Tri/tbay group - CLOSED (Page 9)

Congrats on being pain free so far.  I ran a mile last night and had pain but it was bearable.  

Roy, I rolled my foot over the golf ball like you suggested and found my hot spot to be just below the "pad" below the big toe.  I have been running with a fore foot strike and apparently all of my mileage increased beat up the plater fascia.  This also explains my achilles and calf problems I was having.  Last night I ran with more of a heal strike.  I put arch supports in my dress shoes but running with them feels very weird and forces my foot too high in the shoe.

Hey Andy, did you remove the insoles that came with your shoes originally before putting the ones with arch supports in?  I failed to do that when I first got orthotics and had the same problem with sitting too high up in the shoe, so thought I'd ask. Glad to hear you're able to run.

Would love to do my first 20 miler tomorrow, but I'm a little nervous about that since I'm just barely recovered from the race last weekend.  Took today as a swim only day, so we'll see.  Otherwise will have to combine the 20 miler next weekend with a sprint tri.

What's everyone else have on tap for the weekend?    

Greetings and a great Friday to everyone!!

Good you could get out and run Andy, be careful and keep working on that instep until its' comfortable to roll that ball. I'll roll my insteps several times a week as a preventative. I dealt with plantars and its associated issues for over a year, got it training for a marathon. It was never so bad I couldn't get the runs in but did I pay the price. My left foot is just now feeling normal.

Squirt only you are going to be the one to determine how getting that 20 miler in with your recovery rate and wanting to race next weekend is going affect you. So use good wisdom.

This has been a recovery week for me, so nothings been to intense, the 3rd 4 week block starts on Sunday and it will be the peak distances for the plan over the next 3 weeks. Looking forward to getting these next few weeks in, this is where you can feel your conditioning level take form. And I'm getting antsy to race something.

Hope all is well with everyone, have a great training weekend.

Hey Roy, glad to hear you are eager for your next/peak training block.  Sounds like you are in a very good place mentally leading into it.

Legs felt mostly recovered by Saturday morning, so I went ahead with the 20 miler.  It was a perfect day for it, and I even saw a couple of deer by the lake.  I ran with our running club president for a few minutes and she spoke some really good advice and encouragement that stayed with me on the last half of the run.  So now I'm set to go for the sprint tri this weekend without having to do a really long run immediately before or after it.  That is if my bike has not rusted out from lack of use .

How did everyone's training go this weekend?

8 weeks until ST.A!  I am going to just tell my self that the last 2 months were base building and get serious about my training.  My inconsistency is so frustrating when I look back on it and I am starting to get nervous I won't be ready.  

I hope everyone else is doing well

Andy, you'll be good to go in 8 weeks.  That's what's is so great about races...they add a little urgency to the training.

Carol:  It seems but a dream to me that you casually went out to run a 20 miler! That's great!  It hardly matters what you do in the Sprint tri considering your run accomplishments...just get  out there and enjoy the day!  

Bill: With 8 weeks to go until St A's, I don't blame you for some jitters...but deadlines always help towards focus and that "do it no matter what" attitude.   

Roy: you are sounding like you are in good shape and ready to go!

As for me, I am getting the training in but I guess I don't trust that what I'm doing will get me the results I want, which is to finish within the time limit.  My running is still a concern since I am walking quite a lot...another knee setback last week...so I've had to walk again a couple of days. Tomorrow I will go ahead and try a run since the knee is ok again. On the upside, I did several bike rides in headwinds...on one ride the winds felt like 15-20 mph where I was holding on to my bike hoping I wouldn't be blown over...scary moments! It took me 1:45 to go one way and only :45 min on the return!  Today, we did another ride with long grades NW style of 4-6% and more headwinds. I figure it's good training for Florida for sure and it did boost my confidence.  Thursday it's supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees..yay!  I plan to ride my first 50 miler and test out my nutrition.  Maybe if I ask nicely, my husband will join me :-)  He prefers running, but I keep telling him cross training is a good thing!  

Happy training all!

Mona

Good Morning Group,

Good to read your reports from the past week, and sorry I"ve been a absent this week. Very busy week and I'll be away the remainder of the week. So keep up the efforts, stay focused on your training and I'll look foward to reading how your week went when I get back.

Good luck this weekend Squirt.

Hi everyone,

Iv'e been taking it easy with training, mostly because it has been a long hard week at work, some 10 hour days. I work on a grounds crew at a small college and baseball, softball fields have a ton of labor when they are coming out of winter. My back is sore at the end of the day sometimes and training just isn't sensible or smart. I had Sat. off so sunday i got the bike out and did 22 mi. and it felt great just a drop dead gorgeous day, Spring has sprung, the groundhog should be fired, the forecast has it in the 60s and 70s for the next 2 weeks. I'm back in the saddle again out where a friend is a friend, where the longhorn cattle feed on the lowly gypsum weed, back in the saddle again. Hello Mr. Gene Autry. Happy training everyone 

Mona - I know what you mean about it being hard to trust the training sometimes.  But really all we can do though.  Your biking continues to amaze me.  Windy days are so hard.  How did the 50 miler go?

Bill - so glad you had such an awesome bike ride!  My hat is off to you having a physical job and adding training on top of that.  I've been putting off bathing one of our dogs for several days for fear it will mess up my back/hamstrings.

Roy - hope whatever is taking you away is going well.  How is your training going?

Hey to everyone else...post an update on your training when you can.  Helps to know there are others out there on the journey!

Kerry has signed up for another 5K on 4/14...a small local race which should be lots of fun!  He was torn between that an a Komen race.  Local race should be much lower stress with no parking/traffic issues.

I did a sprint tri today, and had fun in spite of some "interesting" conditions.  I have never ridden my bike in the rain...until today!  Thankfully, they abbreviated the bike portion, and I survived in an upright position.  Saw good improvement in my swim, and placed 1st in my AG on the run.  Not so good on the bike or transitions, but a very true reflection of where my focus has been.  Race report here if you are inclined towards the details:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=429781

I have signed up for the Big D Texas Marathon on 4/15.  Checked out "Mastering the Marathon" by Don Fink at the library and liked it, so jumping in where it seems right leading up to the race. 

Hey Carol,

Good going on the tri!  Bill, hard labor will keep you in shape, that's for sure! Bravo for Kerry signing up for another 5K, could he be hooked already?

I am tired today..sounds familiar doesn't it? Just finished up a 12.75 hour week which included 7:30 bike hours and my longest run yet at 9.5 miles.  I did the 50 mile bike ride on a trail, which is mostly flat, the closest simulation to the 70.3 around here.  At one point there was a biker dude that went by me and I decided to crank it up and see if I could keep up with him...we were doing 19 mph for several miles!  I sure hope this is an indication that I am closer to being prepared for this thing. The running continues to plague my poor knees..i literally could hardly go up the stairs after the run...good news, though, is I didn't walk to speak of and that is a definite improvement since starting in mid Nov.

Roy: when I get to St Pete in a couple of weeks, I want to ride the 70.3 course.  Is it safe to ride along the roads, ie is there a shoulder most places?  I will see if my husband will go with me, but if not, I am stubborn enough to just go alone. I also have some friends in the St Pete area that I may be able to talk into doing it, don't know yet.  Would you or someone you know like to go for a ride for a day :-) I've also got an post going with someone in BT.  We'll see what happens....

Take care everyone..this is a recovery week for me (except for swimming which I have been missing lately)

Mona

Good Afternoon  to you all and sorry for my silence the last few days. Had a great weekend away, did manage to get some of the training in that was scheduled and trying to catch up a bit a work. Good to see everyone is moving closer to that first tri of the season or for Squirt one down and several to go.

For the St. Anthony's folks in the group it's going to be upon us quickly, and as was asked how is everyone doing? Training on schedule and preparing for a big day. It's been a mild winter here and the water temps are already heading up, it's doubtful that they will find that magic temperature spot to get a wetsuit legal race but you never know until race day. The new swim course is going to be much more forgiving if the east winds are an issue.

Mona, your going to do great based on what your doing now and still have two full months to prepare. There was a ride last weekend by some of the local athletes, they liked the course. I guess there is one stretch where it is kind of rough but that may get fixed by race day. It's rural roads in that area with shoulder room for riding. We don't get to many road rage issues in our area so biking on the open road is pretty safe. I'll have to see what my schedule is, but would enjoy the opportunity to ride if its doable.

Squirt mentioned wet roads and she was happy staying upright and that brought a thought I would pass along. If your just out riding or in a race situation beware of the painted lines they will get you in a nano second. Stay off of them and certainly don't make any turns on the painted portions these are very slick and you'll go down quickly.

Happy training everyone, keep it up.

Thanks Roy! I'm looking forward to St A's coming up soon!  I am also very much ready to get out of this weather...this morning would you believe there were snow flurries!  

I wanted to mention the obvious regarding riding in the wet weather...I went down and broke my elbow as a novice rider when I didn't cross over railroad tracks properly (90 degree angle).  They were only single track and I stupidly thought they were safe to ride over.  

Mona

Hi everyone!  The weather has been so nice lately.  I have been riding on the trainer believe it or not since I am uncomfortable on our shoulder less roads out here.  I am going to start riding after work in down town St.Pete with a friend, he said it is quite bike friendly and can always hop on the Pinellas trail.

Swimming some how has become the discipline that I am most confident with.  I swam 2200 yards this past friday, 1000 of which was continuous.  I cant wait to get out into open water to see just how ready I am.  

Running is getting better, still very slow but my foot feels much better.

Good going Andy,

Nothing like a deadline to get you out there :-) While in St Pete I highly suggest you drive the bike course and bike the run course so you know what to expect. A 15-20 min swim wouldn't hurt either.  Have you practiced your transitions?  

Keep up the good work! I can't wait to get to Florida now, in just a couple of weeks, so I can get some long rides on the Suncoast Trail...good wind and heat training that I haven't been able to get here. I'm aiming for at least one ride out and back on the Suncoast which is a total of 75 miles, but we'll see.  

Good training everyone!  

Mona 

Hey there team -- sounds like lots of training going on now that goal races are getting closer!

Mona, yes, Kerry is enjoying the running .  Hope you had a good recovery week!  Your biking continues to amaze and inspire me.  Sounds like you are seeing some progress in the run as well.  Sounds like you are mentally geared up to spend some time in Florida.  Ugh, rail road tracks are scary.  We have some really nasty (vertical) grooves between the shoulder and the road around here that are easy to drop into if you don't watch for them.  I went on a practice ride before my last OLY last year and our ride leader when down in one.  Thankfully not seriously injured...just shaken and scraped.

Roy, glad you had a great weekend away.  You are so right on the paint being dangerous.  Pre-race announcements included warnings about that as well as a few small brick crossings.  Wow, the FLA wetsuit legal season is short lived!

Andy, wow, you are making great swim progress.  Nice 1K continuous!  Mona is right on practicing the transitions.  Mine are dreadfully slow, so if you want any tips on what NOT to do, I can help with that .

Marathon training continues, and so far I'm holding up OK.  Really liking the Mastering the Marathon (Fink) plan.  Love that I can sub in cross training for a couple of the shorter runs.  It's also helping me to circle in on what pace I should target. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend of training!

MTA:  Question for the bike guru's here: I have the steel (I guess) pedals that have clip in on one side and platform on the other.  Obviously they are clunkier/heavier than most.  Would changing those out be a good and relatively inexpensive upgrade on my bike?  I don't have aerobars either and am not sure I really need/want them, but would that be a better investment?  I ride a scott contessa speedster (road bike) if that helps. 

Hi everyone, 

Finally ran without any pain in the back or hips. Just 4 mi./8:45 but what a great relief, i just kept waiting for my back to seize up and was nervously anticipating another setback. So from hear i guess i will cross my fingers and keep on training. Its been since Feb. 10th for a pain free day.

Bill, glad to hear your back is feeling better and you are enjoying the gift of being pain free.

Question for you marathon veterans: I'm 4 weeks out from the marathon (4/15).  Did my 2nd 20 miler on Saturday as part of a 50 mile week last week, had a few aches and pains along the way, but seem to have recovered well.  That was actually a week ahead of schedule because I swapped plan weeks to accommodate some other things.  If I continue on that path, my long run will be 16 miles this week and then the taper really begins.  So my question is....if I feel good throughout this week, would it be beneficial to do one more 20 miler this weekend?  That would mean only a week between 20's.  My #1 goal is to arrive at the starting line healthy, #2 is to finish, 4:30 or less would be fine, and I'm considering 4:10 stretch target if everything aligns.  Logs are updated. 

Squirt you've answered your own question in my opinion. I think its an excellent way of going into your marathon taper and ultimately the race injured. Don't do it, you don't need it. Higdon 's Novice Marathon plan has only one 20 mile run in it and a max week of 40 miles. I realize there are multiple paths to get to the end, but you've got enough run fitness from your early season events to get you to the line no problem. And besides if it is going to hurt why have it start at mile 5, might as well wait until everyone else is hurting at miles 18-22.

Bill happy that your out there pain free, don't push it to hard to early and create another set back. I've had the effects of plantars for a while, and have had some pain free runs lately, it does feel good.

Keep up the training everyone spring has sprung and it's almost race day, Squirt has a head start on all of us.

Thanks so much Roy!  Ha, and sorry you guys have to read some of what the "voices in my head" argue about.  I had to bag my first ever planned half marathons (yes, I signed up for not one but two) several yrs ago due to injury, so really try to listen to my body (in addition to all those voices ).

We all have our strengths, and several of you are way ahead on bike and swim fitness!  Let us hear of your adventures when you get time.

Hey Bill, glad you back is continuing to feel better, and that you have committed to a race!  Makes all those other questions start to pop up.  I'm sure Roy will have great input, but thought I'd throw in what I leared about a couple of them last year:

Tri suit vs. tri shorts/top - I prefer tri shorts/top for a couple of reasons.  It's easier to make a pit stop if needed.  The tri shorts are also my primary shorts used for bike training rides.  Not sure I'd want to wear a whole tri suit for training, so it's nice that they can do double duty.  I bought my tri top on sale at REI ($15 for a zoot top which is a deep discount), but paid full retail for zoot shorts at the local running store (around $65).  It was important to me to be able to try the shorts on and I tried on MANY pairs before finding any that worked out. 

Wet suit vs. no wet suit - If the race allows you to wear a wet suit, I would 100% recommend it!  I've done 2 OWS tri's with and 2 without.  Helps with buoyancy (and therefore confidence), and will likely improve your speed as well.  If others are wearing them and you are not, IMO puts you at a big disadvantage.  I picked up a sleeveless Xterra Vortex using the BT discount and have been very happy with it.  Just make sure you practice with it, and learn how to put it on and take it off prior to your race.  Pam spray on your legs/shoulders/neck can help with that.  I know....weird, but it did help!

Interested in what everyone else has to say on the bike workouts.

Its been a long time since I had an opportunity to write something on the forum.  Work this month kept me traveling for the first three weeks which really put a dent in my training. 

I see many are still improving and getting better as the tri season is finally starting.

I attribute work travel as to why I didn't do as good as I expected on Saturday at the HITs Olympic Tri.  The location is 30 minutes from the house.  It was very nice to be this close.  Many of the local people participated so we cheered each other on.  The water in the lake was pretty warm (70 degrees) and I did wear my wetsuit.  I just died halfway through the run and walked a lot of the last half of the race.  My goal was less than 3 and 1/2 hours which I almost made (3:31).  I didn't wear socks since the week before at the practice tri it worked great.  I don't really like having to do two loops.  I think I got dehydrated by not drinking enough on the bike and that effected my run.  I filled out a race report if you are interested.

Good Luck in your training.

Squirt, 

Practical experience is valuable information when it comes to stuff like this so i thank you for the tips i especially liked the PAM one.  And the shorts and top make sense, I have never worn a wetsuit so that will be a new experience. Never heard of REI or BT discount but i will look those up. 

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Lao tzu