THE SLAYER RULES-FULL Up (Page 7)

I'll throw in my goals in here as well since I haven't had a chance to put my two cents into any of the great topics. My year end at work is kicking my behind and I can't wait to actually start training.

January will be my comeback month I want to do the following

Run: 15-20 miles a week 2-3 short runs 3-4 miles and a long run long being over 6 miles for now.

Bike: Mainly will have to stay on the trainer but 2 spin classes a week and 1 longer trainer ride on the weekend.

Swim: 2-3 times a week to get back into it just swim for time 20 minutes to start and build up to 40 minutes toward end of the month

February: More of January schedule to keep working on my base in all 3 sports

March: More of January and February but toward end of March start throwing in some intensity and tempo workouts and hopefully be on the road by end of March.

April: First race end of April, hope to swim at SLAYERs pond

I'll put more concrete goals mileage wise when i put my training schedule over the weekend.

Edin

My goals for 2012 are as follows

1, Set a new pb in every race i enter.

2, Sort my weight out so i can move towards being the athlete i want to be.

3, Enjoy my training and not see it as a chore.

4, Have a training diary that looks like i'm training for ironman and not a sprint.

In 2012 i will be turning 40 and my biggest goal is to arrive there in the best shape of my life.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2012. Looking forward to following everyone's journeys.

Simon

that's the spirit

Still missing a few goals but that's cool.

Now that we have are goals set lets figure out how to reach them. I would like to hear peoples thoughts on plans, coaches ect. I am trying to make it to a group ride this morning so my post will come later.

General 

1. Have a decent Mtn. Mist 50k Trail Ultra

2. Get weight back down to sub 210/moderate beer/crap food consumption.

3. Have fun training

4. Swim 3x per week and get 1 lesson by end of month

5. Hit volume goals below:

Volume goals for January:

500mi+bike (must avg 120mi per week)

200mi+run (must avg 7mi per day)

24k-yd+swim (must avg 6k yards per week)

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I am sticking with Shanks as coach. He's been my coach since 2008. It will be a heavy dose of endurance and z2 lower intensity training that will be sparked up with some VO2 max work then some Tempo work as we get closer to races, which will be several HIMs with some short course sprinkled in for fun. 

Lots of social training and racing are on the agenda. NO IM unless one grabs my fancy. May jump on the TTT-OH in May 2012 as its supposed to be a killer experience. I am targeting 2013 IMFL for my return to IM distance but thats open for discussion.

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Also would not mind if folks want to recap 2011 or December too. Hit us up. We are still getting to know each other so take the floor as needed/wanted.

2011 Year in Review

Summary

• Curling once per week – last time, as retiring from Curling to focus on training
• Coached ½ Marathon clinic at RR in preparation for Chilly ½ Marathon at beginning of March
• March – certified as Marathon coach and joined LA Fitness to start focusing on swim (2-3 times a week) and started 1hr Yoga per week on Friday mornings.
• By the numbers:
• Swim – 75Km – 46.6Miles – 31hrs
• Bike – 1,211Km – 752Miles – 56.5Hrs
• Run – 1,715.69Km – 1,066.09Miles – 131.5hrs
• Yoga – 31hrs
• Also, in December passed 10,000Km since starting running in April 2005. 

Races Summary 

March: 

• Chilly ½ Marathon – 2:01
• Around the Bay (30K) – DNF, due to gastro issues 

May: 

• Sporting Life 10K – 52:41
• Mississauga ½ Marathon – 2:06 

June: 

• Zoot open water swim north of Peterborough (was supposed to do 2K, but bailed due to cramping legs)  – 1K in 27M
• Started coaching Marathon clinic at RR for Scotia Toronto Marathon in October – 15 runners with varying goals.
• Annual 3 day Golf trip – 90 Holes of golf in 3days. 

July: 

• Completed the Warrior Dash 5K – 45Minutes 

August: 

• Steelhead HIM – 5:35, with no swim, really happy with the time even though no swim 

September: 

• Energizer night run 10K – 52:17
• Oasis Zoo run 10K – 52:31 

October:  

• Scotia Toronto Marathon – 4:37(PB by 20 minutes)
• All 15 runners made their goals for this race from 3:28 to 5:00

Tomorrow's post, goals for 2012.

Just like to add some of my goals:
-    Succesfully complete my first Marathon race
-    Successfully get involved into cycling  (buying the road bike first) in order to properly incorporate all three disciplines
-    Get as better as possible in swimming technique
-    Start competing in triathlon races

My planned races:
March (Rome, marathon)
April – December (short triathlon distances)
May (Edinburgh, half-marathon)
Summer – 3k swimming marathon (depending on swimming progress)

I hope I'll be able to learn plenty in 2012. Hoping it will be way better in general, injury free, overcoming the obstacles, no matter where they are. Hoping to find proper answers on important issues, unknown situations and unanswered questions.

Happy New Year all, hope 2012 has started well for you. I kicked off today with a Parkrun and got a PB for 5k which was great! 

Good start to the year Kate. Well done.

Now I need to get my butt in gear and do something today.

BT just erased my last post, so now I'm cranky.  Okay, now I'm over it.  Sorry for being MIA during the festivities!

Kate: GREAT job on the PR! 2012 is going to be such a great year for you!

In the last few days I have managed to get back into the pool (!), including a lesson (apparently I'm a bad swimmer because I don't "feel" the water), conquered a 42 mile super hard bike ride with over 4900 feet of climbing, and got my honey back into running with a long run (and walk) through Balboa Park.  Ironman training officially begins for me tomorrow and I'm super stoked.

Does anyone have any advice on how to "feel" the water, besides lots of sculling drills and time in the water?

I'm not going to set any specific volume goals yet.  My goals are: to hit every training session and make it count, swim 3x/week, have fun (usually don't have trouble with this one), get good sleep, reduce stress, publish a couple of big fatty papers, eat clean, lose my last bit of chub, and make the best of 2012.

Socks: I love my balegas cuz they're soft and cushy.  Also, I love CEP compression socks for after training.  I don't wear them during cuz I'm not venous incompetent like former porkchop Slayer .

Happy New Year, everyone!  We're going to have an awesome 2012.

Finally did something in 2012. 9K in 51minutes, combination of icy trail, and icy tarmac surface. Nice to get started on training this year.

Ashley: well done on the training and getting your honey into it! You'll rock this year and it's great that you're so into it already. 

As for feeling the water our coach has 2 drills that might help. First on is to swim with your fists clenched. This will make you more aware of feeling with your forearms and not just your hands. The second is to kick with your arms out straight then with your elbows still by your ears alternately bend just your forearms to bring your hand down into catch then back up (note it's really difficult to breathe while your doing it so I end up bending one then the other then breathing before settling in again). The drill will teach you to get the right catch position. 

Hope these help the first one definitely should do. 

Look at y'all! Nice work everyone. Seeing some good workouts starting to post. Keep em coming!

As Ashley, knows, not only am I pretty useless when it comes to swim advice but I am a former (and returning) pork chop! Dang it, I hit my max of 220 today so its time to get serious again. I'm going sub 200 bitchez!

Other than Kate, Peter is a pretty good swimmer. I figure Scotty has to be good swimming at Dynamo, which is world class.Who else can step up and help Ash?

I got back home last night (putting a blank up to start the year) and ran a long trail run this am so now I should start to have some more time to review what you all are doing and see what my thoughts are.

Is anyone wanting any other topics to be addressed other than just a review of each person? Bring your questions here and everyone can chime in. we can discuss equipment, training plans, various topics within each sport, etc. Also, another thanks for your patience while I was away and for keeping the ball bouncing. y'all rock!

Kate

other than weight loss, what do you attribute your faster and more steady running to?

Other than time in the water I agree with Kate that the closed fist drill is the best for getting a good feel of the water. Today my plan had me do 50 closed followed by 50 free X2.  I really never knew what it meant to feel the water a couple of years ago but after swimming 3-4 times a week with a coach and an aggressive plan one day it just happened. The coach had me flip turn and push hard off the wall and stay streamlined. You should try and feel as little resistance forward and get a good scoop of water with your relaxed hand and elbow and push it behind you. You don't want to try and do it fast because it is like spinning your wheels and going nowhere. You want to do it fast enough to maintain your speed.

Swim and drills. No short cuts

Increase in speed is on account of 3 things, work on body position (relaxed and upright = more efficient and sustainable), weight loss and recent focus on lengthening stride - especially on the hills. I tend to run at a steady and sustainable pace but I'm trying to work on lengthening my stride which means I tend to push a little harder on the hills as a result. I also do a hill interval work out every week which helps with the hill pacing. 

I'm also working on upping the pace on my steady runs. I've moved from 6.4 km/hr up to 8.5 km/hr over the last 2 years and am trying to increase this a little every time I run. 

I like what Peter wrote: "No short cuts". I totally agree and look at Kate as the example. Whats your volume/training load like compared to previous years everyone? Thats where you get the pay off imho. do the work and reap the benefits.

Who wants to be the first dissection?