Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 57)

Sarah references a web link for a really good core workout.  I also do this Abs routine.  It's pretty good.  After 15 or 20 mins, I am sweating and I feel the difference.  I have another BT friend who challenged me to do more abs workouts than her.  She introduced me to this and its a great core workout.  She is a friend of Steve's  (Mav).  Yes, she is currently beating me in this challenge. 

Johanne,

Walking breaks can be really good for a long run but I understand that getting going again can be really hard if your legs are already tired.  I agree with Steve's comments stated earlier. 

I know when I am struggling during a marathon, I will walk the water stations.  Make sure you are getting enough water.  Sometimes my body doesn't want to get going again.   When you start up running again, take really short strides at first and set a goal.  Say, "I am going to shuffle at this pace until I get to that road sign, then I will try and pick up the pace a little bit.  Keep making short term goals for yourself.  OR find another walker and start a conversation and see if they want to start running with you.  
My mantra sometimes is, "the faster I move, the sooner this will all be over" 

Kasia, your story had me laughing especially the guys in thongs.  Man those are some weird folks.. Hey if you do it again next year let me know and I will tape it and send it in to Americas Funniest Video's because based on what you said I would win the contest.  I'm gonna have to look that race up.  I heard people talking about it but I did not know what it was. I think I know who designed the course, it was the Navy Seals and the guys from the show Jacka$$ (Seals due to some of the tough stuff you were doing, it seemed like it was from the movie GI Jane and Jacka$$ due to the electrical shock, wow.. Well congrats on doing it and again thank you for the great story.

Thanks
George

Kasia, that sounds awesome!  I wish I could find a race like that in Taiwan, but I don't think I could do it!  My wife wouldn't probably have me committed if I told her I was doing a race like that!

Kasia, great race report. The race sounds like a lot...
a lot of fun, a lot of pain, a lot of laughs, a lot of mud. How was running 10 miles in wet muddy shoes? Running 10 miles is bad enough but to do it in wet muddy shoes... wow. Still sounds like something I'd do in the future once I can run 10 miles.

Thanks John. By then end of that last long run, I did start taking more shuffling steps to get my self going again. It seemed to help me ease back into the run. It's reassuring to hear other people talk about playing the mind games. Sometimes half of racing is staying tough mentally!

Right now I'm foam rolling and trying to ignore the pain as I type

Love the mantra too. I think I'm going to borrow it.
Johanne 

Steve and all,

I did see your post to me on fins and strength training but didn't get a chance to reply. I'm a lurker. I'll look back again and respond.

I have a few photos from TM so I'll post those when I get the camera working again. It needs a soak to dislodge some of the dirt from underneath the power button. Even though it's supposed to be waterproof, shockproof, dust-proof, and freeze-proof (all of which came in handy on Saturday), it is definitely not mud-proof. Somehow it survived being buried in a mud pit at Warrior Dash, but the Tough Mudder folks managed to get enough mud into it to make it dead by mile 3.

Unfortunately I don't have a post-race photo (as in, a we're-not-so-clean-anymore photo) because of the deadness of the camera, but also because we ran through water a lot towards the end and most of the mud had washed off by then. I say most, because even after my shower back at the hotel, my towel did not look white. And the tub didn't drain properly for a couple of hours.

My only photo regret is a post-Mud Mile pic, where we were literally covered in about half an inch coat of mud. Try taking a bath in melted chocolate, and you'll get a good idea of the consistency. It was impressive.

I don't know if I conveyed this enough in my write-up, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was hard, frustrating, exhausting, and just plain draining, but it was so much fun and exactly the sort of challenge I was looking for. The length of the course and the obstacles gave ample opportunity to talk to many people. And we kept running into Tough Mudders all weekend, even on our flight back to Colorado yesterday morning. Cool stuff.

As for your question about which race I prefer...definitely Tough Mudder. It's longer, harder, and more thrilling. Warrior Dash was a bit easy. But then again, Tough Mudder got that same kind of review only six months ago and they have since totally revamped their events. So I don't really know about the current WD races. I still think Warrior Dash is geared towards a less adventurous crowd. Tough Mudder seems to think so as well. In their information packet, they say, "If you do not feel comfortable completing any obstacle, DO NOT attempt it; simply continue on to the next obstacle. But really, what do you think you signed up for, Warrior Dash?" Kind of elitist and snobby, but based on the sheer distance and number of obstacles, I see they have a point.

As compared to WD, TM is definitely longer, harder, and more thrilling for me. It encourages more camaraderie and teamwork than does WD by making a lot of obstacles impossible to complete alone, even for big strong dudes, and not giving out timing chips or anything that would assign participants a time. You have to self-report a time and even then, only the people that want to qualify for the World Championship Tough Mudder Race (top 5% of each race) care enough to do that.

Overall, I think the post-race atmosphere after WD was better, with a more festival feel than TM, and with more people sticking around. That may be due to the different demographics of participants and location (I did WD in a ski town in CO and TM on a motocross track in TX) or maybe due to the length of the race. TM took everything out of me to the point that all I wanted to do was take a nap (and I did...for 4 hours) while WD was tiring but I still wanted to hang out and listen to the bands.

I highly recommend both races and I think people should start out with WD to see if they enjoy this kind of twisted masochism, because TM could be a bit much if you decide this isn't for you.

Oh, and there was an article posted in the Austin paper the next day writing up the event and interviewing people. I thought you would be interested in reading this part (TM is a bit cocky, but after running it, I think they somewhat deserve to be that way):

The event is not designed to appeal to the same crowd that's drawn to traditional triathlon, the three-part sport of swim, cycle and run.

"People who want to wax their legs and practice changing socks quickly are just not going to enjoy this," event creator Will Dean said.

Tough Mudders are 80 percent male and mostly in their early 30s. The average finishing time is about two and a half hours.

 

It took us a bit longer than 2.5 hours to finish, and the completion rate they cite in the article cannot be correct. Maybe they mean that 20% don't do all the obstacles? Because their version would mean over 600 people didn't finish, and I don't believe that. It's also kind of funny that they emphasize the electric wires the most, when in fact, it wasn't the most challenging part of the whole race, at least to most people I spoke with later. The worst part about them was being heckled by spectators 200 yards from the finish line. Haha!

I did have a wreck a while back when I separated my shoulder 2x in the same month, but that was like 4 years ago.  My big problem is my legs are different lengths, about an inch difference.  So the running used to kill me hips and lower back.  I have found sound pre and post workout stretching and both warm ups and cool downs have made a major difference. 

I did also have a majorly overly tight right ITB that stretching and rolling with a foam roller thingy has helped to alliviate. The tight band was pulling my hips out of allignment and thus curving my low back toward that side, right.  The pain used to be aweful so I stopped training for about 6 months to a year.  I am still super inflexible but the pain is gone

I have trained with a few members on and off in the past.  So I decided to take the plunge, the only thing is most of them like to stick with the HIM and the IM.  I am at the sprint stages now, but can keep pace on the bike rides no problem.  I am just taking my time stretching out the running training.  I would rather take 2x as long while enjoying the training rather than half the time and not be able to walk the day after the race.

Hello everyone,
I have been sadly absent from the posts and from the gym.  I am right now hankered down in my house waiting for the blizzard to pass through.  Looking forward to working out soon though!  Maybe tomorrow after everything is cleaned up!

Hope all is well!
 

JOHN -

I would love to insinuate myself into the core-abs challenge you have with Mav, but I know you'd both whup me but good. I am way too lazy about my core, and try as I might, I have no really good reasons for it. But I will see what you're up to, and what Sarah is recommending, and try to get a spark going.

I channeled your mantra at Half Vermont in August --- and it almost worked! Naw, actually it worked okay, although i still suffered a fair bit. It was a four-part problem:
1.) Way too aggressive on a fairly difficult bike course.
2.) Slipshod nutrition on said course.
3.) Flagrant underestimation of the climbs on the run. (Where my brain was on my drive of it the day before, i have no idea....)
4.) Heat on the run.

So, during the toughest patches (miles 5-10, on and off) I used "the sooner this will be over" approach. But thank goodness the final mile or so was either downhill or flat, which made the "sooner" part that much more attainable! WHEW!!!

Feb 1 brought a nice ice storm to North Texas, and a good portion of the US. Wife and I ended up home all day. I got one hour on the trainer watching Tombstone. Not bad for me as I generally find stationary training distasteful. I am excited about my January run/swim totals. Looking forward to better bike time in Feb. That first tri is creeping up on me. I wouldn't mind someone assessing my log to date. My first A race is an Olympic end of May. January for me was about injury recovery, and building a base of training, late Feb/March will get more specific.
My swimming seems to have worsen suddenly. 100 yard time has slowed and some of the fun has gone out of it. I don't know whats up with that, hoping it's just a "thing"
How was everyone's January anyway?

KASIA -

I haven't had that much fun reading a race report in, like, forever. Even though your Warrior Dash one from last year was a hoot, it doesn't hold a candle to the Tough Mudder one. And if I had any concerns about you giving up your Boulder life to head off on a pilgramage of every Warrior Dash event, those concerns are magnified ten-fold by the allure for you of Tough Mudders!

For me, though, it's still the same ---- I just can't see myself doing either. Now, having said that, I felt some deep-rooted stirring during parts of the TM report.......but maybe that was just a gas pain? Just curious, though -- about how many 60-plus types were there? Or 50-plus? 40-somethings?

As I remember, it took you five or six days to extricate all the mud from your ears after the W.D. Any thought as to when everything will be mud-free this time around??

Try to remember what page your report is on. I too will try to identify it somehow, but the odds of me misplacing that are very high. I just want to be able to come back to the report whenever I need a bright spot in my life! Many, many thanks for taking the time (and loving detail, you crazy masochist! ) to write all that, Kasia!

KASIA again -

And that quote from Will Dean is priceless! Could his disdain of garden-variety triathletes be any clearer?

JOHANNE -

The mental aspect can be huge in triathlon, or any endurance event. Several years ago I felt I had my mental toughness nicely locked in place, but the past few seasons have seen in waver some. Shaky foundations or somenthing? I actually think it grew out of injuries over time, just questioning my durability. There's a whole lot I could ramble on about there, but I will spare you my navel-gazing and related angst. I'll just leave it that I have some work to do at honing my mental toughness!

I see in a response to you from Daniel that you asked something about crashes, and I'll just say that I too have had a major one -- complete with separated shoulder. The adage is "There are two types of cyclists -- those who have crashed and those who will crash", and for years and years and years I was in that latter category. I managed to transcend that in one quick moment in June '09..............and I have no interest in revisiting that ever again! As with the first paragraph, i will spare you details about the crash, too!

You mention the pain as you type; has it gotten worse since the 19-miler? Hopefully it is nothing more than DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)!

DAVID -

I won't/can't be much help to you about pedals, as I've been a one-trick pony for years -- I've been in Look pedals since I started. A few years ago I gave serious consideration to Speedplay because different models had different "float", but decided to stick with what mostly seemed to be working for me.

A few days ago Daniel mentioned something about Look cleats being a bit fragile, and I would agree with him. They Look cleat is quite large, with a lot of surface to get banged up or chipped if one clonks around in them too much. I had to change them out in '05 or '06 where the chipping got too much, but since then I haven't had any concerns at all. Part of htis, though, is due to my racing style -- I always leave the cleats attached to the pedals/cranks, and run barefoot from transition to bike mount, and then barefoot again from dismount back to transition. So on courses where transition is on pavement and features long runs to mount/dismount, they are spared all that wear and tear.

There is an array of pedals, and a few come to mind quickly in addition to Look and Speedplay - Time, Ritchie Road, Dura-Ace, and the Shimano you mention. But really, these are just names to me; as to pertinent facts, I can't help you at all!

For shoes, though, I would look into ones with a single velcro strap that is fixed on the outside and attaches on the inside. This will serve you really well further down the line if you decide to do what I do and start off with your feet on the shoes, and then slipping into them within the first 1/4 mile or so, once you get moving. My shoes, which I've had since '01 ( ), have a single strap......but it is oriented the other way. So, I have to be careful with the right one when it is "free" that it doesn't get caught in my chain. So far that has never happened, but.......

I think Shimano has a show that is as I describe it above, so that might be a nice match with those pedals you are looking at! Let me know how your thinking progresses on this, okay?

LAURA -

Yo! Glad you've resurfaced!

The blizzard that has caused you to hunker now is soon to be upon us -- our first major storm of the winter. As was the case last year, places just south of us (N.Y., New England) continue to get hammered, but we've had remarkably little snow. It'll be sort of fun tomorrow, although the post-storm dig-out will be a drag. Very valid cross-training, perhaps....but still a drag!

Yes, the mental part is so interesting to me. Last year was my first year and my goal was to finish each race and I wanted to feel good at the finish line. Part of the feeling good part was self preservation. I knew how much to push myself to finish but I wouldn't say I did a lot of 'racing'. For the first year, I was totally fine with that. Since then I think I've been able to mentally push past certain workouts and toughen up a bit. I'm still not 'hardcore' but I'm happy with my progress. Certain races this year will be 'let's have this experience' events and others I'm going to push myself a bit more. It'll be interesting.

A few months after I got my hybrid, I had a wreck. Something locked up and I went over the handlebars onto the pavement. All in all I came away ok. Some road rash on my face, a fractured front tooth and a month later an infection around the bursa of my knee. It hangs on to you for a while.

The pain that I mentioned was just me putting pressure on my thighs with the roller. It hurt so good Actually, this morning I did some strength work, stretched, foam rolled and got up from the floor feeling so, so much better. I was so excited! Then I went to swim and my leg has felt great all day. I'm doing a little more strength stuff tonight to warm up then stretching/rolling and I think I'm going to have a great run tomorrow. I can hardly wait. I'll follow this routine twice a day if it gives me a strong, pain free (by that I just mean the little nagging stuff I've been getting) run the next day. I'll keep you posted.
Johanne 

SARAH -

One of the reasons I take several herat rate countings is to get passed the point of a heart-elevating wake-up. When I mentioned to Brenda that I might take the average or the low, almost always it is the low. I usually do 4 or 5 of them, each for a minute, just as a dopily pleasant way to gradually wake up.

I often get up quite early and read, and what usually happens is that my in-bed rate will be, say, 43, but then after I've read for a while and take my HR, it will be several beats lower -- 39-41 or so. So, what do I take in those cases -- my waking HR or my resting (reading) HR? Decisions, decisions!

As for the nutritionals, yes, even "mere mortals" can benefit from them! In training and racing we all need the carbs and the electrolytes, and if we find one of thsoe products that is especially tasty, it can be used outside the training/racing arena. The big drawback is cost, as one can argue that a Snickers or Pay-Day has about the same good-stuff in them as the branded endurance nutrition has. (However, those two also have much more of the bad stuff, namely unhelpful sugars.)

On the cost front, chocolate milk is a very good economical option to Recoverite and Endurox and Metaphase, and also straight whey and soy drinks or powders. Chocolate powders don't have all that much protein in them, but chances are that your local diary makes a chocolate milk in a carton that has a high level of protein. If it has 10-14g of protein, that's pretty good -- and at a fraction of the cost of one of the "serious" ones!

Steve.. I did see your post a while back in response to my 'bubble' questions and your advise about hand entry helped.  I got to the pool only once last week and spent the whole session focusing on entry and catch and avoiding the bubbles.

I've spent this whole week since Saturday with my two granddaughters (age 1 and 2) at my house which has occupied all my time.. they are keeping me busy !  We'll take them home on the weekend and I should be able to get to the pool 2 or 3 times next week.

What is a foam roller and how do you use it for IT pain? 

Gene,
I'm not always the best at explaining things so here are some links to look into:

This is a foam roller, it's basically a high density piece of foam.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=foam+roller&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=4645252947&ref=pd_sl_655m1nt2zl_b

This is how it's used for sore muscles.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/ss/FoamRoller_5.htm

It's painful because you are putting pressure on your sore areas

Right now, with as much running I have to get in, I roll both of my legs, front, back and sideways. 
Johanne

JOHANNE -

It's not exactly that I didn't believe you, but that I COULDN'T believe you. But I checked and indeed you are right -- USAT allows the use of snorkels in races!

As I said, if I was a race director I would not allow them. And as a triathlete, if I saw someone at the start of the swim slip on a snorkel, I would quickly move very far away from them; I would not want even the remotest possibility that I might be the one to accidentally smack my arm or hand against their snorkel --- and then have to live with the potential results.

It amazes me that USAT hasn't changed this rule, and visiting a few forums confirmed that I am hardly alone. Part of me is tempted to write to USAT about this, but I figure that far better minds than mine are working at this from both positions. So, I'll just sit back and see how it all unfolds.

I think snorkels are terrific training tools, for the reasons I mentioned to Alex -- they help build confidence and endurance, and also provide the opportunity to observe the front end of your stroke without having to miss breaths or alter your stroke. I juts wish I could use mine without also needing a damnable nose clip!

Thanks for telling me about the snorkel/USAT situation. Live and learn.................and food for thought!

One of the rare times I wished I owned a treadmill.......13 degrees, solid ice on the streets, rolling blackouts, cabin fever

STEVE
I did have to use the nose clip with the snorkel.  I tried without it and couldn't stand it as water keep going into my nose as I inhaled.

Weather here has been the pits.  I have been avoiding the trainer for training... just some stretching and foam roller work.

I really just want spring to get here so getting out and riding would be possible....

Oh yeah... I ordered a 2 piece wet suit... should get it in the next few days.  Will be interesting putting in on for the first time....

Alex 

JEFF -

Hang tough! The bluebonnets will be up before you know it!

13 degrees? Check?
Solid ice on the streets? often enough, so check that one, too?

Rolling blackouts? Ugh!

Cabin fever? Ack!


Richard III said "My kingdom for a horse!", whereas for you it's "My kingdom for a treadmill!" How the times have changed!