Mike's group closed (Page 5)

When I clicked it in the forum, it works fine.  For some reason when I copied and pasted it to my blog and tried it there, it brought up a page not found error.....

Very cool Mike.  I copied it into my log and tried it out.  Only problem I had was the top link to the main mentor group didn't work (though it did work when I tried the link in your post, so probably I did something wrong).  Anyway, I followed your how-to link and was able to fix it.

Thanks!

(doh.  Forgot to read posts on page 5 before responding to Mike's post.  Guess i wasn't the only one. Sorry 'bout that.)

Hey Pete, hope you're feeling better soon. I've been battling a sinus infection myself the last couple weeks or so and it's no fun.  I find it really drains my endurance.  And I'm sure you're right about the kids thing (I just wondered how cold weather works into it all, if at all).  When I was a young dude in graduate school, one of the other students in our group had two young kids.  He seemed to always be sick with a cold or sinus infection.  At the time I thought something might be wrong with him, weak immune system or something.  Now his kids are teens and my are 3 and 5, and I'm the one that's always sick.  I still talk to him regularly, and he enjoys rubbing it in.

Very cool Mike!  All the links work except the main link to this thread. 

I saw that Matt has his graph plotting "planned" and "actual".  Where do you put planned workouts?  I like that!  I keep track of my plan in an excel spreadsheet and update it with actual every day.

I just learned something cool about BT.  Turns out you can plot out any BTer's recorded training history going back multiple years by clicking on "graph" in the training log.  It's really interesting to see what various people have done in the past and how they've progressed.

Obvious I guess, but I never noticed that before.

I am not sure why the top link doesn't work but the others do.  If you look at the other link I posted you'll see how to fix it.  It's pretty easy to do.

Sandra, If I understand you correct, Matt can put his workouts as planned because he is a paying (gold) memeber which allows you to do that.  As a paying member you can download training programs into your training log.  It will automatically put each workout out, each day into your calender.  Then you won't have to type in what you did each day, it's already there.  Being a paying member has a lot of cool little extras like that.

I swam at the university's pool today. I started out next to one of the university's swimmers.  Very humbling!

Glad I stuck it out though.  At the end of the workout I was *finally* able to get into a zone where I felt like I could keep swimming for a very long time even though I was working fairly hard.  I've had this experience often in the past while running and riding, but this was the first time it's happend swimming.  I was starting to think 1.2 (let alone 2.4) miles might be out of reach, but today it felt like I could actually do it.  Fun stuff.

I wonder what it takes for that to happen?  I never would have expected to get into a groove today.  I was tired going in, had a rough go for more than half the workout, and then found myself in a good groove for the second half.

Oh, and forgot to mention the most interesting part of the swim:  The ROTC folks were at the pool in full gear jumping in the water.  Did not look like something I'd want to/could do.  Thanks to all of them!

That is awesome Rob!  I've been feeling like that these days after putting so much time in the pool.  Like you, it takes me what seems like a long time to get my body warmed up the rythm going but then all of the sudden 'you're in the zone'.  That's what it's all about.  I think it just takes time and lots of practice, like when you can do it in the dark, you know...

The pool at the gym is 25 yards long and I've been feeling like I've outgrown it.  Having to stop and turn around is starting to mess up my rythm when I feel like I could keep going.  Can't wait for warmer weather so I can start practicing in open water.  Then I'll need a friend with me to give me a ride back from my 3,000 yard swim.  LOL

Oh, also, these last couple of days I've been running out of energy during my workouts, after spinning and the first 25 laps or so.  Today I took a pb & honey sandwich and a banana and eat half of my sandwich after the first 25 laps, again after 33 and the banana right before I finished the 60th lap.  Guess I'm not eating right but eating before working out almost always makes me sick. 

First time this happened to me.  Has that happened to you guys?  Tell me about your eating habits before, during and after your workouts.  Also, do you guys take any vitamins or energy boosting stuff?  I usually don't like to take anything that is not natural. 

Hope you have a great week! 

Sandra

Those days where everything clicks and energy is endless for me is just a random act.  Some days you got it and some days you don't.  I have bonked two times and it was both due to lack of food.  Once was during a race.  It took so long to start that I had eaten way too early and just planned my nutrition wrong.  The other time was a simple run and it was the same problem. 

I make sure I eat at least an hour to 30 minutes before each session.  Usually a couple of whole wheat fig neutons if I am not hungry.  If I am hungry, I'll just eat a regular meal within an hour beforehand.  For me, it is not so much what I eat as much as when.  If the workout is longer than an hour, I will drink a sports drink during.  If it is hot and I am sweating, I usually drink during anyway.  When things get into 1 1/2 hours, then it is a whole new game of starting to plan your nutriton during.  I think the key is consistency in your meals and frequency.  Always eat good balanced meals and smaller portions approx. every four hours to keep your metabolism going.  What you eat and drink today fuels you for tomorrow.  Refuel within an hour after each workout to rebuild broken down muscles.  My biggest meal is breakfast, then lunch.  It seems like a lot of eating, and it is.  But you need fuel, and good fuel to power you through the workouts day in and day out.  I stick with whole foods as much as possible and stay away from pills and supplements.  I do allow an occasional treat now and again to avoid binging.  Books have been written about this stuff.  It is endless.  It is such a individual thing too.  What works for me doesn't work for the next person.  Make small changes to keep in touch with how impacts things.  Switching things up all over the place  doesn't allow you to keep track of what is working and what isn't. 

Check out the nutrition forum here.  Lots of great stuff, but again...experiment little by little and you are unique.

Here is a good discussion about supplements.  There are just as many discussion going on about every type of nutrition you can image.  Read up, experiment, and go from there.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=139589&start=1

Just checking in.  I took the weekend off to let the hip completely heal.  It feels alot better today.  I got started on the Michael Pate 22 week sprint tri program.  I may have to switch some of the workouts around to fit em in the week better.  I done the bike today....went 2.25 miles and got in the pool for the first time in forever.  I"ve never really swam before.  I've always just played around in the pool and had somewhat a fear of the water.  My GF has committed to do the tri with me and she is a great swimmer so she taught me the freestyle stroke.  I done a total of 100 yards after alot of splashing around like a drowning cat.  I done 25 yards at one time.  I was really scared I'd not be able to get the swimming part of the tri done but feel much better about it after today.

 We also started the nutritional part today.  MY GF has agreed to cook the meals if I buy the groceries.  We are basically doing a cross between body for life meals and south beach.  I know bfl really well and she is very familiar with south beach so we are combining our knowledge. 

Any tips and suggestions would be appreciated. 

Hey Heath.  That sounds like a really good deal you have going there.  Having someone to do this seems like it would be a huge bonus.  I am always having to work around schedules rather than combining schedules.  I am not familiar with those diets.  My only suggestion is to watch your calorie intake.  Most diets basically reduce your calorie intake so you loose weight but they often don't consider exercise in the formula.  If you don't eat enough calories, it can do more harm then good.  I remember a specific episode of the biggest looser where the guy was not loosing enough weight and in one weigh in he actually gained a pound.  The problem ended up that he wasn't eating enough calories to fuel his workout. 

The question is, how many calories do you need?  I would post this question in the forums to see what people suggest.  Here is a link to some good articles about nutrition that everyone could benefit from.  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/index.asp?catid=88  Notice at the bottom of the page, it indicates that there are seven more pages to look at.  Nutrition is a big topic.

Adding one turn at 1500 wouldn't be too bad, would it? (Especially considering you're making about 120 turns now!).  Otherwise a circle might work.

Semi-seriously:  Do you (or anyone else) have any idea/experience how much time we waste in the turn in a 25y pool?  (I use an open turn.) For example, how does SCY pace convert to OWS pace?  I'm thinking my OWS pace, even without a wetsuit, should be faster than my pool time, partly because I don't/can't do flip-turns.  Someday I'll work on them, but right now they make me slower instead of faster.

That's cool Heath.  I asked my wife to do a triathlon with me next summer.  She's a runner, but not too interested in branching out to triathlon (at least not yet).

Something else to consider when you're talking about turns in a pool and training for an open water swim is how much push off the wall you get/take.  The pool I swim in is also a 25m pool so my typical workout is 40 to 60 laps which is 80 to 120 turns.  I try to limit how hard I push off the wall because I could probably cut at least 5 meters off at each turn which over the course of a workout could amount to 600 meters that I'm not really swimming.  I could be totally prepared for a distance based on swimming in a short pool and then hit the open water and wonder what happened to my distance....

Good stuf guys! 

Mike, thanks for the nutrition info and links.  I have a lot of research to do but just fueling in the middle of my workouts seem to bring me back enough to finish them. 

Heath, I've just seriously started swimming too.  It took me a while to accept that my face would be under water when I"m swimming and that with proper form, I could take a breath anytime I wanted or needed to.  I think that the sidekick drills is really good for you to get used to that form.  Look back on our thread and you'll find links to articles and videos on how to do that.  Another thing I've learned from my swim coach is that you need to learn to minimize your strokes, thus saving energy.  The more you splash or stroke the more tired you get.  Just take nice long easy strokes as you go along and you can go forever.

Rob, very funny buddy!    LOL!  Good point though.  Didn't think about that.  Overall I think that your time would be much better in open water since you don't have to stop for turns.  It's just that I feel like once I'm almost there with my rythm the pool has ended and I have to turn around.  It's getting to be annoying.  I'll be going to Dallas this weekend to train with this friend of mine who's done Ironmans and he will help me with some one on one in the pool.  Really need that!

Got my new cycling shoes today and went spinning with it.  It really hurt my knees.  I think it's not adjusted right so I'm taking them with me to the bike shop on Thursday for my new bike fitting.  Yeah baby!!!   

x2 what Sandra said.  Swimming is not natural for me, and those side drills really helped.  I sort of felt like I was panicing between breaths, and the side kicking drills helped me relax.  They also helped me know what it should feel like to swim on my side (rotate) during a stroke.

Another thing that helped was something else Mike mentioned earlier in this thread.  He said (paraphrasing) to think of pressing your chest down while swimming to try to keep your butt and legs up.  I think that helps reduce the drag and I don't get tired so quickly.

New bike?  Nice.  And hope you'll share any swimming tips you get in Dallas.

Hmm...  Monster training sessions, Ironman training partner, new bike...  Watch out for Sandra!

Thanks Mike I'll check out the nutrition links.   And thanks everyone else for your advice on the swimming drills.  I will definately be checking those out.

I have to chuckle at the 25 yard pool length getting in the way...I was just happy to make it that far in one spurt without stopping..ha

My open water swim times are always faster.  To the point where I question if I messed up my keeping track of time somehow.  The turns do affect my flow and time for sure in the pool.  On the flip side, I had one swim where the water was so nutty (see below) that my time was twice as long as normal.  But if the water is semi flat, you'll be faster.  I also get more tired in the open water because I don't stop for that second and turn.  I try to not push off much and to take a short breath so as not to cheat.

Good to see everyone so active here and getting into the groove.

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