Baowolf mentor group is [ Closed ] (Page 24)

Mike - I feel good. The adductors are a little sore but nothing to complain about. Nice swim. I often feel like I need a long warm up to really feel like I have hit a groove.

Samantha - Having a IM goal is kinda cool. Kids might slow you down but there are ways to keep fit with the kids involved. My daughter still refuses to learn how to ride a bike. When she was young I had her in a trailer behind the bike and then she graduate to this half wheeler, like a on wheeled trailer for my bike. Now, it has been her interest and success in swimming which has me on this latest craze. I'd like to think an IM is in my future.

Steve - thank for all the info. Have you ever tried the Camelbacks that go on your back? I have one from my hiking days and will give it a try. Just curious if someone else has some previous experience.

Hi all!  Wow, I drift off for a day or so, and this group is hopping!

Steve, sorry you are getting sick again.  Maybe it was the mere mention of the pine pollen.  And thanks for the new reason for sucky runs...it was 82 when I ran this morning...and yes, it sucked!  Another month and I'll be wishing for temps that low.

Larry, has the stomach flu let go of you completely yet?  I peeked at your log and see you got some training in this morning, so hopefully you are on the upswing from that.

Tri-Solar, your landscaping project sounds scary.  Ouch, nothing like moving tons of stone to make you super sore build up your core strength. 

Mitch, glad you are feeling better and rested up.  For what it's worth, when I had to take time off to let my ankle heal in December, I dove into some upper body and core strength training.  I don't know if it was that, or just having some enforced rest, but I came out running stronger than before, and bounced back quickly.  Hopefully the same will be true for you.

Ceril, way to celebrate Mother's Day YOUR way, and a huge congrats on your mile PR!!!!  Great job standing strong in the face of those family myths.  I think you are seeing them for exactly what they are...excuses.  One of the things the tri community has helped me with is minimizing use of the the word "can't".  I think we are all capable of so much more than we think.

Samantha, haha, yes, it must be bike tune up season.  I am hoping to pick my bike up tonight or tomorrow.  Glad you got yours sooner rather than later, and that you have a good bike shop!  I think you are wise for realizing that this is a perfect season in your life to expand your limits with an ironman goal.  Your training is looking very consistent and focused, and I can't wait to see you achieve your dream!  Thanks for the encouragement on the OLY's.  I guess I just feel like I haven't  had a good OLY race yet, and would like to bag one before deciding whether to go longer.  Races pull my training along, which pulls my health and fitness along, so I do feel that I need to carefully consider what creates the best and longest term "pull" for me.  

For water on my long runs I use an amphipod belt http://www.amphipod.com/products/hydration/runlite-hydration  It's very well balanced and I wear it on 90% of my runs.  It has pouches of various sizes you can put on it as well as the water bottles.  For shorter runs and those where I can refill, I'll just use one bottle, for longer ones...more.  I also bought a camelback last year http://camelbak.com/Sports-Recreation/Packs/2012-Annadel.aspx for longer/hotter bike rides. 

Mike, wow, only one month to go for you!!!  Good job figuring out how to get the workouts in while you travel and spend time with your family.  You sound like a wise parent....letting the kiddo's be pulled in to fun/healthy activities of their choice rather than pushing them. 

Chiro visit went well.  ART really helped me last year with IT band, so hoping it will do the same for the current problem areas.  I really like that they combine ART, more standard adjustments, and PT...just seems like a really balanced approach.  Today was a longerish swim and a short run this morning, and will be heading out for a trail run/walk/BBQ with hubby and a friend this evening.  This weekend, I'm doing a bike rally with the same friend...we're gunning for the 50 mile option, but can also drop off and leave it at mile 30 if the pull of breakfast becomes too strong .   

Swim Question:  My swim training is pretty unfocused.  Trying to do a med (2Kish), long (3Kish), and OWS (1.6K) each week, but it's still a big ??? as to what to do within each workout.  I've even randomly googled swim workouts just to come up with something.  I really liked the one I did today because it included the following in the middle:

4) 300 free, broken by 50 10 sec rest - pace for fast 300
5) 300 free, broken by 100 15 sec rest - maintain pace from 50's
6) 300 free, broken by 150 20 sec rest - maintain pace from 100's
7) 300 free, fast, maintain pace from 150's

Any thoughts, specific workouts, or websites/books with something to help with structure and progression would be much appreciated.

Mike - how was the run tonight? I hope all your travels are full of adventure, fun and the training you can fit in. One month from today, YAHOO!!! Dude, I am so excited for you and look forward to hearing all about it and cheering you on from Idaho!

Joe - Thanks! The second IM held in CDA I sat watching people cross the finish line with tears streaming down my face from feeling overwhelmed as I realized the amount of time, dedication, discipline and just plain ol' lifestyle changes required for them to finish. It was so inspiring, but I was still a smoker who was out of shape and did not have an active past. Then my friend leaned over and said "doesn't this make you want to do one?" I said, "yes". But in my mind I never believed it would be possible. But the seed was planted in my heart and now God is using it as an opportunity to call me to a life of discipline and stewardship of my body. All that to say, it has been a dream since June of 2006 and now is the time. I imagine if I had kids I would figure out how to make it work, and though I truly love kids, I appreciate the benefits of not having any of my own. When you and others post about your kids and how you get them involved it makes me smile, or just thinking about the example you are setting for them is so awesome!

I also wonder about the backpack style camelbacks. I always thought they would be bouncy and rather annoying, but I haven't tried one.

Carol - the fast that you are out there putting in the miles and getting healthy is super cool. I don't think I would have the patience to manage training with diabetes. I am always impressed with you for that extra part of your training plan. What would a good Oly look like for you? Thanks for the gear suggestions. I am gonna need to make a decision soon since it is heating up and my rides/runs are getting longer. Yeah for chiro success. I hope it continues to help keep you healthy. What is ART? I don't see any drills in your plan. I do finger-tip drag, closed fist, one called something like hand-to-hand relay. The focus is more for technique, but I like doing them and I think they help me.

So I used the early morning hours to get in my short run, then ended up with more tiime this evening than I anticipated so I got tomorrows 1600 swim in tonight. I noticed by back muscles felt tweaked after my swim, so I am using the heating pad and will see how they feel tomorrow and possibly ice them. The swim felt weird and I don't think I ever really got into a groove. I am constantly paying attention to what my body is doing, so still is unnatural for me to feel the freedom to just swim. tomorrow I head out for a 19m bike, which will be on my own bike outside after its first official tune-up. Super stoked!

I have a shoulder camelback and it is fine for the bike, though I prefer water on the frame than on your back where you have to lift it with each pedal stroke.  The shoulder camelback on the run bounced around way too much for me, drove me nuts constantly trying to get it to fight right and still bouncing.  The fanny pack can be a touch bouncy with 50oz water, but once you get it down to 40 oz you hardly notice it is there.  It also holds gels etc. 

So I think I am on the mend.  I measure my fatigue with my runs.  So most recent runs went 7:30, 7:45, 8:30, 8:44, 8:44, 8:57, dropped run and bike for a rest day, today 7:49 for 5 miles.  Pretty much the same effort for all runs.  That is my best way to measure fatigue load.  So hopefully tomorrows run is 8:00 ish (7:45-8:15 is goal range).  So fealing mostly healthy now.

I tried to change something on the pull part of the swim lastnight.  Hard to describe.  Basically focusing on feeling the water on my forearm and making sure it was pushing back and not down.  To do that I was focusing on pointing my fingers straight down, hand kind of pancakeish, shooting for a higher elbow (whatever that means) but focusing not just on pulling down and back with a flat ish hand relative to the bottom, but also rotating my upper arm back.  If that makes sense.  So hand down, forarm curved down, pushing water strait back with hand and forarm and then getting additional torc by rotating my upper arm like a wratchet forcing the hand down and back as I pushed back with the hand forarm.  I don't know if that makes sense, but it is my best shot at describing it.  This made the muscles on the front top of my armpit in from my pecks sore today.  So it is a shift in fulcrom in the shoulder that may help with the pull and balance for overuse.  anyway I would appreciate our swimmers telling me if that is right or if I misinterpreted what I should be doing. 

Mike, I can relate to the stomach bug.  Fortunately mine is gone.  I did miss a little training, and I am a type A, so I am trying to deal with it mentally.  I had to cut my bike ride short this morning because my fingers went numb (I love Ohio weather).

Yesterday, I got a short brick in before work.  We then went on a field trip for school.  I teach 7th grade, and it was Math and Science day at Cedar Point.  The highlight of the day was riding the world's 2nd tallest roller coaster.  It was my first time riding it because I finally fit.  See link below

http://themeparks.about.com/od/coasterridereviews/fr/TopThrillDrag.htm

I also got a 1.2 mile swim in aftewords in my dad's lake.  It is an old quarry.  I have a route that is .6 miles long, and I do it twice.  The lake is a quarter mile long.  I'd post a picture, but I can't figure out how.  Anyway, I'm feeling better, and the extra day off has gotten rid of a lot of nagging aches. 

Ugh, Mike!  Sorry to hear you are the next stomach flu victim.  On the plus side, it can help you get closer to race weight (if that is a factor for you).  Not the way to do it though.

Larry, you can have the roller coasters.  Really nice that you have a safe place to OWS.  Guessing it's a little cold yet though.

Samantha, you asked a good question about what would I consider to be a "good" OLY race.  My first thought was that would be one where everything goes smoothly...no major issues like the cramping and very high BG issues I had in the first one, or having to repeat T1 as I did in the second one.  I'd just like go out and execute each to the best of my ability and fitness level.  Thinking about it a little more though I realize there are some aspects that I don't control, and I would just like to roll with those better....and not lose any ground due to being ticked off about something that has already happened.

On the swim drills, I do some as part of my W/U and/or C/D almost every workout, though probably should be doing more.  Fingertip drag, closed fist, kick on back, practice getting arms in position for  part of catch only, one arm, etc.  Steve, you mentioned pointing your hand down, and one mental image on that has stuck w/ me from swim class on that.  The instructor told us to pretend we had an eyeball in each palm, and that eyball should be looking at the back wall of the pool throughout most of our stroke.

Got in a run this morning, and hoping to get my bike back and ride this evening.

Ugh ya stomach flue, skip workouts they hit like a truck and typically clear up pretty quickly.  A couple of days is not going to kill your plan, try to get healthy for the weekend. 

I like the new pic Carol.  I have a hard enough time with stuff in t1 with all your complications my t1 time would be like 20 minutes.

Yep...20 minutes was pretty close for one of them .

Mike, glad you're feeling good enough to look forward to weekend workouts.

Bike shop called to say bike would be ready after noon today.  Been there since Saturday and supposed to have been done yesterday.  Drove over to pick it up this afternoon in hopes of riding this evening.  Get there and it's still up on the rack not even close to ready.  Mechanic tells me he had to delay mine for a few hours so he could get a new bike ready to go.  Really????  How about at least a phone call before you tell me how relatively unimportant my business is to you???  Oh, and there is a crack in the frame.  Small, in the down tube that the front wheel goes into, but something to watch.  Since I'm not the original owner, guess who is out of luck?  Not big in the grand scheme of life, but UGH, frustrating!

Last 3 runs have been pretty good, 7:50, 7:28, 7:37 pace for 5 miles.  Maybe I should give up on the bike and swim thing 8). 

So who is doing what this weekend other than getting healthy?

Who doesn't know how to change a tire, but really needs to learn?

Who is starting to feel fried in their training plan?

Lets play flashback.  Go back to the first week you entered this group, and tell me

Average pace: SBR 

Longest single workout distance.

Then next to it put last week's Average Pace, and Longest workout (if last week was a rest week go back 2 weeks). 

Larry, I agree with Mike, your progress is absolutely amazing.  I find the same thing re: weight loss....hard to lose other than VERY slowly if training is in higher gear.

Steve, I wonder that myself re: just stick with the running.  But the S and B have generally helped me to stay more balanced and interested + a great way to mitigate the summer heat.

Bike drama continues.  Mike, I've been advised by several folks not to ride the bike with a crack where it is.  Decided my hobby is not worth taking an unnecessary safety risk, so just rented a bike to ride in tomorrow's bike rally (Specialized Dolce).  I can also rent it for the week of the tri/vacation on 5/28.  Gives me a chance to try out a different bike and a different size.  Yes...looking for some silver linings and trying to get out of my pissed off mood about all this.  Then I'll have to consider what to do for the longer term (new frame or new bike).  Just sunk $$$'s into a full blown tune up, new bar tape, new tires, etc.  Oops..just writing that is sending me back in to ticked off landia! 

So yes, I'm riding in a large bike rally tomorrow morning with a friend.  Going either 30 miles or 50 miles depending on how we feel. We are going to enjoy the day and each other's company and decompress from the week.  Had a decent OWS this morning.  Think I headed out a bit too fast for me, and got pretty tired on the way back, but that's why it's called training.

Larry - It is interesting how shaved heads a goat tees are scary. When you hit 199 I might be overwhelmed with enough joy for you that I will cry. I'm totally a girl like that and people who accomplish big goals like weight loss move me in my core.

Carol - so sorry about your bike situation. It definitely doesn't sound like your bike shop was looking out for you in the long run; hard to know for sure, right? Either way, I am really glad you know about the crack and a potentially dangerous situation has been prevented. I hope you find a sweet deal on something new, but in the meantime enjoy checking out different bikes. There are some bike shops that will let you take their bikes out for test rides. You can go as long as you want. that might be a sweet way to get your training in and try out a new bike or two. I get what you mean about a good OLY, but on the other hand you have owned two OLY's in your lifetime and overcame some big obstacles. You could have quit. Oh well, this is your year for a smooth one and I am here to cheer you on!!

Mike - how are you feeling? Did you get that run in?

Steve - your runs are looking much better! Yeah for a body that heals!

So who is doing what this weekend other than getting healthy?

I'm doing a 30.5m bike and 7m run. Working with some friends to redo a flower bed for a dear friend of mine and working at my job.

Who doesn't know how to change a tire, but really needs to learn?

Got this one down. Took 12 people mtn. biking and we had six flat tires and many miles to bike.

Who is starting to feel fried in their training plan?

Not quit there YET!

Lets play flashback.  Go back to the first week you entered this group, and tell me

I'm gonna use last years numbers because I started this group and training for this season so late.

Average pace: SBR 

Swim: 3m/100 vs. 2.3m/100

Bike: 9-12mph vs. 14-17mph

Run: 14mph vs. 10-12mph

Longest single workout distance.

7m bike vs. 30m bike

Then next to it put last week's Average Pace, and Longest workout (if last week was a rest week go back 2 weeks).

It doesn't look like much improvement, but for not training from September 2011 to April 2012 it is great to see improvements.

Now I am going to make myself get up and do my long run for the week. It might be a slow slog, but its gonna get done. Happy weekend everyone!

Hi all, I've stayed up on everyone's progress, you guys are rockin!!! My training has been going well, still trying to up the mileage during the week but I've also been fighting a case of the ickys! I did a 22 mile run last saturday, my longest in a really long time. I felt great up to about 18 miles then my tibialis ant got really sore (I'm really thinking this is the cause of a lot of my foot problems). Lovin the Newtons though! Steve, I know it's risky changing to Newtons at this stage of my training, but my feet are my weakest link and I am trying to sort them out! So far I have been very happy with the switch to Newtons!

One of the local Tri Clubs is putting on an Olympic Tri tomorrow and I am thinking about doing it, however, I have an 85-100 mile ride planned for Sunday and not sure I should do both (although I probably will)! Mitch is on a well deserved family vacation in Palm Springs so I am solo this weekend, boo hoo!

Carol. so sorry about your bike! I'd find a new bike shop and get another opinion!

I get a lot of inspiration reading everyone's progress! Thank you! Keep up the great work!!

Larry amazing swim improvement.  It is not all the wetsuit!  Bring a garmin in the half mary and keep it slower.  A 5k can mean some recovery time if you push it hard enough.  It is really hard for me to not race a race.  Luck 8). 

Samantha, I consider that some pretty significant improvement.  You are close to the next level of gains as  you get your training more consistent.

Jim, I would be really reluctant to go 22 miles in a training run.  It doesn't buy you much more than the 20 mile run and opens the door for injury and longer recovery time.  At your pace it also breaks the 3 hour run rule for your longest runs... by 2 hours! It also breaks the rule of your long run being more than 50% of your total weekly miles and on newer shoes.  Red flags going up here. You can get buy on 17 and 18 mile runs for an IM with overall weekly miles in a decent range.  I also see a lot of recovery days in your week.  Not sure if you are charting everything. 

Carol, you may be able to save a few $$ if your seat, pedals and new tires are in good shape you can transfer some stuff to a new frame or a new bike depending on things or just go  hog wild.  November/December is the best time to buy bikes, but in this economy you can probably find something in last year's model if you look around.  Sorry to hear about the crack though. Thankfully bar tape is like $10.  If the crack is minor it might be easy to miss on a buisy spring week. 

I am continuing to work on the PUll portion of the swim.  I was able to hold a speed in the pool that is a touch faster than previous swims.  10 x 200 at 1:57 ish.  Ya not fast but trying to keep the speed duable while focusing on getting my elbow a touch higher and hrm rotating my sholder into my ear I think is the technical term for reaching farther.  I am at chapter 5 in the swim book will give insights as they come to me. The book is at least giving me some functional tips about things I had no clue about so that I have something to work on.  Oh well, midnight here.

Tomorrow is a 40 mile or so bike ride with a 10 mile 2000 foot climb in it (race simulation) with a shoter 9 mile run on Sunday that I will try very hard to not do too fast. 

Got in a 58 mile ride this AM and averaged just short of 18 MPH. Time (3:14) includes the various stop signs/lights, and a 'nature' stop, so likely was a bit quicker. Took a new route today which had some ridiculous hills, and they were tough, but I think I did a good job of gearing to get up & over them. Felt great to push myself. I felt good the entire time - frankly, better than I thought I would -- other than my very cold/frozen toes. I left for the ride at 4:30 AM, so it was barely starting to get light or warm. Worked on nutrition as well, and managed about 300 cal/hr during the ride. Decided I'm sticking with gels instead of any blocks since I dropped 1/2 a bag trying to get a couple out. Also ran over a squirrel which was not fun. Sucker ran out from under a bush just as I passed and my front wheel hit hard, but nothing on the back, so maybe he escaped. I'll continue to think he did.

Tomorrow AM is a nice long run (11 mi or so), then a slate of kids soccer games, and the 'honey do' list around the house

Race is 4 weeks from today!!