Athena/ Clydesdale Official Mentor Group (Page 33)

Made a batch at home yesterday and they came out just as good as the ones I bought at the cafe. Hope you like them.  Both my boys like them but not my husband.

Swim - 1800 yds - 43m 30s - 2:25/10 avg

Good things happen when you lose track of the number of laps, provided your rule is "when in doubt do the extra lap". I finished with the belief that I had hit 1500 yards, but maybe 1600. But when I got home and checked the laps on my IM watch I discovered that I had lost count of laps more than once. I actually wound up doing 1800 yards!  It was supposed to be 4x50, 3x100, 1x500, 3x100, 4x50.

Ooops!  Wound up with 5x50, 3x100, 1x600, 4x100, and 5x50.  So I swam 1.2 miles with only 30s rest between intervals.  I think I am going ease back just a little bit, to my intended W/U and C/D but keep the 600 in the middle.  The new plan is to do this distance for 4 or 5 workouts and then add 100 yds every third workout.

FELT GREAT!

FANTASTIC NEWS!  And a change to my planned race season.  I  had planned on doing either the Black Bear Oly in Lehighton PA or the Lake Keuka Oly in NY on June 2nd.  But that has changed now.

My daughter has agreed to "tri" the Topeka KS Tinman short course on June 15th.  I will run the long course.  WOW!  I have been saying that I am doing this to set a positive fitness example for my grandson, with the hope that his mother would see it and lose some weight herself.  It's working!  LJ has switched to a closer school (1.2 miles) and they have been walking to school and home each morning.  (Which means she is making the trip twice a day)  The SIL offered to drive the little one to school this morning and the kid refused, saying he wanted to walk instead.  I am so tickled.  This makes all the sweat and pain of the last six months worth it.  (I'm already making plans to get LJ started in Tri-Kids down the road.)  Father/daughter picture will be posted after the race.

nicely done on the workouts everyone!

Got a 1.35km swim in last night, so new record there, can definitely feel my swimming coming back and I'm looking forward to hopefully hitting the pool tomorrow morning before watching football.

Got 31 minutes on the trainer this afternoon, so my trouble weekend is off to a good start. Enjoying hockey being back too and off to my friend's place in a minute.

Randi, of course Mike is welcome.  The more the merrier!  You may have noticed that the numbers on here have decreased significantly since the end of the race season.  I'm hoping to see several of them restart in a month or two, I miss the interaction.  Sometimes makes me wonder if I haven't scared them away with my frequent posting of mundane training details.

For instance, we never hear from the Yeti or jonD anymore.  But then again, they are snowed in and probably think that indoor workouts aren't worth noting.  I disagree.  We all "feed" off of each other's motivation, at least I know I do.  The two that really surprise me though are Alsburyscott and jobaxas.  They should be right in the heart of their seasons down under.

Thanks.  I know Mike will share lots and keep us all motivated!

Yes, I had noticed the decline but figured it was just people were busy.  I know that I go through spurts when I don't post too much.  Hope they do come back or that we do in fact pick up some new people.  Maybe everyone is busy with new mentor groups.   I myself joined another one but am finding it might not be the best fit whereas I have never felt that way here.   I personally like the info about indoor workouts that you share since that is what I am doing myself at the moment.  

As for motivation, Mike definitely keeps me motivated, at least most of the time.  It is amazing having a training partner in the house even though we are training for different races.   I do think he is more motivated today than I am.  I am just not feeling it today.  Supposed to have a long bike ride on the trainer but just not in the mood, in fact I have not been on my bike since last Sunday.  He's riding right now and I know I should get my ride in but there are times like now that I don't want to.

I don't take many off days.  I am usually doing some kind of workout even if it is not specific to triathlons.  I do however feel guilty that I haven't done anything since Friday but wonder,  is it okay to just bag the workouts for a couple days?  

Great job on the run today!  Have fun with the new shoes but nothing will prepare you for the first ride outside with them.  I had 3 falls when I first started with my pedals.  Two of them were at a stop with one foot unclipped and on the ground, I turned to look over my shoulder of the foot clipped in and down I went.    My heart still races for the first couple of rides outside at the beginning of the season fearing a fall.    Mike has not fallen yet so it is possible to go a long time without doing so but I tease him in that I say I got my falls out of the way already while he is still due.  You know the saying, its not if but when.

I decided to revamp my training plan since the one I was doing was a blend of a winter bike weight loss/maintenance plan and an olympic but only using the swim part.  The problem with the bike rides was that it often called for a crossfit type ride - sets of riding mixed with jumping rope, power squats, push ups, etc.  Not really what I wanted to do.    So, now I have imported the Sprint to Olympic Plan and will be starting it tomorrow.?   We'll see what happens.

Here's my bike workout for tomorrow - gearing confounds me though. Rings are on the front? gears on the back? smaller ring is easier, bigger ring is harder?  bigger gear is harder, smaller gear is easier? I know not to cross gear the chain so how can I do big ring, hardest gear?  I have a compact so I only have 10 gears and find it almost impossible to bike while standing on the trainer.  Any suggestions on how to modify this workout?

 Power
60
Start in big ring, easiest gear. Spend 3' in each gear gradually working your way to hardest gear (total 27'). Leaving it in big ring, hardest gear, do 10 x (30" grind, 30" all out, 30" grind, 30" stand). Do 5' grind in big ring, hardest gear. Gradually work your back to your easiest gear by 1' for cool-down. Grind means sitting back on saddle, turning pedals over, not worrying about cadence.

Another workout that I can imagine is going to be hard on the trainer is this one for Wednesday.  How do I simulate hills?

Bike: Bike Hill Repeats
Strength
65
WU: 15' 
MS: Then 8x2' up a hill at 65-70 RPMS. Recover on the downhills. HR on the uphills can hit low Z4. Keep HR in Zone 1-2 otherwise. 
CD: 15'

Good luck with the pedals.  I still can't get past the fact they call them "clipless", yet you clip in.  I definitly enjoy the benefit.  

Randi - obviously your memory is shorter than mine.  Remember that fall I took last year while standing at an intersection.  The only thng I hurt was my pride (and a little scuff on my handlebars).

Of course it's okay to bag the workouts for a couple of days.  In fact, sometimes it's recommended.  Rest and recovery are almost as important as stress and overworking to produce good progress.

Thanks!  I'll let you know how I make out.  On tap in the early AM,  the entire family is headed to the pool for a swim workout.  Have my bike workout and hope to make yoga at 12:30, guess that will make up for doing nothing today.

Happy Monday!

This week is off to a strong start.  I rode 14.5 miles on the trainer yesterday (too cold and windy to get outside).  Then I swam 1200 yards this morning.  Tonight I plan on running at the gym while my son has basketball practice.  My goal for this week is to complete ALL of my training program sessions!

One of the best tools I've got for swimming is a mechanical counter, like this:

http://www.tallycounterstore.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=34

I periodically spray in some WD-40.  Sits at the side of the pool - I stop long enough to hit the button, turn around and keep swimming.  I also use it on the track when running.  The only drawback I've ever had is at the outdoor pool during the summer, it's practically irresistable to small children.

I went low tech on the lap count tonight.  I had four dumbbells on the deck.  For every interval I moved one into the gutter.  When they were all in the gutter it was time to switch to the next interval set.  For the middle interval I simply moved one weight for every 100 yards.  When the last one went in the gutter I knew I had only 100 yards to go.

But I think this payday I might just spring one of the ones Randy uses.

Swim - 1500 yds - 2:12/100 avg

Swim workout tonight. 1500 yds precisely as planned. 4x50, 3x100, 1x500, 3x100, 4x50. Nice progress. I have been so focused on hitting the mile that I didn't realize how close I am to race distance on that middle set.  Three more weeks and I will be meeting/exceeding the distance on my first race of the season.

Best of all, I cut my average time for 100 yards from 2:26 down to only 2:12. My goal before the April 7th race is to average under 2:00 for an entire 800 yard race. Tomorrow, the dreaded treadmill