shmeeg's Winter Madness Mentor group - OPEN TO HIPPIES (Page 3)

Hey Jay,
Thanks for making room for me as well! I will starting to train on Monday for my first tri (july).  I will also be training for my first half marathon (may).  I plan on using the 20 week sprint 3x balanced that i found on this site for my tri and on the running days I will use some sort of half marathon training program but have not decided which yet.

I realize i'll have a few months left before my actual race when i finish the program. i plan on just continuing till race time not sure if that is practical or not. 

I do not have a bike so will have to invest in one of those. If anyone has any relatively inexpensive suggestions that would be great.

Well thats all for now.

Rachel

OK its me again. I'm so confused i really don't know what program i should use.  The first one i picked out 20 balanced 3xa week seems like not enough exercise. I'm thinking now about using one of the Olympic programs here. i would still have to use something different for the running part to train for my half.  While the swimming part of this is way more than i need i really could use the practice and the biking is closer.
the sprint I'm doing is .25mile swim, 18 mile bike, 5k run.

any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Happy New Year crew!  I am finally out of bed and moving around today.  Hope everyone had a good evening ringing in the new year.



Wendy, sounds like you carry a pretty full workout schedule already! Doing 12k+ meters a week, you've definitely got not worries with the swim.  3.5 hrs bike and 10 miles running are where you might want to look at tweaking your routine.  Which discipline is your weakest?  Which leg are you looking to improve the most?  You will see the most benefit from improving your weakest sport.  2nd AG/4th OA is awesome for any race, even moreso for your first! Another area that I like to think of as 'free speed' are improving transition times.  If you have slow transitions it's easier to drop 2-3 minutes there than trying to knock that same amount of time off your 5k.



There are actually some tutorials for using the logs here.  That should help you get started.  You can subscribe to our group thread by scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page and clicking Toggle email notifications on the bottom right.  This will send you an email any time someone posts in the thread and add it to 'your' threads.  Also, if you click on New Threads at the top, when that page loads, at the top of the thread listings you click Show My Threads to see only threads you've posted in.


Edited by shmeeg 2011-01-01 2:28 PM

Very good, you have a target race in mind!  Have you signed up for it yet?  That's a great way to motivate yourself to continue training!  The HM distance is my favorite running distance.  Easy enough to train for and it doesn't cut into 'life' quite as much as marathon training can do.



Not a good idea.  I would either a)wait until you are 20 weeks out and then start the plan b)select a longer plan if one is available or c)run the 20 week program, then do the last XX weeks of it again until your race.  That will give you the proper taper period at the end to put you in optimal shape for the race. 



Craiglist may be your best bet if you're looking for something on the cheap.  People are always getting rid of bikes on there.  If you live in an area that has some local bike shops (LBS) you might be able to find some holiday or year-end sales going on right now and pick something up relatively cheap.  Don't forget to include pedals, cycling shoes helmet, bottles, bottle cages, and a flat kit in the budget.  Cycling is definitely the area where you can dump the most money in this sport!



I haven't done it myself, but many other BTers have used plans for a longer distance race than they are actually going to participate in; and had great success doing it.  Agreed, if your HM is in May, you will want to follow a separate plan for that and try to mesh the two plans so you can keep the training days prioritized for the running before May and then increase training for the other disciplines from May-July.  I've noticed the swimming in the BT plans seems like quite a lot more distance than one would need to participate in a sprint distance race for some reason.  Not sure why.  I was learning myself how to sweem this season so I tended to do much shorter distances than called for because I just couldn't swim 2k+ meters until I had been swimming for 4-5 months.  3x balanced will get you to the race in good enough shape to cross the finish line, but unless you're using one of the more detailed paid plans (silver/gold level) I don't think they're going to put you in contention for a podium spot.

ETA: Runnersworld and Kickrunners have some good running plans if you're looking for a cookie cutter program that doesn't require a lot of adjustment on your part.

Edited by shmeeg 2011-01-01 2:30 PM

Ok, first Question of The Day.  I feel it's important to have a goal race to train for.  It's easier to get up at o'dark thirty for a run or freeze on the trainer in the garage during the winter months when you have a tangible light at the end of the tunnel!

What is your first race of the season?

My first race is actually a road bike race that I'll be doing in March, but my first tri will be the Big Rock Olympic tri on April 16.  Got 15 weeks exactly to train for it, better get my butt in gear

Jay,  I'm having a hard time getting to our group.  Most likely because this is all new to me.  Could someone please let me know how to mark this group and get back to it.  Thanks!! Laura

Sure Laura, I suspect some other members are having the same problem.  I know I did when I first started on BT.  Here's how to bookmark the thread that I just posted for Wendy earlier.

There are actually some tutorials for using the logs here.  That should help you get started.  You can subscribe to our group thread by scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page and clicking Toggle email notifications on the bottom right.  This will send you an email any time someone posts in the thread and add it to 'your' threads.  Also, if you click on New Threads at the top, when that page loads, at the top of the thread listings you click Show My Threads to see only threads you've posted in.


Edited by shmeeg 2011-01-01 3:59 PM

You'll survive, and when you finish you'll say to yourself 'That was a piece of cake!' and immediately look for another race to do when you get home.  That's how the bug starts!

I think that my first event will be a local Sprint, consisting of 1000 meter ocean swim, 30k bike and a 5k run, in late March.  I'm going to use the "Sprint Distance Program - Finish" from Tom Holland's 12-Week Triathlete book...I need to lose about 30 pounds or so, so this plan seems to meet my training needs.  My primary concern is that my swimming (my Achilles's heel) still won't be strong enough for a 1000 meter ocean swim.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

Edited by nikuman 2011-01-01 6:57 PM

Thanks.  I have been exploring the site and am doing better.  Happy New Year! 

Thanks for all your suggestions! I will definitely check out craigslist for a bike not sure why i hadn't thought of that before. I've never heard of Kickrunners so will check that out as well. As cool as a podium spot would be this year my goal is to finish and hopefully run the entire race.

My first offical race of the season is the Pine line 5k April 23.  Im going to try to squeeze a few in before that.  Really wanted to do a snowshoe on the 15 of this month but after trying it for the first time last Sunday not sure.  It was way harder than i imagined. i might practice a few more times before i take to racing.

Swimming was my worst discipline as well, and it took me the bulk of the season working on drills and technique in the pool before I got to a point where I was what some would consider proficient.  How is your swimming?  Do you know how to swim?  What's the furthest you've swam so far?  Do you have access to a pool on a regular basis to practice?

That's good, a little speed and tempo work every now and again will make sustained 'fast' running easier when it's time to race.  Just don't do like so many of the rest of us have done and do too much and hurt yourself.  Most training plans have 'brick' workouts where you simulate race conditions and run right after a bike workout.  Your legs will feel as you described above, hence the term brick.  If you have a bike trainer and treadmill or go to a gym that has exercise bikes and treadmills, you can do indoor brick workouts almost as you would do an outdoor brick.  You should take 15-20 minutes one day a week and practice T1 and T2 transitions.  I admit I don't do this until the week prior to a race, but thus far I have consistently had T2 times <60 sec and my only real weakness in T1 has been the actual run from the water to the bike rack.  Having a good mental picture of what you're going to do for each transition is key.  Check out this video for a good walk thru of what to do. 

Cool, I always thought that would be a neat way to run, just never lived anywhere there has been snow on the ground to do so.

Hi Nikuman. US Masters Swimming has great articles and videos on swim technique posted on their site: http://www.usms.org/articles/articledisplay.php?CATID=2 .  Mountain View Masters out there in CA has a good section on drills and they post workouts which include a drill portion: http://www.mvm.org/index.php .  I found both sites to be extremely helpful in improving my stroke.  Good luck!

Brick is exactly the right term - lol.  I will for sure do the T2 at the gym once a week after my 90 minute spin.  The T1 will have to wait til spring.  Thanks for the advice and the link.  I'll check it out.  Am also going to check out getting a better bike per your suggestion to use Craiglist. Thanks again.

You'll find that the more you do, the better your legs will feel, as you get used to it.  And it will give you a good idea of how hard to pace the bike leg to keep from blowing up on the run.  I zapped 4.5 minutes off my run at Las Vegas last year because I tried to crush the bike.  Probably the best mistake I ever made .  You can simulate T1 at home, just to pratice getting out of your wetsuit and into your cycling gear.  Transitioning is the one area where I preach minimalism.  I don't always wear the suit in pratice, but pretend I'm going through the motion of taking the suit off, putting my helmet, sunglasses, shoes on, etc.  It's more to build muscle memory for race day.  My first race, I actually had to stop and ask myself 'is that it?' because I was going through the same motions as I had praticed but felt like it was so fast and wasn't really thinking about it. 

QOTD: Which discipline is your favorite and why?

Cycling is definitely my favorite, followed closely by swimming.  I always wanted a motorcycle, but never got one because I'd probably smear myself on the road doing something stupid on it.  Cycling is a very poor second to that, but it's a feeling of freedom I enjoy when bombing down a hill at 35-40 mph that you can't match elsewhere.  I'm going to make an effort to bike commute 2-3 times a week once there's more daylight just to do a little to help the environment also.  I just read yesterday that if every house in the US only changed one buld to a CFL, it would be the equivalent of taking 800,000 cars off the road.  Every little bit helps.

Hey Rachel (and everyone!)

I'm going to be looking to buy a bike as well. Have done some research, but pretty much going to figure it out with help of bike shop I think. Fun!

First Race of the Season (and first race ever)

My first race is probably going to be a try-it version of a sprint tri (held in May and only 400m swim, 10k bike and 2.5 run). I think this is a good entry race for me, plus it's one of the earliest I could find in my area!

My first spring will be sometime in June - registration isn't open yet, so I haven't made my decision.

QOTD - fave discipline?

Yikes - swimming I guess, but I have never swum proper freestyle. I love being in the water and swimming laps, but have just done it for pleasure so swam a modified breaststroke fairly slowly. Now going to have to speed it up!

Crap!!! I'm behind on the QOTD!!!

First race: As of now my first race is the Christie Clinic Marathon on April 30th. However, I'm waiting for a Mountain Bike Series to come out with their 2011 race lists. I'm anticipating the Sylvan Island Stampede mountain bike race to be before the marathon. If it's 2 weeks or more before that will be my first race. My first tri will be Xterra Fort Custer on May 22.

Fav discipline: The bike!!!!! I just love everything about cycling. I used to race motorcycles and being on the road just feels right to me. It's really cool to be on the road riding with friends or in the woods with friends having some friendly competition jumping over rocks or railing through some switchbacks. I just love it.

Rachel, I'll let you in on a little secret about Jay. He loves to spend money on new toys!! especially bike related!! LOL Do you have a budget in mind for your new bike? I'm sure Jay could help you part with some cash!! LOL

Personally, when I'm buying a road bike I like to follow these rules:
1. come up with a budget
2. get myself a bike fit at a reputable shop and see what bikes, geometry, work for my body type
3. look at what I can afford that has shiman 105 components, or equivilent SRAM/Campy, or better.
4. throw my budget out of the window and buy the most expensive bike in the shop.

I'm only kidding about the last one. There are plenty bikes out there that are really solid bikes for reasonable price. I do like to stick to shimano 105 or equivilent though. To me it's worth spending a little extra money so I'm riding the bike all the time instead of working on it. You're going to be putting a lot of miles on the bike training. Bikes with cheaper components packages tend break or go out of tune more often. I'm sure if you share your budget with you Jay could help you out a little more on what to get.

For the people with problems swimming: I'd just like to share my favorite website for swimming info. I've found nothing helps better than getting into a class, or masters swim, where a coach can see what your doing and work with you on technique. But I also like to do a lot of research and came across this site that may have some helpful info for you. www.swimsmooth.com

Jay,

I've found out that TI is holding classes a few times this year at the University of Chicago. I've read that once your stroke is established and your improvements are focusing more on strength through interval training that TI clinics aren't all that helpful. My swim coach is saying I have already established great technique and now it's about the swim strength. I thought you took one of these clinics, what's your opinion on that?

Edited by Meulen 2011-01-02 2:03 PM

That's what I did Laurie, a super-sprint race, for my first.  It gives you a good taste for how a race should feel, transitioning from each discipline, etc.  And the beauty of that distance is you can hammer every leg of it.  I think I finished in something like 48 mins and was just going full bore the whole time.  It was a lot of fun!