leave with just one.  You can use a frame pump if you would prefer that to co2.  If you've never used co2 inflators before, practice until you get it right before relying on it out on the road.

Solo rides should always include a cell phone.

I also carry a minimum of 1 tire iron, but 2 is better.  I made that mistake once, no level of motivation was going to allow me to seat that bead without one!

There will be 1 size of allen wrench that will adjust almost everything on your bike that should be adjusted on a ride.  (stem, seat clamp) take one of those for the kit if not a whole multi-tool.

I had my chain break once in a triathlon.  It was 2 miles to transition.  I left my bike with a course marshall and ran barefoot to transition then finished the race.  I realized later that leaving my bike behind should have been a DQ...not that I placed.  At least you are a triathlete, not just a cyclist, so you aren't helpless on  your feet. 

Thanks Jeff. That info is helpful!  My HR monitor is a MIO. I have another one too but it's also not a Garmin.  I have to get a Garmin one of these days!  I'm running 3 days this week.  Sick today though; so I'm trying to get over this head cold first!  My goal is around 30 min for the 5K on Sunday!  I know that's slow to most all of you but for me it will be good.  I've only been running 8 weeks now. 

That's really not a bad idea.  I have yet to be chased by a dog, but sooo many people have been.  I'd be a little afraid that I wouldn't be able to get the sprayer out and aim it at the dog though.  With my luck it'd get in my eyes and I'd just get eaten anyway.

Pretty good swim today.  Managed to pull off 1:14 for one of my 100's.  That is pretty close to as fast as I've gone in the middle of a workout.  Pleased with that, but my form was a bit all over the place.  I have trouble just relaxing and concentrating on the parts of the pull and kicking when I'm sucking wind.

That's a good note to all of us.  For some reason running seems almost unique in that the frequency of training is far more important than most other sports.  Especially while climbing the initial curve to running proficiency.

That's a fast 100.  About what I could swim in a meet.   You're not a rookie in the water are you?!?!?

Unless you just plain feel too bad to exercise, running can be a great treatment for a cold.

I understand better than anyone how fitness and speed are relative.  Your goal of 30 minutes is great and if/when you achieve it we will all be excited with you!

8 weeks of running and finishing a 5k is more than respectable.  You must have natural talent...

My 20 year old daughter struggled for months and months to finally make 5k without walking and finishing under 30 minutes.  Then we began training for a 10k which she did impressively.

Jonathan is a crazy swimmer - and biker, by the way.

And Deb, 30 for a 5k is nothing to back down from.  Everything is relative to what you're capable of, not some arbitrary numbers other people attain.  I am by FAR the slowest runner and biker of the group I hang out with, but they keep encouraging me by pointing out my dedicated training, the improvements I've made, the fact that what one of them considers "fast" is not "fast" for others in the group, and the fitness I have now versus 2 years ago. 

Keep it all in perspective and just keep working with the raw material you have.  I want to be the best I can be, but if I were in triathlon only to podium or win events I'd either be massively disappointed or out of the sport pretty quickly.  Remember, just showing up at the start line gets you pretty high up the athletic food chain!

Tim, if it's not a friction problem (only skin affected) then it's a pressure problem and probably has more to do with how you are contacting the saddle.  Is the discomfort on the sit bones?  Are you sitting far enough back on the saddle that you are spreading out your contact area on the wider portion of the seat?

Tim, my achilles are (both) still iffy these days.  I seem fine if I do non intense training runs indoors (flat surface).  But I did less than 3 miles Sunday off road, on the least hilly course around, and the pain the next day was a problem. 

What hints/tips do you have for me to speed the healing/recovery process?  I've already removed all of my early season off-road training and racing from the schedule.  I'm a little concerned for my race at the end of the month that will have me putting on racing flats.

So far I am doing the following:

• Runs almost exclusively after a swim or bike so things are loosened up
• Ice the achilles really well once a day
• gentle stretching of calves has just been added, it hurt too much up until now
• running on treadmill or track between 8-9mpm pace doesn't seem to bother it much, but have mostly eliminated other types of running

Jeff, I went back out on the bike to see where exactly I am getting the issues first with the seat.  It is a pressure issue when I am in the tuck position in the forward contact area.  I tend then to slide forward freating a rear area issue.  In regards to the the rocking side to side should I raise or lower the seat to prevent or is this a trial and error thing?

In regards to achilles, I use 20/20/20min ice water/hot water/ice water for rehab always end on ice.  There isn't much blood flow to that area and this forces blood to exchange.  If it hurts to stretch only do it when warm and don't force it, if the pain is accute these could be micro tares in the fiber.  Typically failure occurs during sudden bursts of physical output.  The stats that I seen on "The Achilles Blog" say the average age to be 38-39 and almost all where from a sudden stop start (basketball, sprinting, tennis, football).  So the point here is to stay off the toes and run like the rest of use and mid foot strike (flats might be out for that race at the end of the month).  With a little time the tares will heal and create scare tissue.  The other thing I used after the fact but could have before was apply kinesial (sp) tape for support and to stretch.  Apply up the back of the solius around the heal.  Do this with a dorsiflexion position or toe up.  Anchor the tape to the belly of the calf for about 1-2 inches then stretch the tape over the achilles and anchor it again on the bottom of the foot. 

I've tried drafting with a friend who is stupid fast (like D1 nationally ranked fast), and it does make a big difference.  I tried behind and to the side - I was literally right on his toes, and then right off/behind his shoulder.  We were pretty much touching from time to time.  It was a planned thing though, so I wonder if you did that during a race (touching) the person would probably kick you!  I could maintain a 15 second/100 faster pace without more effort.  I don't think it affects the draftee at all.

For all the Achilles/calf/IT soft tissue stuff, I can't recommend ART enough.  I see a guy who does ART (Active Release Technique).  YMMV, but for me it's been magic.  I've had every pain in the book and he's solved them all and given me stuff to help prevent it going forward.

I've sent several people to him and all have had amazing results.  My wife (who is a runner) had stopped running for several years due to groin issues, and we finally had here visit a sports groin specialist in Boston who treat the Patriots.  They were scheduling surgery for her when I suggested she see my guy.  Long story short - within a few months she was back to running as much as ever pain free.  He'll tell you it's the technique and not him, though he does seem to have a keen understanding of the inter-related aspects of soft tissue injuries.

In terms of self healing stuff, my pseudo coach is an IM PT person, and maintains a self-help website for athletes here.  There may be some useful stuff there.

I have never seen a pain speciallist but I do understand the basis for the pressure theropy.  It has worked wonders for my daughter whom is the faster swimmer I mentioned earlier.  I guess your bottom line will be fix it now before it take months to fix later.

Just like drafting on the bike (No, not in a triathlon!!!), the closer the better.  And directly behind is better than to the side.  So the ideal is for your fingertips to just miss their feet.  Some people get pissed (although not the experienced open water swimmers), so the accepted etiquette is that touching once is OK, touching 2 is bad, touching 3rd time and they feel they have the right to try to kick you in the face.  Of course if you touch them once every minute or so, it will be OK.  Just be courteous.

Based on the physics of drafting, the person in front of you gets a slight advantage by you drafting them.  This is because 'drag' is aptly named because it's a pull from behind more than resistance from the front.  It's not necessarily intuitive, but the air or water that you are parting has to close behind you due to the void that your body had made.  So it's a low pressure area pulling you backwards.  When a drafter is inserted in to that void, the person breaking the wind (or water) experiences less drag.

I'm not good at it yet, especially not in lakes where you have to 'feel' the person by their wake and can't really see them.