Southwestmba's group-Full (Page 3)

Nice job on that run.  Hitting double digits in one run is a great feeling isn't it, and with those conditions, well done.

I need some advice about training.  I am doing a HIM in July so I have about 28 weeks until the race.  I plan on doing a 20 week program which leaves me with 8 weeks to train freely.  In another thread I saw that someone recommended working on limiters during this time period.   I don't really understand the concept of limiters.  I mean, I need to improve all three disciplines, so I'm not really sure what to work on for the next eight weeks.  I am kind of assuming that since the bike is the longest of the three that I will focus more on that, but I'm just not sure.

Any advice is appreciated

Hey Gang,
Sorry I dropped out for a bit.  Wicked cold took me out for a bit.  I think I'm back and ready to contribute.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  jeff

Damon- that is a great job doing 10 miles in the snow. I tend to just run for time when the snow starts pilling up. Sort of the same thing I do when I get to run on the beach. More resistance, less secure footing, just enjoy the day and go for time. Great run however.

Byran. If you are going to use a formal 20 week training plan you will get a well rounded and balanced approach. If you have a glaring weakness, the off season is a good time to work on those limiters. Putting extra bike or run base work will pay off or taking those extra swim lessons/coaching and putting in extra time in the pool will pay off. Personally, I attempt to weigh my training volumes to by somewhat proportional to distances i am going to race. You spend the most time on the bike, so it makes sense to put the most training minutes in on the bike, but that allow has been an area i have always felt I need to work on. But since I went from 9.8 mph ave for 10 miles in my first race to a 23.96 mph ave 40K, I have seen the results over time using this approach. But my background was running and I played water polo in college so I had far less work to do in those two area so I could focus on my weakness and turn it into a strength.

Hope that helps.

Andy

You could start your plan a few weeks early. Then if you need an extra rest week along the way (for vacation, sickness, injury, busy week at work, another race comes along, etc.) you have room to spare. If you don't end up needing the extra weeks you can cylce back at somepoint and repeat a few weeks (as long as you are sure to include a rest week after every 2 or 3 training weeks)

Happy Monday Everyone!!

So I completed my indoor triathlon on Saturday.  My best mileage to date.  I really thought it was good enough for first place this time.  But the other girls are stepping it up a couple notches too.  This was my 4th race out of 8 so far.  The good thing is that I learn something new at every race.  So I just want to keep getting better.  I pushed myself so hard on the swim and the bike that I died halfway through the run.  I'm not going to let that happen again.  I see more bricks in my future.

After that I did a 5 mile fun run with my hubby and some friends.  I had been talking smack to my husband all week.  He really thought that I might have a chance of keeping up with him.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring it on race day.  LOL  I was so exhausted from my tri.  That's the coldest I've ever run(16*).  And although I don't advocate this, to top it all off, they had Schnapps shots at the finish line and all the beer and food you wanted.  That'll warm you up let me tell ya.  It was the craziest post-race party I've ever been too.  
 
All in all a good weekend. 
Anyone else have any races planned for the off season?

Geez Marsha,
You do an indoor tri, THEN race your hubby for 5 miles; Doing booze shots along the way.   Don't be such a slacker, girl. 

great performance in both events and that 5k sounds like my kind of race!

me and a few friends still hold the record for the SLOWEST ever 'stretcher race' in the local town. You carry a team member on a stretcher around the 11 pubs in the town, and 2 people drink 1 beer at each pub. Its meant to be a race, but we got a little caught up in the spirit of it and several hours later we remembered to actually finish. All done in fancy dress of course if you are 'really serious'....

I have a tough week in a foreign hotel this week, with poor facilities. Need some inspiration to find something to keep me on track this week, although I deliberately scheduled this as an easy week, so low volume suits me a little better.

Tried the resistance bands for my first serious workout and had some success, with a little more experimentation still needed though. I think I need to set it up as a type of circuit session, with multiple sets of a short routine. The bands seem quite well suited to higher repetitions done for timed periods, to get some more intensity from the workout.

Hi everyone. I'm on the road this week and the hotel internet is painfully slow so I appologize for not being in touch as often this week.

One of the things I try and do when I travel is stay at a hotel that has a good workout room or an arrangement with a local gym (closer the better) or close to areas where I can run. You'd be surprised how much info you can find on the internet these days and it allows you to factor those thing in. This week the hotel has two full sized treadmills, elipiticals, wieght machine, and a recline bike (I really hate those things but .

One of the workouts I like to do which helps prepare you for the shock of heavy legs in T2, in the indoor brick. For example today I did a Duathlon Brick (Run-Bike-Run). I started with 20 min of running on the treadmill at a realatively comfortable pace to warm up and get a good sweat going. Then I move to the bike (after wiping down the treadmill) about a 15 sec transition. On the bike I go with a fairly low resistance ( but enough so you aren't bouncing in the saddle) and a high tempo (100-115 Rpm) for the next 40 min. Then finally wipe down the bike and hit the treadmill again for another 20 min. I usually bump up the pace for the last leg. Pay attention to how long before your stride feel smooth and normal and then how long till your legs feel good. Once they feel good bump up the pace another notch and finish strong.

A way to spice it up a bit and work on your leg speed for triathlon running, is during the treadmill runs, add 0.5 mph every 5 minutes. One good thing about a treadmill is that it forces you to run a steady pace (or you fall off) and teaching tired legs to ramp up hte effort and increase a steady pace towards the end of a workout mimics what you should try and do on the run leg of a tri. You let your legs come in and then pick up the tempo and ramp the effort to the end and you will find yourself passing a ton of people and finish strong (which makes even a poor race feel better).

This workout gets your body used to what it will experience in T2 and the more you practice it the easier it will be on race day.

Andy

How is everyone doing? The good news is this week I get to spend a week up in the Pocannos. the bad news is I have to work all week. Staying motivated to workout when you are on the road can be a challenge, but it still can be done. If possible you should try and chose a hotel with a nice gym (especially in the winter). Having a place to workout very close by is important, it is so much easier to force yourself to go downstairs vice forcing yourself to go down stairs hop in the car and try and find a gym. Next try and be extra creative and flexible with your workouts. Coming downstairs only to find the bike is taken or the treadmill is full, can be demotivating but if you have a plan A, plan B, and plan C in your pocket at least one of your options will be there. I like to do bricks (run-Bike), reverse bricks (Bike-Run), and dualthlon bricks(run-Bike-run) , but I can substitute an eliptipcal for a bike (similar motion) is I need to. Most important however is to aviod the temptation to eat fast food every meal. I find a diet of fast food just saps the energy from me by the end of the week. If my room has a fridge and microwave, I'll go to the grocery store and eat healthy. Saves money and keeps my energy level up.

Andy

Damon:
When we were in Ethiopia last year there were no workout facilities where we stayed either.  To keep myself moving, I climbed the stairs over and again.  The staircase I chose was undercover but outside, so I also got a great view every time I made it to the top.  The local people just thought, "hmm, another crazy American," and to their credit, they were right!
Stay inspired and keep moving!

Lea

Great brick workout suggestions Andy.  I'll definately start working on those.

I've managed to bruise the tendon on the top of my foot during my run last weekend.  I'm guessing my shoes were too tight with the extra layer of socks and the cold weather I didn't realize it when it was happening.  It's been really tender all week but today it feels much better so I'm hoping to still be able to push off the blocks for my Master's swim meet this weekend.

Next indoor tri is next weekend.  A little too close together for my liking, but what are you gonna do.

Remarkably we are in the 40's today.  I may just have to go for a run this afternoon with my new kicks.

Whoever said triathletes have an off-season?
HA

Marsha:
Great job this last weekend!  I hope you heal quickly.  How did you find indoor triathlons?  I've been looking for them in our area and just haven't had any luck.  I've found a few "swim at night, the next day ride and run".  No thanks.  I want all 3 together.  Please show me where to look!!

Thanks.
Lea

I actually found the first one here on BegTri.com  That led me to a few others in the Chicago area.  The series that I'm competing includes 8 races.  Although they distribute awards for each race, the ultimate goal is to get the most distance in your top 4 races for the grand prize of an M3 spin bike.

It's definately not the same as an outdoor tri, but it sure has allowed me to stay focused and not to "wait till next week" throughout these cold months.  I am constantly preparing for the next go around.

It's structured with a 10 min swim, 15 min bike and 15 min run.  Unfortunately the way the bikes are set up, the bike leg really takes over.  I was able to clock in 11.1 miles in 15 min.  If you multiply that by 4 that calculates to riding 44.4 mi/hr.  Obviously not realistic.  And there is no going past .5mi on the swim.  I'm still struggling to get 2 miles on the run after completely depleting myself on the bike.

A friend of mine did the Dec race with me and she wasn't sold on the whole thing.  But she enjoys the longer events anyway.  I prefer the sprints.  So I suppose this type of racing isn't for everyone.

You can always set up your own race with some friends.  I've done that before and it was a lot of fun.

Hope that helps.
~Marsha

How's everyone doing. I finally got back home and actually got to do my normal Saturday routine. Throughout the winter I like to do two cycling classes and then after a short break a quick tempo run. I am pretty lucky to have a good YMCA cycling program with some really good instructors who don't try and turn the cycling class into aerobics on a bike. Heck I did a class in New York once and the not only was I subjected to an hour of club and techno music, but the instructor was having us do bizarre things like push ups in the standing position.

My Saturday classes rotate instructors but they are a really good group. Alli is a triathlete part of our triathlon club at the YMCA, Karl is a roadie who doesn't believe in doing things you wouldn't do outside (took him about 2 years to let me ride in the aero position, since I had to convince him I do most of my riding in it, Susan, Marni, and the others are also really good. The different stles also help keep thinkgs fresh. I will usually get to the class 15-20 min early and do a good warm up and then I can go hard from the beginning. I have also taught the instructors to just let me deviate from the program when I feel I should go harder. For me cycling classes are a change up in my cycling routine. I don't treat it as a substitute, but rather as a change of pace. Cycling classes are a chance to work intervals, sprints (which I otherwise never do), and hills. I feel my cycling classes have helped my hill climbing and defitely have helped my explosiviness. Between classes i get back on the bike and spin to keep the heat in my legs and then go for round two.

After my class, I ususally head home and get my kids together for their karate class and then head back to the Y for my running segement. It is ususally a 45-50 min break. While my kids are in class, I run on the indoor track. I'll start off easy for the first half mile or so and then pick up the tempo each mile. If I bring my watch I like to do step downs where each mile is about 15-20 seconds faster than the last for 5 miles. I try and time my workout so I finish up with enough time to get changed and stretch before the kids get done. I do the step downs as another means to get my legs used to running hard when they are tried and keeping my form together as things get tough.

Andy

I got a message from a fellow BTer who couldn't get into a menor group to get into ours, so I am going to add Biafragirl / Ony to our group.

Ony, when you get a change please post a little bit about yourself so everyone can get to know you.

Welcome aboard!

Andy

Welcome Ony...

I was overseas most of last week, working long hours with very limited facilities, and didnt have the greatest of weeks TBH, but amazingly came back and at today's weigh in had lost an additional 2.5lb!!!! I mention it as thats a bit of a landmark for me, as it represents 30lbs lost since I got back into all this on 1st Sept last year - 201 to 171lbs. Its fat falling off too as its 1.5" off my waist and 1" off my the last of my lovehandles since the start of the year

I set myself a goal of 25lbs off by last Xmas, and thought that was a challenging target, but had a secret dream goal of 30lbs off. Never really expected to make it, so am quite surprised really. Just shows what a goal, a strategy and some effort each day can do. I wish I was able to do this in more areas of my life frankly.... If anyone is flagging, just keep focused on your goal and take it day by day. Now I need to lose a few more % BF and build some lean mass in its place.

Now I need to apply the same approach to performance goals and get faster. I'm a slow triathlete so want to get to some more respectable times over the next couple of years. This is where  really need to learn from everyone here, as I have never achieved that before.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Thats awsome Damon. Keep up the good work.
I had a rough day on Wedesday, so I took the day off from work to recover. Didnt do any training either for the rest of the week. Had message on Friday and I feel sooo much better yesturday and today. Trying not to push the training to hard when I do feel good, dont want to aggravate things again.
I bought the P90X videos series, anyone else have it or have heard anything about it?
I`m finding that I am getting stale in my training as I do it all at home (except swimming).
Cant believe how slow I am after missing 2 months of running. Only plan on 1/2 ironmans this year so I really need to work on my speed this year.

Hey everyone.

Here is my motivational clip of the week. Triathlon is a very unique sport. Nowhere else does the everyday athlete have an opportunity to get a chance to compete side by side with the best in the world. There are two ways to get to Kona, be one of the very best athletes in the world, our be very, very lucky. Well in 2007, I beat the odds (~0.7%) and got very lucky and won a lottery spot.
Whether or not you ever dream or desire to do an Ironman, I really wish every triathlete could experience Kona. It was absolutely amazing. The day after, I tried my best to capture what it felt like and express what this race meant to me. This is what keeps the fire burning for me and gets me outside in the dead of winter. Hopefully, it will inspire you too.

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid...

Andy

Hey Ony,
Welcome to the group.  Good to see everyone (mainly myself) is getting back on track after the holidays.  I'm liking the state of fitness right now.   I'm usually in hibernation mode til March!. 

Thanks for letting me join!

NAME: BiafraGirl / Ony

STORY:

Late 2008 I decided that for my 40th B'day (2011), I wanted to do something big and had initially decided to run in the ING NY marathon.  However, in researching  marathon training plans and coming across triathlon races, I figured, if I wanted to go big, go IronMan.  In addition, I thought that triathlon training will help me achieve my goal of losing weight, getting fit, and establishing a persistent healthy active lifestyle. I am essentially a neophyte in all three sports.  However, October '09 I completed my first triathlon and now this former couch potato is hooked! 

TRAINING STATUS:

I just launched my Triathlon training again, after a Thanksgiving to post New Year hiatus. My current training encompasses Swim 3x a week, Bike 2x a week, Run 2x a week, and Weight Train 2x a week.  My training program evolves from week to week as my knowledge grows, but my focus this year is to build endurance, speed and improve my nutritional profile.

GOALS:

2010 A races =
*  Sprint:   (TBD - Spring)
*  Olympic Race:  NYC Nautica (07.18.10)
*  Half-Marathon:  (TBD - Late Fall)

Weight Loss = 40lbs
Establish realistic sustainable nutritional profile
Learn some more swim strokes (I only do freestyle)
Gain speed, endurance and sustained faster speeds


2009 Races:  MightyMan Sprint (10.03.09), and Susan G. Komen 5K (09.13.09)


FAMILY STATUS:

Single, 38 y.o., based in NYC. Auntie to 3 nephews and 1 niece .  Currently, I have a flexible schedule for training.

RESOURCES:

Winter training:  Indoor -- pool, track, spinner @ local gym.  NYRR runs.  Looking to purchase a bike trainer.  

Good weather training:  1x/week ea.:  beach with NYC OWS group; outdoor cross country trails at NYC park; early morning long bike rides on my hybrid bicycle - NYC streets.  Outdoor early morning runs, indoor spin, and indoor pool train as main training.

I am looking forward to working with you all!

BG

Edited by BiafraGirl 2010-01-19 7:21 PM

WOW!!!!
Thanks for sharing!!

Glad to have you aboard Ony, I didnt see which ironman you plan on doing in your list there 
I completed my 1st ironman in only my 2 nd year doing tris so start planing now.

Well I got back in the water today...1st time in 2 months....I dont hate swimming but it would fall in just below that. I learned to swim but have never really enjoyed it like the other 2 events. Who else has some part of tris that they`re not fond of? I love the transitions, I did a sprint last year and my bike to run transition was faster then the only pro there...made me feel awsome that at least I have game somewhere

Just keep getting in the water Nathan.  If you're really having a hard time getting in the yardage, you may want to have someone look at your stroke/technique.  If you don't have good body positioning you will just be fighting against yourself and creating bad habits.  Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll see if I can help.
~Marsha

Thanks for the welcomes everyone. 

@Nate: You go boy, I WISH I could compete in an IM as quickly as you did.  I am seeking to do a HIM in 2011 / 2012 (most likely) and an IM in 2013 / 2014.  I plan to spend the next few years conditioning my body to be prepared for those levels, and will seek to schedule one after I reach the desired fitness level.  Hopefully, I will conquer the weight loss part of the fitness challenge this year.

@Group: Last year I followed a training plan that was geared to finish only, that pretty much had me run only for length of time w/o account of yardage or speed, and bike and swim yardage w/o account for speed.  As a result, I feel that my training was not as effective as it could have been and I was a bottom 5% BOP'er as a result despite 7 months of (self-)training. 

I don't want a repeat of that this year and am following a more aggressive plan, that is really geared towards intermediate level athletes despite the fact that I have not reached the base speed and endurance levels that I should be at to follow the plan.  The beginner training plans in my opinion are not aggressive enough, as I believe I am somewhere between beginner and intermediate, and seemed geared towards finishing only. 

Any thoughts on how I can make my self-training more effective, in terms of speed and endurance, while still keeping my risk of injury low/non-existent?  I am not seeking private coaching at the present time.

-- Ony

Edited by BiafraGirl 2010-01-19 7:42 PM