Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 78)

I remember skimming some talk about Cadence earlier (how many dozens of pages back...) So today while running I took 3 cadence counts.

I did 8km in 45:50

@ 2km - cadence was 79

@ 5km - cadence was 79

@ 8km - cadence was 81

I have really no idea what that all means...  Is it good?  It is bad?  Should I up it?  I know I shouldn't lower it...  Also, does cadence just naturally change with speed?  What I mean is, if I go at a slower pace will my cadence automatically slow, or is it something that I should look to keep the same regardless of speed?  Thanks in advance everyone!

Johanne,

Congratulations, that is a considerable accomplishment!

Geprge,

500 yards is a great first swim.  You know the old saying "Well begun is half done".

I'm baaaaack. . . . . .

Sorry for the long absence!  Very busy with lots of family events and such.

Johanne-Congratulations on completing your first marathon!  I'm sure you had fun and learned a lot.  You have my admiration x100.  I'm stealing your flower quote too.

I need to catch up on some reading. 

Steve-I will PM you in regards to your message.  I welcome an experienced second set of eyes on everything I do!

Now, for some swim questions.  Two very interesting swim workouts this week.  One of them is very simple: 35 X 50 with paddles, :10 rest intervals.  I have never used paddles before.  One shoulder is a bit fussy (old rotator cuff issue).  Is this workout going to kill my bad shoulder?  What kind of paddles are easiest on your shoulders?

Craig-Very nice first swim in a long time!  You sure approached it well.

David-we had a dog that blew out one ACL and then the other almost exactly one year after the first one.  Get well wishes to your pooch!

I have used various methods for counting laps.  I keep track of the whole workout by using my flip flops on the tiles by my lane-100 = 1 tile.  Flip flop crossed over the other one = 50.  I either use the count up lengths or count down lengths to keep track of a specific set.  For example, if I need to do 1 X 500, I start at 20 and repeat that in my head all the way down the lane and then 19 as I swim back until I hit 0.  You can also count up the same way. 

Hitting the lap button on your chrono is also good.  My problem is that I missed hitting it a few times even though I thought I did.

I have a friend who uses a pile of pennies at the end of his lane.  Moving one penny = 100.  (Take this with a grain of salt because he was swimming 5000 yards per workout) 

The good news?  Once you get your timing/swim speed consistent, you will pretty much know how far you have gone based on time elapsed. 

gdsemiller - 2011-02-27 8:41 AM Good Morning Everyone,
Well the race yesterday was good.  Hit part of my goal which was to beat my last 5k time which 35:28.  I finished yesterday in 33:41min. The other half that I did not hit was to only walk 1 time for no more than 2 min. I walked 2 times (1st 2min and the 2nd 1:20min). 
Well I did get my bike yesterday and took it for a spin this morning. 

George-congrats on the new PR!  Way to go!  I love your bike.  You do know that white bikes are the fastest, right?

Johanne,  Congratulations on your marathon.  Well done!!

Steve, I'm very excited that you decided on Nation's.  Now, I hope the weather is ok.  I told you that it rained last year and the bike was pretty dicey.  You are right about it being  the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  Wow, that seems like yesterday.  I guess it is because you can't get away from it.  So much has happened as a result of that day. 

I have decided to take the training more seriously and stop with the excuses.  So I swam 2000 yds today and I am going to keep up with the plan (as much as possible). 

To keep track of laps, when I swim I count the 50 yds.  So when I push of the wall I say  (out loud, under water) 50, 100, 150 etc. and I remember what I said last.  I swim in blocks of 500 yards.  I don't know why, I just started doing that and kept it up. I think it is because it takes less than 10 minutes and so I can always talk myself into another 10 minutes (instead of 500 more yards).  Funny how that works. 

You scared me with your quote from Wolfgang.  I do seem to be getting slower so I may be doing everything wrong.  I watched Mr. Smooth but who knows what I actually do in the water.  I should find a masters program. I shoud do a lot of things.  Right now I am going to do what  the plan says to do tomorrw.  I'll keep swimming and see what happens.  Time will tell.

Ellen

Hey everybody, just wanted to let you know I'm still here! I've been reading dilligently, but have hadn't had the chance to post in a while, so here's an update, both good and bad:

Good news -- I got a Garmin FR60 watch with footpod & HRM a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. Didn't want to spend the big bucks for GPS but this is giving me everything I need. Watch syncs directly to the computer, so I'm now doing my logs on Garmin Connect if you want to check them out.

Here's a link to a recent walk/run on the treadmil http://connect.garmin.com/activity/71890629. Average cadence for the run portion is between 89 and 92. Experimenting with pushing a bit higher at times too. I'm slowly building my run endurance up, currently at 12 mins straight, building to 15 by end of month. Dropping runs to 2x/week at end of month when swim lessons and lap swimming start in earnest.

Bad news -- My family and I were in a major car accident about two weeks ago. A man "huffing" while driving jumped over from his side of the highway and came barreling into us as we were headed the opposite way. For those who don't know (I didn't until the accident!), "huffing" is illegally sniffing chemicals from an aerosol can (like the canned air you clean your computer keyboard with). We were fortunate that no one was tragically hurt in the accident.

We are all in various stages of recovery. Kids are fine, I'm feeling much better this week, and my wife is emotionally feeling better but is still being looked at by her doctor for back pain. The driver was charged with DUI and we are checking out lawyers to determine next steps. Our car was totalled (pic attached) but we are already in a new car, and getting back to normal life for the most part. Our Honda Pilot held up awesome and USAA has been great from an insurance standpoint, but needless to say, it's been a crazy few weeks.

Congrats to everyone on their race and training accomplishments so far this year. Keep up the good work, Adam. 

(pilot2.jpg)

Yikes... that is scary!  Glad to hear everyone is OK.

Ouch, glad everyone is OK.  That must have been terrifying.