Newbz'z summer mentor group is FULL!!!! (Page 64)

So I'm entering the world of blogging. So far, I haven't written anything tri related, but probably will in the near future. You can check it out at http://theadventuresofthebisbalfamily.blogspot.com/

My race report is finally up:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=214033


Got out for a nice ride today - legs are feeling decent.   I'm planning to head to the health club soon to get in a swim and maybe do a light set of weights.
 

I've got the first sprint race of a 3-race series I signed up for tomorrow.  I'm curious to see how I'll do because my training has been next to nothing the past two weeks.  After getting promoted and school getting busier and busier, I never found any free time to get in the workouts I needed.  Running has been decent, but I'm laying low until tomorrow because I may have agitated my achilles.

Once class ends though next week I need to HTFU and get back on the bike.

Nice work on your TRI dan!  That rain must have been killer....it very seldom rains that hard here, but I never bike in it.  Could be dangerous!

Carl,  good luck on with the series.  My girlfriend had to take a week and a half off right before our last sprint and she ended up taking 2nd in her AG.  Never know who is going to show up on race day!

Went to the doctor yesterday about my still ailing shoulder.

Nothing broken, doesn't look like it was separated, and probably nothing torn.  I got a prescription for PT, and the early prognosis is that I'll be sidelined from swimming for at least 6 weeks if I want it to heal 100% as quickly as possible.

I did have a series of 4 OWS and one Oly on tap for this summer, but I'm cancelling them to make sure I recover properly. 
What this does mean is that I can now put 100% of my focus on my cycling.  Which means I have a good chance of being ready for the 112 mile road race I have been contemplating in early September.  It's probably the most prestigious race held locally, so it's a big deal if I can finish it, and finish respectably.

So my plan is to put swimming on hold until September.  Swimming fitness is supposed to come back fairly quickly, so I should be good to go by 2011.  I'm going to cut back on the running some, maybe down to 10-12 miles per week, and slowly build back up in the fall/winter.  This should give me time to get in 5 rides per week...and the necessary mileage I need to prepare for this race.

So I'm actually kind of excited now.  Watching the California and Swiss tours on TV has really got me amped up, and I'm sure the TdF is going to really motivate me.

Although part of me thinks, "oh man that sucks!" the other part of me agrees with you and I envy your positive attitude.  You definitely will have time to focus on the bike now and with the power meter you'll have some serious training to do.  Glad to hear there's nothing major wrong with the shoulder.  Definitely do what they say and give it time to heal.  No drunken pickup baseball games. 

LOL...I actually tried to play softball on sunday.  They put me at first base thinking I wouldn't need to throw...but the situation did present itself as I needed to make a throw to second base.  Everthing was instinct...but lets just say I one hopped a 40 foot throw...but still got the guy out.  Swinging the bat was also interesting as my swing resembled a slap like the female fast pitch hitters do.

After that experience, I officially placed myself on the DL on both my softball teams.

x2. I agree with Jonathan that you have a great attitude towards your injury and are making a very smart decision to focus on the cycling.

Great job on your tri, especially with that weather!

Hey, all, I posted this in my blog, but I'm also putting it here to solicit some advice/feedback:

Getting very excited for my first HIM July 11.  I really don't know what my strategy should be, so I'll solicit advice from anyone who stumbles across my blog.  I told myself I didn't want to do a HIM until I could get under 5 hrs.  Seemed like a solid goal, mostly because it was an even number and it will be possible for me to get there.  I spent awhile on only sprints before jumping up to Oly/"50" races.  I'm not one to want to just finish, I've waited to up the distance until I thought I could be competitive at that level (now I won't be close to winning anything in a 70.3, but it’s a competitive thing with time).  Anyway, I signed up for this race a long time ago, and while drunk.  Not my best idea, and also somewhat impaired in my ability to judge if I’d be ready (but it was cheaper…apparently my inner Jew shines with whiskey).  Anyway, I’m certainly ready to complete this race, and I’m 68.2689492% sure I can do under 5 hrs.  On the other hand, I’m also not where I want to be (long bike fitness and long run after long bike fitness), and am worried that going for 5hrs (which I will go all out for if I decide to try) will blow me up and I’ll be much, much worse.  I’m just not where I want to be for a half-iron at this point, I felt much better about my first Oly and “50” than I do now.  Part of me really wished I hadn’t signed up, and I took the extra time to really be ready for the next one I’m signed up for in October.  I don’t think I’m ready for 13.1 miles after a 56 bike at HIM race intensity.

 

So I have 2 options:

1)      Go for it – go for my HR and paces that the guidelines say I can do (i.e. xx bpm under LT for the bike and same for the run).  If I blow up, I’ll end up walking and miserable.  If I can do it, I’m confident I’ll hit my goal, and very happy.  However, if I do the full HIM intensities/HRs and I fall short, it will be a failure to me.

2)      Use as a learning race.  Hold back slightly on the bike and early run.  Finish without blowing up and use the race as a baseline for the next, where I will go for my goal.  I don’t like this idea because I didn’t pay $250 for a training day.  I’ll also kick myself if I finish and know I could have gone faster, and play “what if” games with myself.   I can’t fail with this strategy, but I certainly can’t win either.
 

Last year, I may have said that I’ll be able to bust something special out on race day, that I’ll push harder and go faster, but the past year has taught me it isn’t true.  I’m only as fast as my training has made me, nothing more.

 

What do I do?

 

PS – If you think I have a bad attitude or the wrong attitude about this, I probably won’t disagree with you, but it’s what I’m working with at the moment.

First off...you're really fast from the RRs you have posted thus far this year.  I think your body is probably capable of sub 5, but I think a HIM requires a lot more strategy then a sprint or OLY.

From what I hear, that strategy is hard to nail down on your first try...especially if you're going to push yourself to your limits.  It could make for a long and painful day even if you make a few small mistakes.

I'm with you in that I don't like to approach races "just to finish".  But for me personally, I will give the HIM distance a lot of respect when I try my first one simply because there are so many unknowns that are difficult to simulate during training.

Whatever you decide...good luck.

personally,

for hte half, i would aim for a good swim, a STEADY but smooth and controled bike, maybe a tad easier than you think you need. 5 min too hard could KILL your day but 5 min too easy could make you feel awesome at the start of the run and easily make it up. the race is often lost on the bike.

so, i would race the swim, be smart and conservative on the bike, and ease into the first 3 miles of the run. THEN the race starts.

I've been having a good week with my running. I ran 4 miles Tues and 4.8 miles today. I'm taking David's advice and not adding anymore miles until I can do this distance without walking breaks. But I'm getting much closer to that goal. Today, I only took 2 short walking breaks (2-3 mins each) on the 4.8 mile run. Running definately seems to be getting easier and maybe it's something I actually enjoy.

I'm lucky to have a good running partner on Tues and Thurs. Jamie is doing the HM with me in Dec and runs about the same pace/distance as me. We both don't want to be the one to say, "Hey, let's walk for a minute." So we end up pushing each other and I run a lot further than I would on my own. 

I want to start doing some small bricks (12 mile bike, 2 mile run) the other weekdays. I did one last week and I felt fine doing that distance. I just have be more disciplined about getting up at 5am. It seems to be a lot harder to do when I know it's optional (as opposed to when I have to for work during the school year). I have to take advantage of this time because it's starting to get over 100 degrees here during the day. Gone are the days that I can do a 5pm run.

So, I've been going to the gym a couple times a week during the day due to the heat and doing weights or a spinning class in addition to the morning workouts. I wanted to go to spinning today, but my car broke down. I was driving on the highway and the car started to slow and wouldn't accelerate. I was able to make it to the shoulder. I put it in park and turned it off but could not start the car again. I was definately a little paniced since it was over 100 degrees outside and I had my youngest 2 kids in the car with me. Called AAA, but luckily highway patrol found me 1st. Amazingily, they were able to fix the problem in 15 minutes. I know nothing about cars, but apparently some hose had come loose and they just reattached it. Awesome, since stuff like this usually means a costly repair and not being able to drive the car for a few days. Guys said I should have no further problems. So I guess I'm very lucky that missing spinning was the worst thing to happen today.

sounds like you've had a busy week! glad the car was an easy fix.

the running looks to be coming along very well! this is one of hte reasons gorup training can be a very good thing, in that you now have someone to be accountable with. it could be making you push to new levels, going further, or simply getting out the door, but its always helpful when you have others that have the same goal/workout as you.

Good to hear about the running.

That's awesome JP!  Running has taken a long time for me to warm up to.  My larger size makes my legs really take a pounding, but going slow and taking my time has really helped.  I am comfortable at faster pace now than I was even a month ago.  It's great to see that progress. 

And glad to hear about the car....still a pain the butt though! 

It's really up to you.  You're probably going to end up doing another HIM sometime in the near future anyway, so you could always use this one to determine how you are doing and where you are at.  On the other hand, you could probably just go for it and see what happens.  My gut feeling says that you're going to go for it regardless. 

x2. I'm again in agreement with Jonathan. I can't see Joe not going for it. Just seems like your personality based on your posts, Joe. Whatever you decide, good luck.

Just got back from my masters swim which was more like a stroke clinic today for the slower people (yes, that would be me). At 1st I was like awesome because I've never really had an formal swimming lessons before. But as we got into, it got annoying. REALLY annoying. Because I realized I have A LOT to work on in terms of technique. Like a lot of things with training, it was humbling. It was too much to remember and if I was slow before, now I' really SLOOOOW as I try and work on technique. I know I have to do this, but like I said, it was annoying. I just wanted to swim and stop thinking so much.

David- what should I do in the pool on my own time. Should I think about technique the whole workout. Please say no because that will just drive me crazy.

for beginners like myself...I found that simply swimming is just fine.  Try to absorb what your coaches are trying to tell you...and just focus on maybe one thing at a time.  Just swimming more will naturally correct the inefficencies in your stroke.  As you get faster, you'll find that you have less time to do bad things. 

It's sort of like golf.  You could tell a person just starting to golf 20 things he's doing wrong...but trying to fix everything at once won't make hime better.  Sometimes you just have to let them swing the club a couple thousand times and naturally the swing starts to correct itself as your muscles get accustomed to the motion.  Then you slowly work on fixing small parts until the entire swing is good.

That's my take on it anyway.

This is essentially true.  My crew coach taught us each fundamental portion of the stroke until we got it.  Then we would proceed to the next part.  I would encourage the same thing.  If you can focus each day on making sure you get one portion of the stroke correct, it will definitely help you in the long run.  I don't necessarily agree that swimming more makes you a better swimmer, you actually could become a better swimmer, but adopt REALLY bad habits that would be harder to correct in the future.  The masters program will definitely help.  Just be patient with yourself.  It took me a long long time to get a stroke that would actually make me feel efficient.  I'm still not a great swimmer and my stroke still needs help.  So I ask the experts as much as possible.

agreed with others.

on the days you swim on yoru own. follow the same structure as the masters, and work on just getting used to swimming and comfortable in the water while paying attention to whatever they are saying needs the work.

simply doing it more will make it a LOT easier to understand and make the changes.

Anyone racing this weekend?

I just have a long riding weekend planned.  Hopefully the winds will die down a bit.  It's been 15-25 mph steady this whole week.

I am planning to work on my technique over the winter months to improve my times overall.  I  know there are inefficiencies in my stroke as well that I need to work on.  I have thought about this for a couple of months but finally decided the winter would be a good time.

I am doing an unplanned 5k tomorrow morning.  It benefits a camp that some people from my church go to, so I thought I could try it.  I am really not excited much about it because I have a long run scheduled.  And with the work week I have had I don't have a lot left for an all out race. 

From midnight last Friday night to midnight Monday I had about 10hours of sleep, then kinda normal on Monday night and Tuesday night, then worked all night Wednesday night and didn't get off work until 8:30AM on Thursday.  I feel like I have been kicked by a mule a few times this week because of lack of sleep.  My training has been pretty sporadic but still moving.  Besides the race tomorrow I hope to finally get my second swim of the week in......but we'll see how that works out.  Nothing else planned this week has worked out....except for storms.

i have two athletes racing the philly tri tomorrow, and then shooting at the olympic race on sunday.

lotso f training as well