Older&Wiser Group - FULL (Page 7)

Rose, do you remember the name of this movie?  I really need some good movies for my marathon sessions on the trainer.

Malinda, sorry to hear that you’re unable to register in your sprint tri, is that the Claremore tri? Hope you can find a substitute race, check out these calendars for OK tris and runs: http://www.trifind.net/nf/ok.html, http://www.okrunner.com/calendar/smu.html

If you have the endurance to do a run, bike, swim tri, then a swim, bike and run tri of the same distance will definitely not be a problem because you can coast on bike, or walk on run if you’re tired at the end.  The most important thing is to build endurance, what we call LSD, long SLOW (slow is GOOD) distance, eg a long bike ride / long run, build 10% a week.

Technically, you’re supposed to pick your race, then pick a x-wk plan x wks before your race for proper tapering.  But don’t worry for now, just keep in mind you’ll have to tweak it later.  If the 3x plan is too aggressive, then check out the 2x plans below, all of them require 2-5hr/wk, which you’ve managed successfully.  I’ve linked them to the plan description, calendar and volume graph, so pick the one that best fits your schedule.  As the BT preamble says – "Re-organize the program around to suit your schedule.  JUST REMEMBER to keep the short sessions and Off days around the Long sessions."   Anytime you cannot fit in all the workouts, don’t worry, pick and focus on getting a few of the key ones in.  I think, in general, for sprints, if you can fit in 2-3hr of training a week, you’re fine.

Possible training plans with 2-5hr/wk:

• 2x balanced, bike focused, 16wk – calendar, volume graph
• 2x balanced, bike focused, 20wk – calendar, volume graph
• (I really like the above 2 plans for you if they fit your schedule, because they build endurance w/o impact, and you seem to enjoy cycling the most)
• 2x balanced, 16wk – calendar, volume graph
• 2x balanced, 20wk – calendar, volume graph
• Original sprint, 13wk – calendar, volume graph
• 2x balanced, run focused, 16wk – calendar, volume graph
• 2x balanced, run focused, 20wk – calendar, volume graph

I think Jennifer did some of these plans last year, how did you find it, Jennifer?  Jennifer also paid to be a silver member, so her plans are more detailed.   For those that are interested, take a look at Jennifer's logs, on the left hand side is a section called "Planned Training".  If you move your cursor to a date, you'll see that day's workout described in detail.   Jennifer, I hope you don't mind me sharing this info with the rest of the group.

Jennifer

Keep working on the swolf. It sounds like you are getting the hang of it. The whole point of it is to find that balance between stroke count and speed. Just try it once a week or so and see if your score stays consistent and/or improves. You won't always improve and you won't always stay consistent. That is the nature of workouts - sometimes we have good days and sometimes we don't. 

Never forget that there is nothing wrong with wanting to continue to try and improve. : )

Lynne, hope New York warms up when you go later in the week.  It’s frigid here, coldest day this winter, -23C/-9F, -33C/-27F with wind chill this morning.  Even I don’t go outside in this weather.

Rose, are you sure you’re not a swim coach disguising as a newbie here?  That’s a wonderful summary of all the key swimming points.  Jennifer, whatever you’re doing, keep doing it, your swim has improved dramatically - these #’s from your logs:

• Dec 6, 06 – 2.2/100, Mar 2 – 1:50/100,
• Feb 5 – 55sec/50, Mar 5 – swolf 68 – 23 strokes = 45sec/50?

That’s 15%+ improvement in a few months.  Generally a 5-10% improvement per year in the beginning is very good.  If you can maintain 2:00/100 over 700yds, you’d complete the Highmark swim in 14min, a 5+min or 25%+ improvement!  So just continue to build endurance so you can hold that pace and form for longer.  Pace and stroke count will improve with improved endurance and form, and increased strength and range of motion.

Like they say in Finding Nemo - Just keep swimming swimming swimming (click for audio clip)

Stroke count can also be reduced if you delay your pull, i.e. don’t start pulling right away, wait till your recovery arm is at 10-11 o’clock position, but not quite a full catch-up. They call it "front-quadrant swimming".  Some tri coaches now suggest this, ‘cos you get more glide, but this is not entirely w/o controversy.   Any thoughts on this, Lynne?

I think we all want to improve by virtue of the fact that we join this forum.  I, for one, would like to swim like a fish one day -

"Possibilities - The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become"

Most of my coaches and the various clinics I've attended taught "front quadrant" swimming. Our coaches were always reminding us not to rush our pull. I'll have to think about it a little more when I can get back in the pool and try it out again. (Hopefully on Wednesday or Thursday.)

Hi all,

Great week - after a difficult week last week for many, everyone that has a taller bar this week should give yourself a pat on the back and gets a √, that’s Wolf, Lynne, Jennifer and Malinda.  (Don’t know if I owe √ to Rose and Angelo, as you haven’t logged yet.  Will revise standings if necessary.)

I’m pleased to report that Lynne’s stitches have come off and the workhorse is BACK! Malinda too is back from her TX mission.  She’s picked a new plan and set an all time high on her chart.  On top of that, she received a well-deserved Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service for her work during the ice storm.  Malinda, we’re so proud of you!  We, of course, recognize your achievement with a √ way back in wk 2.  And that bike store salesperson is very honest, hard to find.  I absolutely agree with him.  Dropped handlebars put you in a more aerodynamic position, thus reduces wind resistance so you can go faster, hence his recommendation. 

Wolf continues to battle his cough, has to go to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on short notice, yet somehow still manages to blog and capture our hearts and imagination with his colourful stories and his unique way of seeing humour and beauty in everything he does, then he proceeds to log ~400min on the chart, send inspires to each and everyone of us, and to top it off, post some truly jaw dropping pictures.  I’ve a picture in my album where I quoted Charles Dickens in which he says of Chamonix, "I cannot imagine anything in nature more stupendous or sublime".  I’m not sure Dickens visited where Wolf is.  Wolf, what do you do for a living, may I ask – a professional photographer? A writer maybe? A standup comedian? Or a wise rabbi perhaps?  I could not have picked a better name for the group, Wolf, my Older&Wiser friend.  I wish I could give you a gold medal for your inspiration, but all I can give is another √ for you -

Rose, Jennifer and I continue to make steady progress. As Wolf said on his Mar 9 blog – Life’s good, what more can I say…

"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions."   Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

from Wolf’s album: Water drop - zin-zen of Ein Akev (nahal zin)

N.B. BT is messing me up, changing each page from 35 posts to 30, so our collective wisdom post is no longer on top.  Will have to do sth about that.  It's here.

Lynne is going out of town for a few days but has found some swim videos on the internet which she'll explain to us later.  Really looking forward to it.  Jennifer, if not a swiss watch, at least a Timex, just keeps on ticking.   Speaking of Timex, I, of course, wear an Ironman model.  On all test swims, I set the countdown timer to beep at a goal pace every 50m, so I know whether to speed up or slow down.  Don't know whether that's cheating a bit, but it's a good exercise in pacing.   Another midweek swim picture that I'd like to share, head position is a bit high on this one, don't you think?  But that's ok, he's got a whole lifetime to work on it -

Hey, I found another nice swim picture of Lynne in action -

Hope some of you like the pictures I've been posting.  BTW, I've now uploaded all the pics previously posted onto a separate album.