Experior and Slornow's Winter Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 27)

Good morning all-hope everyone survived the Super Bowl.  I'm headed out on the road today for Chattanooga.  Got in a good interval workout on the bike this morning.  Now its running only, when I can, until I get home Sunday.  Have a good Monday.

Randy

Thanks Michael...that makes sense.

There are a lot of issues at hand, but part of it is that I think I'm due for a recovery week.  I had one planned for next week (starting on the 13th) since I have a couple of short races on the 20th and 26th.  Still trying to figure out what to do.

Had a great session with the swim team last night. I'm finally within reach of keeping up with the rest of the team. Well, not the man-dolphins, but at least the majority of the group. That tells me I'm at least getting a little quicker. I'm still pretty slow, and I do know that getting out of the water at the back can keep you at the back for the rest of the race.

Trying to be more confident about letting it hurt a little when I swim. I hold back afraid to get overly winded in the middle of the ocean. Last night we did ladders and I pushed it as hard as I could. Got to where I'd lose control a little bit and slowed just enough to gather my wits. That's how I'm thinking it's done in the long swims, no?

Tonight, bike and run.

Have a great evening!

Unless you feel you are at immediate risk for injury, you should probably push through this week then do the mini-taper that you had planned.

Blanda -- sounds like you are really hitting the swimming hard -- that's great!

I had yet another crazy day at work, but that's OK because I wasn't going to bike or run today anyway.  I managed a decent swim earlier.

Hope everyone else is doing well and hard at it.  Tri season will be upon us (well, those of us who are not yet in the season...) before we know it.   IMO, February is the month that many screw up -- it's close enough to the season that falling down on the training matters, but far enough away from the season that falling down might seem not to matter.

"Water's cold today -- I think I'm gonna cut this workout short."  Very sad.  Very true.

Funny stuff!

Randy

Hi Blanda,

I am not too sure in the idea of going out to the point where one might lose control and then back off.  I guess if the expectation at the start is too get out fast in order to stay with the front group and you can maintain their pace after the fitst 200 or so it makes sense.  Myself, I tend to prefer to go out steady with an even pace I can maintain for the majority of the swim.  If after the first half I feel like pushing it more I can; especially if I find some good feet to draft off of.  The first part of the swim is the hardest for me and I like to get my breathing and swim stroke into a comfortable routine.  

For a sprint I generally go all out right from the start pushing hard all the way through.  For Oly and Half Distance I do the above.  Each of us has our own style.  What is nice about practicing in OW is you can try out different techniques to see how your body and mind might respond.  I say might as we all know come race day with added pressure, nerves and anxiety our body and mind tell us different things.

Brian: Thanks so much for your swimming insight. I don't know how to go hard without losing control, and I'm not sure if that feeling of losing control is just me freaking out at feeling uncomfortable, which shouldn't be bad, right? I like knowing you go all out in a sprint. I felt like I could, but was afraid to push and fail. In the middle of deep water. The next sprint is on the 19th. I think I will let myself get to the uncomfy state, hand there and let my body slow down/speed up on it's own, like you would run a 5k. Does that makes sense?

Totally fatigued today, falling asleep all over the place. Coffee and brownies to get through to mimic a 30 min uphill ride on the bike and 3 miles on the treadmill.

I'm so glad I have you guys.

Micheal - yeah, I decided to push through this week. 

As far as swimming, I agree with Michael...it's okay to bust yourself up during training, and do hard sets where your form falls apart a little.  Even though you may not be swimming faster (due to your form falling apart), you're still stressing your muscles to get stronger.  Which means when you go back to swimming a moderate effort, you're stronger, which means you can pull harder at that same percieved effort while maintaining form.

Thanks so much for the input on swimming, guys. I seriously appreciate it. All of this will be with me next swim team sessions and sprint. I will be mentally armed to do better on the swim.

Doing a spin class and outdoor run tonight. I'm trying to hang in there for rest day Friday, but I am dead on my feet! Haven't been sleeping well. I've been waking up at 2-3am worrying about stuff. Especially about my husband on his first tour in the middle east. Blech. I'm pooped!

Blanda,

I read an article in Triathlete magazine that talked about how when you swim in Open Water it is important to stay in your circle (imagine a circle around your midsection and circling just above your head when you are swimming and as you swim that imaginary circle stays with you.  When you get to a state of feeling uncomfortable that circle begins to drift down your body and your head leaves that comfort zone and starts thinking of all kinds of irrational thoughts (how deep is the water, I have no side of the pool to go to, I am way out here in the deep water, etc, etc., etc.,).  I know I have been there a number of times and the feeling is quite scary.  Once I panicked and swam right to shore.  The next time it happened I went right to my back, took some very deep breaths, gathered myself, turned over and off I went again.  Basically getting back into my inner circle.

When I OWS for practice I like to test that comfort zone some and as I do I get to feeling more and more comfortable with increasing my efforts.  One thing I know about myself is I hate OWS and having to stop, waiting for others to catch up, figure the next point to swim to, swim to that point, wait again and go to the next point.  I prefer to continue to swim the whole distance, rest and do it again.  However, the situation I hate forces me to stay relaxed and within my inner circle while I wait for others.  While waiting for others to catch up I float on my back taking deep breaths and then on we go.  In a pool you would be resting in 3 ft deep water or on the side of the pool.

When I race Oly or HIM distance I try to keep in my head the vision of the circle and where it is at; keeping within it.

You might give it a try.

Nice 4 mile run this evening.  Was suppose to be easy pace (11:08/mile).  Opps.  I think I was in the low 10:00/mile area.  You know those times when a song comes on that just makes you go; this one came right at the last mile or so.  If you like the movie "Last of the Mohicans"  check out the song Promontory... that is what came on.  It was a great run and I felt like I could have gone another 2 miles.

Rest day tomorrow so I'll incorporate my Core Workout in.

Brian

I found the article.  It is in the July 2011, p. 146, Triathlete Magazine Issue (Swimsuit Issue).    Article is "How to Be a Fealess Swimmer" by Ingrid Loos Miller.  She actually refers to your whole body being inside the circle.

I found the article.  It is in the July 2011, p. 146, Triathlete Magazine Issue (Swimsuit Issue).    Article is "How to Be a Fealess Swimmer" by Ingrid Loos Miller.  She actually refers to your whole body being inside the circle.

Brian, I like the visualization of the circle - to me that says, stay within yourself which I think is very good advice on the swim.  I completely agree with Michael's not all out effort comment (80%), especially if you are prone to losing form with extra exertion.  For me anyway, I will regret that extra 5% effort in the swim more than in the other disciplines and I think, as Jason mentioned, that it has to do with breakdown of good technique (and the fact that it is first in the race, so any energy deficit is magnified).  I hadn't made the connection with run before, but now that you mention it, Michael, when I backed off the swim, my run did improve.  I attributed it other things, but maybe that was part of it too.  Interesting!

You also want to avoid that potential heart rate spike which seems like it has more of an opportunity b/c it is at the beginning of the race, you're in the middle of a pack, and your out in open water. Staying within yourself means even more in that context.  Yep, discover your limits in practice and stay in your circle in the race.

Probably running intervals and a swim for me today and then 4 work / travel days where I likely won't be able to get in any workouts.  Hoping my flight on Sunday will be on time so I might be able to sneak in a short run before Sunday night gig.  

Keep up the good work everyone!

You guys are amazing. You can't pay for this kind of counseling.

Brian: I totally get that advice. Visualizing is one of my tools for life in general. I like the idea of visualizing a circle for comfort/control and will add it to my arsenal. Thank you for sharing.

Kick butt spin class, but ran out of gas after attempting a hill climb on the tread. Called it a day after a mile.

Here I am at work, another crazy week well it's always crazy here, and instead of getting work done I'm busy adjusting my HR for Bike and Run.  For month 2, I created an Intermediate Sprint distance maintenance plan, so I have lots of interval workouts. I realized my HR zones were not matching between my Garmin and BT, so had to fix it. 

Did run last night, speaking of HR, it was through the roof but my RPE was much lower.  My mind was going crazy about work, received email that pissed me off, so my HR was sky high while my effort was low.  I even messed up my stride sets because my focus was so much on that email.   I was in Z5 during my 10 minute warmup, and did not go down until I started my stride sets, and only because I was counting my foot strikes.  Once I got into my endurance set, which would normaly be in Z2, my HR climb back again to Z5. 

Have a good day.

Now that the racing season is getting closer, I've decided to switch tires back to my Continental GP4000S.  I was using them all last year to train and race, but after my racing season ended in early September, I went with a Gatorskin like tire for off season riding.  They worked like a charm...over 1200 miles of riding without a flat...but they are noticeably slower.

Now normally I wouldn't care what speed I train at...but some of my harder group rides are starting to really get intense...and I find myself getting dropped a few times where normally that wouldn't be the case.  My wattage numbers are similar, if not better than last year at this time...so it would be interesting to see how much this simple tire switch will make.

Hello everyone-I am in the midst of a final college tour with my son, a HS senior.  Flew to the Albany NY yesterday and did a visit at Williams College in Williamstown, NY. Now we are in NH for a visit at Dartmouth tomorrow.  Flying back to Chattanooga on Friday.  Its fun but I'm ready for him to finish the process, make a decision and figure out how to pay for it!   Since last Spring we have visited 12 schools. Fortunately, the weather has been mild and no snow here.

No training yesterday but I was able to get in a run on a very sketchy tredmill this afternoon and hope to do the same in the morning.

Randy

Jason brought up tires which is a good topic.  I've also had good luck with Continental 4000S.  On my race wheels I have a set of Vittoria clinchers that are suppose to have very low rolling resistance along with latex tubes.  They do "feel" faster than the Continentals but I dont think they are as durable or resistant to flats.  I think it is hard to beat the 4000S as an all around good training/race tire.

I cant say that the Vittoria's are definitely faster but there is a noticeable difference on the rollers as compared to the 4000S.  I have the resistance on the rollers set to what is basically equal to the resistance I see on a flat road in terms of watts to speed. When I use the Vittoria tires on the rollers they spin much quicker i.e. they seem to have much less rolling resistance on the rollers. Just my experience.

Anyone else have good/bad experience with any specific model of tire?

Randy 

Hi Gang!

Missed all of you!  Long story short - my husband was in a car accident 2 weeks ago Friday.  He is OK and so is the other person (for which we are hugely thankful!), but my hub's truck was totaled.  It took until last thurs to get the decision from the ins co (we weren't sure if it could be fixed).  Had to buy a new car (Honda CR-V) for me (he got my Ridgeline).

Not too much time for computer with crazy work hours, but I did manage to get some training in last week and figured out how to use the screens on my Garmin!

Last Saturday was my first race of the year - 1/2 mary.  Did not go sub-2, but was happy with a 5 min PR over last 1/2 in September!  I forgot how hilly this course is - not huge climbs but LOTS of them and some steep.  Didn't negative split, either, but kept a fairly even pace throughout.  Forgot to hit the STOP button at the finish.  Either my quads or my calves are usually sore after a race, but this course was an equal opportunity abuser and BOTH were tender to the touch for 2 days after.  Will definitely go sub-2 at 3/24 1/2 - lots of downhill and flats.

Big storm here yesterday, which caused our roof to leak at home, so we have been scrambling!! Managed 30 minutes on the bike this morning...should get back to regular training tomorrow.

Other exciting news - I will be getting a new bike in the next couple of weeks!  Trying to answer the age-old question - tri bike or road bike with aerobars.  Have pretty much decided on Trek - between Madone 4.6 and Speed Concept 7.0.   My primary interest is racing triathlon, I mostly train alone, there are a FEW group rides and cycling races/rides, which is why I am leaning toward SC, but may get more versatility out of Madone later on.  My key question (if anyone wants to give me your opinions PLEASE) is...will I experience enough difference in racing to merit the tri bike?  I may not win races, but I'd sure like to get close to (if not ON) the podium in my AG!