Ted's Sprint Group (Beginner & Experienced Welcome) (Page 4)

So I had gastro the last two days. so no work out. Today I'm feeling better so tonight I think I'm going to pedal for 30 min steady but nothing to crazy. And I plan on getting my in the pool this week so maybe tomorrow. How do you guys get back into the swing of things

If I am sick, or starting to feel that way, I generally won't train. Rest is underrated in my opinion, and I seem to bounce back much quicker if I take a few days off as compared to if I tough it out. I work with the little guys too, so it's plenty of hand sanitizer for me throughout the day!

Glad to hear you are feeling better. Work back into it slowly. I went a little too soon last year and had a "gastro" relapse!

All,

Wanted to share a few things that I've been learning about my swim. I've been lucky enough to get some swim training in this month with our local tri club. We only meet a couple of times a month, but the support has been fantastic. The first of the month we worked on our stroke count and maintaining good form. In between club practices, I've been working on my form. This has meant some shorter workouts as I learn to be more efficient in the water. The biggest challenge has been to increase my breathing rate. I'm used to three or four strokes between breaths but lately I've been practicing every other stroke.

Last night we had our second practice of the month and I shared a lane with a few of the members that are a fair amount faster than me. I joined in at the end of our swim circle and hoped that I'd be able to "hang on" throughout the swim.

Normally I swim just under 2:00 for 100yds. I can do 1:50 if I push a little more and somewhere around 1:42-1:45 if I'm really working on speed but I tend to get gassed fairly quickly. So I was pleasantly surprised last night as not only did I hang on, I comfortably averaged around 1:40 per 100 throughout the workout. Here are my takeaways so far:

1) It's been worth the trade off of shorter swims and more concentration on form during the last few weeks. It was hard to let go of the feeling that I had to get "x" number of yards in every workout or I wasn't getting anything accomplished.

2) Paying attention to things like arm and body position, stroke count, breathing rates, etc.can have a rapid impact on your swim comfort and speed.

3) Swimming in a group, especially with those a bit faster than you, is worth it!

Hope you all are having a good week of training. Please share with the group what you are discovering!

Man when a cold is coming on I can tell a day before in training something is wrong.  Maybe its because I'm now over the ump and considered on the initial downslope of the other side of the hill but I cannot train at all when I'm sick. Rest, rest, rest (and fluids) is all I can muster.  I think the saying is "in the head go a head" below the neck stay in bed".

I hear you about little kids.  When my kids were young my wife worked at the pre-school as a teacher and that plus elementary school years were the sickest we were as adults.  I became really sick 4 weeks out from my 1st HIM and missed my peak build weeks due to a severe chest infection.  I still recall the day I went to the doc and had a POx of 88, I felt like I was dead.  He put me on O2 right then and gave me 2 shots, steroids and AB. 2 weeks later I had business travel was still sleeping sitting up but was able to start getting out and slowly run.  Progressively it got better and by race day I was 100% but not in ideal shape but grinded my way through it and had a great day.

These days the kids are in high school and  my wife works at an elementary school, over the years we've become immune to all but the most recent common cold virus mutations.  Worst now are the Norovirus 'Norwalk' stomach viruses that go around, damn cruise ship tourists!

 

I battled the gastro thing in mid December....I felt really bad and backed off training for a number of days then only eased back into it; I followed up that with a nasty URI and that slowed me down as well. I chuckled at the comments about being around small kids in the schools.....the small kids we came in contact with was 2 of our grandkids.....seems the school was having an "epidemic" of gastro and URI things going on.....go figure. That's the first time in ages we've come down with something like this.....

So....rest when you are really sick!! It pays off in the long run. One of the many things I learned in my rehab from both knee replacements was to not over do....it took a few hard lessons to learn that!! Best to apply that here as well....overdoing will just slow you down in the long run.

Read Ted's comments on the swim technique.....very good info!! Much appreciated.

Ted, caution to the wind with lane group/circle swimming and speed.  My kids are competitive swimmers.  My son recently moved up to the national track level and we've been hearing his stories how he feels great in practice and putting up and staying with the group splits.  Yet at a recent meet, be it in the midst of a massive build month, his times were not anywhere his PR times nor anything special. Moral of the story, lane group/circle swimming has a function of drafting to it. Many of us know the drafting benefits in OWS!

I don't happen to have the best lung capacity so when swimming I'm lucky (warmup or recovery) to have alternating (odd count) stroke breathing, mostly I'm even stoke breathing.

Good morning everyone,
Thanks TJ for the words about the strength workout. Do you feel it is good to work with personal body weight for me 42 yr old, 5 ft 6 138 lbs. or do you think it is better to do low weight high reps? With a weight that is challenging but not too much?

Bill thanks for the Ladder workouts. I did 1 ladder yesterday and plan to do another 1-2 ladders today. It helped calm my mind and all the negative chatter about how far I was able to go. I let go of my excuses and just kept swimming.
Ted, your words about form are right on. I am trying to focus on getting it right not just getting in the time. I read if you just keep swimming but you are training wrong then you are only reinforcing bad habits. I find swimming with my children 1 day a week(Sundays) helps me get used to swimming with others and being aware and dealing with water in your face and almost getting kicked. A bit more like a real race situation. This upsets my son a lot. Lol, I told him that is what happens when you are in a triathlon.
I hope everyone gets over being sick. I also agree to take it easy if your sick.
I am currently reading a book, triathlons for women. It is a good book. The author said a great thing, there is training and there is exercising. I find for me, if I'm exercising I can come up with ways to skip out because of some train or another but when I'm training, it is only a matter of when I am training not if.(this is not talking about being sick)
Enjoy your training everyone.
Now, I'm off to the pool. It is a long swim today.
Nicole

Got short run in this morning. Its still minus 19 out so brr cold but got it done. My run keeps remaining a walk to run combo. I know part of it is the weather so I'm hoping it going to start to get better as it warms up because old air burns the lungs. Currently at like 2-3 minutes of running to 1 minute of walking how do I move up from that to a nice steady run. I think III have trouble with this because as an ex soccer player I'm used to sprinting and then walking and then sprinting so I run too fast really easy and then cant hold that pace.
I seen some nice swim workouts in here maybe ill try one of those tomorrow as I planned it for today but when I got up this morning my stomach was rolling a little and I decided to switch my swim and run around just so I wont share like my daughter did with me.

Hi Nicki,
For me, my runs are more like a jog and I am working into more jog and less walking. I worked at it. Slowly add more jogging to your walking. I find with everything else it is also a matter of what we think we can do. I walked 1/8 of a mile on a track to warm up and then said how many laps can I get. Normally it is only 4 (1/2 mile). I got to 4 and had headphones in and said ok how about a few more. Then said ok how about until the timer goes off and the time is up. I ended up jogging non stop 10 laps when I normally do 4. It was 1 1/8 mile jog then 1 walked another lap to cool down. I wasn't fast but for me I jogged it all straight and so far that is the farthest I have ever jogged in one time. It will come. Just keep upping the amount of run/jog. Check out the couch to 5 k plans. I would just check out the week that your at. You are strong out in those temps. Brr.
Nicole

Nicole, both bodyweight and low weighted resistance can have benefit. I think for you, it would depend on the exercise(s). For leg work,with the exception of a machine for leg curls, I'd suggest sticking with bodyweight work, considering the added resistance may make them too sore and tired for biking and running work. Upper body has more opportunity for resistance work. For women, they very much should do resistance work for their arms and back to maintain strength and tone.

Ted, have you ever swam with a wetronome in swim training? It exposed the point at which increasing my rate was counterproductive as I was clearly working harder but not going any faster. It does frustrate the SHHH outta you though

Donto,

I wondered about drafting being a factor as I swam this morning. I see the benefit of the drafting for sure, but wondered how that's counterbalanced a bit when swimming back against traffic. Today I had the lane to myself. Today I was still faster than normal, but not quite as fast as with the group.

Have not used this tool. I'm working on decreasing my stroke count as opposed to increasing it. My hope is that even if my speed doesn't drastically increase I will benefit from increased efficiency. If I don't have as large of an energy expenditure in the swim, that helps me invest more into the bike and run.

Nicole....glad the ladder workouts have been helpful. Heading to the pool in just a bit to use them again this morning.

Pool is closed due to filtration issues; found out just as I arrived at the pool.....no indication of when it will be corrected. Was looking forward to today's session in the pool. Hope it's not down too long.

Came back to the house and got on the treadmill....did a 5K; will just do a spin session tomorrow morning.

Hi.....any room for an Englander??
My name is Annabelle and i got into triathlons to force myself to go to the gym!!
I had quite bad post natal depression following the birth of my son in 2013....in 2014 it returned and although i know exercise is good for mental health i found it difficult to motivate myself to do it without an end goal....so i signed myself up to do a mini triathlon....it worked as it made me train and i got hooked.
Last year was my first season and i did 3 pool based sprints and 2 supersprints....i am most definately BOP!!!
This year i have already signed up to do 2 open water sprints and am likely to sign up for 1 more open water and a couple of pool sprints.
I have a nearly 3 year old and a husband who works away in the week so my training time is limited so i stick to sprints. I would love to join the group as i feel that i need some external motivation and advice to keep me going when i have been woken 4 times in the night and i struggle to get out of bed to do an early morning nursery drop and then train before work!!!

Anabelle,

Welcome to the group. We are happy to have you join us!

True, and the ever ongoing debate of feel vs. quantifiable results continues. I have definitely felt that I am working a little less at a certain spm with corresponding time. But makes one wonder if it's just an improvement in fitness vs technique. Swimming quite the frustration

Welcome Anabelle,
I'm glad you have decided to join us.
Nicole

Just a quick update on my current training....or lack of!!! Last Sunday i was out mountain biking on a training camp and i hit a tree stump hidden in the snow and badly bruised my sternum....so i have done nothing all week but rested and took painkillers!! I was hoping to start up again tomorrow but gently as i have been told it takes 4-6 weeks to heal.
I was planning on 2 static bike sessions, 2 treadmill walks on a gradient and maybe 1 or 2 swim sessions with a kickboard and fins to hopefully keep up some fitness but not use my arms to much....anyone had any experience of sternal bruising??? Am i being gentle enough??? Any advice would be appreciate
Annabelle

Anabelle,

Ouch! Closest I've come to that was a broken collarbone a couple of years back. It took me a good month to be healed enough to do anything but I started with the bike trainer and some very slow treadmill running. No swimming for two months. I would take it one workout at a time, see how you're feeling, and back off if needed. Take care!

Edited by tedjohn 2016-01-24 10:02 AM

Ouch, I don't have any experience but I think take it one day at a time and I wouldn't rush it.

Welcome.....!!

My advice....don't over do or push it took quickly when you are injured....I base that on what I've learned over the years and especially during my rehab of the knee replacements; somehow I got it in my head the harder I worked the better it would be; actually it was just the opposite in those rehab months.

Hope you are better soon

Marginal swim at best this morning....I think I was short on calories....

Took it easy in terms of training session over the weekend; was sore and fatigued from the week's activities; plus we had tons of errands to catch up on due to the multiple trips south. Finally have the Christmas decos put away....

Have a super week!!