Broompatrol's Group - FULL (Page 3)

I am also "doing it", but don't get to log in everyday.  However, I am beginning to have a problem with my feet cramping when swimming.  Because of my shoulder, I do mostly breast stroke for now, but I change to flutter kick due to the cramping.  But, I am having cramping with that too.  Its just the arch that cramps, but I almost have to stop immediately to work it out.  It goes away, but starts again as soon as I begin swimming again.  Any suggestions as to why this is happening or, better yet, what can I do about it?

Pam,

The foot cramping is probably from tension in your legs. are you pointing your toes? flexible relaxed feet are more effienient. The cramping will probbaly go away in time as those itty bitty muscles in your feet get stronger. Those little muscles are suddenly putting up with regular running and swimming and may be getting beat up.

In the mean time (IMO) I think it would helpful to be really nice to your feet by stretching them. Sit in a kneeling position on top of your heels then move to a squatting position on your toes with your heels off the floor. It sould feel good. It helps with your running too. If you have time treat your feet the way you would any other injured muscle. Soaking and stretching. Order someone to rub your feet

I am not a swimming expert, so I would defer to a coach, if they had a different opinion.

Some people come into triathlon (or any new activity) as a means to make a change or prove something to themselves.  This is for any number of reasons, one of them is because a person feels dissatisfied with the way their life is at the moment. They may feel that they never get anything accomplished, do not follow through with things, they procrastinate, they are unhappy with their body, feel unfulfilled, and/or just feel blah much of the time. They decide they want to make an exciting and positive change in life. They read a bunch of articles or posts about how (insert activity here, in this case triathlon) saved, changed, improved somebody’s life. After reading this, our brave soul endeavors to make over their life and then…life happens. After the initial excitement starts to wane, the pressures of family, work, school, scheduling and fatigue takes its toll. Our soul starts missing workouts. This soul sees the missed workouts as the same old patterns of quitting coming back and they start to feel guilty and they mentally punish themselves. Instead of triathlon being fun, it is now another stick to beat his or herself with.

My point is that there is more to making changes in one’s life than adopting a new activity. There is an important mindset that goes with it. Happy people already have it. They are gentle with themselves. Our brave soul in the above example is experiencing a type of depression that is the result of a way of thinking. The negative thoughts are well worn and feel very real because they are extremely familiar and almost automatic. But, in reality these thoughts are a form of judgment that is supposed to be used externally, like in a flight or fight situation, that have been turned inward.

If any of this rings true for you, there is good news. You don’t suck, you don’t need psych meds and you can make the changes you want. There are some really great books on the subject. Counseling is an option, too. If you’re really timid about counseling I can send you a link to online therapy.

Hope this helps.  

-Chris                       

Chris - you were reading my mail. Honestly it does just become another dissapointing thing that  you don't feel you can accomplish.

I don't want that...I want this to be a positive experience, not something else to, like you said, beat myself up over!

- christi

Christi, my order to you is: that in all things you be gentle with yourself.

I hope it helps to know that you are not the only person to have those feelings.

If there is something going on causing you to not feel good about yourself you can shoot me an email or post it on the forums if you like.

Have a great weekend everybody! I have plans for dinner theater tonight, we have a sitter tomorrow so my wife and I may go for a bike ride tomorrow if there are no thunderstorms and I have a 12 mile run on my calendar for Sunday. In between that I'll be cramming for a class and cleaning the house, fun!

Don't forget to oil your chains.

If I don't do the run you all have permission to scold me.

hey Chris-

Hope you have a great run! and a good weekend. So I have some new motivation to get my run on! I'm doing a duathlon on Feb. 21st. It's very short 1.2 run/10.5 bike/1.2 run...so needless to say I'm excited and nervous because I haven't actually competed in a race so this is my first. I have about 5 other friends doing it with me so it is going to be great fun!

Some things to ponder. Most of this is from articles by Mark Allen, but I have found much of this to be true.

You don't have to feel good to have a good race. On race day morning you may feel like crap. If you are not sick or injured, you may have a great performance in you despite it. Don't let simply not feeling good ruin your mindset.

At the end of a race you may feel very disappointed about something or another, but after a few days or weeks of processing you may feel differently and realize you actually had a good race. Don't let a momentary feeling imprint a negative memory of your race. Reserve judgement until you can consider it in a more objective light. If you did indeed have a "bad race" be sure to figure what is to be learned from it.

For those of you who may be doing your first or only race: If you have a great race, awesome! If not and something happens like you get hurt, or do not finish or something, remember this race does not define you, you simply had a setback. If you look at the race resume of a pro or elite athlete, you will see many DNF's or DNS's  for a variety of reasons. As a person trying to do your first race, any number of things can happen. All this means is that stuff happens and you may have to resort to plan B. The real measure of a person is how they deal with the unexpected.

Next week: Running Fashion, is it proper to mix synthetics and cotton? 

Am I the only one feeling as though we are not motivating each other?  I do well during the week, but get busy during the weekend and can always find a reason not to go for that run or bike ride.  And, right now I have a trainer 3 days a week, so have to go to the gym.  I'm afraid what could happen when I don't HAVE to get up at 3:40a.m. in order to get to the gym before work.

How is everyone else doing?  Are you fitting in all your training sessions?  Do you let one slide while working on another?  I am not good in any of the areas (swimming, biking, running), so try to get 3 sessions of each in every week.  Unfortunately, since I live an hour from the gym, if I don't swim during the week when I'm there before work, I don't go back on the weekend to get all my sessions in.

Any suggestions to keep motivated?  I get lots from my family, but they aren't physically near me to urge me on.

Hope you all have a great weekend; wish everyone had the weather I'm going to have this weekend!!

Pam

Pam,

How's this?

Go Pam! Go Chris, Go Giancarlo! You're doing it! Woo hoo, keep it up, you guy's rock!

I've been guilty of getting a little behind at work and school. I'm more or less caught up now. It seems there are really four of us left: Chris, the other Chris, Pam and Giancarlo. If the rest of you cats are still with us feel free to check in.

Pam mentioned she was feeling less than motivated. If there is anything you guys would like or need form me, feel free to ask, or even email me in private if you like. The mentoring is new to me, too.

Something for you guys to try out. At the end of a hard effort like an interval or if you find you're just going too hard (especially on a run)when your breathing is ragged, stop or slow down and focus on gaining your composure within 5 breaths, then resume. The key is to relax your diaphram and let the air come naturally. After a few tries you will find that you can get your composure in one breath. This a helpful technique to stay focused and relaxed and will allow you to keep control during a race if things get squirrely. If you're like me you can pretend you Obi Wan Kenobi when you do it.

Another thing to consider: Check your training plans and make sure they have a few sessions that have the distance or greater you will be racing. It is immportant mentally to already know you are phycially prepared for the distance.

Everyone please send happy thoughts toward Stiga00. Apparently he didn't get a flu shot and is very ill.

Pam,

It is typical to miss workouts. Life happens. The guidline is to be sure to do "key" workouts and leave out less important ones. For example: if your week called for a long and short bike, a long run, a fast run, a recovery run, and 2 swims you would probably skip the recovery run, as the long and fast ones are "key' and you had an extra run in there anyway. Keep in mind consistency is key to improvement, too. 2 shorter runs will give you more boost than one long run.

It is common for motivation to wane when the newness wears off. Inspiring stories get me going. Try a new path on your ride or something different to keep it fresh. If you're feeling burnt out, try a hooky day and instead of feeling guilty, use the time to rejuvenate with whatever works for you. I like massage and eating out.

Thanks, Chris.  I do think I'm hard on myself, because I really NEED to do this for myself.  I had pneumonia 2 years ago, so need to get in shape and stay that way so I stay healthy.  I need lots of encouragement to keep myself accountable during the weekends when I tend to be busy.  Right now, I think I've mentioned that I have a trainer 3 days a week, so its easy to make myself go to the gym those days.  Maybe the everything will get easier the longer I train, so it won't be so bad.

I went out for 3+ miles this morning, but I have a problem.  It was hot and muggy; I don't sweat, so the heat beats me up.  I drink lots of water, but just can't get the sweat going (some people don't sweat - not sure why).  This is not a new problem, but I overheat very rapidly.  By the time I finished my run, I had taken to dumping the water over my head too, just to cool myself off.  But, then if I do that on longer runs, I run out of water.  In the summer, I run at 5a.m. to beat the heat (I live in southern AZ), but I couldn't get out there early this morning.  Any suggestions?

I am still here. I have been battling a nasty cold for the last month, new job, kids, life, so I am behind for sure! There is something about having a coughing fit underwater that sucks the motivation out of you! It's been frustrating to say the least when I already feel behind my other training partners. I go to the doctor again tomorrow.

I am still getting a few workouts in as I start to feel better. Thanks for the advice, I hired a swim coach. She only teaches kids so not fabulous but I learned I was totally dragging, showed me a few tips and am amazed at how much LESS effort I put in to swim the same distances I was killing myself on before. It's amazing how just tweaking your stroke really does make a HUGE difference!

Anyways I hope to post more soon when some of my commitments ease up and I am feeling better. Great job everyone and I really like hearing all your stories, tips etc as it helps to keep me motivated!

-Ang

I'm really glad the swim sessions have helped you and Chris! Its interesting how dramatic a change you can make in swimming, with a little help. Don't y'all wish running was like that, too?

I choked on some seawater during a race and I found it left me a tickle in my throat. It was utterly maddening and I kept trying to clear my throat by coughing underwater during the exhale. It didn't really work. I just had to stop and hack for a bit.

Anyway, as far as motivation goes, remember this is supposed to be fun and positive! If you start doing things because you "should" or feel guilty the joy will leave and then the motivation will really sag.

One of my favorite athletes, Natascha Badmann, always races with a smile, even when she is hurt. Her coach says he can't get her to workout when she doesn't feel like it. If she wants to sit and eat ice cream, then that is what she does. She is a 6 time Ironman World Champion. If she can skip a few workouts then you can too. She just doesn't make a habit out of it.

Did I mention that she didn't come from an athletic background? She was a slightly overweight mom who smoked and had a desk job. How's that for motivation?

For those of you who are stuck indoors using a treadmill, I found a cute little video of treadmill tips.

http://www.self.com/fitness/workouts/2009/02/treadmill-technique-masterclass-video?mbid=yahoo

Enjoy

A nice article on everday foods that are good for training.

http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Easy_Energy.htm?act=EMC-Active&Vehicle=Triathlon&Date=02_22_09&Edition=4&Sections=Articles&Creative=Easy_Energy&TextName=Read_The_Full_Article_On_Active&ArtText=Txt&Placement=3&Dy=Mon

I'm back, and I apologize for being absent. If anyone has un ugent question, I'll always reply to an email.

To answer the interval question: First, let me qualify it by stating that what I know is from articles I have read and my experiences with a coach.

Anyway, the conventional wisdom on intervals is that the total time for the set should be 15-25 minutes. My coach always assigns 25 minutes because I think he wants to kill me. So this would look like: 5 sets(3 minutes hard x 2 minutes easy)=25 minutes. But if the distance you are running is shorter then a 12 - 15 minute set may be appropriate for adequate warmup and cooldown.

If you are going to create your own sets, the traditon is to mix it up each week, and the recovery should be shorter than the hard (usually). so an 8 (2 hard ans 1 easy) or 4 (4 minutes hard and 2 minutes easy).

A guideline for intensity is that the hard portion should be at an effort you can sustain steadily for the alotted time. A 1 minutes intervals is closer to max effort than a 5 minute intervals. The easy/recovery should be easy enough to allow you to put in a good effort the next time but should still keep you warmed up (its still pretty easy).

treadmill programs are generic, but follow pretty standard protocols. The treadmill is nice because it holds you to a pace and is easy on the knees, but It doesn't allow for your individual conditioning.

on another note the recommendation is to not do intervals more than once a week in each discipline. 2 swims, 1 intervals run, 1 easy run, 1 long run, 1 interval bike, and 1 long bike may be a typical week for some.

A typical inteval run for me looks like this:

6 miles:

10-15 minutes warm-up running

5 x 3 min hard (shoot for exceeding HR 167-169 at end of hard section) 2 minutes easy. During the easy I will focus on staying composed and relaxed and not lose form. Then I'll tie my shoe, get light headed when I stand back up and hold onto a tree. The end of the set usually leaves me about 5-10 more minutes of running which I keep at an aerobic pace.

There it is, this post also makes a good bedtime story, it'll put anyone right to sleep.

Giancarlo bought a new bike! Cool.

Giancarlo, I saw your comment on the poor customer service at your shop.

There are good and bad bike shops. A few I've been to are cliquey and annoying, some were crooked (the guy said that I had to buy a bike right now because there was going to be a carbon fiber shortage next year), some have been downright incompetent (REI) oops, did I say that? I am fortunate that there is a great shop about 4 miles from my house. There is one that is literally around the corner from my house that I won't go to anymore when they didn't stock or know what a 650c tube was for.

Like a good mechanic, a good shop is golden. They can save you money by making good suggestions and telling you what mindless upgrageds you don't need. As far as fitting goes, even the best bike shops can have poor fitters, especially for multipsort. For a FIST fitting I need to drive about an hour. Still, I'm lucky. I'm sure some states don't even have a good fit service.

When I find anew shop, I do a little recon and tell them I'mlooking for a bike and see what they offer me and I ask about shop services. Someplaces don't have rates listed and charge what they feel like.

Speaking of bikes:

Write this down!

If you've never been in a triathlon before, when you rack your bike in transition, make sure its easy to unrack. One time I almost took the whole rack with me when the brake levers caught. If you plan on making a quick transition, practice trotting wiht your bike and getting on quickly when you go for your rides. That way mounting your bike quickly is familiar and you're less likely to fall over.

Make sure you bike is set to an appropriate gear for the T1 exit. Chieck the bike exit to see if there is a hill or its flat. Too low can be annoying too, you want to get underway for a few seconds beifre having to shift if possible, but its better to err toward an easier gear.

When on the course, you want to be comfortable riding with other  riders around. Especially if the course has multiple loops. Be sure to practice staying focused an in the moment even if you are feeling out of breath or tired. There will be other riders around and unpredictable weaving is a hazard. Some of the others will be inexperienced and you will want to watch out for them.

Some courses will have bottlenecks and I have seen some pretty dumb moves, usally by an A type with delusions of grandeur. Reckless riding doesn't really make much difference in your time.

I hope I'm not making it sound scary, I just want y'all to be safe and have a good time, cause crashes aren't fun.

I do recommend HR training, but percieved exertion is fine, too. I'll share my perspective and why I think this way.

Because we are human, our mood, training load, what we ate,  level of rest, any number of factors can effect percieved exertion. That means percievd exertion is subjective if you tied it to measurable effort like watts generated. But, that does not mean that PE is invalid, by any means.

HR monitor will give you recordable data. If you run a race your watch can't tell you how long you were feeling a 5 or a 7. It can tell you how long your HR was at a certain level or what the avg was. This is where HR training is helpful. If you've been tested and know where your training zones are you can use the HRM as a tool to make your training time more efficient. The HRM is good as a reality check to detect if you are overtraining, and for pacing. If the effrot seems really high but your HR won't go up, or your resting HR seems a little high, these are signs that you're overtraining and need to back off on training and get more rest..

One of the biggest advanatge I have found with HRMs is knowing when I'm going too hard. I tend to run out like a Jack Russell Terrier on meth during a race and training. The HRM numbers let me know to back off a bit, but not too much, so I don't blow up. I'll use it in a long race to see if I co go a bit harder, too. But I still listen to my legs.

All that said about HRMs, expereinced athletes still know how to listen to their bodies and there are times when they know they can push it despite what the numbers say, and when to hold back. This is why PE is valuable because it accounts for the human element.

HRMs can be used to get an idea of what your anaerobic threshold is without formal testing. This is helpful in interval training. (My AT is typically 167-169  which is why I used that number). Having a low or high AT doesn't necessarily mean anything by itself. The formulas to determine max HR aren't that accurate so finding your specific percentages is tricky without being tested.

I prefer the simpler HRMs because I haven't made the time or $ investment on complicated software, and I find the complicated ones hard to use while I'm running around.

[I am fortunate that there is a great shop about 4 miles from my house. There is one that is literally around the corner from my house that I won't go to anymore when they didn't stock or know what a 650c tube was for.]

I am so lucky to have Trisports near me.  They have the trisports.com website, so  deal with a lot of all 3 sports.  I went to a great "wheels" instruction class there recently; was worth the nominal fee.

I am thinking of getting some swim coaching from them when I get better in the pool.  I can now swim 400 meters (half way to that 800 meters), but most of it is breast stroke, since I'm still babying my shoulder.  I do a fair amount of kickboard work, so I can let my legs carry me through when my shoulder is uncooperative.

Pam