Newbz'z summer mentor group is FULL!!!! (Page 32)

I have a question for everyone.

I just found out last night that there is a cycling race (35 miles) I could compete in tomorrow but I don't know if I should try it because I have a half mary a week from tomorrow.  Does anyone think it would be a bad idea to go all out in a cycling race and then try to go all out running in a week?

One more variable, I have my tapered long run (7 miles) tomorrow morning and the cycling race is at 3:30.  I have never competed in a cycling race and I think it might give me some good experience.

All thoughts are welcome.

My two cents (and I'm sure you're a better swimmer than I am):   you said you've been swimming the same way for 20 years and think you only have one speed.  You're probably right.  Your brain and neural circuits are programmed for that one speed that you've enjoyed for the past 20 years.   If you want to go faster, you have to either increase your stroke length or increase your stroke rate.   For you, it's probably the stroke rate that has to increase.   Here are a couple links worth reading:

http://www.swimsmooth.com/strokerate.html

http://www.swimsmooth.com/slowsr.html   

For the second link, check out the 14 minute video at the bottom.   I'm at the point with my lessons where my coach said she is going to start to show me how to increase my stroke rate, but my next lesson is 10 days away.   I asked her about using something like the wetronome and she said that when she was learning, they would just use different songs to drive the different paces.

Dan

 

something to think about.

you have to change something to get faster, be it more (sounds like you dont need that), harder, (good start), or less rest.

if you swim the same speed all the time, you will keep swimming that speed.

do the itnervals harder, if you need to at first have a longer rest, but start cutting it down.

if you swim the same speed for everthing, and its not dropping off with longer distances, i would do ALL of your swimming for a while in shorter distance sets (50s through 150 or 200) for a while, and work on speed.

it will hurt if you do it right, but you wont get faster without that.

your form may need work, but if you work hard, you'll keep getting faster even with poor form, you'll just be leaving more free speed on the table.

Dirk, those are great times man!  That makes you a serious contender in the water!  You should drop a few seconds from that with a wetsuit too.  Nice work dude.

As for the race, I say do it!  But then again, I've never done a half mary, so I'm out of my league here.

Edited by jgerbodegrant 2010-04-30 7:43 PM

If the half mary is a priority for you, then either skip the cycling race or consider riding at the pace you would ride in an Oly - enjoy it and learn, but don't kill yourself.  

So everything is ready for my half mary tomorrow. I got the cooler packed with post race and maybe even a pre race beer. It is supposed to be awesome out tomorrow after this thunderstorm moves through. Hopefully it ends up being a good day.

Good luck with your race.  Beers always taste great after a race, but I've never tried one before the race. 

it can make for an 'entertaining" race

Went to home depot and found a similar tubing to what comes with the PD aero drink...only it's more flexible.  I think it will work good.  I hangs a little limp...so it can't stab me in the throat...yet easy enough to reach for and shove in my mouth.  I also got the shower poof ball...and it works like a charm.  At first I thought it had to stick out the top...but now I realize it just sits in that upper fat part of the bottle...and won't fall to the bottom.  I shook the thing like crazy...and the only water that came out was out of the straw.

I might try the same thing...but the way mine sits right now, it's out in front of my face....like it would hit me in the forehead if I put my head down, so I may just cut the tubes shorter...but then again they may be a pain to reach my mouth after that.  I'm going to go with the shower ball also.  Did you try pouring water through it, into the aero bottle?  If you shake it like crazy and no water comes out, then how is it supposed to go in?

If I combine the thoughts in the last couple emails, it brings back memories of a neat little plastic device they used to sell at Wrigley Field back when there were still 3:05 games, i.e., circa 1980.   You may want to try this with a couple bottles/cans of your favorite beverage (either for breakfast before a race or while on your bike).

http://www.shopwiki.com.au/_QLD+ORIGIN+2008+BEER+CAN+HAT
 

I think you're like me and have the wrong mental picture.  Originally, I thought that the poof ball needed to stick out the top...like physically, you would see the poof ball coming out of the black hole where you would refill the bottle.  That's not the case.  The poof ball sits 100% inside the bottle, and you can't see it at all.  But because of the shape of the bottle...where it has a fat compartment at the top...the poof ball stays nice and tight at the top and can't move around.  You then put the black foam thingy and the plastic cap on to cover the bottle.  So the poof ball is stuck at the top, and prevents anything from splashing out the black foam...but you can still shove the tip of a bottle through the foam and refill.

Buy the poof ball ($1.50) and shove it in there...you'll understand when you see it.

As for the straw...I experimented with both...having it poke my forehead or my throat...then I cut the straw...and then it became too difficult to drink from without having to tilt my head down and take my eyst completely off the road...hence the longer...but limper extension from home depot...

Thank you everyone. Thank your from the bottom of my heart. You gave me a new motivation and a TON of ideas to work on.

Just a quick question Jonathan. When should I begin counting? With the start of my stroke (catch) I presume?

I will keep you all posted about my swimming adventures. Thank you again.

I raced my first duathlon earlier today and it went great!  I got 1st in my AG(never podiumed before) out of 3 19 and unders.  It was a 5k, 20k, 5k format.  I came in with a 1:18:54 and ranked 26th overall out of about 150.  I'm really happy with my performance in this race and I crushed my expectations.  Even though this was a local race, it boosts my motivation a ton.  Now I'm working on recovering for a local 10k road race tomorrow where I can hopefully get another AG win.  I would like to go sub 40 tomorrow but I'm really going to need to be on my game.

Enjoy the weekend guys!

I just spent a good hour cleaning my bike since it got filthy earlier.  I am terrible at cleaning drivetrains and I never seem to get it as clean as I want.  I ended up taking the chain off with a chain break tool and now everything is effed up.  It sounds like my chain is catching someplace but I've looked over my entire drivetrain and have found nothing.  I think it's a stiff link or something.  I'll probably take it in on Monday to have it looked at.  I have a hunch that I screwed up the chain.  Anybody use one of those chain cleaners that clamps on to your chain?

Congrats on your race today - sounds like you were smokin' - enjoy the win!  Also - good luck for tomorrow's race - sending winning mojo your way!

Well it was no racing for me today.  We had a storm roll through this morning and it tossed a tree over and broke some conductor over a river.  (If you want to see a pic you can check my fb.  It's Dirk Pauley.)  The fix wasn't too bad but knowing I needed to get my run in to prep for the half mary I ditched the idea of the bike race. 

My run sucked!  The air was heavy with the humidity and it made for a really tough run.  I was hard to keep my head around it for the whole run.  It was good mental preparation for the half though, so I'll take it in stride.

I ran a 5k race this morning and got a PR of 29:15. I know it is slow - but I beat my goal of 30' (even with the hills and wind)! Finished solidly MOP.  Last year at this time I couldn't even run a 5k - so lots of good progress for me. Very excited!

Also was able to get an LT test out of it!

Well today has been a good day. I did do just as I expected... 1:45ish for the half mary. Was able to snag two beers during the run from specators. And I have exceeded my expectations of 13 drinks after the half. I think I am somewhere in the 18 range. But I feel great. Lots of gatorade and bratwurst. The funny thing is... this same race last year when I was training for a boston qual time I ran my fastest half marathon ever... only to blow out after trying to use the bathroom and ended up with a 415 for the marathon. Carl with a C... good job on your du today.

Nice job on the race Carl.   Sorry, but I can offer no advice on the chain.  

Did you really have two beers during the race?   Nice job! 

I ran a 10k on Thursday - my first since 2001.   I ended up doing 49:00 and think that could have been 48:00 (which is my PR at 10k) if there hadn't been so many people to fight through at the start of the race.   Unfortunately, they lined people up by age and the 50+ group ended up behind about 1000 50- folks.    I was quite satisfied with the race.   I ended up getting a great set of heart rate data and was pleasantly surprised with my splits for the second half of the race (graph attached below - did this using SportTracks which is a nice piece of freeware).



?

Edited by dcon 2010-05-01 6:28 PM






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Good job everyone on your races.

Thomas- Man, you make me miss my younger days. I remember when I could drink like that (I drink more than a couple beers now and I'm falling asleep). Glad you are having fun.

Robin- Congrats on breaking 30! What an accomplishment. I still have yet to do that, so you are NOT slow IMHO.

Update on me: I've been a little sick the past 3 days, so I haven't been training (which annoys me, I don't like to see empty days on my training log). But luckily I woke up feeling good today so I was able to run my 5k. I finished in 32:25 which is good for me (my last one was 33:24). I'm still trying to break 30, I know I just gotta run more often & for longer distances.

So, anyhow. I feel like I'm just creeping along with my weight loss. I still have to lose about 20lbs to get to my goal weight of 145, and I'm fighting for every pound. Only taking off less than 1 lb a week at this point. It's a little frustrating because I've got all these clothes that almost fit me, but I'm just gonna stay the course because I know all those little 1 lb losses will add up. But, the cool thing is I got a compliment this morning. The person said, "Wow, I can't believe you just had a baby and you look like that." I found it amusing since 1) my baby is 8 months old, so didn't just have her & 2) I'm so not at my ideal weight. But, I'm not gonna argue. I'll take the compliment

Edited by jpbis26 2010-05-01 7:04 PM

Great job - those splits are awesome. When I first saw them I thought they were in min/mi and I said holy #$%@! Still awesomes though!  Congrats on the PR!