dhyte's Group - (Full to the brim) !!! (Page 7)

Hi Jayson,

Good job on the cross training!

I've heard drums are an incredible workout.

And be careful with that ax, we like you having all ten of your toes !

fullie64 - 2008-01-30 11:37 AM Hello everyone. I wanted to let you know how things are on my side of the fence. Temperatures have been better and I have been out doing training like activities such as chopping down trees with an axe and playing my drums plus doing a few jogs to keep myself at least somewhat in shape. I have managed to get myself below the 210 lb. mark. One morning I was at 201.2 so I am pretty happy about that as I was 264 less than a year ago! My real training however will start in February as I don't expect to do the real race until mid-summer/early fall. Still haven't picked one out yet but that is the next thing I will do. This enables me to use mother nature more to my advantage. I will start sting training logs next week. I hope everyone is doing well and it sounds like we have a great group with lots of motivated people so that's really encouraging! Luck and healtto all!! Jay

I have some really good articles and misc resources that I have collected related to sweat rate and estimating correct hydration levels.  Being someone with a high sweat rate, it was clear to me that this was a very important issue for me to succeed at endurance sports.

I will dig out some of this material and post in in the next day or two.

I will also mention that the hydration solution varies depending on the person, the specific event/distance involved, weather, and also level of exertion.

My hydration and nutrition plan is quite a bit different for a 40 minute training run on a cool morning vs 13 hour day for an Ironamn race that includes hot weather, wind, and a higher exertion rate.

I will mention that I am still refn ing the "right answer" for me, and it has been an elusive target.

I have a desire to try some ultramarathons at some point, and it just won't happen if I can dial this in. 

For background info, I want ed include some descriptive info on "Swim Golf":

(some of this is an exerpt from http://www.cruciblefitness.com/etips/swimtechnique1.htm)... size="2" face="Tahoma">Swim Golf. 
Swim 50 meters or yards at a decent pace, concentrating on your technique, as it is right now. Count your strokes (each time a hand goes in the water counts as a stroke), and record your time. Add your stroke count to your time for 50m/yds in seconds.  For example, you swim 50m in 40 seconds and take 40 strokes.  Your Swim Golf is 80. 

So what is a good Swim Golf score? 

1. Think of it as golf:  low score is good, high score is bad.  I like to give folks a goal of sub 80.
2. Focus first on reducing the stroke count component, then the speed component.  As for stroke count, a good goal would be less than 20 strokes per 25yd or less than 42 strokes per 50m.  This is based on my personal experience with stroke counts.  Once you get under 20, then 19 is good, 18 is better, 17 is very good, 16 is excellent.

Brian,

Based on the above reference and my own experience,  I would not consider your score (80) to be bad. 

A couple of thoughts:

- triathlon swimming is all about efficiency and conservation of energy. 

- you HAVE to be able to come out of the water without having blown a huge amount of energy.  With that in mind, Swim Golf is a good tool for developing efficiency, but it is not absolute. 

- The most critical aspect of Swim Golf is the reduction of strokes (vs focusing on achieving the fastest 50 yd time).

- An alternate drill to work on stroke reduction, glide and efficiency is Distance Per Stroke (DPS) drills.  This is simply swimming 25 yds with the fewest strokes (without worrying about the time element).  Ensuring that you are swimming with correct technique is more important than massive yardage with flawed technique.  (My suggestion for new swimmers is to build initial swimming endurance/fitness by focusing on adding yardage/duration until you are able to swim 40-60 minutes, then focus on drills/technique, then build speed/distance on top of the improved technique).

- if you think you have gotten to a point that you are swimming efficiently, do a 200 yd swim gold segment and divide your score by 4.  If you have a reasonably close to the 50 yd version, you are doing great.  Or do a series of 50 yd segments, and see if you can maintain your score.

- my repeatable 50 yd golf score is about 72 (40 sec swim, and about 16 strokes each way).  If I was only doing DPS , I can swim 25 yds in 12-13 strokes (however this is slower, and I have a higher emphasis on kicking, and a lonnnnggggg reach and glide).

Greg,

Sounds like to you have the right idea in terms of variety and repetition, and also the need to properly train the necessary distance if you have high goals for yourself.  

I have had plenty of races, where I  thought afterwards that I just didn't put in the long workouts, enough times to allow me to have the performance I was looking for. 

Sometimes, because of injuries, time demands, or life in general, you show up at races, and you just do your best based on the amount of training you have need able to do.  I have conceded/comforted myself witht he thought that. "I did as well as I possible could have done on this particular day".  My goal for every race is to preapare as much as I can, do my best when I'm out there, and enjoying appreciating the entire race day experience (regardless of the outcome - sometimes a challenge...).

Hi Nancy,

We'll keep out fingers crossed on the job situation !!

Good balalanced diet, vitamin supplements, and lots of sleep are HUGE (especially when you are really pushing yourself during training).

Also, treat yourself to some "fun" workouts occasionally.  Do a fun run with friends...stop for ice cream in the middle of a long run/ride....leave your watch at home occasionally and just enjoy the run instead of measuring your specific performance. 

rsand222 - 2008-02-01 8:57 PM Hi Danny, I saw the title of this group was Re-opened and I was wondering if it is still open as of 02-01-08? I too am a newbie to Tri's and am training for a sprint and I am also new to BT. If there is is still room, I'd like to join in and share some inspiration and ideas. I promise to play nice and share my toys and I won't run with scissors. Rick from Chicago

No running with scissors????  You're in !!!!!!! 

WooHoo, Cav's kicking butt !! 

Those shins splints can be stubborn, hang in there ! 

 - may keep your runs under 30 minutes the next 2 weeks?

- try to walk for a mile before running.

- try to do some stretching after the walking, before the run ( toe raises while standing on heels on edge of a curb or stairs - this will isolate to the front of the shin).

- try icing multiple times a day (even on non-running days.  When I was having shin problems I bought 2 neoprene shin sleeves that have a freezable insert.  They really helped alot.

http://www.medplususa.com/list-product_info-p-Shin_Ice_Shin_Splint_Relief_Small_Black-pid-3248.html  

OK, this cracked me up !! I would have like to have seen the look on your face when you realized the difference in the lap distance....

This is excellent that you are doing this testing ! It will be very interesting to have you repeat your testing at the end of the season and see if there is much difference. It is advisable to check your threshold every eight to six weeks.

Having discovered your threshold it is important to work on improving it. You can start with one or two 6 to 10 minute repetitions building towards a sustained twenty minute run. As you become fitter so more 10 minute repetitions can be added to your schedule - say up to six. Your heart rate should be set at around 5% below your known threshold. These sessions should be run up to twice a week before peaking for a race season and once a week or less during the endurance build up - it is dependant upon your experience and fitness. These hard threshold runs should be preceded and followed by a recovery run.

I would just mention that there is room for error in this testing protocol. Depending on the athlete's conditioning, mental state, motivation, pain tolerance, etc., it is possible to maintain a heart rate well above your LTHR for a considerable amount of time.

As always, listen to your body! I can't say this enough. You can calculate your various thresholds, and generally identify your correct training zones, but on a given day you may not be able to perform as well as the "paper model" indicates.

On the other hand, some days you feel that you are capable of exceeding the planned workout, and you need to follow your intuition, and go for it, if it is feeling good.

In the end, you you know your limitations, and also your abilities better than anyone else.

Congrats on the weight loss !!
It's Superbowl Sunday, I pan to have a waiver for the no suds threshold today!!
I hereby share my "No Suds Waiver" with everyone in the group for today !!!!

Hey Cav,

I'll be rooting for the Giants.

I was born in Mass, but have not lived there since I was very young.

I grew up in California, and am a Raiders fan. That does not go over too well, since I live in San Diego. But I did get to see all the Charger fans have their hopes raised, and then taken away.... I rooted for the Pats to beat the Chargers, tough for a Raider fan who didn't want either team to go to the Superbowl. But I didn't want to listen to the Charger fans gloating, and there are not too many Patriot fans living here.

But this week I'll be rooting for the Giants, to knock off those Patriots. Everyone is picking NE, but I think NY can pull it off !

Soccer is notttt football....