Fred D Mentor Group Part III (Page 46)

I think that is what is most important.  When you are doing a "hard" workout ask yourself if I do this am I going to be able to nail my workout tomorrow, 2 days from now, a week from now.  The work has to be repeatable so if speedwork fries you for 3 days then you are not really gaining any fitness.

So, I think my road bike frame has a crack in the right seat stay.  I found it when cleaning the bike after my ride last weekend.  It's a 5 year old Trek Aluminum frame.  I'm planning on taking it to the bike shop next week for their opinion, but it sure doesn't look like it's just paint to me.

Anyone have any experience with warranty issues on frames?

mndymond - 2012-10-26 9:02 AM

GoFaster - 2012-10-26 7:55 AM

marcag - 2012-10-26 9:43 AM

acumenjay - 2012-10-26 5:50 AMThose dark early runs aren't so bad when you have people keeping you company.

Did mine this morning. There was friggin ICE :-(

You should have been in Ontario - wore shorts + long sleeve shirt this morning and was hot after 2km. 

I have a couple of cm of snow...and it's still snowing

A little snow is pure pleasure to run on.

It's soft, fluffy and wonderful. My knees and ankles love snow.

ICE is evil ! ICE under snow is the absolute worst.

Agree.  I love running in snow.  Ice not so much.  Ice is about the only thing that keeps me from getting a run in. 

Yes.  An off day affects my top end speed a lot more than it affects my ability to hold a lower speed for a longer distance.  That could be just me.

My idea of harder runs is much less "hard" then others have suggested.  Maybe that's something I need to change.

Most of my running is done at marathon pace or slower.  Rarely do I ever run faster than half marathon pace.

This is where I am.  I worked with a coach in 09 for a while, and she had me running some faster intervals, and it actually opened my eyes as to what I could do.

I am running more and faster now, but trying to build up some historical endurance, so my focus is running at a speed that I can run again tomorrow.  I think, for me alone, being able to run 6X a week is better than running hard intervals at the moment.

That said, I am still running faster than I should I think (not "fast," but fast for me). 

Can't offer any criticsm (except your scrolling screens should have faded in for a better effect).

Why did you drop the bilateral breathing in the second video?

Marc, nice stroke and thanks for posting the video.  What I noticed is your hands.  Watch your hands after they enter the water.  Specifically your left hand as it enters at 39 seconds into the video.  Your wrist tends to collapse down and you are presenting the palm of your hand in the direction you want to swim.  That's creating unwanted drag.  I only notice this because my coach gets on me about it. :-)   

I have been trying to do the equivalent of a finger drag along my body rather than swinging my arm around either high or even at the surface of the water. The reason is when I swing it, I end up crossing over in the front due to the momentum of my arm as it swings around. I was swinging quite high so my hand was way up in the air.

I try to do a finger drag, it feels like one, but there is still lots of room for improvement

When finger dragging, elbow should go up and hand down naturally. At least I think it should. I am not sure if my hand is entering sooner. I have to check that out

thanks. I just need to translate it all into speed :-)

On hard sets I was lacking oxygen and ended up slowing down a lot.

Someone explained to me that the ability to breath both sides is important since the course/conditions may force it on us. But there is also a need for maximum oxygen, which for me is so true.

So I do breath on both sides during a workout. I warm up breathing bilateral every 3 strokes, but do my main set breathing every 2, but alternating sides from rep to rep.

thanks. I have to watch out for that. I think I understand what your are saying.

I think you have the right idea with the new video.  Your hands may be entering the water a tiny bit earlier but you aren't stabbing the water up by your head so I don't think you are hurting anything there.  I do like how you have your elbows a bit higher - the first video you have a bit of a windmill  going on with the arms and like you said it can lead to a bit of a crossover in the front.  That said, the year i went to Canada Games, the winner of the 100 Free was a complete windmiller, almost no elbow bend at all...

I think if you really want to tear things apart a bit, you will need to get some under water video.  Above the water everything looks good but as you noted, there is a bit of a scissor kick and I also see some side to side motion with your head on the front view and some fishtailing on the rear view.  There is likely something going on with your pull that is pushing you to the side rather than forward.

This is my belief as well.  The ability to be able to breathe on either side at will is more important than breathing on both sides all the time.  If you need more air, breathe more often.  It's not a bad idea to practice getting that extra air on your weaker side though.  I am probably a 60% right, 40% left breather when just cruising but once things get tough, it's probably more like 95/5.  For IMMT I was probably 75/25 and the left side breathing was probably to see what was going on over there.

This is where an under water video would really help.  Can you get your hands on a water proof camera and a brick to keep it in place?  

In Western Australia last year, the swim was counterclockwise around the jetty.  Left is my strong side so I had a clear view of the jetty during the entire swim, no additional sighting required.  Plus with the way the waves were breaking, left-side breathers were not getting hit in the face.

But it's amazing how many people still stuck to breathing 100% on the right.  Even though it was a big disadvantage.  You never know when breathing on your off-side will come in handy.

Bi-lateral breathing is worth practicing in the pool.  Try picking up your stroke rate if you need more oxygen.  It's a good drill at least.

Yes. I am going to get an under water camera and continue my work.

With the endless pool videos I feel like the Mr Swim Not Smooth.

Arend, you have to get to Montreal so we can film the proper way of doing it for the group.

Andy, coming from someone who's been around a while and has lost an entire human in body weight AND run while considerably heavier and shorter than you (unless you're somewhere between 5'3" and 5'4" ... )

This is just my random experience, but ... first, I agree with Fred. Consistent running and continuing to build up (to a lot of) mileage is the cake. And IMO it's going to get you a lot lighter and faster, injury free, than pushing it. Your logs aren't open so I really can't say one way or the other.

My personal opinion is that at your weight and experience level, you're better off including "sometimes hard" as hills and strides.

My other random experience is that it is VERY hard to accomplish two major goals in one season (or off-season). For example, I can either bump up a distance, OR get faster at a current one. But not both.

I can lose a lot of weight, or train a lot. But not both.

There are exceptions. Most of them have dedicated something like 20-30 hrs a week to their goals, or are folks who are literally brand new so are still on the sharp-slope side of the improvement curve.