Jford2309/Kido Mentoring Group-Closed (Page 7)

My humble opinion is this. You would be better off with lessons than a snorkel. I see people in races swimming with a snorkel and I am always amazed that it is allowed in the rules book. I read somewhere thatit is actually harder with a snorkel due to the carbon monoxide staying in the snorkel and you are inhaling it (or something like that, I will try and find out the exact verbage) Swimming endurance is not something you can just have, it takes alot of swimming in the pool. According to your logs, you are only averaging 300 yards a workout, and that is assuming you swim every workout, so I would say, swim more, work on technique, but do not rely on any devices yet.

My two bits...I agree with James on this topic. To add to this, my swim coach also suggested that when I feel like I am floundering a bit in a work out I should flip over and do the back stroke. While doing the back stroke think hard about what your body is doing and use good form and relax your breathing. You are basically working the same muscle groups which means you are still getting a great workout!

I agree with the above comments, I think they are right on.

For me, I remember my first swim when I decided to start doing this. I thought hey swimming no big deal, I was a great swimmer when I was young. So after my first 50 yards when I was hanging onto the side of the pool, wondering why I could not breath and wondering what my wife and kids were going to do after my impending death. I was worried.  I  could not figure out how to breath. My progress was slow because I didn't know how to breath. Then someone mentioned that I should look straight up to the ceiling (sky if outside) when I took a breath, that way I would have plenty of time to get the air I needed and I won't swallow half the pool each time I tried to breath. It totally worked. I finally could breath and the swimming got a lot better and easier. Now I don't really think about breathing and I rarely have to look to the ceiling when breathing.

Another thing that really help me was the book "Total Immersion". I would highly recommend reading this book. It explains a lot and will make you a better swimmer. I checked it out at the library. I can easily do a 3000-4000m workout now and love it!  My 1st tri was a HIM and I did the 1.2 miles in 37mins, not bad for my first open water swim. My next tri was IM St. George and I went 1:11, which is not bad.

Anyway that's my advice for ya.

7 mile run today

24 mile bike/4 mile run tomorrow and rest on Sunday!

What are your plans for the weekend?

And also, let's be thinking of a team challenge for February!  Maybe we do an iron distance for our training (swim 2.4, bike 112, run 26) or something like that. Let's be creative!

Jambango - that was a great post. Thanks!

I am really enjoying the BarryP's 3:2:1 running program (run 6 days a week, three runs short, 2 runs medium and 1 long run....so for me next week - it will be Monday 3 miles, Tuesday 6 miles, Wednesday 3 miles, Thursday 6 miles, Friday 3 miles, Saturday 9 miles all at a pace that you feel you could sustain for longer than the scheduled run). The short days are really easy to get done (I've only got to run a short distance, this is no problem), the medium days are doable because I know I am at a sustainable pace and the long days only happen once a week followed by a rest day. There is more to the program - but right now, I'm just building the base.

Week three of Paleo for Athletes is down on Saturday - only 9 weeks left until my first race. I really struggled this week. I ended up caving in to my craving (of yogurt/granola/blueberries) after thinking about it for 24 hours. I decided if I was that obsessed with it - I should just go ahead and have it. Interestingly enough, I did not feel very well after...I got a head ache and just felt kind of foggy mentally. Another tool for my toolbelt to keep me on track.

Good luck with your run James!

tomorrow - soccer with 4-6 yr olds (lots of short sprints), possibly 2-3 mile jog early

I plan on walking / jogging with dog on Monday 2 miles, Tuesday 1.5 miles, Thurs 2 miles.

Friday I want to go 3 miles. 

Also I am looking at 5K after soccer season, end of Feb.

Signed up for "I'm losing it" promotion in town, which will run until June and has a kick-boxing workout once a week and weigh-ins (with photos).

I am not swimming for a while, so best I could do in Feb is a duathalon.  that would require pumping bike tires or better yet hitting the gym with my son.

My first question is how did you determine what your resting Metabolic rate actually is... which is the amount of calories you actual burn in a day.   I was tested quite a few years ago and I was @ 3200cal a day.   after a illness I noticed I was gaining weight so I got retested to find out I was now at 2300 cals a day..   So while I thought I was eating less I really wasn't.  

I'd first look for registered dieticians in your area since they will usually do the test, { about ten mins of breathing into a small machine after fasting for x number of hours}   if you can't find an RD then there will most likely be a tri coach doing it. But since it's tri related expect to pay more for the same thing.   The RD's around my area charge apx fifty bucks for the test.   the tri coaches will start at around 100 and go up from there.   It's funny since the tri coaches will also claim to give nutritional advice but IMHO I'd rather get it from an actual RD

once you know what your daily intake actually is, then it's much easier to see if it's calories in vs out, or if you have something else going on

You go guy! Wooooooorkout!

But the good news is *you did it*! Great job.

Signed up for two races this morning after yesterday's long run went off without any pain in my foot/ankle. I'm doing the Great Bay Half Marathon April 7 with a couple of friends and the Patriot HIM June 16. Now I'm ready to panic.

Any nutrition advice for the HIM? What's your favorite pre-race meal? What's worked for you in the past? For the run yesterday, I took a gel about 10 minutes before the start of the run and another 45 minutes into the run...seemed to work fine (with a couple of sips of water every 15 minutes). I just got some Honey Stinger Waffles on a friend's recommendation - I'm going to try them out today on my long bike.

Have a great day all!

 when we would have enough BT'er for a pre race meal, they would literally all laugh at me.. My favorite pre race meal is a bacon cheeseburger, with fries and a beer.   If I dont' have that I'll have a nice steak or fish with veggies.   If you eat right during the week and training you really don't need a special meal.. just find one that works..

like bacon cheeseburger, fries and beer

So how was everyones wekend? Mine was awesome, had a great run on friday, a great bike/run brick on Sat and a wonderful nap on Sunday! I am in a recovery week this week and I can tell I am needing it!

And for pre-race meals, I have nothing set. post race meal is a steak!  Always!!!

gotta love a nice steak as a post race or recovery meal...

The weather in my part of texas was fantastic this weekend.   cooler in the morning but low 70's by afternoon.

Got a lot of stuff done around the house, dinner with friends, caught up on photo projects, a couple of runs and I even found the pool

Mine was good.  I was finally home after a week in "isolation" due to my radiation procedure.  So it was nice to just be HOME.  Can't believe how that lifted the spirits.

Continue to do my P90x.  Getting stronger, even if I'm not losing any weight.  More flexible too.  So I guess I will take it.  What's nice, is I'm starting to miss s/b/r - so maybe the little "vacation" from the sport has helped with the motivation.

I was in the pool everyday this weekend. I think everyone is right - just more time in the pool is helping both my stroke and to reduce my anxiety levels re swimming. And all the time in the pool seems to have been enough of a break for my knee to recover mostly.

So what is the deal with 'brick' workouts? I usually do my run directly after my swim followed by weights (evenings) simply because I can't make myself get up and to the gym in the morning. Should I be breaking these apart?

A brick workout is simply doing two or more workouts together. The most common brick I would say is the bike/run brick and a lot of people do these to simulate race conditions when you get off the bike and then start the run. Some swear by brick workouts and others hate them. I like to do them occasionally in order to help me get into race mode.

I think for everyone that says they like bricks, you can find another who says they are not needed.

 When I was a morning workout person, I always did a run/swim or swim/run workout, since it worked out best for me time wise.   Usually that's the biggest reason for multiple workouts (bricks) time constraints. Even non tri people who have never heard fo the team "brick" do them.      It is nice to have a workout where I do everything in order,  and there is a big mental benefit for doing a bike then run so you are used to the weird feeling you legs gets, but once you know how to deal with it, do what works best for your schedule is my opinion

Not sure if I'm in the not needed camp totally    but once you've done them for a couple a years you pretty much know what's going to happen and how you should react. One coach loved doing a workout where we'd bike for 10-15 min, do a transition, run for 5 min, tranistion back to the bike and keep alternating for about 90 min.  

  I do like have a day where I'd take my bike to the pool, swim, run out to the parking lot, to bike some, then come back for a quick run, since it gets me motivated to race.

Congrad on your PR in 100yd swim.   What I do with my 100yd time, I add :15 - :20 second and swim interval 5 x 100 and work myself up to 10 x 100 with that time.   After I get to 10 x 100, I'll do another time trial to see how much I improve.  It a great way to set goal and motivate myself to swimming.  

Good on ya for getting into the pool and PRs!

I need to get back into it a bit.  BUT, I'm glad I have been doing the P90x.  I may not look much different, but MUCH stronger and more flexible.

Next week is a recovery week, so I may be doing a bit more s/b/r.  I was talking to my trainer, and he feels the strength training shouldn't hurt my cardio too much.  He's not a traithlete, so he could be wrong.  I'm sure it's going to impact it some.  It might be nice to find out next week.  Do my standard 10k run, 40k bike, and mile swim and see what the damage is.  But it's always a bit rough that first week getting back into it.

Good news is, now that I'm on my permanent medication, it SEEMS the weight is going in the right direction finally!

Hey all - thanks for the words of wisdom on simply swimming more. I've been in the pool daily and I am starting to 'get it' more than before. I also scheduled a lesson for next week. 

It seems though that my best swimming is only coming at the very end of my workouts - I think I have to get tired in order to relax, and then the only thing to do is swim efficiently because I'm almost spent. Or maybe I just need to work on relaxing - I hated swim lessons as a kid and this is bring all the anxiety back. We had to do bob-ups for like 10 mins every lesson and I swear I was half-drowning the entire time Funny because my mom made me take the lessons because she didn't want me to drown!