jashac's group Full of scientists (Page 2)

Jen, Keystle, Chris, Steve, Marvin, and Hina.  That makes seven of us including me - see geophysicists can too count. 

Hope everyone has good training this weekend.  Maybe Chris can get some miles in chasing the kids. 

I've got a  rest day tomorrow, then Sunday the bike club is having a 36 mile ride from Ft Davis Texas in the mountains to Balmorhea in the desert where there is a really cool spring with a large swimming pool and state park.  They say the ride is mostly down hill, but I'm reserving judgement.

Hi Jasha,

Thanks for taking me under your wing. Oops..forgot to offer up my pertinent info:

NAME: Marvin, 35
STORY: Always been active. Military brat....so spent some time in the Pacific island of Guam...learned to swim and snorkel open ocean at the age of 7...so I have always been comfortable in the water, although I am not a swimmer by any stretch of the term. In secondary and college, I mostly played basketball(fast-twitch) but long sessions of play built up my stamina over the years. My wife and I picked up cycling a little over 2 years ago and were immediately hooked! Took a break from it for a year due to life changes, but coming back into the whole fitness thing, we decided to go all-out and shoot for a triathlon! By trade, I am in the high-tech industry...so also kind of a geek...and yes, I dig my gadgets and equipment!

FAMILY STATUS: Married and I am the big kid of the family.

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently applying a schedule that has us doing each sport about twice a week. Either this week or next, will add in a BRICK day(Bike followed by a 10-minute run) to get muscle memory going for T2. We have 7 weeks leading up to our sprint tri(400yd swim, 11-mile bike, 3.1-mile run)

2008 PLANNED RACES:

Pleasanton, CA Tri-for-Fun Sprint Triathlon (June 21)

Thinking about what comes next after this one...

Any one have questions about the BT website?  Or have you found something cool that one of us might like?

Have you toggled your e-mail notification to on for this thread  so that you will get e-mail notification of updates?  (There's a box called Actions at the bottom left of the thread under the reply button)

Chris,
I'm not a runner, but that never stopped me from thinking out loud...  You ran 8 miles this weekend at a 8.5 min pace, and your other runs look pretty fast to me.  Still you are looking at a race that will probably take 1.5 to 2 hours.  I don't know how much base you had before you started logging your workouts.  If you felt pretty strong after your 8 miles (even though on the treadmill) I'd say, do an intermediate run on wednesday ~ 5-6 miles maybe, then taper.  No running or very little till the race.  Maybe an intermediate bike and or swim or brick Thursday, then take Friday and Saturday off before the race.  (assuming the race is on Sunday).   Taper is a very individual thing, but you want to go in healthy and well rested.  My personal little trick for not going crazy during taper is to do a little very light weight lifting (~50 % of what I normally lift and only one set) on taper days.  I still take a total rest day the day before.

Who's done a marathon?  Recommendations?

You could take a look at the BT training plans and see what the coaches recommend before a 1/2 marathon.

I am so tired while I swim, so I figure I must be doing something wrong.  I have been focusing on good form (high elbows, pulling with lats instead of shoulders, head position, hip and feet position), but I am still unable to swim any more than 50 meters consecutively without taking a break and gasping for air.  I've only swam 5 times since I was 12, so maybe it's an issue of getting conditioned again.  Has anyone else experienced this, and even better, any advice for what kinds of skills I should be working on?

Thank you and happy training!

Hi there! I had this problem too...IMHO, the gasp means you are hitting your MaxHR pretty quickly(anaerobic?). Just like running, you should be breathing comfortably while swimming if you are to stay aerobic. What I did was to a) slow my kicking down to about two kicks per two seconds(I know, it seems really slow..almost a crawl!). b) feel the "glide" after each armpull.  These two alone significantly helped to slow my breathing.  Of course, I moved slower through the water...but at this point my goal is not to be the fastest swimmer...just to survive point A to point B!

 Other little things that help save energy for me:

-I try not to sight more frequently than necessary.  Raising my head forward slows me down and makes me work harder.

-When going for air, I turn my shoulder completely up towards the sky.  This raises my mouth a few inches higher out of the water, an extra second or so of additional intake of precious oxygen.

I hope I am doing things right...it seems to have worked for me during my swims.

-Marvin

Krystle,

I agree with what Marvin said.  That said you may have a more basic - breathing-in-the-water probem.  Try this progression and see if it helps:

1)Start in water that is just about mid stomach deep, take a breath, let yourself drop vertically in the water (squat) till your head is under water, and exhale.  I exhale through both nose and mouth.  Stand and repeat.  This is called bobbing.  the objective is to learn to relax and breath at your normal pace. You are just inhaling above water and exhaling below.  You should be relaxed and this should not make you out of breath at all.

2) In water that is about waist deep, bend forward placing your upper body in swimming position without actually swimming.  In this exercise we trun our head to the side to breath.  Inhale with mouth to the side, turn your head facing down and exhale.  Again you are working on getting comfortable breathing in an aquatic enviornment.  Be sure you are exhaling completely.

3) progress to swimming, and focus on relaxing and exhale completely while your face is in the water.

Let us know what helps.

Krystal,

 Something that helped me when I was first starting to swim distance was to swim one lap (or half depending on how you feel) and then turn over and do the next backstroke.  It gives you a chance to slow down your breathing and get some extra air but keeps you moving in order to build your endurance.  I would alternate whenever I felt like I was having a hard time breathing.  Before long you won't have to swim as many laps backstroke,  you could also try alternating with breast stroke.  Hope that helps.

So, are you going to get back in the pool and let us know what helps? 

I was thinking about you during my swim yesterday, and remembered how long it took me to become a strong swimmer.  Please remember everything is relative, and try not to have too high expectations.  When I was teaching swimming, for first time beginners swimming 25 yards - the whole length of the pool - is a big deal.  When I was teaching lifesaving, my students had to swim 500 yards every day.     For many this was a major feat at the beginning of the class, but by the end it was very do-able.   I remember it being a big deal for me when I took lifesaving too.  (today this class is probably called life guarding).   Probably the most important thing for you now is to learn how to breath easy, relax in the water, and refine your body position and stroke.  Don't worry about how fast you are going.  That will come with technique and as you develop strength.

I'm sure that if you swim three times a week or so you will advance very quickly.
Have fun.   J

Question for the runners,

I am not what I consider to be a strong runner, the last race I did was a 4 mi Zoo run (in and around the zoo, so not quite like a road race) and I did it in 36:30.  When I run my body gets tired way before my legs do, and I was wondering if that's just an endurance problem?  I run between 2-4 miles a few days a week but I don't seem to be making much of an improvement (time wise or how I feel).  I am open to any suggestions on ways to improve things. 

Congrats to Chris on his excellent finish in his half marathon! 

Jen

Chris,

 That is exactly what I was talking about.  I'll add some extra from now on, thanks for your help!

Jen

Jen,
A rule of thumb that many athletes use is to add 10% to the long run each week.  I would also suggest you try the run/walk method.  typically you might start by running one minute, walking one minute throughout your run workout.   Gradually over time you move to more running and less walking, although many proponents of the method go for a 3/1 ratio even in a marathon.  For more information you might search the forums for run walk.  There's a book published by Galway (I think) detailing the method. 

Increasing your workout by more than 10% per week is probably asking for injury - especially over the long term.

I've been much more successful with the 10% method.  I've tried the walk/run, but I seem to tire out much more quickly.  I feel like I have to push myself pretty hard to do that extra 10%, but it does get easier.  Good luck with it!

And thank you everyone for the swim help!  My swimming has improved dramatically in just a few sessions.  I finally got a pull buoy and the Finis forearm fulcrums which have helped me improve my form a lot.  I think it was definately my kicks that were tiring me out.  When I concentrated on them, I found out I was kicking way too fast!

I've been much more successful with the 10% method.  I've tried the walk/run, but I seem to tire out much more quickly.  I feel like I have to push myself pretty hard to do that extra 10%, but it does get easier.  Good luck with it!

And thank you everyone for the swim help!  My swimming has improved dramatically in just a few sessions.  I finally got a pull buoy and the Finis forearm fulcrums which have helped me improve my form a lot.  I think it was definately my kicks that were tiring me out.  When I concentrated on them, I found out I was kicking way too fast!