kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2013 (Year 3!) - CLOSED (Page 88)

Where is the transition set up?  I lived in NYC during grad school.  This was before I began competing in triathlon.  Funny how this stuff can go on around NYC and you can live there and be clueless  I did go down to Central Park and watch the NYC marathon both years I lived there.  Pretty cool! 

Mile repeats this morning.  Fastest yet, which is odd because my legs felt pretty dead when I woke up this morning.

Cindy is scheduled for induction on Friday.  FINALLY!!!!!!  So this weekend's long ride will be brought to you by boredom on the trainer.

Good luck! Your wife is a trooper letting you do a long ride the weekend she gives birth. When Blake was born in October luckily it was off season but I kept having to run home to get the girls to school, my mom's, activities, etc. So that week was basically really short workouts when I'd get home with really high intensity. It was actually fun training that way for a while and having no regard for recovery.

1:39 on the trainer followed by a 5 mile run. When I woke up I never thought I was going to have the workout I did. First because my wife went out last night which she never does so I was encouraging her but it meant only 5.5 hours sleep. I did get home while she was running errands with the kids and caught a late afternoon 20 minute nap which really bailed me out. Second because my legs felt tired and achy and the first 5 minutes were really rough then everything just release and I felt great.

All classroom.  Here's the agenda:

LEVEL 1 - Coaching Basics

Chapter 1: Characteristics of a Successful Masters Coach
Chapter 2: Understanding the Adult Learner
Chapter 3: Coaching Triathlon & Open Water Swimmers
Chapter 4: Writing Workouts
Chapter 5: Basic Business Practices
Chapter 6: Marketing

 

LEVEL 2 - Stroke School

Chapter 1: Stroke Correction and Development
Chapter 2: Backstroke
Chapter 3: Butterfly
Chapter 4: Breaststroke
Chapter 5: Freestyle
Chapter 6: Starts, Turns and Transitions          

The swim is really fast. I did 1:08/100 yards and without current I'm about a 1:33-35/100 for an Olympic consistently.

The transition is on Riverside by the circle. I believe it's 57th but don't quote me. But basically a straight shot into Central Park. There is a 2/3rds of a mile jog from where you exit the water to transition. It was 93 and 100% humidity the day I did it and I did the run with my wetsuit still on from the waste down. I will never make that mistake again. I could feel myself overheating. Stupid on my part.

That's awesome.  Why did you keep the wetsuit on?

Good luck with the induction!!!  

For babies #3 and #4, it was Kevin's job to take care of the older children, and that meant very little time at the hospital with me.  That was fine by me because all I really wanted to do at that point was to get some sleep.  Funny how the fairy tale fades away and you enter survival mode with multiple children.  His job responsibilities continued once I got home from the hospital.  I woke up and fed and changed the newborn all night long (never asking anything from him), but he handled the nightly problems of the other 3 kids.  They came to him for water, comfort, etc.  #1 and #2 are 22 months apart.  #2 and #3 are 18 months apart.  #3 and #4 are 19 months apart.  Someone was ALWAYS waking up.  This trend has continued to this day.  Can't wait until people stay in their beds at night.

I just wasn't thinking. I got out of the water and started running and unzipped and got my sleeves off as I was going and I didn't think it was as far as it was. I should have just sat down on one of the park benches in retrospect once I realized this. Were I to do the event again I would run over to one of the outdoor showers and turn the water on as cold as it would go and take it off underneath there.

It's a great event but a logistical nightmare if you're not lucky enough to live there. I was up at 3, in the hotel lobby with a couple hundred other people doing the event by 3:30, on the shuttle by 3:45 and at transition by 4. It was a very surreal experience. The rain was coming down as hard as I've ever seen and with all the spot lights on transition, the GW bridge in the distance in one direction and the lights of the WTC in the other it almost felt like you were in this post apocalyptic movie. I ended up hanging out with three guys who were from Chicago, Dallas and LA so with my being from Boston we had it covered but they all said the same thing.

So we set everything up and start the mile plus walk from transition up the river towards Harlem and there's 3600 athletes, hundreds of support people, thousands of spectators.......It's just a crazy event. I have to say swimming the Hudson, biking the West Side Highway and running the park make it all worth it.

Funny clash of two worlds story. I'm in the lobby at 3:30 AM with all the other racers and all these 20-somethings start wandering in from the bars trashed out of their minds. One group after another in slow motion because of the booze, "What are these people doing up?......Or they must be racing......I can beat them, HAHAHAHA." One girl was really bombed and started telling people her and her friend would sleep with anybody who skipped the race and went up to their room with them. They were actually quite good looking and I could see some people thinking can I get that in and still make the race? But overall they were good comic relief for the pre-race jitters. We were all just laughing at them.

My wife was the same but I wanted to be there. For me as a dad the woman has all that bonding time for 9 months so when they're born I want that chance. So I don't mind running in and out of Boston.

30 minutes on the trainer and 2 miles on the treadmill both at recovery pace in the books. I'll swim 2500-3K today at lunch.

Good luck, Scott!  Hope everything goes smoothly.

I ran 30 minutes this morning, and it was really hard.  I know it will take awhile for my body to get used to the pounding of running on a regular basis, but I'm having a hard time with this.  My calves have been sore for several weeks now (I stretch them out a lot so it isn't getting worse, but they're staying sore as I'm gradually increasing distance) and lately my hips have been sore also, right at the femur head, so that I hobble more than running for the first mile or so.  For those who can remember when you started running regularly, does this sound normal? 

I've made an appointment to see a local physical therapist who specializes in endurance athletes, so maybe I'll get some advice and/or exercises that will help. 

Thought on this?  I found it helpful for me.

http://www.sdxtraining.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=195:triathl..

Eh, it’s ok info.  To say don’t train like a swimmer is foolish in my opinion.  Yes we don’t train the number of hours that a swim only athlete does, but they’ve perfected the art of swimming efficiently.  To not employ techniques they use is short sighted. 

In re to #1: yes we will never develop the same level of skills as a swimmer.  That’s not the point.  You take the important pieces of work swimmers do that address your deficiencies and utilize them. In all honesty it doesn’t take that much time to address low hanging fruit like body position and basic pull technique.  Now if you’re talking the amount of time it takes to go from a top 10% in the world swimmer to a top 1% swimmer, we don’t have that time.

#2-  Other strokes, like butterfly, help develop efficient swim position for freestyle.  If you are struggling to handle the distance you’re training for should you focus on that first?  Sure, but let’s say I’m targeting an Oly, there is no reason for me not to try and improve my position since I can already handle the distance.  Other strokes also help discourage muscle imbalances.

#3- Drills ALL THE TIME won’t make you faster, but drills will.  Again each athlete has weaknesses.  Drills help address those. Prudent use of drills will help you go faster.  Swimming at the same speed for 2k all the time won’t make you faster either. 

#4- Yes I will take more energy for the IMTX swim than my buddy who swam at Pitt.  That said how do you become a skilled swimmer???  By doing drills and honing those skills. 

#5- Correct, a new swimmer should build up to longer sets.  That said if you don’t push your fitness you will never build to anywhere.

#6- Last I checked pull sets and paddle sets were drills?  What if the “unskilled swimmer” drops their legs?  Using a pull buoy isn’t going to address this, neither are paddles.  Another very generalized statement. 

#7- Over use our aerobic system?  Triathlon is an aerobic activity.  Even sprints at their base level.  Then says we under train skills?  But you said we shouldn’t be doing drills.  I’m confused. 

Lastly OWS is different than a pool, but adjustments can be made to your stroke (short glide, punchy stroke, etc) to make you more efficient in OWS.  This all can be practiced in a pool.  All in all I find that he contradicts himself a lot here. 

I agree with all your other comments but there's really no substitute for OWS. Being in a pool doesn't prep you for waves or chop, proper sighting, for some people the anxiety of being so far from land or the pools edge or dealing with zero visibility when putting your face in the water and for swimming that continually without rest. I did about 40 OWS last year and the difference between the first to the last was amazing. Also it is so much more enjoyable than laps inside. If I lived in a warmer climate I don't think I'd swim inside at all. Well that and swimming with a wetsuit solves nearly all my issues.

Oh I agree.  Indoors isn't ideal, much as running on a treadmill isn't ideal either.  There are ways to address the issues to a degree though.

Yep totally agree. Speaking of which because of the condition of the roads and the weather I haven't run outside since the last week of January. I cannot wait to do some non-dreadmill miles.

I have tape worm today. I've been so hungry all day and just finished off a huge protein drink with strawberries and almond milk and that wasn't enough so I had a pepper and that wasn't cutting it so I had 20 baby carrots with hummus and I want to eat again. Working from home the one issue is the constant access to food.

OMG me too. Oooh I had it so bad during full ironman training.  I said if it is not nailed down, I'll eat it.

Thrilling!!! good luck

HILARIOUS!!!

Oh and btw, almost right but transition is in Riverside park btwn 75-78 street