ADollar79's Group--closed and in the base building phase! (Page 8)

I've had sports massage before - I am generally sore the next day but feel good.  I hold a lot of stress in my shoulders.  I've also had some seriously bad back pain which is triggered from my hip flexors.  When those get tight or sore, it wreaks havoc on my lower back.  I have a great chiropractor who helps give it some relief, but I have noticed that I tend to get really stiff after long runs when I get up and down later in the day.

He gave me some exercises to help - it's just a matter of doing them.  I also have the TriggerPoint roller and ball that I need to use.

My recovery has been crappy in the past - it's my goal to spend more time taking care of my body this year.  

Foodwise, I get talked into going out for dinner the night of a long run and end up eating really crappy as a reward.  Yah, it may taste good, but I'm not doing myself any favors in the long run.   So I've got a few things to work on. 

I am doing better with my during the run nutrition though - and that is helping! 

I am always sore the day after a deep tissue or sports massage.  It is very similiar to bruising.  But I always feel 100% better. 

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Stretching is fundamental and one of the most difficult things to do when you are done with a workout.  I often want to just crash. 

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Nutrition and hydration should go without saying but they are often overlooked.  One of the biggest keys to recovery AND weight loss is learning to properly fuel your body both before and after workouts.  After a workout, you have a window of 30-90 minutes where you need to focus on glycogen repletion.  Essentially your body can breakdown carbs at a much faster rate and put them back into the muscle in the form of glycogen which builds strength (That is the laymen's science discussion.  If any of you are in the science/health field please chime in).  The common recommendation is to take on 4:1 carbs to protein after a workout. 

The key is to put SOMETHING back into your body.  I find that if I don't, I am much more susceptible to eating binges later...thus wiping out the weight control aspect of my workouts. 

Marni Rakes writes several articles and hosts chat discussions on nutrition.  Here is here recommendation for post workout snacks

Post Training Snack

LENGTH OF WORKOUT: 1 hour or less
HOW MANY CALORIES: 100 calories or less, followed by a 300-400 calorie complex carb/ complete protein meal

Post training snacks options:

• Water- 1 water bottle

• 8-12 oz. sport drink or try a low sugar/diet fruit juice (diet V8 splash)

• 100 calorie snack pack (carbohydrates)

• Rice Cake

• 8 oz skim/soy milk (preferably light soy milk)

• ½ - ¾ granola/sports bar (same bar from morning)

• ½ cup dry cereal

• A few nuts

• Piece of cheese

• 1-2 hard boiled egg whites

• 40-60 calorie yogurt

• Handful pretzels

• 1 scoop 90-110 calorie protein powder w/water

• Small lollipop

• Piece of sugar-free gum

• Nothing – consume meal

Great addition John!  It was on my mind but I forgot to add it to the discussion.   

There is no doubt in my mind that c-milk is the best and most cost efficient recovery product on the market.  Plus it is soooo good.  John is correct that several studies have found c-milk to be just as effective as more expensive drinks. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/24/health/webmd/main1342839.shtml

 I do employ c-milk after nearly every weight session and swim workouts.  It is also very filling and helps postpone cravings.  I have also been known to grab a chocolate shake on the way home from a 4-5 hour bike (not recommended for the weight loss crowd, lol).

I do use a product called Endurox for runs and rides more than 120 minutes.  This product has that perfect blend of carbs-protein while being high in vitamin e & c.  (I sometimes use it for hangovers too, lol). 

Workouts for the week:

Monday: 60 minutes of cross training
Tuesday: 60 minute (either LT or hills) / weights
Wednesday: 45 base run / swim
Thursday: 80 minute run on hills / weights
Friday:  Swim
Saturday: 2.5 hour run
Sunday:  45 minute base run or X-train.

Snrf, JD, you injured yourself Wii bowling?? Hee.  Better take it easy, man

Dollar - thanks for the c-milk tip - had it after my 14 miler on Saturday and I did feel like it helped!

Had a swim time test tonight as part of our LT Testing.  I'm so new to swimming, so I was just stoked to be able to complete it.  I'm super slow right now, but at least I've got a starting point.  To be honest, I have no worries about the bike and run portions of St.A's.  I'm terrified of the swim.  I've never swum in the ocean in a race and I'm nervous about the distance.   

Nice to see everyone on the choc milk recovery!!! A favorite variation of mine is:

Milk, choc syrup, banana and peanut butter in a blender!! YUM!!!!!!

HONK!! HONK!! 

I came home exhausted, I had forgotten my IPOD so I wanted to pick it up. I decided to lay down for 15 minutes. One hour later.....whoops. I could feel myself drifting off on the ride home from work which is not good.So another day off for me. My schedule is a bit buggered at the moment now.Tonight was supposed to be a slow 2 mile run, tomorrow 3000M swim, Wed - Strength

Thurs - 3000M Swim

Fri - 3 Mile slow run

Sat - 40M Yoga

Sunday - anything goes

And I just LURVE peanut butter and banana smoothies. Has to be my all time favourite. Never tried it with chocolate sauce however, sounds delish.

I was wondering if anyone was doing any of the challenges this month? I am in the flying fish team for 30,000M!  Very doable I think.

Sarah and I are both on Team Scrambled Legs for running distance.  We are in first place, just in case you were wondering.

heeehee, yah, just in case.  

I played the wii for the first time over Thanksgiving.  I did the fitness test and then we had a family challenge.  No lie, my back, particularly my lats were really sore the next day.  

Do be careful that it doesn't turn into swimmer's shoulder.  This would not be a good time to develop a nagging injury.  So rest up and get healthy before you take on a heavy swimming load.  

For discussion sake, what kind of LT test did you do in the water?  Did you establish a t-pace through a time trial?   

HONK HONK!!!!

I definitely love smoothies.  I typically use them in the summer.  For me, it is a 3/4 banana, 4-5 strawberries, 1 cup of fat-free yogurt and a scoop of Endurox.  Yummy!!!

(I also make a lot of milkshakes in the summer....shh) 

Lets talk a bit about OWS since both Sarah and Drew made reference too it. 

Has everyone done an OWS before?  Anyone not?  What did you find work?  What didn't work?  What did you learn?  What will you do differently?   

Oh dear god.  Open water swim.  Well, uh, my history in terms of swimming is funny.  I didn't really know how to swim when I did my first two triathlons last year.  I swam with my head above the water the entire time .  I was terrified to put my face in the water.

So I started taking lessons and getting comfortable in the water.  As bad as it was, I'm sort of glad that I raced before I did the swim lessons - it kind of took the fear out of things for the sprint distance.  

I did an open water swim before my last sprint of the season and it didn't go well.  I was just totally eeked out with my face in the water (Mary Alice Park).  Race was a similar experience, I sort of freaked out, but managed to go part of it with a normal stroke.  

I feel much more comfortable going a further distance now, but am wresting with a new fear - ocean water.  I picked St. A's because of the flat course and that it would help get me ready for Gulf Coast (ocean swim) in '09.  But now I'm worried because I won't really have much of an opportunity to practice first! 

What's with the Honk Honk?  Should I be Honk Honking in other mentor threads? Hee.

Oh - you asked about the test yesterday? It was a 200 warmup and then a timed 1000.  I've got a spreadsheet that I'm supposed to enter my time into.  I need to do a bike and run test as well.  

Oh, and one more thing.  God I'm chatty tonight. 

I'm giving up sugar (pre-packaged things) as of tomorrow.  I recently gave up Diet Coke and found that I was hitting up chocolate and other snacks instead.  So as of tomorrow, I'm working on the pre-packaged stuff.  Trying to eat more whole foods, and less processed stuff.  The first step will be giving up any kind of candy, chocolate, 100 calorie pack, etc.. sweet stuff.  

Plan for breakfast is a protein shake (love mine with pb, yogurt, whey protein, strawberries, banana).  Snacks - fruit, veggies, nuts, hummus & pita

Lunch & Dinner is tough for me.  I would like to do a protein shake for one of these meals, but they don't fill me up enough for lunch.  So I'm working on more ideas for L/D.  

I'll take any suggestions that you guys have! 

All last summer, weather permitting I would bike to the lake after work. Well I would park a good few miles away on the boulevard and cycle down to the "Triathlete" swimming spot. My 1st OWS I was very weary as I'm afraid of deep water and of course the unknown. I messed around at 1st just to get used to the feel and I swam underwater for a bit checking everything out. It was actually very pleasant. Kept me calm!

There is a white buoy 1/4 mile out so what most folk did was do loops of that, in and back, in and back about 4 even 8 times. I honestly couldn't believe my luck because A: Not only could I go alone but swim with other people but B: I managed to get a good feel of what it would be like starting off in a wave. I know most places aren't that way but when I used to run around the park I always wanted to know what those mentaloids in the wetsuits were doing!! Now apparently I'm one of them. I met SO many triathletes last summer, some of them doing the same races..it was great.

My love for swimming in a lake equals that to swimming in a pool... I found it much easier that I thought. I dreaded having a panic attack in the middle of the lake but it was not to be. I was really impressed with how I handled it. I can't wait till the water starts to warm up a bit (I don't own a wetsuit) so I can get back in there!