cathyd's Peer Support Group - FULL (Page 3)

1. Make sure you have the Tiny MCE editor enabled for entering text. You enable this by clicking on the link that say "Control panel". This link is at the top of most pages, just below the BeginnerTriathlete.com logo. Just over half-way down the page, there is a box "Use rich edit box when composing messages?" Change that to TinyMCE (experimental). Then scroll a little further and click "Submit"
2. Navigate to Cathy's page (you can use this link)
3. Position your mouse just to the left of the "P" where it says "Peer Support Group Thread". Click and hold your mouse and drag it to after it says "John". The text should be highlighted in some way (mine turns blue).
4. On your keyboard, hold down the Ctrl button and press C. This copies the selected text to your clipboard.
5. Click on the Training Log icon at the top of the screen to go back to your page.
6. Right beside your calendar, there are some pictures; click the first one that looks like a gear on top of a white box with blue border - this brings up a different Control Panel view, with a number of "tabbed" options.
7. Click on the link that says "Goals"
8. It might take a couple of secs, but the TinyMCE Editor should start in both the "Short Term Goals" and "Long Term Goals" sections. Click in the editor area for either one.
9. On your keyboard, hold down Ctrl and press V. This pastes the clipboard contents (Cathy's list) into the editor.
10. Click the Apply button.
11. The list and links should all be there now - go back to your Training Log and test them out.

Thanks for adding the box Cathy!  I have already added it to my blog.

I signed up for the benbrook tri today.  It's a short indoor swim.  Since it was my weakest sport before it naturally is the one I am most worried about.  My first swim is scheduled for Tuesday and I'm not sure if I even remember the drills to do. 

I have everything, a swim bouy, fins, googles, cap, etc.  I looked up some swim drills to start off with and the one that is perplexing to me is the side swim where you swim on your sideways then roll on your back to breathe.  Should make for an interesting swim on Tuesday.

I have a question for Mtnjay, our resident TI expert.

I've been re-reading my TI book and doing the drills.  Everytime I try to do the skating drill when I turn my face down to face bottom and then roll back to my side to breathe I end up getting water up my nose.  Besides wearing a nose plug which I don't want to do, have you any advice for me to avoid the water up my nose when I roll?

A great drill to promote body roll is 10k per side - so say you have your left hand stretched out and your left side pointing towards the bottom of the pool, your right hand should be at your hip and you kick 10x (or count to 10), then roll back, pull with your left, bring your right up front and repeat. This way your body rotates on the long axis and you can't "cheat" by only rolling your upper body.  However, it does require quite a bit of kick. 

Rolling all the way over seems counterproductive as you don't want to be rolling that much when you're swimming... Just my opinion.  I don't know anything about TI though.

Expert? Oh how I hope to be one day

So, with my current limited knowledge :] I will say Cathy that your issue affects a lot of people in swimming and TI does address it. They refer to 'lightly bubbling' out of your nose while your face is underwater. And I think they choose the term lightly so that people will  exhale almost the entire time their face is underwater as opposed to exhaling quickly and then having time when you are just holding what little air is left before taking the next breath. And so exhaling lightly the whole time would prevent the ability for water to come back into your nose (I follow this technique myself).

For some added background on TI in general. Although I had personal lessons, I also got the DVD but not until near the last few sessions I did and the DVD was really awesome. The teacher is great because they can correct you physically while in the water of course. But sometimes watching their example and having them tell you about a drill doesn't always create the clearest picture in your own mind [at least not mine :] of exactly how it should be done. And with the DVD's underwater camera work, slow-motion sections and thorough explanations I felt it really cleared a lot of details up for me so that I would practice techniques better. For those interested, here is a link to some great free documents and general instruction they provide: http://www.totalimmersion.net/free-stuff

And for the record, many people don't like TI and that's cool too. I am not a proponent of saying that it's the only way and/or for everyone. It just really helped me and like I wrote in my 'intro' here previously, I was amazed to learn about focusing on torso drive and gliding instead of pulling harder or faster with your stroking arm/hand and how much that reduced fatigue in my shoulders over long swims and also reduced the kick I needed to save those leg muscles for the bike & run.

Another great swimming info/thread here on BT that I'd recommend is this (and it's not just TI): http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp... />

I'm a certified swimming coach - but I find it difficult to explain things in this format because it's hard without being able to "see" the person swimming ...

I agree with the bubbles.  Although I'll need to think about it when I'm swimming tonight.  I don't know if I always blow out the whole time or if its' more a sort of "pressure" that I keep.  Hmmm.... Interesting.

I think a lot of people hold their breath and I notice with adults that they often breathe out and then in when they are out of the water to breathe.  They need to breathe out under water so that they can take in a full breath when their face is out of the water.

Hi All,

 Sorry I've been a little absent.  I've got a sick cat (she's going to be ok), that has been keeping me from the internet and workouts   I've got plans after work tonight, but I'm going to get in a good workout tomorrow--maybe even do all 3!

As for the water up your nose while swimming, I agree with the bubbles.  If you're just slightly blowing air out of your nose, it keeps the water from going in. I know it sounds funny, but once you do it for awhile it becomes second nature.  If anyone has any other swimming questions, let me know.  It would be good to know that my 20+ years as a competive swimmer, all the money my parents spent for coaching, competitions, etc., and the money I spent on getting certified to be a coach, at least went for some good

 Does anyone have any tips on building up running endurance? Until a couple months ago, I hadn't done any running at all, unless someone was chasing me!  Now I would ideally like to be able to do a HIM this summer and a IM next summer, so I've got to build up some running skills.  My problem is two fold.  First, due to an old injury and a rod in my leg it hurts.  (I talked with the doc and its all healed, I'm not doing any damage, and he thinks it will get better the more my leg gets use to it).  But then my second problem is, I just don't seem to have the endurance when I run.  My endurance is there is swimming and biking.  I started out having to walk a lot, and I've gotten a little better at that, but my maximum distance right now still seems to be 5 miles, with some walking (maybe a mile or so).  Any suggestions?

 In other great news, we had a day of 60+ here in Colorado Springs yesterday, and so I was able to take a quick road ride on my new triathlon bike (guru magis).  I love it! Hopefully that will keep me motivated!

 Happy Friday!

Courtney

I would do a regular interval pattern to help build endurance.  If you are comfortable start with a run:walk ratio of 4:1 or 5:1 or even higher.  Walking will give you active recovery and allow you to go farther.  Plus - with recovery all the way through, you will walk less at the end.  You actually need to do the walking minutes though.  Don't blow them off.

Hey Courtney, ya gonna supply us with some bike p0rn maybe? And I hope your cat is on the mend.

Yeah,  I think Stef is right w/ interval run training. An extremely popular coach of this method is Jeff Galloway so check out his training plans and site in general?

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/index.html

Yeah, you can't directly embed a photo in your post as the pic has to be uploaded somewhere already and then you put the link in that 'Image URL' field you get in the popup instead.

You can just upload your photo to your profile's Album section and use that link (if you don't have some sort of flickr acct or whatever your favorite photo hosting site may be).

If you want more specifics, just say the word!

Ok, for now, it is just my profile pic

I've got a facebook account, if others are there....

 Thanks for the tips on running, due to social stuff after work today, I won't get a run in, but I'll try the intervals tomorrow...

Hmmm... I posted it on flicker, but it still isn't working....

 Here is a link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37766196@N00/3183223002/

Oooh! Bike P0rn!

My new ride for this year - her name is Pitou!

Thanks for the swim tips... of course it's obvious that if I breathe out my nose water can't come in.  I'll consciously do that next time I'm doing those rolling drills.

Jay - I'm a fan of TI.. it's how I learned to swim 2 years ago (with a couple lessons at the Y thrown in as well).

Courtney - I've always found with running I hit distance plateaus... at a certain mileage I find it hard to go farther and then one day it just clicks and I break through to new distance levels.  Try just adding a few minutes to each run, or an extra 1/4 mile.  Keep a couple of your weekly runs shorter and add distance to one run , your weekly 'long run'.  The walk/run is an option as well.  With your surgery history be aware of your running surface... concrete (ie. sidewalks) is the highest impact, followed by asphalt, dirt, grass... quality treadmills have nice cushioned surfaces and offer less impact.  Varying your surface and avoiding sidewalks may help.

I consciously thought about what I do in the water last night ... I do blow out my nose most of the time, but sometimes I just keep pressure.  When I'm really working I blow out both my nose and mouth.  However, on flip turns I ALWAYS blow out the whole time I'm turning. 

If you are clearing the air out of your lungs you'll be able to take more in on your breaths.

Awesome on Steelhead! I tried to register for my first bike ride of the season, but it filled up in 30 hours! Now I've got to find something else to sign up for now to keep me motivated! Hopefully something not too far from Colorado...

Yea I'm so excited about the new bike.  It was probably too much of a splurge, and I'm feeling it now that I had to spend all the money for the cat at the vet the next day.  But I know it will end up money well spent. Now it just needs a name.  My road bike is Bianca (its a Bianchi), but nothing really works like that with Guru...

 Thanks for all the advice on the running.  I'm going to try that, today I'm scheduled for a long bike ride on the trainer due to the snow here, and then a short transition run, but tomorrow is my long run day...

It's is SO exciting!!  It will be money well spent.  When I was trying to justify buying the P2K I looked at it that I've had my Devinci for 8 years and the amount of gas it has saved me has been amazing. (Not to mention wear and tear on my car...and I bought the Cervelo used.)  So in 9 years of riding I think I've spent a reasonable amount.  Not to mention - it's not like buying a new gaming system every year or a huge TV.  It's something that will benefit you!

My Devinci is just Devinci.  My Cervelo is Pitou. *laughing* (My beetle is Trillian.) *yup I name everything!* *laughing*

Okay people! What's up for today!! It's sunny, snowy and cold here in Southern Ontario and I have a 40 minute bike scheduled! So it's trainer time for me!!!

ETA: Going to do the 40 minutes in sections - I get too sloppy on the trainer if I'm on it too long and then it gets scary ... 15 minutes this morning, hopefully another 15 after the movie this aft...

Hey guys!  So when you're talking about ratio's for running could explain it to me a little better??

 Above someone suggested doing 4:1 or 5:1.  How would you suggest breaking this down?  Do you mean like run 4 miles walk one, run four miles walk one, or run 20 minutes walk 5, run 20 minutes walk 5, like that?  Or run a mile, walk a quater mile run a mile, walk a quarter mile?  None of the above, all of the above, one of the above??

I've been gradually adding distance and I've kind of hit a wall at 5 miles of constant jog.  What would you experienced runners suggest I do?

Thanks!