Why not "Tri"? - Closed (Page 6)

Thank you guys for calming me down. I did watch some you tube videos on kick drills with the kick board. The people doing it were moving faster than I swim with my whole body I also felt like my legs were sinking while I was doing the drill. One guy did say a person could help counter this by using a snorkel to get your head and body down into a more horizontal position. I may try that. I also like the idea of doing the drill on my back. I did try that last night while hugging the board and saw an instant increase in speed. If on my back is giving me the same workout then why not?

This swimming thing is really challenging. I have no skills. On a happy note, I overhauled my bike this weekend. Just need the ice off the streets.

Edited by RockHead 2015-03-04 8:45 PM

Ok gang, Status check. How's everyones training coming along?
Me, in a word, it sucks. My work schedule has increased with more trips out of town, so today was my first swim in almost three weeks; I haven't been on my bike in two weeks. And now I've got a 30 day trip scheduled to end 5 days before my HIM. I think its time to seriously consider dropping out and finding another race later in the season. So on that happy thought, How are things with you?

Training has been almost non existent since my last post. I was out of town visiting family. I am back today and hope to get back on track a little. I have to travel for work this week so I will have to bunch up my swimming and biking at the end of the week. My schedule should be clear for the rest of the month after this week and hoping the weather will provide for some outdoor opportunities.

Got some running on the treadmill in last week. No bike so far this year. Raining buckets last couple of days here. Going to swim during lunch today. This will be my first swim this year.

Got gymnastics in twice though last week for cross training.

Markus

Except for the small detail ,of no swimming, I feel like training is going good. I get in 2 of my gym workouts every week and at least 1 long run and 1 bike ride. I'm still looking for a good stretch of road that doesn't terrify me on the bike.

I ran in a 5k trail run saturday. it was fun. A lot of steep hills and mud. My time was nothing to brag on except that I had a better time than I could do on a tread mill a couple of months ago so I feel good about that.

My run is fine other then the fact I'm running out of shows that I've dvr'd to watch while on the treadmill (but the weather is starting to break in Ohio). Not sure how my biking is coming along since it's all new to me but I did get in 24 miles last week including one 12 miler. I could go farther if my butt was tougher and I wasn't focused more on my marathon in 34 days. I figured once I get through that I can focus in on the bike and swim almost exclusively for 10 weeks. Is that long enough?
I am a half hour drive from the nearest YMCA or gym that has a pool which means that I will not touch water for at least another one and a half months.

I can take the run, fake the bike but I'm starting to doubt if I can make the swim.

Just don't quit! There are a lot of strokes out there you can use to get you through the swim. I used them all in my first event ever last summer. I think I even tried the "dead man's float".

Went for a 20mi ride yesterday and felt grat, a lot stronger than last year.

Swim is coming along well I'm joining a masters program next week to really work on it. I hear it's full of triathletes and long distance swimmers.

Run sucks the big one, can't seem to fix my calves and I'm avg around a 9:30mi which I'm fine with since I was doing 10 on the treadmi. Going to a running store tonight to see if they have anythingm that can help with my calves.

Furb,
That should be enough time. Beware of over doing it by being in a hurry to be in race shape and stressing something out. Especially in swimming where you can over tax shoulders if you have stroke form issues to sort out. Shoulders take forever to heal once damaged.
Jeez, why are my posts always such downers? I need to write something more happy and upbeat one of these days.

What exact problems are you having with your calves?

They get really tight. They never cramp but it feels like I’m constantly flexing the muscle during a run. After running the calves are still tight for some time even into the next day, I do ice immediately and stretch before and after each run. Also the inside of my lower leg it is tender to the touch, not sure what tendon or muscle is there but it seems irritated. Every night I roll my legs with a rolling pin and do a quick stretch before I jump in bed, I have even slept with compression socks on before but that doesn’t seem to help.

What’s weird is I could run on the treadmills at the gym fine, but it has gotten worse since I started running outside. I’m a slow runner to begin with avg a 9:30 mile outside.

Between weather, work, and now the time change, my training is definitely lacking. I'm running, but not the consistent miles I need to be. The swim doesn't worry me too much, because I feel as though I can pick it back up easily. I need to put a lot of time on the bike though. Hopefully, I can get back on my bike consistently in the next week or two. I'm signed up for a half marathon at the end of April and a super sprint at the local Y a week before to help give me a date/ goal to work towards.

My guess it's a form problem or your supporting muscles not strong enough. Treadmill is even surface so you don't use a lot of your other muscles. I'd recommend strengthening your ankles and shins to balance some of that. I do gymnastics for that and while I'm a big supporter of gymnastics it's not for everyone. Walking barefoot frequently can help with the ankles, trampolines are great and any kind of balancing on one foot to strengthen your ankles. For shins I would do toe raises on a regular basis. Keep doing the rolling.

Also to get the initial tension out see if you have any health providers that do myofascial release therapy. Whenever I have problems like that I see an Airrosti Provider (www.airrosti.com) and they fix me up quickly every time. They don't seem to be in your area so you might have to search for someone that does something similar. I think they do a better job than any Dr. or Physical Therapist, but that's my opinion.

Just my two cents.

Markus

I picked up a cold, so no training for me for a few days, sigh.

how about plyometrics? that was suggested from a fellow worked who has a background in kinesiology.

Will probably help, but I would be careful. That might put your calves over the edge.

Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor

Does anyone use a heart rate monitor during training? I bought the Polar FT7 about a year ago to start tracking my progress. I have had a very hard time staying in the fat burning zone and go quickly into the cardio performance zone. Today during my work out on the bike trainer, I tried to ride with a video that was based on HR. I'm not sure how it works. Anyone got any input?

So I think I have narrowed down what is causing my calf pain. So the pain is in the lower 1/4 of my leg from the surround ankle to half way up my calves sometimes all the way up. I have just noticed this evening I have some swelling around my ankle the add to my problem.

Tonight at the gym I tried some plyometrics and I noticed that everytime I had to push off with my toes/ ball of foot I was in some sort of discomfort well after a few rounds my ankles/ lower calves were being irritated.

Hopefully this can help to find the source and remedy the problem, I don't want to spend money on a PT or DR.

P.s sorry for the poor grammer I'm tired and this is on my phone.

Slides,
I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV...
Sounds like Achilles tendonitis. I say this because I had it and it sounds similar. Step 1 = Rest. Like any tendon or soft tissue injury, its obnoxious when it flares up and will only die down with rest and NSAIDs. A hard boot to wear while sleeping (like folks do for plantar fasciaitis can help) Step 2 = stretching (do toe raises and stretches on a stair). Try strength exercises for calf. Step 3 = Run, but small distances at first, assuming you can without pain.
The above fixed my right side. It took a bike wreck and surgery to sew my left back together to fix my left (damnit, another downer post!!!)

The recommendation for finding some myofascial release therapy is a good one. Fascia adhesion can impact tendons and the calf muscle in some people. It has helped keep it from reoccurring in my legs since I get adhensions if you look at me funny.

r/
Mike

I've also had a lot of trouble with Achilles tendonitis/tendonosis - including have to take 3 months of off running a couple of years ago, and short periods off a couple of times since then. (Including today, damn it!)

The thing that I think helped me, and seems to be the most popular thing based on the latest research, is heel drops.
See this link - http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/achilles-tendon...

I'd recommend concentrating more on biking and swimming until it feels better, then only SLOWLY ramping the running mileage back up.

Ok, I'm about to show how ignorant I am about cycling, but since I will probably never meet any of you, here goes. Cadence is your pedal turns per min. It's my understanding I should try to maintain the same level through my ride. This seems doable on a real bike with diffent gears to help but what do I do on my stationary bike? I do a "rolling hills" program on the stationary that has varying difficulty. My rotations go anywhere from 75 to 95 depending on difficulty and average in the low 80s.

Stationary bike programs are different I have done some that range from 60-110rpm. When I'm riding I try to stay around the 90 that's what works for me but sometimes you need to change due to terrain.

My 2 cents.

Average in the low 80's is a good cadence to shoot for on your bike, as you mentioned using your gears to keep resistance even. Similar concept to a manual transmission on a car. For a stationary bike the lower cadence would represent hills where you would shift to an easier gear and the higher cadence would represent a downhill where you would push a lower gear for speed to leave as is to recharge a little on your normal bike.

I wouldn't worry about the lower stationary cadence as it is close to where you would try to maintain on a bike. Just try to keep pushing to get it to your desired normal bike cadence. When you starting to reach your desired normal bike cadence increase the hills or resistance on the stationary (depending on how your stationary works) to again challenge yourself.

For the upper cadence on the stationary you could increase the resistance to again challenge yourself or leave it as is to regroup after hard pushing on the lower cadence, similar to intervals. Long story short it sounds like what you are doing is fine as long as you are continually challenging yourself to keep the average mid 80 cadence just out of reach on the stationary.

As a side note, watch getting into the 100's on your cadence on the easy parts. If you find yourself kind of bouncing in your seat at these higher cadences you may need to increase resistance to avoid stress on the knees.

I finally got on my bike yesterday for the first time since last fall. It was an eye opening experience. I felt as though I had not cycled at all in the gym and only went 4.5 miles, including a few very small hills.

I might regret asking this, but what does everyone average in speed when cycling? I have no idea what my cadence is. I just try to stay in the lowest gear possible for as long as I can, while still keeping what is a decent speed for me. I usually average about 14 mph on my rides.

Edited by bgood85 2015-03-17 9:25 AM