Newbz' Spring mentor group- FULL!!!! (Page 2)

Hi David
My name is Andres and I have a question for you. I'm trying to do some swimming techniques that I found online in www.triswimcoach.com and www.totalimmersion.net but the thing is that I don't know if I'm doing good or not. There is any way to see if I improving my technique or time. I'm not training with a coach that's why is hard to see the results.

THANK YOU  in advance

Edited by ampryler 2009-04-09 5:14 PM

If there is still room, I'd like in.

NAME: Bob_J  Bob Jones

STORY: For the last three years, I've done a very strenous snowshow trip to a hut up in the Rocky Mountains.  Every year, I've sworn that I would do something about it before the next one and get in shape.  This year, I finally am.  I've been working out regularly since the beginning of the year.  I decided I needed a goal and one thing I've always been amazed by are triathletes, so I decided to go for it.  I used to mountain bike a lot and thought I could swim okay (I can't, lol).  I was mostly worried about the run, but I'm building up there and starting to think that might be okay.

FAMILY STATUS: Single, have a dog and a cat at home.

CURRENT TRAINING: Trying to work out six days a week, have been successful more like five days a week.  Am up to a little over 2 miles per run.   I don't really have a plan, other than I'm trying to run three days a week, and swim/bike three days a week.

2009 RACES:
Rattlesnake Sprint - August 16th
Rest of season TBA, possibly a sprint in mid-July, possibly an Olympic the end of August.

WEIGHTLOSS: Was 275 on January 1, was 256 this morning.  Would like to get down to about 220.

Edit: I know my log is empty, I've been tracking everything in a spreadsheet and will try to get it uploaded.


Edited by BobJ123 2009-04-09 5:44 PM

Here's a good topic to discuss!  Something i've been trying to do as an athlete with a lot of time on my hands is to prepare delicious meals that are well balanced and provide a lot of recovery benefits for my workouts.  During the day I do a lot of healthy snacks but dinners is where I like to shine!

I'll start off with one of my absolute favorite dishes to make (when i've got the time!).  It's Coconut-Chile Snapper with a Carribean Bean Puree There is a lot of chopping and food processoring involved but if you're adept enough to follow the directions i'd reccomend this recipe to everyone!  I make a few adjustments of my own however:

Tilapia instead of snapper - easier to find and cheaper.  Healthier too I believe, less fat.
A lot less canola oil - Personal preference.
Light Coconut milk - a little thinner consistency and you wont notice any taste difference.

One critique I have for this dish is that it does not look pretty at ALL!  The bean paste is a brown color and the fish winds up being a deep redish orange after the chili powder changes its color.  I like to add some carbs by putting it on a bed of rice and saving some of the carrots to garnish on top of it, and if you're into it being SPICY save some of the chopped jalapeno and sprinkle it on top.    That will at least add a little more color to the bland presentation.

I seriously give this recipe a 9.5, I like to make it for friends because it tastes like something you'd pay 40+ dollars for at a nice restaurant.  Get the presentation down right and your friends will think you spent all day working on it!

on the stretching front, i am going to be the first to admit i dont do it nearly enough.

that said, i tend to do a bit after warmups in swimming, and after running/biking.

you never want to stretch cold muscles, always warm up first.

if you are going to only do one, always stretch after.

the links wont work for me (i think its my computer), but as far as how much you can do, simply go as far as you can and push it just a tiny bit each time. over time things will slowly bend more and more. that said running and cycling are going to KILL any flexability you may have.

for me the longer the bike the more time i put into it (for me my hips are the area that need a lot of help).

after you started doing the drills/tech work, have your swim times come down at all, or are you swimming the same distances with less effort? a lot of swimming changes will take a bit of time to see, and timing yourself over 100yrd/m now, and a bit down the road will let you know if the changes are taking effect.

is there anyone at your pool that can watch you swim and offer feedback?

David, thanks for the advice.
Some days I'm working with techniques and some just with distances.I notice that my times are worst now doing the new techniques rotating the hips and trying to breath every 3 strokes.Before I was swimming like I normally did in the past. I'm doing 1500 to 2000 m twice a week ( sometimes 3x).I'm using the training log all the times,you can check it when you want.This week I can't swim in the pool,it was closed for some repairs. I'll come back to the pool on Monday but tomorrow Friday I'll be swimming on open water.

Ok thanks again and I'll see you around BT

Edited by ampryler 2009-04-09 11:33 PM

David or anyone else that wants to share,

What are your thoughts on bricks.  I am finding several conflicting views on how often they should be performed and at what intensity.  How often do you do brick workouts, and how important do you think the swim/bike brick is?

Derek

Hmmm.  I hadn't read the whole thread to see that you had filled up.  Let me know if you'd like me to find a different group.

- Bob

I've also read conflicting opinions.  Some people say that there is a physiological benefit.  Others say that it is purely psychological -- helps you get used to the feeling of running on rubbery legs, but has no true physiological benefit.  Indeed, some say that bricks are BAD workouts, physiologically, because they lower the quality of the run.  I'm in no position to judge.

Here's my take (but I am inexperienced and learning!)  I personally have done quite a few bricks -- usually at least one per week.  I often end up doing them because I have no choice -- it is the only reasonable way to get both workouts in on the same day.  I find that I can run without a lot of trouble off the bike, even if I've hammered fairly hard on the bike.  In my two sprint tris this year, I went pretty hard on the bike and still I ran < 6:30/mile, which is pretty fast for me, quite a bit faster than I normally train.  So it seems to me that the bike/run brick does not 'ruin the quality of my run', but maybe I just don't understand what those who claim it does are getting at.

FWIW:  Right now I'm following a plan from this site, written, I believe, by Mike Ricci, who is a highly qualified coach.  It contains many bricks.

Hey Guys,

I started using the training log yesterday... pretty cool.  I have never recorded workouts like that before.  It will be fun to be able to see progress as time goes by... the new feature where I can upload from my Garmin makes it too easy.

Recipes.  I do like to cook when I have time so I will give that recommendation a shot.  I haven't found anything fancy like that yet... but I have searched for the time saving meals.  One of my easy favorites is, and this may be geographicaly specific I'm not sure, is the frozen chicken breats that our local HEB grocery store sales.  They are fully cooked white chicken breasts seasoned with a "sweet chili" flavor.  You pop them in the microwave for 5 minutes and throw in some brown rice (the kind you can do in 60 sec in the microwave or in the rice cooker) and you have a very low fat, high protein, and healthy carb meal.

It isn't a big meal but I have really been working on the 5-6 small meals approach and it has proved fruitful.

Matt

So!  You want to enjoy clif bars but don't want to spend nearly as much on them or want to expirement with your own concoctions? No baking required and minimal use of a stove (bring syrup to boil take from heat). 

Home Made Clif Bars

I used to add 100% Vanilla Whey Protein powder into the mix while I still had some.  Also added Wheat Germ for a little more fiber.  I've done so many different versions of this recipe, for example:  Instead of using rice crispies I crushed chocolate chex, chopped up hersheys kisses and mixed it all together for a double chocolate extreme crunch bar.  I thought about putting a GU Chocolate gel on the top for frosting, but my head would have exploded.

Be creative!  Crush up some peppermint candies (or food processor), crisp and chop some bacon (it's better than you'd think!!!),  add honey instead of brown sugar for a really gooey treat.  (edit, these are seperate suggestions, none of these should be mixed!)

Side Note:  I didn't do the math but I think if you buy enough supplies you can bring down the cost per homemade clif bar down to a couple of cents per bar.  Throw it in a plastic bag and toss it in your jersey pocket - it's what I do.

Edited by jtaddei 2009-04-10 3:51 PM

After most long rides I try to do atleast a 1mile run, nothing too fast but its nice to get your legs used to the bike/run trans.   I have never heard of negative effects of doing a brick unless you are training too hard.  I also do a "fun" workout that really punishes the legs, Bike 10 run 1or2 miles and repeat 5 or 6 times. 

on the brick front i tend to shy away from them more often than not.

you are not going to gain a huge amount training wise from them. a run or bike or swim on its own is going to let you preform at a much higher level than doing them back to back, you wont be tired, form will be better, and much less recovery involved.

that said, the few times i would recomend doing them-

1) as race prep workouts they are a good way to test out nutrition/pacing (more for longer races. )

2) they are good way to extend a workout if you need a really long day without doing all one sport

3) they can be a good way to practice transitions by getting things moving fast and the HR up.

from a training standpoint they are not going to do anything more than the single sports will, and as of yet there has not been a single study proving otherwise.


on the cooking front, i'll bring some to share, i have worked and grown up in a family of chefs;-)

on another brick note.

the more you are training the less of them i would recomend doing. with lower training hours its much easier to do them and not wreck yourself.

with my current schedule more than one every few weeks leaves me wasted.

please if you've got any sort of granola bar / energy bar / baking goods to share i'm REALLY anxious to learn more of those.  I have a serious sweet tooth and will spend an absurd amount of money on sweets so i've started making my own.  Can't wait to learn what you've got

i'm a low carber due to some past health issues.  It's done wonders for me.  Finding a decent protein bar without a lot of carbs, glycerin or sugar alcohols is pretty hard.  However, as I begin.  The fish recipe sounds good.  I think I'll give it a go, and work on the presentation.

hip my dad is a religious low carber.  His answer will probably be bacon.  That's his answer for everything.

Edited by jtaddei 2009-04-11 5:17 PM

Hi Dave...

I would love to hear a run down of your thoughts or "lessons learned" after this first race.  I am six weeks out of my first....

assuming thats down on the training from normal that looks pretty good.

for races that i back off with this is the type of approach i normally take, in other words i dont shorten workouts a ton, but tend to cut down to one quality workout in each sport, or a 2nd very short one instead of tryingt to get in the higher volumes.

personally i think you can go into a sprint a bit overtrained and be ok as its not a long race.

the best way to figure this out for you though will be to race, see how things go and adjust, withouthaving raced before there is only so much you can do/know in getting it exact the first time or two.

Finished my first du today(also my fist outdoor multisport event). It was a blast! Walked away with a bottle of wine for getting 2nd in age group. Learned a lot. First of all i need to get more then 4 hours of sleep and driving 2.5 hrs on race morning to get to the event is a bad idea. Also seeded myself poorly and spent mile 1 of the 1st run trying to work through the crowd running at a pace significantly less than what I'd planned. Nutrition went well with an accelerade gel w/caffeine before the ride and accelerade to drink on the ride. Also, did the race on a rented road bike to avoid using a my mountain bike and even though it was only my 2nd or 3rd time riding a road bike, it was only about a $500 alluminium bike,  and I using just plain old flat pedals, I was still able to battle on the bike. All things considered it was a great race and I'm looking forward to the next one.

This race behind me I have a couple of questions in preparation for the next one. My next race is a tri on May 3rd and it has a pool swim. The race will be USAT sanctioned and my 1st question is what are the rules on pushing of the walls or floor of a pool? This particular race will snake up and down each lane so I don't know whether to just cross under the ropes and swim or to cross under and push off. Also, when it comes to tri clothing for a race with a pool swim what should I look for? I've heard chlorine can wreak havoc on some tri gear and I have no idea what's ideal.

"the answer to everything is bacon"  lol - that's so wrong.  saturated fats still matter.

Edited by hip82 2009-04-12 8:28 AM

Nice job.  Congrats!  That's pretty impressive.

Matt - I will let you know how it goes and do my best to tell you what I have learned from it. It will be a bit unconventional though. The swim is in a pool, so I am not using a wet suit for the 300 yds. I am also planning on biking with my running shoes, I installed Ppower Grips for the pedals. This means that in T2 all I have to worry about will be docking the bike and taking off my helmet.Dave - Thanks for the reassurance. I tend to brick my workouts and in the last two weeks was putting myself through hammer workouts. The past two saturdays I was biking 15 miles and running 4.75 miles as hard as I could for time. I just was not sure how low to go with the taper. I will stick to the game plan.Thanks again.

Edited by gone 2009-04-12 9:32 AM

hahahaha bacon....... it is thge sure for hangovers in case anyone was wondering;-)


for the pool swim questions, you have the complete the laps under your power (ie walking/swiming), you cant pull yourself along. you can touch bottom/walls, ect.

as for what to wear, tri top/shorts, or a tri suit would be best if you plan to race more, one or two times in a pool is fine, but like anything chlorine will ruin it with time.





be careful with the harder bricks, they can really trash your legs if you do them all the time.