HILDEKQ'S Magnificently Motivational Mentor Group - CLOSED!! (Page 36)

Here I was thinking that whole tingle/numb sensation in my ring and pinki fingers was just me! I've not had the weakness though. I know I have a vertebrae that is messed up in my neck and when those nerves get pinched it causes all kinds of havoc in my head and arms (headaches etc).  I've found that if I move my hands a little more often and come up off the drops it doesn't happen quite so often or severe. When I went to the chiro it helped A LOT! He's actually the one who did xrays and found out that I have a deformed disc in my neck that is the cause of 70% of my headaches and other assorted pains...

Okay, after another compiling....actually several before I got the mix right...I hope this works

Action Movie

This was pretty fun doing - hope you get a kick out of it...or not.

haha

Oh..... is THAT what's causing that hunchback thing you got going on??!

Wilson, that was AWESOME!!  Love the "finger" weights underwater!! 

So about the swimming.... you don't look that bad!  Some obvious things to work on though:

Your right arm is reaching WAY across your midline, try to think about it entering the water at about 1:00 (if you imagine that the top of your head is 12:00).  Left arm looks pretty good.  In the underwater shots, you can see your hands entering the water and then going a bit deep... try entering the water and keeping your hand just a couple of inches below the surface, and let it glide there for a second before you pull.... get as much forward motion as you can out of each stroke!  If you can do those two things, I think you'll see yourself getting faster!!  More speed with less effort!!! 

Gotta say I was disappointed not see a Speedo!!!  Looks like you have a nice pool to swim in!

Damn, I'm not gunna touch that one....I'm scared now!

Right on!!!  you are correct - my coach would agree with you.  My legs are also a mess...I need to learn to keep then in align with my body and not all over the place.  My kick is so bad - I'm trying to rotate my body to my non-breathing side - that my right quad hurts when I'm done....Gotta get that fixed too, cuz it won't feel nice on the ride.

I didn't want to scare the people in my speedo!!! haha... I wanted to moon you guys, but Brad was totally against that..haha

That's not my home pool, that's Brad's home pool.  Mine is more basic with 3 - 25yd lanes and not much else...but it's never busy which is a huge plus.

Loved the video Wilson! Here's my 10 cents worth (by the way, thanks for the "shout out"!)

I agree with Hilde on needing to enter the water at about 11:00 with the left hand and 1:00 with the right hand - try getting your elbows higher so that you can "slice" your hand into the water with your hand rotated some so that your palm is facing outward rather than downward so your index finger enters the water first - then drive your hand forward under the water as you straighten your elbow and get as much forward reach and glide as you can  (this is where you need to rotate your while body - as you glide forward you should actually be "laying on the side" of the forward arm). You will then be turning your palm inward and bending your elbow for the pull - think of wanting to pull against the water with your closed hand and your forearm so you will have to keep your elbows high under the water as well. Then as you finish your stroke under the water your elbow will straighten as your hand passes your upper thigh (outer, thigh - not inner thigh- no time for a quick adjustment of the man-parts! LOL!) thumb toward your thigh and palm toward the ceiling. Then, as for the kick - smaller flutters - all from the hip - knee angle barely changes throughout the kick cycle.

These are all MINOR adjustments that will make a BIG difference in your efficiency and your SPEED!

As for those complaining of hand fatigue and tingling/numbness...especially hours after a ride - not good! Could be coming from a disc or nerve compression in your neck, or a nerve compression at the base of the palm of your hand were the handlebars may be compressing things. Of course I wouldn't know anything about this as I have still not been out on my bike and the forecast for the next 10 days straight is rain, rain, rain - everyday, all day. LOVELY!

Thanks Marsha, I'm gunna read that over several times so it sinks in.  I need a few of you dolphins nearby to straighten me out!!  My swim coach seems to be in alignment with what you and Hilde have said...Although no one has explained the hand position stuff in that much detail....I'll study it and try and incorporate that into my swim....I know I'm only about 250,000 yards from getting this stuff partially right!!!  I know I need to get my hand at 1:00...damn - I dont know why that is so hard!!!  And my kick is frustrating the $hit out of me...I can't quit doing crazy that fatigues my right quad...ugh....With the pull buoy and no kick I'm fabulous and so much faster!!!

Stupid hands! I thought they were better today- at least I didn't have to hold my toothbrush with both hands this morning! But then I got in the pool, and I couldn't swim! My hands were like limp dishrags- couldn't "grab" the water at all! I swam the WHOLE workout (save a couple hundred yards of kicks) with paddles! I can barely hold a pen to write, and typing is still pretty hard. I think a chiro visit is in my future- if only I was actually going to be home on a weekday to do something about it!

Wilson, great video! I got all excited seeing so much flesh. I mean, really, that was a LOT of flesh!! JK. Your form wasn't so terrible- I'm pretty sure you're gonna kick MY a$$ in Indy, anyway! I'll just add one thing- your feet look a little low-- try to get them up to the surface. Maybe a few laps swimming FS with fins would help you get the feel for it. And nice job with the underwater weight session!

Um, Hilde.......soooooooooo NOT funny..it's not my fault my arse takes up half of my back!! Didn't they teach you in teacher school not to make fun of people? It's not berry nice...  

Okay Wilson, far from being the greatest swimmer I will relay to you what I saw and what my coach has been beating into MY HEAD of late...

Like the other ladies said, 11 and 1:00 entry, but also the entry of your hand should be in the vicinity of your HEAD, specifically your ear, rather than out front of your head - this is to give you a better entry and proper placement for the pull. I have a tall guy in my swim class and he too crosses his body and extends his arms rather than having high elbows. I wonder if it's because of your wing span..? Something to think about and work on.

As for your feet. You said that you can fly when using the pull buoy - that's because it's keeping your legs TOGETHER. When you swim without the buoy, pretend (boys are supposed to be good at this!) that you DO have the pull buoy between your legs and you are squeezing to keep it there. This helped me tremendously in the pool! 

Hilde mentioned the depth of your leading hand. Think of your hand like the rudder on a boat. You have to put it in just the right space in the water for YOUR BODY to 1) stay afloat where it should be 2) stay straight on course. If your hand is too deep, for some reason the legs tend to follow and too shallow - same effect. This goes double for your head placement. Coach is FOREVER telling us to BURY your head INTO YOUR SHOULDER. Digging the head into the water also helps keep the feet afloat. 

My 2 cents....I like the music choice by the way....

I think all of this is the reason why swimming EXHAUSTS me like no other exercise does....IT IS ALL MENTAL!! As in, I have to think about everything I am doing rather than it just coming naturally..phew..I am ready for bed just thinking about it! LOL

Daaaamn - you girls play for keeps! 

It's okay - you don't have to cover up for Hilde.  We know that it really comes from you carrying her around on your training runs and races whenever she decides to have a "princess moment." 

Wilson - loved the video!  I skimmed most of these comments and know that everyone else is giving you much better advice than I can when it comes to technique.  As the only other guy here though, I will tell you to get some damn jammers.  Come to think of it, you're screwed up enough to sport some grape smuggling speedos but, in either case, just lose the trunks.  They act like a huge parachute in the water and will not help your leg position at all.  My body position and form increased appreciably when I made the change.  Granted, I now terrify the pool walkers and teenage girls when I come lumbering out of the locker room in my sausage encased pasty white goodness but I choose to see that as a bonus! 

Damn, I'm not gunna touch this one with a 100 foot pole!!!!  LOVE HUG PEOPLE!!!

OK gang, I need some help putting things into the proper perspective.  I need to put the fun back into my workouts.  I remember thinking it was so great to run a whole mile I felt so proud and happy.  Now I feel like I'm some sort of a slacker if I don't make whatever workout is on my schedule.    I need to have more balance (and more fun) in my life.   Of course injuring my back every other week isn't helping my outlook one bit!

How do you guys keep your noses to the grindstone week after week? 

Janet, I seem to go through phases from feeling gung ho, to wondering if I am totally being a poser!  There's nothing wrong with taking time off, it just doesn't help if you are getting near a race (like Indy!).  I find I do much better with a plan.  I have NO problems getting myself to the pool, and I'm even pretty dedicated to my run, I find it's the bike that is too easy for me to skip, something about changing clothes, having to air up the tires, fill the water bottle, scope out my route, check the temps and the wind, etc etc...  Once I'm on the road for a few miles, I am totally into it, pushing hard, it's the getting out the door part that does me in.  Oh that, and sitting down at the computer as soon as I get home, too easy to get distracted and then the time is gone.  I also allow myself days that I DON'T push myself hard, I run just to run, whatever pace feels good, same with the bike, just ride for fun.  And I also don't beat myself up if I miss a training session.... I over-schedule my plan, so if I miss, it's not that big a deal.

Maybe find a training buddy?  Someone to run with or bike with?  Hopefully you're just going thru a phase and will feel back to yourself in no time!  Being injured does NOT help!!!!  So stop it!!

I hear ya! I'm floundering with this a bit myself. Certainly not "in it"mentally as much as I was last year at this time. I'm not finding the training as fun as last season - I keep trying to tell myself that it's a phase and it will get batter once I get a taste of my first Tri for the season- provided I make it until then - LOL!  Sorry I don't have any great answers...just commiseration!

Onto a slightly lighter topic...my day sucked physically today and work sucked too...being a single parent tonight had it's moments..ugh...ok now the lighter part...I wanted popcorn....the old fashioned way...you know oil, popcorn on a gas stove...yeah, that kind.  So, I was excited to end my day that way...well there was only a small amount of popcorn left...boo hoo....so I was trying to think of what else....then I found microwave popcorn...well, I got the bright idea that I'll just pour that stuff in my hot oil pan and pop it up that way!!!  Great idea huh!!  So I put my sparse amount of real popcorn in the hot pan and then ripped open a microwave popcorn bag and poured that in there.....it started to pop, no problem - BUT the damn stuff burned...I never burn popcorn..I think that microwave stuff isn't real popcorn or something....so now I'm eating slightly burnt popcorn with season salt on it of course (don't care for butter too much) and I'm enjoying eating it in peace with my big glass of icewater....so a little piece of burnt heaven...I guess!

Tammy, how are the hands????  I hope they are getting better by now and you've taken corrective/preventive measures by now...You post sounds really scary and the other input substantiates that something is really wrong.  Fill us in - we hope you are better and understand WTF happened.  If you were a guy - I'd have a few suggestions on WHY????  But, you're not so that wont work!! haha  What up girlfriend?!?!?!

DUDE!! I have sooooo been craving some popcorn!! Even some that is a little burnt sounds super good to me!!  My weakness right now is frozen yogurt...

I have a wee bit o' bad news......The Husband said NO to Indy. I cannot even begin to tell you all how BUMMED OUT I am. It's one of those arguments that married folks have about money and what is necessary and what is not. I'm sure you can relate.

      Janet, my friend, with my cranky foot I so totally feel you!! I go through these periods when I ask myself, WTF am I THINKING? Why am I doing this again?!! Then, when I am ON IT and have no doubts....I berate myself for missing workouts, for running/biking/swimming tooooo slowly/ using poor technique or some other real or imagined lack of performance and try to break my neck for any misstep in the food I eat.  

Having said all that......I try to network with others whenever possible to put some degree of balance in my life and HAVE SOME FUN. Break out of the comfort zone and do something out of the ordinary, find a partner (makes a HUGE difference when I am feeling BLAH).....One of the other girls said something a while back about giving ourselves permission to just BE. I think that's also important. If you don't feel like it today, it's alright - just be in the moment w/yourself. The great thing about permission - you can put limits on it and tell yourself THAT'S ENOUGH NOW - GET BACK TO WORK!