Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 69)

According to the website and race reports from last year, the Steelhead uses the Ironman Perform now as their on course drink. There is a difference as they use the premixed liquid bottles and I'm using the powder, and to some this is a big difference. I'll experiment with the liquid a bit but am more interested in the caloric blend at this point.

Similar plan for me with the gels in the flasks. You have to mix the stuff with a little water or it's impossible to get out of the flasks.

Welcome! and congrats on your new toy . You'll get used to the pedals. Although, even after doing so, we all fall once in a while.  Just make sure to grab on the handle bars for your life if you are about to fall and don't have anything around you to hold on. The instinct is to use the hand to stop the fall and, hence, can lead to a broken wrist. Also, make sure to keep your cleats clean/free of debris and with lube. Happy riding!

Taking the day off today ...... FROM WORK!!!!

Short swim/bike brick planned after lunch and may play some B-ball tonight!

Yesterday I had a successful long run 1:15.

Anybody racing this weekend so I can get excited?

A milestone race for sure!!! It will be a great day.

Long runs are mental. Master the mind today despite the crappy weather.

Steve, good luck in your race. It is amazing how far you have come!

I had my 1000 TT today. I was pumped and ready for this today. I even wore a watch so I could check my time against the pace clock. I worked my tail off on that set, nailed my flip turns (until the very end), kept working harder throughout the set. My lungs, legs and abs were burning. I even started to feel a little sick but I kept working harder. I had a goal to be under 16:00 min. My last 1000 TT I had a chest cold and couldn't flip turn at all. My time that day was 16:15. Got to the end and stopped my watch, I was so afraid to look. Time said - 15:25.

Now of course I think I missed a lap . LOL - I'm never satisfied! I don't really think I could have made up 5 seconds per 100. Oh well, at least I know I did my absolute best and left it all in the pool. I was hanging on the lane line gasping for air when that set was over!

Popsracer

Definitely a life milestone!! Well done buddy and let us know how it went! Good luck

F#$*@ that!  YOU did it.  You went into the belly of the beast and came out the other side.  Maybe it wasn't the prettiest way to run your first HIM but think how easy the rest of them will be!

Congrats on such amazing achievements recently, everybody! Geez, I'm outta contact for a few days and suddenly everyone's hitting smoking swim TTs, acing a tough HIM, doing a milestone 5K... what a fabulously impressive group! (Just one of many reasons I love BT.)

Forgive what might seem like a silly question: I'm finishing week 17 (counting backwards) of the plan and was wondering: are we supposed to be taking any rest between swim intervals generally? I looked but couldn't see any listed, so have just been doing them straight through. Is that what I'm supposed to do? Just thought I'd check before I left the "base" segment and the workouts started building!

Thanks, everyone. Have a great weekend, and good luck to all racers this weekend!

As I spend the day doing odds and ends, it's my recovery day, I feel somewhat guilty for not having an activity. It's silly, but I feel like a couch bum knowing that I won't be working up a sweat today unless I glisten during my P90X stretch routine. I've realized, however, that these days of recovery are the mental and physical break that helps motivate max effort during days of training.

End of week 4 is tomorrow with the last of my, "get out and enjoy the bike ride" rides. Hills and intervals are in my future!

Funny how things fall apart. Week 13, recovery. Workouts kind of scattered but visitors in so no swim yesterday. Friend went riding so "60 minutes easy" became 3:30 medium effort. Longest ride of my life though and I loved it. Also, do not usually ride with someone so loved it! 54 miles in there. Swim and Run won't happen on weekend though due to work and Easter. Oh well, start week 12 with renewed enthusiasm.

Happy training everyone!

Shawn

I would like to start something here to get input.

If you could use one word of advice to give to someone to help them shorten their stroke count in a 25 metre pool, what would it be?

My stroke count is around 24! I here it should be around 18. I have been experimenting with TI and do some kind of a mix of that and traditional swimming. I try to be streamlined, pull hard, little kicking (2 beat kick), etc but cannot get stroke count down.

Sooo, one word of advice? Is there such a thing? ;-)

Have a GREAT weekend!

I'll add on the swimming topic.  You may hear this a lot - swim "downhill".

In other words, think about your chest pushing downwards and only turning your head the minimum needed to breathe.  Keep your hips and feet gliding on the surface.

I view TI as a good path to more efficient swimming but not necessarily faster.  I think it places an overly high emphasis on stroke count.  Gliding is important but there's a fine line between not enough and too much.

Try this: count your strokes for a lap just swimming normally and relaxed.  Now do the same thing with a pull buoy.  Most people who are not "fish" will get a lower count with the pull buoy because it's holding them closer to level with the water surface.

Improving your body position in the water will help a great deal with stroke efficiency.  As you improve, you can work on additional things that reduce drag (hand / arm position, pointing your toes, etc).

One word - Form

More than one word - all of the above. The advice given already is spot on. I'll add that the more powerfully you try to pull, the more likely you'll be to mess up your form. It's not about power at this point.

Focus on balance. Breathe bilaterally. Don't lift you head to much. Press the chest. Keep elbows high during recovery and pull. Don't crossover on entry or pull. Reach from the hip, not the arm. Drive stroke with hips. Don't kick too much.

If you're comitted to a better, stronger pull, get some paddles. Not to build strength, but to find where in your pull you lose power. The paddles exagerate everything you do right.....and wrong.

Pops:

Coach Suzanne (adventurebear) explains the connection between balance and hip drive in the following thread (better than I could):

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=244348&start=1

I like the idea of connecting the 2bk with my arm entry and it is something I try to focus on during my practice.

Hello,

Hope I'm not infringing on this group because technically I didn't join, but I do look at the forum from time to time.  I just had a question regarding the BT beginner HIM plan for those of you that may be familiar with it.  Ocassionally the plan calls for a swim workout to include "kick".  My plan recently called for 4x300 (300 easy, 300 kick, 300 easy, 300 pull).  I understand everything, but am uncertain of the 300 kick.  Does that mean I should be doing 300 yards of straight kick with a kickboard?  It just seems like a ton of kickboard work and I have to admit I am not very good at that, so my 300 would take me forever.  I've just never seen a workout with that much straight kick.  Am I understanding that correctly??