Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 7)

Oh for the visually impaired... I wear the goggles that have vision correction in them.  THey cost like $20 to30 and are great for ows or even pool swim so you can find your bike. 

Fatigue can definately make your workouts slower.  If you see times on your runs drop over 3 weeks and you are putting for the same effort with the same workload... you probably need to toss in an extra day of rest.  Increasing the swim drains your energy without frying your muscles typically so there are not as many warning signs that you are about to drop until you find yourself walking up stairs 2 feet to each step... not that I have done that.  Then it is time to take that extra day with no exercize.  Building is a fine ballance and I am sure I will violate some endurance walls as I build to 27 hours a week of workouts over the next 2/5 months.  Slow build from 15 hours up, but the graph will look pretty over the next 5 weeks. The trick is knowing when to back off for a day and regroup.  Usualy charing your run times is good for the same distance/route.  If they get consistantly slower... ya probably carying too much fatigue.  Or gabbing too much with the neighbors 8). 

Well, darn! I was in Chicago this past weekend, too! We could have had a whole running group! I will warn ahead next time.

Plans for this week: Get back in the pool after 5 (or has it been 6?) weeks out due to shoulder impingement. Easing back into running after fixing up some shin splints/ART & Graston treatments from old marathon injury. Continuing biking as usual, maybe finally install my clipless pedals and get that first fall out of the way...

@Squirt I'm doing an open water clinic this weekend, too! Sometimes I feel like we're living parallel triathlon lives..

Someone told me just today to use body glide to help get your wetsuit on. She also said you can spray yourself with Pam cooking spray. Any professional advice on that?

Wow...some really good info since I was able to check in. I apologize I wasn't able to participate in teh quiz. I had no clue what any of the answers were anyways so...I woulda failed any dang ways. However, I'm over here with a note pad taking invaluable notes. Lots and lots of help and I really appreciate it.

I think I have a new toughest physical challenge:  friend of mine is a pro mma fighter and has been inviting me to take part in their cardio training. Dang that was brutal. I was drenched in sweat literally minutes into the workout. It was awesome!

My weekends are my days off from work and training. I'm back on this morning with a 25 minute each  swim and run. Steppin up my game and will log it when I am done.

I know Marc! My legs are always sore now.  Used to be they were sore only after a long Sunday run.  Now I am usig them everyday...Coach, what is up with that!  Will we ever not be sore again??-Karen

Planned run last night was cut short.  My daughter has decided to take up running and train for a 5K, she's 11.  We went to the park in between rain storms and finished Week 1 Day 1 of C25K.  Then both of us went to the gym for a swim workout.  I got in 2K Meters (1 x 200 Warmup/Cooldown, 2 X 800 Easy Pace), 45 minutes.  I am working really hard on slowing down my stroke and gliding more in addition to keeping high elbows on the catch and pull.  I am starting to feel a little more efficient and less fatigued. 

@CKSlowpoke:  Congrats on your swim progress.  Regarding your bike, you can swap the tires from trail to road pretty quickly and it would be good practice for fixing a flat.  This is assuming you don't purchase a bike off Craigs List prior. 

I have enjoyed going to clipless on my road bike.  It takes some getting used to as earlier posts in this thread make reference to.  They're great because you not only push down on the pedals, but can also pull up.  If you watch the pedaling training video on here at BT, they actually take about pedalling horizontally instead of vertically.  You definitely need clipless for that.

As far as tri specific, I think they are refering to the bike shoes that use just a single, wide piece of velcro.  Tri athletes use these because they can leave their shoes clipped into the pedals, grab their bike, jump on and start riding.  They can then fasten the shoes to their feet after they get going.  Saves on transition time.  I think this is more of an intermediate trick than a beginner trick.  I will take my time getting my shoes on.

I am not sure that pulling up during the pedal stroke is considered ideal.  From what I read and have seen your pedal stroke should more or less push your leg up at the end of your stroke.  Here is a good article explaining the why.

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/training-fitness/perfect-pedal-stroke

Regarding Tri specific shoes, you are correct.  I have a pair of Rec Shoes (spin class), Mountain shoes and Tri shoes.  While I don't leave my shoes clipped in at transistion because frankly I am not fast enough at any point in the race where 20 seconds is going to make a difference.  I do like the singular velcro strap in addition to them being designed for wearing without socks. 

Regarding leaving them clipped in at Transistion, I worked the mount line as a volunteer last year for a HIM.  About half the participants had their shoes pre-clipped at the mount line.  Of those probably only about 1/3rd were skilled enough to actually gain any time from it.  Most were left messing around with them or the band would break and toe would smack the ground bouncing the bike all over the place. 

Yes clipped in shoes allow your foot to be in the ideal place on the pedal for good efficiency and you can pull up if needed.  For those who have the cliped in shoes and a trainer, try doing 1 foot drills (the article states don't do this unless you are advanced, but if you do it slowly for a short time you can feel the hole in your rotation).  They are really hard, but are supposed to help you to have steady pressure on the pedal all the way around. 

You do not run in the Tri clipped bike shoes.  Pretty much only the advanced triathletes do the preclipped shoes with the flying mount without getting hurt or spending way too much time getting the shoes on the feet etc.  Most of us are not there yet.  Once I take 2 hours off my IM time I will work on it (lol). 

My bike speed has not realy improved over the past 2 years on 112 miles, but got up to 19 mph at 56.  I have a lot of work to do here and I think it mostly comes from getting in more than 3500 miles a year.  I think like running, you just have to do it a lot. 

My small gain in swimming this week came from a 30 second video I watched.  The coach in the vid said to pull with your wrist as your focal point and your hand and arm should move into better position.  Ya my swimming is slow, but this ever so slight shift in focus from hand to wrist made sense for my pull.  I am also trying to keep my hands at 11:00 and 1:00 when putting them into the water as part of frying my right shoulder may have been trying to get my hands too close to 12:00.  The really hard part is keeping my head low enough while rotating left to right the correct amount without lifting my head at all to breath.  Mostly I am focusing on the pull.  Just as a reference I am swimming around a 2:00/100 currently after 3 months off with the collar bone break.  Felt a little stronger for the first time last night doing 200s 2-3 seconds faster each 200 for 10 sets.

Yes you can keep the bumpy tires on and then just change to the smoothe tires for a race.  The smooth tires should give you 1 mph at less of an effort over the bumpy ones.   

Disclaimer: I am not really a coach... just sharing what I have picked up, so that all are clear.  I have a lot to learn and didn't want anyone coming in late to miscontrue my credentials to give advice.   

It's all in the wrist...would like to hear more about this in regards to swimming improvements.  I am really focusing on swimming this year and making improvements.  I currently swim over distance around 1:55 X 100 Meters or 1:45 X 100 Yards.  This puts me around 37 minutes for the swim and I am not sure I can hold that pace in open water with no wetsuit.  Without wetsuit I am thinking I will be closer to 40 minutes.   Would love to figure out some way to get me down to 35 for that distance without a wetsuit.

First open water swim of the year is this Sunday and I am both excited and nervous about it.  Water is going to be cold at around 58-60 degrees and the path takes you out in a triangle from point to point in the lake covering right at 1 mile.  Will follow that up with a 30 mile or so bike ride assuming my legs hold out after racing a Half Marathon on Saturday.

19MPH on the bike for a full IM is pretty solid.

Back from Chicago and ready to get into it for the week, unfortunately I will be out of town next weekend as well!!! This is not good for my training!

A good tool for freestyle swimming, am I doing it properly or not questions.  http://www.swimsmooth.com/  You can download a program to view the best way to swim in slow motion and from multiple angles.  Furthermore there are a bunch of videos on efficiency and all sorts of drills.

I think I am off to buy a rain coat today for these never ending rainy days destroying my biking schedule!

Have a good week everyone!

Marcus

Ken-Your work out is almost the same as mine...except you're much faster...not god for me.

Lisa-lol on taking the wrong turn and going extra!  You really meant to do that right?!

Carol-You LOVE to run in the rain? I guess I am just a wimp. Better suck it up next down pour to be as competitive as you.

Ceril-I went to a bike shop, had them tell me the size I would need, then promptly went on E-Bay and bought one at that size, took it to another bike shop to get it fitted. It's just an idea.

Nate-Ok, teach me, what is a pro mma fighter? Glad you had a good work out with him.

Dennis-That transitions video is superb! Lots a good advice.  I am with you on the issue of leaving the shoes clip on the bike, not for me as a beginner.  I'll be sitting down switching shoes. 

Daughter has yet another band concert tonight, but I am determined to get my hour bike ride in before I go.  Guess it is another wet hair in a pony tail look for me.

So Coach Steve, my question today is during the Sprint race, do you push it a lot in the bike and hope you have legs enough for the run, or try to conserve your legs for the run?  Right now it is one or the other for me. -Karen

For being beginners you are all doing some great stuff and asking great questions. I am many steps behind most of you it seems. I don't even realize what questions I should have or need to ask. So I read with out too much input to give, but I appreciate all you are asking and answering. I am learning so much! But today I do have questions

I think the whole idea of trying to schedule my week with with three different activities is proving to be more overwhelming than I thought it would be. I know so little about training. Today I officially start my 13-week training, but will not have access to a pool or road bike for another two weeks. This part of my training will have to start late. I also do not have a way to track my mileage or pace when using the spin bike at the gym or jogging outside. I have been looking into getting a heart rate monitor - how important do you think they are? I am looking at the Garmin FR60, any thoughts suggestions?

Steve you have talked about the benefits of run/swim/bike three times a week. I am currently using the "Original Sprint" 13 Week tri plan that is on BT. It is set up for 2/2/2. I am trying to decide how to adjust it to be 3/3/3. Should I go with one day a week off or two? Does it matter where I add in the other three workouts? Do I need to try and keep them from being back-to-back, though I don't think this is possible. I also know you said to do a short, medium and long. In looking at the 13-week plan i am not sure what is a good difference for me between medium and long since I really am just begining and do not want to burn out. Would you recommend I do the second and third workouts for the same amount of time to start out, or go with the longest time on the plan as my long workout and do something in between that for medium?

I am asking a lot of questions. Thanks!

I hope everyone has a great week of perseverance in their training. Samantha

I started by tracking my mileage outside using google maps and then using the distance measuring tool to see how far I went, used my watch to time the run and there ya have it.  If your spin bike has a speedomiter or odomoter on it you can use those to guestimate distance and record time or just estimate it. 

A heart rate monitor is fun, and used for training purposes, but you don't really need one to start with.  It is mostly designed for hr specific training that you need a 6 month base pretty much before it is a lot of use.  You can use it sooner, but you probably wont be doing any z4/5 workouts in the first 6 months.  It is a good feedback for how hard you are working and if it happens to be a garmin/timex it tracks your distance, pace, elevation, etc. very convienently.  They are really good for trying to hold a specifi pace for your workout though (the gps ones).  I have a garmin 405, but you can't swim with it, if I had to buy a  new one today I might look into the new timex watch.  Haven't read any reviews on it yet though.   

Bt has many beginner, couch to sprint programs that are 3x3x3.  A plan adds them in easier than you can do yourself.  If you dont have time for the last workout go 3run x 3 bike x 2 swim.  At the beginning the short med and long run may be 1 mile.  But 2 months later it may be 2, 4 and 6 miles.  You may need to start shorter workouts and build up to the base the plan expects.  An IM plan typically expects you are working out 10 hours with a long run 10, bike 50 and swim 2000 to start the plan. 

 I often do a plan with no days off, but having a whole day off is really nice.  At this point I really couldn't imagine having 2 days off, I couldn't get everything done in 5 days.  My current plan has no days off.  It is a 5x5x3 plan.  My lite day is a swim only on Friday.  You can do workouts back to back if convienent, better to have some recovery but you have to work around your life.   I think that catches most of it.

 If you are strong in the bike and not in the run.... you need to go easy on the bike and survive the run.  Going hard on the bike in a sprint may save you 2 minutes and if you have to walk it could cost you 10 minutes on the run.  In an IM if you end up walking it could cost you 3 hours.... for the 20 minutes you save on the bike. 

I think I caught most of the questions, ask again if I missed something.

first, Trigator, MMA is mixed martial arts. Have you ever seen the UFC fights? That's MMA. Sick workouts!

Second...my run training is being seriously derailed by shin splints. I have never ever gotten them before in my life. But then again never really ran like this. I have a really good feeling it is my shoes. I have been doing research and shoes can definitely be the culprit. Has anyone had shinsplints and done anything specific to overcome them??

My swim steadily improves and I can't wait to get home and check out Marcus' link. And the info about using the wrist...isn't that an old line? "It's all in the wrist."