Sink or SWIM! with WittyCityGirl - CLOSED (Page 21)

Curt - I've got a cycling computer on layby along with my yoga kit. The biking kit has the front and back lights too. Hope the swimming stuff gets easier, maybe do individual issue drills then do some drills that puts 2 things together, then 3 and so on til you can do the full stroke without having to think about everything else

Kate - good work on hitting the TM. Hope the weights go well

Iwilltri - I'm actually on prednisolone for my heart transplant stuff (along with a whole bunch of other meds) so that's my preventer - it's only a low dose but seems to do the job most of the time. When I had the major asthma episode though the gp gave a script for some "more traditional" prednisolone doses that would assist with my asthma that I gradually reduced back to my  normal dose - I probably should have done that this time but didn't feel I had to with other issues keeping me in the house anyway.

 Chet - Good work on being 2nd overall in your 5k

Me - I'll be walking to the shopping centre so it should take about 30 min for a recovery from yesterday's LD - not sure you're meant to put hills in them, but if I want to get anywhere in town I sort of have to, lol

Ended up doing 2 30ish min walks today, #1 on purpose and #2 because I couldn't be bothered waiting bor the but home. Second one was better than the first as I started out too fast on that one. Got a total of 1:03:51 and 2.24 miles for the day

Hi everyone.

1st race of season complete.smashed my previous pb by over 16 minutes coming in at 1:21:03.

Haven't  got a breakdown of times as yet so will post later with a race report.

Regards

Simon.

Simon - Great job!  That is significant improvement.  My guess is you are going to have faster times in every leg to make up that much time.  Nice.

It was a SMALL 5k

Headed to the pool in the AM to work on the things from yesterday's lessons.  Did a ton of 25's working on staying wide, extending, and pulling all the way through.  Had some really good success.  Previously best I could do was about 26 SPL and "normal" is in the 30 range.  Today I could hit 22 SPL repeatedly!  My instructor was at the pool working with someone else and remarked that it looked a lot better.

Only challenge was that I needed to concentrate massively and could not keep the rhythm/form when I tried to stretch 25 to 50.  Clocked my attempts at about 1:05 which is really solid for me / would be great to hold that pace!!!  As the session went along, my arms and shoulders really started to feel it -- a good sign that my pull is actually accomplishing something.  I'll focus on lots of reps over the next week and am optimistic that I'll be doing 100's shortly.  Think one of the big keys is going to be keeping the extension as I breath / focusing on my balance.  Once that "clicks" it should be a lot easier.

Geez a 20% reduction in time is awesome!!!!  It's great to see that the efforts are translating to results -- makes the work worth while.  Let us know as soon as you have the race report updated.  Always like to read folks thoughts after a big improvement on how it materialized and what they see as the next steps.

Chet-nice job with your race!! I have my fingers cross you get into the race you're hoping for.

Suzanne, great work with the walking and good comments to the group!

We may be neighbors in 2012.  I received my rejection letter from the last PhD program in the states that I applied to and I didn't get in.  It's a terrible bummer, but I do have a kind of/sort of spot at the University of Otago in Dunedin, NZ in the Public Health PhD program.  I have to get cracking on the suggestions my advisor gave me for the research proposal and then I can send in my formal application.

Great races, Simon and Chet! 

I had my first 10k race ever today.  I have to say that I am quite pleased that I finished and with a smile on my face.  I finished in 1:14.  As I don't have another 10k race to compare it to, I compare it to my training runs.  That being said, I finished 5min faster!  My hubby's knee was acting up and I stayed with him so we could cross the finish line together.  After all, it was the first 10k for both of us. 

I have a kind of personal question.  When ever I run over 5k I need to go the bathroom.  I have heard of blowouts (gross!!).  I do have IBS and get like this sometimes.  Does anyone have a tried and true method of dealing with this?  I know it is gross, sorry!

Day of rest tomorrow and the real training for my tri's begins Tuesday.

Great Job Lori! You and I run about the same speed.  I did my first 10k last Oct. in 1hr 10mins. Keep up the good work!

Tracie

Great Job Chet! Let's us know if you get into that other race.

Tracie

Simon - good work on the race, congrats on the new PR

 Chet - Glad the new technique tips are starting to click. Hope you'll be able to do 50 and 100 reps (distance) soon

 Sara - I'm still walking, and I wrote that. I did feel at one point that I could run across the road where I have to turn off the main street but ended up just walking across. Hope you get in to the NZ program. Sorry you didn't get in to the US one. Any chance we'll actually be able to meet if you end up in NZ? It's not that far to Melbourne, lol

 Iwilltri - good work on your first 10k. You do realise that's an automatic PR don't you? Sorry about hubby's leg but glad you were able to finish together. As for the bathroom stuff - find out if they have toilets on the route or if it's a training thing go past places that have public ones - that you are willing to use - some of them are disgusting - or do loops near home so you can pop in to go if you need to.

 Me - I'm thinking rest day after yesterday's double then I'll probably get a walk in tomorrow. I have to get my blood test done though, so it'll probably be in the afternoon. I think I'm skipping everything but walking this week both for personal girl reasons and the fact that I have my race on Sunday

Good morning, everyone. Quite the news to start the day (See COJ if you want to comment! )

Yesterday marked another milestone for me in my run/foot recovery. Had a swim lesson in the AM, and did about 1000 yards there. Arrived home, and had some time, so I went for a run. For the first time since mid February, I ran 5k. It was painless, felt good after, and was a huge confidence booster. Weather was beautiful as well, and it all felt great. I'm looking forward to more running this week. Increase frequency, but not necessarily distance.

As for my swim, I had another lesson and it helped. Worked almost exclusively on my pull. My SPL was down in the 15-17 range by the end of the lesson. Not many big things changing, just work on hand position, and finishing the stroke.

Best part of the pool time was seeing  my 8 year old daughter have a lesson before mine (same teacher). She is a new swimmer, and taking to it quite nicely. She wants to make the town swim team this summer, and is working hard. Before we started our lessons, we got in the pool and were sharing a lane. I asked if she wanted to do a 25 to warm up to which she says "How about a 50??" and then takes off down the pool. I just stood at the wall and watched her go. It was fantastic and awesome to see.

I was back at the pool this AM, and felt totally unmovitaved. Did some drills to work on the pull and drills from yesterdday.  Only did 700 yards, and was pretty blah about the whole thing. I'll be back Wednesday with a bit more excitement, hopefully.

Now the real important part -- who raced this weekend, and please tell us all about it!!!

So much to catch up on! Happy Monday to all!

Congrats on a great race Simon. I love getting into race season and hearing about how everyone is doing.

Mike, that is so awesome to run pain free. You're being smart about revving back up too.

I just got back from my annual girls/horses weekend. We went to Los Osos which is on the central coast of California. I brought my bike and my running shoes with me to get my workouts in. I knew I'd be skipping a swim but I was planning to get my other workouts in. Thursday I got a bike in with beautiful views of the ocean. My back tire was pretty soft but pumping it up held it up for the ride. It's never been soft so I was wondering if I was headed for a flat. I haven't had one yet so I'm a flat virgin Friday I went for a run. Saturday I pumped my tires again for a planned 2 hour ride and the back tire was flat, flat, flat I've never had to change a tire except for a practice try with a bike friend showing my the basics and I wasn't confident enough to change it and go off riding by myself in a new area so I bagged the ride and took a 4 mile walk to Starbucks instead. Sunday was supposed to be another run but I was just plain tired from the weekend so I skipped it. I just hate to skip workouts and it makes me feel guilty and sloth like!

My first tri is next weekend. I'm following an HIM plan for July and there isn't a taper planned to I have to readjust the plan myself. I'm going for a swim this morning and then taking my bike to the shop and have them change it and teach me how to do it.

Between the race and my daughters graduation I'll be out of town 10 days starting Thursday. After that I'm home for quite a while and I can hardly wait for my normal routine again. It's been a challenge to keep my workouts consistent with these little trips. I have a huge amount of respect for people that train and have to travel for business!

Who else is racing next weekend?

I like seeing the monthly totals on our logs here on BT. Is everyone happy with their numbers?

Someone needs to give us some input on Lori's running potty issue because, sad to say, I can have the same issue  

Johanne

Hi everyone.

Thank you for your kind words and as promised here is my race report.

Race:- Southwell sprint triathlon, Nottinghamshire, England.

Weather conditions were perfect for racing sunny and cool. Got checked into registration and sorted out out transition without any real problems could have done with arriving 30 minutes earlier so as not to rush as much but got everything done that i wanted to.Even managed to have a walk through the transition to get my bearings for the exits. walked down to the pool and it was just about time for my wave to be called. Received final instructions from the marshal at poolside and with 30 seconds to go we were told to enter the water.This is where the problems started. Coming towards the end of a length was a chap who was not so much swimming as floating on his back. he was asked how many lengths he had left to which he replied "4". the marshal then informed him he would have to swim on his front as he was holding people up.

My wave was given the instruction to start but i couldn't start due to the bottle neck that had been created. The rest of the swim followed this pattern. I found it difficult to get in to my pace and was struggling to get any kind of swimming done.At one point i was even treading water due to people swimming the wrong way or taking up to much of the lane. Finally i turned into the final length with a sense of relief. Had hoped for a time close to 9 minutes official swim time of 11:06.

Transition went without a problem then it was out onto the bike. The course was an 11 mile out and back course.The 1st mile was uphill but didn't create much of a problem.The 1st part of the bike went well i felt strong was overtaking people without problem. My bike computer refused to work so had no idea about what speed or distance i was doing.Got to the turn around point and then the headwind hit.The second part of the bike was much harder but still managed to keep going ok even managed to overtake to people whilst going up hill so was pleased with that.Came into transition without much problem. Bike racked and out on to the run. Target time between 45 and 50 minute actual time 40.01.

The 1st part of the run was uphill and i found it a struggle to get into my rhythm but managed to keep going. I did have to take several walk breaks which i was upset about the run was uneventful and it seemed that i was running down the finishing before i got going. Had hoped to beat my previous time of 30 minutes official time 26:36.

Still got alot of things to work on but happy that that my time improved. This was a pb by 16 minutes. Will be moving up the distances soon and also to open water in preparation for ironman europe in 12 weeks time.

simon - PB by 16 minutes? Fantatic! sounds like your training is going well. Great job. Good luck w/ the 12 week of workouts until IM europe!!

- Mike

Headed out for a run after work.  Things went really well as I kept an 8:20 pace for the 3.4 miles / was very steady on the out and back 28:21 (9:54, 4:20, 4:19, 9:48).  Best thing was that legs are feeling better and better -- both during the run and after the run.  This pace is about where I would like to be for the end of the month tri.  Ideally, I'd see sub 8, but that's probably a stretch.  8:30 would be a good goal.

After dinner did 1000 yards at the pool.  Finished with 3 x 100 and 1 x 200.  Was able to hold the 22-23 SPL and it was easier than yesterday.  50's were coming in around 1:04, 100's around 2:15, 200 had splits of 2:25/2:27.  Times are on par to prior to the lesson even though I feel very awkward.  As muscles develop -- arms/shoulders sore! -- expect to be closing in on my goal of 2:00 / 100 yards.  Hoping to put in 1000 yards at under 25 minutes by end of month; and, shooting for the 400 yards in the end of month tri at around 9:00.

Curt -- you need to go back and look where you were when we did the winter mentor group, and before you did the time crunched triathlete program. I'm thinking it would be stunning to see how much you've improved. Its been great to see!!! 8:20 pace on the run is fantastic!

I did a 40 minute interval workout on the bike this AM and felt like ralphing after. Thanks, JorgeM!

Good advice Mike.  Just took a few minutes and reviewed some of my historical logs.  The gains are really, really clear.  Being a data geek it's nice to see.  That said, think I'm even happier about how I feel.  Over the last couple of months I've noticed that my body is recovering much more quickly and there's not really a whole lot of pain as I exercise.  All this while the times are coming down consistently.  Think the key is that I've finally got a bit of a base built.  It's taken almost a year to get to this point.  Very proud of myself for sticking with it, as it's been frustrating stepping in to a new sport where you have no experience and you struggle. 

I took Sara's advice and laid out a plan for the next four weeks leading up to my first tri of the season.  Just putting it down on paper got me pretty pumped about it!

Hope everyone has a great day.

Dear all,

I’m so sorry I’ve been absent from the group.  I’m afraid I haven’t been able to keep up with your posts, but I have continued to train.  Getting to the pool has been a little harder because of the time of night my triathlon team trains (8:00pm),  but I have been able to ride with them.  For example, last Sunday I managed to ride 54Km, which is VERY long for me.  Twice the length I had as a PR before.

I’m in the process of divorcing, so learning to become a single parent is my priority at the moment.  Nevertheless, training and achieving little goals is helping me to feel good and have the courage to face changes in my life.

I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to post in the next few weeks… still I'd like you to know that I think of you and wish you happy training!

Lori-sorry I didn't answer your question sooner and I'm not sure if anyone else has answered it (I only checked just a few posts after your question).

Over time, with training, this should improve.  When I first started training for the 10k distance I had similar GI issues.  Whatever is in your stomach sometimes isn't digested and then absorbed when you're physically active because your body moves the blood from your gut to the parts that are making you move (like your legs) - think of this... if a saber toothed tiger was running after you, you'd want that oxygenated blood to go to your legs to help you run faster so you don't become a meal-it's less important for you to digest what's in your stomach unless you wanted it to be your LAST meal!  It's just how our body has evolved.

With training, you become more efficient at how your body supplies muscles with oxygen and other nutrients.  I'm not sure what to recommend as a quick fix in the mean time, though.  Maybe a sports drink 30 minutes before you run so that you have electrolytes that help your body hold in fluid so it doesn't go through your digestive tract.

Reading about a dad so proud of his daughter gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling!