triOK's Group - CLOSED (Page 5)

Holla!

Yeah, I can't offer any advice to help you with your ITBS, but here's what I know for sure.  If it HURTS don't do it.  However, I read on this site that "there is a difference between being in pain and being uncomfortable."  If it is genuinely painful, then you are making it worse by exercising on it.  If you are simply uncomfortable, suck it up buttercup, and push through it.

My $.02 only.

One of the things I keep hearing is to train your weaknesses.  So, if you want to improve your swimming then you really need to work at it, but if you're happy with where you are you can keep doing the minimum to stay at that point.  Another thing I keep hearing is that biking is the part that you spend the most time in the race doing, so it's good to concentrate on that.  But, everybody is different, so you probably want to spend more time on the areas that you think need the most improvement.  I guess another thing I keep hearing is that it's good to use one of the training plans from the site, but I haven't followed that advice yet.

This is only my opinion:  If you are comfortable in the water and happy with your swim times, then dedicate more time to bike/run.  However, for those that are new fishes (like me), you need all the time in the water you can get.  I feel that I am a good swimmer, but I still have panic attacks when I get in the water.  I try to swim as much as I can so that I can deal with the panic....

Here's something important to think about.... you spend more time on the bike than you do on the other two sports.  If your bike time sucks, it will be hard to make that time up on the run.

Another point is that there is no subsititute for the tri specific sports.  If you want to be a better swimmer, the only thing that will make you better is swimming.  Doing something else might make you stronger or boost your endurance, but the only thing that will make you better at triathlon is working on your tri-specific skills.  Likewise, if you want to improve your bike times, RIDE LOTS!

I agree with Eric's and Robyn's thoughts for working on your weakest points.

I'm also about 2:00 per 100 yds, and sure enough if I lower that to 1:50, for my first race of 800 yds I've only saved myself 80 secs.

However, I'm not reducing the swimming because I do it so that even if my time doesn't improve significantly, I want to come out of the lake feeling strong, and not ready to puke.  I think that will be the best benefit I'll have as I jump on the bike, wondering what the heck am I doing here!

VERY good point.  You'd be shocked at how crappy you feel coming out of the water sometimes.

Kirk I will sing with you at any size.  I would not call myself slim and trim yet.

Robyn, I hope you don't mind:

Gator22: Yes, swimming is the "shortest" of the disiplines in Triathlon.  A Triathlon cannot be won on the swim, but it can be lost.  Now you may say, I'm not going to win this thing, so how does that affect me?  It affects you because if you come out of the water behind more people than you should, then you are mentally going to be down on yourself.  And it's harder to get back into the flow of a race if you've had, what you perceive, a bad start.  If you're ok with where your swim time is now and not happy with another time (bike split, run split), then maintain your swim volume and work on one of the other two aspects.  IMHO, a stumbling block for new Triathletes is that they look at each individual disipline too closely.  It's three sports, don't forget that. 

In regards to weights, they are great!  And also, feeling good goes a long way to getting better.  Just keep that in mind. 

erjellum: Training your weakness is a great way to go.  BUT, don't forget to maintain the others.  Usually, if you work on one disipline, the others will suffer a small bit.  But when it's all new, they will generally all improve.  Don't let the training habits of people who have been doing it for 5+ years define you too much.  First you need to figure out what you want to improve on first.  We all can improve overall and that starts one disipline at a time.  That includes Transitions!

grnidone: You are correct to follow the plans recovery times.  The most common misconception is that training hard every day will get you better.  It will give you momentary gains and quickly lead to injury.  Your body actually gets benefits from a workout about 4-5 days after it.  Your body gets stronger because of the stress you put on it and the repair it does.  In shorts, Hard on the hard days and Easy on the easy days.  Recovery is your best friend, especially when you're starting out.  Having a plan is so much easier and focused...so keep following it and after the plan, then reanalyze what you want to work on.  You can't get a benefit from any plan if you swich in the middle of it.

Kazho:  You crush all the disiplines when they are your weakness.  It's all about crossing that line right?  Never lose sight of that.

Marvarnett:  Some things that I've learned this season are that you can make huge strides in swimming by adding just one more session a week.  I went from 3 to 4 session a week and have dropped my 100 m time by 10 seconds.  I feel more confident at the start of the race and it all starts there.  I learned that getting better is a continual process that seems slow at times and then you get a step increase and continue one.  It's that step increase that makes it all worth while and keeps you going.  This thing we call Tri is all about helping ourselves out mentally and physically.  For me, it brings order and relaxation to my life.  I feel stressed out if I don't have some kind of focus and Tri's gives that to me. 

No matter your reason for doing this: Weight loss, getting faster, something new, etc....never forget that it is good for the body and YOU have to make it good for the mind.  Keep it fun and introduce others to the sport.  It's only impossible to do if you make it impossible to do.

Thanks for reading my rambling...I'll go off to my corner over here now.  :P

Dan:  of course I don't mind...

Everyone else:  Listen to the man!!!

I can't quite remember - Is a fartlick basically picking a point and running fast to get to it, then slowing down for a bit, then picking another point and running fast again?

 I am not for sure how to perform a fartlick, but the things my mind conjures makes me alternate between grimacing and giggling...

vmax3000 - 2007-06-07 1:15 PM

willie05 - 2007-06-07 12:47 PM

I can't quite remember - Is a fartlick basically picking a point and running fast to get to it, then slowing down for a bit, then picking another point and running fast again?

I think so and it's spelled fartlek. I think what you used is what I used to call my younger male cousin when he was being a total..well, fartlick..... vmax

Must.control.myself.  No.immature.humor.from.the.mentor.  This is not COJ.  This is not COJ.  This is not COJ.

K... better now.  Carry on.

(FYI:  post all of the immature humor you want here... it keeps it fun.)

Fartleck literally means "to play with speed".  It is essentially what you said.  Alternating speed work.  The purpose is to work on form for short durations of high speed and turnover.  It also allows your body to work on processing Lactic Acid better.  You push hard and Lactic Acid builds up, then you slow down, but don't stop this increase the rate at which your body flushes out the acid.  You become more efficient at it while being able to keep a high threshold.

The speed increases are not all out, but fast so that you can keep proper form.

Thanks Dan!  Especially for the explanation behind it.

and to the rest of you and my spelling -