Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 37)

The events look fun.  I hope I can still make it to one of the events.  I am also looking for a job with some ernhist because I just found out about the UrbanRace or something like that. looks kind of fun.



Thanks for the kind words Steve, and Happy Late Birthday.





Learning to Swim it is a swimming program that is featured on the home page of the BT site. here is the link to the articles.
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/category.asp?authorid=181411


I just got a 1.5 mile run in, outdoors might I add. It is much tougher than the treadmill at the gym.

DANIEL -

Well done on hitting the great outdoors with the run!

Just curious --- In what ways did you find it tougher than the treadmill? I'm always curious about this, because I find it to be the opposite; significantly so!

CRAIG -

That sounds about right!

One thing to work on as the better weather approaches is keeping your stride short while still sprinting. Tha high cadence really is optimal, and in my opinion more so for faster and shorter efforts.

I think I said this before, but as you look to increase cadence, take your time. You may find initially that you can hold 90+ briefly, like maybe a minute or so, and then you feel as if things are falling apart. I clearly remember thinking for quite a while how I would ever get it to the point of 22 minutes or so for a sprint.....and then 45 minutes or so for an olympic...................and goodgodalmighty, 1:50 give or take for a half-iron. But over a few years it happened, and for the 13.1 miles of a half-iron in Oct. '09 and Aug. '10, I think I was 90+ for 10-11 miles. And at a stand-alone half-marathon I did in October, I was 90+ for every step of the 1:37. I was very pleased with the time, but even more so with my ability to tap out a fast cadence for the whole thing. (Of course, after that run my bunion acted up for the first time ever, and has continued on-and-off ever since. Dare I draw conclusions??)

Another thing worth mentioning is that soetimes I cannot seem to hit 90, with yesterday most recently coming to mind. I counted about seven times, and each was at 89. Between each I would consciously try to get to 90.....and kept falling short. Tomorrow I might well go out and hit 91-93 for the whole thing, but yesterday it wasn't about to happen. Just one of those days that prove that training is not linear, and that off-days happen.

Finally, i envy you the ability to be able to repair a treadmill. Impressive skill-set, to do that!

GENE -

You say "Sixty two sure beats the alternative". Do you mean 26..........................or The Great Beyond??

GENE again -

I guess you're on the road by now, and hopefully the plow reports are favorable for you? Be safe, and enjoy the new grandsprout!

ADAM -

Did you have a chance to look at either of the visuals mentioned by Roger and Gene? Both are excellent and should explain breathing better than I can. But if you want another opinion, or likely a slightly different spin on it, let me know and I will tell you what I do -- or try to do!

Thanks guys for the swim breathing links. The animation on swimsmooth.com is very helpful.

I understand the right technique in rotating my body to catch a breath, and rotating my body on non-breath strokes as well, but implementing it in the pool is a whole different matter.

I'm going to try to get to the pool Saturday to work on some basic drills (exhaling underwater, swimming on my side) which will help get me going before my swim lessons start at end of March.

I have never paid attention to my HR, but this morning I was running on the treadmill and thought what the heck, so I put my hands on the HR and it said it was 180.  I tried it when I was on my last cycle of running which was 23 min. I was breathing pretty hard but I also felt good.  I just did not know if 180 is high.  I know we had the HR talk once and it seemed that some folks were high but it was no concern since they had it checked out at the doctor.. Oh it was mathsgeek, has she also dropped out of the group.. We started with about 27 and I have not seen a lot of them post anytime recently.. Any idea how many we have in the group now? 

Thanks
George

Hey Gang! Just checking in real quick at work (I needed a break)! Snow is starting to melt here in the South and the gym is back open for business (as of last night). It felt good to be back. I'll try to catch up on missed posts and offer any insight I may have....the weekend is almost here!

BTW....Happy 62 Steve! Is your goal this year to run a 62 miler?

George,

When I am running hard, my heart rate is between 170-180.   Standard pace, my HR is between 145-165

If I start to get much over 180, I back down while I am training.  I don't wear a HR monitor when I am racing.  I don't want to know what it is. 

Thanks for the quick response Steve.

You were very clear and concise.

About my schools break... well, they are writing finals today, monday and tuesday, with Wednesday being final day / assembly.  However, 2 days later, on Friday winter camp starts... ah, the joys of a private school.  That goes 6 days.  From Jan 28th at 5pm, until Feb 9th at 8:00 I will be happily on my Chinese New Year break... woohoo!

I'm looking forward to doing nothing, followed by a little (OK, a lot of)  mah jong, followed by doing nothing.  I will be working hard at either swimming, biking or running everyday.

Hi Steve.. I have a question.

I've been to the pool a few times in the past couple weeks and one thing I've noticed is that when my right arm pulls there are a lot of air bubbles around my hand... which I know is not good but I can't remember what it means I am doing wrong and how to fix it.  My left hand has no air bubbles during the pull.

I'm surprised how fast my swim endurance has come back... wish I could say the same about my running.  I'm at that starting over stage where every run is hard.

I usually forget to adjust the height on the tread mill while running so it is constantly flat.  The run was through some rolling hill in my neighborhood.  I guess I am not used to the hills yet, the only thing to do now is keep running outdoors to boost the lungs and legs.

GEORGE -

Jac (mathsgeek) is still with us, although away this past week, She should be back any day now!

Ones I worry about:
James (one-and-out, it seems)
Paul (gone since page 15)
Sharon (gone since page19)

There are another threee or four who have me holding my breath, but I think they'll be here when they can fit it in.

This is my third group, and this kind of attrition goes with the turf. There are lots and lots of reasons for it, and as much as it concerns me when someone disappears, I guess i understand it. Well enough. Sort of. But not enough so that it doesn't bother me -- which it does!

I don't think 180 is out of line. Consider, too, that treadmill values are often off, especially the holding-the-bar set-ups. Also, thete were some days, back in my gung-ho HRM days, when the heart just got a little wacky and revved real high. It is kind of like everything else in this multisport --- unexplainable things rear their heads and mess with out progress, or perceived sense of progress. But then a few days later.....it's all back to normal (whatever THAT is.....)

CATHY -

Well.......I'd actually have to wtch you to have a better sense of what is happening, but in lieu of that I will venture a few thoughts.

You're right that it;s not good, although just how BAD it is is open to argument. At the very least it shows that (a) air is being trapped in the water as your hand enters, (b) some amount of drag and resistance is being created, and (c) your stroke is unbalanced if one hand is side is bubble-free and the other is bubbleful.

I have read that the problem can be related to a hand entry that is too close to your center line, or that one hand is less relaxed than the other, or that the angles at which the two hands enter the water are quite different.

Before plunging (as it were....) ahead, I just have to caution you to NOT try to adopt an entry in which your thumb enters the water before the other fingers, especially if your hand is over-torqued to further encourage thumb-entry-first. Some people and books say this is the ideal entry, but for me and many, many others with less-than-flexible shoulders, it is a quick path to a shoulder impinegment. My one awful impingement episode came out of just this practice, and my recovery from it was a couple of months longer than when I separated the other shoulder in a bad bike crash. You do NOT want to tempt an impingement!

What I have read most frequently is that the good hand (no bubbles) enter the hand "wider" than the bad hand (with bubbles). So, try to move out the bubbly hand a bit firther and see if the bubbles disappear. I tis also recommended to listen to the differance between the tow hands, but I always feel that the more readily observed feedback comes form the visual -- the bubbles themselves. It IS illuminateing to listen to your stroke and to aim for as quiet as possible (old Total Immersion technique).....but then the problem becomes "Okay. Now what do I DO about it!" T.I. would say to experiment and find out what works, and that's really not a bad idea.

I used "plunging" a few paragraphs ago, and thta plays into this discussion beacuse sometimes the bubbles can form on the side on which the entry is more violent, less finesseful, and this might be because the offending hand is not as relaxed as the other. It is maybe trying to compensate for an uneven body roll (I'm going way out on the speculative limb here, at least as it concerns you), and is having to rush its entry, thus entering the water in a more chaotic pattern. My bubbles come and go, but they are more apt ot be there when I am working at a higher stroke turnover rate, which is causing me to be less ralxed than when Iam swimming evenly and easily.

An analogy I read years ago (likely T.I. again) was to visualize slipping your hand into a mail slot. If I have that right, it is a good one. Another one from T.I. was visualizing arm enrty as you would gracefully slip your arm into a sleeve of a coat -- smooth, easy, graceful, and with fiull extension of the arm.

ALL that said, if you can eliminate the bubbles that will be a good thing -- less drag, and just a better indicator of better form. Experiment around a bit with hand entry position, but try going juts a bit wider on the side that is producing the bubbles. Try to swim a whole length without coming up for air, and keep your head pointing more face-forward so you can watch both hands and arms throughout the front part of your stroke. That might help you determine if in fact one hand is entering too far towards your center-line, or the angle at which on hand differs from the other hand as they enter the water.

Glub-glub!!

DANIEL -

Good reasons; thank you for providing them!

Some recommendations for treadmills is that they should always be at least at 0.5%, just to better simulate the effort one will find outside. And if your local outside comes comparably-equipped with rolling hills, then maybe try your 'mill runs playing around with the incline -- a few minutes here, and few minutes there. Doing that can turn a boring old 'mill run into an unpredictable "fartlek" run, as I mentioned* to CRAIG earlier today. It'll also do wonders for a mind that is often stultified by a treadmill -- "All-righty, what incline should I set it at now? 4%, maybe? Why not?!?"


* I mentioned it to him in the context of outdoor running, not as it might work on a treadmill. But it CAN work on a 'mill!

This could definately be my problem as I have had to focus on entry position as in the past I had frequent crossing of midline on entry.  I'll pay attention to it at my next swim to see if I can figure out what I'm doing.. of note the right side is my breathing side.   As for swimming a whole length without breathing... not likely - I can comfortably swim  25m breathing every 4th stroke and could maybe stretch it to 6  - I'm not even going to tell you what my stroke count per 25m is but I could never do that without breathing.

Steve,

I forgot to mention the controlled environment of most gyms.  The gym is always comfy to say the least.  Where as out doors you may get a wind, or still sections. 

Just a comment about people who 'disappear' from the group... some of us spend a lot more time lurking and do read all the posts but don't necessarily have anything constructive to contribute to the conversation.   So even if it people aren't participating they may well still be reading all the posts and learning a lot in the process.

Happy Birthday Steve! 

Sorry I've been MIA. I just can't keep up with all you chatterboxes I used to page back to catch up but it was taking lots of time so now I peruse the page that's up and pop in to say hi.

I confess that I mix up my training days to meet my schedule and figure that I'm ok as long as the volume is manageable right?  

Happy B day Steve.  Hope to do all (maybe even half) of what you do when I'm 62 (only 7 years away). 

Did my first combined swim (1000m) and bike (45min spin) workout today. Felt great, although the swim remains difficult. I've tried to focus on the downhill, pull bouy (sp?) and minimal leg movement suggestions, but still need further work here. Noticed that my heart rate monitor (MIO watch) was not accurate in the pool. It was measuring 210, while when I did a simple count for 15 seconds averaged about 25-30 beats (100-120). Felt much better about this.

Working on being more relaxed during the swim. Keeping my legs from doing so much work. I think I need to go back to some basics of how to do the strokes properly. Can you comment on the proper stroke mechanics? Hopefully you didn't already cover this during the last couple of days.

Couple of pages back you asked us to comment on our workout schedule. I have had a problem deciding which one to choose since my sprint calls for a 1000m swim. Most beginner workouts call for a smaller swim. However, the event isn't until June. I just saw the 16 week sprint swim focused and may try this. I'm concerned about not being able to make it to the gym. Seems like every week I'm missing about 3-4 days. Hard to work it into the family and work rutine. Any thoughts about training when you don't have time to train?

Hey Mojoers!

Sorry to be jumping in so late but I'm the previous mentoree Steve mentioned yesterday, which is now a few pages ago (he wasn't joking when he said this group was active). From what I've skimmed, you guys seem like a very diverse and amazing group of people and I'm really looking forward to being mentored by and doing this triathlon thing with all of you. Here's my not so brief bio:

NAME: Kasia

AGE: 26

STORY:
I got interested in triathlons last year for some reason that I honestly can't remember. I live in Boulder, CO, so it's pretty much what people do around these parts and I figured I should give it a shot. I'd stopped playing rugby a year ago and needed something to work towards to keep fit and moving. I've been playing some kind of sport my entire life and missed having a reason to train and therefore something to work towards. Triathlon seemed to provide the variety in workouts I needed so I signed up for a couple and started training. I then discovered that I love biking more than anything and invested in a good road bike (my clunker mountain bike just wasn't doing it for me) and spent more time in the saddle than in the pool and running combined. That was probably my downfall for my first race but I enjoyed the atmosphere enough to go back, until I had a soul-crushing Olympic tri experience from which I didn't recover for months. Instead, I signed up for a mud race (Warrior Dash) to get a bit dirty and just have some fun. And I loved it enough to think about giving triathlons another shot. (I know, not really related to S/B/R but we did do some "swimming" through mud so I guess that somewhat qualifies.) Anyways, here I am now with renewed vigor and determined to make this season much better than the last by planning ahead and building a base early, and hopefully sticking to my training plan this time around.

FAMILY STATUS:
I'm single and pet-less so no real obligations or responsibilities, but still with no time on my hands. How does this happen?

CURRENT TRAINING:
I just began running again after stopping almost all physical activity after my last triathlon last summer. So I'm doing the Couch to 10k running program since I really am starting from the couch and so far it's been going amazing. I'm really glad it eases into things quite slowly but enough that I see progression and am getting faster and more fit, and can actually run real distances at this point and enjoy it (that last one is key!). I've also recently joined the local master's swim club but have yet to make it to a workout. That's the goal for next week, so I'm hoping that by stating this to you all it will be enough motivation to make it there. No biking for me quite yet. That'll have to wait til early spring when it gets a bit warmer.

2011 RACES:
I have many in mind but so far only 2 definites:
1) Tough Mudder in Austin on January 29th, which is a mud run/obstacle course thingamabob. I just found out Texas has a lot of snakes (my only real fear in life) so now I'm seriously questioning the decision to sign up for this...as if the 9 mile run or the cold water and mud weren't deterrent enough before. Oh well, it'll be fun.
2) Summer Open Sprint Triathlon on May 22nd in Longmont, CO. This was my first triathlon ever and I loved it, even if I had to walk most of the run. The goal is to have a competitive swim and run time this year. And by "competitive" I mean BOP and not DFN.
3) Make that three definites. I was just reminded that I signed up for Tough Mudder Colorado in June. I really hope I like this race series...although this one won't have snakes and has the potential to be warmer. Then again, it's been known to snow in the mountains around this time.

Possibles in no particular order:
1) Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic Triathlon, June 25 in Loveland, CO. I did this one last year as well and it's the one that made me stop doing anything and put me in a somewhat triathlon funk. I'm not registering for this until about a month out to see how my training goes leading up to it. I don't want a repeat of last year. That sucked.
2) Harvest Moon Long Course Aquabike, September 11, Aurora, CO. Again, we'll see how the training goes, but I'd really like to do this. I love biking and swimming, so cutting out the run makes sense. And I was biking this distance last summer so it's not impossible.
3) Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon, September 25, Longmont, CO. Last race of the season. Same course as Summer Open so I want to see how I've improved over the summer. We'll see if I still want to race at that point, though.
4) Rattlesnake Oly, August 14, Aurora, CO. Same as above.

WEIGHTLOSS:
I have plenty to lose and would love to lose it, which is part of the reason I started triathlons. So far, it's kind of working. I need to cut down on food and drink for it to really take off. I don't have a particular racing weight in mind, just something less than what I weigh right now.

GOALS:
My main goal is to enjoy all of the Loveland Oly and conquer that beast. After that, I want to get my swim pace up a lot so I'm not so far behind right off the bat and get my run endurance and fitness to where I can run all of the Olympic distance. I'm not too worried about the run pace; I just want to run the distance. And of course, enjoy triathloning. For the most part, I had a blast last year and want to keep up that enthusiasm and excitement throughout the whole season this time around.


Ok, I've rambled enough so I'll leave it at that. And now I'm going to try to get to know you guys a bit better by reading back a few posts/pages.

Kasia

Happy Birthday STEVE!!! It's still the 13th over here, so I made it in the nick of time. Sounds like you had a very productive posting day. And a great day overall.

(For what it's worth, I like 62. It's full of even numbers. And those rock no matter what. And it's the inverse of my age, so that's even better in my book.)

Welcome Kasia.