Mad Manatees Mentor Group - VERY CLOSED!!! Sorry! (Page 29)

bcraht - 2013-01-03 2:38 PM Achilles setback .  Got up this morning and it was 'crunchy'.  Not painful.  Saw PT--bursa is irritated and crunchiness is tendon sliding inside sheath.  No exercises or running until crunchies gone.  Not sure what caused it--it was a little funny on my run last night, but not painful.  Maybe long walk the day before.  PT was surprised as all had been going well.  Oh well, biking and swimming it is!

'Crunchy' makes me cringe, doesn't sound nice at all.  Hope it responds quickly to rest, well, by rest I mean not running and stops crunching!

Yep. Slow and steady. Just for kicks when I was on the treadmill on Jan 1, I did a little "speedwork." I was surprised how easy it was to run sub 10. Granted, I'm on a completely different scale than you all, but if I had had more time and the inclination, I know I could have pushed it faster. Actually, for the first time, running 9:30 felt easy. At least for the first time that I've noticed. But the day after? I was right back to my 11:17/mile pace. lol

I mean, I don't want to go completely nuts, right???

Ooooh very cool!!!!!

Denver would be tough. I played hockey there and wasn't used to the elevation, speaking of puking ...

@ Yanti, Thanks for posting the videos. It's so much easier to visualize some of the things you were talking about in my swim. I understand the elbow position now. It made no sense yesterday but I see now. Just practicing this out of water seems like it really hits your shoulders? I imagine I will be sore different places for a few days.

Also it looks like your hands enter the water further from the body than mine do. Am I entering too close?

That might be an issue for him since he's at sea level (it might slow him to a sub-lightning speed).

Having grown up at altitude I still find it amusing when I see football players from other states on the sidelines wearing oxygen masks when playing in Denver.

Looks like a pretty damn good stroke to me.  The only thing I would say (and I'm not sure this applies as you weren't swimming at speed) is that it looks to me like your stroke get's "lazy" in the last 1/2 to 1/4 of it.  Like in many sports a good "follow through" is a good thing.  The "pull" should become a "push" at the end. 

IT IS CRUCIAL that when your stroke transitions from a pull to a push - your wrist MUST BEND, because if it doesn't and it's rigid you will be pushing water up, which will actually push you down a bit and slow you down instead of speed you up.  Ideally you are still pushing as much water towards your feet as possible, ALL THE WAY THROUGH YOUR STROKE.  You will really feel this on your triceps if you normally don't do it.  

I want to caution beginner swimmers to not focus on this until they have mastered the "catch & pull", balance, breathing, and rotating.  A beginner focusing on "pushing" water at the end of a good stroke will almost certainly push water up instead of back.  

Also not 100% sure - but it looks like your kick is too BIG as it goes very deep in the water (sometimes).  The pace of the kick is fine but if the kick is too deep in the water - you lose any benefit after a certain point and are just wasting energy (that could be better used towards a good push).  

Hope this doesn't sound ticky tack or nit picky.  You are an advanced swimmer and so I am focusing on some of the finer details that will round out your stroke and give you that extra edge.  

Here are screen shots that will hopefully explain what I am trying to describe above.  

You are totally right.  In case you haven't figured it out, I'm very competitive with myself.    I always want to do my absolute best and am always looking for ways to improve even more.  

Also agree about the IM being more about endurance than speed.... I just want the Endurance AND the speed... is that too much to ask for?  LMAO.  

I will continue doing what I am doing, which I consider "mostly easy, sometimes hard" and will focus on building my weekly miles.  Thanks for all the help / advice.  

amd723 - 2013-01-03 1:29 PM

melbo55 - 2013-01-03 2:42 PM

bcraht - 2013-01-03 2:38 PM Achilles setback .  Got up this morning and it was 'crunchy'.  Not painful.  Saw PT--bursa is irritated and crunchiness is tendon sliding inside sheath.  No exercises or running until crunchies gone.  Not sure what caused it--it was a little funny on my run last night, but not painful.  Maybe long walk the day before.  PT was surprised as all had been going well.  Oh well, biking and swimming it is!

'Crunchy' makes me cringe, doesn't sound nice at all.  Hope it responds quickly to rest, well, by rest I mean not running and stops crunching!

It is very rare when the body making a " crunchy" sound is a good thing! Rest up.

LOL.  Well, it is not a sound so much as a crunchy feeling.  I can feel it when flexing/extending my ankle, but you can also feel it with your hand on my Achilles.  I guess if it comes right down to it, it is crepitus.  Which, as you said, is never a good thing, and I don't want to admit...

I don't have a Vitamax.  Thought about it but choose to go with a Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Machine.   It does double duty, according to what one wishes to put into it. 

Blendtec and Vitamix are both fantastic blenders. I have a Blendtec (their competitor) and absolutely LOVE IT!!!!!!   I make 2 shakes a day so it was really worth it to me for a high quality blender.

Blendtec and Vitamix are both fantastic blenders and I spent alot of time researching them and went with the Blendtec. You will be happy either way tho

Ran a 3 mile recovery run today.  Forced myself to slow down (8:50 pace).  Also forced myself to stop at 3 miles!  I hate slow short runs!  

I knew I should take it easy - the hamstrings are still sore.  

I finally got around to reading this and it's gold. Nice and Layman-y, too.  In fact, while we are talking about Barry P I should also say that while I don't use his 3:2:1 I totally recommend it just because of the simplicity. Running doesn't need to be complicated and 3:2:1 fits in a nice neat little package.

More often than not it's just about getting out the door and running and if you only have to think about 3:2:1 rather than some long drawn out workout description, I'll bet it's easier to talk yourself into Barry P.

Well said Barry, and thanks for posting Yanti. 

I did it. I got on the treadmill. Cold/windy out and the boys went for Daddy Date night, so I put on my positive thinking cap and ignored the people around me. Wasn't as bad as I remembered it...this time.

Now to go read this 3:2:1 that I obviously should have heard and read about before. :/

I just got a Vitamix for my birthday in November.  I LOVE IT!!!   I had a running date with Runnergirl from BT and she is a vitamix queen.  She showed exactly what it can do.  I've made smoothies, soup (yes it heats with friction and makes a steamy soup), but my favorite thing so far is peanut butter.  I get organic, unsalted, roasted peanuts and make my own.  LOVE!!!    My stepdaughter ordered me the Vegetarian cookbook and I am so excited to get it.  I also picked up the dry blend container and made bread this weekend with my own fresh ground flour from wheatberries.

Ok, folks more questions.  I am ignoring the fact that I cannot start any run training at the moment.

Last year, I used the Beginner HIM plan here on BT.  I wanted to 'do more' for this year, so I was going to use the 20 week Half Ironman Silver Plan this time around.  But then I started reading the description and it says:

The plan was for athletes that already have a strong base and are balanced in all 3 disciplines. Because of this I wanted to get the volume up early, then add the speed stuff in. For those athletes that want to get faster at the 1/2, they need to focus on doing tempo and LT work, not just base. So, with the idea that the athlete had already done a good amount of base, I incorporated more race type efforts, which mean less volume.

I'm thinking that this is not a good idea for me, at least where the running is concerned.  So I guess I could just do the plan as is, but do the runs as easy?  I don't do the swims as it is written anyway, cause I do the workouts the Masters Coach does.  Is it fair to think that if the volume looks a fair bit increased from the plan I did last year, I should see improvement, despite not doing the intensity intended?

Need help making a decision.  

I really want to do the Expedition Man Ultra (140.6) on 8/25/13.  Last year I did this race and I finished in 14 hrs 51 mins ish.  I truly believe with the way my run training is progressing, I can be very, very competitive in my age group - possibly win.  Should be able to go sub 11 hours this year...maybe even closer to 10 hours.  

The problem:

I just read about the Leadman Tri in Bend, OR on 9/21/13.  This is a longer swim (5K), which is something I wished for last year given my swim background - a longer bike (138 miles) and a shorter run (13 miles)...total race distance is 250K....  This sounds AWESOME and is really close to home for me.  Plus I have a friend that has a cabin in Bend - quite sure I can stay there.  $270 entry.  

Why can't I be superman and make both of them my "A" races?