Allison and Ryan's Beginner Mentor Group - FULL (Page 7)

My workout for the day today was a 3 mile bike ride hurrying to get home before the thunderstorm.  FUN!!

I had the same experience with the heart rate monitor.  I used it about twice and then turned off the beeping.  I wonder if I have figured out my zones wrong.  I really would like to start training with it. 

Great workout day today.

Early morning swim, was consistently turning laps around 60 seconds. New swim teacher has been helping me a lot. Got rid of a dead spot in my stroke. I am working a lot harder and getting more big muscles involved. I can't quite maintain that 60 seconds pace for 500 yards, but it feels within reach. He's also got me working on flip turns. At this point I can pull off a passable flip turn about 60% of the time, so I don't do this on longer swims yet. I know when I fully incorporate flip turns into my longer swims I will get an immediate time bonus, but I consider that more of an artefact since I'm not actually moving faster through the water. He's also got me doing backstroke, which I find to be a good break between freestyle sets, and it always feels like it's somehow 'balancing' my swim work - sort of like that yoga principle where if you stretch one way, you also stretch the opposite way. Got out of the pool feeling great.

Then finally had time in the weight room. I usually only manage to fit this in once a week, or "once-and-a-half" with a second shorter session. I do some basic sets of core and upper body exercises; takes about 40-45 minutes.

Then I slept in the afternoon b/c of working the night shift tonight (at work now). But before I came in, I got to run for 25 minutes on the treadmill. I have a routine where I periodically add speed to my treadmill setting, and today was the day. I usually struggle on the first day at a faster pace, but today I used the "open breathing" tip I got yesterday in spin class and man, it really helped. It made me feel much less struggling - a really cool sense of peace while going faster. Usually I only get that "deep peace" feeling with swimming, so it was cool to get it with running.

Days like today make me wish I'd gotten into multisport years ago. This is great. I feel wonderful.

Passed the class, whoo whoo even though I had to re-do my presentation (not a huge public speaking fan), so now back to training.  I was fairly dissapointed in that aspect of the class we were told to expect 30+ miles of riding a day, the longest ride was sub 20 miles though, mostly because some of the students weren't in the physical shape they needed to be in and once because the Air Force base was on lock down so we couldn't do that ride... but made it feel more like a recovery week, so going to hit it hard this week.

Still sans bike but I found out my local trek store rents out bikes and plan to rent one for my upcoming tri if I don't find a deal in the meantime instead of rushing to buy something just to be able to have something so in the meantime will be training on the dept's fat tires, I'm just going to compare it to drag training like wearing baggy shorts at the pool haha...

Have a good week everyone

Back from my weekend in Wisconsin... I ran outside on Saturday - 2.88 miles! My longest ever I sorry to say that there was SNOW on the ground, but I delighted to say it didn't stop me. Got home on Sunday and did 45 minutes on the stationery bike. I was going to try my first outdoor ride, but then housecleaning got the better of me.

So now I am on week 4 of the 13 week plan -

And suddenly at the pool last week my swim goggles kept fogging up. Does anyone have a trick for keeping them clear?

Mary

I have another question about biking... I used to ride my bike to work. It's about 11 miles round trip. Can I use my commute as training? Or does it not count because the distance is split into two sessions? Just wondering if I should change my route so it's long on one side and chalk the return home as junk miles (is that a term?)

Mary

Hi Mary,

Great job on the run, keep it up!  Regarding the fogging goggles issue there are several different anti fog products out there that you can buy at swim and SCUBA shops that all do a pretty good job at keeping your lenses clear.  In dry goggles, drip some of the solution in, smear it all over the inside, rinse with water just once to get the excess out and you're good to go.  There is also the tried and true "spit" method.  Same method, different product.  Cheaper, always available, and IMHO works just as well.  Just don't let the inlaws see you do it...  I paid for a bottle of the stuff just once on a dive trip and went back to the natural method.  Have a great day!!

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to get back on track today.  I had a rough weekend for personal and business reasons so pretty much blew the program.  I did get a 30 min swim in on Saturday but that was it, and don't mention the diet, let's just say it was satisfying.  Anyone else have trouble staying disciplined on the weekends?  I'm pretty good Mon to Fri, but it's much easier when I'm on my work schedule.  A little frustrated and needing to get back into the groove is all.  Have a good one.

Dan.

Hey Dan:

Hang in there.  I didn't get to the gym on Friday. Weather lousy, but made it Saturday morning and did some intervals on the treadmill and some intervals in the pool, and then worked on bilateral breathing, and 2 kick rhythm.  It was a good workout, but not killer, and I felt great afterwards.  I'm not a runner, but was rocking the new Brooks Dyad's, so was actually able to do a mile in under 15 minutes.  The best I've ever done (back in my 20's) was a 2-mile run in 24 minutes and change.   If the schedule cheats you out of a workout, get the most out of the next one.  Add a couple intense intervals to the workout to make up for it.

Congrats on your longest run (especially in the cold weather). It just snowed here last night too...so sad. 

Goggle fogging can be annoying. Does it happen at your overly warm/humid gym pool? You can try anti-fog spray. But if you want to save money then try baby shampoo or liquid body soap (baby soap won't burn eyes though if any gets in). I'll usually soap them inside and rinse (don't rub/dry with cloth). It works for 1-3 swims usually.  Also during your swims try to avoid taking your goggles off and on during your workout.

You can also leave just a small amount of water in your goggles. The water moves around keeping the lenses clear. I don't leave enough water in the goggles to bother my eyes.

Bakerswife:

I'm a scuba diver, and I found an old trick that works really really well.  It's not "spit", it's toothpaste.  Don't do the gel kind, you need actual paste.  First clean your goggles really well, and dry them.  Spread the paste fairly thick.  Let it sit about 15 minutes, and then wipe it off. after you get most of it off, rinse to get the rest of the paste off.  You'll want to do a light buffing to put the film on the goggle lens.  This works better on glass than plastic.  When you go to the pool.  Spit on your goggles (yes spit), spread it around, and then dip them (DON'T RUB THEM) and put them on.  Hope this works for you. works well for me.

Hello everyone! Well I got my 5 mile run in this morning. It started rough again. First two miles felt really fatigued but I seemed to loosen up after that and was able to pick up my pace to what I am normally doing. Not sure If I am still feeling the effects from 1/2 marathon or just tired after my 10 miles on Saturday. I start my taper this Saturday as I am 2 weeks from the OKC Memorial race.

On to sad news, I have lost my swimming resource (problem with living in a small community). This will set me back big time on my swimming. I am working to try and locate another source and facility and hopefully that happens fast so that I don't lose too much time. Otherwise I will continue to run/bike. Hope everyone has a great training week!

When my calves are tight, I do my stretches on the stairs. You have to be careful that you don't overstretch. I do 1 minute each with feet perpendicular to the stair, then 45 degrees in then 45 degrees out. Toes on the riser, heels down.

My whole week was pretty rough - got not even half my workouts in. Good thing I'm doing a 12 week program over 16 weeks (not entirely intentional) so this will be a repeat week for me.

Dan - if you do figure out how to stay disciplined on the weekends, I'd love to know. I started my training week on Monday, and made Sunday a day off, that way if I miss Saturday, at least I have Sunday to make up for it. It can be hard to do the weekend thing- because everyone else in my life has free time to do stuff!

Mary

Hey thanks everyone for the 'spit' advice - I tried it today in the pool and it seemed to work a treat!

Mary

Apparently my week off from running is showing...  ran today and my mile times averaged about 30 sec slower from the week before, also worked all day in the sun not that I'm really buying that excuse...

Yeah I try to keep my days free when the wife and I both have off but sometimes it takes getting up a little earlier than her to get a training session in, runs are easiest for me since it's just strap shoes on and go but that's the best I have for weekend slumps

Morning all....hit the pool this am for week 2 of my 12 week program from wushunut http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/12-Week-Swim-Workout-Plan-for-Sprint-Triathlons.htm

So far so good. Having knee issues...possibly itbs flareup so I'm just going to swim this week and hope I can get me knee rested enough for Saturdays race. It's only 5k but I dont want to blow the entire season by injuring at an early fun race. Swimming is far and away where I need the most work so it might be a blessing in disguise.

Dan

Greetings all,

I had a crazy schedule yesterday so I followed my theory of "anything is better than nothing" and went for a 1.5 mile run.  Whooee!  But hey, I got a run in while having a grand total of one hour to warm up, run , cool down, shower, eat dinner and get in the car to go to a Scout meeting.  It felt pretty useless but I know it was far better than doing nothing.  And I only have two kids, kudos to those out there who train while having a houseful!!  Have a great day everyone.

Dan.