Dirk's Junkie group - CLOSED (Page 2)

Matt, that's good.  Not only could you use your seat raised just a little bit, but the handlebars are a touch closer than I'd like to see.  So for both of those reasons I think you can fit my 56cm frame pretty well.

There's a lot of adjustment available via spacers, stems and seatposts so I think we can make this work.

Are you willing and able to commit to the $ it will take to finish the assembly?  (I am guessing about $300 give or take and depending on what you do about wheels).  I would love to help you scour ebay for the good deals.

Hey, a little update on my happenings...

I am competing in a swim meet tomorrow.  It's a meet that I've been attending every year now since I started Master's swimming.  I like to use it each year as a measurement of my swim progress (specifically the 500 free).  This year I will just be coasting the events in the hopes of scoring some free points for the team.  I've entered all the long events so that I won't be swimming fast (ie. stressing the shoulder).

I'm doing 500 free, 200 free, 200 breast, 200 back, 100 breast.

And today's easy run was a bit of a milestone.  I started out at 6.9 mph but quickly felt winded.  The heart rate was bouncing from the 110s to the 170s and I wasn't sure what my HR really was.  But since I felt fatigued I downed the speed all the way to 6.3 mph for a while until I got a steady HR reading and felt good again.  I was in the low 120s at that point and brought it back up to 6.5 mph.  That's a pace I haven't run at recently but is/was my old baseline pace.  My HR stayed in the 120s the entire 5 miles.  It got as high as 127 at times, but I focused on relaxation and was able to keep bringing it back down to 125bpm.  And just as I hit 5.0 miles I had brought it back down to 123bpm.  (by the way, that's a drill I've recommended you guys try...the treadmill keeps everything the same allowing you to use biofeedback via the HR monitor to work on making your form more efficient)

Obviously a super easy run which is OK.  I would typically look for an effort around 140bpm for base mileage, but since I was feeling winded and have a swim meet tomorrow it was what I wanted for today.

But I was very, very satisfied by that very low HR.  All indications are that I will be running better than last season. 

Funny you talk about swimming in a swim meet Jeff.  As I was swimming earlier today my thoughts turned to whether I would benefit from a masters swim group.  It was kind of one of those DUH!! questions you ask yourself from time to time and I already knew the answer.........A resounding YES!  I won't join one anytime soon because of time constraints.  If I were to take on something like that AND try to keep up with my other training levels, which I would most certainly want to do, I wouldn't be at home much and wouldn't be able to spend much time with my family.

On the running front I see that you are trying to kill by way of boredom.  There must be something wrong with ANYONE suggesting that you should run on a DREADMILL.  Actually, as I was running in the hills of central Ohio last week I enjoyed myself and I know there would be some benefit to running them occasionally but the only way to run hills in northern Indiana is to do them on a treadmill.  I am considering doing a couple of miles on a treadmill while working in some hill work.  I would probably work this in on a Saturday after a long bike with an every other week or every third week type of schedule.

I understand your sentiments about the treadmill.  I used to feel that way too.  When I was forced by necessity to use the treadmill so much I got used to it.  Besides, at my gym I'm always able to watch a movie on the big screen in front of me.  So it's about as boring as settling on to the couch to watch a movie plus I get free training while I'm chillin'.

If the treadmill were just sitting there in the gym without the movie, I would go nuts too.

I guess that's exactly how I feel about riding a trainer.  Can't stomach it.  But perhaps if I set it up in front of a nice big TV screen and rented some good moves...

I'm on the treadmill sometimes for two of my shorter runs - the Achilles and calf enjoy it and I think it is really helping me get the soft landing technique down.  At this point the run is 26 minutes, adding 1-2 minutes per week.  These treadmills supposedly use Polar HR, and I have a Polar strap, so I should be good to go there.

Is that run long enough to do the heart rate drills and get meaningful feedback?  I actually am fine using the treadmill, so I could do one of my middle runs (twice that time) if need be.  My runs are the only alone time I get, and my life is total chaos everywhere, so I enjoy plugging in some Pink Floyd and just tuning out the world while I run.  I prefer running outdoors, but I have no problem on the treadmill.  We'll see how it would go for an hour, but I enjoy the "boredom" so I think it would be fine.

Yes Warren, I think that 26 minutes is plenty of time for the efficiency drill.  I think you will find that your warmup is complete (ie. HR has settled to a baseline) around 1 mile.  After that even spending as little as 5 minutes watching your HR might provide value.

I find that lengthening my stride marginally sometimes brings down my HR, but only if I'm also very relaxed upon touchdown.  I also find that relaxing my abs works a lot....ie. I let the belly jiggle!  And finally, when I control my inhale, but do NOT control my exhale I find that brings some HR improvement too.  All of these techniques are things I try very hard to focus on when I'm racing. 

I have a 5k on the 21st and if I don't get lost in the experience, I will be thinking of stride, relaxation and breathing during the first 2 miles anyway (before the suffering begins).

I'm really interested in finding out if anyone else has success with this process like I feel that I have. 

uh oh.....

http://wattieink.com/2012/01/2012-wattie-ink-elite-team-roster-announced/

I have a couple of things to say about this:

1) Look at their Merchandise page.  All team members must wear their bikini.

2) Can Dirk and I now say we are coaching an Elite Triathlete?

3) In addition to the bikini, all the athletes must get the W ink...as in, the permanent tattoo.

I hope you read all the fine print before you agreed to this!

Do I know someone famous now?  You need to sign something and send it to me.

Thats a pretty sweet deal but now I feel I must relinquish my mentoring to the elite athlete among us. 

What are some of the perks and how did you land that sweet action?

1)  You should see me in a bikini.  It's UNFRIGGINBELIEVABLE.
2)  I probably would NOT recommend that.
3)  That was scary...but it's just a temporary.  Thanks for the heart attack beef-cake.

You already knew me.  The only thing I'm signing for you is a check when you shave your legs.

If you relinquish you're mentoring, we'll probably all fail.

I think they send you some shoes. .not really sure.  I applied online.  I met Sean Watkins a while ago.  He's a cool guy, very down to earth.  I basically just sent him an email that said, "hey listen, I'm slow and big.  So in other words, I'll be the largest billboard you got, and I'll be out there for everyone to see for a long time."  Guess that worked.

I can vouch for #1 from post race at Black Fly - it's not an experience I will soon forget, and I've already spent thousands on therapy.

That's awesome news Jeff.  I am hoping that your shoulder feels strong through the workout.  Remember not to get too caught up in the event, right?  My body seems to take so long to heal from any sort of injury or issue, don't be stupid like me and push it when you shouldn't be.

I was looking back at a couple months ago when I first started this slow running thing and I'm a bit frustrated when I compare my pace to heart rate for similar distance runs.  I also noted that many of my runs lately have been after a bike ride and my body is taxed a bit more.

Looking into it further, I still need to run more frequently.  I'm really going to dedicate myself and put my nose to the grindstone this month.  I'm sticking to at least 6 days a week.  Although my legs feel better running, I would like to see a bit more progress.  Is this just me being impatient as usual or do I just need to get even more frequency in?  Or maybe a little bit of both?

Possibly the funniest thing I've ever read on here. 

Stay patient grasshopper.  We both really need to adopt a long term view on this.  Run 6 days, enjoy the time on your feet, let the races tell the tale, training paces mean squat.  Remember that the fast guys (can you say Dirk/Jeff?) have been running for years.

It's not what we want to hear, but it's reality.  Believe me, I'm more impatient than you as my window for this stuff is closer to closing, but you can't rush mother nature.  You've got YEARS before you need to worry about not progressing, even if you ARE now looking back at 40.

And I too agree with Warren.  The miles I have put in the past couple of years weren't at a blistering pace.  I was running all easy stuff for the most part with a tempo run in there to get ready for the harder stuff for specific races, i.e. the marathons.  My training paces never saw a lot of change during the build phase.  Once the base is there and solid is when you could drop the mileage and pick up some intervals and tempo stuff but I would really wait until the spring to try to play with that stuff.  Allow the winter to be the base building phase like you have talked with Jeff already and then give some speed a try.

I plan on starting my tempo work again about mid to late March.  I don't need to try to be hitting some hard fast paces in the winter when I would be taking a chance that the snow and ice might cause any sort of injury.

Sorry boys!  No can do.  I'm on my second round with another MG (SWBKRN) and they are already on page 38 of posts.  I have enough trouble just keeping up with them.  Anyway, I call "b.s." on the whole rule book thing.  Nice try. 

I like all the HR talk, even though I can't come close to a 150HR at 6.5mph let alone come in under 130.  One of the things I do while running on the dreadmill to break up the time is play a HR game!  As my HR goes up I do everything I can to bring it back down, normally I can push it back down by about 6-7bpm depending on how far I am into the run, of course after a certain point it becomes pointless.  The best method I have come up with so far is to take slow deep breaths, then relax all of the muscles in my face.  I probably look kind of funning with my cheeks bouncing around.  Then I relax my quad muscles to the point I feel my knee relax, this also helps when I feel the knee pain coming on.  Its almost like releasing the tension in my leg. 

?

Oh man...I love the idea of building up this bike Matt.  Finding good deals on parts is what I do!  This process is a ton of fun.  I will be on the lookout asap!!

?Jeff, are we thinking a compact with a 172mm crank arm at this point?

Thanks man.  If I could afford to pay you all for your advice, you better believe I would do it in a heart beat!

Definitely jump in!  It would nice to have another Fort Wayne resident on board too. 

Go ahead and post a bio and start throwing some questions out.  If you have read many of the posts in this forum, you can see that we have a lot of experience within the group so if your looking to learn or just get/stay motivated, you came to the right place.

Welcome aboard.  Look forward to hearing your story.

Welcome Allison!

My swim is done for today but having back to back swim days proved a little more taxing than I would have desired.  I can usually hold the main set for 5x250 at 4:00 with a :20 rest interval but not today.  I could only hold that for 2 reps then I was falling kind of hard.  I made the rest of them in no more the 3:50 but it was getting harder by the end of each rep.  I mat have been able to hold for another 2 reps and then I would have crashed.

2:20:00 drainer ride comes later.  First are the brakes on my daughters car.  They have been calling my name for a few weeks.