Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 39)

Hola Mojoistas!

Quick break from the spreadsheet again I need a diversion or my eyes will be permanently crossed!

Gene...congrats ona healthy Grandson! Now you can spoil him and send him back!

Jeff...you've signed up for the race....they say that is the hardest part! Congrats!

Johanne....so jealous you got to meet Macca....he is a machine!!!

Well....1 more hour at work and I'll be heading home for Family Game Night and then off to the gym. On tap for tonight....1450 in the pool and 25 min run! Have a great rest of your Friday everyone and...

GO STEELERS!
David

Brenda,

Thanks for the encouragement and confidence in me! I think I'll be much better this time around since I know exactly how a longer distance race makes me feel and how to approach it. And I will most definitely be utilizing your collective good mojo.

About that Oly...I wasn't physically hurt or anything. It was mostly a mental bruising that I just couldn't shake for a while. I finished the race but it took all the mental strength I had in me to even get out of T2 and run, which I only did a little of, not because I couldn't but because I wasn't right in the head and was just too pissed off to do anything but walk and grumble. Here is a link to the race report (it's towards the bottom of the page): http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=190507&start=4881

I don't even know how to condense it, which is why I just posted the link. Here's the nutshell version/intro I wrote up then and is the preface to a rather lengthy race report:
"I have no idea what happened to me during this race. Physically, I was fine throughout. I hammered out the swim slowly but surely. My bike split was faster than the trial run last week. And I probably could've run most of the 10k. But I gave up around mile 20 of the bike and it just got worse as the race went on. I barely talked myself into going out on the run. Midway through, I was completely done. Had it not been an out-an-back, I would've just headed back and gotten a DNF. By that point I didn't even care. So I trudged through it and somehow finished."

This isn't the most positive way to introduce myself to the group, I know, but I figure since righting this is my number one goal, you guys should probably know the background.

Kasia

Treadmill fixed took it for a short test drive and will be back on schedule next week. Hopefully we get a break in the weather this weekend and I can get outside and ride my bike. (sigh) I miss my bike.

Have a great weekend everybody. I'll catch up on Monday. I don't pay to much attention to the boards over the weekend.

Hey Kasia!  I hear you on the oly experience, I had a similar one last June, I was DFL (probably by an hour or more!), bad swim, wrong way one the bike--not good when you're already slow.  I love the sprint distance 'cause especially if there's an oly going on too it doesn't really matter how fast you are, it all feels good!  With a half or full iron there are so many people participating and cheering you on it's great.  Oly is just plain the hardest distance (for me).  Wishing you a great season.
Johanne--luckeeeeeeeeeee!
Melinda 

Hi Kasia - welcome. I can SOOOO identify with the Oly distance. I had my butt kicked 2 years ago on my first and last Oly. I was just under trained on the bike and lost mojo going into the run... Ya know its going downhill fast when you MOO at every cow on the bike course because you are really the only rider! LOL and when I started joking with the guys at the water stations that I was pulling up the rear of the race one guy said "Heck, at least you are out here which is way more than millions of others sitting on their butts at home" --he made my day
Anyhow...I wanna a rematch with that Oly this summer. Mentally I need to 'get ready' too. I like to think of that story of the Little Engine that Could ... chugging along up my metaphorical hill saying "I think I can...I think I can... I know I can!" At least that's the plan for now ...

And for those chatting about missing a training day --- and playing catch up. It can be a recipe for disaster with injuries and or wearing yourself out that your immune system takes a dive and you wind up getting sick. Lets just say that I've been both injured AND sick after trying to 'catch up'. Now I like to think that by NOT scrambling to make up training that I'm conserving energy/health and take solace that all the training done before and after the missed day will be enough to carry me through. However, if it is a critical day like the single longest run or what have you during my training plan, then I'll flip flop days to get that long distance in. It can be tricky with work, family etc... but I have had to do it a couple of times.

Til I post again, chat on...we're almost to 1000 posts already! wooooot! 

George,I'm 52 so i try to stay under 170 for a max and to keep most of my training between 150 and 160, no problem for swimming or cycling but i have to pay attention running. The monitor on my treadmill isn' very accurate. I have a chest strap timex model that cost about $90.

GANG!

I'm back --- I think!

We got home yesterday evening, and then had lots of trouble with the computer. At first wouldn't connect, then it wouldn't hold the connection....then we gave up.

Right now I'm connected, but a few minutes ago it lost the connection within about 30 seconds of connecting. Argh! The vagaries of dial-up in the country!

Hopefully, it'll be foine now?? I'm been pecking away at this for about three minutes and the connection is still here, so we shall see what we shall see!

Onwards!

(And fine job of playing nicely with each other yesterday, it looks like! )

BRENDA -

I have never seen one of Troy's "Runervals", but is it a killer along the line of most of the "Spinervals"? I am a pretty strong cyclist, but there are lots of the "Spinervals" that annihilate me; I guess I get "dropped" by Troy and his all-stars!

But either the Runervals you used yesterday is not a killer, or you are in absolutely tremendous shape. A Troy-led "hill climber" and THEN an hour running outside?!? Outstanding, Brenda! (How are you feeling today???)

I just received his "Swimervals", which is designed to be used with a Vasa Ergometer unit. I just have an old Vasa trainer which I'm trying to refurbish and get operational again, and the people at Vasa told me that it can be used with the ergometer component. I haven't looked at the Swimervals DVD yet, but if it's anything like some of the Spinerval he has slayed me with......uh-oh!

No, nothing real special on my birthday. We had done the b-day dinner the evening before at a new-for-us Turkish restaurant in Ottawa, and that was superb. But Lynn was sickish Thursday morning, then came homew from work early and basically slept until about this same time yesterday morning (she is all better now). I mostly babied myself, staying home and reading and nibbling away at goodies from Life of Pie in Ottawa, and I skied for about 25; and did a mindless trainer ride for 50' Life in the slow lane?

Yesterday was back to normal, a swim and a fairly serious run.................and just back to counting the days until by next birthday!

Again, great job on that combo run. That must feel like a very worthy accomplishment, especially with the temps not all that conducive to running outside for an hour. Wowzers!

MELINDA -

Sounds like you're "in the pink", and goin' good!

So, how did the run go -- a rousing success? Just hearing you talk about dusting your bike off makes me envious, as that correctly suggests you live in a climate where year-round cycling is a reality. When do you plan to get a ride in?

Interesting comments about race distances! I always enjoy people's different perspectives on the different distances, and o yours I will add that I really dislike doing a half-iron that has a sprint or oly attached to it. There is just the constanct realization that all of the sprint or oly folk are done and have eaten real food and are maybe even back home napping......and I'm out there battling the heat and getting progressively sicker and sicker of eating just gels!

The converse of that, however, is a pleasure. A race I have doen a few times is Tupper Lake Short, which is a hybrid betwen sprint and oly --- something like 800m swim, 19mile bike, 10km run. This happens while there is the Tupper Lake Tinman (half-iron) happening, and I enjoy all of the pleasures of being done.....and eating real food again......and heading home to the rest of my day! (IT helps that Tupper is always on the closing weekend of the Ottawa Fringe Festival, so I'm actually heading off to do a full day and evening of Fringe!) )

GENE -

Yes, congrats from me, too. Sounds like a strappin' broth of a lad!

Are you there for the weekend, or longer?

CATHY -

Too bad about the pool, but not to worry -- I swam for both of us! I did some "bubblework" and will report on that later. Stay tuned!

JOHANNE -

Even better than the Macca photo is your story of the presentation you gave at your church. I don't know what is most impressive -- that you were recognized as someone with a story worth telling, or that you succeeded and enjoyed telling your story, or that you managed to creat PowerPoint features for it! Well, why nitpick -- it's ALL impressive!

As for the photo of your and Macca --- cool beans! He sure does have a lot of stories from his Kona experiences. i don't know if you were aorund when he splashed onto the scene a bundle of years ago, but it was quite the thing. He was bash and cocky from his cuscesses on the short-course circuit, and brought all of that to his assault on long course. He got clobbered by Kona his first two tries, and while also having some great success at half-irons and other irons, he seemed to learn a lot about humility as a result of it. Initially he ticked a lot of people off with his attitude and what was perceievd as him not having the proper respect for the distance, but eventually it was determined that it was all just "Macca being Macca". Needless to say, he has a huge following, and as your photo shows, much willingness to mingle with the mortals. And has makes great "sound bites", a real treat for journalists!

ALEX -

Good questions! If you tell me (yet again?) what yoru training plan is, I will try to look ahead and determine where those key workouts are. Quite likely, though, they aren't there yet. Key ones are usually much further along, either late in a "Build" phase or into the "Peak" phase.

Key workouts will stand out in one or more ways:
-- a noticeable increase in distance
-- a noticeable emphasis on a time goal
-- separated from other workouts by a day or two or three
-- the last long run or ride before a race

So, it might be the six-mile run at 8:40/mile pace without any other runs three days before it and two days after it. Along those lines?

Joanne wrote yesterday that she is doing an 18-miler today, and I would guess that at this stage of her training, that is a semi-key workout. 18 miles is one of those milestone distances in marathon training, and even though today is still quite a ways out from her race (Napa Valley Marathon), I'm thinking it is a key workout for her.

I will ask her in a few minutes!

Again, Alex, it's Jan. 15 and you're months away from your first race, so go easy on yourself with those missed workouts. Taking a few days off never diminishes fitness gains; it may the first effort back feel slightly ponderous, but nothing significant is lost when a few days are missed.

I will also post something related to this topic, just a short blurb from 220 Triathlon magazine. Stay tuned for that!

JOHANNE -

Inquiring minds (me, Alex) want to know --- Do you consider the 18-miler your're doing today a "key" workout"?

If so, what were your workouts leading up to it (just for the past few days), and how do you plan to come down from it the next few days?

And ----- good luck with it!

---------------------------------------------- FYI ----------------------------------------------------

The following is from the most recent issue of "220 Triathlon", published in the UK. It seems pertinent in light of what some of us have experienced with weather-affected workouts over the past week or so. It's titled "Do some one-sport weeks" See what you think!


"Too icy to go out cycling for a few days? Put in a big week of steady running miles. Pool closed while you're off work over Christmas? Use the time to do a few back-to-back days of long rides. The odd injection of high-volume in one sport will stimulate your body in a different way to the usual mixed routine and, from time to time, is a refreshing change."



So.......
(1) Don't be intimidated by the words "big", "long", and "high-volume". This is all relative, and should be treated as such.
(2) Recognize that necessity is the mother of invention, and that adaptations often need to happen.
(3) Training plans are not each the en-all-and-be-all, and that positive gains can come from a myriad of training approaches.



Carry on!

Hi Steve,
I planned to ride yesterday, but got all kitted up and out the door and something is wrong with one of my shifters.  Embarrassed to say I haven't ridden since November, since all the men in my life are out of town this weekend I'm waiting for them to take a look at it before I head to the LBS.  I settled for spin class last night.
Doing a sprint/oly/half race is somewhat akin to sprint/oly, for slowpokes like me they're holding up the finish line and there's not a whole lot of support left on the course.  A stand alone half is better because the whole field is usually bigger and more support, IMHO.
Swim/short run and maybe Yoga today.
Melinda 

           
Yes with more to follow!   I'm just headed out the door but I'll check in when I get back.  
Johanne                                     
                                       

We're heading home on Sunday morning, there is supposed to be a break in the weather. It's a 6 hour drive home in good weather with three mountain passes. I had a great run this morning, 75 minutes and felt great when i finished. It was my first run over 55 minutes since my IT band acted up in August.

Steve --
I am using the Couch to Sprint program as my running and swimming are very elementary right now.

Alex 

GENE -

Three mountain passes, in bad weather......................not for the faint of heart! So, I will send some weather mojo your way for conditions to be clement for your return!

Big congrats on the 75-minute run, but hey --- remind me to mention the 10% rule to you!

Snow here today, for time in over two weeks. It'll top at about 10cm, which is enough yet hardly hair-raising. We just did one shovel of the driveway, and will do another when it's all over. Cross-training!

ALEX -

Merci!

When I asked for plans a couple of weeks ago and loads of you posted them, I dutifully wrote it down on a piece of paper......which seems to have gone AWOL. I figure it will re-emerge at some point, but for now I'm lost as to what you all are up to. I guess I could root around and find it back on the pages somewhere; my guess is between 17 and 34. Sounds like a good make-work project for myself!

MELINDA -

You needn't to be embarrassed at not having been on the bike since November. That is about a two-month break from cycling, which isn't at all out of line at this time of the year. And you have been doing other stuff, which is highly-valued in the early-to-mid off season. So there ya go!

Yoga, eh? Lynn does quite a bit of it, and is currently on a two-week all-you-can-pose pass at a studio in Ottawa. I too have that pass, but haven't started my two weeks yet. She did Yin today, and the instructor told her that Yin is perfect for someone like me who is highly inflexible. This same instructor also does some of the more "athletic" classes, and told her that many athletes make the mistake of entering those calsses and being too aggressivea nd huirting themselves. This may have been my situation in '00, when I took about 8 classes, all either Power or Bikram. So, I think I will start off with Yin.

You're fortunate to have men in your life who are capable of fixing bikes, and especially shifters. They are obviously on a different branch of the evolutionary tree than I perch upon, as any of that repair stuff is difficult at best, terrifying at worst. So, I always haul my bike to my LBS, where it is in far better hands than mine!

Finally, nice job of compensating for being Bikeless in Redlands and opting for a spin class instead. You get an "A" for both Innovation and Determination!

DAVID -

Eyes permanently crossed? You sound like that celebrity possum from Germany!

Steelers, eh? Nope, not really for me. The problem I have always had is that even though I quite liked them when I was a kid (and they were terrible), they shared divisional space with the Browns, who I REALLY liked! Back when there were 12 teams and two conferences, they were with Cleve/Wash/Phil/NYG/Chic.Cards, and it wasn't all that difficult to care somewhat for two teams. Then along came all these other teams, and the Steelers were shoe-horned into a wee divsion with just three other teams --- one of them being the Browns. So it goes.

It was never easy, though, liking JUST the Browns and the Steelers. The Giants got my attention because, before the Patriots were born in '60, the closest team to Boston was the Giants, and that is who I saw on TV. But then there was also Washington, who were the Boston Redskins until they moved in about '37 or '38. My father grew up liking them, so I sorta did, too. It was quite confusing, being a football fan in the 50s! (And I haven't even brought up the convolutions of my support or the teams in the western conference!)

But I digress! (From what, though, i'm no longer sure.)

PATRIOTS!
Seahawks!
Green Bay (I think)?

And Ravens (afterall, they were the Browns in their previous life......)

JEFF -

A race in Forth Worth! Fuht Wuth! One of my favorite cities! Great museums, the stockyards scene is very cool, love the botanical gardens. Dallas never did much for me, but Forth Worth was always sweet to visit. It also had a terrific record store not too far from the TCU stadium; can't remember the name of that street, or the major east-west street that was just south of the record store. Maybe I'll dig out a F.W. map and refresh my memory -- if that is possible!

Well done on signing up, anyhow. And that baby's not all that far away, is it? Ahhh, the benefits of living in the south!

ADAM -

Yes, it is important for one-sided breathers to have close-to-equal rotation to both sides. It will even out the stroke AND reduce "drifting" to one side in open-water swims AND go a long ways toward preventing shoulder injuries. And you're right -- it can be difficult to implement fully and successfully in the pool.

One thing that might help is a Swimmer's Snorkel, with the best one being made by Finis. This will enable you to work on equalized rotation without having to move your head to breathe, and it also allows you to watch what you're are doing at the front end of the stroke -- entry, catch, early-to-mid pull. An option to the swim snork is to just take a few deep breaths and go as far as you can without breathing. The trick here is to stay relaxed in the growing absence of oxygen, but in time this becomes more and more doable. It might help to use a pull buoy so you are not also exerting to kick, but the downside of a p.b. for a lot of people is that it reduces their natural rotation.

And then the other option is to do what you are thinking about -- drills that are designed to enhance a more effective and efficient rotational pattern. And whatever you do will pay big dividends by the time you start formal lessons in a couple of months.

Sounds like a plan!