jsnowash's Spring-into-action 2011 mentor group -- Full Up & Ready to go! (Page 7)

Great job!!  Keep up the good work!

No boo hoo needed - the treadmill is a drag and I think really does take time to readjust to after running outside.  I live in Indiana where crappy weather is a given so last year I invested in some rubber spiky things (they do have a name but I never remember what it is) that attach to the bottom of my shoes and are WONDERFUL for running outside.  Give me -10 over the treadmill and I'll take it.  I have a friend who is willing to venture out in the winter too so we have been doing our "long" runs (only 5 or 6 miles) together and it is rather quite enjoyable!  Is there someone you can run outside with?

Rock on, Mike!! That is  awesome! 

Just do it!  Isn't that always the best plan!! I live in the arctic zone of Minnesota and I pretty much have to train indoors from Nov-April. I schedule the workouts into my planner and just do it. I always feel great when I'm done!

Way to go, Mike! You're on the right path - just keep up the good work!!

Yacktracks are essentially chains for your shoes.  They are rubber and fit over your running shoe, but have metal rings, kind of like a spring or spiral notebook backing that grip the road.  I used mine for the first time last Sunday and they are very nice. 

Yesterday was 2000 yard swim, 36 miles on the trainer and today 8 mile run.  Unfortunately I am still feeling last weeks hill workout, race paced 8 miler and 17 miler.  I was fine in the swim, felt a bit sluggish on the trainer, but it got better and then had nothing left on the run today... at the beginning of the run.  My body says I have reached the point were I need some recovery time... but it is next week that is my recovery week.  The smart thing would be to drop tomorrows short run and swim and just make it a complete rest day.  However that part of me/us that has the suck it up and get it done gene wants me to just go slow on the run, maybe walk some and go slow on the swim and I will be fine.  Experience says if I don't blow off the lite workout both the lite and following hard workout will suck.  So who has been here and repeatedly not made the smart choice?

I will see which part of my personality wins tomorrow and whether I pay for it for the rest of the week or not.  So the answer to the question of balance has arived, the body votes overdoing for today anyway. 


Grats on how everyone is doing, keep it up.

Ana, Don't get discouraged. Swimming is hard and I have been where you are and after a few months actually learned to like swimming!! Good tips from Jenny and Alison. Keep your head in line with your spine, as Alison suggests and also push your chest down as you swim and your hips will pop up. The Total Immersion progam is really good with the body alignment drills. Youtube is great and I found it helps to watch other people who have good form and then try to imitate.  Your local library may have the Total Immersion book which explains the drills too  Keep at it and it will come.  Good luck! Beth

Sounds like people are chugging along-it's so nice to hear other struggles and triumphs! I just started the 20 week Olympic plan yesterday: 3 Swims/2 Runs/2 Rides per week. I'm finding that I'm probably not in as good of shape as I thought. I woke up very sore this morning after weight training and a 40 minute swim. Talked myself into my 40 minute run this afternoon. I know it will get easier once I get into the swing of things. Also took my bike in for a tuneup today as it has been sitting in my garage collecting dust and cobwebs for the past year and a half! Does anyone do their biking on a Spin bike? I have one and it just feels like cheating to me..perhaps I need to turn up the resistance?

Thank you Jenny, Alison and Beth I was so discouraged that day but I think it was a big difference on speed compared to how I was swimming with the fins, but the truth is that I know I am doing better than 4 weeks ago when I started, Thank you all for your advice I will keep trying and let you know how I do! :-)

Thanks so much for the encouragement AJ!  If I lived in a colder climate, those yak trax would be a very good investment.  I'm with you on not really minding the cold (within reason)....much prefer it to heat or treadmill.  It's the ice that drove me indoors yesterday. Today we still have ice (though some has evaporated) rolling blackouts,  all schools closed again, and wind chills of minus 10, yikes!  Think I'm just going to call it a rest day, and get back at it tomorrow outdoors.

You are right on the friend running thing.  I do most of my long runs with a friend.  We are training for our 3rd half marathon.  It's a great way to catch up, and the time sure does go by faster together.

Ana, what the others said about forcing your shoulders/chest down more made a huge diff for me.  When I get in the pool, the first thing I do is just float face down and get my balance in the water.  Helps me relax as well, which is also key.  I thought I was for sure a hopeless case until I learned how to breathe and watched a couple of total immersion swim videos free online.  None of it happened overnight, and I think it was almost more a change of mindset than anything else -- smooth, balanced, relaxed, minimize resistance, less kicking -- instead of harder, faster, more effort, etc.  I'm not very fast and I'm sure could benefit from some live instruction, but it saw me through my first sprint, and I'm having a lot more fun with it.  I know you can do it!

Just one other thought on swimming.... For a lot of triathletes, unless they come from a strong swimming background or have a lot of natural swimming talent, we don't tend to gain or loose a lot of ground overall in the swim portion of the race. My general approach to the swim has been to get through the swim in a reasonable time, but more importantly, to finish the swim still feeling relatively fresh for the bike and run. The points other have made about feeling relaxed in the water are really important. That's another thing I feel like TI does very well - helping develop a calm, relaxed, efficient stroke that allows you to get through the swim without using up too much of your energy. Rather than worry about speed at this point, focus on developing a smooth stroke. Speed can come later as the stroke improves. And, Ana, don't be discouraged by the fact that you were slower without using fins.... EVERYONE is faster with fins than without them!! Keep up the good work. You're doing great!!

Okay.... I normally enjoy winter. Cold weather doesn't bother me, I love snow, love downhill & X-C skiing, love being outdoors in cold weather, etc. But I have to say, I am getting a little sick of the weather pattern we seem to be stuck in here in the mid-Atlantic.... Not snow this time, but freezing rain which has now turned to a miserable cold rain. I would rather have snow, honestly.... Yet another delayed opening for my kids' schools, and one school is closed today due to a power outage, so my workout plans have been shot down yet again. Power is out at our house, too. I'm typing this from a friend's house who has power. I'm hanging out with her daughter and mine while she goes into work for a while. I might be able to hit the gym for a bit later this afternoon.

Alright, I'm done whining for now! Have a good day, everyone!

Thank you, I really don't want to be fast but I picture my self the day of the race and being by myself all the way way in the back or not being able to finish, I do have another question I am very short and is hard for me to find petite size athletic clothes,sometimes I have to buy kids size, I need to look into buying a wetsuit for the race and I thought of buying a kid size but I dont know if that is not a good idea.
Ana 

I think that being afraid of not completing your first triathlon or fear of coming in last are very common.  It does not just happen for your first triathlon, but each time you go up.  Oh my an Oly is so much longer than a sprint, a half is soo much longer than an Oly, an IM is just impossible how will I ever finish etc.  Bt has many such posts.  I personally went through all of those feelings.  The training plans are designed to get you in shape to the point hwere you can finish the race.  If you do the plan, you can finish the race.  (granted for the longer races you also need to pace appropriately and eat enough calories and drink enough fluids). 

You can try a wetsuit on before you buy it.  All wetsuit companies will have a sizing chart for height and weight to help you find the right size.  When you try it on dry, it will be very very snug.  They loosen up a bit in the water. 

Part of the lifestyle of triathlon is starting at a really out of shape place and building fitness and confidence, finding your prefered distance and either just using it as a focus for your training or trying to get faster. 

I for instance know that I won't be winning an IM this year or next year or 5 years from now.  IM is my prefered distance and I focus my training on it.  My goals are to 1 finish and 2 do better than the previous year.  That will lead where it leads and I won't always be faster.  Another goal is to pick races in new places in the country and use the race as an excuse to go visit them.  There is a race in MN that serves strawberry crepes (thin pancakes, wrong spelling I am sure) after the race.  I may just have to do that race to try out the post race food.  I will probably never win a marathon, but I was able to qualify for Boston.  A huge goal for me.  

So, take it one day at a time, your plan will get you through your race.  Enjoy the journey.  The last finisher of any triathlon is miles and miles ahead of any person sitting on a couch that day.  Just to complete it is a huge accomplishment.  I certainly would not mind being dead last at Kona as long as I finished the race under the time limit.  Just being out there and doing it, that is what it is all about.  Anyway hang in there you will see.   

Ana,

Don't worry about being last.... I'm sure you won't be, but even if you are - well, somebody has to be last, if you're last out of the water, you're still light years ahead of all those folks sitting at home on their couches!

When you buy a wetsuit, you're going to want to buy (or rent) a triathlon wetsuit - NOT a surfing wetsuit. Triathlon wetsuits are made specifically for swimming, and have the necessary flexibility in the shoulders to allow you to swim. Not so with surfing wetsuits.... I'm not aware of any triathlon wetsuits that come in kids sizes, but then again, I've never really looked for one in a kids size - so I could be wrong! Check out some of the manufacturers websites, they will have size ranges posted. See if any look like they might work for you. If at all possible, find a local store that carries some wetsuits and try a few on. Fit is pretty important.... (that said, though, I have bought wetsuits on-line based on size charts, and have been pretty lucky so far....)

Here are a few wetsuit manufacturer websites you can check out:

Quintana Roo: http://www.quintanarootri.com/#
Blue Seventy: http://www.blueseventy.com/
2XU: http://www.shopatron.com/products/category/Women%27s/1758.0.1.1.218...
Orca: http://www.orca.com/category/wetsuits
Neosport: http://www.neosportusa.com/index.php?page=category&sport=triathlete...
Xterra: http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/regions/
DeSoto: http://www.desotosport.com/
ProMotion: http://www.wetsuit.com/
Rocket Science Sports: http://www.rocketsciencesports.com/

I'm sure I'm missing some..... anyone have any others to add?

Wow!

I think I'm going to print off that post and put it on my mirror!  Thank you for that!

Mike

Our local running store rents tri wetsuits - just a thought.

Allison

We all have different strengths to go with our weaknesses.  My weakness is definitely swimming - I'm typically one of the last ones out of the water (last 5% or so) but I am able to recover on the bike, then lose a little on the run.  At first the challenge was to finish a Sprint distance and survive regardless of time - I knew it was going to be a huge effort, and what I thought was nearly an impossible feat.  Once I did that, I found myself running 5k's to improve my running times.  I wanted to get under 28 minutes, and in two years, I'm trying to get under 22 minutes now.  The swim was the biggest hurdle at first.  I wanted to be able to swim 26 pool lengths without stopping - that took me forever to figure out, now it's 102 lengths and I have to stop because I ran out of time before work.

My point to all this gibberish is that 75% of the challenge to feeling good about this endeavor is to set realistic goals for yourself, and recognizing when you reach them.  When you make it to the STARTING line, that's the first MAJOR achievement - many don't make it that far.  Before long you will cross the finish line, and before you search for the next goal, bask in your glory for a few minutes, reflect back on the journey and realize that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.  Some people have to work a bit harder than others, some people might not be able to afford the time or other resources needed, but take that into consideration and set your goals - what do you want to achieve this weekend....?

Edited by cobratodd 2011-02-02 1:41 PM

On the wetsuit issue - really try to find a place that will rent one, or that you can really try on your size.  I made the mistake of ordering on line what I "thought" was the correct size, based on what I read from reviews and posting - WRONG.  Everyone has a different shpe and the mfg's of wetsuits all vary.  The Orca full sleeve suit I bought 1 size larger than I would normally conside felt about 3 sizes too small.  I'd tear at the material just trying to get the arms in the correct place, and the chest was so tight, that I couldn't breathe - when swimming, that's a bad thing  Anyway, I ended up getting a "Farmer-jon" sleeveless with full legs by X-terra and what a wonderful fit.  Honestly night and day different.  The loss in floatation by not having sleeves is offset by 20 times with the ability to breathe.

I've never used this place, but it may be an option:
http://www.wetsuitrental.com/

I guess if I just lost 30 pounds it would solve that problem and I wouldn't need the "cyldesdale" model wheels for the bike!

After reading the last few pages of posts, I don't feel so bad about my swimming.  Can I swim?  I thought I could.  I got in the pool for the first time last night at the gym.  I was suprised at how much energy it took for me to go 100m.  I was very confident in my ability to complete the bike and run portions, but after last night, I realize I have some progress to make in the pool. I have heard nothing but good things about Total Immersion, I might buy the Open Water DVD.  Any thoughts from someone who has watched the DVD's or read the book and applied the priciples?  After last night's eye opener, I'm glad my tri isn't until June 11th. 

I agree with all the comments about getting in the open water - it's a whole new experience.  Before you get there though, build up your base in the pool.  Get lots of laps in, then lots more, and more on top of that.  It's not how many you can do without stopping, the drills are very important.  Try groups of 100 yards.  Pick only one focus point and try to consciously perfect that one aspect for that one 100 yard group.  Then focus on the next thing until you have completed 6 or 8 of these - that's close to a Sprint swim!  It might take you 40 to 45 minutes at first, but you'll soon be down in the low 30's, then mid 20's.

One other thing to try, is getting into the deep end, tread water for a minute, relax, totally relax.  Find something peaceful to thing about, then stop treading water and let yourself sink down, holding your breath for as long as you can.  Swim back up, tread water again, relax, then repeat.  Do this until you become really comfortable with the deep water, prove to yourself that you can get back up to the top, relax, and tread water.  I'm told everyone experiences a panic attack at least once out in the open water, I have, and it will frighten the hell out of you.  If you can recognize it and know (through the confidence you develop) that you can stop, tread water, relax, pull yourself back together, and carry on in a minute, you'll be so much more prepared.  I learned this by swimming too tight on the inside of a turn around a buoy when the wave of good swimmers, swam over the top of me for the first time. 

Build up your "tool box" of skills now, in the pool.  When you can get out into the open water, where you can't see as well, there are waves, other people, no lane lines, and shadows - you'll know that you have ways of dealing with the variables.

 

After my first season of triathlon, I purchased a TI Bundle that included the Triathlon Swimming Made Easy book and the Easy Freestyle DVD. I got through my first season of triathlon, which included several sprints and one olympic distance race, pretty reasonably, but I felt like my swim needed some help. I thought the TI program was great for helping me develop better balance in the water (improved that sinking feet problem I was having) and helping develop a smoother, more efficient stroke that let me get through the swim with plenty of energy left over. The DVD was very helpful for demonstrating the TI drills. I was having a hard time picturing what I was supposed to do from the written description in the book for some of them, and the DVD did a great job of showing exactly what they should look like. Any criticism I have seen of TI has been from "real" swimmers - mostly the ones with competitive swimming backgrounds. Their criticism is that the TI stroke is not a "fast" swim stroke, and I would probably agree to some extent. But I think it's a fantastic starting point for people who are more or less coming to swimming as adults and need to learn to swim well enough to get through the swim portion of a triathlon. After I more or less mastered the TI swim stroke, I made some small modifications to my stroke that helped me add a little more speed, but kept the basic concepts.

Courtney - just wanted to share my story with you.  I ran my first marathon in 2009.  My 18 mile run was a disaster!!  I ran a half marathon and then planned on tacking on the adtl 5 miles but I had hit the wall something awful!  I took a break after the half, stretched out, drank some water and half hour later finished the run.  It was a serious mental setback though and I think the mental aspect of running a marathon is huge!!  My 20 mile long run a few weeks later was a breeze!  At the marathon I ended up with terrible knee pain starting at mile 2 and continuing for the entire race (which I ran thru anyway) but I had the 20 mile run under my belt and in my head and that helped get me thru.

My second marathon was last November.  I became injured 1 month into training.  I went thru pt, cut out running then added small amounts back in.  That is when I bought a road bike and took up swimming so that I could be doing something.  I struggled thru a half marathon about 6 weeks before the marathon and then hardly ran on ground but started pool running and biking more.  I seriously had some weeks that were 2 or 4 miles of total running.  I got to the marathon and kicked butt!!  I am sure the fact that I was running the New York Marathon helped contribute to that but I not only ran the entire distance, I shaved 13 minutes off my first marathon time.  I had never felt better running either.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that running a marathon takes as much mental as it does physical.  My legs hurt something crazy the entire race and I had to do high knees and butt kicks and stride outs multiple times a mile for all 26 miles but mentally, I had prepared myself that I came to run and nothing was going to stop me from doing that.  Don't let your shortened run mess with your head.  You had so many factors working against you and that happens some times.   I have not yet read past this post to know how things worked out for your next long run but just keep mentally tough and you will be great!

Courtney - now that I have read on - I see that you have run marathons so you know what I am talking about.  Helps to read before typing!!  Sorry!!  Well good luck on your training anyway!  Allison