kalalau's Group - FULL for now (Page 3)

I have been doing alot of reading on this site and I was going to ask you about changing my tires. That sound like a good place to start. I doubt it will be safe enough to do any outdoor riding for a while. Everything is quite frozen up on top of this mountain and the weather doesn't sound like that is likely to change. I am enjoying the Expresso bike for now. It has a screen and there are a few different routes, you have to steer and its hills are pretty realistic.

I am heading back to the pool tomorrow. I have been doing a lot of research about breathing techniques and proper stroke and glide techniques. I am excited to give them a try. I WILL conquer this! I looked into the previous year swim times for the triathlon...I started with the top 50 in my age group...OUCH! Seriously?? 12-19 minutes for 3/4 of a mile? Thats like 17 laps right? Good thing I started now!

Thanks for the advice!

Good luck - smartiec! WE CAN DO THIS!

That reminds me of a couple of things.  The first, is a quote they show a lot at the Ironman pre-race meeting...

YOU WILL DO THIS

I like it, because it's final.  There's no "can," there's no "if," only "WILL."  I use it to tell myself to stop dreading the race, stop worrying, or thinking that it's an option not to do it.  Just face the fact that I am doing it, and then go about the business of making it painless as possible (training, being prepared, planning, etc).  It's kind of strange that a silly quote can take out the worry.

The other thing you reminded me of is last year when I went to the Poconos in early February, and I brought my mountain bike in a brilliant idea to keep training during that weekend.  Hey, I'll ride my bike on the rail trail!  Well, it's the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail, which is of course cold and wet because it's a gorge.  And we are in the Poconos in the winter.  Well, I head out there, and there's snow but that doesn't worry me.  Pretty soon I get into the gorge and the trail is a sheet of ice.  Boom, I go down.  I'm an idiot, so I go again.  The snow is hiding the ice, and even making it slipperier.  Well I made it about 5 miles and 2 more falls before deciding to turn around.  What a stupid idea.

I think I rode that bike that you mentioned, once.  That thing was awesome.  I wish my gym had that.

How big is your pool?  

Hey - great race if anyone's interested:

Patriot's Triathlon.  It's a "Half Lite", meaning not quite a half Ironman.  In fact, the swimming leg is less distance than an Olympic.  There is also a Sprint distance that day.

Half Lite: 1300 m (.8 mile) swim,  41 mile bike, 7.6 mile run. 
Sprint:       650 m (.4 mile) swim, 15 mile bike,  3 mile run

Sunday, August 2.  Plenty of time to train.  It's practically walking distance from my house.  Of course, "walking distance" to us triathletes can mean up to 50 miles, eh?

I want to start off by saying that I have enjoyed reading everyone's entries and the responses.

 Dave thanks again for being on top of it!

 It is official, I have signed on for the Pioneer Sprint April 18th in Petersburg, IL and the Tempe Int. Tri on May 17th.  My first ones, very excited does not begin to cover it.

 I have been sticking to my swimming workouts laid out in BT.  I did my first brick session, doing (15 min bike followed by a 1 mile run) x 3.  I have laid off running a bit to let a few kinks in my legs work themselves out.  I want to start running again with a completely healthy start.

 I was planning to incorporate the BT 2 mo. training program for the Olympic distance starting next month (2 months) prior to the Sprint on April 18th.  How would you structure your run workouts between now and then?  I am a pretty strong runner and would love to get as far under a 7min mile as I possibly can for the races.  I would consider myself a strong runner, so I do not mind the pain. 

 Thanks again Dave!

I'm not so amped at doing IM sponsored races, but I jsut want to do a handful or so races.  I was just disgruntled when I looked upon other sites as to the races being mostly sprints and I want a longer race.  For me, it does not matter about who puts on the show, but how I perform in it.  The Chesapeake sounds intriguing (sp.) because my mom is from the Eastern Shore and I have longed the 22 mile or whatever bridge across.  I will put that stop as a possible end-of-the-year finale for big races. 

I have laxed a bit in my training.  With the swim practices involving more drills and sprints I have determined to partake in the swim practices on my sprint days and on my own for the long continuous days.  Running wise I will take your card for it and see what marathon packages I can coax up for quick 2 1/2 month training (but I've already been in training so it won't be starting from the get-go).  For the cycling part, I have an old buddy who has been living in Richmond and knows some good short to longer routes and has helped me with tackling them. 

I was wondering if I only tackle the biking part 2-3 times a week for different times and distances, would it be efficient for the 56 miles of a 70.3.  I feel like it should accomplish that feat.  Maybe throw in a brick each couple times or so after a biking escapade.

Glad to hear ya completed Disney!! I just signed up for the Nashville race at the end of April so I'll feel the pain your in a couple months. 

I just looked up Williamsburgs' Patroit HIM.  It looked very possible, but for me it is tough.  I cannot sign-up too far in advance because I do not know my scheduling after May 6th.  I will be in summer school and then Fall semester there after and do not know what times and how tough the classes I'll be taking will be. 

Do you think the one in Williamsburg will be jammed pack as of May?  I saw it was only open to a 1000 people.

LOL - ok so the pool is 25 meters and I actually did the math and figured it was 24 laps...heehee and to think i was nervous about the 17!!

I feel like a whimp trying to accomplish a sprint when everyone is talking about ironmans! 

That sounds like a great race for you!  It's funny that the swim is so short.  I won't be doing it because it's 1 week after Lake Placid.

Congrats on making the move Dave!  So how are you getting your bike to AZ?  Or maybe you'll rent one?

What's going on with your legs?  We'll go from there.  If they are fine, we could do some speedwork right now.  

Thanks!  Your experience at the marathon will be pretty valuable when you tackle the Iron distance for the first time.

For checking out races, I will link in my favorite calendar site.  I wasn't sure I should post it because this site sort of has a calendar, but I like the way it is organized by state.

http://www.trifind.com/

And there is even a page for IM and HIM distances:

http://www.trifind.com/iron-h.html

http://www.trifind.com/iron.html

I am pretty sure you can do the same thing on this site, by doing a race search and just filling in the state.

For marathons, my favorite site is marathonguide.com.  There is a huge amount of reviews, and you can get tips from people who have run the race.  Here are the reviews for the Country Music Marathon for you.

http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=775090425

Without looking at a training guide, I would say the cycling portion of a half iron plan would be 2-3 times a week.  One will be a high intensity workout, like maybe a one hour hill workout on the gym bike.  A 2nd workout would be a normal pace 45-60 mins that I might add a 15 minute run afterward, and the 3rd would be the weekend distance bike ride, which builds up to maybe 60 miles.  For swimming, cycling, and running, for everyone's plans, the weekly long distance workout is at a slow pace.  LSD = Long Slow Distance.  Easy effort.  You don't want to kill other workouts with this long distance.

I can't remember, but I want to say it won't be filled up by then.   The nice thing about the SetupEvents site, is that you can monitor how many spots are left.  So just keep checking back every week or so and see how low it gets.

Yeah it's quite the difference in folks here isn't it?  But you are a fast fast runner, so you can crush them in running! ;-)  We've all been where you are though.  The nice thing about the triathlete community is that they are really supportive, no matter who you are.  You should watch these Ironman races and see how people are cheering for that last person out of the water, and the people coming in at 16 hours and 59 minutes.  Even the pros come back to watch the last hour.

I had a hard time breaking the "24 laps" news to you. :-)  But I'll give you a nice bit of encouragement.  When I could barely swim 4 laps, I was pretty discouraged.  How am I going to swim a 1000 yards in a team duathlon on my trip?  Then, I took the trip, and in the pool the week before the race, something clicked, and I swam over 20 laps with no effort at all.  It's all about form.  Cycling and running are about effort, but swimming is like a golf swing.  And there is always something to work on to improve.  If you talk to people who have been swimming for 20 years, they are still working on some aspect of their form.  So the good thing is that you have lots of pieces in the form to improve.  The bad thing is it's hard to remember them all when you are training!

Ok you've got me excited enough to do some swim drills tonight.  I haven't swam since early December.  Was trying to rest my shoulder and work on running for a bit.  Now I'll forgo running, and swim.

Besides, when you say "I wanna win!," I actually believe you can do it one day. :-)  The rest of us won't.  That won't happen on a mountain bike though!  So one day in the future when you make the commitment.

I did have a much better day in the pool today. I was able to do a lap b4 i needed to stop. I didnt stop long just enough for a few deep breaths. I did swim about 9 laps and worked on some drills. Before I left i was able to kick down on 1 side and back on the other. The whole philosophy of swimming side to side is new to me. The biggest difference I noticed today was being able to slow down and focus on my form and trying to glide thru the water. The way I figure it I have about 32 weeks until the danskin triathlon. If I can add at least 1 lap a week I should have plenty of time to work on speed and form...no?

 Let me know what drills you find useful!

Good job!

Favorite drills are probably different for everyone, based on what your weaknesses are.  Some of my standards are

Skating Position / Side Body Balance

helps me keep in touch with my balance, keep pressing my torso

Switch

keeps me in touch with my body rotation, where it should be when I breathe, and balance

Fist Drill

forces me to use my forearm in the catch, as well as extend my body.  Without doing that this is a hard drill to do.

Catchup

Forces me to do "front quadrant swimming", I still struggle with this.

Also, I like to practice bilateral breathing in my drills (or even just breathing on my weak side).   There is one side that I struggle on unless I get good length to my body, as well as good rotation when I breathe.  In races or even longer distance swimming, I usually breathe on one side as it's faster and easier for me.  "They" say that we should be prepared to breathe on either side during a race due to waves crashing on one side, as well as sun issues.  I've yet to have any race issues to force me to do that except during the Bay Swim, and that was to loosen up the muscle strain of breathing to one side for hours.

It was nice to get out and do 30 mins of drills tonight, thanks for inspiring me!  It's a good way to feel lazy while also feeling like I'm training.  Not nearly as daunting as "ugh, I have to swim 36 laps tonight!"

When you say that swimming "side to side" is new to you, do you mean the really good body rotation that keeps you almost always on your side?  I know I struggle with that.  

hey all...

speaking of running...

If you're like me, you like to run without gadgets.  No IPod, Garmin, heart monitor.  Just a pair of sneakers and the wind in your face (and whatever clothing will keep you in compliance with local decency laws, of course).

I use Google Earth to measure the distance I've run.  It's not as accurate as a garmin, but good enough for my long runs (was it 6.2 miles or 6.4?)

Maybe when I do speed work I'll need more accurate gear, but for now, this works for me.

Good, good deal.  I asked about the bike because I struggled with the costs of taking mine to AZ.  Once, I got a bike box from a local bike shop, and took it on the plane.  These days though, airlines will nail you on the baggage.  I've seen people say that USPS is a good way to get it home.  Either way getting a cardboard box from a local shop is a good idea.  They have lots of those and are willing to give them away.  There are good videos on the web showing how to pack a bike in these boxes. 

I had hip problems too, like hip bursitis.  Enough to say I would take a month off in January.  But stretching my piriformis seems to be working out.  Can you still feel your hip problem?

You do seem ready for speedwork.  Some others on here who have been running a while, and are having the 'same ole workout' several times a week (like Abby) would be good for it too.  We start to plateau unless we challenge the body.  At the same time, we are good runners, and we would gain more speed in our triathlons if we focused on our "limiters."  That is, if I work really hard, maybe I can take my 5k race from a 21:53 to 21 minutes?  That's not much at all.  If I put the same effort into the bike or the run, I can take a lot more time off my triathlon times.  For runners like us, we are better off reducing our running workouts, and add something like another bike workout.  I'm going to have to do that for Lake Placid, because that place will kick by butt otherwise.  But I improved a lot over the past year.  I did 6:40 on the bike ride at Ironman Florida, and 5:44 at Ironman Arizona.  Almost a whole hour because I focused on the bike! 

That was a lot of explaining to get to the run speed workouts.  Doing races in general will make you faster.  But the classic running week for making yourself go faster is like this:

1 tempo run, 1 interval run, 1 long distance run

You can run more, but the tempo run and the interval run is the key.  A tempo run is probably what some of you are already doing.  Do a 20 minute warmup, then do about 25-30 minutes at a moderately hard pace.  If you have a heart rate monitor, that would tell you the zone you should be in.  Or if you've run a lot of races, it would be at your 10k pace.  After the 25 minutes, finish of your run with a cooldown.

For intervals, there are different varieties, such as a pyramid type of workout.  But the simplest is to just go out on a track, and you do a series of fast and slower laps.  The fast laps are at about 5k pace, a hard pace (faster than tempo).  Since you haven't done that many races, we don't know that pace, so we'll just say fast enough that you can continue to do the fast laps at the same pace without trailing off.  I've yet to see someone actually stick to that, so go slower than you want to. :-)  Anyway, when you see interval workouts, they will state something like "4x400".  That means you are going to do a 20 min warmup (and stretching), then one fast lap (400 yards).  The next lap you are going to go a lot slower, enough to catch your breath and get your heart rate way down (120?) before you get back to the line again.  Then you are going to repeat this 3 more times, making 4 total.  It sounds easy, but that last lap is a killer, and you can get sore from this.

Anyway, 4x400 is a beginner set.  Next week, maybe you'll jump up to 5x400.  Then 6x400, 7x400, 8x400.  You can keep increasing them, or you can even start doing 800s at that point.  So then you'd do 800 yards fast, 400 yards slow, 800 fast, 400 slow, etc.  You would start the 800s maybe the week after you are doing great with the 400s, like after you LOVE the 8x400s.  Also, you don't have to increase every week, you can sit on a certain set for a few weeks if you need it.

Keep in mind that EVERY fast lap needs to be the same pace.  Otherwise you are going too fast.  So for me, who might do a little over 7:00 for a 5k pace, each fast lap might be 1:45.

Pyramids and fartleks are just variations on the same kind of idea.  We can talk about that once you get bored with this.  I think I saw someone else (Becky?) doing fartleks in her workout.

Let me know if I didn't explain it well enough.   So do intervals once a week, and a tempo run if you aren't doing it already.

I barely use my HRM, does that count? :-)  I love the Garmin though.  I used to not use an mp3 player, but lately I've gotten hooked on some triathlon podcasts, and I get a chance to learn, get pumped, and train at the same time.  I will post those awesome podcasts on a day when I don't think I am giving you information overload already.

I didn't know Google Earth did that.  It may work like MapMyRun , as there's a lot of similar sites out there right now that do that.  They show you a map, and you click points along the map to determine where you want to go (or did go), and it adds up the distance, and shows elevation if you'd like.  There is also a database of saved runs/rides that you can search.  I will do this sometimes to get the exact profile of a race that may not be posted on the race website.

Yup, I did fartleks on Wednesday.  I think they're fun because often I get stuck in the same old pace and it kind of wakes up those fast twitch muscle fibers and reminds you that it's fun to go faster.  It also gives me confidence that I can go faster.  It may hurt some the next day and my HR was up there, but I live to do it again.  Additionally, I don't have great access to a track, so it's nice because I can use my normal running loop.  You know you're doing it right when you can upload the garmin data and see your intervals when you graph your pace vs. time or distance.    I'm a geek, I know.