Experior and Slornow's Winter Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 19)

Fridays are usually my off days, no matter what I'm training for. The marathon I did what I could to make sure I ran all the long runs, so if wasn't going to be able to get a long run in for the weekend, I'd do it Friday and do a short and mid distance Sat and Sun. Because I do insist on not doing anything on Fridays if I can help it, I do end up with that day to put missed runs in if I have to.

For my last half that I wanted to PR in, I got really sick and missed 2 whole weeks of training. The last week before the run I couldn't do more than a few short runs as I was just recovering. Nothing I could do to recover the missed training, so just gave it a go anyway. Thankfully I know I can always do a 1/2 without much trouble, but I knew I wouldn't improve my time. Amazingly, I was only short by 3 minutes and it felt really good.

Good Evening Everyone,

Would like some thougths on this...  After my Half this last weekend I am thinking on purchasing a Break 4:30 Marathon Plan from Runner's World.  The cost is pretty minimal...$29.99.  It is a 16 week plan that has me running 4 days a week with 2 days rest and a Cross Training Day.  I'd probably use one day of rest with a bike day and light swim day (mainly drills and recovery).  My thinking is I am about 15 weeks out from my scheduled Marathon (April 29th) and I want to start at week two of this purchased plan.  This would allow myself to heal a little (Right knee is sore), and build back up and include a couple days of Core Workouts.  My long run this last go was about 13 miles.  The rest of my body and legs actually feel pretty good since Sunday. 

My other thought (more psychological), and I understand by just purchasing a Break 4:30 Marathon Plan is no guarantee I will, but in my mind if I do the training at the prescribed intensity and length I find I am more likely to believe I can and will; knowing my first goal for the Marathon is to finish.

Do you see any issues with this..my only thought and delimma was thinking I would be losing what I have gained so far in Long Slow Distance?

Thanks for your thoughts!!!

Question about Missing Workouts:  I used to get pretty caught up in my training schedule and uptight.  More irritated and grumpy if I missed one.  I don't as much any more.  What I generally do is start about 3-4 weeks ahead of my training schedule to build in some time; help to know I had some prior training so I feel better about it.  I try not to miss the critical workouts; if I do I either try to redo the week again or just forget about it.

Missed workouts!

In my first two years I was too affraid to re-schedule workouts in fear of over training.  Training for three sports overwhelmed me more then I expected. I over trained once playing hockey (3x week), volleyball (2x week) and weights (4x week) and paid for it.  Took over a year to recover.  So I missed a lot of workouts in first two years.  Now, in my third year I have better understanding of various workouts and know when to take it easy.  I will attempt to re-arrange workouts, but will not be affraid to let go of one if required.

Good morning-easy 5 on the treadmill this morning.  On the road for work today.  Will check in later...hope everyone has a good Tuesday!

Randy

Great swim, Randy!  Those repeats are killers, but what make the difference long-term.  One of my unspoken goals for the swim is to do more of those, harder, and with less rest.  Trying to tack those on at the end of the long swim workout.  So far, they've gotten the best of me :-)  Keeping it at 1:32 for the last sets is really impressive.  Well done! 

Brian, along with thoughts from Michael and Randy (and others) here on the marathon workout, you might post a link to the workouts on the main board and see what feedback you get given your situation.  You'll probably get a bunch of conflicting stuff, but some good insights too.  I did that (unintended, was asking a different question) early in my marathon training and received some helpful feedback (some junk too, but that goes with the territory).

Rene - what's V-Dot?  In Virginia, that Virginia Department of Transportation and I can't get that out of my head.  It's probably something obvious, pardon my ignorance :-)

Missing workouts.  Inevitable.  A few years ago when I started the training, I traveled a bunch and that wrecked havoc with my training, to the point where my training "plan" became a training consideration.  But it kept me from being anal about the workouts b/c if I did, I would just be beating myself up all the time, which was not my idea of fun.  Since my long term goal is just to be healthy into my twilight years (hahaha), I really do try to look at each opportunity to train as a positive and let the missed ones go.  If I'm going to miss some, I try to make sure I at least get the key ones in for the week, but if not... gee, life is good, whatever I have time for is a plus.  I'm sure I'd feel differently if I was vying for the podium and stuff, but I feel like every PR at this point is just icing on the cake.  At 50+, I think the biggest thing is staying injury-free.  So, if my body is talking to me, I try to listen.  If it means dialing back some or skipping a couple of workouts, this is not a problem.  If I miss a few weeks due to something, I think I kind of do a half workout week where everything is scaled back to about half of what it was before the break and see how I feel and then adjust the next week accordingly (hopefully close to being back to plan). 

Wow, that was rambly.  Oh well.  Have a great day everyone.  Bike and run for me today!

Stu

Hey everyone.

Trying to get caught up with the group, but I had a good 3 day training weekend. 

Running at lunch, and riding intervals after work today.

Timely question - I've missed a lot in the past 4 weeks, and will likely continue to miss more.  Some of it is physical, but there is definitely a mental/life piece at the moment that's caused loss of motivation.  I'm at the point now where I'm going to have to back off the intensity a bit when I get going again, because I'm sure I've lost some fitness.

As for just missing 1-2 workouts, I've learned that those individual workouts (this assumes a limited quantity are missed) are not going to make or breaks my race(s).  I used to take the approach that if I missed a workout I'd have to do everything possible to make it up.  I've learned that the benefit to this approach is minimal, and am a little more willing to roll with what life presents once in a while.

That said - missing a lot of training like I'm doing at the moment just seems to add to the depression.

Neil: Sounds like things are tough at the moment. Is there something enjoyable you can do to keep some fitness without aggravating the injury? Hiking clubs? We have paddling clubs here that I'd give a go the next time I am down with a leg injury, now that I'm not so afraid of the ocean. They practice a couple times a week then compete on weekends.

Last night at the gym I got 9 miles in on the bike and 3 miles on the treadmill. Thought the knees would protest more after the demanding weekend, but I think they're finally adjusting to the cycling! They're usually pretty cranky when I go directly on a run after a bike session.

I have my second super sprint this weekend. It's only a 200M swim, but I'm so nervous! I know I can complete it, so why the heck am I freaking out over it already?

Was able to get in a good trainer ride after getting back home. Felt pretty blah before the workout but turned out to be a solid ride with some good intervals.  Tomorrow is another challenging swim followed by a 45 minute easy spin on the bike tomorrow evening.

Randy 

Randy, I love those workouts.  The ones that you feel you're just not up for and it turns into a great workout.  That's why I never miss a workout when I feel blah, because I know I'll usualy end up having a great one.

Completed two workouts today,  swim and bike.  The where good, unfortunately I did my WU to fast for the swim which made the rest of it less pleasant.  Bike was good, legs still recovering from weekend, but they now feel really good one hour after the bike workout.  It must of flushed the crap out.

Michael and Brian hope your both feeling better today.

Cheers

From what I am reading in everyone's posts it looks like you all are just out there getting it done with the workouts.  Nice work everyone.   I'm sorry to say I am not any better today.    I am hoping my cough has reached it's high point and I am on the down swing.  Crappy day here in Oregon.  Some snow and a lot of slush.  Not that I was going out to run in it anyways.  Son had a two hour delay from the start of school toay which delayed me as well.  I might start running indoors for a little bit on the dreadmill so I don't relapse once I get through this.  Might be nice to run in dry and warm climate for a while.

Hey everyone!  Sorry I have been MIA from posting in the group, but last week was a bit hectic on the personal front.  Between that, and trying to get workouts in, I wasn't really feeling up to much else.  I have been reading your exploits though.  Good work out there.

Michael and Randy, thanks for the inspires.

In good news, last week I did a fit for my first triathlon bike at Moment Cycle Sport http://momentcyclesport.com/  here in San Diego with one of the gentlemen who helped Dan Empfield develop the F.I.S.T. fit method.  We used a GURU Dynamic Fit Unit http://www.gurubikes.com/enCA/dfu/ , and the entire thing took almost three hours.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process!  I left with a list of bikes that would work well for my fit results, and was left with some tough choices.  At my price point I was looking at the Cannondale Slice, Giant Trinity, Felt B12, and also a Parlee TT frame that could be built up for me.  After some strong soul searching, I decided to build up the Parlee TT http://www.parleecycles.com/tt-overview/ with SRAM Force components, a Cobb saddle during the fit I tried several saddles and Cobb was the one I liked best), and Shimano R500 wheel set.  I will plan to upgrade the wheels to American Classic Carbon S58s. http://www.amclassic.com/en/products/roadwheels/carbon58clincher.php S 58s   You don't see the American Classics very often, but I have the 420 Aero 3s on my road bike, and love them.  I am biased, but I think this set up is going to be sick!  It is going to take a week or so to build up, but I am stoked to put some miles on it.  March is coming fast.  

Have a good week everyone.

Bennet-that looks like a sweet bike!  The bike shop I visit when I'm in Chattanooga has one of the Guru dyanamic fit bikes.  Been tempted to do a fit there since it seems so much more "advanced" than most fit systems.  I had a Retul fit done when I purchaed my current bike and it seems good.  With the Guru they can measure your actual watt ouput in differtent positions and break it down by each leg to see if there is an imbalance in your pedal stroke.

I've spent a good bit of time on both Cobb and Adamo saddles.  Tried for about six months to fall in love with the Adamo and ended up putting the Cobb back on.  Hope it works well for you. 

Pool at lunch today.  Longer intervals on shorter rest....Ugh!

Randy

Brian-hope you feel better soon.  Impossible to do much with a cough.  Plenty of time to get ready for your races.  Take care of yourself first!

Neil-hope things brighten up out your way.  I know you will be ready once race season rolls around.

Rene-a good night's sleep is always welcome.  I was in bed by 8:45 last night and slept reall well until a thunderstorm woke me at 11:00pm.  Was able to get back to sleep until getting up for the day at 5:15am.  So, a good solid 8+ hours.

Randy

Well, the swim saga continues.  After warm up and some drill work my main set was:

250 on 4:15

200 on 3:25

150 on 2:40

100 on 1:50

300 easy

250 on 4:10

200 on 3:20

150 on 2:35

100 on 1:45

First set was not too bad as I had a bit of rest between each interval although I was pretty well pooped by the end.  Total time for first set including rest was 11:40 which averaged out to 1:40 per 100 so I figure actual swim times were probably in the 1:33/100 range.

Second set there was less rest and I had to push harder to meet times.  For the last 150 then 100 I basically had no rest between the intervals.  Total time was 11:45 so actual swim time 2nd set was probably in the 1:34-5/100 range after deducting rest time..  HR was 162 which is probably near my max HR for swimming and I was WHOOPED.

I had not done a workout like that before and it was really challenging.  Definitely the type of workout that would be good a week or so out from a HIM or Olympic distance race to get a feel for pushing over a longer distance.  Has to help with swim fitness as my arms were feeling it.  

Hope everyone is having a good day! Easy spin on the bike this evening.

Randy (sorry about the spacing)

I hope you all get better soon! Being sick stinks. It's been a while since I've gone this long without some kind of health issue. Knock on wood!

Sleep is something I'm trying to get more of this year. I've been getting into bed earlier at least, so that's been helping even if I don't fall asleep right away. It does make the day easier to handle when you're rested.

Great swim, Randy! I can't wait to get to wear I can set up my own swim workouts and push myself to do them.

Last night I had an hour and a 1/2 with the swim team. Noticed during warmup that I tend to feel very anxious, panicky, tired, and hiccupy for the first 250M, then after that I find some kind of groove. Kind of like my running. I don't feel GOOD until about 2.5 miles into my run after the muscles get warm, and the joints work their stiffness out.

It was IM and Medly relay night. "Relaxing" and fun. Tonight is swim team again. I'm hoping to get a run in on the treadmill before. Depends on what time husband gets home. Don't worry! I'll shower before I get into the pool.

Randy...sounds like a challenging workout.  I might have to try that someday.  I think we swim about the same speed (in the pool anyway) so your send off times look like what I would attempt.

Bennet -- sounds like they did the fit right.  That's great!

Rene -- nice job on the VDOT improvement!

Randy -- nice swim workout.  I'm going to hav a crack at that one.  There was a thread recently with links to several sources of swim workouts.  I'm a bit dubious of some of them, but these two looked good, and I think I sample from them too:

     http://navymasters.com/

     http://www.ntcmastersswim.blogspot.com/

Sign me up for the sickies club.  I thought I was out of the woods, but had a sort of relapse today. Nothing serious, but enough to make not working out seem wise.

So, you see, the question about missed workouts was a bit prescient -- and thanks to everyone for the comments on that.  I don't train by a plan, but I do tend to have medium-term goals.  I make provisional plans to meet those goals, and if missed workouts thwart those plans, I try to see whether another plan will get me there.  But if not, then I let go.  I would say that if one is following a real plan, then it's generally best to stick to the plan and don't cry over missed workouts.  Easier said than done.

Have a great one everyone.  And everyone who's healthy -- keep posting those successes!  The rest of us need to live vicariously through you!

Neil - That sucks about the Garmin.  I hate it when I do stuff like that. 

Blanda - About sleep - Just before the holidays I attended a safety seminar through work, and one of the speakers was a physician who spoke to use about sleep deficit.  He stated that the majority of people need between 7.5 and 8.5 hours of sleep per night, and that 90% of the people that feel like they need less are fooling themselves.  They are just so used to being in a constant state of sleep deficit, that they don't know how good they would feel if they actually got the sleep they needed.  Only are VERY small percentage of folks are genetically wired for 6 hours of sleep or less.  He also went into a lot of fatigue comparisons to being drunk, etc.  One of the cool things he talked about that I really want to do is a two week challenge.  Get 8 to 8.5 hours of sleep every night for two weeks.  Trying to go sleep approximately the same time each night, and rise the same time each morning, even on weekends.  He claims that at the end of that two weeks, if you REALLY do it, you will be a believer, and your performance in all aspects of life will improve.  Personally I believe him, and really want to give it a shot.  Having said that, I didn't work out today until 8:30 pm, and now am posting here, instead of begin in bed like I should.  Maybe I'll start that challenge next week....