Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 8)

DUNCAN -

No apologies needed ----- and if you don't actually see this post until about mid-Jamuary, that is perfectly understandable. You have a lot of your plate and then some, and you're doing well jsut to be able to carve a wee bit of time to log on here!

Yeah, there's a nice teacherly subset here, with you and me and Jac and Laura all having served hard-time in the pedagolical trenches. Well, I guess to be accurate, the other three of you are still serving time, with onluy me having broken free of the chains and shackles!

Truth told, I still miss it, although with each passing day up here, what now passes for teaching seems more and more untenable; it is hardly the same world it was when I beagn along about 1980. I keep waiting for Ontario to come to its educational senses, but instead it just becomes increasing more..........erratic, for lack of a better term. (It's about 6a.m. now and I've been up for two hours, so words are maybe escaping me!)

ANYHOW, enjoy the next sub-48 hours as best you can, and return to us when the dust settles some. And regards to mom-to-be!!

SHARON -

A carport in a warmish climate. I covet that SO much!! We have an oversized garage, but it is not one iota insulated so is completely useless to me for setting up with an assortment of exercise equipment. Every so often I fantasize about getting it all shored up and properly insulated.....but then that sweet thought-bubble bursts and I'm back to reality -- too small of a house and an uninsulated garage in a c-c-c-cold climate.

LAURA -

Thank you for your follow-up,post on page 8; that is all useful information.

Swim lessons! Today! VERY exciting! I began my swim lessons in about March '00, and they were six 30-minute one-on-one at the Ottawa Y. I had been a "swimmer" all my life, maning that I was comfortable in the water and could navigate myself around fairly endlessly.....but just not all that efficiently. I certainly knew that i had to get better were I to do the swims in a triathlon!

So, those six sesions were very helpful, and the intersting thing that came out of the first one was the instructor figuring out that even though I had sepnt my whole life breathing to the left, thjat the nature of my body roll suggested that I would be better off breathing to the right. So, that's what happened, and I am now a right-side breather who struggles to breathe effectively to the left! Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?

Moving on........

PLEASE don't be overwelmed by all the posts here!! I don't know if you saw my second post on the first page, but one of my Additional Thoughts to anyone in this group is to NOT feel that they have to keep up with everything. I knew of several people form my previous groups who have dropped out just because they felt they couldn't keep up, whereas I think the best approach is to jsut jump in whenever you are able, and glean whatever you can. Please let me know if this becomes a problem for you!!

Believe me -- the improvements ARE there. Sometimes they have a teasing way of almost laying dormant, but good things are happening with your abilities and skills, and it will all manifest itself in due course. Hard-ish work is almost always rewarded with this stuff, but it just doesn't always become apparent as quickly as we might hope!

Let me know what happens today at the swim lessons. I am living this vicariously, by the way -- even though I will be doing my own swim today. Have fun with it! Glub, glub!

YAY! Caught up in pages 8 and 9 (at leat for now for p. 9), and likley also pages 1 and 2 and 3. that just leaves the middle ground of pages 4, 5....6..........and 7............oh my..........

Well, onwards! (But first, breakfast!)

Onwards, then onwards again!

Laura,
Congrats on "taking the plunge" (no pun intended...well maybe) and signing up for swim lessons. I was in the exact same spot last year and it turned out to be a very beneficial process for me and my technique (if you can call it that)!
Good Luck and I look forward to reading about your progress!
David

OK....I feel like I slept an entire month away after getting up this morning and seeing all the posts! Great Stuff! Regarding the HRM discussion...I am going to jump in. Obviously it depends on the unique individual, but I tend to be a very regimented person (that can be good and bad), but I am also one of those techhy gadget guys who loves to be able to look down and see what is going on with my body. I used an old cheap Nike HRM for years and the older it got, the more questionable the data became, so I upgraded to the new Timex Gobal Trainer. Of course this is basically a computer on your wrist but the readings I am getting so far seem to be in line. I never have been able to really hone in on my RPE, but I think my analytical handicap has something to do with that....I need proof!

The technology on the market is pretty intense right now so I'm sure there are options out there if you want to potentially dig deep in your pocket (in some cases you might not have to). All of my training in 2011 is going to be HR type training, so I'll let everyone know how it goes over time as I am really just delving into this world of HRM training (I used the one in the past just as a guidleine of sorts).

Happy training...get those last 2 sessions in for 2010 and feel great going into 2011!!!
David

Question for all... training when sick... I have had to take 2 days off because I can't shake this head/chest cold.  I am starting to miss training... I am just wondering if others have trained when under the weather... I am starting to go stir crazy!  

I know its not recommended to workout while under the weather but I have to admit, I have and it has made me feel better.  Its not the same intensity as normal but just getting the blood flowing and the air circulating for me really helps.  This is not for everyone though.  I think its more mental for me.  I understand what you are saying about going stir crazy. 

SHARON -

As I trawled back through the flurry of pages to see what might have initially slipped throught he cracks, there was your bio on page five. Very intriguing! The recent posts had led me to see you as somewhat unothodox (which you admit to in that post) and probably quite new (which is not at all the case!), so i'm glad I found your full bio. Where to begin, however!

Interesting origins, which all sounds good and positive, but then the rather worrisome genes/diabetes connection. Between those two is the info on weight, which sounds neither especially worrisome for you, nor something that you feel is beyond your abilities to deal with. Have a said that correctly, with those neither/nor usages? Anyhow, you seem to accept your weight well in that you carry it well, but also that you are fixing to lose a fair bit of it over the next year.

Also impressive is your ability to adjust with setbacks -- injured, then just move on to soemthing else. I don't sense there is much of you that spends time feeling sorry for yourself! Tennis, triathlon, serious running, Crossfit.....you've covered a lot of teritory in the past five years, haven't you?

As for Olympic weight-lifting.......is that what i think it is?? Now THERE'S discipline and focus and intensity, yes?

I fully support your holding-pattern approach to the IM. you're still very young, with lots of years to pursue that dream. And that's not to say that 2012 isn't feasible for IMTexas; it might well be! But as I have siad elsewhere in this group already, i am a pretty big fan of people taking their time kicking up through the distances. in some cases I was NOT like this, but at least for the IM, my first was in my fifth season of triathlon, and was my 24th race. The reason why i approve of that rough kind of delayed gratification approach to IM is simply because by that point i was pretty savvy, just much more mentally and physically able to handle 140.6 miles. Plus, i had done about nine half-irons prior to that, so I had that in my favor, too.

Non-traditional is fine,and maybe even better than fine. That is, the vast majority of us triathletes are exceedingly traditional, and I doubt that we even begin to gift non-tradoitional approaches any even halfway-fair attention. But there is more than one way to skin a cat, and how people arrive at various goals -- especially strength and flexibility ones -- has to be pretty much endlessly varied.

I will be very intersted to see how these things work for you! I like to think i am open to New Ideas, and I guess in theory I am. But in actual practice I tend to try not to work too far outside of the bubble. I guess that's my left brain calling the shots in that regard.

What injury got in the way of the '08 marathon --- and are you well past it? I had two marathons scrapped due to injuries. First was one in Maryland in late '02, and that was done in by a hamstring strain about two weeks out form it. Then in Dec '09 I had to bail on one in SC diue to an iliotibial band flare-up about ten days out from it. Grrr! I;ve stuill got a bunch to my credit, but it is SOOOO annoying to do all that focused training, only to have the house of cards come tumbling down so close to the end. Grrr, grrrr!

ALEX -

The rough rule of thumb is that if whatever ails you is from the neck up, you are good to go. The more serious ramifications can occur when it's a lung/bronchial problem, and also sometimes with a very sore throat. But head colds? Carry on!

BOB -

I really enjoyed your long post from page 6. I cast my vote for you very much having a life.....with the caveat that it's a mighty complicated one. I'm not sure how you manage to do it all, but I guess you do!

Yes, the FeXY crowd is very intense, and so is hooslisa, which is why she is there. She initially started with RATS (Reston Area TriathleteS?), but felt they were less focused -- or maybve just less intense. I don't think rhere is anything wrong with RATS, just they weren't exactly for her. They have certainly been around for a while, and I guess that's a good sign.

So your Ontario outpost is up around Muskoka way? Jeezum, that can't be too bad at all! I have spent the past bundle of yours eyeing the June Long Course Muskoka race, but have yet to do it. As I said before, i do most of my racing in the U.S. (love those USAT rankings points!), and plus I just don't enjoy the drive from Ottawa to Huntsville. The Highway 60 corriodor can get tedious, plus it's kind of tedious just getting to Whitney itself. So each year I dutifully think lots about Muskoka....and then pass it by for another year.

How did you find things up therethis past summer while the Summit was happening? it was enough of a problem that Muskoka was switched from June to July, but now that the Big Wigs have left, never to return, it's back to its old June time-slot. But at least you all got a ton of newly-paved roads and stuff, right? I don't know whether that was really worth all of the headaches; maybe not!

Having Muskoka there as a first goal for '11 is good, and there is lots of time for the others to be slotted into place -- wherever you can find it! Even if you didn't do that until March or even April, that wouldn't be much of a problem at all.

When are you heading back to Reston? You might need to shovel out upon your return, although whatever fell may well have melted by then. Heck, they'bve gotten more snow there than we have had here....which is pretty much how it was last year, too

Finally are you in some sort of school-related position? it sounds like it, and if so that would make five of us here in the group who are teacher-types. Scary thought!

ALEX - I understand the desire to get the body in gear when it's been down and I've done light run/walks on my treadmill or got on the bike trainer for light spins when I just don't feel the best but still have some energy do something. I've learned to listen to my body and not beat myself up over having to take rest days. At the same time, I've learned that if my mind is screaming to move, then doing something within the confines of my house seems to take the edge off and turns into a quicker recovery from sickness.

STEVE - Thanks for the questions. I did the Muncie Endurathon and plan on doing it again in 2011 but it's been taken over by WTC so it's now going to be called Muncie 70.3. Yes, I plan on repeating some Oly's - the first one at Pokagon State Park on May 21 which is early for an Indiana swim but with a full wetsuit it was great. The run is also on the trails of the park and it was beautiful. I'll do the Muncie Oly in June as a prep for the July 70.3 done on the same roads. I'm looking at a few others - mostly in state parks because I love combining camping and triathlons. It's the best of my favorite things together. As a family we LOVE Cedar Point so yes, Rev3 there has an edge over IMWI. The problem is both events are on the same weekend during the school year and my son plays football (weekends) and my daughter has an annual volleyball tournament that same weekend. That's my dilemma with fitting in an IM. I'm mentally ready to add it to my schedule but it doesn't fit into my family schedule yet so I"m biding my time. Both my kids are 3 sport athletes so we are involved with them year round. It's all good.

JOHN - Thanks for the info on the tri clubs. I just started taking swimming lessons from a Ironman finisher that works at a fitness club in Plymouth but I didn't know there was a group of active triathletes in the area. Lafayette and Purdue is just too far to do anything because I'm mostly a taxi service to my kids. I'll look at the website though, so thanks for passing it on.

GEORGE -

I'm back at yours from page five, where you listed the races you are considering and asked about distances. I think I saw someone's response to you about the latter, but if that's just my imagination working overtime, i'll give a shot at it here.

One mile equals a tad over 1.61 kilometers; that's for starters. How this would equate in different distances of racing is:

Sprint:
750meters - 20km - 5km
-or-

45mile - 12 miles - 3.1 miles

Olympic
1500m - 40km - 10km
-or-

9 mile - 25 miles - 6.2 miles

Half-Iron
2000m - 90km - 21.1km
-or-
1.2 miles - 56 miles - 13.i miles

Iron
4000m - 180km - 42.2km
-or-
2.4 miles - 112 miles - 26.2 miles


Is that at all helpful? Keep in mind, too, that especially for sprints the dustances can waffle all over the place. Some sprints may have 8 mile bikes......or 16 mile bikes. Some may have really short swims, others might poke up to about .6 of a mile. Generally, though, the runs are consistent at 3 or 3.1. Generally. As for olys, once they vary too much from the above they are called International, or Intermediate. Usually the variance comes in the form of a longer bike, fairly commonly up to about 28 miles.

(Also, see my next post for a "sidebar" to the above.)


Oh, those are a whole swack of new races for me! Live and learn, i guess! What is the topography of the Brett robinson longer one? If it's mostly flat, you could tackle it okay on the mountain bike. I cannot tell you how many people I have seen riding MTB in triathlons, and most ofd the ones I do feature some topographical challenges. I guess that's a benefit of having that third ring up front, eh? Anyhow, working on the mountain bike this coming season maty not make you a whole it faster, but it will definitely make you a whole lot stronger. By the time you get your raod bike, it will be kind of like going from swinging a weighted bat in the on-deck circle, and then using a normal bat when you step to the plate!

GANG!

I just discovered the following in the Decemebr eidtion of Triathlon Plus, which is from the U.K. It is a correlation between race duiatnce and the amount of the race that is the swim.

Sprint
750m swim in a 25.75km race -------- 3% swim

Olympic
1500m swim in a 51.5km race -------- 3% swim

Half-Iron
1.2-mile swim in a 70.3 mile race ------ 1.7% swim

Iron
2.4-mile swim in a 140.6 mile race ---- 1.7% swim




Now you know!

BRENDA -

I did Muncie in '03! It was a disappointing day for me; not a disaster, just slightly disappointing. I think that was the last year of the old venue, then they went to a new venue that included more downtown elements; maybe the run went through there? i don't know how it is being set up for this coming season. i just know that a cardianl is featured in the race logo, and that therewas alot of acrimonuy about WTC wanting a 60-day freeze around the date of the 70.3. I think city council was all set to cave to them, but then the local tri community stepped in and said that those other races are important, too, especially to the majority of triathletes who aren't interested in doing HIM. Maybe the June oly you are doing was one of those that would've been affected by WTC being granted the freeze they requested.

i ahve a number of issues with WTC; don't get me started!

I still have - and use regularly - my oversized and over-plushy bath towels that I bought at the expo there, so just about everyday I notice the embroidered logo and think ever-so-briefly of Muncie!

Thanks for the info on the swim percentages, Steve. If you swim as slow as I do, though, the percent of TIME I swim relative to my total time is much higher. I'm a REALLY slow swimmer and thus the need for some lessons before committing to a IM. I want to make sure I make the cut-off. Being a CPA, I'm a numbers person, so that's an interesting breakdown. With the swim percentage being so low, should a person really concentrate on their toughest discipline if it's swimming? Hmmmm

OK, I won't get you started on the WTC. I've not done a branded race before so I'm interested to see what my additional $70 registration fee will provide over last years fee. You sure have done a lot of races and have a lot of knowledge, Steve. I think you're making a great mentor! Thanks!

GEORGE again -

Just also found one from you f=on page four, I think it was trhat I clicked, in which you ask about what to do on the off-days.

I'm assuming that the three days are devoted to swim and bike and run, with no inclusions for stretching or strength; is that right?

If so, i'd say that it's fine to add a day or two of that stuff each week. My caution would be to go easy on the leg work on a day before a run session -- easy, as in avoid! And even if between a run and a bike -- avoid. At least for now. As for upper body stuff, avoid it the day before a swim, unless the swim is all kicking. (In which case, avoid the legs again!)

So, to sum up:

..no leg work the day before a run or a ride

..no upper-body work the day before a swim

As for core work, that is good just about any time. few of us have the core that we can get the most mileage out of, so whatever you can do in that respect will be helpful to training and racing!

Hi everyone,
Just a quick note to let everyone know that my swim lessons start next Thursday, not today!  I will keep you posted, but you will have to wait until next week:-)

I am running a race tomorrow, however.  I haven't decided on 10k or 5k yet.  I was sick a little last week and I haven't trained as much as I know I should for the 10k and I don't want to be last after I've come so far!  We'll see and I will post a race report afterwards.  Oh, and there's a free bottle of champagne afterwards!   

BRENDA -

Great question about how much to concentrate on swimming if it's your toughest discipline. Also great is your observation about the % of timeyou swim, as a slow swimmer, relative to your total race time. have you tried crunching some numbers to see what that tells you. My quick gut feeling is that the percentage would not shift that much with each added minute in the water, but I don't have a good level of confidence in thinking that.

As for your question, though.........I don't have a firm answer. I can tell you that the swim is my weakest link, but that I continue to work quite hard at it. In any given race I will have a bike time in the top 15% overall, and a run time around top 20% overall........and a swim time around the 50% overall. (Those numbers get much, much better within the context of my age group, but that's only cold comfort for the swim part.) So, my whole game is to come out of the water and then work really hard at "catching the fish". that is always highly rewarding, but also highly frustrating to put myself in that position.

So, i work hard pretty at swimming, which at times feels like banging my head agaianst the wall over and over and over and over. When I started tri in '00, my swimming showed a meteoric rise to mediocrity right away.........and ever since then my progress has been as leisurely as the drifting of the continents. there IS improvement each year, to be sure, but not as much as I would like - not by a long shot. I think I might be on to soemthing good this off-season, however, and we'll see how that manifests itself once the race season begins.

For you, though, I hate to come out so early in the game here and suggest that you, in effect, "sacrifice" the swim. I guess what I want to know first is what it is that seems to be slowing your progress, or keeping you at being a "REALLY slow swimmer". But you mention lessons, and that would be ideal, i think. I have had several one-on-one sessions that were one-time-only, and all have had benefits; one was superb. I will get the website for that; it's agreat site. I think it is www.swimsmooth.com, and it kind of embarrasses me that I'm fuzzy on it right now. Oops!

Actually, I just found it, but via the back door. Go to www.swimtypes.com, and after you have amused yourself there for quiet a while, work your way back to the home page. which will then launch you into all of the other wonders of the site. He (Paul) is a terrific teacher, and his website is top-notch.

Anyhow, don't give up on the swim quite yet! Some people will tell you to focus on your weakest area during the off--season, while others will say that you should continue honing your skills to best effect. I guess my own off-season approach is more of the latter, although overall I am pretty balanced.

Please let me know where you think your swim problems have their origins, okay?

Thanks Steve and everyone for all the advice to my post and also other folks post.  I'm really learning alot from everyone.  The workout plan that I'm starting on Monday is a 9 week Couch to 5K which will end the week of 3/6.  By then I would have done two 5K's and I will be getting ready for my 10k on 3/26.  Once I'm finished my Couch to 5k program I will start my 13 week sprint program which will finish up just in time for my 1st sprint tri on 6/4.  After that I plan on to keep training for my next sprint tri on 9/10 but I will also start my 24 week half marathon training on 6/13.  I Plan to do my 1st half marathon on 11/26.  Again thanks to all.

Thanks
George

LAURA -

No swim lessons today?? Awwwwwwwwwww!

Me too, running a race tomorrow! Well, maybe. I'm signed up for a 10km, but there is a chance of freezing rain and if that happens I will probably bail. I don't want to enter 2011 with some gnarly lower-body injury from slippin' and slidin', to be sure.

I was pretty happy with a 44:03 time in a 10km in October, but between then and now has been my run off-season, mostly, so I won't be doing that kind of time tomorrow evening even if the skies are perfectly clear. I hate doing any race when I suspect that I won't be doing my best, and it was kind of dumb to sign up for the one tomorrow. DOH! But at the time I envisioned up until this point to include several road races, culminating in tomorrow. Then along came an agressively successful half-marathon (1:37:08) the week after the 10km, and that produced some foot problems (I always seem to pay the fiddler..... ), which ended my post-tri-season running sub-season. Therein was the start of my running off-season, which fast-forwards to tomorrow and my indecsion about the Resoluition Run 10km. Our race treat is a terrific $90 tech cold-weather running jacket, and seeing as how I get that for the $50 enrty fee, and paln to actually wear it, i guess i better do the run, huh, and swallow my (false sense of?) pride!

Anyhow, if we both do our runs we can share war stories. Maybe that'll be even better than my jacket and your champagne!

See you all later on! I'm off to Ottawa for a swim and lifting session, the latter which got bumped yesterday in lieu of a run. Ahhh, the joys of unstructured set-of-the-pants-and-spur-of-the-moment training!

Bye for now!

I am actually located in Corona right at the 91 and the 15 interchange.  It would be super cool to get together a few days for a long ride down the river trail to the beach for lunch and then back.  I do it with buddies all the time and it usually takes about 3 to 3.5 hrs of saddle time to do the 65 miles.  I was riding at about 20 mph at then but I havent ridden in a long time.

Have you ever ridden with the Riverside Bike Club?  There are a few people there who train for triathlons with in that group.  Also have you checked out Inland Inferno Tri Club?  I will be looking into the IITC this year.

Why do we over eat during the holidays.  Since last Thursday I've gained 5lbs even though I've kept up my training.  I can really tell it when running hills.  I do this to myself every year...Italian Cream Cake, pumpkin muffins, apple pie, the 5lb bag of pistacios that I got for Christmas only made it 6 days!!!   Why?!?!?!   Four more days of vacation!!!!   Going to eat with friends tonight and she is a great cook. 

I think I need an intervention!!!!

Roger

Edited by bhc 2010-12-30 10:52 AM