Destination MoP is FULL (of motivation!) (Page 18)

Yes, Andrea, "intervals" would be a good thing to add at some point here.  Generally, no need to add them until you are pretty comfortable with a long run of 5mi or more and you don't want to do them more than once a week b/c unlike swimming, recovery is a bit tougher.  Two approaches that I've seen people use - one is pretty structured interval training where you would run for .10 - .25 mi as fast as you can (you may be surprised at what you can do - maybe more than 5.0) and then the same distance at a very relaxed pace.  Based on your current mileage, this interval could be done for 1-2 miles after a warm-up and before a cool down in a 3-4 mile overall run.  It should not replace your long run, but shouldn't be the day before or after your long run as those would be your two most important workouts of the week.  At first you might need to walk after the all out sprint, or shorten the total amount of the interval, but you'll get there.  Just make sure you are well stretched and loose before doing it... don't do it such that it causes a problem with hamstring, etc.

The other approach is called Fartlek, which means running after eating too many burritos... oh, no, wait, it means "speed play" in Swedish.  The basic idea here is to add some sprints listening to your body as to when to do so... better suited to outside... you might pick a mailbox or intersection up ahead and sprint to it, then recover and when your body is ready, choose another spot up ahead and repeat... the idea is to make intervalish training a bit more fun and unstructured. 

I tend more toward interval training on treadmills, but I think the choice depends more on your personality and such.  Right now, Andrea, the most important thing for you is probably being really consistent with your long run.  Once you have that down, then you can start throwing in the intervals.  Generally though, you can't use the swimming analogy too much because running is much tougher on your body.  So, just a little bit of interval training goes a long way (and remember to be good and warmed up before doing it).

We have some really experienced runners in the group though... what do you all think/use?

Good luck in your race - say hi to West Hartford for me!

Stu

I've just finished frantically putting everything together ready for tomorrow's OLY. 

Now I'm getting really nervous.  I haven't done any real training for almost two weeks.  I'm still not well - not so much full of cold but still getting really tired really quickly - so tomorrow is going to be a matter of survival rather than anything else I think...

I've been trying to psych myself up for it.  I did a little jog at the track session on Wednesday to prove to myself that my legs still work.  And I did a really short swim yesterday to test out my new open water goggles.  Other than that I've pretty much been sleeping for the last 3 days.  I was feeling much better but had to work a night shift last night and I think that set me back in my recovery.

The plan for tommorow is to stick to my pacing for the steelman and just use it as a training session.  Just a really really long one!

Off to bed now before the lovely early start...

Found this info to pass along...

For DC Folks: Openwater Swim Opportunity at National Harbor June 26th:

-Steve

Returned from backpacking for the weekend a few hours ago.  I thought I was in shape.  

This weekend totally kicked my butt.  I am more amazed than ever about the woman who runs my daughter's venture scout crew.  She is in her early 60's and can hike with a huge pack on for hours upon hours.  

No run for me today.  I feel every move of the body.

First Olympic distance triathlon today.  Race log here

So that's the first of this year's goals achieved.  First ever olympic, and it went better than I had planned.

First ever event with an open water swim, and it was a deep water start.  It was a learning experience.  They finished the race briefing and said "we'll be starting in 5 minutes".  By the time we had got in the water and were half way to the start, they'd started...  So next time I need to get in the water a bit more quickly so that I'm somewhere near the right place at the right time.  However I don't think it made much difference to my time.  Just meant I wasn't quite as mentally prepared.  I was still getting over the shock of the cold water, and had to calm myself and get my breathing under control while also swimming.

However, all that aside, I was really pleased with how it went.  My sighting went well.  I maintained my stroke well, and felt pretty confident in the water.  I also didn't have to worry about getting caught in the pack as I was far enough back to be out of all that.  Having done the 1500m swim I'm now feeling confident that the 2000m for the steelman is going to be fine.  Swim time was 33min 49sec, which was much better than I was expecting.

T1 went really well.  I got out of the wetsuit fast thanks to the baby oil that someone had suggested.  The rest of transition still needs some work, but is probably not the place for the biggest improvements.

The plan for the bike was to pace it like I'm going to for the steelman.  Things didn't go according to plan...  I went far too fast for the pacing I'd planned.  My average speed worked out at about 17mph, which is the fastest pace I've done so far in any triathlon.  It was spot on for the distance I was doing, but I absolutely won't be able to maintain that pace for the steelman.  I also managed to stay on the tri bars for almost the entire 25 miles, which is a major improvement.  But all that aside, for this distance I was really pleased with my time.  Bike time was 1hr 26min 19sec.

T2 was fine, but I got a bit stuck trying to get my bike on the rack.  Otherwise there's not much to it.

The run started off feeling hard, and made me realise how important it's going to be to pace the bike properly for steelman.  It's all very well having a difficult 3 mile run, but when it's going to be 11miles it's much more important to leave something.  But once I got into my stride for the run it was okay.  I actually landed up running most of it with Kevin (husband) because we hit the run at the same time and he was running quite slowly.  He took off for the last mile, so he crossed the line 30 seconds ahead of me.  We're still pretty well matched, even over the longer distance.  Run time was 54min 28sec.

Total time was 2hr 57min 42sec, which I'm really pleased with.  My original sprint time was over 2 hours, so I've said all along that I'd be pleased with anything under 4 hours for the olympic distance.  I really wasn't expecting to get under 3 hours.  Still some work to do before the steelman, but mostly just on pacing to make sure I don't kill myself half way round.

It was noticeable how different the competitors were today from the sprints that we've done.  At the sprints I'm pretty much MoP for my age category.  Today I was 14 out of 18, which is not bad, but rather further back.  Everyone today had road bikes, and obviously had a good idea of what they were doing.  You seem to get a lot less of the casual types at olympic distance (the fact that it's an open water swim with wetsuits compulsory also probably has an impact).  But of course that just makes it a bigger achievement for me.  I got passed quite a lot on the bike, but I just reminded myself every time someone went past me that I'd got out of the swim ahead of them.  Everyone's got their strengths and weaknesses...

Great job, Rach!  And I think your insights are right on.  Honestly, with the exception of the swim, in my opinion, the OLY is more like a Sprint than a HIM and as you mentioned, pacing on the bike is REALLY important for the HIM.  The swim however, is almost the same, so it sounds like all your work in the last month has prepared you well for that.  Regardless, having an OLY under your belt is a big confidence builder, especially coming in under 3 hrs... well done!  (Congrats to Kevin too!)

Stu

You got this!  Keep your training doable so that you don't get burned out or injured.  Great job on being aware of your timings.  I found speed intervals help and I tend to be a Fartleck...maybe because I like burritos.

Wow, Rachel, that sounds like a great race.  I'm impress with your speed on each leg, especially relative to your sprint time from last year.  What great progress.  Keep up the good work.

For some reason my 5K yesterday totally wiped me out.  It was humid, but cool.  The run itself was fine.  Mile 2 was all uphill, but mostly in a gradual fashion that I can handle.  Miles 1 and 3 had some downhill segments that were appreciated.  Unfortunately I made some bad food choices on Sat. (mexican) and made multiple trips to the toilet before leaving my house and then hit the portapotty at the race.  After the race I grabbed a water and headed back to the potties near the start line.  Grabbed a yogurt drink on the way to the car.  Then the chills came.  I turned on the heat in the car and put the race shirt on over my sweaty shirt.  Once home I took a warm bath to try to get back to temp.  Then I snuggled up under the blankets for a bit.  My energy at this point was sapped.  I honestly didn't know if I could walk down the stairs to get a bite to eat and relax with my son and husband.  Finally I got motivated and moved to the couch.  Not much got done around my house yesterday.

Great job everyone on you races over the weekend. It is such great motivation to keep training! I did not have a race but, I did take my bike out to the Sprint Tri route and took a ride. 14 Very HILLY miles! Legs were tired. I will do the same route next weekend with my mom.  She said she is up to it, so we will see!

Keep up the great workouts everyone and have a great week!!

Rach-nice job on the race!

I did an hour long run this weekend- I'm slowly building back up. Historically, when I hit the 4.5 mile mark, I start to have foot injuries. This time, I've been building mileage up slowly, and so far, seem to be doing okay. I'm now looking for a 10k to enter.

Next week, I'l have to carry water with me, on my long run.

I also added in 20 minute ab workouts- my core is pathetically weak.

I have 3 runs on my plan each week & sometimes I get 2 in & sometimes 3.  I have found that if I can do my "medium" length one as a speed workout (on the TM) that it GREATLY improves my speed for all my other runs.  I started out using the clock as my indicator of how long to do a burst of speed (started at 5.0 & did increments of 5.3, 5.5, 5.8 & even 15-30 seconds at 6.0 when I started out & I used to walk to recover faster). Now, I'm excited to be able to do my "speed" intervals based on distance (depending on how fast I'm going for that interval & how far I'm into the workout, I'll do anywhere from .1-.25 miles before recovering for .1-.15 miles). Then, at the very end, I do speed things up based on time - I figure, if I feel like puking at the very end, I worked super hard and it's a great feeling to know you CAN push yourself that hard and do it - even if only for 15-30 seconds!

I've hit PRs for my 5K time the last 2 speed workouts I did & would recommend trying it at least once.  Given that, I tried the fartlek method for my 1st non-speed, outdoor run yesterday and it went ok. I had some bathroom issues & my patellar tendonitis was really bothering me, so I cut it short, but overall it's something I definitely want to try again.

Another swimming reference.  You may detect a theme :-)

Have you ever ground your chia seeds or used Chia Seed Flour for baking?  Just wondering - I bake/eat gluten free and have been reading alot about using the chia seeds and how good it is for you. It is  supposed to be a great wheat substitute for flour.

Who needs fuel on the run when there are a gazillion knats in swarms?! So last week it was winter this week summer hit...no spring for us in No. NV....along with the nice weather all the bugs are out.  On my 5k tonight I had many in my eyes and mouth...good source of protein I guess. 

Squeezed my run in at dusk tonight.  My sister in law, the truck driver, and her husband came to visit between picking up a load in Missouri and dropping it in Cali.  She calls as soon as she knows she is coming our way and says, "I am on I-80 heading west at 55 mph, and I just passed mile marker such and such.  Thats when we'll be there.  What the heck...wheres my calculater? where is mile marker such and such?  Someone do the math and figure out what time they will be here!  Sometimes they are here just for coffee at 2 am and whoever is around and awake, (yes someone is alwayse awake in our house, 24/7) goes to have a cup with Aunt Danyle or Grandma Jake. Yes my M-I-L was also a truck driver but recently retired.  These are our family get togethers but they are always good!

Off to the showers, been a long day. 

I just started using the FINIS tempo trainer.  Thanks for your comments.  I am using it to help lengthen my stroke for the foreseeable future.  It helps me stay concentrated for a longer time when I do use it.

I did my first wetsuit swim today in the pool in prep for Sunday's race.  Wow...what a difference they make!  Didn't have to work to keep legs up.  Based on the clock, the wetsuit seemed to shave 10-15 seconds off of my normal 100 yard time.  It will be interesting to see how my arms/back hold up since I'm not used to constriction in that area.

Will be practicing taking the suit on and off multiple times on Saturday. 

I agree entirely with what you've said.  The reason I've started the cadence training is that I've spent the last 8 months working on technique, have developed a lovely long stroke, and have hit a wall in my speed improvements.  But while working on my cadence my coach was really insistant that I make sure I don't lose the stroke length.  I've only increased my cadence from 50 to 54 because any more than that and my strokes per length increased.  Hopefully after a month or so of training at the new cadence I'll be able to increase it a little more.  But I'm aware that this is going to be a long term strategy for improvement.  Thanks for the reminder

I haven't tried this.  Would have to find a place to get chia seeds in bulk otherwise might be kind of expensive.

Race jitters are setting in.  Doing Washington DC Tri on Sunday.  It rained last night and more rain, via thunderstorms, are forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  This means the Potomac will be up a bit.  I'm hoping not too much junk gets flushed into the river.

Logistics for this race are a bit challenging.  It's larger than most from what I understand.  I'll have to pick up my race tomorrow in one location and then rack my bike in another location.  It means navigating downtown DC and hoping for a parking space near the transition area in the afternoon.  

On Sunday the race start location is also different from race finish location.  Luckily they will have a gear check so I can change when I'm done.  I'll have to take a shuttle from finish area to transition area to get my bike.

It's just more stuff to think about!

Tomorrow I will run through my transitions (in addition to packet pickup & bike dropoff) - especially getting the wetsuit off in a timely manner.  It would be a shame to gain some time on the swim only to lose it again in the struggle with the wetsuit.

Good luck, Melanie & all others racing this weekend!

I did my 1st outdoor (fairly successful) brick last night (in on & off rain) as my last chance for a difficult workout before tapering a bit this week in prep for my 1st tri next Saturday.  I think my race jitters started setting in around last week, though they're starting to calm some after last night's brick, especially since I was really pleased that my knee did ok after the 1st few steps and adjusting my stride.  I will be very mindful not to overdo it & take care of the patellar tendonitis this week so that I'm ready to go next Saturday.  I also confirmed I NEED gloves for riding - my hands were sliding off the brakes & gears in the rain worse than in the extreme humidity & sweat of a week ago, so for safety I think it's going to be a necessity.

Good Luck Melanie!

Who else is racing this weekend?

Mid - Month Update:

I hit my first easy week in my training. I think I will be happy for the rest, as next week I am back full tilt. I had a great run last night, it was hot out, but I was able to concentrate on my turnover.

I met my weight goal for this month, that makes me happy. For a while I thought no matter what I did, short of stopping food all together, I wasn't going to lose weight. I'm glad to see the scale going in the other direction.

As far as the weekly OWS, hasn't happened so far, but I think now the kids are out of school, it will be easier to find time for that.

Hope you all are doing well... here's a little bit of humor for Friday about barefoot running. My husband runs in the vibram five fingers and we laughed....  Disclaimer, this may not be appropriate for everyone's office...it has some swearing in it...

Barefoot Steve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=theHXQP9Bo0