Ontherun and gearing up-CLOSED (Page 6)

Kick drills????

Looking for some help -- I won't be in the pool for another few weeks but I know from the past that my kick stinks. So bad that I see it as expending energy I could put into my stroke (if I didn't have to keep that end of my body up).

Thanks in advance  

personally, I do not work on kicking. if anything I try not to kick. there is a trick to not sinking in the legs when you are not kicking. the idea is to "swim down hill". this means getting your upper body position so that your legs will float better.picture a beach all under your chest while swimming. now use your upper body to push the ball deeper in the water. this raises your hips, thus helping your legs float.

a second part of this is to look down while swimming. if yo are looking forward, your back arches, and puts your hips out of position too.for this drill, pretend you have a tennis ball between your chin and chest. try too keep your chin tucked in enough to hold it there as much as possible

Excellent- I really can visualize those tips- Thank you

It is quiet in here!  Hope everyone had a great weekend, and hopefully some of you get an extended weekend tomorrow!  I am off tomorrow and can't wait to spend the day with my husband and son, hope to take him to the children's museum in the area.

As for working out, I tried a cross-training/boot camp type class yesterday at the gym and it was a killer!!! My legs are killing me today!  I still managed to get a pool and running workout in despite the pain.  

Question about pool workouts, the plan I am following has swim workouts listed as warm-up, then a main set, then a cool down.  It lists distances for both the main set and cool down but not for the warm-up.  I have really just been swimming an easy 50 for the warm-up but I am not sure if that is sufficient.   What would be a good swimming warm-up?   I was looking at some other programs on this site and the warm-ups are quite lengthy, which got me to thinking I am not doing enough for my warm-up.  Hope somebody has some advice for a proper warm-up.

First, let me start by saying, I have never taken part in an organized swim practice. The closest I have ever done was lessons some 30 years ago. With that said, many swim programs are designed for competitive swimmers. As triathletes, competitive is relative to what kind of racing we want to get out of it. Our sport can range from just finish to medals.

I personally do not warm up when I am doing laps, or open water swimming. I also only work on freestyle related swimming drills if at all. In general, I will start a little slower, with my emphasis on form over speed. As the workout progresses, I may mix in some sprinting or other drills as I go, but never follow any planned swim workout.

So in short, I think what you are doing for warm ups are fine at this time. The programs that have long warm ups tend to be much longer swims. It really dose not help to be tired before you work on the drills you are planning on.

Hi everybody!  Been kind of quiet in here this week, hope everyone is doing well!!

I missed a few days of training because life just took over.   On Monday, my husband and I were off so we spent the day with our little man and took him to the children's museum.  By the time we got home the gym just didn't happen, so I missed Monday.   Then yesterday we went to the New Jersey Devils home opener, so no training on Tuesday either.

But I got back at it today in the pool and on the treadmill.   It is bitterly cold here today so I was proud of myself for getting out to the gym and getting the workout done!

I agree, we have been quite. Life dose happen. I too was off on Monday, and had the chance to spend the day with my wife without the kids. It was a low key day,  but quite enjoyable. Yesterday was the annual physical and a message. Then lots of homework drama with my son, Sigh. Today, trip to see the cardiologist for his check up. I was in the same office yesterday, but they had to reschedule that apt. because the insurance will not accept to doctor apts in one day. There is still time left today, and if I can get my kids to bed, or at least on auto pilot, I will get a run in on the dreadmill.

Have I said how much I hate running inside on dreadmills. It is way too cold up here in Boston to be running outside just to prove a point, so the dreadmill it is.  At least I can watch the Bruins hopefully get 2 more pts today to start this short hockey season.

I hate the treadmill too, but I know I will run while I am at the gym so I am getting myself used to it!   I hope your Bruins beat those Rangers!!  

Hope you can get your workout in!

Hate treadmills!!  Firgured out a few years ago they are probably a main cause of my shin splints so I stay far away from them.  That being said I'm about to head out for a run with Shadow

I got a workout in today and felt great!  Probably my best workout in a very long time.  Felt really comfortable in the pool and pushed myself harder on the treadmill.    I am feeling really good about my workouts so far!   For the most part, I have completed all my workouts, had to skip a few here and there because of other commitments, but I am really happy with my progress.

February is going to be an interesting month because I will be away in Italy on vacation for 8 days.   We will be doing a lot of walking so at least I will be doing something.   I am hoping I will be able to get right back into it when we get back.

It may not be possible, but pack a little running gear just in case. I have been known not to be able to sleep well on vacation. If I get up about 2 hours earlier than everyone else is supposed to, I will try to get a run in. Yes, this has always been in the US. And yes, I am a 42 year old, 6'1" man, but you can't run on vacation if you do not have something to run in.

I have run the beaches of Maine, I have had multiple runs in Orlando when we have gone to see the mouse and Universal Studios. I have even run overnight while working on the crew of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Some of these runs, like the trail run just of the Kangamangus highway in NH have been the most memorable.

I wish you the best, and hope you enjoy your vacation, I am envious.

Hope they help!! One of the biggest causes of shin splints is old shoes, so I hope they do the trick!!

Shin Splints are awful!!  I struggled with them for a long time so now I just make sure I wear good shoes and always ice my shins after every run whether they hurt or not.

Got another run in today.  Gotta say Shadow's turning into quite an awesome running buddy.  He holds up well for about 1.5-1.75 miles so I may bump him slowly up to 2 miles to see how he does.  Finally feel like I'm on track again... We're getting busier and busier at work so I know I'll be tempted to skip workouts after long days at work but my fiance has promised to encourage me to stay motivated.  

Pretty happy with my workouts over here, too! Glad everyone is doing well.

I bought some compression sleeves and have been putting them on after my workouts and they are working great so far.  I'm not quite ready to wear them while I'm working out at the gym though.