GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 18)

ANNE -

Holy jumpin' catfish --- that is a phenomenal log you have going, Anne! The detail is remarkable, and in order to do it justice I'm going to have to grab a few meals-to-go and park myself down here for an extended stay! The urge was strong to keep going backwards and try to find an obvious starting point, but I know that won't work. But I do have to figure out some of your non-SBR work, especially the regen/rehab stuff.

As for yesterday, sweet way to say goodbye to '09! In particular, your run looked just about perfect after the lay-off. Distance and time were just about right, as were your warm-up, cool-down, and the time spent between the two main run parts. Nicely done!

Unless you are really blasting yourself with Bikram, you can probaly treat that as a recovery day; lots of people do. Or, rather, lots of people will view Yoga/Pilates/stretching as recovery activities, as opposed to swimming, biking, running, and maybe lifting. I guess I'd say that unless you are feeling flat with anything, you are probably doing okay keeping a day or two a week as Bikram-only days.

How many days a week will you be doing yoga? And without it, how often would you have a recovery day?

I have to head into Ottawa now, and not only do I owe you an answer of the CompuTrainer, but there are still some posts from the past 3 or 4 days that I haven't repsonded to. Those will come later on today, okay?

Again -- GREAT log!!

What was your name before?

The table only works if you copy it to your dashboard, unfortunately that is the limit to my web design expertise.

My thoughts/hopes were to continue with yoga 3x per week for 2 more months.  Because of the high intensity and strength components, going once or twice a week just turns out to be more torture than benefit.  The HR continues to rise with each posture until just before the floor series and the final 2 help to lower it, and then with the floor series, the real strength component starts.  The standing series is considered mostly aerobic although strength and stability are involved.  It is so weird though.   If you can get through the class, you actually feel rejuvinated after it, but if I were to do a bike or run session at that intensity, I would be totally spent.    SO, based on that, I will view it as a recovery day, but will keep an eye on how I feel with my tri training. 

I can really see the reconstruction of my body, inside and out, since I have been going 3x per week and worked through some of the old injuries.  I cannot believe the strength in my spine now.   I'm figuring another 2 months and I should have my body should be 'rebuilt' and then I would only do 2x during the tri season. 

Before doing yoga, I always have tried to have one full recovery day per week and then one recovery week every 4th week where I just do lower intensity, shorter workouts - no long S/B/R that week.     Everybody seems to say you need a recovery day.   I think I read that if you are able to keep your S/B/R as a recovery/recreational session, then it is OK to train 7 days per week????   But if you aren't able to hold yourself back and end up going hard and fast, you are better off to do nothing.  

And we decided to go x-country skiing locally tomorrow, because I know if we go up north, I will end up skiing 6 hours non-stop and that would NOT be good!    

Currently I swim 3x per week.

STEVE:

Responding to your message from this morning (the tips on reducing drag and increasing running pace).

Thanks so much for the swimming tips. I've found that the little tricks and tips I get from here or there all added up are starting to really help. For now I'm continuing to use the pull buoy until I feel really comfortable with the breathing (I may even continue to use it until I can complete the full 1/3 mile distance I need to do in August without resting). But I'm going to try the drill you described so I can get a sense of what it really feels like to have drag versus not. I think that will help a lot too.

Regarding the running, right now I'm just doing 2 runs per week. Once I have 3 more runs finished (in about a week and a half), I'll get you the data on the cadence. One thing I've always felt is that I have a very short stride, too short it seemed. I have short stubby legs and when I happen to see reflections of myself running, it looks like I've barely broken into a jog. This is compared to long and lean people who just look so graceful and athletic with their nice long strides!

Thanks again!

Tracey

New Year's Day 5k - my daughter's 1st 5k - she left me in the dust
-9 and 8 mph wind

Denise

ps - sorry you about your's, Dwayne


Edited by LadyNorth 2010-01-01 2:35 PM






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DARREN -

In her previous life, M was m68114.

DENISE -

Yay! You got your race in!

Very fine photo; thanks for it!

TRACEY -

I'm not a betting man, but were I, I would wager a large sum that you will conquer the .3 mile distance loooong before August. You are very determined and have shown some nice improvements already, and after a while they should start to piggyback on each other. That is, what seems kind of slow progress to you now will develop into relatively more rapid progress as you head into spring.

I understand what the pull buoy is doing for you (after all, I recommended it! ), but just be careful that you don't become over-reliant on it. Tentatively, I would say that once you get your breathing down even partially, each of your swims should have some work without the buoy -- just so you know what it'll feel like when you need to rely on the full length of yourself.

Another negative aspect of the PB is that it messes with your natural sense of balance in the water, as well as reducing the amount of body roll you can accomplish. The latter is especially important as you get further into swimming. Body roll happens from your hips to your shoulders, and while the PB won't get in the way of shoulder roll, it will have a "dampening" effect on how much your hips roll.

As with everything else in swimming, there are drills that will help you develop a sense of body roll. Many of these are central to Total Immersion, and if you want descriptions of them, let me know. But if you have enough on your plate as it is, that's fine, too!

ANNE -

That is a terrific description of how you respond to yoga. You really seem to be in tune with your body, like to the nth degree, and that must help you as you look for balance while pushing some limits. The last line of the first paragraph is what I would recommend based on what you said - keep it as recovery, but monitor how you respond vis-a-vis SBR work.

Over the years I have found it easy to do "junk miles", so when it is time for a recovery day I try to take it fully. That will be endless controversy, I think -- whether an easy recreational day can really count towards recovery. I think at this stage of the off-season you can get away with that, but as you get into the race season, and especially your "A" races, you'll want to keep your recovery days pure. I say this because as you hit your Build 2 and Peak phases, each workout should be highly specific and central to your race goal(s). Therefore, you should enter them fully rested if you hope to achieve maximum benfits.

And certainly if one is not able to hold themselves back even during the off-season, then it is best to hire someone to out them in restraints so they don't go out and do something dopey as a result of unbridled enthusiasm. The recovery days are really important, and as is often said, many of the benefits of a particular workout are achieved while the body is at rest. So, make sure it gets adequate rest!!

ANNE again -

Before I launch into a testimonial about CompuTrainer (even though I am hardly a religious user of it, and actually am quite "lapsed" ), please tell me if you have used it yourself at any point. I have a sneaky feeling you have, just because you seem to have availed yourself of just about every tri-related resource in the K-W-G universe.

So, are you familiar with SpinScan, and the vertcial bar and polar graphs, and the power readings, and the "pacer" dude, and the split screen with the elevation profile? If so, that will make my life a little easier ---- but if not then that is fine and I am more tham happy to bring it all down to basics for you.

Let me know, okay?

M -

You don't like heavy shoes, eh? The good news is that there are lots nowadays that are relatively light. This is a big improvement over the past couple of years, and while I don't have numbers at hand, my sense is that shoe technologies have evolved to work without adding weight.

The flip side of this is that more companies are coming out with "minimlaistic" shoes that don't have much technology in them, period. This has all come out of a combination of Chi running, pose running, barefoot running, and just a growing feeling that many technolgies can be detrimental just as easily as they can be beneficial. But this is a whole other dicussion!!

Heavy and light are, of course, relative terms -- and highly personal ones at that. If you are most comfirtable going shoeless during home workouts, then you are probably quite sensitive to any added weight. But if you require a stability shoe, then there are some lighter options that weigh about 8oz for women. (From all you have told me, I would tentatively suggest a stability shoe as opposed to a neutral one.

What do you mean by "true mesh"; that is, how flexible are you in terms of actual meshiness? I ask this because most running shoes have a meshy look to them, but the mesh is what I'm going to call "closed". What I mean by that is that there are "cells" in the upper, but in almost all of these the openings are underlain by another layer of material. They are still fairly breathable, but not as if the mesh is open.

I wear Newtons, and they are the most breathable shoes I have ever owned, but I would not recommend them to you at this stage of your running career. The next best thing I have found is the Saucony Tangent, which has a closed mesh, but the underlayer is minimal enough so tat when you put your hand in the shoe and move it around, it is very easy to see. In fact, the underlayer is not really a layer, but rather strands that kind of connect one side of each opening with the opposite side. Each meshy opening has 4 of these misniscule strands - hardly anything to 'em!

Last I looked, Road Runner dosn't carry the Tangent, but National Running Center (Clarks Summit, PA) does. Their mail order is as good as Road Runner's, so you might want to think about that. The Tangent is a lightweight stability shoe, with the midsole made of a denser materail on the medial side; this is what is known as "posting". What this does is help resist over-pronation, which is a common problem for people with low arches. And even though they are a stability shoe, they have a comparatively flexible forefoot, which you alos say you prefer. It's a good shoe!

M again -

OOPS! I got my models mixed up. Road Runner DOES carry the Tangent; it's the Saucony Fasttwitch that they don't carry. So, you can check out the specs at the Road Runner site, where you have already met Shoe Dog.

As for Nat. Run. Cent., their full website is www.nationalrunningcenter.com, if you want to go there for second opinions or soemthing!

DWAYNE -

Can I refer to your question about stretching to someone else? I'm thinking specifically about someone who actually DOES it, as I do not.

I haven't stretched at all before any runs in years. The closest I come is in some duathlons, which I don't do regularly, where I will do a light little jog minutes before the race begins. But stretching? No.

I have gone through periods in which I have stretched regularly, but I never seem to realize the benefits of all those sessions; I remain one of the 100 most inflexible people on the planet.

My alternative to stretching is that - sometimes - I will begin a run with an actual warm-up of 10-15 minutes, but this is almost always before a tempo run, and nothing else. And one other alternative is that if my calves are especially tight before a run, I might gently massage them ach for a few minutes.

Post-run I'm somewhat better, but restrict my stretching to calves and, less frequently, hip flexors.

I'm sorry I'm not more help to you about this!

You HAVE gotten to know me rather quickly haven't you.    I have tried the Computrainer at a local Health and Wellness centre 2 winters ago and ended up hurting myself because I tried to keep up with the guys.   I don't remember alot except I did like it and I remember the spin scan and thought that was neat.   What I really liked was the power thing?   Being able to see how much power my legs had going up hills, etc.   I'm thinking that would be a powerful tool to have.    They are going to be opening up some more classes soon, and thought maybe I should try it.  

Is it something we should start saviving for?   Our biggest concern is that we won't be able to figure out how to use it.   We have trouble figuring out our DVD player at times.  

Just so you know, I have had LT threshold testing done for the run and the bike, but that too, was 2 years ago, so I know won't be totally accurate now.   I did the BT field tests last year.  

On another topic, I have been reading with interest all the talk on running shoes.   I think I have been fairly lucky in finding shoes that work for me.   I am using the Saucony Fastwich for racing and Brooks 'Glycerin'? neutral shoe for training.   I was using the Fastwich for training as well but the podiatrist sort of gave me heck for that.     Ken and I took some Chi running training a couple of times after my injuries, to see if that would help.   Seems to have been helpful.  

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-23 7:44 PM

STEVE:

Points well taken about the pull buoy. I can already tell how easy it could be for me to become reliant on it, so I'll be careful that doesn't happen.

And thank you for the vote of confidence regarding the .3 mile distance! There have been some days when I felt like I'd never get there because my progress seemed so slow. I do believe though the key is in the breathing. So once I conquer that I think I'll be okay! (Besides the fact that I'm determined to prove to my husband that this time I'm REALLY completing a triathlon; let's just say there were many declarations made in the past that I never lived up to!)

Thanks!

Tracey

Awesome M!

Tracey

Yay! Just signed up for my first race longer than a 5K:

http://colonialrunners.org/PaddyKelly.php

Let's hope I can make it through. It's on Valentine's Day - perfect to burn off all that chocolate!

Tracey

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-23 7:45 PM

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-23 7:46 PM

M!!!

You're the proud owner of the first race of the year for us. Congratulations!

And no warning either, no way for us to get ready and sufficiently psyched on your behalf; it's kind of like you eloped with the event!

That you didn't feel winded or stressed is a big thing.......as is the recovery on your heart rate.....as is the feeling you could've done even more. Fabulous start for the '10 season for you!!!









Edited by stevebradley 2010-01-01 9:07 PM

TRACEY -

And congrats to you for signing up for Paddy Kelly. Five miles will be a good distance to jump to, and the fact that it is flat and fast makes it even more accessible. And an 11am start time is admirably humane on the part of the Colonial Runners.

That is a very nice photo they have on the heading of the Paddy Kelly page. I must be related to the guy in yellow, as he is as bull-headed as I am about wearing shorts right to the bitter end.

I will start right away doing periodic dances to the Weather Gods so that they will bless you with unseasonably balmy conditions on the race day. I'm confident they will oblige!

  

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-23 7:47 PM