Swimmer's Group (Olympic Distance Animals) - OPEN (Page 6)

Tonight I spun on the stationary for 25 minutes then ran 6.2 miles... and no foot pain!  Made sure the laces weren't too tight, and all was right with my feet.  Don't have any swims in yet this week, so it's off to the pool early tomorrow morning.  Catch you all later.

-Nat

Hi,

I know that you all are into your training. But wondered if you had room for someone else. It does say that the group is still open.

Reading the posts, it looks like a welcoming and diverse bunch of people, so I would be pleased to be are part of the group. Having said that if adding someone else at this stage is too distracting, just let me know.

Name: Felicity

Some background on me: I am 41 and married with 3 children, aged 10,9,2. I work fulltime, and train most days.

I have a competitive swimming background up until I was about 16 when I quit, because I had fairly broad shoulders. I also played Netball and  field hockey up until my ankles packed it in. I decided when I turned 40 that I wanted to become a triathlete and up until then had never run more than what I had to on a hockey field. I learnt to run using the app couch to 5k and did my first ever running event in Oct 2011 clocking 38mins for 5ks. Since then I have joined parkrun (a timed 5k run every Sat morn), done a couple of 10k runs. Bought a Fuji roadbike in July 2012 (bday present) and just got clip in shoes in Oct 2012 (so I am a novice).

This summer I have done my first ever Sprint triathlon first in Nov and then recently in Jan. I am doing a couple more of these and a team Olympic (with my husband who is doing the bike, while I do the swim and the run...my strongest and weakest legs). I am training for an Olympic tri in June, and have no idea what to expect in terms of times. Next week I will begin with a personal trainer with the aim being to do a sub60min for the 10k run. I am also doing a few ocean swims to get used to sighting and OWS, as I am a fairly strong still water swimmer, the psychology of OWS does my head in sometimes. My plan is to use my swimming efficiency as much as possible to be as fresh as I can for the run. I am a fairly strong biker, but not that fast, and am waiting on my indoor trainer to arrive, as I don't like road riding.

In terms of my weightloss, I have lost I think around 30 pounds in the past 2years and have about 10 to go. I am about 5ft2" and weigh 61kg (134lbs).

By the way I haven't got my seasons mixed up....I happen to be Australian, and currently its the middle of summer. The climate is pretty temperate all year round with the lowest temps in winter 5c (41F) Brrr. We have however had days in the past couple of weeks where it has been 45C (113f).

Felicity,

There is always room for more! Congrats on the weight loss and keep up with the training everything will come together. Will be good to use your swimming to an advantage. I am and really strong swimmer and biker. My plan to always to get out of the swim top 3 and then push the pace on the bike. In my experience most exceptional swimmers are not strong bikers or runners. Once you are out of sight you are out of mind and the runners have no extra will to run you down. 

weekend update!

This week went okay, 2nd week on my Oly program. I missed my long swim AGAIN! I have a pool 5.2km away from my work but when I went it took me 30minutes to get there because of crazy traffic. Otherwise things are going as planned, I have been sorely disappointed in my running which has all been on the treadmill. Well I think I found out why - it seems that the treadmill may be about 10% inaccurate. I used my nike+ ipod thing and ran on the treadmill with it tonight. I know that the Nike+ isnt 100% accurate but I had calibrated it on a track. I also found that music is much better to run to than watching youtube videos.

I also decided on some goals for the year - Run 1000km, Bike 5000km and Swim 80km.This probably doesnt lend itsself to Oly's but my main focus is just on being in better overall health. The triathlons are merely a fun goal to keep the focus on.

The group has been a little... Uhm.... slow... so how was everyones week?

Welcome to the group Felicity!

I got a good solid week in... only 2 swims, but made it to two RPM classes plus trainer time, two 10k runs, and an 8.6 mile run this afternoon.  Legs are trashed, but isn't that the point?!  Swimming tomorrow early.  I only have two 20 minute runs scheduled this week, plus, later in the week... three days of snow skiing! 

Train on!

-Nat

Week went well. Twice in the pool for some solid swims. Speed is definitely starting to come back. Been able to hold 1:10 100s pretty comfortably. Good trainer time followed by a good hard ride Sunday outside with a bunch of the CAT 2/3 guys. They really know how to put you in the pain cave which is good for the legs. If you take out the 3 miles we spun easy and the last 6 mile easy spin we covered ~30 miles at 23.6 mpg and we had about 2500 ft of climbing or so. As far as my running goes, I cant complain. Knee has been feeling great with no IT band issues. got in 8.4 miles of saturday which I tried to keep the pace conversational at right about 8:00/mile pace. Felt good and had plenty in the tank, but really concentrated on good form throughout. 

Already put 40 min on the treadmill this morning and will be back on the trainer this evening. 

It's been nice to be able to run outside for a change.  Today was a little breezy but at 78 degrees it wasn't much of a wind chill.

I'm trying to stick with the BT training schedule so last week was a "Recovery Week" which I may have taken a little too easy but I think I needed some rest.  Now I have to see if I can get everything worked into the schedule this week with a couple of special projects going on at work.

What I wouldnt do for 70 degree weather! I am getting excited because it will be in the 40's and maybe 50's!!! WATCH OUT!

Do not under estimate your Recovery weeks. Taking it a little easier will be much better for you. I have struggled with this in the past and am really trying to implement this into my training more this year. Almost following a 2 weeks on 1 weeks recovery sort of schedule.

Got a huge training block this week and will be pushing 12 hours, so recovery week will be much needed next week and appreciated! Actually cant wait till it gets here!

Hey guys! It's been a while since I checked in... Training's been going well, I've been trying to figure out how to balance my workouts between the three sports, and I think this week I finally got it.  Assuming I get in a run tomorrow, I will have 2 swims, 3 bikes, 2 runs, and 1 weight workout this week.  It feels great to have gotten all of that in, but I'm not sure how sustainable it is to keep this many workouts in my weekly schedule.  Especially if I'm supposed to start increasing distance. I guess time will tell?

Hope everyone has a good weekend with some good training! (And the Super Bowl, of course...)

How does one determine the best cadence to use on the bike?  Do you do any experimenting or testing or go with feel?

Hey guys thought I would submit a separate post for this so it didn't get lost in the shuffle. I am hoping to do three races this year, two Sprints and then an Olympic. So my thought was to do the two sprints late spring early summer and then my Olympic late summer. In your experience is it to much to do a Sprint in June and another in July and then an Olympic in August? Or should I look at spreading them out a little more? My goal for the Olympic is just to finish and I would like to be reasonably competitive in my AG for the Sprints. Thanks,     Howard

Bike cadence really is different for everyone. A lot of people say high cadence is the way to go, but I have tried to do 100+ rpm rides and it really takes a lot out of me. Dont get me wrong I will occasionally do them for good training but I have found I am much more efficient with a cadence of 85-90 rpms. I can keep my HR down and my legs just feel fresher, plus i like to push a bigger gear. Really is trial and error/.

Really depends on where I am in my training. Typically though I would not do 2 HARD workouts the same day. I may plan an easy 40-50 min run in the morning then do an 1- 1 1/2 hour hard ride in the evening or vice versa. Don't discount bricks especially if you are a beginning, you can definitely get a lot of benefit out of a brick workout. Try for one brick once every 2 weeks.

Hey Jason thanks for all the advice! I will stay with my plan to do those two Sprints and then my Olympic this summer! I used a pull bouy during my swim yesterday to practice some drills and try to improve my arm/pull/breathing technique. What I found is that without the use of my legs it was far easier to concentrate on my upper body and I was able to do several lengths without running out of breath and needing to stop to catch my breath. So for the last 500 m I swam with minimal use of my legs and I was able to control my breathing much better!!! Because I am a novice swimmer I can't help but wonder if I wasn't over using my legs! I finally think I am starting to get it!

Only caught the last half of the superbowl as it was the wife's birthday and needed to do at least a little celebrating with her and the rest of the family! From what I gather talking to friends it was the best half anyway!

Felicity I coudn't help but laugh when I read about your interval session! I am interval training on the spin bike in a group setting and the sessions are brutal! haha I think it will pay huge dividends come spring! At least it better! LOL!