Gary's Mentor Group - Re-OPENED for Training (Page 22)

Well I am happy to report that our team met all the iron man distance goals for the month of April. Here are our totals:

Swim- 23,000 m

Bike-  128.05 miles

Run- 97.68 miles

Awesome numbers guys. Looks like we all need to get a few more bike and run miles in though.

Great job guys!!!

Shelly

Thanks for the link Gary. I saw your post on the tri talk forum also. And I am by far not any expert but my swim coach is awesome at teaching TI. He definitely says relaxed, slightly open fingers. He corrects us all the time for cupping hands. Like some of the other posters said, he claims it's all about being relaxed which uses much less energy. I do know that I swim much better when I am totally relaxed. Just thought I'd share his opinions. I have been complimented three different times by other swim coaches who've seen me swim. They wanted to know who I was training with because they said my technique was great for a beginner. I've been told that I look like it's effortless- little do they really know how much of a struggle it truly is for me- lol.

Shelly

Athleta Iron Girl- May 22 - sprint

David,

Sorry, I totally missed this post. I ended up with a road bike. I wanted a bike that I could use to do long rides with my husband and daughter, train on, and race with. Right now, I actually only have one triathlon scheduled so a tri bike just didn't seem to make sense for me. I did buy the most carbon I could afford, and Shimano 105 components. As I said, I could have gotten an equivalent bike for a little less money probably as well, but I fell in love with the color scheme of my bike and I ended up paying for that. I am the type though that this will my bike for a very long time- unless we hit the lottery- lol, so I wanted what I wanted. I'm very practical and frugal but sometimes I will splurge when I know it's something I'm going to have for a very long time. This was one of those times.

Gary is a great resource when it comes to bikes. Ask lots of questions and volunteer at a tri or two. It's a great way to see what's out there.

hth,

Shelly

I would definitely have to say the swim. I am not great at sighting and my endurance level is not where I would like it to be at this point. I know I can do it, but I am nervous about it.

The one OWS I did, I was all over the place. My friend and I cracked up cause we decided, I just very well may swim to China with my directional issues. I am working on that, but it's far different than swimming in a pool with a black line to follow-lol.

I love to swim and it's not the lake issues that make me nervous- I grew up swimming in lakes, rivers, bayous, etc. It's the sighting and being able to swim continuously. It's far different for me with my heart damage so it just makes me slightly nervous.

Anybody want to be my personal lifeguard- lol?

Shelly

Athleta Iron Girl New Orleans- May 22- sprint

"do long romantic walks along the beach count toward training miles? "

I vote yes- absolutely! I know they can get my heart rate up faster than any real training I've ever done- lol. Course I'm sort of crazy about dh so that helps- ;-).

Shelly

Athleta Iron Girl New Orleans- May 22- sprint

For me, the only thing that I wasnt concerned about was the OWS since I have a strong swimming background.  And then I jumped in the cold lake, had a panic attack because the water was so cold and I couldnt catch my breath, and ending up backstroking most of the swim - fortunately I'm a really good backstroker.  Thats when I decided that I needed to join a club and get some real training. 

What I was most nervous about (and still am nervous about) is bike maintenance - if I get a flat or drop my chain I'll be out there for at least 20 minutes trying to repair it.  I carry a spare tube but would probably call my husband if I got a flat.  My plan before my next race to to practice changing my tire 3 or 4 times so that I become moderately proficient at it.

Gary -  Good luck at your first day at your new job! 

For my first Tri, the biggest worry was the swim and I worked hard to lower my times pre-race.  Afterwards, I realized the bigger concern should have been with transitions and the run leg.  Biking is my strongest of the 3 disciplines, but too late I realized that the area I had the most to gain or lose with was the run leg. 

Last night I did my weekly Monday night Master's swim class at my gym.  I'd taken off a couple of weeks with the swim and did a spin class or road biking instead.  So, this was my first night back for 2 weeks and it was my best swim ever.  Most of the tiredness was not there, and I was able to breath ~every 5th to 7th stroke.  Also did my first successful kick turns!  When you're able to put these combos together (the breathing and kick-turns) you really begin to think about lowering your times, especially with a pool swim.

It's a real pleasure to see some progress after weeks of hard work

To answer Gary's question about my worries. 

I have only done one oly.  I really was fearful of the water.  I knew if I was to fail...that's where it would be.  It was an OWS, which I had not really prepared for at all.  The water was really cold.  I had this fear that I would have to be rescued, which is more a fear of embarrasment than injury.  I entered the water with one committment. I might not finish the whole thing, but I was going to finish the SWIM!  I spent most of the time in a backstroke, and there were only two people that came out of the water after me (that's out of all the brackets).  You know though: Completing that first committment led me to the next, then the next, and so on, until I had finished the whole OLY.

O.K.  Question for Gary and the group:  How many people are breathing every stroke? I am. How do I stop?! 

Tracy - every stroke? as in left breath, right breath, left breath, and so on?

Are you breathing out underwater?  This was (and probably still is in a small way) a problem I had as I was waiting until I rotated, exhaled, inhaled and rotate back.  Needless to say that too many things going on in a short period of time.

The way the coach worked this out for me was (with fins) swim with one arm out front and the other to the side.  Practiced rotating body from head facing down, breathing out in the water, then rotating to get a breath.  Repeat with other arm forward,  Slow and easy.  Eventually coach had me doing the same thing but with stroking with one arm.  Then with both but only breathing to one side.

Hopefully the fish in the group can help more on this one.

I am by far any type of expert and I am a snail in the water. That being said though, I have been in swim classes four times a week for the last two and half months with an AWESOME swim coach. He insists we breathe on both sides, every third stroke. For me it's no big deal because it's how I was taught- I just learned to swim freestyle, so it's all I know. I have been told by several lifeguards and swim coaches though, that they are very impressed with my swim technique. Now speed is another whole issue- lol. I have made major strides in my swim though, now that I have pretty much figured out the breathing. Still lots of room for improvement, but I am far better than I was.

Maybe give it a try at the pool and see what happens.

hth,

Shelly

That is awesome! I love when I feel like my hard is paying off. It is soo exciting.

Thanks for sharing,

Shelly

Do you mean every stroke like right, left, right, left, or right, right, right, right?  If you're breathing right, right, right right then its not perfect but you're in good company with lots of the olympians.  If you're breathing right, left, right, left then you probably want to get some swim lessons.  Its best to breathe on both sides (every three) to even out your stroke and to be able to sight on both sides, but plenty of people dont. 

I'd recommend one arm drills - hold one arm out in front, stroke with the other, and only breathe to the side thats stroking.  Then switch.  If thats too hard at first, try kicking with one arm out in front and one at your side and only breathe to the side where your arm is down.  Practice a lot on the side that you dont like.  And then, quite honestly, you just have to suck it up and practice swimming on the three - over and over and over again.  Eventually it will get easier. 

I have a competitive swimming background and can breathe on both sides, but when I get tired or if I'm racing short distances then I just breathe to the right - usually every 4 or 6 if racing, every stroke if tired.

Good luck!!  I have huge amounts of respect for people who start tris with no swimming background.  I seriously cant imagine doing it. 

to Elizabeth - Thanks.  The swimming part has been the hardest.  Its taken me almost 2 years to comfortable and balanced...but my form has a long way to go.  I figured if I quit smoking after 20 years..than I can do anything..with enough patience.

To Gary - Thanks for the advice.  You hit on something that starting to make sense.  Sighting. When you sight during the race....are you guaging your location by the distance from an object lateral to you...or are you trying to sight locations directly infront of you?

x2 on swimming being the hardest.  It took be 6 months to be able to swim more than a couple laps without being gassed.  Made me miss my first tri season, but like you said, now I know I can do almost anything with enough patience.

I'm not good at sighting but bi-lateral breathing has other benefits.  If the sun is really bright or the waves are coming from one side, it's nice to be able to breath from the other side.  Just keep practicing.  Now that I've been swimming two years, I'm not 100% sure which side used to be my dominant side.

Both, I am not great at sighting in front of me and I know it throws my stroke off a little but zig zagging also kills time.  If you can use the shoreline, buoys, even other swimmers to sight off of when you breath you can delay looking in front.  Doesn't always work for me in all races but in the sprint I am doing in a couple of weeks it does. It is a point to point and sighting to the left I can see the shore and use it to keep me straight.  Careful about sighting on other swimmers because if they zig zag so will you.