cathyd's Peer Support Group - FULL (Page 5)

Goals for the week:  (I've never done this before)...

If my swimsuit and cap finally arrive in the mail, I'd like to hit the pool at once or twice.

Research a little more and complete an "speedy" interval run.

Two rides on the bicycle.

3 days of strength training

Good morning!

I didn't realize that 20-25h is too much.  My trainer gave me a plan for what to do (he's done a couple of HIM and IM), and it looked like the peak weeks were 20-25h, but I'll have to go back and look again...

I made it out of bed for spin class this morning.  Almost didn't get a bike! I can't believe that many people are up that early! All of the spin classes have been full at the gym lately.  Too bad they won't just let us bring our own bikes and trainers! After spin, I got in the pool and swam a little.  Nothing hard, just about a mile easy.  It felt pretty good.  In many ways I'm lucky that I have the swimming background I do, its never too hard to get back into it.  But on the other hand, it makes it harder to really stay with it...

Oh, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but PLEASE, if your swim suit used to be black or navy, and now its flesh colored, its time for a new swimsuit.  I know the economy is bad, so if you can't afford one, just let me know and I'll pick one up for you... It will save a heck of a lot in therapy costs for me! Oh, and on another note.... your speed in the pool, whether swimming or kicking, is NOT related to how much water you are splashing out of the pool!

Hmm... maybe that is why I move forward so slow....if you stood beside where I swim there is probably enough water coming up to shower.  Btw,, thanks for all the swimming tips and links....  hopefully the bus strike here will be over soon and I can put some of them into practice....For me... I am just happy to complete the swim and not drown!  Last tri (6 years ago) the safety boat literally followed me through the race....I was last one out of the water... my wife timed it... the second last one out was 5 minutes ahead of me,,, and that was front crawl the whole time.  I didn't manage to pass 40 people on the bike though. I have taken some lessons since then.. but have not put them in practice for 3 years or so.

On another note... for you outside winter runners.  I don't run outside for fear of slipping and killing my back.  I have jarred it once or twice from slips and it is not good (note had a disc removed last year).  Should I be that worried?  Right now I don't intend to run outside till the snow is all melted from the roads.  What is the real risk.. am I being too cautious?

Wow!  Lots to read today.  I'm a little nervous about tomorrow - I have my first swim in 1.5 years scheduled tomorrow.  I have to go find my swimming stuff.  The plan says just to swim 400 m  - even when I was swimming a lot - 400 m was hard for me.  We'll see how it goes.

 Goals for the week... to stay with the training plan that starts this week for me.

To eat food that will help me with my training.

Find all my dusty and scattered tri gear (swimming/ biking stuff)

I'm sure you'll do great.  Just take it one lap at a time, and take as many breaks as you want.  Focus on smooth and efficient strokes, and not speed.

I just signed up for my first tri! May 17th! It feels good to have a date to shoot for.  It's a spring length, but I want to do at least one or two sprints as a warm up to a HIM.

I'm a huge fan of quotes, and using quotes for motivation.  I have a very extensive collection.  If it helps others, I'll post them here every so often.  If not, tell me to shut up

I haven't had any trouble - but it's often a lot slower because I'm being careful.  I know some people will put screws into an old pair of shoes to give a little more traction - but I haven't resorted to that yet... Here's the website:

http://www.skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm

ETA - So I post this last night and then I open my new Runner's World ... Right there - an article about Screw Shoes. *lmao*

I did it.  I've been worrying about it for over a week - THE SWIM.  It wasn't as bad as I envisioned.  It's like being a newbie all over again - I guess I should just forget about my attempt a couple years ago and start fresh anyway. 

I got to the pool and got in the water - it was warmer than I anticipated.  I try to get my swim cap on... did my head grow?  Did my cap shrink? Embarassingly, I finally get it on.  Next goggles.  Same problem.. What is up with my head?!?!?  Are they supposed to be so tight?  I felt like I was going to have eye hickies after I was done.  First pair of goggles leaked - thank goodness I had another pair that worked better.  Reminded me of my first day of swim lessons two years ago.  I get everything on and I'm in the pool ready to go. And the instructor comes up to me and gets real close and proceeds to take the protective peel off sticker off my goggles (EMBARASSING).

Anyways - my question after my swim is when I take my breath I feel my body sinking and I fell like it's a struggle to gt it back in place.  What am I doing wrong/ how do I correct it?

The swim cap thing takes a bit of practice.  The worst is when you start to get it on and it rips!

I don't know how to answer your question above.  After your swim you're having trouble catching your breath?  Or when you are actually swimming?  The chemicals in the pool can cause asthma to flare up or it could be the controlling your breathing that is causing you to feel short of breath.

In general lanes either swim circles (up one side down the other) or you can split the lane if there's only two of you (each take a side) but you should always get the person's attention if you would like to share a lane.  If they are swimming in the middle and you start swimming towards them it can cause a head-on collision.  Obviously Fly is out of the question when you're splitting a lane but can sometimes be worked in when you are circle swimming.  (You could always drop to one arm too...)  You can be really polite and ask - but if you are a member they can't say no.  Just say "Hi" and ask how they would like to swim.  Make sure you pick the right lane if there are multiple.  Don't jump in the fast lane if that's not where you should be.  At the same time - don't swim in the slow lane if you're running people over... (Although I have been known to swim in the slow lane when it's empty because other lanes were busy...)

I'm glad your swim wasn't as bad as you thought it would be!!

Thanks for the swimming pointers.  I will need them later this week.   When I swam in the pool over the summer I always the only one there so I didn't have to worry about the "rules".

I'm going to re-iterate this one.  Freestlyle is a long-axis stroke so your whole body should "kayak" in the water.  This facilitates breathing and creates a more efficient stroke.

Do think it's your whole body sinking or just your upper or lower half?

A good thing to try when you're learning how to breath without sinking, is to start by practicing on the wall.  So you hold onto the wall, and just move one arm at a time while breathing.  Sort of a ketchup type drill.  Once you've mastered it on the wall, then do the same thing swimming down the lane while holding a kickboard.

Most likely, I would say that you are lifting your head, which is going to push your feet down.  You just turn your head to the side.  No more than 1 of your eyes should even be out of the water.

As far as the "rules," there aren't many.  If there are only 2 people in a lane, I find most people prefer to split the lane rather than circle.  If there are more, obviously you have to circle.  I think the most common mistake people make is just to hop into any free lane. Don't pick a lane just because it only has one other swimmer in it, and the other lanes have more.  Pick a lane based upon the speed of yourself and those that are already in the lane.  Even if that means you add a 3rd person to the lane and someone else has their own lane. 

 Congrats on getting back in!!

I feel it's my lower half sinking. Thanks for all the pointers everyone!

Hi Marie... as a silver member here at BT you have access to the swim videos :

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1349 

Also there is a good swim thread that I bookmarked here:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=136647&mid=1751928#M1751928

Keep at it... technique is the key to the swim.

I'm not doing well this week... spending all my time with my granddaughter since Saturday.  She'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon so I should be able to log something this week.  Not sure I'll make it to the pool though, I wish there was a pool closer to where I live, I hate driving 30 minutes into the city to swim.

My plan for the rest of the week:

Wed.  probably bike, maybe strength
Thurs. I work days, bike or run after work
Fri.  work days, run after work
Sat. work nights, swim, strength
Sun. work nights, sleep day.
all of above subject to change without notice.

Would Velcro help?  I bought my "new" bike used and the aero bars and the bottle have velcro on them to help stabilize them.

I'm wondering if you can buy replacement straws in different lengths?  I don't know anything about them - I'm sorry.  I had one for my other bike but I didn't use it often.  (I found when it was full it splashed in my face... *sigh*)  Or you could keep a second bottle in the cage and refill your aerobottle when it gets close to empty?

I thought that might be your answer and so your upper body may be a bit high in the water which can cause your lower half to sink. Making sure you look straight down when your not taking your breath frequently helps lower your upper body position which in-turn raises your lower body reducing it sinking (kind of like a see-saw, if one side is tilted slightly up, then the other is slightly down until you flatten it all out). And oddly enough, most people think they're looking straight down when they 1st try, but they're often not. You may try almost looking at your legs behind you to get the proper effect (it's kind of odd 'cause you don't want to tuck your chin too much but our natural inclination is to look slightly ahead of us no matter what we're doing, swimming included, so it can take a little more intent than one thinks to actually look directly down and create a more straight bodyline from head to foot). Also, if one's head is somewhat looking forward this also slows you down as your more streamlined with a straight down head position (then when you turn for a breath as was mentioned previously, the waterline would keep one eye underwater with a direct side rotation to just get your nose/mouth out of the water and not picking one's head up out of it).

And since I'm not a swim coach and we've got some awesome people here who are, please correct me where my advice is wrong so that I can properly describe swimming when the chance comes around, thanks!

My aerobottle has a velcro strap, I have to pull it really tight to keep the bottle from moving.  Others have talked about adding extra straps or bungee type cords to hold aerobottles tight.

You  should be able to buy a replacement straw at your LBS.