SWBKRUN MENTOR GROUP - OPEN (Page 25)

Signing up for a race is my number one scare tactic and promising myself some post exercise yummy food is another. As Jayne says, Just Do It is a good mantra for getting out there. Being disciplined to stick to the plan you made last night and ignoring your early morning thoughts is vital

I have an Oly on Sunday.  This is an interesting race that I have done twice before.  The swim exit is about 1.5km away from the bikes so you end up with your run stuff in T1.   The bike is shortened by 1.5km and starts out with a fairly tough climb - a couple of short (i.e. a couple hundred meters) 10 and 12% grade stuff, climbing to 280 meters in the first 12km of the course.  From there it is a very gradual downhill.   

The weather forecast is looking decent, but it may be hot by the time I get to the run.   This is not my A race and I am not tapering.  I did a long run yesterday (19 km) and will do a 3 hour ride on Friday.

Tough for me means long bike, but I am finding that if there is a structure behind the long (i.e., 30' Z2 warmup, 2 X 15' in Z4, etc.) it helps a lot.  

65 degrees and raining...it rained all night and it is supposed to rain all the way through until midnight.  

HOT!  The heat index hit 105F today.  Aren't you glad you and Bruce weren't racing today?

She's chasing bears in Alaska. I hope to see her next  week when she ventures back down to the lower 48!

Big workouts... Yeah, I just schedule 'em and do 'em. Last year I did my longer runs on either Thursday or Friday (those were my two "more" open days). I'd watch the weather but hope everything would align for the Thursday workout because I just like to get 'em done. Lately my life mantra is, "The best run is the one that's done." I think all DONE long runs were great. But I dread 'em. I do try to be mindful of diet, sleep, and hydration leading up to big workouts. I like to give myself every possible advantage I can and strive for success.

No racing for me, although there are two HIM's within driving distance in WI this weekend so you may wonder why not.

Long pace runs (10m@7:XX), pace runs off the bike 3(10'at 7:XX, 2' rec), LT Tests/Track Tests and anything that is timed in swimming cause me worry.  I've said it before, but I do a lot of visualization beforehand to get through them.  The more I can see the positive outcome of a work out, the better chance it will happen.  If I don't have a plan, I can easily cave mid way through it.

I used this strategy yesterday to get through my BIG DAY in some brutally hot weather and it worked for that too.  PLAN AHEAD!

With those hot temps and long workouts, remember that you do need "recovery time" too:

(cool dog.jpg)

Loving all the good advice for those hard workouts.  I especially like the reminder to prepare well physically by paying attention to rest, diet, and hydration, and preparing mentally using visualization.  And, according to Dan, don't forget the importance of recovery :-)

Bell's Two Hearted Ale is one of my favorites, and the brewery is only an hour from my house!!

Hey Jill

Did Chet say anything about your balance in the H20?  how much do you use your legs?  I found that I used to have this useless little panic going because I wasn't balanced in the H20 and couldn't catch a decent breath.  It led to a lot of oxygen debt.  If you use a pull buoy in the pool does it alleviate the issue? you're not waiting to exhale until you turn your head are you?

First, congratulations on finishing near your goal time!  Were you tracking pace and total time?  In general, I'm not a clock watcher when racing, but I think in this instance it might have been helpful.  When I did my last marathon, I wanted to PR and as I was fading in the last couple of miles, it was the GPS that made me move!  

Under 2 hours is a great goal, and now you know you can do it.....next time.  Chalk this one up as a GREAT race and try to figure out where you left those 94 seconds.

Since it happens in the pool too, I'm thinking it could be two things: 1) Like you said, you might be starting out too fast and just need to slow down and give yourself some time to get good and warmed up.  How long was your ows?  Did it get better as you got more warmed up?  2) Like Suzy said, kicking uses up A LOT of energy.  I barely kick when I swim (unless I'm sprinting).  I use the legs just enough to stay in a good balanced position in the water.

Don't know if that helps much, but keep giving us more information as you go along and we will do what we can to help.

Jill -- over-kicking is probably the most common "problem" I see in inexperienced swimmer. It takes a LOT of oxygen to power our legs -- big muscles there. So if you were consciously kicking heavily to gain speed, that would likely explain the shortness of breath. Big kicks are reserved for sprinters, like those doing 50 yards in 28 seconds or less (saw a 10-year-old girl pull off a :26 50-yard freestyle yesterday and a :58 100-yard free, it was gorgeous but I digress). You are really doing more of a distance swim, which, ideally, would be supported by a 2-beat or a 4-beat kick which, as Jayne mentioned, is enough to keep your feet up and your balance and rotation in check but not enough to exert (much) energy. I'd try slowing down your kick. Report back and let us know how it goes!

Rachel -- way to get after that 2-hour goal. It's hard to be so close but often there are other factors to consider (weather, course, etc.), so I'll give you a big ole' congratulations!!!

One other thing I've learned over time is NOT to exhale really quickly so you feel the need to get the next breath or you will die.  I've practiced not exhaling as soon as I push off the wall, but wait a little bit and then do it.  I've fully exhaled by the time I take the next breath, but am not in oxygen debt.  Siting does get me out of whack some time---just takes practice.  If you can do some of these things in more shallow water it can be helpful.

Kyla's probably the best one to comment on this, but in OW, I tend to shorten my stroke a little.  I'm a glider in the pool and that isn't always good.  I have a slight stall in my stroke because of it and it makes me SLOW.  Trying to change a habit that I was told to create a long time ago is hard!!!!  In the OW, a glide can be a negative if there is chop.

This is a photo from the Racine HIM yesterday.  Swim is in Lake Michigan.  The lead boat capsized, many people were seasick during the swim and another 3-4 dozen were pulled out.  I'm told it was similar to Lake George (the one Jeff did).  About three hours North for the Door County HIM, the water was pancake flat and it was the same lake!

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