KiterChick's beginner friendly group - CLOSED (Page 8)

Hey all,

I have been plugging away at my training and generally doing well with it. I almost feel guilty because I have the time to do all my workouts and you all have to juggle a much busier schedule than I. I think my swimming is improving, I am sorry to hear the asthma issues with the pool. It already a challenge. chuff maybe if you have access to open water as a solution just think of how much better prepared you will be than the rest of us ;0). I just wanted to check In and say I am learning a lot from all the posts and I look forward to Sarah's input as well! Happy training all!

Hi everyone! Checking in before my three day weekend. I'm taking off tomorrow for my birthday. Yay! Don't worry though, I won't be taking it off from training. I'm actually planning on doing a cycling HR test to see where my current fitness is at, so that should be interesting. As for the rest of this past week, I didn't make it out for the run on Tuesday, but I did hop on the bike yesterday after shoveling. I'm also going to hit the pool after work today. If so, that will finally be two times in a week!

Carolyn - Being a scientist, I couldn't resist doing a bit of research on the chlorine issue, but it unfortunately seems to be a pretty controversial topic, with some believing that it exacerbates underlying asthma/respiratory issues, while others don't feel that to be the case. Regardless, you're clearly not feeling great after swimming in the pool, which is not good. That's encouraging that you felt fine swimming in PR, but sadly, for now, if the pool is your only option, it sounds like you'll have to decide whether it's worth it to you or not to go through with keeping up the workouts there. That's really your call, ultimately. Hopefully, once it warms up, you'll have open water options to move to. Good luck!

Melissa - Sounds like your training is going well! Sorry the healthy eating isn't always following suit, but it's really difficult to diet while training, so don't get too down about it.

Gail - I'm not familiar with the podcast you mentioned, but here's my two cents, or maybe I should say my coach's two cents. Basically, he told me that for someone to really make huge improvements in their swim times, they would ideally have to swim 4-5x per week. If the goal is to just build and maintain a base level of swimming, however, then 2x is fine. It seems like the podcast people were probably talking about really improving on current swimming. If you can find the time and want to do that, that's fine, but don't think you won't be able to do the HIM off of 2x per week. I only swam 2x per week for my IM and I got through it. Granted, I'm a pretty slow swimmer, so if you'd like to get faster, don't follow my lead, but I didn't feel ill prepared for it. Basically, I was in shape, I just don't have the best technique. Unfortunately for me, I'd rather spend any extra time working on getting faster on the bike or run, so it isn't worth it to me to spend more time in the pool, which is why my coach told me 2x was fine. Sorry, that was a lot of rambling, but hopefully I got my point across somewhere in there!

Jan - Good luck with your 10K this weekend, be sure to let us know how it goes!

John - Glad your training is going well, keep up the good work!

Hey, all! I've been really struggling because I'm not sure I can finance a gym membership right now. :-( As I mentioned a few weeks ago, it's $100 initially, then $20/month from then on. Is there any way I can train for a triathlon in the winter without the membership? The only free pool option I can find is two hours twice a week at the local high school.

I have an elliptical at home, but I'm not sure how that would help me with the run. Is running outside in 0-30 degree weather reasonable? Is it reasonable to bike in that weather? I'm taking a $70 swim lesson at the YMCA starting in a few weeks to improve my technique and that's all I'm going to be able to afford in terms of coaching. I can't afford a Masters Swim group.

Does anyone in this group have experience with training without a gym membership?

Edited by Carolyn24 2014-02-06 3:12 PM

Hi Carolyn, I'm going to be busy this weekend so I thought I'd reply to your question now. It's definitely possible to train without a gym membership. In fact, I prefer to avoid the gym whenever possible! Obviously, it's much easier when it's warm out, but you can certainly build a base during winter, then kick things up when it warms up. Here are some suggestions for each discipline:

Swimming - If you have free access to the HS pool, then use that for now. I'd suggested earlier that the gym membership would be better since you wouldn't have to deal with the strict time restrictions, but if the HS gym is free, then go for it! Even if you just make it once per week, that's better than nothing. Will you have open water access once it warms up? If so, then pool access shouldn't even be an issue at that point.

Cycling - This one seems to be the toughest since you don't mention having a trainer at home. Is it just cold where you live or snowy and icy too? If it's just cold, then you can bundle up and head outside, although you'd have to bundle up a lot for <30 degree temps. That would ideally include a hat or balaclava under your helmet, long cycling pants/tights, multiple top layers, warm socks, shoe covers and very warm gloves or mittens. Generally, your hands and feet are going to be the most miserable. If it's snowy/icy though, that's going to be dangerous. I'm not saying it's not possible, but I avoid going out until the roads are clear for that reason. Perhaps check out Craigslist to see if anyone is selling a used trainer. The Kurt Kinetic Road Machine and Cycleops are popular models I love having one, since you can ride your own bike in the comfort of your own home. If that's out of your price range too though, you may have to hold off on worrying about cycling until things warm up a bit.

Running - You can definitely run outside in the cold! Admittedly, I'd prefer temps of at least 20 degrees, but that's just because I'm a wuss! You could certainly run in colder weather than that. Just bundle up, although keep in mind you will warm up, so you actually want to start off feeling a bit chilly, then you'll usually get comfortable after 5-10 minutes. While not exactly the same, the elliptical will help you build an aerobic base somewhat similar to running too though, so if it's really cold out, that's certainly better than nothing.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how things turn out!

Carolyn, I would think you'd be better off training in the real race environment - outside. I run in any temps. I have trained for spring marathons which mean you have to train all winter. I have run 20+ mile runs in negative degree temps. Granted I won't do that again because it was so miserable, but it made me tougher and able to get through the marathon knowing I've survived worse conditions. We all do what we can with what we have. Some of us have more time, some have more money, some have more equipment. Each method could get us there so you'll be fine if you put the time in as best you can. Kind of like how I know there's no way I'll get more than 2 swim sessions in per week because it's inconvenient for me and my least favorite of the three disciplines

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the great advice, both of you! It's good to hear that running outside in the cold is doable. I'm a bit of a wuss, too, though, so I worry that I won't be able to force myself out there. All I have in terms of outdoors gear is an Under Armour long-sleeve top and bottom. I won't be able to afford any other gear unless I can find things secondhand.

My hope is that Chicago warms up within the next month or two! I'll check in with everyone how this works for me. I need to get training!

Carolyn - The hardest part will definitely be swimming. You can bike and run for virtually no cost once you have the equipment, but a pool isn't as easy. $20/month for a gym with a pool really isn't bad. I pay $52 a month for a membership to the YMCA (initial joining fee was $75), which is still on the low end. But, if money is tight, it doesn't matter if it's $20 or $200. I agree with KiterChick, if you have access to a free pool, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Incremental improvement: I seem to be able to swim a full lap, 50 yards, without stopping now! At least, I did it a few times this morning. My hear rate is still outrageous at the end of it, but it's still a small improvement. Next up: 75-100 yards without stopping!

Edit: Carolyn, one other question: I'm considering a move from Memphis to Chicago in a few months. I have heard that there are some really good triathlon clubs and teams there (I remember seeing them practicing swimming along the lakefront when I interned there one summer a few years ago). Is there any chance you could try and reach out to one of those groups/teams to see about other swimming options?

Edited by Omne38103 2014-02-07 9:42 AM

Carolyn - $20 p/m for a gym with a pool seems good - I pay $4 per session X 2 per week just for a pool. I did see at a physical therapist place once they were training for swimming out of the pool using elastic bands - maybe worth googling to see if there is out of the water training techinques that you could try until you are able to get to a pool ?

Super stoked with my 10k run at the weekend, managed to take 2 1/2 minutes of my last 10k time I'm away for the next 3 weeks in NZ so training will be running and ocean swimming (summer over there) hoping to get a bike ride or two in. I'm also excited to be able to watch Ironman NZ in Taupo - 2 friends are competing, so hoping to come back super motivated for May's tri

Not sure how much I will be online until March - happy training everyone - Go well and fast

Enjoy NZ Millenz! I hit the pool today and it was pretty good today. I have had a few up and down sessions lately but today really felt good. I think it's time to up my distance next week and at some point I will have to try the crawl without the pull buoy. I am getting more comfortable with the breathing and it looks like my times are getting a bit better, although speed is the least of my concerns right now. It's days like today that get me excited all over again! :0). Going to run tonite, just a short run, and I'm going to start strength training a little bit each day rather than devote 2 days to it and then not having time for it, thus not getting it in at all. I'm a month out from my first event for the year, Duathlon at Mission Bay, then a 9 miler at the end of March, Hot Chocolate 15 K! That should be fun! Then the next one is the Tri in May! Still haven't registered but I will be soon! I'm doin this!! Keep up the great work everyone I love reading these posts! Really helps me get out the door some days!

John

Hey John

Just seen you are in Lakeside - I'm in San Diego too ! Sounds like we are both doing the Spring Tri in May Are you training with Tri Club San Diego ?

I was going to do the Hot Chocolate run - not sure yet due to $$$$ - theres only so much money to go round !

Hey Millenz! Yes I' think you are correct! I just looked at your profile and you have the spring forward Duathlon on your list. That's my next event! My wife and I are doing the 15K as part of our training for Rock n Roll Half in June! Then I'm doing the spring sprint on May 4th! I haven't been down to train with the Tri Club yet. I haven't trained with them in years, but I have thought about it because I'm going to have to get in the bay sometime before the actual race. I don't want my first open water experience be race day. Maybe we will run into each other at the races! Have fun in NZ!

My profile pic is from last years Sprint, but it's the Duathlon,not the Tri.

Edited by Hepcat09 2014-02-10 8:33 PM

Hi everyone! I ended up doing a whole lot of nothing from Friday through Monday. Guess I decided to really stretch out the birthday celebration. Unfortunately, that ended up being reflected on the scale this morning and I was not happy with what I saw! On the plus side, that definitely motivated me to hop on the bike and get in a workout before work. Hopefully, going to run for the first time in weeks tomorrow. Between bad weather and broken treadmills at the gym, that's really taken a hit lately. I used to love winter, but at this point, I can't wait for things to warm up so I can start getting outside on a regular basis!

Carolyn - Is there anything specific for gear that you're missing, but you feel that if you had you'd be able to run outside? I sometimes get rid of things periodically, so if I have something I can spare that would really help you out, let me know. You can PM if you'd rather discuss it outside of the group...

Omne - That's great you're making it through an entire lap in the pool. Progress!

Jan - Congrats on the 10K PR, that's awesome! Have fun in NZ too. I'm sure you'll have a blast!

John - Sounds like you're making some real progress in the pool. Nice! Also nice that you have some races coming up to help keep you motivated. Sounds like you have some fun ones coming up soon!

Melissa - Bummer about the cold. Rest up and you'll hopefully be back into things again soon. You still have time, so try not to get too discouraged about your pace potentially being to slow to make the time cutoff. Race day adrenaline will generally give you quite the extra push, so that should help. I'm with you on the weight issues. It's tough!

Hope everyone's weeks are off to a good start. Stay safe for any of you who will be in the track of the big storm!

Hi John -

According to the Tri club yahoo group the open water swim training is starting again in March at La Jolla - I so need a wetsuit!

I'm doing my first 1/2 the weekend after the tri at Mission Bay - I picked one where I train - hoping it helps on the day ! Decided agsint the Hot Chocolate run as the Tri club is having a duathlon the day before - might give that a try for practising the transitions

See you on the road !

Jan

Ok, so bought a turbo trainer thingy.... Any advise on how best to train with it? Currently just getting used to getting on and off and making it go round

Got in more shoveling as my workout yesterday and this morning. Not exactly the type I was hoping to fit in, but it had to get done. More snow in the forecast for tomorrow, but at least it's only supposed to be a couple of inches. Hoping to make it to the gym today, but it will depend on how things go this afternoon at work. Will definitely get on the bike this weekend though. Really looking forward to the snow melting so I can get outside on a regular basis!

Andy - That's great you were able to get a trainer. They're great tools both for working out indoors when the weather isn't nice, as well as building up your fitness even when it is. Generally, once you're comfortable just riding on the trainer, you'll want to look into doing interval workouts in order to see some real fitness gains. You can google "cycling interval workouts" to get some examples or just make up your own for now to mix things up. Generally, they involve harder efforts followed by easier rest intervals, where you pedal easy. A good beginning one would be warming up at a steady pace, then throwing in some 30 seconds at a high intensity followed by 30 seconds easy. Repeat this several times (6-10 depending on how you're feeling). Once you're comfortable with this, you could move to longer intervals such as 6x4 minutes at a medium-high intensity with 1 minute easy pedaling in between. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Hi all,

I know I've been out for a while. I have been getting my workouts in though. (although last weekend I went x-country skiing and skipped a swim and bike workout, gotta do something with all this snow!) Catching up on all of your progress is a great motivation. Sounds like a lot of good progress in the pool.

I'm back up to running 5 miles and going for 6 this weekend. I had a sudden panic when I realized I only had a month between my Oly in April and my HM in May, duh Kristina May come after April, lol. So I changed up my original plan a little bit. I was doing the 16 Oly plan on here with each sport once, but since the HM is so soon after the Tri I decided to switch to 3 times a week running and have changed the long run a little bit. (I set a mileage goal instead of just doing the time suggested) I'm hoping this will get me ready for both races, but a little nervous about making up my own training plan.

As far as running out side in the winter, I have one set of winter running gear, lined running tights and a lined long sleeve top (sounds like what you're talking about), that I got at tj max. I layer that with a wind jacket, gloves, and a hat and I've been ok in 20+ degrees. I read somewhere that you should dress for 15-20 degrees warmer then it is. This works pretty well for me.

Hi everyone! After three days off where the only workouts I got in involved a lot of shoveling, I finally hopped back on the trainer yesterday. It felt pretty good. I think of the three, my cycling is the strongest at the moment, since it's the easiest one to fit in workouts for given the terrible weather we've had this winter. Planning on heading out on a run soon today. Need to make sure I get back in the pool this week, since I didn't make it once last week.

Kristina - Welcome back! Switching your running times to mileage is fine. I've tweaked my own plans like that in the past. It sounds like your new plan should work out well. Hope your 6M run went well and stay warm!

Sarah-- Thank you so much for the offer! That's really kind of you. The items I'm missing for outdoor running are a neck gaiter/ski mask/shellaclava, a long-sleeve wicking material top, and wicking socks. It would even be helpful if anyone could recommend me affordable quality brands. Spending $100 for running gear would still be cheaper than the gym membership.

Omne- Thanks for the excellent advice about the tri clubs! I'll definitely look into this. Be sure to let me know if you do move to Chicago and join a tri club! I don't know anyone in the area doing the Chicago triathlon and local support would be awesome.

I'm going to my first YMCA swim class in a few hours and I'm nervous! Wish me luck! I'll check in with you all later. Thanks for being such an awesome, supportive group. :-)

EDIT: The swim class was tough! Now I truly understand the challenge I have before me when it comes to the swim portion. To go from not swimming laps since freshman year gym class to swimming almost constantly for 45 minutes, it was a real challenge. The instructor told me to swim "as fast as I can" for freestyle, breaststroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. I've never even done butterfly before! He told me my skills exceed level 1, so it looks like level 2 is right for me, even though it felt so grueling. Here are the times I remember (he wrote them down for me, but I won't get the card back until the end of the session): 50 meters of freestyle in 56 seconds and 50 meters backstroke in 1:18.

Even though I felt really winded by the class, I felt proud of myself for making it through the first one. But then I felt really lightheaded in the locker room and I threw up! I felt fine after and was really hungry, so I know I wasn't actually ill. I ate dinner an hour before the lesson. Do you think my problem was eating too recently? I don't want this to happen again!

Edited by Carolyn24 2014-02-18 12:29 AM

Ugh! Been sick for the last 4 days and it has derailed my training of course. I'm hoping to get back to normal soon. I hate being sick. I know a few of us have been hit this year already. It's never a good time to get sick but I really hate when I get closer to a race date and suffer a setback. Anyway, keep at it everyone races are approaching and there are PRs to be had!!

My pool sessions have improved greatly. I have found that really trying to slow down and RELAX has helped the breathing issues.
I have wondered how one keeps track of how many yards they are doing per session since I always lose track. My master's swim group coach suggested following a workout sequence. His beginner (me) suggestion was a great one:

sets of 50 yards broken down as follows:

1st 50 yards breathe right side (I alternated between every 4th stroke and every other if I needed)
2nd 50 breathe left side
3rd 50 breathe every third (bilateral, the way I have been trying to work on as my regular stroke)
4th 50 of your choice (I picked every third again)
do the above x 3 (this is 12 50's)

repeat sequence with flippers 2-3 times.
I don't have flippers so didn't do it all, but I did a bunch and once I get more comfortable I will do it again.

I have a non-stop eye twitch. I'm pretty sure it's my body telling me to rest since I have ramped up the workouts a LOT.

Hi everyone! The good news is that I got in my run on Monday. The bad news is that I completely tripped on a piece of ice and banged my right leg and elbow up. They're only bruised up, so it's not that bad, but it sure didn't feel great at the time. Got on the trainer yesterday morning too, so this week has been off to a decent start. Taking today off, but hoping to run tomorrow. Should be interesting since the sidewalks are pretty nasty after the snow and rain we've had lately.

Carolyn - I may have a spare top depending on what your size is; most of mine are S or XS. There are also a lot of good places to get relatively inexpensive gear. Amazon has tons of running socks and I found this balaclava that seems to be very versatile and could be used for cold weather running and cycling: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Armour-ColdGear%C2%AE-Hood-White/dp/B00... REI Outlet also has some decently priced running jackets that you could check out. Just a couple of suggestions.

Sorry you felt ill after your swimming class! I've never had that happen, so I'm not sure what the best suggestion is. I know some people are more sensitive to eating close to when they run though, so perhaps you're right and you just shouldn't eat too soon beforehand. Congratulations on making it through your class though!

Melissa - I'm with you on being ready for warmer weather. That's great you're feeling better at least. Being sick and cold is not a good combination. It's really great that your parents are planning on going to your race. My mom and my boyfriend occasionally go to some of my races. It's always such a boost to see someone cheering you on!

John - Wow, you're sick too? Something must be going around the group! Seriously though, that's a bummer. I hope you feel better soon!

Gail - That's awesome you're seeing progress in the pool! It's definitely difficult to keep track of laps. I have a Garmin, which is nice, but I forget it sometimes and definitely have issues counting in my head. Breaking it down into shorter drills sounds like a great way to keep track. If you move to longer intervals and have trouble keeping track, they do sell finger counters that you just have to remember to click and it will keep track of your laps. Rest up that twitching eye!

Holy crap, I swam 100 yards of freestyle yesterday morning. Farthest I've ever gone. Granted, it was at the start of my swim time, and I wasn't able to repeat it at all, but still! Woohoo!

I also managed to destroy my 10k PR on Sunday, as part of a 10 mile run. Looks like I'm getting into good shape for a sub-2:00 half in March, but before that....Puerto Rico for vacation next week!

So 6m went well, when I finally found somewhere to run.
Sarah, glad you're ok, the roads and sidewalks are so icy right now.
John, I'm sick too! Between this cold and the snow we've gotten (is it ever going to stop!) my week has been a little slow. I've decided this is a rest week for me. I did make it to the gym tonight for a 30 min run. I'm going to try to get on the trainer tomorrow.