QueenZipp & Dexter's good cop/ bad cop - FULL (Page 19)

My usual refrain...Good Saturday morning everyone!

I survived Hell Week.  Barely.  600 miles on my butt behind the wheel in three days--not to mention the meetings, but here I am.  Crashed on the sofa at about 7pm last night.  Seems to be my usual pattern after a long week of business travel--catching up on the sleep I lost during the week.  Doesn't seem like the healthy way to go but I can tell you, it certainly rejuvenates me for the weekend's activities.

Judi:  Hope the bike fit helps the situation.  And I agree with Rob.  It's still way too early in the season to call it done.  I've pretty much ruled out any spring events for me at the moment due to the crazy schedule and work stress, but I can already see where late summer/early fall events may be a possibility.  Lots of time between now and then.

Adam:  Glad to see you're maintaining your peach and especially making it work with the early morning work outs.  I'm definitely not an early morning person, but 99% of my training is done in the wee hours for a couple of reasons...I want to make sure I get it done (too many excuses later in the day), and the heat.  Granted, you wouldn't know warm temps from what's showing up on the thermometer right now, but 90 to 100 degree days for months on end are just around the corner for me.  Awesome calendar by the way!

Rob:  Good question about run cadence.  I have a Garmin footpod on one pair of my running shoes, so I know what I do.  It's interesting, my outdoor cadence is consistently in the 90-92 range regardless of pace and my treadmill cadence is consistently in the low 80's.  The only time I can hit the 90's on the tready is if I'm doing speed work.  I also have cadence monitors on my bikes.  I usually can hit 90 +/- depending on the gear without too much trouble.    There's a lot of info out there about increasing the run cadence to improve pace, but I'm also starting to see articles advocating finding your own cadence and perfecting form as a way to improve performance.  Who knows...?

Catherine:  W00T!

Jessica:  Wishing you a speedy recovery.

What's on tap for everyone's weekend?  I'm planning to run in a bit.  Yoga on Sunday.  And dare I say, a visit to the pool on Sunday?  Only a couple of days left for me to score some purple on my chart for the month (If I don't make it, I'm going to claim that the periwinkle showing on February 9 is close enough!)

Yeah stoked when I found it. If you want to get one of your own, it came from the January edition of Triathlon Plus UK printed by triradar.com:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/triathlon/triathlon-plus-magazine-back-issues/Triathlon-Plus-Jan-11.html

No mention of the calendar on the actual mag though so might want to check if comes packaged with it like mine did. 

Finally learned how to engage my lats on a swim.
5 years later.....about freaking time!

Rob, did you learn any good pointers at Bob's swim clinic yesterday?

Nice work Judi ... any tips for a terrible swimmer? 

Adam,
I know Dud shuns pool *toys* but the past couple os swim sets included a bit of work with my paddles.  I use a tech paddle http://www.techpaddle.com/ to help develop the EVF (early vertical forearm).  I think that helped, along with the upper body and core  strength work I have been doing.  I feel like I am more aware of my position and muscle groups as they kick in during the stroke. 

I was in the performance member swim coach chat the other day and both Coach Kevin and the other person in chat with me (Bob Stocks) said to try dog paddling as a drill.  You are reaching long and feeling an early vertical forearm, learning a bit of sighting too....Seems counterintuitive to practice dog paddling but one of the drills I did last week was 4 strokes head up swim/4 stroke normal position. It was revealing to really see and feel where my arms were.

It hasnt fully translated into an improved time, but I also shun timing myself to keep from being disappointed when it isn't better.  It's also hard to say my time improved when I did a set with mixed strokes knowing it took me over 15 minutes to do the last 500 yards (3x100 breast and 2x100 which were supposed to be breaststroke but I changed to 50/50 back/breast and 50/50 breast/free)

Send some BT love to Dud, he had a death in the family.

Hi kids.  My wife's brother passed away of cancer four years ago today. It is a sad day but we rejoice in his life and memories. 
Thanks Judi.

What I should be doing is going for run.  Its like one of the last things he told to do while he was kicking me out of his hospital room.  Sometimes when I'm not pushing as hard as I can I that will pop into me head..  I think back you bastard OK I'll pick it up.  Motivations comes in all forms I guess.  

Good point.

So my focus is shifting for a while....as much as I WANT to bike & run, sign up for events etcetera....I have learned a painful lesson in acceptance of where I am right now.  For the next 4-6 weeks I am going to just be a gym rat.  Swim, since I have finally gotten a bit of form improvements....lift, do yoga, pilates...strength train or anything cardio that is minimal impact/ stress on the stubborn gastrocs.....hopefully this will allow these legs to heal enough to get back into biking and running.

I want to be able to do these things out of love for doing them and ability to do them......but I cannot let that overshadow what I am currently able to do.

My heart goes out to you and yours Dud.  Cancer sucks.  I  lost my mom to pancreatic cancer two years ago this April.  I try to celebrate too...she would have wanted it that way.

Wonderful attitude adjustment Judi...I have no doubt it will serve you well. 

Just read an interesting article in the March issue of Runner's World (I'm a little behind on my reading as you can tell).  It was called 'Running in Circles' about a guy who took up running by drawing a radius around his hood on a map.  What started out small and manageable turned into lofty marathon goals and then injury.  It was the injury that caused him to rethink what was important when it came to running.  He vowed he would run 26.2 some day, but it would be on his terms within the radius of his hood.  Really inspiring...

Hey Guys - been MIA for a bit because I was in Eleuthera on a camping/exploring trip for the weekend.  Here's the campsite, and where we went for a 30 min beach run, followed by some beach yoga!  We also had a lot of exploring and swimming so it wasn't too wasteful of a weekend, plus it was an absolutely gorgeous and great trip!  

This is the campsite for one night, Lighthouse Beach, Eleuthera, Bahamas.  I have more pics I can post, I stole this from a friend:

 
 

That sucks Dud. 


(as you can see I am an eloquent wordsmith)

What's on tap for the group these days?

I just need to go on record to say 2 rounds of 10 sets 20 reps ab bench crunches were not as painful as they sound.  When I have bikini worthy abs I will thank him for this.

I'm in that section of IM training where the workouts are long and plentiful.  I'm adjusting to early morning workouts so I can spend the evenings with the family or hit the second workout right I make sure everyone in the house is home safe, fed and comfortable.  Row is still on maternity leave, which is a huge help. 

Already did my hour run today, after school I get to enjoy 4500m in the pool.  Luckily it's wear your PJs to school day in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Very comfortable.

For me it is starting to gear the brain up for the return to tri's next month. Starting to step up the intensity on some drills as only a month and a half away or so and want to get some brick work in. Just knocked off 1km in the pool this morning, soccer game tonight which will more than cover the planned run and a long bike ride which wiped me out last time.

I know I need some core work, but hesitant to introduce it now. 

Wow, and it isn't even in sarc font