Runnerg1rl7's Group!! - Closed (Page 3)

Hi everyone!  I'm happy to see this much activity here - keep it up!

John - Hope you're getting in that training you missed the other day!  Also, when I first started swimming seriously I watched a TI video and did some of the drills, which seemed to help a lot.  I have the book but haven't had time to read it yet.  I also found many of the short articles here on BT about swimming to be helpful for coming up with other drills to do.  Still would be worth it to check into swim classes or a master's swim team - I learned a lot more from having our local masters coach and fellow experienced swimmers watch my stroke and tell me what I needed to work on.

Marcy- You're doing a great job of fitting in what you can over there!  I think the more different environments you can train in, the better!  Since you never know what you'll encounter on race day.  Hope your return trip is uneventful and safe!  And thanks - the new picture is from the NJ Marathon relay I ran in this past weekend.

Libby- Yay for training!  Hope you find a pool and figure out a different bike soon - I too lugged my mountain bike around on the road for about a month before finally getting a road bike last year - what a difference! 

Lou- What great timing for that email!  Glad you decided to go for it - I think that will indeed be very helpful.  Also glad you're starting to get the hang of this site and will be logging your workouts - it's very useful for you to be able to look back at what you've done, and will also help us keep track of what you're up to!    Good luck getting in what you can this week - I know how difficult it can be to work in the things you WANT to do (like train) when there's so much else that you HAVE to do.

Hope everyone else (Sherist, where are you?  Hope all is well!) is doing well!  Get out there and TRAIN! 

Laura,

Thanks...I'll look into what the YMCA offers for swimming....who knows...I might be able to do a tri this year after all...if not this year next year I WILL...either way I am still doing the duathlons this year

Hey Laura,

i forgot to tell you Thanks for the info about how to add a freind,  i'm so new i really dont know how to do much on here.  I need to find time it hang out on this site and see what it offers.  I see you say there is a ton on ifo on here so i need to go read some!

John - join the Y.  I did, i love it.  My class is called "new stoke class for tri's"  see if ur Y offeres it.  NOt bad in price and its a lot cheaper then private lessons.  I got lucky and there are just two of us in class!!

I hope to get in some better traing in from here, my Mother went to the Doc's and we are just waiting for her results, so now i feel a little better and can make some time for the gym after work, i want to try and get in another swim into my week, but i sometimes find it difficult to get to work, work out and do everything lese..it always seems that gym time gets cut short.  I always make sure i go, but sometime i only have 20 or 30 min.  Enyone have ideas for short, short workouts??

Jennifer,

I will join the Y.......  I think it will come in handy for those days the weather is bad....like the last few days here!!!!! 

Jennifer - Just curious, but is it possible for you to get to the Y or work out elsewhere BEFORE work?  I know that doesn't always work for everyone but if it might be feasible for you, might be worth a try.  I NEVER was a morning exerciser til I started tri training and realized that I was going to have to sometimes do 2 workouts in one day, which meant one had to happen in the morning.  Now, a year later, I actually PREFER to do most of my workouts in the morning - especially swimming.  Some days, if it doesn't happen first thing in the morning, it won't happen at all.

As far as other suggestions for short workouts - intervals are good.  Alternating hard/fast intervals with easier/slower "recovery" intervals in between are a good way to maximize a short workout.  And you can do that with swimming, biking, and running!

Have A Great WeekEnd EVERYONE!!!

I don't think working out in the A.M. will work for me...right now.  I've been evry busy at work getting in pretty early so i dont have to stay too late in the evenings.  Maybe once things die down a little that would be a great idea.  I use to get up at 5 in college so i know what it feels like to get a good workout in first things in the A.M. and i tell you what its an awesome feeling. 

This weekend I gonna try and hit hte gym, but i also have a side business of making jwerley and have some orders for Mother's day so just need to make time. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend and to any that apply happy Mother's Day!!!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

 Now its only Monday......

Congrats to Laura!!!!

Hi everyone!

Thanks, Jennifer!!  (In case the rest of you are wondering, I received my master's degree yesterday - it took 4 years of going to grad school part-time while working full time, but I finally did it!)

And I also understand preferring to get into work early so you can get out earlier - in my previous job I was the same way.  I'd get to work no earlier than 7am so I could get out earlier, and went to the gym or ran after work and that worked just fine for me then.  Now that I have a more flexible work schedule (and don't feel compelled to just get in and get out like at the old job), I enjoy the ability to get a workout in before work.  So, it's just up to you to find the work/life/training balance that works for you.

John - Yikes!  Glad the dog situation wasn't any worse!  I have yet to experience that on a bike (since I usually ride on busy roads) but I HAVE had dogs come after me while running and that is quite scary!  I love dogs and have one myself but you just never know what another dog will do...

How was everyone else's weekend?  How is your training going??

Laura,

The ride was in the middle of nowhere.  It nice to ride with very few distractions.....only a car now and then.  But now I got these dogs to deal with.....will at least they had fun chasing me....I bet the poor guys are so bored out there all alone.

Laura -- Congrats on your degree. Getting a master's in nutrition is a not-so-secret dream of mine, but... alas... I don't even know where to start. Plus, I would have to go back and start with all of the basic science classes because I have a degree in visual communications and a master's in marketing. Not a whole lot of chemistry there! Anyway, somehow I have managed to make this small paragraph all about me... I do that sometimes. Sorry.

How did everyone's weekend go? I got some good workouts in, but I have to be honest, I know I doing pretty well to follow the program, but I feel like I'm not doing much. Plus, I'm totally slacking on strength training. Does anyone follow a strength training program they really like?

ok, got a question, may sound stupid, but i dont know much about this sport.  What is the typical swim distance in a sprint tri?  The ones that I see in my area are 800m.  For someone who is new to this sport that seems like a long distance of swim.  How do you swim that distance nonstop? 

This is really making me question if I can really do a tri this year.  Being a positive person and all but thats a long distance to start off with esprcially someone who is new to swimming too!  I was talking to John about doing a few 5k instrad of doing a tri and sghooting for it for next year. 

Anyone have any ideas on how i can get through this problem?

three rivers Michigan has a Sprint Aug 16th at corey lake

300m swim....11.2mile bike.....3.1mile run

Lou,

Sorry I can't help you.  I don't do any strength training at the moment.  If you find one that works for you let me know.

Hi!

Well, I must be psychic, because after I mentioned to John yesterday about encountering dogs while running, wouldn't you know I came upon a loose dog on my run yesterday evening!  It was just a small fluffy thing, but had a nasty bark (so I was envisioning sharp bites on my ankles).  Luckily it didn't chase me, but it also wasn't about to let me get near it to check its tag so I could find its home, either.

Anyway!  Yes, Monday was a long day!  I can't wait til the weekend already, either, but I agree with Libby - all of my upcoming weekends are going to be so busy they will all fly by.  Though I'll be busy with GOOD stuff, that is still kinda depressing! 

Lou - Thanks!  Yup, surely not a secret now that you've told all of us!    Well, you're right that it would take you a little longer since you'd have to take the undergrad-level basic science courses, but others in your situation have done it so I know it's possible!  I had the science background but had only taken ONE nutrition class undergrad, so I was behind a lot of my fellow grad students who had nutrition bachelor's degrees and/or were practicing registered dietitians when it came to the technical stuff.  But I got it with enough studying.  It's never too late!

And in terms of your strength training question...I do have a strength training program I enjoy and that doesn't take a ton of time (but covers all the major muscle groups).  Problem is, I haven't made the time to do it!  Anyway, I'll check my log to make sure I don't forget anything and put it in a separate post in case anyone's interested.

Jennifer - The distances in sprint tris vary a lot from one race to the next.  MOST races do include 750-800 yd/m swims, but there are plenty of exceptions to the rule.  Two of the races I did last year had only quarter-mile swims (440 yd).  As far as the distance, you'll get there - it just takes some time and patience.  Last May I had trouble going 100 yds nonstop, but by mid-July I was comfortably swimming 1000 yds nonstop.  You just have to build the distance gradually (ie, if you're only comfortable right now swimming 100 nonstop, don't try to do 500).  Add one length nonstop at a time.  After you get comfortable there, add another length.

Here's the strength training workout I mentioned:

Pushups (legs up on exercise ball or regular)
Pull ups (if you have a pull up bar available)
Squats (with a dumbbell or medicine ball)
Bicep curls with dumbbells while sitting on an exercise ball (engages core muscles at the same time)
Lunges (with dumbbells)
Tricep overhead extensions with dumbbells while sitting on exercise ball
Single leg squats (with dumbbells)
Lateral raises (works shoulders) with dumbbells while sitting on exercise ball
Ab crunches on exercise ball w/ medicine ball
Planks

I generally do 2-3 sets of 10 reps of each of the above (except for the crunches - 2 sets of 25 - and the planks - hold for 45 seconds).  Generally only takes about 20 minutes, but it's quite effective!

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I love reading this forum because it really inspires me. Thanks!

Today I am back in the US and so happy to be back to my usual gym and routine! This week/month I'm going to focus on increasing my training time overall to be at or over 400 min per week. Specifically, I need to focus more on biking and I plan to do that by commuting to work one day per week on the bike. Also, I intend to increase my usual swimming splits from sets of 50 yds to sets of 75 yds. 

Laura, many congratulations on the degree! I'm curious to know what you think of supplements like creatine, arginine and caffeine? Are they generally pretty helpful to triathletes? 

 Lou, I also have a strength workout that I like. I took most of it straight from an article in the magazine Muscle and Fitness Hers (which is a great magazine, by the way- not fluffy at all!). I modified it a bit to do as much as possible on the ball for added core work. I think the last time I did it in full was April 22 or 25 - you can check out my blog on those days for what it includes. Usually takes me 45 min.

If anyone is interested, my swim coach gave me some sets to work on that I really like. He says this will help increase my endurance in the water so I can add more distance. The sets here I now do at 50 yds each (but will soon increase to 75 yds). You can do the sets and rests in whatever length is comfortably challenging for you.

 1 set freestyle slow 

rest 30 sec

 1 set freestyle medium speed

 rest 30 sec

 1 set freestyle as fast as possible

 Repeat. You should have a noticeable time difference between each speed. 

 Then he also recommended doing one set each of breast stroke, back stroke, freestyle and repeat continuously with no rests. Backstroke he recommended particularly since it gives you a chance to recover oxygen while working the same muscles as freestyle. (This after I commented I didn't see the point in practicing backstroke...!)