Slornow and Wannabefaster's Winter Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 28)

Swim workout for the day is over. I've officially now swam more in 2013 than I did in 2012 including races.  I know I keep saying this, but I'm glad I found the Masters team or I'd probably skip a lot of my swim sessions.

30 minute Z2 run after work today. This month is going great!

Nate-I'm with you! Swimming with a masters group or having a specific plan with detailed workouts is key. When I use to go to the pool to just swim it was too easy to quit when I was having a bad day or rationalize that the easy sets were plenty. Sometimes I fear/dread my current swim sessions but its a great feeling when I complete them. A big plus is that I have seen some progress.

Randee-hope you get a good report.

Stuart-I'm a big believer in active recovery. Particularly after a hard workout. Most of the time my active recovery will be an easy spin on the bike. Can't remember a time when I got off the bike and I wasn't feeling better than when I got on.

Blanda-your retreat sounds like fun. Enjoy yourself!

Bike intervals on tap for tonight....

"As a matter of practice almost all my rest days are active recovery.  I might ride 10-15 miles real easy or swim 1500 - 2000 yards. "

Just did a 1600 yard workout today. The most I have ever done in a single workout. I can't wait until this is my active recovery!

I'm with you all -- my longest ever swim is 1700m.    Same thing goes for the article on recovery runs -- a 9:30/mile pace would be quick for me -- let alone to consider it a recovery -- let alone to consider it the slow end of recovery!

***

I have a (semi) related question about pace.  I've mentioned before that I've gotten into the habit of evening runs (at least in the winter).  Three times in the last week, I've managed to drag myself out of bed for a morning run.  However -- for some reason, I really struggle to keep the same pace.  What's easy for me in the evening feels like sprinting in the morning.  Is this normal?

(for those curious -- these are all 30 min treadmill runs -- treadmill set to 9.5 kph which is about a 10:00/mile)

Thanks

Scott.

For all of us thier are strengths and weaknesses.  Just so no one feels bad about my doing 2000 yards for a recovery swim, I can't wait until I can do 9:30 race pace for a 5k much less a recovery run.  Since my run time is about 11:30-12:00 min/mile I guess if I had to do a recovery it would be about 15:00!

So I injured myself this morning when I got up out of my office chair.  I'm not sure what I did, but my back just went out on me. It's very painful to transition from sitting to standing and vice versa. Went to the chiropractor who did an adjustment and told me to ice it for a couple days. On my way to a massage therapist next. So needless to say I'm out of commission for a few days at least. Not happy about it! 

The only thing I did this morning before that was go to swim practice. Swimming would be the last thing I would think to aggravate my back!

I actually have my faster pace times in the morning. It's usually cooler and I haven't spent the day on my feet. I haven't had my coffee yet but I just can not seem to find a way to have any food (or much beyond sips of water) in my stomach when I run without getting nauseated.

In fact, I'm afraid of this issue when I have to take on longer distances in this sport. I've been experimenting with different liquids, gels, and bars. So far, I can only tolerate plain water (small amounts). Anyone else have this issue?

Check this out ... unbelievable ... 

http://blogs.prevention.com/inspired-bites/2013/01/23/are-americas-nutrition-professionals-in-the-pocket-of-big-food/

my husband has a sensitive stomach - hammer products!  http://www.hammernutrition.com/

for long rides I LIVE for perpetuem!

Nate: Sorry to hear about your back! Take good care of yourself till it's all better.

mtnbikerchk: I'm tired too, lol! I'm totally focused on making it through my Xterra race. I need lots of work everywhere, mostly in swim and bike.

Running am vs pm: I never know what I'm gonna get for pace, so I just go with it. I push to an uncomfortable pace when I run, but my tolerance varies according to what I did the day before. I've watched my pace come down over a year and a half now not worrying too much about it.

I can use shot bloks, but GU seem to go right through me. I used it for a half and my stomach was a mess for days. It was so bad I'm afraid to try another.

Training: Last night was ladders with swim team and 6 miles with my run group. 3 miles Indian Running and 3 miles of fartleks on the track. Holy guacamole. I was on the verge of tossing my Clif bar. I'm the slowest runner in this group, so I was hurting trying to hang with them.

Today at lunch a friend and I are going into the hills for a little run and an easy 4 miles tonight. Yay for rest day tomorrow!

Nate take care of that back.  If not, the dumbest thnigs can throw it out again.  After having seriously injured my back years and years ago, I threw it out picking up a pencil.  Obviously it wan't the object but the careless way I reached for it.

It was a bit dreary here today but I still managed to do something I have never done before.  I did 15 miles of just hill work on the bike.  Then I decided to run a mile just because. I have never run just because in my whole life.  I am running every other day and today was an off day.  I actually wanted to run, albeit a very short run. 

You guys may make a runner out of me yet.  I may take a year or two, but maybe...

Good work group. Tons of nice workouts today. I had a hard bike workout tonight. Not able to hit all of my intervals though. Tried really hard just could not do it. Silver lining...I didn't stroke out or wet myself.

Nate-take it easy with that back.

I rode with a strong MTBer at lunch today and she killed me. I'm exhausted. No run tonight. Hot dang, that was tough. Crashed twice, and my hands hurt from the death grip I had on my bars. This was not a "traipsing through the hills" session. That stuff I'm used to. This was training. She had me doing sprints and laps, and she yelled at me when I slipped out of the clips. I didn't even know I could do that stuff! I cannot wait to lay in fetal position after dinner.

Tomorrow is rest day.

Stuart: Yay for wanting to run even when you don't have to! I love it when I feel good enough about running to toss in an unscheduled run.

Question for the group:  Are you good about taking rest days?  Or do you sneak in a "short run" etc?

I have a rest day scheduled for today and all along I thought - meh, I'll go swim but I'll just take it easy.  Then I looked at the calendar and haven't had a day off in a while and I wasn't feeling great last night so I decided YES I'm taking a day off!

Have a good day!  Wish me luck - off to the Ortho!

I'm all for hard training, learning to break through perceived limits, etc.  That's great!  Yelling, not so much...

Enjoy your rest Blanda!

'Rest' means different things to different people.  When I'm deep into training, a day with an easy swim or a light spin or a short run IS a rest day.  But...if you aren't feeling well then you are probably better off taking the day off entirely.  Enjoy it!

There was an exchange earlier about active recovery on 'rest' days.  The idea is as you posted, take an easy swin (bike or short run) instead of doing nothing.  Personally I have found that better for me than doing nothing.  I still get the body moving but not taxing it at all.

The only time I took a full rest day was the week before my race.  Other than that it was a swim or ride for me.  No run for me is easy enough to qualify yet.

I'm pretty happy when my rest day comes around. After reading how important they are, I'm glad to do nothing as my body repairs itself to get faster in the upcoming week. My real problem is wanting to add more rest days to my week for my training days

Update on my back:

Massage Therapist said my psoas was aggrivated when I got up from my desk after my swim workout. Another issue may be that I sit down at a desk all day while I work. The psoas is shortened while I sit (normally it should be elongated) and after years and years of this, the psoas thinks that being short is the normal position to be in. When I went to stand up compounded with the fact that I had done a decently hard swim workout, my psoas said "Oh hell no" and tightened up because it wants to be in that "Sitting" position. This pulled on my pelvis and spine and all sorts of pain happened.

After the massage and some stretching, I feel about 85% better. I made a stand up desk contraption at work to see if that will keep the psoas stretched a bit. 

Hopefully I'll be good to start training again soon!