Experior and Slornow's Winter Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 32)

Renee - really strong race, even with the calf issues. 5th AG is awesome.

Brian - like others have said, sometimes you need to bag a workout, or accept that you will not perform at the level you're used to.  Just keep in mind that one missed/subpar training run is not going to have any impact to your overall training program.

I got to run outside this weekend, short, a bit slow, but pain free - which is key.  I also found a store that still had some Gel Nimbus 11's in stock and bought a pair since I've gotten rid of the Kinvaras.  Had good success with these shoes in the past.

I also need to remember to curb my youthful enthusiasm.  I'm almost 40, not 14, but that didn't prevent me from trying to show off to my 7 year old by taking a massive jump on his GT sno racer taboggon - it did not end well.  I crashed and landed on a patch of ice elbow first.  Came away with some scrapes and a very nasty and sore bruise and can't put any pressure on that elbow.  Lesson learned....I need to practise on smaller jumps next time. 

What I thought was a side ache on my run actually feels like a pulled rib cage muscle.  I have to breath very shallow or I get pain under my left pectoral area, into my shoulder blade in the back and into my upper shoulder.  I might have to bag this week and just recover esecially if I can't breath very well.  I was originally thinking I would position myself somewhere in the middle of the 10:30 pace group and 11:00 pace group for my upcoming Marathon.  I might be joining the 11:00 pace group for the Marathon at this rate.  I'd be ok with that. 

Have a good week everyone.

Had a pretty good race today.  Goal was to come under an hour, and I barely made it...59:29 @ 7:19 pace for 8.15 miles.

I realize that I'm not too good at running races shorter than a half marathon.  I can't ever get comfortable at running an uncomfortable pace if that makes sense.  I found myself drifting into the 7:40's, then speed back up to the low 7's to make up that time.  At no point during the race did I feel really bad...so it's just a matter of me getting used to running harder.

I'll take it though.  I'm about 5-7 pounds heavier than I was last year for this race, yet still ran 1:12 faster.

Rene: Sounds like a very successful race result even with all of the trouble you were having. Congratulations on 5th in AG!! That's fantastic.

Neil: I hear ya on curbing the inner youngster. I suffer every Monday after forgetting every weekend that I'm a hair short of 40, lol! Yay for a pain free run!

Brian: Oh no! Injuries to that area makes breathing deeply painful. Rest if you need it, and if you have to adjust your pace, looks like you're OK with that and you'll do fine in the run. Take care of you first!

Jason: Congratulations on meeting your goal! All that running has improved your run fitness even carrying a bit of extra meat. Great job!

I rested yesterday. Got busted up pretty bad at the soccer game Sunday and rattled my right ankle with a bad touch. Very sore, again. Today I hope to take the bike outside and get a run in afterwards. Depends on what time my husband gets home from work.

Have a great evening!

Great race Jason - sounds like marathon training in between has had it's benefits.  I've never actually raced a stand alone 5 or 10km race, but would love to do so at some point.

Blanda-great job on the race!  Sounds like you are learning something at each race.  Nutrition is so important during a race and figuring out what works best for you is often difficult.  You are making fantastic progress!  Keep it up.

Brian-sounds like you had a tough run but may have figured out what caused it?  Enjoy your day off today and hopefully you will feel better tomorrow.

Jason-nice race.  That is a great pace!

Rene-hope that calf gets better soon.  Excellent result on what sounds like a very different kind of course.

Neil-I just wish I was 40 again

Randy

I consider anything under 8:00 min./mile in my book movin.  Nice job on the race and the pace.  Consider the weight resistance training.

Catching up...

Blanda -- fantastic race!  Sounds like great progress on the swim.  Careful with the quad.  Sounds like you strained it.  If you take it easy, it should heal quickly.  If not, you'll just make it worse.  Typically you can train through those things (unless they are very bad), but you need to stay away from intensity on the run and bike until it heals.  Also be careful walking up stairs.  Soccer (specifically, stopping and cutting) can be really hard on the quads, so watch out there too.

Brian -- as others said, bad runs happen to good people.  Don't sweat it.  If you have some sort of injury in your rib cage, then it isn't exactly surprising that you had a bad run.  The body tends to shut down a bit when it is trying to heal itself.  (I imagine it's the body's way of saying "Hey stupid -- yeah you.  Can't you see we're trying to heal up here?  So knock off the running, OK?")

Jason -- nice race!  Do you run by HR (sorry if you've said and I've forgotten)?  That's one pretty good way to stick to an appropriately hard effort.  But yeah, whether by HR, pace, or RPE, running hard for about an hour is about the most difficult thing to pace, at least in my experience.  That's not surprising -- you are running (or trying to run) right at your lactate threshold, and that's a fine line to walk (or run...).  It takes constant mental concentration.  At least, it does for me.

Stu -- enjoy the time with Mom!  And enjoy the warmth!

Rene -- nice race!  The venue sounds very cool.  Calf -- yeah, sounds like you strained it.  Same advice as to Blanda:  unless it is painful to bike or run at all (in which case...rest!) you can train, but avoid intensity, which will generally aggravate the strain. What do you think are the aspects of transition that you need to work on?

Neil -- you practice on the small jumps when the kid is not around.  Then go for it 'spontaneously' when he is there.

Michael...I don't train by HR, but I do use it to race.  I just forgot to change out my battery in my strap.  For this type of race, I would have ignored it, but used it for future reference to know what my 1 hour HR is.

Niel, I haven't done a stand alone 5k or 10k either...pretty much because I think they hurt too much.  A 5k I think I can handle...it's short enough to just gut yourself.  But a 10k is just too much suffering for too long.  It really is a mental battle to push your body on that "line".

There's your answer Jason.  Do a 5K.  Then do a 10K.  Seriously.  The recovery cost is small (couple days or so), and the lessons learned are very very valuable.

yeah...but I'm a wimp...LOL

Thanks so much for the positive words and awesome advice. I really appreciate the feedback from you experienced folks. I just can't get that here!

Brian and Rene: Tough decisions you have to make. I hope the issues resolve soon so you're able to go ahead with original plans, but if taking a step back will ensure a year of of good health instead of recovering, it would be wise, no? Take care of yourselves!

Tonight had to be a short one. Husband's schedule's going to be nuts until he deploys. I will need to get up in the morning to ensure I get runs in. I got in 30 mins on the bike. 5 min warm up, climbed for 20. Tried to run on the treadmill after, but wonky quad and angry knees weren't havin' it. Cut it short to keep from doing any more damage.

Have a lovely day.

Happy Mardi Gras! Its Fat Tuesday and many cities along the Gulf Coast have parades including Mobile.  There will be 100,000+ people throughout downtown Mobile today reveling in the festivities.  Thankfully, I will not be one of them. However, since my office is only a block off the parade route we are closed today as are most businesses in Mobile.

Sounds like a great day to get some training in right!! Well, wife and daughter are off looking at colleges so its just me.  Sounds promising? Here's the catch.  TV's have been acting up so I have an appt for a Direct TV tech to arrive, somewhere between 8am and Noon to check it out.  I was up early to get my run in so I could be ready at 8am in case they show up early. No such luck.  I get a call that they will likely be here at 11:30am.  I'm afraid to go anywhere or do anything in case they show up before 11:30am.  Bike workout scheduled for this afternoon.  Great to have a day off but looks like I will be killing alot of time.

Randy       

Blanda-smart to listen to your body!  I'm a big advocate of that although not always the best in following that advice.  I'm trying to get better though.

Jason-I'm with you on the running races.  5k's and 10k's just seem to hurt way more than tri's.  I did a 5k right before Christmas and really felt beat up after it.  I had a good race and did better than I ever expected but in the days following it I felt worse than I did after any of the tri's I did last year.  Part of the problem for me is I can't just go run the races for "fun." I set goals, maybe unrealistic ones, and push hard.  I do the same in tri's and the runs are always tough but I just don't feel as beat up.  I do think the 5k/10k races are great training tools to test yourself and see where you are in your run training but not at the expense of needing prolonged recovery.  Tough to balance benefit/cost.

Rene/Brian-For what its worth I think your decisions should be based on the big picture of your upcoming tri season.  Are these upcoming races "A" races or just part of your training to get you ready for later events? I have a hard time prioritizing events.  I tend to race just as hard whether it is a C race or an A race.  I know that this is inconsistent with my "big picture" advice but I do try to adjust my training/taper more for the A races.

Rene-I think you have more time to decide than Brian.  The calf may clear up quickly and you will be able to do the race. If not you can always do the swim/bike and still get something out of the race.  I had one of my better runs at a race (Olympic) last year coming off of very little run training due to a calf problem.  Good thing is you can always go as far in the race as your body allows and then stop.  Of course, if the calf is still a big issue come race day then I would avoid the run. 

Brian-marathon is a whole different deal. No avoiding the run there.  Seems like Di was faced with a similar dilemma a while back and most of the wisdom from the marathon veterans was to drop down to the half.  Given the challenges you have been facing both physically and with training time I would lean toward dropping down to the half.  As you pointed out this would probably allow you a better opportunity to prepare for upcoming tri's.  Give your body a rest and then decide.  Hope you feel better soon.

Randy       

I agree with Randy.  Giver yourself some time to rest and recover, and then assess.  There's no need to decide now.  Good luck with it, and feel better soon!

Hey everyone thank you first for lending me your ears and second for the wonderful support and advice. 

Catwoman - My longest run so far has been a Half Marathon on January 15th at that time I was sick going into the race and then expereinced some calf issues so almost two week delay in getting back into training.  I have run a 14 mile traning run as my longest ever.  Milestone for me.

Slornow/Blanda/Experior - I generally don't consider my races in terms of A, B or even C type races.  I am pretty particular with the races I pick; if I invest the Funds I want to do my best so I spread them out.  What I do is set goals with each race I go into; so for my most recent 1/2 Marathon I was looking for an overall pace of 10 min/mile and came up way short; although my expectations were not all that high as I was sick and then it snowed that day.  So after, I then adjusted some for what I might expect for my Marathon and con't to adjust.  For some of my past Tri's I set goals for specific areas that I am trying to improve (Transition times, Swim goals, bike goals and run goals) and based on that I set an overall goal challenge for the overall result (ex:  top half of age group, break top 10 or top 5 depending on who has entered and what I believe I can do comparatively to the competition).  I also like to set a stretch goal; something that is way out there that if I had such a great race what might that look like.

For this marathon it is to experience the distance, finish and be able to put in the type of training to finish uninjured and be able to continue on after my recovery; I also had a specific pace in mind.  I am leaning toward the Half but will find out from race official when I actually need to decide and move my registration.

Thanks Again for listening.

I am very OK with running the Half Marathon and setting new goals such as with my training and doing more speed work, tempo runs and fartlek to up my pace; continuing to lose weight.  My best Half was exactly 9:00 min/mile pace which helped me go under 2:00 hrs.  I'd like to see if I would lower that time.  This is a very flat course and would mimic the course of my PR.  I am not discouraged but am being realistic.  I can see I may not be cut out for doing training for a specific marathon all by itself; it just beats up my body too much with all the impact of running vs. in Tri's doing swimming and biking and running.

Brian: I'm goal motivated too, as I'm not anywhere near front of the pack these days. I think this makes it easier to be flexible when it comes to training/races and making changes. Last year I had initially wanted to race two 1/2s three weeks apart, running the 1st relaxed, and PRing on the next. I got really sick and missed a good two weeks of proper training before the 1st. To take the pressure off of the PR race, I did the 1st 1/2 as a relay for fun with some friends. THEN, I had a terrible allergy issue just before my PR race and ended up missing a week of training for it, but decided to just do my best and not be sore if I didn't PR. Going into it determined to be OK with the result, I ran hard, but without mental pressure and ended up just being 3 minutes shy of PRing.

Still hope for a recovery so you can do as planned, but it's a fresh year with future races down the line you can take on after getting back to 100%, which would be a quicker process if you don't aggravate it with more than it can handle.

****
Swim team last night. Did a lot of kick drills, which I need. You'd think I can get some serious propulsion from these massive man legs of mine, but dang if I'm not the last to finish on these drills! My flip turns are improving and it does help to keep me continuously swimming instead of the smallish breaks I take turning off the wall.

Have a great evening.

The first trime I tried kicking in the pool, I went backwards.  That's right.

I worked and worked it, and now I go forwards.

I'm traveling tomorrow.  I'm not a huge fan of traveling (I used to love it).  I just did some research on the pool situation where I'm headed -- I might end up swimming with the elastic bands in the hotel pool.  Ugh.

Good morning everyone- schedule today includes a swim at lunch and intervals on the trainer tonight.

Anyone racing this weekend?

Hopefully, everyone is recovering from their recent illness/injuries.

Randy

Good luck in the TT Jason.  If you go all out, you'll know more or less what 5K feels like.  

I arrived in Savannah, GA, today for a series of meetings whose value is unclear to me, but here I am.  I did manage a bit of training before I left, and I'm headed to the hotel pool for a little 'swimming at the end of a rope' (elastic bands).

Hope everyone is well.