ATLrunr's IM/HIM group CLOSED and training!! (Page 4)

First off, today rode on the trainer for 90 minutes while watching Sportscenter.  Since I ride in the mornings normally, that is my show of choice when on the trainer.  Commercials or stuff about basketball allows me to get in the hard stuff.

Today, I swam 2000 meters for the first time without stopping.  October 28, I went to a masters swim class and could barely swim 25 meters (yes, 36 years old and never swam unless it was some sort of water survival class, and I just drowned myself thru those).  I've been going to the class 3 times a week since then. The past month or so, each workout has ranged from 2600-3600 meters.  I'm still terrible at swimming, but today I wanted to see if I could go the distance of a HIM.  Completed it in 41:27 or 2:04 per 100.  Less than 3 months of class/coaching got me there.  I personally don't use my legs at all (a technique from a pro that has helped me with workouts over the past year while I was deployed, so I listen to her pretty religiously), so I got out of the pool and felt great. 

abf826, I saw about your legs, trust me, I know the pain of the legs.  I still lift my head up out of the water too much when I take breaths (slowly getting better with time) which drops my legs.  I'm such a crappy swimmer, but honestly having a coach to help me with form has made all the difference in the world. 

I personally have the Adamo Road seat.  The road has a little more cushion than the racing and I think it's just a little bit heavier.  Not like a few grams will make a difference to me.  It took a few rides of soreness to get over due to the pressure of where it sits, but after that, I wouldn't ride on anything else.

The rest of the week will be Tues: 8 mi R, Wed swim class and 60 min B, Thur swim class 8 mi R, Fri 60 min B, Sat 2 hr bike/10 mile run brick. This is a rough draft due to work schedule of course. 

Hope everyone has a great week of training.

I didn't have an adamo.  Looked into those as well.  Did some comparison asking around on diff forums and then asked for the cobb for christmas.  I figure if i don't like it, the 90 return policy is pretty money and I can change.  I just had my stock saddle on my roadie and when I went in for an adjusted fitting etc, I asked the tech at the shop about TT frames and yada yada.  She says, "You can definitely, DEFINITELY do Ironman on your road bike.  You wont be quite as fast as on a TT, but its all about the engine.  However, I'm not so sure you're going to do Ironman on that saddle..."  I think she was right.  I did 2 HIMs on the stock saddle and I did some training rides and around mile 70 it would get really really uncomfortable.

Ice baths are simple.  Its sucks royal for 15 minutes, but I find it really helps me to manage my soreness for the rest of the week.  Nice big bath of cold water, throw some ice packs in with 2 cups of epsom salt.  Feel like a million bucks....as soon as you thaw out!

Joey,

Great improvement on the swim in just a few short months!!!  Keep up the great work.

Also some people say they watch movies etc, but I don't know how you can watch a movie the whole time and be working hard. Yesterday I actually was able to watch a movie but paused in favor of good music for the hard intervals.

Thanks for asking! It went great. It was a predominantly uphill course, and at 25 degrees outside, our water stops were officially ice stops. Nevertheless, we knocked it down.

Of note: my wife was the real all-star of the day, maintaining pace throughout and what's more, at 24 weeks pregnant!

Thanks for the shout out Joey. I'd welcome any tips you can share of this pro technique. Last night I swam 1500, and my coach was impressed with my improvement over the last week, but I still feel like I'm dragging. As for the head thing, I'd really love some tips there. I'm getting better and letting my stroke do the head lifting for me, but it's a catch 22 between trouble maintaining breath and just wanting to revert to lifting my head up out of the water.

Sounds like you're flowing though! Good work!

I have a Kurt Kinetic and really like it.  The proprietary computer you can get for it is a good estimator for power.  Its allowed me to do Jorge's power program over the winter, dovetailing into my IM plan.

I really dont spend enough time on drills right now but there is no question that the time spent doing superman glide drills, skating on both sides, and glides with arms by sides really enforced how important it is to be relaxed in the water. As soon as any tension builds up these drills will fall apart, and balance and body position fall apart. Relaxing is #1 anytime I am in the water, this does'nt mean lack of effort, just lack of tension.  Total Immersion has been great for me, I was the classic new swimmer who struggled to make it 50yds.  I learned to swim smarter, not harder, saving the energy for the bike and run. 

I have a Cycle Ops magnetic trainer. Got it used off of craigslist and it does enough for me.  Just change the gears to make it suck worse.

If anyone needs a good swim workout to use that will make you breathe hard, (well it did me) this is what our coach had us do today:  500m w/u choice of mixing swim/kick/pull    8x25 drills @45 sec  here was the fun part  3x 3x200 (so 9 200s)  30 sec rest in between each 200 the 1 min rest in between each set  300m cooldown 25 skull/75 swim.  Now remember I'm a sloth in the pool, but I thought it was a great workout.  Just thought I would share it with everyone.

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Rubant- I use an Ascent magnetic trainer from Performance...it's the cheapest trainer around and it gets the job done. If you live somewhere really cold where trainer season lasts a solid 3-4 months, you might want to upgrade a bit to get something that might have a longer life span.

So how is everyone's training going this week? My shoulders are DEAD from a big swim week last week and I haven't been able to properly do my swims the past two days.

Just need a little rest and hopefully be ready to hit it this weekend! Going for 'the trifecta' at the Hogpen Hillclimb

Trifecta involves...

1. do the race.. 11.5 miles up a mountain

2. sing karaoke late into the night

3. ride up the same mountain on the bike the next day

Was very tough and extremely fun last year...

My training is going ok this week.  The University Pool is finally back open so I've had a couple of good swim days.  However, I had to run up to NYC for business today and I'm just spent.  Can't get the motivation to jump on the trainer for an hour tonight.  I know that missing a workout here and there isn't going to kill me, but it feels really weird to miss a workout by choice...

I feel like the fink plan is low on bike and run frequency.  Still early on in the base phase, but I feel like I should sprinkle in a short run/bike each week to get the frequency up.  Probably am overthinking it.   I just need to get out of my own head...and spend less time reading those guys on slowtwitch

Fink's plan really only has you running and biking 3 times a week.  That just seems low to me. One of the bikes is event what I would consider a "recovery spin".  Just feel like i should be on the chariot 4x a week and running 4/5x a week.  No good reason why I think that, I just do. :P

I used the Be Iron Fit plan for IMFL in 2010.  I followed the competitive plan because I thought I'd feel less guilty missing a workout if I was on that plan than one of the others.  Being a high volume runner (at least higher than most folks) I felt like the plan was light on the run in the beginning as well, but I was determined to follow the plan as closely as possible so I wouldn't get injured or burn out.  I was originally thinking I would finish my IM around 15 hours or so.  I ended up finishing in 13:56 and my marathon in the IM was only about 20 minutes slower than my (at the time) marathon PR. (I set a new marathon PR in 2011).

I'm not sure what your running background is, but I found the program to be fine for me.  If you don't have that much of a run base, you don't want to run more and risk injury.  

As for the bike, you can do more on the bike with lower risk of over use.  I did do some longer rides early on, but didn't deviate from the plan much.  The only thing I will try to do different this time is do more of my rides OUTSIDE instead on on the trainer.  Due to time constraints during the week, I tend to hit the trainer.  I think I'd be stronger on the bike if I face the wind and hills outside more.

Trust the plan.

Thanks for the info!  I would not consider my running base to be large by any means.  I've always been more of a swimmer in terms of volume.  The anecdotal evidence of the plan paying off for you really helps my mental state .

You've been reading too much ST, I vote stick with the plan

JK.... FWIW, I usually swim 3x a week, run 3-4 x one or two of those being Very short brick runs, and bike usually 3x.

I like the 'idea' of doing even more frequent workouts, but to put it into practice is tough. Plus most of the workouts end up being low intensity (unless you're a pro and/or having been doing it for years)

Then, if they are just 'added' workouts, you can't hit the workouts with the intensity energy required for your plan.  It's a cycle that I have been in before. I am currently doing my best to stick with my coaches plan because it has netted me a lot of improvements thus far in only a few months (started in March of last year w/her)

Ahh.. I didn't read what you said before I posted. Good advice..and good results.

I agree with everything you said but I tend to think the Opposite about the road versus trainer. I think the trainer gives me a  more quality workout in less time. With the caveat that you need an objective way to measure your effort and a planned workout, not easy spinning.