ultrahip_00's Mentor Group - Closed Again! (Page 4)

Reading the discussion above, I can see that swimming will likely hold many challenges for me in the future!

Today was my very first time swimming laps! I was pretty nervous heading to the community center, but I asked for a little advice from the pool staff. I only did 15 minutes, which was what I had planned. It was hard, but fun! I swam in the slow lane and started with breaststroke, but soon switched to freestyle and found that to be more comfortable. 

I am already a bit sore in my arms and shoulder, but will be heading back for more swimming fun on Friday! If anyone has advice or resources for a very novice swimmer, that'd be great! Thanks!

Great Job! Check these out, it will help you to continue good progress, ask away with any questions, swimming is very technical and technique driven so allow yourself time to get familiar with it all, at first it can be overwhelming!

Novice swimmer series

Workout 1

Workout 2

Workout 3

Drills

Mike, you use Patron shots on the bike, must be a low cal thing!

I had a question about bike cadence, what's your opinion on changing my natural cadence which happens to be around 75. I feel comfortable mashing but now looking back I think I spent too much energy and strength maintaining that cadence and it may have contributed to my current condition with ITBS. I notice most people I ride with spin faster than me, but I cant always judge because I dont know what gear they are in. When I start riding again, should I be aiming for 90-95 rpm on my long rides? I have never spent much time in this cadence range other than some spinerval trainer stuff, to me a cadence higher than 80 exhausts me and I downshift into my comfort zone.

 All of the training plans and articles I have seen lately stress 90-95 rpm for better efficiency, and I relate that to less injuries and better speed over the duration of the ride and run. I am positive that most people that pass me during a race use this training approach with biking and running. I actually enjoy watching runners with high cadence, to me it looks effortless. My problem is when biking  I'm good for about 20 miles at 20+mph then I wreck my average, running I'm a wreck period. What's weird is at Wildflower , I would get passed on the flats, stay even on the climbs, and leave them in the dust on the downhills, only to get passed again on the flats. Downhills seem to be a strength, this is usually when I pass others, not sure if its because its my weight (185) or riding position.

My overall plan is to come back stronger and faster, one thing I will focus on is run and bike cadence. I am convinced that certain things improve your overall racing ability, I believe this is one that I have completely overlooked. Improving my core strength is another! You will see these on my goals now!

Thats what I have, its wired so that I can get speed off the rear wheel when its on my trainer.

Thanks!

Had great weather this past weekend, Sunday I swam at Nationals for Masters short course. It was a blast and I was there with my family so we had mothers day lunch at the Cheesecake Factory after.

I did not swim as well as I wanted, It was a good experience for me and I have  a ton of training to do when I get healthy ,I want to take some lessons so that Im faster in more events.

I saw Rowdy Gaines break the national record in 100 free (46:59) in mens 50-54 age.

Fastest time in my event was a 50 breast (24:98) Sick Fast! I swam a 35:14.

Double Post

X2 on the break, its working for me!

Mike, I wanted to get your take on this! Recently I saw an article that explained in simple terms how a training program is structured, this is important to me to understand because I always need to modify my programs to fit my lifestyle and amount of time I can dedicate due to family activities, and my last plan I screwed up badly!

The article outlined most programs consist of three phases of equal length,(base,intensity,peak) I realize there may be different terms for the different phases but it seems so simplified. The article goes into brief detail about each phase:

Base-building up endurance using low to moderate intensity

Intensity-High intensity intervals

Peak-longer intervals at race specific pace.

The more I read the more I realized I had screwed up the last 7 months of training, badly! I modified a BT program by D3 and was under the assumption that of the three workouts for each discipline during the week, I should do one shorter workout, one mid distance workout, one long distance workout. What an idiot I am! Other than swimming, I basically didn't do any required tempo and interval workouts necessary for race preperation.

What should my three workouts consist of ? Should it be one tempo, one interval, one long distance? What are your key workouts, and do they change for each phase?

I spent last Saturday watching local crits, 30-40mph cruising, man they make me look slow! It was fun to watch, they all had great riding skills, I don't know how they accelerate through the turns with inches between front and back wheels and riders leaning on both sides of you, amazing!

This weekend I'm going to see Reo Speedwagon,Styx,.38 Special, I know its old school rock, but its what I grew up with and 30 years ago was the last concert I went to!

Seems like everyone is very pretty busy here, not much chat!

Have you tried higher calorie drinks, either concentrated or adding a carb supplement? I see allot of people using Carbopro, adding it to thier drinks to get the 250-350 cals per hour. I like to use more solid food if I am riding at a casual pace,Waffles,burrito,pop tarts,etc. If I'm racing I will stick to fluids and gels, or just fluids.

Did I read that right: 13.95/bottle?  If so, I could see using it for races, but not on a daily basis.

I have thought about pancakes and pop-tarts, but it becomes a packaging problem for me.  I end up having to pack all this stuff in my CamelBak then stop to get at it.  Once I start my rides, I don't like to stop.  Any thoughts?

Any good literature on the subject?  Would like to read about correct balances of carb, protein, and fat in caloric intake for endurance and proper loading times-windows.

Yes a bit of a sticker shock, just remember its a concentrated bottle, there is 6 servings per bottle which is $2.20 a serving, almost the cost of a gel. Its 200 cals per serving added to sports drink at 110 cals=300 cals. Just thought Id throw it out there , isnt there going to be nutrition stops or aid stations?

I would think you will have to stop at some point for bottle exchanges and potty breaks. Carry two of these Carbopros to mix with your sports drinks as you go. 

A good refrence(very extensive) is Monique's book.