JohnnyKay's Group - CLOSED (Page 7)

Hello All!

I have been getting on here quick and catching up on posts meaning to respond.  so forgive me for bringing up old posts....

first, as for music, i use and ipod running, biking and just ordered the swimp3 so i can listen while swimming.  my workout music is anything with a pretty fast beat.  i recently started listening to Lady Gaga when biking - really good beat for biking.  

second - the garmin.  I have the Garmin 405 and I love it.  My husband bought it for me last year for my birthday.  It is my running partner.  I am the type that likes to see my pace all the time.  I love to go back and look at splits.  I love downloading to computer and seeing my runs (and my bikes) on the maps, look at elevation charts, etc.  I provides alot of good information.  I also use it on my bike when riding outside and it keeps cadence, distance, speed.  and downloading a long ride outside is always fun.  love seeing how much of the map i covered. 

third, the sprint tris.  i agree that you should give yourself at least 2 weeks and see how you recover.  your body always feels different after a race than a workout.  After your first one you will have a good idea of how you will handle races closer together.

As for me, training is going good.  Had one of those great swims tonight where i felt so good.  just gliding through - felt effortless.  wish they could all be like that.  have been dreaming about IM every night.  not a good sign since it is still 34 weeks away.  hope everyone has a great week.  Happy Training!!!!!!

Lisa

Morning all!  Hope you all had a great long weekend.  Sorry I wasn't on BT much, but I haven't forgotten about any of you.  I will try to catch up later today by answering some of the questions above and checking in on everyone's log.

I have the 305 and like it.  Admittedly, I never use the HR anymore so I'd probably be fine with just the GPS functionality.  And neither the 310 nor 405 have anything I need that would make me want to swap out for one of those right now either.  I'll wear it biking sometimes, but just to map out my route later.  I don't use any of the cycling functions as I use a power meter for the bike.

The size of it is a bit to get used to (even for me), but when I'm exercising I prefer a larger display anyway.  I'm pretty sure I've seen the 305 for pretty reasonable prices at places like Amazon.

Congrats on completing the 15-miler!  Nice work!

More 305 thoughts:

The pacing on the 305 has a lot to do with how good (and consistent) the GPS signal is.  Your average for the run will usually be very close to accurate.  Even mile-to-mile, the splits will be pretty good.  But if you are glancing at it for 'instantaneous' feedback, it can be anywhere from good to awful.  Usually, if I want to check my pace against it while I'm running, I will glance at it 4-5x over a couple minutes and go with some sort of 'average' in my head.

I'm not sure how good the 'caloories burned' estimates are either.  I don't ever look at mine, but I suppose it should at least be a consistent baseline to use.  I wouldn't get wed to the number it shows being exact, though.

I do know that the 'climbing' estimates it comes up with are usually WAY overstated when I run.  Seems closer when I bike.

Also, it is the least accurate for me (pace & distance) when I run on a track.  It over-estimates the distance I run around the curves.  So it's only good for me as a stopwatch in that case.

No reason at all you can't do that.  I don't race all that frequently, but mostly due to logistics.  If you enjoy racing and have the opportunity, then doing more is easily doable.  The only real issue you will run into is that you won't really be able to "peak" for more than a couple races.  But most of us don't really care about peaking that much and just like to go out and compete with whatever we've got that day.

I'd be careful about overstacking your race schedule before you see how your body reacts to the training and racing, but once a month shouldn't come close to doing that.  Choose one of those and sign up!

Lastly, glad to see everyone freely chiming in with their thoughts and advice.  As usual, you'll see lots of consistent themes but with slight twists given everyone's differing experiences and points-of-view.  Hopefully that will help others in coming to the best decision for their particular circumstance.

Man - it is a beautiful day in the DC neighborhood.  45 degrees and perfectly sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky.  Got out for a 4 miler during my lunch hour and other than the typical shin splints, it was awesome.  Its days like this that  break through my jaded DC exterior and make me realize that it is still pretty cool to live in this city.  My office is right on the National Mall, so I walk out my front door, run down to Lincoln, run up to the Capitol, and back down to my office, which is right in the middle.  I do this all the time and mostly I just listen to my ipod and grumble to myself about the stupid tourists, but today I didn't have the ipod and I actually looked at the monuments and realized that I get to run here every day!  Also, the hard pack gravel on the mall makes a really cool sound that just sounds like running to me.


If any of you are ever in DC, you owe it to yourself to look me up and come for a run, its pretty cool.

Edited by aggienmmi 2010-01-19 2:08 PM

Thanks for all the good advice. Think I'll pick a second sprint and sign up! They seem to fill up fast around here.

Sounds wonderful

Sometimes I wish I had a different job. I work 8 AM - 6 PM most days (if not later) and wear a suit, formal office, etc. No such thing as a lunch time run--usually a quick bite at my desk.

Instead, I am leaving the office now to head home to quickly change, run to the gym and on the treadmill for 45 mins. Hoping to get home before 9 PM...

Crunching through the gravel on the mall in the sunshine sounds a lot better..I have never been to DC, it's on my "bucket list"!

pfamela

Ouch.... legs are sore today. Started reading ChiRunning.... 4 chapters into the book and it looks good. Still working TI swimming. Love the TI Swimming book and DVD... very helpful.

Question for you experts in nutrition: 

I have been doing my workouts at night, usually get to the gym around 6:30, start out on either a stationary bike or treadmill for approx. 30 mins and then to the pool.  Since I have not eaten since lunch I am starving when I am finished.   By the time I get home and eat is usually close to 8 PM or later.  Should I just eat a energy bar before I get started?  I thought about eating dinner and then going to workout but that doesn't seem very easy to do with my schedule.  Any suggestions for a quick snack that will hold me through until dinner?

Thanks!

Don't know how your working day is structured... but I tend to graze all day (good stuff.... fruits and veggies). By the time I get to the gym I've had an apple in my belly for about 45 min. Seems to work for me.

Question: Running to "exhaustion"? Okay, first of all, I am such a slow short distance runner this situation seems impossible, and I am a little embarrassed to ask, but I think I "overheated" Tuesday night to the point where I had to take an unscheduled day off yesterday and felt like crap.

Have any of you experienced this type of thing and what do you do?

I went to the gym Tuesday night to do my scheduled 4 mile run on the treadmill. Having just done a great run Sunday of 4.6 miles with a group I was feeling pretty good.

I was only keeping a 6mph/10 min mile pace, but I started to get uncomfortable and felt like it was taking a high level of exertion to keep that pace. I managed to finish the 4 miles in 40 mins (my training goal), but my face was beet red, I was light headed and my head was pounding! My HRM reading wasn't off the charts.  FYI, I was well hydrated drinking a sports drink before I started (cytomax) and sipping a couple times during the run. 

I went home and pretty much collapsed. BUT, couldn't sleep, I had a burning/tightness in my left upper chest, pounding headache and felt like I couldn't rest, impossible to fall asleep. Tossed and turned all night and felt like crap/exhausted all day yesterday. It's only today that the "weirdness" in my body has subsided.

Anyone dealt with anything like this?

pamela

x2

You really shuold be eating something between lunch and your workout with that much time between them.  You can use an "energy bar", but I prefer to stick with "real" foods.  Piece of fruit or two and some nuts are a good choice.  There are plenty of other healthy snacks, though, so find what you like.

It sounds to me like you may have been sick with something?  Or too much stress from work or something?  Had you eaten enough during the day?

Hard to say.  I wouldn't worry too much unless it recurs.  And if it did and I couldn't pin down to something like the above, I'd go visit a doc.

I track my avg morning hr. when I wake up each morning. If it's elevated by 5 or 6 beats.... I take the day off. For me, another good indicator of over training is a poor night's sleep. If I toss and turn all night.... I need a day off from training. Also, check your nutrition. It's interesting that this thread came up today. I've been draggin my butt around all afternoon and can hardly keep my eyes open. SO... I bagged my training  tonight and plan to hit the rack early.

Was planning to go to the gym tonight for a run and swim but my wife suggested we go to the track since it was nice out.  First time running outside since early November.  Feels much better than the treadmill but couldn't run as long as I have on the tm.  Covered 3 miles and felt good when I was done.  Went to the pool and swam 900 yards, first day of week two of the 0 to 1650 plan.  Felt good today.  Hope to get back to the pool Sat or Sun and should have time to ride outside this weekend.

Hello all-

what is up for the weekend? I have swim training class tonight, and hope to get along run in over the weekend. I've been doing 4 miles on the treadmill during the week, but I need to increase my miles for the half-marathon in March, so I'll try to do 5 or 6 miles this weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. By the way, when I do the treadmill, I usually run at 6.2 or 6.3 pace (around 9 1/2 minutes per mile, but i always sprint at the end). That gets the old heart racing.

As for the music question, I always run with music (usually rock and roll). I never bike with music for obvious safety reasons, and I am sure I would electrocute myself if I tried to swim with an ipod.

Great advice on the night workout food. By 4:00 or so, I am starving, so i usually hit the snack machine, which I should not do. I have to focus more on eating healtier.

Have a great weekend.

John

Took an extra day off this week. Got about 9.5 hours sleep last night and feel better today. Thought about doing yesterday's work out today (my day off)... then decided to rest instead. Felt a little guilty at first.... but it passed. Bike and swim tomorrow.

Hi all,

I've been a bit MIA this week. Busy week at school, and my husband was gone for part of the week, so I was on full kid duty. I'm still trying to figure out what my summer race plans will include so I can start to work off of a plan rather than just fitting in what I can during the week. This week didn't include much more than walking.

So far for the next few days, my plans are to go for a walk/run/snowshoe/xcountry ski (not all, but I'll eventually make a choice) tomorrow night when I have some time scheduled with my husband to do something while the kids are at grandmas. Sunday I work all day, but perhaps a trainer spin in the morning prior to work. Then Monday I have class, and plan to go to the pool during lunch.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Suzanne

Hello All!

I enjoyed a nice day off from training yesterday.  Took my kids to the aquarium.  It was nice to not have a workout to try to cram in somewhere.  On Thursday, I did my longest swim to date 3200 yds.  felt really good.  the swimp3 player made it so much easier.  Just got lost in the music, forgot where i was for a while.  But the black line in the bottom of the pool reminded me.

This weekend I have a long run/short bike planned for saturday and a 1.5 hour ride planned for Sunday followed by yoga.  Today we are going to Kentucky to pick out a lab from lab rescue.  I am very excited.  we have been looking for a dog that i can run with for a long time.  i hate doing those long morning runs in the dark alone.  i will post a pic once we get home.

Have a great weekend training.  Off to run and it is a whopping 40 degrees here - downright tropical after the last few weeks. 

Lisa

Please be sure to post a pic, I love labs!

This week I did some counting on my marathon training plan, and I realized that I was actually a week ahead somehow. Well that got in my head apparently. I was headed out for my 16 mile run (which I was not looking forward to at all) and my wife called me to point out that I had taken the wrong car and she didn't have a key to mine. So I turned around and when I got back, I bagged the run entirely, I was just not there mentally.So instead I went to the gym and did a sprint distance indoor triathlon. It went well. The first three miles of the bike sucked b/c my spinners that I like were taken. The other bike is like riding a hybrid, I'm busting my hump and only getting 15.5 mph out of it. so eventually I was able to switch.I'm going to do a 6 mile run with the wife to tomorrow and hopefully get back on track with the marathon plan this week.Have a good weekend everyone.

Edited by aggienmmi 2010-01-23 3:48 PM

Had a nice swim and ride today. Headwinds defined my cycling experience but at least the sun was out for a short time. Read
Hard Core - Exercises to Strengthen Your Abs for Better Performance (BT article) and decided to give it a try.  The little video clips with each exercise were very helpful. The workout took almost an hour and really kicked my butt. I thought I was in pretty good shape.... but have never done any core specific training beyond crunches. This workout chewed me up and spit me out! I stopped at the push-ups...... ego smashed and core muscles screaming for mercy.  Think I'll make this workout a regular part of my weekly routine.  45 min. ride and 15 min. run tomorrow .       GEAUX SAINTS!!!