brick94513-GoGoGo Mentor Group - Closed For Now! (Page 42)

What's up guys? I've had a weird week since the race. I've been eating a bunch of crap, feeling WAY fatigued, de-motivated, lethargic, sore...I'll stop there. Work has been b-a-n-a-n-a-s on top of it all.

Maybe it's just post-race recovery that my body is demanding. Anyways...I'm feeling better finally and with 10 weeks until my HIM, I'm ready to step up my game a bit. Here's what I'm thinking for the 10 weeks left...

Phase 1: 4 weeks - focus on getting run distance up, do speed work in the pool and on the bike
Recovery week
Phase 2: 3 weeks - focus on run speed, bike distance, and do a few quality bricks
Taper: 2 weeks

Fire away with your thoughts on my plan...

Ah fack, I thought it was out and back.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll survive.  Dangerous swimming conditions...youre not bolstering my confidence in my abilities to finish this thing, lol.

Edited by shmeeg 2010-05-10 11:21 PM

I bring two sets of goggles - dark ones if it's sunny, light ones if it's not.
SUNSCREEN!!!
Electrical tape (to tape gu's to your top tube - lots of people hit me up for some in transition at WF)

I can't provide any insight on your training plan David, but it sounds like you know what you're doing.  Do YOU think there's any holes in it?  Ha, im sure feeling lethargic has NOTHING to do w/ the fact that you're eating like crap either

Ah, didnt think of that, I will have to grab some clear goggles.  Tape, check.  Thanks!

Sounds like a good plan to me Trina. Very hard to do but best to be safe and heal before doing more damage.

Something Post race...Have a beer with Mark.  You guys may be the only group members to actually meet each other!!!  Little post race beer & toast the rest of us!!! 

The plan sounds good in general, but some specifics...

You are a swimmer, I am a drowner, so I will leave that alone

Phase 1: "get run distance up".  Where did you leave off on weekly mileage.  How often did you run & are you planning to run.  What was your LSD & where do you plan to get it in 4 weeks.

Phase 2:  Get run speed up...really depends on Answer above.  Might not worry about this, depending on above.

Phase 2:" Bike:  Getting distance up"...from what to what in what time.

Bricks...I like 'em, but incorporating into above plan in 10 weeks.  Where & how much?

For a short time...10 weeks, I would try & have my big workouts planned, keeping in mind, some of the questions above.  Trying to remember Rule of 10% etc.  You are younger than me & your body is probably more resiliant, but nevertheless, need to be smart in the time you have.

R

PS. I note you also have a bike race in June...This would presumably inserted as long bike ride that week, but may require rest after... 

Edited by GoGoGo 2010-05-11 4:47 AM

why is swimming so frustrating!!!

I took a little time off after the race but got back in the pool a couple times in the last 2 days. First, I'll tell you I've finally notice a speed difference with a jammer as opposed to my parachute. I'm about 5 seconds faster per 50m. Cool!! However, I've been stuck at 1:00 to 1:10 per 50m pace for what seems like forever! Admittedly, I've been working more on endurance than speed with my sets, but I really thought the speed would come. Last night and Sunday I did some intervals as well. I still can't help thinking that I'm doing something wrong that I'm sooooooo damn slow!! I'd like to talk to my swim coach about this, but I think he had some family in Nashville dealing with the floods. He's been out of town. We were supposed to talk about my strategy for the Xterra. Hopefully, he gets everything straightened out down there so I can talk to him soon.

Got a few pics from the race Friday, apparently the camera man didn't feel like hiking his gear beyond the first hill.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/keevwkPXkbTylXNXPazngQ?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/p_x3b7zWBBq3cYipUtVjdQ?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/oyaq2N3CF6ygknM5O7SVtQ?feat=directlink

Edited by shmeeg 2010-05-11 11:31 AM

Facking pool is closed due to 'high winds' today. grrrrr.  anybody recommend a good indoor trainer workout?  I'm gonna spin it for awhile this afternoon since it will probably be windy tomorrow and I won't be able to bike outside then either.  When I say windy I mean like 50+ mph gusts.  I hate springtime here.

You just got to love the low desert!

Where is that?  Nice "little" climb to start the run!

That's in the hills on base here, photos are taken from the first hill looking at the first climb of the second hill.  We call it dragon back.  The photos capture the first 1/2 of it, the really steep part is around the corner off to the left in the last picture.  I learned from last year not to try and run that beast or you blow up really early on.

thanks, I think I took a little mental beat down with all the crashes in my last race. Everything seems to be frustrating right now! LOL

What your saying makes sense Tim. My swim coach had me work on form first. When he thought I got that down he had me doing these sets I'm doing now for endurance. Maybe, I'm just a slow learner. I just want to be fast already!! LOL

Edited by Meulen 2010-05-11 3:47 PM

Nice.... I would really give you props if the run was in July with a starting time of about noon!

F that!  I tried it last year, I can't do more than about 30 minutes of light running back there in the summer at midday.  It's just ridonkulously hot.  We used to do out n backs to circle K so we could fill our camelbaks w/ ice

Jammers will be pretty fast compared to loose-fitting suits. They give you a great feel for the water. Competitive swimmers will wear a drag suit during training, and then use race suits for races. I used to swim with a Drag suit that had pockets...you feel like superman when you take one of these things off. It builds strength of course. You can go really old-school and swim in a shirt/shorts/shoes. My rec team would do this early in the season to really kick everyone's a$$.

Still, I generally agree that you should learn form first and speed will come. If you've been working with a swimming coach for a while and not getting faster...then I'd say your form must not be improving much. Either you're just not built for the sport, you've improved as much as possible already, or your coach isn't helping you improve. I'd assume the latter may be true since there should be lots of low-hanging fruit for a swim coach to help you pick initially. If you're pretty athletic/coachable, you should be able to bring your 50's splits down rapidly. You're paying the coach to see results, but the results aren't coming...so I'd find another coach, or demand some serious course-correction in your plan. There are lots of great swim coaches out there - it may be time for a new one!

I could give you lots of tips, point you to websites, vidoes, etc. Chances are little of that will be very helpful - having someone on the deck to give you real-time feedback is critical if you want to improve rapidly. When I was in high school, my coach arranged for a company to video tape us swimming. They had above and below-water cameras. Our coach watched the videos with us and pointed out the problems. Look here -  your head is too high/low. Look here - your right arm crosses over more then your left. Look here - your hips drop when you breathe. Once you see the problem for yourself, it's much easier to correct. If you know anyone with an under-water camera, I'd HIGHLY suggest doing this.

Have you tried doing time trials? It's a better way to guage progress than looking at short distance intervals. I do 2000m time trials (close to 1.2miles) every 6 weeks. I'm actually overdue for another one this week. Maybe you do something much shorter...like 500m (20 laps). Keep a pretty consistent effort if you can. Don't go out super fast, but finish strong. If you don't improve then your training isn't working, time to try something else. This is better than doing 50's because it's easy to get stuck in a rut doing the same intervals for short distances. I've been stuck on 1:45 100 intervals for a long time, but I know I'm faster at long distances. Dropping another 5 seconds to a 1:40 interval over 100m is difficult, but shaving 1 minute off my 2000m time trial is doable (3 sec/100 faster) and that tells me I'm getting faster.

Don't give up! You can do it!

Thanks for forcing me to think a little harder about some of these things...I do have a detailed plan, I just haven't followed it very closely lately. Today was supposed to be a time trial swim but I couldn't sneak away from work this morning and I'm going to the James Taylor concert with my mom tonight!

I replied to your points above in red.

Edited by dhopman 2010-05-11 5:35 PM

Long day... decent swim and run today (log updated).  Planning to do Encinitas T1 through Finish again tomorow.  Helping with kid's homework then crashing early.

Have a great night all.

Well, sounds like you have a plan & that is what is important.  10 weeks is a relatively time.  Luckily you are building on the the Oly, you just did.

Would be careful with the intervals.   easy way for an injury, especially where you have been averaging <20k per week.  If you are running 3X per week, then Long, "routine" & maybe tempo.

Otherwise, sounds like you have most things covered... 

Good morning!

It looked like rain last night but I got on the bike anyway. It never rained! I got a good 30 mile ride in last night again keeping the hr low around 150. I'm actually surprised at the avg speed I carry at low hr. It's not much slower than when I'm working hard. Anyhow, completed the brick with T2 practice in my garage and a 4 mile jog. My left knee bothered me a little. I normally would have pushed through that, but since I'm so close to Xterra I decided to stop a couple times and stretch. I almost forgot how heavy your legs feel on a brick! LOL Overall, it was a good night that almost didn't happen cuz it looked like it was going to pour rain out there!

Edited by Meulen 2010-05-12 8:34 AM