Destination MoP is FULL (of motivation!) (Page 6)

Any idea how to add a link directly to our forum/message thread to my training log? It seems there should be a way & I think there is, but I thought I'd ask before spending inordinate amounts of time trying to figure it out.

I have a couple longer term & 1 shorter (2 month) goal in my log/blog/whatever my page is called right now, but will work on thinking of appropriate goals for May in the next day or so.

I was quite pleased on Sat to do my 4th outside bike and have the shifting somewhat click for me, making it a LOT more enjoyable - and faster than I had been (in the 12+ mph range on average, so still not particularly speedy).  I do, however, need to figure out when to get off my bike to stretch since I went to stop at an intersection, had my calf cramp as I tried to touch the ground & fell over (and am nursing the scraped/bruised knee still).

-Jennifer

Great job, Andrea!  Especially if you haven't been training on them (& sometimes even when you have), those hills can be killer - and for your body, sometimes the best thing you can do is what you did to recover before pushing onward. The race season is really just beginning, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to set PRs!

-Jen

I was wondering about this too...

Hi Jennifer (and Christine),

You should be able to copy the link from my log and paste it into yours.  The link goes to the first page of the thread, so you'll have to click on the last page number, but it is still handy :-)

Glad you had a fun ride (other than the fall... hope you heal up quickly).

Stu

Here goes....

May Goals

My focus is on preparation for the Washington DC Tri (Olympic) on June 19^th.  1^st goal = finish, 2^nd goal = faster than Nation’s Tri last year, 3^rd goal = 2:50:00.

Swim goal:  2 x week with at least one workout equaling 1,600 yards.  Work on extending my swim sets to sets of 300 yards rather than 100 yards each.

Bike goal:  (1) Commute to work except on days with doctor’s appointments or nasty weather.  (2) Make two segments of commute each week a ‘workout’ commute.  Sprint between stop signs to extent possible given other bike traffic and pedestrians along bike trail portion.  Note: I don’t work hard on my commutes in general unless it’s windy since I like to enjoy this part of the day in a reflective manner.  (3) Get in long weekend rides each weekend.

Run goal: Focus on speed 2 x week and long 1 x week. 

Nutrition:  Eat something with high nutrional value before leaving work on bike commute day so I don’t raid the refridgerator before dinner.  Continue morning routine of lemon juice w/ warm water & daily routine of cran-water.  Be alert when eating empty calories.  Keep spaghetti night to 2 times this month.  Try drink, iskiate, as described in Born to Run.  Use coconut oil in next batch of morning glory muffins.

General:  Be flexible with daily planned workouts.  Be prepared to shift workouts around during the week if needed.  Continue to do yoga for runners routine (20 minutes) every evening.

 - Melanie

Melanie,

You have an aggressive approach, I like that! Reading through your goals, I would caution you on the speed focus work 2x per week. I'm not an expert, however, in all the reading I have done on running and in my past running experience, injuries happen during speed work. I recommend sticking to your plan, just pay attention to your body, and know, if you are starting to have any issues with pain, change that 2nd speed workout day to something less challenging or shorten the duration of the speed work. Just a suggestion, I realize everyone's body is different... I certainly feel the urge to run faster and I am one who has a tendency to push themselves too.

Nutrition : I have heard a lot about lemon juice with warm water. Can you tell me how much you drink daily and what your experience is with the effects?

Christine

If you put start=current at the end of the link code it will go to the last page of the thread.

My April was a bit lighter on everything than I planned, but not way off what I expected.  I skipped a few swims and runs.  Going to Disney 4/21-25 meant that some runs were missed, as expected.  Also, packing and planning distracted me.  On my return, I had a bit of trouble getting back into better eating and into a routine for exercise. 

For May, I have similar goals to what I usually have, but I've taken some time to come up with a basic schedule.  I will need to check forecast and move days as needed.  In addition, I am finaly getting my bike out of the shed.  It is on the back of my car right now! 

Swim=1-2 days per week aiming for 7ish days this month, lunch time T (shorter sets 50s or 100s) and Th (longer sets 200s or a 500)

Bike=2-3 days per week, lunch time M, W, F either on bike path or local roads.  Working on routes...

Run=3-4 days per week, T, F=3 miles on treadmill, Sat or Wed=hills outside, Sun=long (4-4.5 miles outside)

Ex Class=2 days per week, M + Th night, aerobics, kickboxing, hand weights, lunges, squats, abs, stretching

~Andrea

Brilliant!  Thanks Andrea!

April in summary -> Glad mud season is over.

May Goals:

1.  Stick to the training plan weekly totals, and still manage to make Garrett's T-Ball games.

1a: have one swim over 2000 m.

1b: have one bike ride + 40 miles

1c: have one run + 13 miles

2.  Eat more fruits... let everyone else eat the chips.

3.  Get some tire changing experience.

4. Plant more of my garden (potatoes are already in)! Yea.

Hey Cynthia... looks like you did really well in the Napa Sprint.  4th out of 8th in your group - solid MoP!  What happened in T2? 

I'm liking the goals so far!  (Andrea - you're really stepping it up from the looks of it).  Plus I learned something already...

I had no idea what iskiate was that Melanie mentioned... so I looked it up... here's a link... interesting!

iskiate

Melanie, what was your experience with the DC tri?  I'd love to do an OLY length in June, but VTS doesn't have any.  Maybe it's time to tour DC on a bike/run :-)

Stu

I went clipless late last fall.  Unfortunately I had a long learning curve.  Luckily it was long sleeve weather so my elbow survived ok.  Took me a good two weeks to remember about the clips all the time.

- melanie

I plan to order the chia seeds with my next order of various supplements.  Thanks for the link.  I think I'll try the RunningQuest recipe where the seeds are ground.

DC is a great place to visit anytime.  Lots to do.  May 22nd is Bike DC which would be a good time to check out the area and layout of the WashDC Tri or the Nation's Tri (2011 race is full).  Lots of street will be closed to cars for the majority of the day.

The Nation's Triathlon is a really nice race, although I've no other triathlons to compare it to.  It is really big.  Over 3,000 athletes I think.  The swim is in the Potomac.  The bike route is throughout the city which is pretty cool.  The run through Haines Point.  All in all a pretty flat course.  

The logistics are an issue though.  Lots of thinking here.  Race packets need to be picked up the day before.  The bike needs to be dropped off the day before.  The location of the transition area is nowhere near a Metro and parking is not plentiful.  We had to walk about 1 mile to get bike dropped off.  The bike transition closed 30 minutes before the 1st swim wave so that's an issue.  I think I got there about 5:45am for a 7:40am swim wave.  So check these things out.  If you are from out of town stay at a hotel as close to the transition as you can.  (Some of these details are in my race report @ http://dailyhoff.blogspot.com/2010/09/sept-16th-nations-triathlon-race-report.html)

- melanie

6 miles is 6 miles!  You did more than most people at lunch.

May goals:

- lose 1lb/week (10 weeks out from my 1st tri, I realized I had putzed around too much to make my original weight goal, but decided that I could do 10 lbs in 10 weeks, so I'm sticking with that until June 25th)

- do at least 1 long bike outside each week

- find appropriate clothing/suit for June 25 tri & practice with them/it

- get at least 5 workouts in/week, including 2-3 runs

- be able to complete a 5k at a 12:30 pace

- do core workouts 3x/week (even if short)

~Jen

Ack... that sounds like fun, but I'll be driving up to New England that weekend to pick up my daughter from college.  I'm really hoping to do a couple of long bike rides (such as MS100s) this summer.  If anyone knows a good one, let me know... I'm even willing to drive a bit if the schedule / area is right!

Wow... 3000!  Egad.  I think the largest I've been in was 700 or so.  It does sound like the logistics are a bit daunting, especially with the day before packet pickup.  Registration cost plus hotel plus drive is something to be considered as well.

Really enjoyed your race report though... highly recommended for 1st timers especially.  The stuff that goes through one's mind during a race :-)  You captured that quite well!

Stu

Matt,

I was originally planning on swimming in a pool once a week and then in a couple of weeks swimming in the lake by my house most mornings.  Now I'm thinking I should swim in the pool at least twice a week.  I think the lake swims will be really helpful but I'm guessing having the controlled environment of the pool and places to rest will allow me to work more on technique.  I'm definitely finding timing my breaths to be pretty challenging.

Finding convenient pool time has been tough for me (either 6am or 8pm and not close to my house) as well as my pocket book.  The lake is at least very close, available all day and free but very cold!  So either way it's not going to be easy.

Pink eye - ug!  Waiting for the doctor's office to call to fit me in today so I can get a prescription.  Did my long run yesterday, but a run is the only think I'd feel safe enough to do today w/o contaminating my goggles, so we'll see.  Tomorrow I work in VA, so it's supposed to be my rest day - maybe I can squeeze something in.  Never thought it would be my eyes vs. injuries that derailed training....

Wow Melanie, that race report was awesome.  It was very intense just reading it.

Steve