KVesey's Group - WORKING HARD (Page 6)

Marsha,

Thanks for chiming in with this. I actually don't have any tri-specific book recommendations. I subscribed to Triathlon magazine for a few years (let it lapse this year...after a while, there's nothing new), and learned a lot from it.

The one book I do recommend for everybody is Pain Free by Pete Egoscue. At some point, we're all going to have some nagging pain/discomfort and an actual injury. While I wouldn't say this book will cure or fix everything, it does help with understanding why some injuries occur and provides easy "exercises" to treat pain as well as to keep it at bay.

If I am good about doing the daily maintenance exercises (he calls them "e-cises"), I seem to stay injury free.

If you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone, there is a Pain Free app. I still recommend the book because of the explanation of how and why we suffer certain injuries.

Have a great weekend everyone. Happy training. And good luck wishes to Todd who is racing this weekend (same race as me).

I'm off to get my toes painted!

Good job with hanging in there despite the knee issues. Triathlon take a bit to "get," but you'll start seeing lots of improvement over the year, I bet.

I had a good race...and ended up with a PR on the course (although my time is about the same as last year's, but the swim and run were longer). I finished in 2:39 something. My bike was one of my best yet. And that's after a lackidasical few weeks on the bike. I flew "blind" the whole race, not using my watch or bike computer and just relying on RPE. I think that's probably a better way for me to race rather than getting all the time and heart rate feedback all the time.

Rest that knee, Todd. Hate to see it turn into something serious or long term.

Hey everyone, here's a great article to read to start off your week. My coach sent it to me, and it has a lot of interesting insights.

http://www.runningtimes.com//Article.aspx?ArticleID=15247

OLDs...aka One-Legged Drills. Or single-leg drills.

After warming up, take your left foot off the pedal and pedal for about 30 seconds with only your right leg. Click your left foot back on, pedal with both legs for about 1 minute. Switch and pedal only with the left leg. Do about 10 repetitions.

I have some other drills that my coach gave me last year or the year before. Let me see if I can dig them up.

Todd, I am wondering what kind of recovery you are doing and whether that is affecting how well you race. Make sure on your recovery days that you are going slow, slow, slow. If you wear a heart rate monitor do not get above zone 1. If you don't wear a heart rate monitor, then run a full 1-2 minutes per mile slower than you normally do. Same on the bike and swim. It's very easy to go out for a "recovery" run and think, "I feel so good," and breeze through it at an almost tempo pace. Unfortunately, that's not recovery.

If I were you, I would take the rest of this week of and ease into your HIM training next week. A couple of days off the schedule won't make a difference.

You really should be going into races feeling fresh.

If you haven't already, it may be worthwhile to do a threshold test (or a couple: one running, one cycling) to set down some target heart rates. In my experience, heart rate training, if done correctly, is very effective.

Out of curiousity, which plan are you using?

Todd, you may think you are fresh, but if you "can't find your speed on the bike" and then feel yourself fading, trust me, you are not fresh and ready for the race. While you should certainly feel the effort, if you are properly trained and rested, you should be able to push yourself through to close to the end (learning proper pacing is another component.)

I still think you should take the rest of the week off. However, if you do work out, go very, very slow. Thirty minutes at high zone 2 or zone 3 is not recovery. It should all be zone 1 (or equivalent RPE).

I looked at the beginner HIM plan. I think, actually, it's a fairly good one. If you follow the RPE instructions. Also, I would be inclined to only do two workouts a day one or two days a week. Again, it becomes counterproductive if all you are doing is making yourself tired all the time.

My own schedule only has 2 workouts in a single day once a week. My goals right now are to qualify for Nationals and then do an HIM under 6 hours. So, fairly aggressive. But still can have a manageable schedule. When I did IMFL, it was pretty much the same. I simply don't have the time or the energy to schedule two workouts a day, especially during the week. I have to sleep sometime. And the more hours put into working out, the more sleep I need.

Indian Cycle does basal metabolic and max VO2 testing. Pro Bike may do something, too. I am not sure. BT also has instructions for doing your own threshold testing.

I think you will benefit greatly from having the HRM. You will probably find, at first, that to achieve your target zones on the low end (1 and 2) you have to go achingly slow. It's exceptionally frustrating. But if you stick with it, it gets better, and you become more efficient.

Remember...worry about the things you can control and just let go of those things that you can't.

It takes me 10 minutes to wriggle into a wetsuit and almost that long to get out of it. So, I am not the person to ask about quick wetsuit removal. I do know, though, to help keep it from getting hung up on your feet, you should cut the bottom of the legs so they are about mid-calf. Of course, you don't want to do that with a borrowed one.

Nutrition...well, if you're looking at around 1:30 racing time, then it's easy. You really don't need anything other than water during the race. If you can, have a light breakfast at least 2 hours before race start. If you can't, it's no big deal. Sip on some water in the morning and then about 15-5 minutes before start, suck down a gel. During the race, you should be fine with just water and, if you feel you need it, your sport drink of choice, or whatever they are providing on the course. The sport drink should provide more than enough calories for that amount of time as well as any electrolytes you may need to stave off cramps.

If it's going to be hot, sip a sports drink in the morning to get those electrolytes in you. If you have electrolyte tablets, take a couple before the start and maybe one or two more before you start the run.

Your goals sound perfect. You will do fine.

Go, Marsha, Go!

Congratulations, Cory! It always feels so much better when you can face down the elements.

I always do long runs. They're my bread and butter. Once, summer hits, I start carrying water with me for runs lasting over an hour. I have a water belt that holds a standard sized water bottle. I hate it. However, I hate it less than the other options: a camelback is just too hot for me and the fuel belt with all the little bottles around my waist would make me nuts. Once it's cool again, I find I can easily run up to 2 hours without water. And that makes me happy.

Anyway, it may take trying a few different options to see which works best for you.

Excellent! Way to not let you head tell your legs what to do!

To this day, my legs are wobbly coming off the bike. I would say to help a bit is to soft pedal the last mile or half mile of the bike leg. 

Another thing to check is how you're pedaling. Make sure your toes aren't pointing down or you're not pushing with your heels. Use your whole foot. (I still need to dig out those drills for Cory...and they also explain how to use your foot on the pedal.)