Ernesto's group (third season) - CLOSED (Page 4)

Hi Ernesto,

My name is Jim user name jbacarella, and I would like to be a part of your group.

Story:I am 45 years old and live in a small town in NorthEast Michigan and work as an attorney.. At age 39 I had my annual physical and I would give myself a failing grade. It started with the nurse telling me that my BP was too high, and it got worse from there. I was 30 lbs overweight. As for all of the other tests if the number was supposed to be low, mine was high. If it was supposed to be high mine was low, finally I asked is there anything good? I was told my cholesterol was not high. I asked what is bad and was told 200, mine was 199.

That started a tight diet and I started walking ( I was a good runner in school, but a 15 years hiatus from exercise did a lot of damage), and I started loosing weight. I found it wasn't enough to diet and walk and I started to get bored. I tried softball, but found the Thursday night beer fest that the local men’s softball league was counterproductive.

Our town started hosting a triathlon four years ago. I drove through it the first year and it brought up all of the memories of ABC's wide world of sports coverage from the 80's. I quickly forgot about it. The second year was nearly the same experience, except this time I knew several people who were competing and I thought if they can do it, why not me! That is when I made the proclamation, to my wife, that I would do the triathlon in 2010. She responded with her standard Jim has another crazy idea ok. I followed up with asking her to teach me how to swim. She swam competitively in high school and was a WSI.

The next day, after I found out the distances for a sprint I stared "running" 5K at lunch. It took me 35 minutes and I walked half of it and could only run a couple of hundred yards without having to slow down and walk, but I did it.

I then added in the bike and I would ride my bike two day a week run three and then in the summer started swimming. I am also fortunate enough to live near Lake Huron, so I incorporated a half mile beach run with my kids every Sunday.

That first year I ran several 5k races and a couple of 10k's. I bought an old Montgomery Ward ten speed at a garage sale for $15.00 and September 2010 did my first Sprint Triathlon. I was hooked. I  upgraded (was given by a client) my bike to a 1986 Raleigh technium last year.

I continued training same basic program, as my speed and endurance increased so did the distances I would train. This year I want to step it up and do a 70.3.

Family: I have been married for 18 years to my wife Michelle, she is a marketing rep for a nursing home. We have four children three girls ages 16, 15, and 13 and a son age 11. Our son was born is Guatemala. The three youngest have all done triathlons. My 15 year old did a sprint with me last year, very cool experience.

Current Training: The bulk of my training is done during my lunch. I run 5 miles Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I ride my bike on a trainer for 45 minutes Tuesday and Thursday. Then I try to do a long ride 1.5 hours and long run 6.2 or 7.5 miles on the weekend. If the weather is too bad to run, then I will do 20 minutes strength training and 20 minutes on the bike. I will also change my schedule around if I have to take a shorter lunch or I am out of town or I have a trial.

Last years race: 3 Disciplines Triathlon Festival,  Sprint distance in East Tawas, MI. I finished with a time of 1:20:20 5th in my age group 31 of 167 overall. Exactly 10 minutes faster than the first year. I also did several 5k's a 10k and the iron cheese race (2 mile race, immediately followed by a 5 mile race.

This years races: This year I am going to do my first HIM at the 3 D triathlon festival again. I would also like to do a couple of Sprints during the summer, but that will be schedule dependant. I will also do the usual array of 5 and 10 k running races.

Ernesto will get a kick out of this...for $1.99 I will download the Maffetone book - I know there is value in there worth more than $1.99 and for that price how can I continue being stubborn and say no.  I've seen too many folks here benefit from the book - any knowledge is worth reading and understanding.

Yay!  Another Michigander!

Thanks Chris...

I'm having technical issues with Garmin..  The "ant"agent isn't picking up my watch.  I have to email Garmin.

Today was my first day on my new road bike. First time in a road bike in 20+ yrs, so felt quite unsteady, especially when switching hand positions and getting the drink bottle (almost wiped-out!). Also first time measuring cadence with my Garmin 305, oh boy do I need to improve a lot! (info on my log)

Bad news: Cadence avg. in the 60s. A bunch of u-turns, a couple of traffic lights,  a few roundabouts, and the drink bottle fiasco probably affected the numbers, but my first time "playing" with cadence tells me I need to pedal much faster. Speed improvement from MTB not what I expected (only about 1.5 mph).

Good news: No problems with new clip-less pedals (i am used to from MTB), new shoes very comfy, finished 9.5 miles and felt more comfortable, and legs felt better at the end, than my usual 8 miles with MTB.

Overall, quite happy. I am sure that as I continue to get used to the bike and get more T.I.T.S. everything will improve, and cannot wait until next session. Quick question:

As a beginner, should I focus on maintaining a cadence between 80-90 at whatever gear I can do it? I think my speed might suffer at the end, but right now worried about improving rather than PRs. Also, not following any particular plan, just want to ramp up to 12-15 miles rides and improve my comfort in the bike before I dive head-first (wrong choice of words?) into a plan.

Comments? Suggestions?

Hi,

I'd like to join your group if there's space.  Will post bio later.

Rachel

Thanks Chris! Played with the Garmin Connect last night and I think I got it. Pasted the info of my last few runs and my bike ride this morning, so it seems to be working. Thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks for the feedback Jennie. Good to feel I'm not alone with this...

Jen-

A few thoughts:

Have you used paddles with a pull-buoy before?  I think you could benefit from them.

You're correct that your taking too many strokes.  This means that a.) your pull is probably not as efficient as it could be (you're moving your hand through the water, but not always pulling against it), and b.) you're not benefitting from a "glide" between each stroke.

I think if you leave your kick out of the equation for a while (the buoy) and focus on efficiency from each pull stroke, you might make some gains.  Paddles will give you good feedback on when you are being effective with your pull, and when you're not.  You will feel a significant change in resistance between the two.

I also notice that you seem to be crossing the "midline" on your hand entry.  This plays a role in lack of efficiency (you have to pull 'sideways' to get back on the correct side of the body before pulling back).  Paddles should help with this too (you might knock them off your hands a few times, but that's how you'll start correcting the issue).

Most important thing:  You want to benefit from a "glide" between each stroke (while the hand that just pulled is recovering, and the other hand has not yet started to pull).  When using paddles, focus on reaching as far forward as you can, to the point that you"re rotating your body more than you think you should, before you start pulling back.

Also, start chanting "long, smooth, glide, rotate", out loud, for at least 3 hours per day.  That might help.  I've done it before, and only a few people thought I might be losing it.  

DISCLAIMER: I Need major work on my swimming.

That being said, I utilized a coach a couple years ago.  Two things - I had major midline crossing issues with my hands.  She had me focus on trying to make my hands enter at 3 and 9 o'clock (impossible when you think about it) but the point was that I needed to really concentrate on getting my hands on the correct side of midline on entry and it felt very weird.  I still concentrate on keeping my hands entry point at a position that feels awkwardly far apart - this results in a correct point of entry for me.  Re: paddles - she had me use paddles so that I could (1) strengthen the muscles utilized in pull and (2) feel the correct hand position.  Yes, the whole arm becomes a paddle but I think I was shifting the angle of my hand in the water and losing efficiency.

End of the day - a qualified coach looking at and analyzing your stroke and helping you correct it is paramount.

Samy, good to hear that you are enjoying your new bike and IMHO, I would not worry too much yet about your cadence/speed at this stage, but much more on getting comfortable riding on a new road bike.  It will get a lot easier and you will be able to go faster, more efficiently very soon.  We will see what Ernesto, others think.

On my side, today was a good workout day at high intensity and am probably full of lactose right now .  I ran intervals in the morning at the track (8 X 1,000 mts at 7:00 avg min/mi pace) and then swam at lunch time 15 X 100 mts at avg 1:35 min/100.   Based on part on Ernesto's recommendation, I just started swimming at a new gym a week ago to interact with a group of the top triathletes in Guatemala.  So far I have been struggling trying to keep up with them, but am already seeing some progress and am enjoying the challenge of pushing myself way out of my comfort zone.   As the saying goes, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"   

Joyce, I'm glad to see you are taking good steps towards recovery. Maybe seeing a specialist (like an Orthopedic Surgeon) would be a good option if you haven't done so yet. Your carb addiction is not an exception, about 90% of the people battles it and it is incredibly hard to break. I struggle with it myself.

Also glad to know you are reading Maffettone, that book will help you understand many things from the physiology aspect. There's many ways you can stay fit without running, swimming is actually the best for people that is battling injury. Another thing that you may want to consider is to completely abandon running until healed, sometimes a step back is needed to take two forward...

Today was mental toughness training day here.  As mentioned previously, Jennie and I started the day off with an indoor trainer workout.  This evening, with the temp dropping rapidly and snow falling, I resigned to driving to the base gym to run on the treadmill.  50 minutes and 5.6 miles later the torment was complete.  I'm actually looking forward to swimming tomorrow!  Jennie had a wicked headache tonight so she passed on the run but she'll be going to the pool with me tomorrow.

If you think triathlon is addicting, wait until you actually finish one! this is an incredible feeling that I wish I could bottle and sip every day when work sucks or I'm stressed out.

The first races (mostly the outdoor ones) will be all learning and fun, but you must take the pressure to perform completely out of your mind. Make the first races enjoyable and you are guaranteed longevity in the sport. This is a lifetime sport too! I love it when I'm racing/watching Ironman and I see 80 year olds smiling on the course and I wish nothing stops me from doing this between now and then.

Shoot your questions, maybe you have a lot now but shoot at will. The goal when being new to the sport is not to become fast, but proficient. Speed comes later as a a consequence of the adaptations that your body will create to the "stress" of workouts. Keep it long rather than fast, but even then increase distance safely (10% a week max).

First mentee from NYC, cheers! I too transitioned from running only to all three sports, and the best advice I can give you if you are attempting a half this 2012 is to start building a good aerobic base. Probably a lot of cycling to begin with and more swimming as the season approaches. Cycling requires very specific muscle fibers that you will never recruit while running, so a good scheme of workouts is necessary to get to your goals.

What's your race times in running races?

Tim,

I'll give you advice in exchange for a couple of crowns, deal? kidding... Good to know you are well equiped with all those toys, I just bought a power meter and Computrainer as well. Probably way more necessary in your part of the country I guess. Since you have all that info, I can probably help even more. I see your log is empty, where do you upload?