willie05's Group - Closed (Page 5)

First off - Keep asking away!  I think that's the best way for us all to learn.  Every question everybody asks is valuable for everyone.  I learned more over the last week by going back and reviewing all the HR stuff before I posted it.

Regarding Intervals - I think they're very valuable.  It doesn't mean you need to sprint as hard as possible, but you can pick up the pace to where you're definitely exerting a lot more effort.  Ease into them with just a couple with plenty of recovery, then you can do a few things to make them more intense as you train more - increase the number of reps, speed up, and reduce the recovery time.

I think doing 1 per week is good as long as your comfortable with your running now.  All of the training plans that go into details other than just minutes use them.

I've started lifting again for the time being, but only because I know I can do it a few times per week during the winter.  That will keep the soreness away.  I think building up strength now definitely helps, but once it warms up, I'll want to take advantage of the weather to run and bike as much as possible, and the lifting will go by the wayside.  I'll keep the core exercises going all the time.

rjdorman - I would definitely train for an Olympic this year and do one.  That will be another great accomplishment, and in the meantime you'll be improving your times for Sprints, so you can do those as well.  I'm doing a combination of Sprints and Olympics this year.

Steven - I also think the South Beach race would be a great one to do.  You kind of joked about it being an advantage to be at South Beach, but there's a lot that can be said for the venue.  It makes the whole experience that much better and fun!  Plus if that is your first one, a sprint is a great way to start as you get ready for NYC.  Nautica puts on a number of races around the country and I believe they do a great job.

On to another topic!  Who here does Bilateral Breathing?? 

I'll admit I do it for training, and I'm okay at it, but once it comes to a race, I'm all about getting to the finish and not worrying about that, so it goes by the wayside.

If not Bilateral, who can breathe on either side?  I will say it's definitely important to be comfortable breathing on either side.  It helps training so you don't overuse the muscles one side.  Plus during a race there are a number of advantages - you can site the buoys no matter which side they're on; if the sun is hitting you hard one way, just look the other way; and if your getting kicked and splashed on one side, just starting breathing on the other side.

As an extreme example, this is an actual swim course for a race I'm considering doing in May!   I can't imagine swimming this and not being able to look in either direction.

I found the best way to practice is to look at the same wall no matter which direction you're going.  Over time, that will ensure that you're stroke is consistent with either side.  I now use breathing on both sides to help me keep track of my yardage.  I'm in a 25 yd pool, so I do down and back on my left for the 1st 50, then the 2nd 50 is on my right.  That way I know I'm always coming up to a 100 when I'm on my right - much easier for me to think that way!

I'll never do Total Immersion justice in a post because it's really a whole new way of swimming if you haven't done it before.  It's characterized by a couple of things:

First is the hand entry that we were describing above.  Rather than moving your recovery arm (the one that's out of the water) in a circular motion and then back down to water fully outstretched, you move it forward with your elbow high and hand just above the water.  You then pierce the water just in front of your head and extend it fully in front of you as you glide forward and your other hand is now pulling the water.

The other major thing about it is that all of that is done while your swimming on your side.  You rotate your whole body to each side while doing the strokes, rather than have your chest pointing down and only turning when you take a breath.  This greatly improves your propulsion.

To learn it, you really need to get the book, and if you're not getting the hang of it, get the dvd as well where they show you the drills.  This is the style that all the top swimmers use.  You can see Michael Phelps doing this style on YouTube, but it's tough to tell sometimes because he's going megafast!

Since your race is only in a few weeks, don't try to learn it before that.  By following the book, you basically relearn a new stroke from scratch, and you won't have enough time before your 2/9 race. 

Learn more about it here:  www.totalimmersion.net

If you get a book, don't start with the Triathlon book, start with their basic book, which oddly enough I don't see on their site, but you can get at a large bookstore or here at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Total-Immersion-Revolutionary-Better-Faster/dp/0743253434/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201095654&sr=8-1

I just posted this in my blog, but if you don't see that, here's another way to help you lose the bulge

Irish Diet
An Irishman was terribly overweight, so his doctor put him on a diet.
"I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a full day, and repeat
this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you should have
lost at least 5 pounds."
When the Irishman returned, he shocked the doctor by having lost
nearly 60 POUNDS!
"Why, that's amazing!" the doctor said, "Did you follow my
instructions?"
The Irishman nodded..."I'll tell you though, by jaesuz, I t'aut I were
going to drop dead on dat 3rd day."
"From hunger, you mean?"
"No, from f**kin' skippin", the Irishman said

Once the race hits, I've generally decided against bilateral - especially at the start.  With all the commotion and crowds, I'm far more comfortable just breathing on one side.  It's something I'd like to work on though, because in the pool I feel that my stroke is much smoother and relaxed doing bilateral.  But maybe it's too relaxed, because I don't go as fast bilateral.

I did learn the hard way though that I don't swim straight when I breathe on my right!  During my first race I switched to my right side after the turnaround just to even things out.  Don't you know I was suddenly headed away from the the buoys.  I made an adjustment, but then I was headed in the wrong direction again.  So I went back to my left (the side I grew up swimming on) and I was fine.  I went back to the pool to work on it, and I'm better at going straight, but since then I only breathe on whichever side where the buoys are so I can keep them in view.

That brings up sighting.  I only try to look for the buoys every once in a while, or else I would get to discouraged by seeing how far away they still are!  To sight them, I keep my head (eyes only) out of the water a bit extra and look forward to find it, then put it in the water.  That seems to work best for me.

Good question!  This was going to be my new "Topic of the Week!"  In a nutshell, your muscles from your thighs up through your hips, glutes, abs, back, and sides are typically referred to as your core.  This is because virtually every movement you do uses at least some of these muscles.

There seems to be a lot more info written on the importance of it over the last year than I've ever seen.  Even Runners World devoted its front cover of either the Feb or Mar issue to it (orange color with a runner and his 6 pack on the cover).  They gave a set of 10 exercises that some of the Olympians (including the one on the cover) are doing 6 days per week.  The idea is that these muscles help triathletes in all aspects - think of twisting in swimming, your balance on your bike, lifting your legs, and keeping your posture in running.  It also helps you everyday by improving your posture, keeping away back pain - and really just making you feel better!

So core exercises are far more than pounding out sit ups, but you want to work on all parts in a session.  The nice thing is you don't even need any equipment, so you can do them at home.  If there was one though that I would recommend, it would be to get a Swiss Ball (a big rubber blow up ball!) for like 10 bucks.

I generally go through 2 sets of swiss ball crunches, bicycles, back extensions, pushups, swiss ball pushups, flanks, side flanks, leg raises, hip raises, twisting swiss ball crunches etc. for about 30 mins.

Here are a couple links (what else is new!).  The first is here on the BT site.  These give you some moving pictures of a number of exercices.  The others are a few sets from Mike Ricci's D3 site.  If you use any of the intermediate plans, Ricci incorporates core work 3 days per week (as do most other coaches).  These plans refer to these sets.  I've linked the first 3 plans, there are 3 others that are more advanced on the site as well.

Have a look at the exercises and start with a few so that you hit all the different parts, then you can add in others, as well as add reps and sets.  If you start too hard, you'll be very sore if you're not use to it!  These links will give you a wide variety which is good to keep it fresh.  I definitely feel great after getting in the habit of doing these exercises.  Once the season starts and I don't have as much time to lift, I still keep doing these.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=486

http://www.d3multisport.com/articles/core1.html

http://www.d3multisport.com/articles/core2.html

http://www.d3multisport.com/articles/core3.html

That's a pretty long commute - to say the least!

It's funny you mention the snow though, because last night I was thinking the exact opposite!  I haven't even dusted off my snowblower this year.  We've probably only gotten a total of 6 inches so far this winter.

Too bad it's not warm though....