Asphalt Junkies Spring 2013 - Closed (Page 44)

I am not certain there is an ideal time to begin doing tempo runs other than you want enough time to allow some adaptation to occur.  If you start 2 weeks out from a HM you obviously aren't going to see any benefits.  I would suggest that you begin doing the tempo runs at the beginning of March if at all possible (and 2 weeks sooner if you can swing it).  That would allow you roughly 6 weeks to build a little bit of a tempo base as well as allow 1 or 2 recovery weeks and a taper before the HM.  Over the 6 week cycle you could increase from 1 mile up to 5 miles at the targeted pace.

Congrats!

I too have some family news.  I posted it on facebook but I hadn't done so on here.  I became a great uncle again on Thursday night.  My great niece had a baby boy early Thursday morning.  Wyatt James

I think your point about running with a forefoot strike makes sense to me.  I believe you should eliminate any thought of a forefoot strike anyway.  Jeff can explain why this is a bad idea when he gets back on on Monday.  But in short, less articulate terminology, I would say it creates a shock wave that is sent through smaller bones, muscles and tendons making your body react radically and causing traumatic reactions to your body in those smaller areas.

Congrats on the gaining confidence you are seeing by being able to swim those longer distances.  Over the short term you'll see many benefits of getting regular long swims into your routine.  Over the long term the longer swims will develop several benefits but the biggest will be the confidence that you can swim farther than you had thought.

Congrats Uncle Dirk!!!

Jo, congrats on the run speed increase!

Karl congrats on your swim session. Dirk is right if you keep pushing yourself you will continue to gain confidence and you'll be swimming longer distances.

Dirk congrats on becoming a great uncle again, that is great news. I hope both mother and baby are doing well.

JoAnne that is great news about your increase in speed. I was the same way I used to run very slow but I have slowly seen gains in speed. It sounds like you are making a breakthrough in your running.

Samantha I hope you starting seeing some progress with your elbows so you can get back to swimming and stop with all this crazy talk about doing duathlons. You're a triathlete!

Well for me no workout today I just did not have a chance as it was a busy day. By the time I was able to run this evening I was just too tired and it was just too cold out for me. I know pretty lame excuses but I really was beat when I finally got home today. I probably could have gotten a short run in if I wanted to.

On the doggy news front we took the puppy to the vet today for her first visit and she was so good. She didn't like the car ride much but she was good and she was great with the vet. She did have to get a shot today as well. We also found out she weights a lot more than we thought she did. We thought she was around 35 pounds but she is actually 48 pounds! I was surprised but it makes sense lifting her up is not easy. In any case she seems to be pretty healthy which is great. We need to take her back in 3 weeks as we are going to her spayed and she needs a couple more shots. She won't be happy with us I am sure but I didn't get her to breed her and I am not raising any puppies.

Just checking in. I really have enjoyed allt he commentary on Lance Armstrong and the thoughts on running!

I got in a 1,250 yd swim in this morning. I built up to 2,500 yds in October and have been able to maintain easy swims of 1,600 -2,500 yds since October. Today was the first time I opted for a shorter swim and focused on some sprint work: Warmed up with a 250 easy free, then 500 pull buoy, and then concentrated on swimming easy for 25 yds, then sprinted for 25 yds. I did this for 500 yards and man could I feel it in my whole body.

Afterwards, I ran 3 miles, which was really supposed to be a 30 minute run or a 3 mile run, whichever came first. I ran 27:50 at an easy pace and my knee hasn't bothered me at all (I ran 6 miles yesterday). I was doing swim/run or swim/bike bricks last year and would always get nauseaus during the run or bike. I started wearing ear plugs b/c that's what someone told me to do, and it seemed to help. I did not wear ear plugs today and did great on the run (which I approached hesitantly). I am wondering if I was just way more fatigued from swimming before? Not real sure what the difference is now.

I am hoping to run 8 miles on Monday morning and then do a couple of short runs during the week in prepartion for next Sunday's Half Marathon. SSsshhhhhhh... nobody tell Karl... but, I will be gunning for him and will be hoping to pass him at the finish line. (just kidding... maybe, okay not really). 

After that, I loaded my 2 & 4 yr old up to head to the Tallahassee Fitness Expo, picked up two of their cousins along the way, then drug all four kids to grandma's house for a birthday party. Man... am I tired! Tomorrow - I will be taking a Final Exam for CFP tax planning, will be getting all household chores done, and will be trying to hold down the fort till daddy comes home tomorrow night --- does all that count as another brick?

Alright peeps, I'd love to get some nutrition discussion going.  

1. Long workouts and races - What do you take?  How much?  How often?  What do you eat before?

2. Everyday - any foods, snacks, shakes that you consume... I'm always looking for good stuff, especially since I'm a picky eater.

Jen, congrats on your knee and the swimming.  Hey why didn't you tell me about the fitness expo.  i didn't even know about it...lol  yes you will run past me like I'm going backwards.  I'm hoping just to start.  I'm icing, stretching and exercising.  Hey if I don't start, I'll watch you and Pam finish.  The tri-club in town is asking for volunteers for the race to help with their aid station.  I might do that.

Will, I'm deferring to the others for food during your training ride and runs.  I have found that Saran wrapped around the bar of your bike with a layer of Saran wrap over protein bars works good, this keeps your bike from getting sticky and bugs off your food.  Just don't use real sticky protein bars or it sticks to the Saran wrap and makes a mess...I know from experience.

For everyday food, I try not to eat processed foods.  Also i just found out about black rice, it is so good, it is kind of chewy and has a vanilla and nutty flavor.  For breakfast I eat a mixture of tofu, oatmeal, protein powder, honey, milk, quinoa and walnuts.  I snack on walnuts or almonds and eat boiled eggs for snacks.  For lunch I normally eat a salad with apples, craisins, spinach, lemon juice,avacado and tuna.  For a mid afternoon snack, I normally eat a turkey burger or something like that (Turkey and oatmeal grilled out)   For supper I eat sweet potatoes almost evey day and have broccoli or cauliflower and some kind of meat such roast, ham, chicken or fish.

The white substance is salt.  I am struggling with that too as I have high blood pressure if I eat processed foods (table salt doesn't seem to bother it, it is the sodium in canned stuff that affects me)  The sodium in canned good is SO high. Wife bought enduralyte and when it is really hot outside i take a tablet about every 30 minutes and it seems to help with cramping.  The gatorade has sodium too and when it is 90 degrees out, I have to drink a LOT.

Well!  I will have to come back to this one later.  I spent about 30 minutes trying to type a response to your questions, then as I was completing it the power flickered  and I lost all of it.  NICE!!

Okay, so I swear I wasn't looking for duathlons when I found this... but I was tinkering around online when I discovered that the London Duathlon is going to be taking place 2 days after my sprint worlds race in September!! (The sprint is scheduled for Friday.) I got kind of excited at the thought of doing it!  What are the odds?!  So I am very much considering doing the duathlon, I will be in town for it so why not!  Both the triathlon and duathlon take place in royal parks (Hyde Park and Richmond Park respectively). I think both should be a great experience!  Of course I have not made a final decision on this, but the thought is exciting...

I have been to London once before. I was there for 4-5 days and wouldn't say I did a whole lot. (How much can you really do in that time?)  What I thought was funny when I first discovered it, was that I pretty much spent a whole day in the Hyde Park area for one of those days.  I thought it was funny because I actually didn't know it was called Hyde Park. After I saw the venue for the Olympics was there, I took a look at my pictures to discover that's one of the few places in London I had been!  Which I thought was awesome

Will everything I eat I log here on BT so if you have an interest in taking a look at that feel free. It's not always all good though.

For the long workouts it really depends on how long and what the weather is like. I typically use powerbar perform as my sports drink so for a long run or bike it is not uncommon for me to go through 2 to 4 22 oz bottles of that stuff. I also use clif shot blocks on the bike and sometimes for long runs. I also use GU gels. I would say anything less than 90 minutes I am only drinking sports drink. Anything over 90 minutes I will probably use shot blocks or gels with the sports drink. I make sure I eat a good 500 to 600 calories before I do any long run or bike. So in the morning I will eat and then give myself 60 to 90 minutes before I go workout. In the evening I'm usually good because I probably have eaten a decent lunch and I have an afternoon snack that is probably 400 to 500 calories. I don't eat a whole lot before I go swimming though, just enough to keep my stomach from grumbling. I don't like swimming when I feel really full.

For everyday foods I will eat almost anything and try to eat stuff like chicken, turkey, beef, pasta, rice and as many vegetables as I can but I do have days where I may not eat as well as I should be. The stuff I like for snacks are things like mixed nuts, popcorn and utz pretzel nuggets. I will have fruit as well like bananas, apples,pears and oranges etc. I try and limit my share of the junk food. I also try and eat salad as much as I can and try and portion my meals reasonably as I am very anal when it comes to my weight. I try and limit stuff like beer, soda and ice cream and will just pick and choose my spots for that stuff.

As far as the salt tablets I have not really experimented with that at all. I do sweat alot but I have not had any issues with cramping and I think I get enough replenishment from the sports drink and gels so I have not gone that route yet. I may try and do some experimenting with that when it gets warmer to see if it makes a difference.

re: half marathon training... I am now 11 weeks out from my half marathon... and as I've said before, it scares me!  It just never feels like it's enough.  But as long as nothing interferes, I think my general plan will be as follows.  In January I was in the 20s for mpw, so for February I'm thinking of being in the 30s, and in March get into the 40s.  At least once a week (sometimes twice a week), I would like to do tempo-ish runs and/or intervals of 800s/1600s.  The pacing I use for these is roughly based off of McMillan's running calculator.  A lot of my mileage will come from the short and frequent runs since I am still going for the 100/100 ST challenge, which would end just a few weeks before my half- perfect timing I think.

Also, I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but my doctor did end up faxing over a script to the physical therapist's office without me having to make a doctor's visit.  Thank goodness I don't have to wait another 2 weeks!  I am VERY appreciative! Tomorrow is my first PT appointment.

Samantha you should do it if you have the opportunity to do it. You know I was only kidding around about the duathlon stuff. We actually have two that are pretty big here on Long Island that most of the triathletes here do to start and end their seasons with. There is one in May and one in October which are sponsored by Carl Hart bike shops and run by Event Power LI. They are both good events and I may consider doing one or both of them myself this year. Let us know if you decide to do it.

I've started getting back into shakes.  My shakes generally consist of milk, protein powder, banana... then fruit OR cocoa powder.  I usually use half cup milk, half banana.

My "meals" are generally rice based.  Ones I prepare most often are probably: rice/onions/meat or fish/soy sauce... rice/smashed avocado/fresh lime juice/red onions/cilantro/meat or tuna/SALT (this just is too plain for me otherwise.)

Now that I think about it, it seems as though I generally eat every 2-3 hours.  The inbetweens are usually some fruits or vegetables which honestly sounds lame.   Those "meals" I mentioned earlier, I take 2 of those to work every day and eat those between 12 and 5p.  I have been working out in the evening, and sometimes I find myself very hungry, so this past week, I also took in some cereal and also some honey teddy grahams. (Figure they can give me energy!)  My downfall is usually in the evening eating too many slices of bread (whole wheat) with nutella!!  (Actually I buy the jif version of nutella.)

I've also lately gotten into sweet potatoes.

Yeah, actually after I started thinking about duathlons around here in SE Michigan, I started to feel that doing an early May du could be a good way to see where my run/bike times are at before my first triathlon!  And since the duathlon I'm looking at is pretty flat, I think it can give a good indication.  Whereas my first triathlon is not completely flat, and it's on grass for like a third of the run, so I would be curious what my times could be around anyway on flat/road conditions.

Wanted to let you all know about a challenge Karl and I will be partaking in for the month of February over on the challenge forum here on BT.  Devote a minimum of 15 minutes a day to any type of activity that promotes flexibility every day in the month of February.  i.e. Commit yourself to stretching every day if you don't already do so!!

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=475366&posts=12&start=1

Not much I can say about the long workouts and races but from an everyday perspective, my best days are the ones where I have a really heavy breakfast. Something with egg whites and a bunch of vegetables on a roll with a box of orange juice or something like that. Salad and a soup for lunch and for snacks, its mostly nuts for me. Have my own custom trail mix box of almonds/walnuts/raisins at my desk and that's always an easy go-to snack that satisfies any hunger pangs. And I also like the smoothies from "Naked" which gets me about 300-350 calories and I have it an hour before a workout. Other than that, its mostly fruits through the day. My biggest issue is dinner and if I don't have time to cook, its takeout and that doesn't end up being too healthy. I've been trying a protein shake with casein before going to bed as its supposed to process more slowly than whey, which is for instant absorption right after a workout.

After a week of not being able to do much, I went to the gym yesterday for a short swim and run. Swimming hurt a bit more than I thought, so I wasn't able to do the workout I wanted but just went easy for 20 mins. Running thankfully seemed to be much better. Bike ride scheduled for tonight on the trainer and that should be good I'm hoping.

Also, on another note, I just booked my tickets for an almost last minute trip to India. A couple of close friends from school were getting married and given work issues I hadn't planned on going. Last week I was talking to my manager and he said I should take the time off for the trip AND I found relatively inexpensive tickets, so I'll be out for about 10 days between the 7th and 18th of Feb. Pretty excited to attend a couple of fun weddings and catch up with all the folks from home. The only downside is that I don't think I can find a place to swim/bike, so it'll be only running for a few days. And Flexible Feb!

mambos - 2013-01-27 12:27 PM Today I had my long run scheduled and decided to go more by RPE than HR and the results were pretty surprising. Total distance 8.8 miles with an average pace of 8:40 and average HR of 156. Run looked like thisMile 1: WU at 9:00 Mile 2 thru 7 at an average of 8:45 (mile 4 came in at 8:24). Throughout this entire section the effort was relatively low. I was able to carry on a conversation with my partner the entire timeMile 8: 7:44, this was the best mile and felt pretty good. HR only jumped up to 167 and I thought this wasn't much considering how far into the run I was. But to put in perspective I timed this increase for a section of the park that was slightly downhill! the last 0.8 was used as a cool down around 9m pace. Good Times!

Nice run, Matt! I've been thinking about trying RPE instead of HR for a run too. I do want to get my right HR zones though, so I'll know if I really need to go extra slow to stay in Z2 or otherwise...