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stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL (Page 3)
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 2009-01-23 2:41 PM in reply to: #1921482 |
Member  51 |  Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPENJess- I'm the same with the swimming, don't worry. I watch these people swimming effortless laps over and over who don't appear to be in fantastic shape, and then I'm feeling winded at 50 meters too. I did take a swim course at the Y for a few weeks with some other people looking to fine tune techniques, and that helped some. A lot of it seems to be just using muscles I'm not used to using other than in the pool, and I tend to kick my feet way too fast (habit) and it's like I'm sprinting. Others have told me that the more I'm in the pool, the better, and it will quickly improve. Anyways, don't worry, you're not alone. -Eric |
| 2009-01-23 2:49 PM in reply to: #1923892 |
Champion 10618   | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN PATRICIA - Healthy, schmealthy. Right now, on this cold, bleak, miserable afternoon, a bowl of chili with hot Italian sausage sounds like the world's perfect food!! Nicely done with the workouts yesterday ("Patricia -- hyper-fueled with homemade chili!")! That was a lot of ground to cover. Let me know how the plan proceeds of doing everything in the morning. In my early days of being obsessive-compulsive about this stuff, I was very good at doing all of my runs in the morning, even if it meant waking between 3 and 4 (that need was rare, thank goodness). I'm guessing that you are an accomplished Morning Person if you can even begin to consider getting it all done in the morning. Also, let me know how the wetsuit search goes. Which places have you contacted so far? Bye for now! |
| 2009-01-23 11:32 PM in reply to: #1921311 |
Regular 111 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Hi Steve! The Eco X-Sprint adventure race that we did as 'Team Newlyweds' was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For one, we don't get married all that often, and it just so happened that the race was happening the day after our Malaysian wedding. It sounded like so much fun we couldn't pass it up. The organisers Nomad Adventures waived our entry fees and sponsored our 'Honeymoon Challenge', which was awesome. We had an amazing time roller-blading, trail-running through lush tropical rainforest, 60 ft rappel alongside a waterfall (right into the river below), river scrambling, bamboo rafting. (And yes, I did have some previous experience rappelling - the longest being a 200 ft rappel down a sheer cliff face at Seneca Rocks WV (thrilling!).) We finished in the upper third with a respectable time of 6 hrs. There were quite a few international competitors as well, but the locals took all the prizes. I didn't prepare much for this race because I was busy planning the wedding, so was I in pain the next few days! Thanks for your encouragement and those useful tips for my swim/bike/transitions. I am really glad to be part of this group. I got started on the training log this week, after spending some time figuring it out. I am on the 20 week Sprint plan with 2 swim, 2 bike and 2 run. I feel comfortable starting off conservatively and building a good base. I am having fun with the nutrition log too, and it will definitely be a useful tool for me (and osteporosis remediation!). I am also trying to learn how to use my heartrate monitor (it's got basic max, min, average, in-zone info). I did a little jog today and hit a max of 199 bpm and I wasn't even breaking a sweat! I think that thing is broken or maybe I am! I am enjoying my pool sessions a lot. I've read all the posts here and this place is a wealth of information, gives me a lot to think about. So today I found that I actually don't mind breathing every third stroke (left and right side is OK) and it has improved how I feel in the water. Well I am still very slow (50 m in 50 secs) but hey this is only my first week right? I am currently reading 'Going Long' and even though I'm not planning to do any crazy Ironman distances yet, it is a really absorbing read and has sections relevant to me. I finished 'First Triathlons' last week and found it so inspiring! Peace, Grace |
| 2009-01-24 9:05 AM in reply to: #1924425 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN JESS - What I said to you in the last two sentences in the second paragraph of my most resent note to you --- I'm not sure I said that correctly, or accurately. So, I'll try again. I've read somewhere about the "kinetic chain" in swimming, as going in this direction: hips-abs-lats-traps-delts -- and then to the arms, which are a delivery system, and not the power generators. (lats = latissimus dorsi; traps = trapezoids; delts = deltoids) This is in my log, so I'm not sure where I got this information initially - maybe stuff from Steve Tarpinian's "swim power" site? ANYHOW, the hipe ARE important power-initiators, and when I mentioned them as a possible culprit in your "snaking", that is probably too unlikely. In order to work to be snaky, I would think a person'd core would have to be very weak, thus almost forcing the activity of the hips to be isolated without moving up the "kinetic chain". And, somehow, I doubt very much that you have a weak core, or at least SO weak as stop the chain at the hips. A more likely explanation, as I've thought about it a bit, ia an uneven kick, or a "splayed" kick, or - best of all! - both of those together! Next time you're at the pool with friends, ask one of them to watch from above how your legs are positioned as you kick. If it turns out that your feet are wide apart, then your legs are splayed. And if they are soemtimes wide apart, but then come back closer together, all this extraneous movement way down there is going to transfer itself (another chain?) up your legs and into your hips, thus making your progress through the water snakelike. My kick is my weakness, and my kick is also often splayed; however, this does not make me snaky. the odd thing about this is that what I FEEL when Iam swimming is that my feet are nicely close together ---- which video evidence has proven, sadly, is NOT the case. I mention this only to point out that sometimes what we sense our bodies doing is not actually what is happening. I guess proprioreception isn't fail-safe (fool-proof?)! I WILL return with treadmill thoughts, but I've got to hit another couple of people. I just wanted to get back to you asap about the maybe misplaced hip comments from yesterday. |
| 2009-01-24 9:12 AM in reply to: #1925684 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN ERIC - Nicely stated thoughts in your post to Jess. Thanks! Have you discovered the forum on the Timberman website? It's loose, lighty-travelled, and quite fun-nish. (I'm sometimes there, as "longspur".) Anyhow, you might want to go there are find a thread about one of the swim clinics that is periodically conducted through the Laconia _____ ______ _____. (I can't remember its full name right now.) Celeste St.Pierre, a very fine triathlete herself, has conducted the clinics in the past. I will get to the t-man site in a while and track down the info myself for you, but if you're just hanging out at the computer this morning and have nothing better to do, you can likely do it quicker than I can. |
| 2009-01-24 9:48 AM in reply to: #1924213 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN NATHAN - Man, I apologize for taking so long to get back to you! Yesterday just got away from me, is all. I am awe-struck by how much you have trained, given where you are right now; your weekly run, bike, and swim totals are very impressive. So too are your run times, especially in light of how relatively new you are to running. Both of your p.r. 5km and 10km times are solid, and I would be very surprised if, once you're back home, those times didn't fdrop down significantly with more focused and stress-free training. It sounds as if you are highly motivated in your self-training, but are your looking to follow a different training regimen when you get back, or are you going to continue with the self-coaching. I'm just curious about this; as I just implied, it seems as if self-training is working great for you. You say that your weaknesses are core and speed. The core scene can be improved, and there are myriad ways with which to do it. In fact, it is one of those situations where there is almost TOO MUCH stuff out there advising you how to improve your core. The good part of this is that there aren't too many ways to screw things up (unless one falls for a "beach-body in 15 days" promise!), and that choosing which of the 7,493 different published core exercises/workouts means that there is something for just about everybody. I will admit, though, that at the gym it is the core stuff that I like least, although I am hardly alone in that. As for your concerns with speed, that will come! (And as I said above, I think your speed is pretty admirable right now.) I suspect you are building a massive base, and come April that will be a good time to start working through some of the more specific areas of a periodized plan - which you can do yourself, if you are committed to self-training. But I will say more about periodization later - annd that will be "sooner" rather than "later"! A week or so ago there was a good thread here at B.T. about how one can faster, or maybe the title was something like "How can I qualify for Kona?". The responses I read were pretty thoughtful (only marginal hints of "flaming"), and looked carefully at the poster's log for the types of workouts he was doing. You might want to track that down and red some of the recommendations for him. However, you are already doing tempo runs and intervals, so that is a good start along the road that some of the expert runneres are recommending. It might be that you just have to tweak your speed workouts some. Also, remember that often "breakthroughs" come when least expected. Plateauing is very common, and even though you say you can't seem to get past the 7:15-7:30/mile mark, it may be that a few tweaks will elevate you off your current plateau. (I will head to the main forum later and try to find the specifics on that post. I would do that now, but I'm afraid that in doing so I would lose this reply forever. This is a manifestation of my technological deficiencies!) Finally, I'm intrigued by your comment that you area guy who loves to overtrain and over-race, as people with that combination are quite rare. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing innherently wrong with it, but it just takes a different approach to thinking about training. In '07 I went through an 8-week stretch in which I raced 9 times, and that required a big change in my time-honored way of doing things. How it played out for me was "race hard, train easy", with a race, a day or so of rest, two or three crisp workouts, then race again. It was hoot, a blast, a ball, and I had great results (8 races were a.g. podium finishes, with 6 of those first--places) --- but I probably won't do it again (for one, racing that much was firaily expensive, especially as I raced 17 times that '07 season!!). But I can understand your overtrain, over-race mindset, and I'll think about how to make it best work for you. Bye for now. Stay safe! |
| 2009-01-24 1:36 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Veteran 481 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN woo hoo! I got a bike today. Nothing that will probably impress anyone but certainly a step up from the hybrid I own. It is a Scattante xrl frame with lower end campagnolo components. I bought it off craigslist so I am lucky I have a husband who knows about bikes or I would have been lost. He says it is a decent bike and I like the color!  Now it just needs to warm up a little although this weekend is looking pretty promising (but I still need to get my swims in.) |
| 2009-01-24 2:14 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1547 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Mindy...I got a bike today too! I have been wanting a tri bike for awhile. I found this one on CL...yippie...1 yr old. I look forward to my bike fit in the next couple weeks. Big upgrade for me.
Edited by sax 2009-01-24 2:15 PM |
| 2009-01-24 4:23 PM in reply to: #1926963 |
Veteran 481 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Neil - nice ride! I'll have to take a picture of mine. I'd like to get aerobars but don't want to get ahead of myself! |
| 2009-01-24 5:00 PM in reply to: #1923947 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN NEIL! Have you headed off yet?? This is another day that has gotten away from me, and I just wanted to let you know that I am devoting a few hours tomorrow morning (starting at 9 our time, which will be race start time, your time) towards sending massive doses of positive mojo in your general direction. And if some atmospheric disturbance repels or engulfs them, I just want you to know that I'll be thinking of your progress through the race. Have a terrific time with it, avail yourself of every water station, and unless you're hellbound and determined to do otherwise, think about spending the first mile or two getting in your rhythm, your zone - regardless of the group tone all around you. And when you get a chance, or the inclination, let us know how it all went for you! |
| 2009-01-24 6:08 PM in reply to: #1926644 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN OOPS! In a couple of posts, I have misspelled the word that, spelled correctly, is proprioception. I think I made it -perception once, and -reception another time, and as neither looked or sounded quite right, I googled the thing. proprioception - the sense that deals with sensations of body position, posture, balance, and motion That's the best of several partially overlapping definitions, and it works in the way I have used it - that is, as a kind of goal to attain when swimming and getting comfortable and efficient in the water. |
| 2009-01-24 6:11 PM in reply to: #1926931 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Well done, you two big spenders!! New bikes all around, I say! Mindy, Scattante is definitely decent, as our Campy components. BUT -- curious minds want to know about that color. C'mon, don't be coy with us!! |
| 2009-01-24 6:17 PM in reply to: #1926963 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN NEIL - Speedplay pedals, eh? Have you used them before? I almost converted from Look a few years ago, as I liked that the degree of "float" varied from model to model. I am still in Look, however, largely because I am in the same cycling shoes that were nice and new in April '01. Yeah, yeah, I know -- they're getting a bit gnarly, but I think I'm emotionally committed to tham for the coming season. Let me know how they work for you, especially if you are coming from Look or a Look knock-off. |
| 2009-01-24 8:38 PM in reply to: #1927198 |
Veteran 481 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN If I could figure out how to post a picture, I would... |
| 2009-01-24 8:39 PM in reply to: #1927198 |
Veteran 481 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN |
| 2009-01-24 10:07 PM in reply to: #1927364 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN You've at least managed to post one of yourself; I can't even do that!! |
| 2009-01-24 10:09 PM in reply to: #1926695 |
Extreme Veteran 314 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Geez, all this bike porn is making me jealous! I thought I was lucky when my wife let me buy a Trek 1.2 - I've recently bought a new TT setup with aerobars and brake shifters, but I'm still in need of some bar end shifters. One of these days I'll have my Felt
Steve,
No worries, I know how tough it can be to keep up with everything. I really hope that the high altitude has given me a boost for when I return. If nothing else, maybe my RBC count is higher than it was. I've really tried to use every workout as a test of my ability, because I don't think that doing mileage just for the sake of doing mileage has helped me much. I'm looking to get a bit more specific when I get back. I'd really like to lock into something that I can rely on and that can get me ready for a mix of races. I don't expect to nail the REV3 in June, but I do expect to see a podium in my local Triathlon series. I want to hit a goal of 1:15:00. To be honest, I am not opposed to self-coaching, but I just keep hearing about how I need to hire a coach. I'll do whatever it takes to win. I want to start doing some yoga and some planks to help my core, and I think when I finally commit to that I can make some good improvements. I am more of a basics guys when it comes to the gym, so I try not to get too wrapped up in the newest trends and techniques. I would like to lower my body fat a bit more though, I think that would help. If I had to guess, I'd say I am at 9-10% right now. I've been doing some mile repeats and 3-5k repeats at about 7 min pace (give or take a few seconds), trying to break that 22 min 5k closer to 19 or 20. I'd like to be able to run a 3:15:00 marathon by 2010 so that I can make a decent showing at a full IM. I've always been a learn as you go type of guy, so any way that I can decrease the learning curve would really help me out. I was doing a 10k every weekend and I loved it. I really felt that racing was giving me a huge increase in speed and endurance, which is kind of why I've bought into the whole quality over quantity thing. I'm currently trying to turn my simple road bike into a decent aero bike, but I don't know much about components. Can I just throw Shimano Dura Ace bar ends on my Aero Bars? I won this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=320331317694 and I'm hoping to make it work. I also was wondering about a stem...what kind of stem should I buy to get in a better position? I don't need anything fancy, but I'm clueless in that realm. Last question, do you think running a marathon early in the season will hurt my training and/or race prep?
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| 2009-01-24 10:29 PM in reply to: #1927427 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN NATHAN - Ah! Just the guy I was looking for! I just read your latest, and I will return to that later (which would be tomorrow). Why I was looking for you, though, was tho give you the info on the running thread I thought might be of special interest. It is now on page four of the Triathlon Talk "index", nad the title is "Question for older guys and gals who run fast"; the author is famelec. And even though it is addressed to "older" ones, the info is appropriate for anybody, I think. |
| 2009-01-24 10:39 PM in reply to: #1927444 |
Extreme Veteran 314 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Thanks Steve, I'll go take a look. |
| 2009-01-25 12:40 AM in reply to: #1896958 |
Member 8 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Hello Steve, I was looking into www.wetsuitrental.com. The rates seemed good and they ship it two Mondays before the event. I'll look like some kind a weirdo at the gym pool in this, but at least I'll have time to practice. I have decided to join Team in Training for the Nashville Country Music Marathon. I will be doing a half marathon. My goal is to raise $3000. This is something I have wanted to do ever since I was treated with lymphoma, but at the time I was really intimidated by the amount of fundraising that must be done. I think this time around I am more intimidated by the fact that I can barely run a couple of miles and at the end of April I will be running 13.1 miles. I know there is a lot of training in my future, but I am ready. Plus, this is going to fit in nicely since my longest tri this year is going to be an olympic, I will be totally ready for the run portion. I have been watching videos on You Tube on swimming techniques to try and pick up a few pointers. Also when I am at the pool I like to watch other people swim and then hit them up for tips. I met a lady at the pool and struck up a conversation with her to try and learn a few things and found out that she does triathlons and her son is one of the organizers for the Rocket Chix triathlons in Baton Rouge. He also swam 34 miles in open water to fight childhood obesity and benefit Katrina kids. It took him 15 hours and 50 minutes to finish. Amazing. I would like to meet him. I hope everyone is having a great weekend and enjoying there new bikes. Patricia
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| 2009-01-25 1:42 AM in reply to: #1926963 |
New user 3 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN Just wanted to say...that bike looks like it could be used for space travel. And be lifted with my pinky finger. Sweet ride :-) - Jess
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| 2009-01-25 9:25 AM in reply to: #1925684 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN ERIC - Shucks. Missed the most recent one by a mere week! The place is Laconia Athletic and Swim Club, www.lascfit.com, 603-524-9252. What they offer periodically is what happened last Saturday (17th) at 1 p.m. - for $35 for non-members, videotaping and feedback afterwards. In my experience, that is a good price for such a service. I did a session there several years ago, and at the time I did not receive my own video copy to take home; that was the only downside to it. The current person doing this, or at least the one last week, was Suzan Ballmer, who is their triathlon coach. I'm probably due for an updated videotaping myself, so if there is one there in the next few months, I'll likely come down for it. It's a fair drive for me - 6 hours each way - but I'm pretty sold on the benefits of seeing yourself swim and hearing what you're doing right and wrong. That's the easy part, of course. The hard part is making all of the corrections necessary!! |
| 2009-01-25 10:06 AM in reply to: #1926644 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN INFO FOR ALL -- SWIMMING ANATOMY 101 In a post to Jess above, I referred to the "kinetic chain", as extending from hips and core through the latissimus dorsi, the trapezius, and the deltoids. The latter three are often considered the "big movers" for swimming, and with this in mind I try to focus a fair bit of my lifting on these three groups. HOWEVER, I can never keep the first two of them straight (I'm fine with deltoids, with which I unfortunately grew intimately familiar when I impinged my shoulder two years ago), and in that spirit I will try to tell you where they are to be found on your bodies. The "lats" extend from your mid-back around your side and abut against the abdominals. In the area of your lower back, they taper away from your spine. Along your side, they end about where the "love handles" (external obliques) begin. The "traps" have three parts, known prosaically as upper, middle and lower. The "upper" is the top of your shoulders, on which a yoke would rest if you were lugging water that way. The "lower" taper down from your shoulder blades to mid-way down your spine, just a bit above where the small of your back begins; it sits atop part of the lats. The "delts" also have three parts, but leaving them nameless, overall they encompass the muscle group that services the ball of your shoulder. They extend down to where the biceps begin, and for most of us there is a hollow of sorts where the delts end and the biceps begin. So, for those of you who are lifting, it's not a bad idea to target these areas. I do this for what I call "functional strength", just keeping them toned enough to stand up to whatever distances I need to swim. If you prefer machines, many will have the pictures on them that show you the target areas, and many will help even more by having the word BACK prominently featured. For free weights, lat pull-downs, seated rows, and dumbbell rows are good for the lats; shrugs (barbell, dumbbell, machine) and the rows are good for the traps; lateral and front dumbbell raises and seated front presses (barbell) and seated dumbbell presses work well for the delts. If your gym has a Concept 2 rowing machine, give it a try. Not only is it great for the back (and just about everything, for that matter), but it will also toughen your "sits bones"! And, these babies (the rowers, not the sits bones) can become addictive, as the challenges are endless. Right now, I am working at increasing my intensity so that I can get comfortable moving down from a baseline standard of 2000 meters in 8 minutes. I'm not sure where I want to bottom out at, or maybe then it will just be a matter of going longer, starting at a baseline of, say, 3000m in 12 minutes. This is all kind of random, just playing around with it; I've done different things over the years by way of amusing myself and keeping from the potential tedium of simply rowing. All of the above is NOT to push any of you into the gym, but to give just a bit of encouragement to those of you who make the gym part of your schedule. It took me many years of s-b-r stuff before I starting going to the gym, as it was hard enough for me to fit in all of my "essential" workouts. I know that many of you are struggling with just getting in the requisite work on swimming, biking, and running, and that is 100% reasonable!! |
| 2009-01-25 10:29 AM in reply to: #1926453 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN GRACE - Well, that really DOES sound like a blast. Maybe it's time for us to renew our vows (they're dusty, 34 years worth) and head off there and follow your example! I have to figure out how the logs work here. And the training plans! I know that a lot of you are using one or both, and it would be useful if I could at least speak your common language. Workout logs are potentially one's best friend, for any of a number of resasons, and I'm glad you're getting positive vibes from yours. I never used a nutrition log per se, but thought about it when I spent a couple of years being vegetarian (I did this not for weight-concern purposes, but really to see how it would work to eat more "consciously". It was a wonderful thing to do, but two years of hard-core cooking just wore me down.) Hmmm. That 199 reading on the HRM sounds high, given that you refer to your effort as a "liitle jog" during which you didn't break a sweat. Did you calibrate it to you, first? Some of them require the input of all sorts of personal data, so see if your hrm is one of those. I have gone through periods in which I have done a lot of my training with a hrm, and other periods (the last 2 years come readily to mind....) in which I almost forget it is part of my arsenal. I find the hrm most useful when I am doing interval and tempo stuff, although I have also benefitted from some of the insights provided during longer efforts. I DEFINITELY benefitted early on, when I wasn't sure of how my body was responding to what I was pushing it to do. Great work on the swimming! 50m in 50 sec is NOT all that slow, and if that's where you're at now, I think you'll be in for some very pleasant time-based improvements as you progress. And, it sounds as if you are bilateral. Lucky lady! As I said to Jess or Mindy, bilateral breathing is invaluable for "evening" out a stroke, plus it helps eliminate uneven starin on the shoulders. Plus, being comfortable breathing both sides means that on those occassions in which you're in really rough water, you can "escape" the larger waves on one side by being able to breathe easily on the other side. "Going Long" is a superb book, regardless of whether one's races only involve "going short". You might want to track down Overachiever's Diary"; I will dig up the info on that one later. Off to the gym, then a run. Bye for now. |
| 2009-01-25 1:01 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1524 Reston, VA | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group OPEN |
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