Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 79)

Yeah -- 'intuitive aero' is often not very effective, especially when it comes to the minor tweaks of things like the angle of the arm and the width of the elbows.  There are some very general rules that are pretty reliable though.

I tend to geek out on this stuff -- I find it fun to think about and experiment with Chung testing, etc.  I've actually been toying with the idea of going to the A2 tunnel as a Christmas gift for myself.  We'll see.  Right now, I have more to gain from losing my post-IM paunch...

I'm headed to the mountains for the weekend for a little R&R (riding and recreation), unfortunately also bringing work with me.

Have a great race Rene (you're gonna kill the Redman course, just lay off the Diet Coke, ha ha) and anyone else who's racing!

Here's some food for thought as we head into the off season (not yet, I know).

Thanks!  A good read.

Stu-thanks. Interesting article. Seems many world class athletes take their down time seriously.

Randy

Morning all.  What's on tap for today?  I'm working from home (gotta do *something* to get work done and if I go into the office there'll be another steady stream of people at the door...), then go to meetings, then leave for the mountains.  Hoping to work in a swim and a ride amongst all that, but we'll see.

Have a great day everyone!

Jason-this is where I am as well. Similar swim history/times and though I have made progress this year I wonder how much more I can improve without making changes to my stroke. It seems so ingrained now I guess the best I could hope for is some tweaking.  I also bought the book you mention and it makes some excellent points.  The thing I have been most pleased with this year is I have become a more comfortable swimmer in races. Not the same sense of panic and dread that I would have before. We don't have too many wetsuit legal swims down here so I didn't always have that to fall back on and wondered if I was destined to be a duathlete! My swim workouts do include some hard sets that I wonder how I will make the intervals in the time alotted.  Not every wokout but enough to keep me accustom to pushing it hard in the pool. I think this helps alot come race day.

Have a great race Rene!

Swim at lunch and hopefully an hour ride tonight assuming some minor repairs are finished at the bike shop this afternoon. Hour run tomorrow and 2 hour ride/30 minute run on Sunday. Heard back from my coach on why the 2 12+hour weeks at this point in the season. I was curious since all I have planned right now is a sprint in 2 weeks. He said the purpose of these easy/mod longer weeks is to continue to build the aerobic machine and improve lower extremity durability. Makes sense to me and consitent with what I had thought. As I think about it I guess at this point in the season too much hard/high intensity stuff risks injury.

Randy  

x3 on the Taormina book.  I was hoping to get in a swim today, but it didn't happen.  Next week I'll start back more systematically.

I also agree about the benefits of pull/paddle.  That has been my experience as well.  I just have to be careful of my shoulder, as I have a tendency to tweak it.

Headed for he mountains soon.  Have a great race you racers!

Good luck to all the racers out there this weekend. 

I got a 19 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run in the bag. I hope I can get to the pool later tonight. I am going on a 24 mile bike ride tomorrow followed by a 7 mile run in the evening. Not sure what I am going to do on Sunday besides another 5 mile run. 

Jason-4.5 hours on the trainer. UGH! You may need some medication to make it through that.

My workout today was an hour run with hill repeats in the middle. Done! Now its time for some yardwork.

Randy

1 hour run this morning, then heading back to Michigan.  My trip to San Diego has been enjoyable but with limited time to train.  I still managed 3 hours running and 75 min swim so I at least feel pretty good about that.  Once I get back I too have a long trainer ride on tap. 

San Diego is such a great place for being a triathlete.  The YMCA I swam at has two pools, both 25 meters.  One indoors and one outdoors.  I swam in the outdoor pool at night.  The water was perfect, cooler than the usual YMCA indoor pools.  They had 8-10 lap lanes open for the last hour of swimming and the pool hours are 430 am to 955 pm on weekdays. 

Looks like Rene's race is today on her training calendar. Hope she has a good day.

Randy

Finished a 24 mile bike ride this morning followed by 2650 meters swimming. I can't wait for the massage tonight and afterwards I am going for a 7 mile run. 

Rene raced today if I am not mistaken and if I grabbed the right information she finished in under 6 hours but I guess we'll just have to wait for her race report.

Great job Rene! Really nice bike and run splits....especially considering the heat. You will be ready for IMFL. For most of us on the swim we do what we can. Hard to make significant improvements. Your bike/run splits reflect the hard training you have been putting in. Nice job out there today.

Randy  

Hey gang-good brick workout for me this morning. Today is the last day of 2 big volume weeks for me and the legs definitely felt it on the bike. Felt good aerobically and HR was fine but legs said otherwise. I was dreading my 30 minute run off the bike but surprisingly had a good run. Instruction was to build into the run and then maintain a hard effort. First mile felt better than expected @7:20 pace and next 3 miles were all sub 7 pace to hit the 4 mile mark in 27:51 for 6:58 overall pace. Finished off the workout with a 5 minute shake out run. Came home and did some more yard work but tomorrow is a REST DAY!! WOO HOO! Feel good heading into my last race in 2 weeks.

After a surprisingly good run today I start thinking about doing another Fall race. Admittedly, I have been a bit flat the last few weeks so it is probably good to end the season with gas in the tank.  I'm sure the cooler temps help make training quicker and more enjoyable. Guess I could put that "desire" into working toward a solid Winter running season.

What's everyone doing today?

Randy   

Jason that is a great pace. Nice job.

Randy

Taking a break from work.  (I just looked at my last post -- I promise, English really is my first language.)

So what do we have planned for this week?  I'm getting back into regular structured training for the first time since IMWI, hoping to ramp up running especially.