Jford2309/Kido Mentoring Group-Closed (Page 6)

Well, I have made a decision to expand my training the next several months.  I realized during some of my recent workouts, that I have really lost a lot of strength and flexability.  I'm VERY strong in the range of motion that I need for running/biking...   But I realized that I USED to be good at yoga, and now it's a struggle.

I think I need to focus more on those things a bit more.  And after that?  I may work REALLY hard to keep some of that in my s/b/r training.  I may pick a slightly easier Ironman plan for this fall, just so I have time to get in a couple yoga workouts and strength routines.

It's all about balance.  I am the most cardio fit I have ever been by a long shot, but you may not want to sacrafice strength and flexability.  It's all about balance.  So, if you see a lack of s/b/r in my logs (if you look) don't think I'm just an arm chair quarterback!  I reallly DO triathlons.  I just think I need to put it on the back burner during the off season - for hopefully, the greater good.

Jambago - 2012-01-15 9:59 AM For all of you out there with warm weather, let me just say, bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I'm jealous! Woke this morning to 12 degrees and felt it in my bones! At least its a dry cold front with some sunshine today.

Yep, sunny and 60 here!  On the patio at Starbucks...  It's great in the winter, but the summer get's a little warm here, but nothing I can't deal with.  I can train all year outside here.

Strengths (I feel) - Running, Biking, Swimming in that order

Strengths (based on results) - Swimming - Biking - Running in that order...

I'm not sure what to say.. in my only triathlon to date I got (swim, bike, run)  (373, ?,  1016) outta 1600 Overall, and (80, 111, 215) outta 280 in my AG.  I felt the swimming result was really weird, but because many people can't swim in Taiwan, and A LOT were doing the breast stroke for the entire 1500 meters it looks artificially high.

In a duathlon a month ago I got (run, bike, run) (256, 136, 340) outta 1471 people overall, and (76, 42. 107) outta 551 in my AG.  I honestly had not ridden my bike more than 100km in the 3 months leading up to the race, but was in the middle of training for my first half marathon 2 weeks later.  Not quite sure how to explain it.  Maybe I should just work on my biking and go pro... haha!

Jambago - 2012-01-16 12:59 AM For all of you out there with warm weather, let me just say, bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I'm jealous! Woke this morning to 12 degrees and felt it in my bones! At least its a dry cold front with some sunshine today.

haha, yeah... let me use a converter to get to degrees F for you...

Taiwan's COLDEST... around 50 (However, its very humid and this 50 honestly feels colder to me, than 0 in Canada, although I am sure that would be very different on a bicycle!!!)

Taiwan's hottest... well, last year when doing my first ever Tri it was about 96 degrees without a cloud in the sky... it was killer!!!  Ended up walking over 3km of the run because I overheated.

Today is a rainy, but warm 68... not too bad!

Today my plan call for 200 yards of finger tip drag drills. I felt like I went from looking like a pretty good swimmer to somwone struggling to maintain form and stay above water!  Sometimes I hate drills, but the minute I switched back to freestyle, I could really feel a difference in my stroke!

So yeah, I have a love/hate relationship with drills.

I hear you. It's like eating certain vegetables...you know they are good for you, but....

So - in order to beat a dead horse...I've got a question about cadence on the trainer. I don't have a power meter (finance committee has all the funds tied up currently) so I train by HR. I'm using Jorge's winter cycling plan (which - if you don't have a bicycling plan currently - it is really good). Is it better to be at low cadence in a low gear or high cadence in a higher gear to get the target HR?

Speaking of swims drills, what are some good ones to do? In my plan when it says do drills I mostly just swim it. Let me know of good drills to do and where I can go to see how they are done.

On  different note. After about 10 days rest. I did a bike/run brick this morning. 45 mins bike and 36 mins run. The good news no real chest pain. I did feel some on the bike, bike I think it was just the cold wind in the lungs, soon as I warmed up no problems. So looks like Ill be back training, but I will try and take it a bit easy for a week or so.

I'm of the opinion that what ever works best for you.. Then again it's also depends on what you consider low and high.

Lower than 45ish and people will start to mention knee pains, higher than 110 can be also hard on ya.  Think of lifting a weight 70 times vs 90 times in a min or so at that gym, there is really no difference, since you are not going to be able to lift that much more or less between those two variable. 

It's one of those things that you can really spend a lot of time thinking/worrying about with no real benefit.  So I would say just ride a lot 10+ hrs a week for a bit and see what ends up being the sweet spot for your body

Personally, I like to swim sets more than drills, meaning I would prefer to swim 10 x 50 @ 1:00 (example only). I feel I get a bigger bang for my time, so when I say I do drills, it usually is never more than 200-400 yds worth.

Saying that... I like to use the pull buoy to work on my glide, the kickboard to work on what little kick I do use. I am starting to really like the closed fist drill alot. I am sure you can google swim drills and find a ton, but like I said, I get more out of interval swims than anything else.

I defiantely agree with Gaarryy on this also. Whatever works best for you. personally I cannot use a HR Monitor to workout with. I become obsessed witht he thing and it takes away from my workouts. I prefer to use RPE and use plans that are designed that way!

 how long did it take till you warmed up?   I'm always amazed how it's so cold when I"d start then by the end I'd be sweating hot in the pool

Please tell me there is an extra zero in there!  That's a long day!  lol!

Sorry everyone that I haven't been around.  Long story.  The only WiFi time I get is my morning trip to Starbucks and then I have to catch up on other things as well as BT.

If you want the LONG answer...  I read (and sort of believe) that there is a good cadence for each person.  If you really wanted to test it, you would try different cadence/effort combos with a power meter.  Eventually, you should find the "sweet spot" of where you get the most power over an amount of time compared to the effort.  Above that?  You spend more effort to get minimal gains.  This is done over a long time with many tests.

For me, I tried the high cadence thing on climbs, and found that over a LONG clime, it was better for me to keep the cadence a bit slower and NOT try to hit 90-100.  My HR would spike, even in a low gear.  I was more suited to push closer to 80 rpm in a bigger gear.  I could keep up the same pace, but my HR was WAY lower.

That being said, I still work on getting my cadence up.  That just seems to be the way to go, and requires training.  So I would still settle on the default answer of high cadence when you can.

Hey Dean - there are many articles out there supporting both sides of the argument. Personally I prefer not to eat/drink anything with aspartame as I get migraines from even the slightest amount of the product. I found out the hard way that they use aspartame in imitation crab meat! If you would like to read some information from anti artificial sweetener view check out SweetPoison.com

Personally I am also having a problem losing weight but I have just found out that my caloric intake needs to be approx 500 calories lower than the norm in order for me to lose weight. I am a large person so this would not be a realistic option for you. I'm sure someone else in our group would be able to help you out here

Ice cold green tea, soda water with a bit of cranberry juice (non cocktail variety) or good ol' H20 are my regular drink choices.

I do shift often so not to mash any gears and it's worked so far. So here's my new question, stay put with my basic style or get more systematic for over all improvement? Thoughts?

Sorry, I have gotten behind on the inspires, hoping to get to them tongiht!

I still have a 5.6 mile run to get in tonight sometime. I need a stop time button, so I can get everything finished!

Interested to hear your thoughts on this with regards to swimming.

I was asking a friend who is a swimmer if she would help me learn to freestyle properly, because I feel like I'm drowning and can hardly do 100y before I am super anxious and exhausted and so revert to breaststroke. She suggested I swim with a snorkel in order to focus on learning the mechanics of the stroke properly and build endurance, and then worry about learning to breathe later. What do you all think of this idea? I think it sounds good, but I don't want to become dependent on a snorkel

 I think it sounds like it's worth a try

I often thought about using one for the heck of it.  But they restrict breathing a bit and you have to get used to them.  I need to get reaquainted with them every time I SCUBA.

I don't think it's a bad idea, but it doesn't trump getting some instruction if you can.  Can your friend help you or give you some tips at the pool?

Well, I think the basic rule HAS to apply.  Burn more than you take in, you HAVE to lose.  The energy comes from somewhere, and it has to be from mass...  Either fat or muscle.

Now, there could be issues in there that cause you to think you are consuming more, (or burning less) than you think.  If you are maticulous about what you consume, you can be pretty sure of that number (if you are getting good information about the food you eat).

How much you burn could be tougher.  It's a bit speculative when you assume a number based on your workouts.  I have found huge disparogies in any kind of data equipments (garmin, timex, online calculators).  You could be over estimating.

Also, unless you get it tested, your base metobolic rate is hard to assume, AND it changes.

I know this is an extreme example, but all my tracking software has a normal guy of my activity and size burning 2200 calores or so every day just existing.  HOWEVER, I'm missing my thryoid, so my metabolism is next to zero.  I have been doing a 1500 deficit every day of burned to consumed (according to the calculators) and STILL gaining about half a lb every other day...

What I have heard from trainers, is that if you have too big a deficit, you drop weight fast at first, but the body adjusts and slows the burn to make sure you have enough for your activities.  They suggest eating MORE to keep it up.  Probably only a 500 calorie a day deficit.  This keeps the metabolism high but still a 1 pound a week loss.

ALSO, it's best to eat early and then eat small meals every three hours.  It avoids spikes and keeps the metabolism burning all day, instead of off and on.  Spread the meals out too far, the body will "hold on" to the calories longer to wait for the next meal.  If you get used to eating every 3 hours, it will just keep on burning, knowing it will get more cals in soon..

I know I rambled.  Sorry if it wasn't clear.  I'm not a nutritionist, but that's from tons of reading and recent study of my condition.

I agree with Jim - can't hurt to try. I tried once and ended up really struggling with only breathing through my mouth (I tend to exhale through my nose when swimming), but that's just me. Give it a shot and see if it helps!