New Year New You...reopened for late comers (Page 8)

Looks good, wish we had warmer weather for a long ride. Temp is going to be around 55 on Monday so I'm hoping to get a ride in.Snow forecast for Tuesday. Last week I got in a 30 mile ride but the wind beat me up pretty bad. Come on Spring!

Hope the weather allows you to get out soon. I hope to hear about your rides :-)

I am sort of used to rolling hills, but this ride was not forgiving. It was the hardest I have ever done. It was a steady uphill climb for 50+ miles. If I would of known that earlier, bad planning, I would not of done it; maybe good thing that I didn't cause I know more about my limitations and what I need to work on before April. :-)

I accidentally went the wrong way. Was doing about 14mph up and was cruising 19mph when backtracking.

Great article. A lot of what's in the article can apply to swimming and bicycling. :-)
Thanks for posting

Trying to equate this to a sprint distance triathlon at 400m which I guess a MOP time will be around the 8 minute mark for a pool based swim, anything below starts to get towards the FOP.

Winter kicking in here at the moment, first ice and frost of the year, spring seems a long way off.

Been working with the guys down the pool tonight on head and body position. A very simple drill we use involves stretching the arms out in the air so the upper arm covers the ears and they join together at the top with the fingers stretched out. In this position stretch out in the water and use the legs in a to kick and simply twist the head to breath whilst bringing the arm over in a natural position. This really helps getting the head in a good position which helps the legs come up too. here's how swimskills describe it.

"To practice this you need to develop a firm, streamlined position, with one hand over the other and fingers interlocked, and the thumb of your top hand curled over the bottom hand – when this is done you’ll find that if you try to separate your hands, you’ll feel your elbows squeeze into your ears – just where we want them. You then need to hold a firm straight, horizontal position as you flutter kick to propel yourself down the pool. The crucial thing here is your head position – keep it steady and avoid looking down to the bottom of the pool – the idea is to look just a bit forwards so the waterline is just above your eyebrows. Kick firmly, with small fast kicks, keeping your hips high in the water and when you need to breathe, lift your head using a small sculling action of your arms, and then return to the streamline position.

Notes: You should be aiming to limit the number of breaths you take each length while performing this drill".

I sent some information similar to Rob.

Some times, I've noticed that the propulsion of the down stroke (under water pull) is countered by a sloppy entry of the other arm (elbow and/or wrist entering the water before the hand) which pushes you backwards.

It's important to keep in mind that for long distance swims, your ability to glide through the water will make you a more efficient swimmer. Less number of stroked to get through the same distance means less energy used. If you're sprinting, well that's a different stroke style :-)



Also a demonstration video (not sent to Rob)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6AcfrZ51sf0

I find it very interesting... (just now giving it some thought)

With running and bicycling, you want a higher cadence with a lower/easier gear to lessen the strength strain on your muscles.
But, with swimming, you want lower cadence and longer strokes.

What is everybody's thoughts on this?

Edited by [email protected] 2014-01-20 4:02 PM

Thank you David, I needed the video......I am a visual person and have the attention span of a gnat so the videos really help!

Can anyone give me an idea of what I should do before a swim to warm up? I swim at 6am and its -20c outside tomorrow so indoor suggestions are welcome!

The lanes fill up very quickly so something I can do whilst walking from the locker room to the pool would be really interesting (just kidding).

This is going to be a hard one for me. I usually do a 400IM reverse order or a 500 freestyle to warm up. Also, a "warm up" takes about 15 minutes, not exactly walking time from locker to pool.

As a bare minimum though. I would suggest that your warming up (in such a short time) should be focused on the shoulder area and doing something that will be low impact while still getting your heart rate up. You can also see about doing a couple lengths of the pool swimming side stroke or breast stroke at an easy pace.

There are videos that I have come across for warming up, but as mentioned, they require some time.
FYI: most of what is done outside of the water is stretching. Warm ups and cool downs are in the water.

Hey Virginia, how did the run go Saturday? Still in one piece?

I believe her event is this Saturday :-)

I believe her event is this Saturday :-) She has a couple more days...

I believe her event is this Saturday :-) She has a couple more days...

Looks like I'll be cutting down on my training over the next couple weeks. I have some cake orders that are going to consume a lot of my time; this is outside of my normal full time job. If I can get a run in here/there, I'll do what I can =)

I'm at least bicycling to and from work now. Not just bicycling home. This will help a little bit at least.

Adjust, adjust, adjust... right?

Oh and sorry about the triple post. Phone was acting up when I was posting the message :-\ (I don't see a "delete" anywhere either)

Virginia... I think that it's fair to say that all of us are cheering for you. We all look forward to your event and hearing your feedback.
Couple suggestions......
1) Get as much sleep as you can now, when Friday night comes around and you have problems sleeping cause of anxiety or anything else, you will at least be more rested ;-)
2) Even though this is a workout/practice session for you, once you have your goals and strategy set, do what you can to make sure you meet those goals. For example, "I plan on running 10 minutes & walking 2 minutes; alternating until the finish line." Stick to your plan :-)
3) Try your hardest not to go out too fast, as mentioned before, if you find somebody who is at about the pace that is comfortable for you, run with that person. it will keep your mind off other things and the event will be over before you know it. If the person starts to slow down too much, you can hitch a ride with another runner as they are passing you. If the person starts to go too fast for you, there are people behind you that are at your speed ;-)
4) Go out there and have fun with the experience... Enjoy it to the fullest and talk to others... Do "yourself" proud; this is a great milestone for you :-)

(still private message me if you need)
Good luck, Virginia :-)

Edited by [email protected] 2014-01-21 2:42 PM

I found this website that gives 7 lessons for triathlon swimming. I really enjoyed watching them. Im looking forward to trying this at the pool tomorrow


http://totalimmersion.net/

These are really good fundamental videos. =)

I've been teaching my youngest son how to swim, he could barely go 50 yds 2 years ago. But, he wanted to play water polo. Talk about crash course. There is one thing that I kept on telling him, "over time, you will start to feel the water." The little current differences as your body glides through the water, you will feel it. You will also get an understanding of what it is that you're doing that causes drag. The feeling of the water gliding by your body and legs. The feel of how much pull you're getting with your stroke. You're constantly getting feedback, but if you don't know what to look/feel for, the way you swim will take more effort.

It's really hard to teach how to feel the water and what it takes to glide. I remember spending close to an hour just having him push off the wall in a superman position, so he could feel and see how far he can get without kicking or swimming. He so much didn't like the drilling, but he was able to swim flatter than before after that.

It's almost like the slower your stroke turnover, the faster you become.
Good post Jen =)

Hi Rob with my swim group I do the warm up in the pool. Typically I set them 100m front crawl at a very gentle tempo, 30 seconds rest and then 100m own choice stroke, breaststroke works best as it has good shoulder movement range. If you wanted to do some pool side stretches then do some dynamic upper body stretches http://thecoachingmanual.com/guides/dynamic-stretchesNeil

David, bang on re slowing the stroke often makes you swim faster. Sounds a bit crazy but its key to make the water your 'friend' as opposed to fighting it! I cannot emphasise enough the need to be as streamline and flat in the water as possible, (superman position drill is a great start for this, well done), to reduce drag. Head position is key, it helps to bring the legs up and avoid the drag

Jen totalimmersion and swim smooth are the leaders in triathlon swimming, some great advice in both

Hey David, this is very much down to the individual and to a degree the type of event that you are competing in, but for a rule of thumb you are pretty correct. One thing I definitely recommend is to use a low gear and high cadence for the last 5 mins or so of the ride, helps get the legs ready for the run. The first few minutes of the run after the bike is always a challenge, the legs feel a bit like jelly but it soon passes!

So how's everyone doing, training going well? It's got pretty cold here but I have managed to get out and keep the running building slowly, left hamstring is a bit sore but the back feels ok. More physio on Saturday.....OUCH!

Unfortunately, my training is having to take a back seat at the moment. I'm at least riding bicycle both to and from work; I was only riding home and taking bus to work. I'll see about running here and there with time permitting. =)

Once I'm finished with the cake orders, I'll be diving right back into the routine. =)

So far my training has gone as planned in terms of my schedule. I dont have any injuries and my family and friends are very supportive. Ive been reading "the big book of endurance training and racing". Its given me a lot of insight on the importance of using a heart monitor so I ordered one. Ive been able to use it twice. My first time using it in cycling class I found out that I wasnt pushing myself enough to be in my aerobic training zone. I used it again yesterday and I did much better and I sure felt it! Not in a bad way.. I got a really great workout in!
Tonight is my 3rd swim class. The instructor had said last week that id be moving up a level tonight, which is good. Although I feel like I could be learning more from the class..