Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 24)

Marcus, Dennis and Samantha congrats on your races! Samantha good lesson learned stick to your plan.  I was just reading an article in Runner's World about that very thing-ignor the urge to go faster, stick to your overall plan. FOP Yeah! That is worth bragging rights!

Steve, wow, I had no idea I should have a year of base and up to 30 miles per week before I started speed work.  I have run for years, but never consistently.  You actually made my day-yeah no speed work for me for a while! Like I said, I HATE speed work.  I'll do as you suggest, build up the milage.

Today I am going to try an OWS in the ocean...nervous...I'll post later how it goes. -Karen

Karen, I get bored really easy when I am running/riding along and have a tough time pacing myself so I use my Ipod.  I would not use it during a Tri however, but in a 5k, 10k, or half if legal I would use one.  

I normally run with Nikeplus and it tell me pace and distance and that little encouragement always help. 

Dennis/Marcus,  great job on your races.  it sounds like you both had a great time. 

Great job to our weekend racers!

Samantha, congrats on your first 10K!  Sounds like you had a great time, and thanks for sharing lessons learned re: sticking w/ your plan.  We all need to remember that!

Dennis, don't forget to take a look back from the FOP and wave .  Seriously, great job and you are proof that consistent training yields improved results.

Marcus, great pace in your race, and beat your goal time!!!  Awesome job!

Ken, I'm with you on the ipod...still used mine on runs, but not quite as much as before. 

Karen, let us know how "swimmin' wid da fishes" went today.  Hopefully no jelly fishes and no Jawes fishes!  As for dealing w/ the heat, I'm probably not the one to ask as I have tended to really fade in past summers.  But on today's run, I tried pouring water on my head a couple of times, and that did seem to help.  I'm seriously considering a shorter haircut this next time so I the result of that is not quite so scary!

Cheri, how's the knee doing?

Steve, how in the world do you just jump back into running with a 15 mile run?  When I have had injuries or slumps, it seems to take me forever to build much of anything back up. 

Carol and Ken, don't get me wrong with the ipod usage, I do use one, but try to only use it for long runs/rides.  I have found though, on the long rides I prefer not having one, as I am usually in traffic of some sort.  Goodness know I have enough of a hard time staying on the bike as it is! lol I have tried to wean myself from the music as I know there will be some run races in my future that  that won't allow ipods.  Before my first tri (I can say that now...cool) I was trying to figure out how I could put my ipod on quickly in T1.  Realizing that would add too much time-I began to train without.  Like I said, now I can and actually do enjoy going without-usually.

OK so I am a wimp!  I opted out of the OWS today...but I have a semi good reason.  I had no one to go with me, and I want someone on shore aware that I am out there.  So I went to the Y and swam a mile, ran 4 miles and did P90X ab ripper. 

Carol-When you were in Aruba and swam in the ocean, was someone on shore there for you?

Keep exercising all! -Karen

Hey Karen, I don't blame you...I would wait until LONG after those jellyfish moved on anyway!  Nice workout at the gym.

Noone was with me for the ocean swims and no lifeguards.  But I was swimming on a beach that was roped off from boat traffic, and there were quite a few other people in the water.  I could either swim out by the rope/buoys, or closer in where the trip to touching down was very short.  The surf on that side of the island was pretty gentle and not known for rip currents, so I felt OK with it.  If conditions were at all questionable, I definitely would have either not done it at all, or made sure I had a strong swimmer with rescue skills spotting for me.  I still remember going to Hawaii several years ago.  We couldn't figure out why it was so rough at the beach the first day and I even kind of got thrown back up on the shore a couple of times just trying to get out in waist deep water.  Turns out the red flags were out, and we were just too clueless to know that wasn't just a decorative touch! 

Marcus, those were some good times you put up.  T1 was really the only thing that looked slow to me.  Everything else seemed good.  You would've beaten me so just add one more to the number of people you beat.

Now if I may get on my soap box.  Do you girls understand how dangerous it is to ride a bike with headphones in?  You are all smarter than that.  Running is one thing(if you're on a sidewalk/trail) but biking is jut dangerous because you are in the road.  Be safe out there.

And to continue with today's bike safety PSA, if you have never read this page, do so.  It mentions some good, real world scenarios about how NOT to get hit by cars.

I went on a 2.5 mile walk this morning then used the old foam roller.  My quads are killing me.  They are fine once I get moving, but hurt like hell if I've been sitting before walking.  I've dreaded getting up from my desk every time today.  I sit on an exercise ball so I can at least bounce a little before I get up to lessen the pain.  I need to swim tonight, not sure if I'm going to make it.  Less than 4 months until my HIM so I better tighten down on this training a little better.

Dennis, looking at your logs 10 miles is long for you and you ran at a 1 mpm faster pace than typical for that distance.  So you did the right thing by walking the day after.  If I were you I would take this week easy, so today was walk 3, tomorrow maybe walk 1-2 or off, if the leggs are ok a slow jog 3 on Wed, off on Thursday, 4 on Friday, 6 on sat or Saturday or Sunday and then back into your training plan next week.  If any of this makes your leggs toast just drop to walking 3 miles x 4 days this week. 

For me the real key to recovery from pulled muscles.. is to walk lots.  So I pulled the leg muscles in April, week 1 walk 21 miles, Week 2=walk 26, Week 3=walk 31 miles, week 4 walk 36 miles, week 5=31, week 6=39 miles.  Longs were, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15. Weeks 1-3 all walk, week 4 jog 2 min walk 3, week 5 jog 4 min walk 2, week 6 jog 1 mile walk 3 min, week 7 continuous jog/run slower pace.  Ideally I would have had another 2-5 weeks of walking, but I pushed things with the IM coming.     

Note that I had a base of running 45-55 miles a week for 6 months prior to the pull, othewise I couldn't rebuild this fast.  As it is, I have to monitor muscle groups a lot.  After the IM its 2 months of recovery to get everything healthy.  And then start again ).   

Thanks for the info Steve.  I had decided to take this morning off.  I will do as you say and walk the next few days.  

Even though I learned a lot from them and they helped build self esteem, I have discovered doing races during your training for a big race can slow your progress due to small tapering and recovery periods. 

Dennis-Thanks for the link.  Lots of good info-I even want my kids to read it! if it makes a difference, when I do listen to music and ride (but I am trying to go totally without) but if I do, I have only the ear piece in the right ear, so I am only half bad, right?

Troy-So what happened with the OWS? Where are you looking for a suit, on-line? I've thought about getting one now at summer rates because one tri I want to do next year is early, and the ocean is still cold.  So I've looked on-line, but how in the world do you buy one on-line? I'm the type of gal that likes to try on before I buy. Ideas?

Carol-I am going to try the OWS today.  Both my 16 year old daughter, and her 17 year old surfer boyfriend said they'd go out with me.  One on shore, one on the board. No whimping out today!

OK, newbie question, I've read a few times here about you all using rollers. I have an idea what they are, but how do you use them and why? Is it something I should be using? Oh the small details... -Karen

Hey TriG:

We were supposed to do an out and back which was about a 140 meter distance out. I made it out (not that great). I did my normal routine, slow strokes, taking a breath every 3 strokes, remembering to turn sideways and kick while inhaling. There is a point when I actually can float and go at a nice pace without wasting tons of energy - in the pool at least - and just keep going. But, new environment, and it was getting scary that I couldn't see the bottom, nor 2 feet in front of me in the water. About half way out I still didn't hit my floating point so I started to get tired and did my side stroke (I can swim close to equally fast as my freestyle). Caught my breath and started to freestyle again, got more nervous not being able to see (nor touch at this point) the bottom of the lake and started to inhale water. Got to the buoy (turnaround) gagging. Rested for 60 seconds, catching my breath and trying to relax. At this point I just wanted out of the water. On the way back pretty much hyperventelating, starting to swim froggy/doggy style and probably not moving forward. I gave up and just floated and called for the swim noodles.  Got to the beach, went in my backpack and grabbed my snorkle, and finished up in the shallows the rest of my workout. A little embarrased at first, but I am a land animal.  Good luck on you OWS!

As for the suit, wetsuitwarehouse.com has the NeoSport Sprint Long John on sale for $100.  Beginners really seem to like it and it is relatively inexpensive.  A rental would have cost me $45 for the tri, so if I use this two times before I goto a 2XU or some other fancy wetsuit it will be worth it.  I fit right in the middle of their size M recommendation.

Rollers are used to massage your muscles.  I think it is better than streatching.  Better yet, add it to streatching.  I no longer really streatch, I never really had to.  Massaging my muscles, with rollers, prepares my muscles better than streatching and helps gets rid of toxins. 

Karen - I admit, I've done the one ear-piece in while on the bike - but just when I'm mostly on a trailride.  As far as wetsuits - there is a swimshop about a half hour from me that sells them and you can try them on before you buy.  You may want to see if there is something similar near you.  If not - I know that xterra has a 30 day return policy - to ensure fit, etc.  Also - been thinking about getting a stick or foam roller - just search youtube and you'll see demos.

Carol - been meaning to ask how is your new insulin pump working out?

Did 700m swim last night - but for some reason the chlorine in the pool seemed way worse than ever - eyes were stinging and started wheezing despite having used my inhaler before the swim.  Otherwise, I've been slacking on my training schedule.

Two of the lakes I swim in have 1 inch visibility and they have barbwire fences underwater near shore.... and you can hit the bottom with your hands swimming 200 feet from shore sometimes.  The one clear lake is farther away, the water temp is 15 to 25 degrees colder and I am alergic to the pine in the water.  Swimming in waves definately takes some getting used to for sure.  Just keep at it and you will feel more confident and functional if not fast.

The rollers and stick break up muscle nots in your legs and help that muscle bundle to relax, regrow and heal up for your next run.  If you use the stick you can really feel if your muscles have litrerally knotted up or are fine when you put pressure on it.  I love the stick for shins as well as calves. 

Had a short run today.. 4 miles and picked up the pace.... 7:30 minute per mile... 8).  Felt good, hope I don't pay for it tomorrow. 

I went out at lunch and picked up a stick.  It seems more 'convenient' to use because I don't have to lie down on the floor to use it.  I was able to use the stick at my desk this afternoon a little.  Huge benefit.

I have never had an OWS yet where there was over an inch of visibility.  Just mud water.  I haven't had to swim in any wake or against any currents yet.  I think both could add a whole new aspect to OWS.

Steve, I think your definition of "walk lots" and mine are a bit different.  Glad to know your recovery is going well!

Dennis, I hear you on race prep/recovery impacting training.  Seems like you have done quite a bit of racing in a relatively short time, so even moreso for you.  I only have a 10K this weekend, but will be giving up my longish Saturday bike ride for it.  Given my lack of biking prowess/progress, perhaps not a very good trade in the grand scheme, but I am really looking forward to the race. 

Karen, how did your OWS go today?  Very nice of your daughter and her BF to go with you!

Troy, yeah, I think everyone's first OWS should come with warning labels!  I'm sure you will get back out there and feel much better the next time.

CK, sorry about the chlorine crashing your swim practice .  Swimming is hard enough without that.  Got any more glamping expeditions coming up?  Glamping is my favorite new vocabulary word thanks to you! I switched over to my new pump before we went on our trip and took my old one for backup, so great timing!  Went fine since it's pretty much the same one with a couple of minor software changes.  Haven't hooked up the continuous glucose monitor again yet.  Waiting for a day when I feel mentally tough and have some time/attention to give it.  Thanks for asking!

Re: the opaque water.  I actually found that swimming in relatively clear water in the ocean was about the same as swimming in the murky lake here.  I still couldn't really tell if I was going in a straight line without sighting.  What we really need is a crystal clear lake with stripes painted on the bottom and no waves!  Oh, wait...that would be the swimming pool

Biking continues to confound/frustrate me.  I'm going to try raising my seat up a little and see if that helps.  I just feel like something is not right...my legs feel too jammed up to do any type of pulling upwards with these fancy bike shoes I have.  Maybe I don't know enuf to make that call, so I'm going to mark with a grease pencil where it is set now in case it doesn't work out so well.   Anyway, thanks to Steve's reminders about taking a longer term perspective on things, I will continue to pedal on.

I'm in the boat where you shouldn't be using your Ipods while biking,  I originally thought I might need one but biking is the one thing where the scenery goes by fast enough where I don't get bored to blazes while working out.  Even using it when on a trail when biking is iffy to me and I always keep my ipod low or an earbud off when I am running just waiting for someone to come flying by, especially if you are one of those people that feels the run wasn't long enough to begin with and zig-zag all over the trail

You all are making some amazing progress, its cool seeing everyone come along and overcome all these challenges.  My training has been cake compared to many of those with injuries and a life outside of training haha.  These numbers you are putting up Steve are pretty crazy, makes me wonder what you would be doing if you weren't "recovering". 

The swimming in non-pool water actually sort of calms me I have found.  It allows me to concentrate on breathing and other things as long as I remember to sight.  Of course all that goes out the window if there is barbed-wire underwater?!  Also as far as the wetsuit I believe that the stats are like something like 98-99% of the people are fitted correctly using the charts that all the wetsuit makers have on their sites.  I got mine from 2XU and it fits me perfectly actually.  I think that Xterra has a deal where the sleevless "volt" model is only $99 and other suits are like $100 dollars off.  I used a coupon with my 2XU and it came out like $80 off the price.

Well I have been dreaming about my recent triathlon and all I can think about are all these ludicrous bikes I saw there and how much I want one of them in my garage... Ugh.  I have a good bike and I am very happy with it but I want to get into aero and look like a turtle like everyone else.  My bike is a touring bike so it already has a long wheel base and I would die if I tried to add on an aero package.  I guess I better plant one of those money trees very soon.  Also a quick question Steve, you are putting in all these miles on your bike, what kind do you have?  Also I still have a stock saddle for my trek which I have found is alright up to about 40 miles and I was looking at getting a Brooks for touring purposes but I doubt they would be very good for racing.  Any ideas on a good racing seat?

I went out for my first post tri workout today and I probably picked the wrong day... I got in about a 16 mile ride in a hour and it did feel a little warm and windy while riding but I find when I got back that the temp was 102 and there was a major heat advisory in place that I didn't know about!  I went through two water bottles on the hour ride and still wound up losing 4 lbs in that time.  Oops, I think my run can wait until tomorrow!

Marcus

I hear a lot of good things about Cobb seats.

I have a Xterra Vortex4 full wetsuit and your can get them straight from their site for $189 using coupon code BT.  That's $211 off.  They are very popular.  I don't know about where you all are located but being that it is summer and we all seem to be experiencing 90+ weather, most races in the next couple of months won't be wetsuit legal anyway which gives you time to decide/save.

Now maybe I'm crazy but when Steve said I should be just walking for the next few days, he meant instead of running right.  Going for a swim is ok since it's upper body mostly right?  I went tonight for a one mile swim at the Y.  Tried not to kick much and had a decent session.

I know what you mean about wanting a nice tri bike.  When I went shopping for bikes I went looking at tri bikes.  The LBS talked me into getting a roadie instead.  It was the correct decision to make.  I agree to that now.  But I sure wish I had a tri bike(Felt B16) in the garage myself to take out once or twice a week.  But don't get me wrong, I love my current bike a lot.  I miss I haven't ridden it in almost a week.  Gotta get back on it soon.

Well gotta update my training log then off to bed.  Gonna walk a couple miles tomorrow early.  Keep up the good work everybody.

Oh and Carol, good luck on the 10k.  

Ok I am too lazy to take a picutre of my bike, but this is the bike I ride Felt S22 with the adamo seat, neverreach waterbottle system  on the back (64 oz) with tube straw to the front, and a podiumquest dual chamber earo bottle 16 oz water up front 28 oz Infinit in back, Michelin Pro race 3 wheels (typically I buy them half off).  I have around 9000 miles on this bike so far.

Yes I ment walking in place of your running.  You can swim and bike fine, just probably not a bunch of intensity on the bike with burnt up thigh muscles. 

This bike runs $1500 ish if you buy the current year model in the fall or winter when the new models are about to come out.  Your leading tri bikes are Cervelo P2 or P3 depending on your $$, P2 is similar to Felt S32 I think, maybe S22, you also have Blue, Treck, Giant, Cannondale, Specialized (nice but high price) hrm lots of others, those are the ones I can think of atm.  You can spend $1000 to $2000 just on disc wheeles and the unltimate aero bars and then have to buy a bike to go with them if you win the lottery.  Your pro setups run $10k to $20k, but you really don't need more than a $1000 to $1500 bike until you have a good 10,000 to 25,000 miles in.  Besides, I would be very sad if I crashed a $10,000 bike.  I might be afraid to take it out of the garage.  My current bike has gone down twice so it has a little love scuff here or there, functionally fine.  I figure I will have 5 years of use out of it by the end of this year so thats $300 a year and I spend $250 a  year in running shoes (also always half off).  So after another 5 years I may consider a new bike, who knows.  

Steve--yes, I'm about a 25-minute drive SE of Boulder.

Marcus--yes, 7 credits in a month is rather intense.  Good luck!  Also, congrats on the tri.  I agree about rumble strips.  All the biking I did last week was on a highway like you described.  Happily, I only needed to cross them a few times.

Carol--Aruba, woot!  Hope you had an awesome time.  As far as underlying goal:  to try one and see what it's like.  I gotta say, thus far I'm thinking that I won't be doing them very often.  I like the biking and I'd run no matter what, but trying to fit in swim workouts too is killing me.  I have so much else that I also want to do (like work, gardening, hiking,  canoeing...).

Dennis--congrats on the awesome 11.5M race!

Samantha--congrats on your 10K!

All is well here.  The Bolder Boulder 10K went well:  55:33.  It wasn't the sub-55 I'd hoped for, but it was a PR and given that I'd been sick and was dealing with the asthma stuff, I'll take it.  I gave it all I had on the course, so no regrets there.  And there's always next year for the sub-55 time. 

On Tuesday we had kindergarten "continuation" (which I don't pretend to understand, but whatever), after which we headed to the mountains for a week.  We don't have internet up there so I couldn't check in.  The fun included three bike rides, three runs, two hikes, and one very cold swim while we were at the hot springs.  The hot springs are well, hot, but the cold pool is unheated.  And it's at 8000 elevation, so it's pretty cold--not least because this was the first warm week we've had since April.  May was rainy and cold, which was unusual though the rain was welcomed.  At any rate, we had beautiful weather and lots of fun.   Now back to reality!

Marcus-102* temps?!? Are you sure you weren't here in FL?! That is crazy hot!

Carol-Good luck on you race...the fun never ends.

Dennis-WALK!

Steve-"Love Scuff" on the bike from two falls?? With my 5 falls I guess mine aren't "love scuffs" -abuse perhaps? lol Also maybe one day I too will be able to say I did a 7:30 mile.

Lisa- Congrats on a PR! Don't worry about the rest, you did well!

Ceril- Great job at your swim.

Troy-Thanks for the info on the rollers and wet suit.  I will look into that. Your OWS sounds similar to my first tri a few weeks ago-in a lake with nearly no visibility.  I had breathing problems. Wierd we all have similar experiences.

I did it!! I am so proud of myself- little steps- I did my first swim in the ocean!!!!! Yeah Me! No jellyfish! I swam parallel to the shore, both my daughter and her BF paddled next to me helping to keep my going straight and watching the distance.  Waves were a tad rough, but fun.  Twice big waves rolled over me and flipped me on my side.  Now try to breath in that! The visibility here in Daytona is "iffy".  Some days you can see your feet, most days not.  Yesterday was next to no visibility. I am glad I did this, one to get out the nerves and two so now I know to have an extra amount of water to drink at T1.  I swallowed more salt water than I cared too!

Small steps, we are all taking them, this was mine. Now to bike today and NOT fall at a stop light. -Karen

Congrats on the OWS and best of luck at those stoplights!  Practice is the only way you will get better at both so keep up the good work!

Lisa - You can never really scoff at a PR!  Especially with being sick for the previous month.  Congrats on your race.

I will hit up the LBS here pretty soon and check out some seats.  I have a few 3-4hr rides coming up and want to be as comfortable as possible during the ride.

Marcus

Ah I have officially entered that point in IM training where my body is telling my mind, "why are we doing this again?"  It is a natural part of the process as my body doesn't know that this build is going to stop and after the race it will get some rest.  There is a mind body connection that if you let it affect you too much you can skip some key workouts.  This is different from just having an increased fatigue load where your workout suck because you have so much fatigue that the actual quality of your workouts is being impacted and you really do need to skip a workout or two.  With my runs being strong, I know it is not simply fatigue. In a high fatigue mode my speed would be down, I would be lethargic and be dragging my butt all the way home with a higher respiration rate.  So... it is just take a nap, get some good food and continue through with the plan. Hrm when was the last time I had a full day off? 

If you do not do an IM or a HIM you may not get the full brunt of this, but you can get hit by it training for a first Oly if you are building a lot from where you started.  Just thought I would share.  You will learn when your body is saying.... you are physically in need of an extra rest day from your body saying, I know where you are in the training cycle and wouldn't be neat if we didn't have two more 3 week build cycles before the race?

Alright plans for the weekend?  I have a 110 mile bike ride planned on Sat and a 16 mile run planned for Sunday.  Temps are increasing here so probably not any snow for these workouts.