TRI (Totally Radical Improvement) - Clydes/Athenas to competitors - Re-Opened (Page 7)

I am still having shin pain, but it is not as bad as it was.  I go for my gait analysis on Saturday morning and then I get the results back on the 13th.  Maybe they will be able to give me some pointers on my running form.  I also made an appointment with the physical therapist due to some pain I'm feeling at my bunion surgery site.  I'm hoping that it's nothing because I don't think I can deal with another injury-riddled year.

It feels strange to say, but I think this might be my breakthrough year.  This is the first time I've stayed this consistent and don't dread going to the gym.  I am shaving seconds off my biking and running times.  I started out at 20 minute miles on the treadmill and am now averaging in the 17 minute range.  Today, I managed to do close to 16 mph on the bike which is up from 14 mph.  I know both sound slow to many, but for me it is fantastic!  Yesterday on the treadmill, I was able to keep a 1 min jog and 2 min walk for a full 12 minutes.  That has NEVER happened before.  And, although I was exhausted after that 12 minutes, I didn't feel like I was going to die.

Nice to see everyone doing so well this early in the season.  Keep it up!

It IS fantastic!

Training day off for me so it gives me a chance to catch up with everyone ...

Mitzi - get on that treadmill when you can.  Improvements come from consistency - and since you love pushing the iron keep doing that as well but remember the goal is a lean muscle momma.

Chuck - if I started sprinting around my building at work someone would call me in for OSHA violations (I work in a warehouse).  Nice to see you are getting it in where you can.  Look around at work - how many people that you work with are complete sedentary bet you could make a list and you'd be right about most ...

Matt - 5 hours is a solid week.  Plan to peak with volume about 2 weeks before your A race - and don't forget one full day off completely a week ... Michelob Ultra at your super bowl party - I swear it taste's pretty darn good.

Brad - I had to swear off Nike's because I kept having issues where I would tweak ankles or develop blisters, or have hip issues ... now I run in either Saucony or Montrail's exclusively.  Can't say I have worn Newton's as they are limited in my size (14) and I would hate to blow that kind of money and have the shoe not work for me.  Find a shoe that works for you - my local running store broke it all down to me about millimeter drop and all this nonsense - seriously it was more than I wanted/needed to know but I found what worked for me ... I do have to say when I saw Newton listed as the new Ironman sponsor I bought a pair of K Swiss on closeout - even if I can't run in them (I will try) - it will be cool to have a pair of Ironman sneakers after I do this think in July and at $35 for a pair of kicks I figured why not.

Ony - my coach says "drills make for thrills" ... so far I can't say I agree with him much - guess we will see if it pays off once the "racing" starts.  I guess I need to renew my Masters Swimming membership - seems like all the NYC Swim races give a discount if you have a USMS card ...

Kim - speed is relative.  If you are making improvements (and you are) that is all that matters.  I have a decent tri bike and a wickedly awesome road bike (I LOVE it) but they are only as fast as I can push them - I think I am capable of a 20mph average in an Olympic but the conditions would need to be perfect and I would need to find my bike zen - I still get butterflies when I crank too fast since my bike wreck - in my HIM in September I sat up on a downhill and put my hands on the breaks because 42mph scared me ... take your gains as you can and conquer your fears - we are all on the same page. 

My session yesterday went like this:

The weather called for early snow switching to freezing rain so I wanted to beat the rain ...

I executed my plan for a change and was out of the house by ten after nine. ... snow flurries but nothing terrible and I paced nicely for the first three miles.  I had to watch my feet and run more in the street then usual because I didn't want to wipe out on any ice.  From mile 3 1/2 to mile 5 1/2 were pretty bad - I ran into a headwind and was getting my face blasted with the blowing snow.  Kept telling myself I turn almost 90 degrees - and the wind would no longer be at my face - that is the good and the bad part of doing the same long runs - you know every mile mark.  Felt good to get the snow out of my face and I continued fine until the 8 mile mark.

At this point I had to turn back south and into the blowing snow.  I took an eGel and 10 ounces of water as I waited for a passing train.  Got a bunch of weird looks from people in cars as snow was actively sticking to me at this point.  Next 1 3/4 miles was directly into the snow which was fine as the wind had slowed a little and over heating was not an issue at all.     

When I left the house I had geared up with my 4 bottles on the fuel belt, 2 waters and 2 eFuel.  I also took two efuel gels and one Gu gel with caffeine.  By mile twn as I approached my mom's house I was down to one bottle of eFuel and still had an efuel gel and the Gu.  The bag that I had my son place on the bench in my moms back yard with my second half nutrition was missing !!!

I looked in every other hiding place on the back porch and back yard - nothing.  Could my mom have brought my bag inside?  I find her hide a key (the plan was to NOT go inside this time - so much for that) and I check the fridge - nothing!  Grabbed a banana off her counter and ate that while I fumed - and then I saw my bag on her couch - with my now warm stuff in it - ugh.  I drank my Zico - refilled my bottles - 2 with water and 1 with efuel and set off.

The next mile was good - and I figured I could go another 4 before my pace would falter but then the sky opened up and I got poured on for 20 minutes solid.  In hindsight a cotton sweatshirt was a REALLY bad option at this point but I had planned to beat the rain and now I had a good 6 miles to suffer through it.  I trudged on and I could feel my strength and will sapping with each puddle I crashed through and each rain drop that hit my face.  But the real kicker was when I ran down by the water between miles 14 and 15 - I had a headwind and I was cold - and I actually walked being mad at myself the whole time.  Forward motion - almost done - in my marathon I will walk through water stops in the second half - none of this made me feel good so I tried to run on - and I did.

The rain slowed considerably from mile 16 to the end - more of a mist with spritzing but I was already soaked and carrying a ton of water weight in my sweatshirt (at least it felt like that) and I near sprinted the final 3/4 of a mile just desperate to be done.  

Now over 24 hours since my run my quad and glutes are sore - but otherwise I am no worse for wear - tomorrow is a swim and bike so another "run recovery day" hopefully my wheels will be ready to hit the pavement again come Thursday.

Splits:

1 - 9:04

2 - 8:58

3 - 9:13

4 - 9:17

5 - 9:17

6 - 8:57

7 - 8:53

8 - 9:07

9 - 9:11

10 - 9:35

(stopped 9 minutes at Mom's)

11 - 9:11

12 - 9:39

13 - 9:46

14 - 9:57

15 - 10:04

16 - 9:45

17 - 9:48

18 - 10:17

Was at a 7:12 pace the final 3/4 mile ...

Spent 2:38 in my heart zone out of 2:57 running ... 18.76 total miles, 4003 calories burned, total run 9:27 average.

Did the good husband thing and stripped just inside the front door and dumped all my clothes into a laundry basket I had left for myself.   Was cold and drenched - drank a zico and heated up some hot cocoa.  My legs were super stiff so I took 2 advils and took a warm shower for way longer than I usually do.

Very rough run with the weather but I have to be ready for any conditions - who knows what weather the marathon will be like less than a month away in New England. 

Ooops, I didnt realize I was being dishonest by recording my exercise bike workouts as bike workouts. I didnt even know to record my workouts until I downloaded the BT app to my phone and it only has the three options of Bike, Run and Swim workouts. I then realized what the training log tab was for but I never scrolled down far enough to see there was a Sports category until I read MuscleMomma's post.

I still dont even have a road bike. I just have a mountain bike and I am not very comfortable on it. The farthest I have gone on it was 3 miles last weekend. I am in the middle of a conundrum of whether to buy a cheap new road bike to get me by my first sprint race in March, purchasing a usable inexpensive used road bike, or waiting for the perfect used triathlon bike to become available for me to purchase. I seriously doubt I am going to go all in on a new long term bike this early on in the process.

In the meantime, Im going to continue to spin on the exercise bike and I guess no longer use the phone app and wait till I log in on the laptop to record my bike workouts under sports.

Paul, Running in weather like that is awesome. I have 2nd thoughts about heading outside if its a little bit rainy. If I had to deal with snow, I'd live on the treadmill... or find another sport. Haha. Inspiring stuff!

mtravis, It's not cheating! it's your log you can record things how you want. FWIW, I don't use an exercise bike, but I do record my indoor trainer (spinerval) sessions as bike workouts... that's pretty much the same thing I think

I've had a good 2 days; A good swim in the morning Wednesday, I was down in the 1:40's / 100 consistently for the first time this year. Which is a good sign. Followed by a less good run in the evening. I did my first long run (only 10km) since the HIM, and boy did it suck. The weather wasn't ideal for running, hot and sticky, but my legs just didn't want to go, by the end of the run I was heading towards shuffle mode again. I'm sure this is just a hangover from the HIM, and in a few weeks I'll be back. But it's frustrating. 

And tonight I went out for a 90 minute ride. Which was going great for the first hour or so and then I flatted. Changed the tire and continued, but in 15 minutes after the tire change the chain started slipping down to smaller gears on the cassette. Not ideal. (I knew my chain was nearly due for a replacment, but never expected things to get so bad so fast... ) So I backed off the effort and cruised home. I then got to spend the evening playing bike mechanic, replaced the chain and cassette and should be all ready to go for the next one. 

Tomorrow after work I'm off to test ride a possible new toy. A kestrel talon tri bike. The main reason is my current one is too small, it's got me through the HIM, and proven I want a tri, not road, bike. But it's got to go. And with tonights bike issues, maybe it's another sign to upgrade... 

Hey guys ...

Two days of pretty hard workouts and I am really beat.  Working 10 hours and trying to fit in 2 hours of workouts is nice in theory but leaves me pretty zombified.

Yesterday my workout consisted of an hour of swim drills - I never used to do drills - I would just pound out laps of freestyle - do as many laps for a mile or a mile and a quarter or mile and a half and go home.  I never got faster but I could confidently say I could swim the distance.  Drills whup my butt and help me get better with form - which in theory should then help me perform better come race days.  So here is what I did at the pool:

 WU-  100 Swim free
        150 Kick w/fins and board
         100 Swim free
         150 Kick w/fins and board

DS-   12 x 50  (First and fourth time use fins)
         1- 6 count catch-up free
         2- 3 count arm switch
         3- breaststroke w/buoy
         4- fingertipdrag

MS-    3 x 200 Pulling Free w/paddles and buoy
                       (breathing pattern 3/5/7/3 per 100)

WD-   200 choice

TY-     1,900 yards

I really really suck at fingertip drag drills and it become hard to hold my breath for 7 strokes but I can see how both of these can help me become a better swimmer.  I was pretty tired after this but then went home jumped on my bike and rode for an hour and 20 minutes (I watched the movie Daybreakers - not bad) .  I was supposed to go 5 minutes hard 5 minutes easy repeating over and over but eventually I just fell into a pattern and just dripped.  For the record I have multiple sensors on my bike and I record all my rides inside as "bike rides" and not "other workouts.

Today I was supposed to run and do the gym but only got the run in (my day off tomorrow will now have a gym workout).  I was slated to run 10 miles with a 9 min average for the first 5 miles and then go negative split on the second half.  Today it was about 44 degrees out which was nice but there were wind guts of 40-50 mph which made for a challenging run.  At times I felt I was standing still I was being buffeted so hard but when I hit the five mile point at exactly 45 minutes I got fired up and did run the negative split. 

My splits today were 8:41, 8:46, 8:55, 9:17, 9:19 (first 5 45:00), 8:29, 8:09, 8:22, 8:27, 8:14 (second half 41:37) ... total time 1:26:37

I have only run one competitive 10 mile race and did it in 1:34:24 ... I need to do another one sometime and see how I do in a race situation.

This weather is wacky but I hope everyone is getting their workouts in - big or small - remember listen to your bodies and don't overdo it.  

Holy bad luck - went to swim today and again a swim meet had the pool on lockdown for 6 hours!!

I guess I need to get the weekly schedule ahead of time so I don't waste an hour driving there from work just to go home.

Did my interval training today and it gave me a nice sweat.  I really suck at running inclines but I guess in time I will get better and be able to go at high grades for longer.  I made it 2 minutes at 10% grade and 7mph for 2 minutes before I had to drop the grade back down.  The 10 week plan has me maxing out at 14 degrees and 5 minutes - can't even imagine that right now.

My Sunday is filled with family and cub scout stuff but I do have a Spinervals workout planned - I will be doing Sweating Buckets and will give feedback on that DVD tomorrow night.  The only other Spinervals DVD I have is Threshold Test and Sufferfest.  Can anyone else recommend any in the series?

Today's random stuff - my race last week fulfilled my obligation to Team New Skin and I have accepted a new sponsorship opportunity as a member of Team SunRype.  If anyone is interested in something like this you need an ActiveAdvantage account and you need to fill in information about yourself and your race plans for the season - Active puts together at least 30 teams of 20-50 members and you get race kits, free product and other goodies - in turn you need to rep the product.  I am fairly outgoing and forward anyway - just gave me more of a reason to talk to people at races and give them free samples.  When I know more about SunRype I will share with you guys.

Is there a product you love?  After my running workouts I always grab a Chocolate Zico.  During my long runs I have been putting one at the mid point of my run and having another when I get home.  To me the taste is just better than any sports drink and the potassium content is as high as a banana (I don't like banana's).  What is your "go to" beverage after a long run or aggressive workout?

Kimmy, I got a multi pack 2 winters ago, I have 1.0 "ride strong", 2.0 "Sweating Buckets", 3.0 "Enter the red zone" and 4.0 "Lean and Mean". All of them are good, honestly I have no real preference. they're all about 45-60 min long, so good for a interval session. For longer trainer rides I usually watch TV, and just keep in the right heart rate zone, changin gears/cadence every 5-10 minutes to keep it interesting. Let us know how the 3 hour spinerval goes, I have been thinking about getting some longer ones.  

Congratulation on becoming sponsored Paul. As far as I know, we don't have anything like that down here, where you can just apply and be assigned a team. But it sounds cool. I think I'm a fair way off being a likely candidate anyhow. 

mitzi, It's a cliche, but it's true (at least in my experience) Increase your distance/duration, and the speed will look after itself. Just run, run often, and run easy. What I would do is not worry about how fast you're running, just keep working at your run/walk until you're running for 30 min straight. And then increase the length of your runs, obeying the 10% rule. If you do this, over time your speed will fix itself.

Also, how often are you running? Adding a day, or even more over time will help too. (As a reference, I run best when I'm running 6 days a week) Look up the BarryP plan, I've found that works quite well. 

My weekend was a bit disappointing, didn't really get a long ride in, just a bit over 90 minutes. But  still got a nice little run and a bike in. Ending up with just a touch over my goal of 8 hours for the week. So happy overall. 

The test ride on friday was great, I felt immediately comfortable on the aero bars, it was so much better than my current bike. I've got to get it past the finance committee, but I'm pretty sure I'll be getting one soon. (Unless the other bike shop is able to find a 1012/11 model at a ridiculously good deal...)

Mitzi - from my experience as I added more mileage and running days as a "consequence" I just started getting faster.  To be honest at first I did not even realize it - I went from jogging one mile and just kept increasing the distance gradually over time.  By the time I was doing 6 miles I realized I could "run" three miles at a faster pace if I tried.   If you are measuring by length of time spent exercising that may be even better (most books urge you to do that instead of distance) - listen to your body and don't over do it.  If you add extra days do say 15 minutes on the treadmill on top of your planned workout - just start programming your body that it is built to run.

I never did get to the Spinervals "sweating buckets" yesterday - had a 4 hour cub scout function and then various family stuff and then the Super Bowl hooked me in for the second half.  

My biggest run to date was today.  20 miler scheduled and at 31 degrees and ice on the ground I can't say I was stoked to hit the road.  Regardless - I set up my 10 mile nutrition and set up to do an out and back.  My coach wanted me to run a 10:40 pace for 10 miles and then run a negative split on the second half.  I can't settle into that pace - I tried and repeatedly settled into 9:40 so that is where I decided to sit for the first 10.  My coach also told me to run the first 10 with my arms below my waist - I did that and the run seemed effortless despite the wind.  Second half was harder but I did push the pace and my arms were much more involved.  

Miles 1-5 (9:40, 9:40, 9:31, 9:39, 9:45) 48:16

Miles 5-10 (9:23, 9:41, 9:36, 9:39, 9:31) 47:50  First 10 1:36:06

Miles 11-15 (8:42, 8:33, 8:43, 8:55, 8:32) 43:45

Miles 16-20 (8:18, 8:46, 8:57, 8:45, 8:27) 43:13 Negative split of 9 minutes

Spent 1:35 in my heart zone (the entire second 10 miles) and burned 4112 calories ...

I felt great the first 10 miles - started falling apart in mile 17 and had to use a lot of mind game stuff to try to keep a strong pace to the finish.  If nothing else this winter marathon training has shown me I can handle some severe weather and I will be able to run a much faster half marathon - I have to keep my goal for the marathon as just to finish and get a time goal out of my head because at this point I think that will be the deal breaker.

Having never run a marathon - right now my thought is to try to run a 9:20 through the first 10 - then try to take it to 8:45 for the next 10 and hopefully break down the wall and keep to 9:00 for the final 10k ... might be wishful thinking on my part but I want to go sub 4 hours badly.

Wetsuit question for you guys ...

Do you use a sleeveless or full sleeve suit and why?

I used full sleeve first 2 race, simply because I don't like being cold and wanted as much buoyancy as possible because I am still afraid of OWS.

Hye guys did a drill set at the pool today ... 1950 yards ... after warming up did fingertip drills, catch up drills, and arm switches ... then did 650 meters freestyle with hand paddles and pull buoy.  Got my shoulders aching.  Did a 200 cool down and then headed home to try to get an hour and a half on the bike.  Only got in 40 minutes but that is better than nothing.

How was your Wednesday?  Looks like we are getting some serious snow Friday night here which will screw up the weekend for sure.  Tomorrow I plan to do a 50 minute tempo run and then hit the gym for a workout (may reverse them depending on the weather and how much time I have/don't have before the kids get out of school).

Regarding wetsuits I see the pros and cons of sleeveless and full sleeve.  I tore the leg on my sleeveless suit during a race and bought a full sleeve before my HIM (mostly because it was supposed to be cold - and it was) - I may try to pick up a sleeveless suit again as 90% of your propulsion in the water comes from your arms and I think I get better speed and form when my arms are free.  

Had interview in the morning then meet and greet in the evening, and couldn't get the planned workout in unfortunately.  However, on board to do my workout tomorrow as planned.

Butt still sore from Monday's spin bike routine, which was still sore from the bike routine I did the previous Wed.  Can't wait till my body gets used to doing these exercises again.  So yes Mitzi, one step at a time is a-o-k. Each step gets better and better, surer and surer.  Sooooooooooo looking forward to it.  .

Havent been on for a while. I've been swamped with work and home life. I have managed to get all but two of my workouts in. Unfortunately those were back to back days, so I felt pretty bad about it. I ran on the dreadmill again on sunday and hated every second of it. My hips and shins hurt pretty bad afterwards again. Today I got outside to run and decided to take it easy and just try to enjoy it and minimize pain. I ended up running faster than my treadmill times and feeling much better in the end. I can't wait until it warms up so I can eliminate this treadmill stuff completely. I've got a 45 minute ride for thursday, It should be around 56* here so I'm gonna do it on my real bike outside. Should be able to knock out my 20mile route pretty easily.

Sleep deprivation is my biggest enemy right now, between work and refinancing the house/ getting ready for the appraiser to come, I don't have much time for sleep and exercise. I'm still managing to work it in though. Still losing a pound or two a week, so I'm happy there.

I'm at 216 right now and I really want to be under 208 by Feb. 22. My employer has a rewards program for healthy living, and I have a check on the 22nd. If I am under 208 I'll get bonus points! lol

Been a while:  Last discussed my IT Band & Foot tendonitis problems.  Since then I have been to 3 Physical Therapy appointments and watched numerous youtube videos on stretching & exercises- mostly for the IT Band.  Between the appointments themselves, working in stretching each day (if on a somewhat irregular basis) things have really turned around; I have had little problems running the past week or so.

My biggest issue now is figuring out how hard I want to push and what I should plan I should run in the next 5.5 weeks leading up to my marathon.  Before getting hurt, I was sticking with the 'Run Less to Run Faster' 3 runs + 2 cross training, and that planned seemed to work fine.  Now I am gun shy about intervals since that really seemed to be the tipping point for getting hurt.  

Another big question for me is nailing down what I will target for my marathon race pace.  Up until getting hurt 9:00/mile seemed reasonable, if not conservative.  Now I'm not too sure.  Looking forward to a Long Run on Sunday to get a much better idea what my target MP will be, and lock in fuel & potentially a fuel belt.

Other than that I did get in some riding & swimming while sidelined from running.  I started using a SportCount lapcounter in the pool (finger held), but it broke after just the fifth swim!  Do folks use any fancy gadgets to keep track of their swimming?  I am having an internal struggle over buying or not buying a Garmin Swim watch.

I was really bummed a few weeks ago with the injury, but at least with the IT Band I have seen a fair amount of improvement.  After a month of indulging on junk food, I am dialing in a better diet too; hopefully by my October Ironman I will have shed a few more pounds to make the going easier.  I try to tell myself that a $800 power meter won't do me as good as simply losing 5 more pounds, which should save my family money from less junk food on the grocery bill.