Scott's Mentor Group-Closed for training. (Page 24)

Weekend recap:

Sunday: 30 mile/10K brick in the books prior to 9:30 AM, enough time to get home acquire fresh corn on the cob, various salad fixins, and get ready for the company coming over at 4 PM (yes we had steak on the grill however I just wasn't in the mood for a guiness, saved that for another day) Went to town on the salad, corn and steak, easily avoided the desserts!

Monday: 17.5 mile/3.6 mile brick (exact route for my sprint tri on the 24th) had to pull up a few times on the ride to wait up for my training buddies but was able to push them to keep their pace about 17 mph. The run was typical for me, still needs work. Getting it all done and home by 9 AM was perfect. Which let me plant some tomatoes in the backyard and get the flowers and basil in the pots I've been putting off.

Today: Got in a 5 mile run this morning. Tried to mix it up with a 2.5 mile warm up and then did fartleks for the next 1.5 (.1 slow/.25 fast) and finished up the last mile trying all out to get home (which was made easier/more drastic by yet another GI issue, amazing how that can make you run faster when you're tired? ) Now I'm off to the pool for lunch hour.

And I will leave you with this. "I do not always drink beer, but when I do, I enjoy it. Stay thirsty my friends!" I may not be the "Most Interesting Man in the World", but I try my best!

-Matt

Troy, way to go on the marathon.  I know you'd planned to do better, but remember all of us who seriously envy your results.

Nicole, very impressed with your volunteerism and giving back.  All veterans deserve our service as payment for theirs.

Scott, have fun with the new hardware, I'm jealous.

I've had some trouble fitting training in with work and family lately.  However, I did a 2.7 mile run yesterday and the calfs are still feeling good.  Trying to get my endurance back up to where it was. I think I'm now ready to start running 3x per week again.  

Perhaps it's time to start looking for another race soon.  I'll likely schedule a sprint this time since the Oly's haven't been working out so good for me. 

Was gone all last week and have business trips this week and the next three.  Looks like a lot of hotel treadmills and bikes in my future.

Sorry if I'm not checking in much for a while.  Things are getting hectic.

Craig. 

HOLY COW! Forgot how shallow the lap pool is in my development (5 feet in the deep end, less than 3 in the shallow end) Was afraid I was going to skin my knees on my flip turns in the shallow end!

Anyone else suffer from a shallow pool? Suggestions on how to deal? I really debated skipping the flip turns at the one end. Instead I ended up not only getting in a 2000 but a killer ab and back workout making sure I kept my turns very very shallow.

-Matt

I can flip turn in a puddle.    Just keep practicing.  It will help you keep it tighter for the deep ends too.  

Pics or it didn't happen.

The shallow end at my pool is 3 1/2 ft and I havent had a problem. I'm short, though, Not sure if that makes a difference.

Hi everyone. I've been reading, but not much to report myself. Congrats to everyone on their great workout routines and results. Troy, well done! Because my race is so far in the future (6 months away) and I'm just concentrating on swimming now I don't want to bore you with swimming lesson reports all the time! I've been taking 2 lessons a week. My balance and form has greatly improved. I still have a problem with how much water I swallow, so I need to work on my breathing. In addition I head to my local pool  2 other times a week, so there's plenty of practicing going on.

I haven't been staying current with the Training Log here, because I've been journaling my own workouts on my blog for over a year, and I don't seem to take the effort to write it up in two places.

This week I started a new workout program, Athlean-x 2. I've completed Athlean-X 1 three times in the last 15 months, this new program is a real step up in physical challenge. The swimming has really helped in my back development, that's always been a deficiency.

Everyone have a good week. Andy

Andy,  great progress on the swimming front.  You are definitely not boring me at least.  I love to hear about your accomplishments.  That's what this group is about.  I could certainly google "Athlean", but I would love to hear what it is from someone like yourself.  Again, congrats on the swimming progress.

Andy ... I 2nd Scott's call for all the boring details. We're all on a journey ... and this group is far more excited about your progress than your office mates and, dare I say it, your family. We geek out over this stuff, so let it fly.

********

2500yds in the pool last night. Coach ran the marathon too, so he was kind and focused on stroke and breathing work. A lot of long slow yardage with focus on form. It was actually relaxing and felt so good after Monday's couch-fest.

Got out for an hour on the bike this morning (17.3 miles). Also took it nice and slow and didn't push the hills at all. Legs were still creaky, but they're coming around.

Scott, did I tell you about the GMAA Thursday night track workouts? Kasie Enman (the winner of Sunday's marathon) is coaching them. It'll be a great group of runners of all abilities. If you can make it work, it'd be great to see you. I'll be heading over tomorrow (UVM track). This is a great opportunity to get some workouts by an incredible runner. Here's a recent article:  Linky-poo. 

Troy-Now that the race is over I have a question about something you posted over the weeekend. You mentioned doing a glycogen depleting workout and then eating to replace your glycogen stores. I've never heard of that. Would you mind explaining the reasoning/science behind it? Thanks.

Good morning, all.

I don't even know what glycogen is/does so I have no comment. How can I call myself a triathlete if and not know this stufff?

Matt, I don't have a problem with kickturns in the shallow end b/c I can't do them! I have practiced some but I stink. I go down, touch the wall, turnaround, and kick off. I need to really focus on getting better at it but I always want to go and do my swim and go home. I like being upside down and water going up my nose. I hold my nose and try to spin but I get all off kilter and give up.

I hit the pool yesterday for 2000 yards. My 2:00 minute interval swimming has been a good tool. I'm going to switch it up for June but not sure how yet. I need to find some other things to do. I might try doing a constant swim with kick turns. That would be challenging. My first outdoor swim tri is in July and it makes me anxious. The swim is a 1000 yards which I know I can do. Not having walls at each end and people all around will be different.

Gonna hit the road today for a ride- might try to do a higher intensity shorter ride. I've been doing 25-30 mile casual rides. I haven't had a higher intensity ride since March- they are about 16 miles. That sounds good. I'm gonna shoot for a brick on Saturday- long ride and a 5K.

Hope everyone has a good day!

It's the Western Australian carb depletion method that condenses the process into a day. I'll find the article, but I don't think I have it bookmarked on this computer. Essentially, you do a very fast depletion run (5 minute warm up, 3 minutes at 135% of your VO2 pace, then 30 seconds of all out sprint) this opens your muscles up for immediate glycogen storage. Then it's roughly 10g of carbs per kg of body weight over the next 24 hours to include a top-off 3 or 4 hours before the race.

It's a LOT of carbs, so I do a large portion of it in liquid form with Ultra Fuel. I take in solids during the day, but my last solids are usually dinner the night before. Mostly carbs, a little protein, and avoiding fiber. Then another dose of Ultra Fuel about 3-4 hours prior to the race and I'm good to go. I've had good results with it in the past, but I definitely tanked on Sunday.

I do recommend trying this during training first. It took me a bit to get used to it. I'll try to find the article. 

I have also been told that the hard effort run produces lactic acid and that the body, in its attempt to clear the lactic acid from the muscles, becomes more efficient at doing it 24 hours later.  

Wasup everyone! I've been MIA for a while. Really swamped with work. Training is still going fantastic though. My swim is still lacking however I am traveling to Florida to play on the beech in July for a week so I will get plenty of swim time there.

Transformation:I am amazed at how my body has transformed the past 5 weeks. I've really focused on a healthy diet and it shows. I've lost about 10 pounds, 2 inches on my waist, and bf% has finally dropped in the teens for the first time since high school.

Performance: I had a decent endurance base on my bike when I started 5 weeks ago but no speed. I've gone from 14.6 avg mph to 17.9 avg mph over same distance. My running has gone from barley finishing my first 5k race in April to running several times a week for at least an hour and enjoying it. Swimming still needs improvement but I still have 16 weeks left before my Tri.

Swimming: I took 3 swimming lessons before I called it quits with the instructor. She did a great job of teaching me the basics but I wasn't getting anywhere.  I found myself gulping for air when I breathed and after 3 hour long lessons with practice could still not make it down and back in a 25 meter pool. The verdict: Well I purchased the Total Immersion book and dvd. After just doing the first few lessons I've made significant improvement in the pool. I can actually swim to the other end of the pool without feeling like I'm going to pass out. I still have 6 lessons to go but so far it is working well for me.

Long update but that's what's going on with me. I've got some catching up to do in this thread. Can't wait to see how everyone else is doing!

Wow that sounds like a great program!  I'm browsing your blog now...  Keep it up

JJ - congrats on the transformations!!  It's exciting to see results and keeps that motivation going.  Love it!

Nice job!!

I love those moments.

Good morning peeps ....

Nice work on that mile, Scott!

No morning workout for me today. Wanted to save my legs a bit so I can put as much as possible into tonight's track workout. Once the marathon is shaken out, Thursday mornings will be a bike workout.

A large pine tree fell onto our roof last night. Nobody was hurt and the damage looks only moderate ... but I'm not looking forward to the hassles with the insurance companies and contractors. The tree fell from the University's property that we abut ... I'm wondering what sort of responsibility they'll accept. Blech.

Work hard today! 

JJ, way to go on the transformation. There is nothing better than wearing smaller clothes than when you started this madnesss!!! It feels amazing!

Scott, that is stinkin' fast! I haven't tried to run an all out mile. That just smells like an injury coming to me! I like the idea of track workouts. It sounds fun. I want to start to adding some extra things to my workouts besides the big 3.

I threw a brick workout in yesterday. I did a 16 mile medium intensity ride and a 2 mile run. It really gets me in the racing mood! It makes me want to throw on the onesie and crush some dreams!

Gonna get in a longer run today. Gonna try and get 4 miles in today. I'm going to work on hitting the 5-6 mile runs this month. June is going to be a big month for me. I am going to be adding some weights to the routine. I am going to have a mental rule- no training before I've done my weights/lifting. I'm going to be doing push-ups, tea-cups (leaning to the side with a heavy dumbell to work on my shrinking love handles), and full body sit-ups (thats where you bring the legs in/up instead of leaving them down).

My May numbers are soft. There are 30 days in June and I WILL train 26 of them! Train smart today everyone!

Andy-Just got a chance to check out your blog. That is quite the tranformation! nice work!

JJ-Good luck with the TI training. It amazed me when I got in the pool for the first time in years and I had to rest every 25yds. I used TI at first and eventually moved away from it but it's really good for getting comfotable in the water and getting focused on technique.

Kate-Love your blog post from yesterday. I had linked that first video on FB recently. Very inspiring!

Troy-I'm glad no one was hurt. I hope there wasn't too much damage and UVM makes good on it. You know-I've always wondered why University of VT is shortened to UVM. Shouldn't it be UVT? Maybe you can enlighten me since you work there (if I remember correctly).

Ashley-Don't get too worried about the numbers. I keep looking back at March and April and I'm like, what happened? Oh yeah, I had bronchitis. Sometimes missed workouts are unavoidable. You had an injury and did what you needed to do. Hopefully next month will be injury free.

So-I've been thinking about swimming and I'm wondering if I need to increase my frequency a bit-maybe from twice a week to 3 times a week? I also think I need to find some drills that will help me to get my legs up a bit. When I turn to breathe, especially on the left my legs sink. I've been doing 100yd sprints for about half my workout but I don't know if it's helping much. I'm slow, I need to speed up and I can barely afford this sport much less a swim coach. Any thoughts on how I can improve my swim? I know I'm asking for advice that would be better given on a video of my swim stroke but that's not possible at the moment either. I'm just looking for the right way to break down my pool workouts and maybe some suggestions for drills? Thanks.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Samuel de Champlain was sent down the St. Lawrence river and into the giant lake that would eventually bear his name -Lake Champlain. At first sight, the Francophile dubbed the surrounding lushness "Verde Mont" (Green Mountains) and claimed it in the name of France.  Thus UVM.

Wow! Thank you! you have not idea how long that has bothered me for. That's true, right? I can be very gullible sometimes...

Yup ... that's it. Universitas Viridis Montis
Linky-Poo 

Awesome! I've asked a lot of people over the years and no one knew. I guess I was asking on the wrong side of the lake. You Vermonters didn't even have to think to hard about it. Thanks for clearing that up.

Now that I think about it-it's kind of dumb that I didn't check Wikipedia. I just thought it was some weird colloquialism that nobody thought about. It never occured to me that the school had a latin name.