Scott's Mentor Group-Closed for training. (Page 9)

  Hey Paul,

       I sustained what sounds to be a very similar injury in late January. My sports medicine M.D termed it hip tendonitis on the R side. I ran a half marathon in 1:40 and two days later ran 7 hard miles on insane hills, for two months previous I had been running all my mid distance runs on very steep hills, that combined with fast mileage increase is what he believes did me in. I was recovered enough to run pain free by the end of February. DO NOT NEGLECT THE STRETCHES!!!!! I cannot empasize this enough. 4 weeks of following the Rx stretches 2x a day and I was running 10+ miles again with ease. I also took up cycling during this time which led me to want to start doing tri's and ultimately to this website. I just ran a full marathon last weekend and had 0 issues with the hip. If you are anything like I was dont freak out about being slower when you start back at it. I am still not as fast as I was before the hip issue started, but I am getting there every week. This is not a major injury considering the other possibilities (i.e stress fracture) So use the time to study up academically on training , refine your diet and hit the activities you can do. Good luck to you and just know before long it will all be back to normal!!!!!

X2. I'm sorry you're injured but glad it's not worse. Rest up and hang in there!

I had planned on swimming Monday night right up until it was time to go and I realized how tired I was so I went last night instead. After about 200yds. I was exhausted. I did 200 more and called it night. I was asleep by 7:00. I'm going to try again tonight. The silver lining in all this is that a couple of times during my swim I couldn't remember which side was my good side for breathing. I guess all that bilateral breathing practice is starting to help.

Hope everyone has a great training day!!!

Fantastic questions.  My thoughts are bolded.  I also put in some links to some great information on building a solid and safe running program.  Good luck. 

JJ-

Total Immersion is controversial among traditional swimmers.  I took a class that included swim instruction from such a traditional swim teacher - and it took a while to integrate that with the TI things I picked up from reading that book.

Focus on breathing - are you doing 1 side or 2? I found that once I got comfortable breathing every 3rd stroke, alternate sides, I became much more comfortable in the water and could swim a lot longer without stopping.

Cheers

Ben

Good morning, tri trainers! Greetings from the Big Easy!

It has been a crazy week with no time infront of a computer. We have been traveling, sightseeing, and going 100 mph. Training has taken a hit but the family time has been great- can't complain about that. I have had some highlights I'll share in a minute.

First off- Craig, way to persevere and nail those two parts of the race. Nicole, good job on your finish! Paul, get that big body healed up, way to get out there.

There was a HIM here Sunday morning and I went to watch it. It was exciting and made me want to put on my onesie and get out there! I wanted to race so bad! I got to talk to Mirinda Carfrae so that was pretty cool. Seeing these people up close is wild.

We are down here for a neurology conference for my wife. They had a 5K yesterday so I decided to get in a little race action while we were here. I did my first ever 5K back in February. It took me 25:08 minutes. My 5K race of my tri took 24:12. I finished yesterday's race in 23:03! I was excited to finish with that kind of time. I placed 30 out of 100+.

I have not had a chance to swim or bike this week- oh well. The hotel has an eliptical and a treadmill. I don't want to run everyday.  There is a public pool but I haven't had any alone time to go swim. I miss my bike.

I hope everyone has a good week. I'll get back to the grind next Monday. I have been eating like a madman down here. The food is amazing. I am a seafood junkie so New Orleans is heaven.

Train smart my friends!

I'm thinking of switching to every third stroke as well. I find breathing every stroke to be too often, every fourth stroke to be long. Great to see someone else doing it and that its working.

- David Colman

Back in the saddle! Trip to Boston is over, got in a nice 10K run on the Charles on Saturday morning (amazing how FLAT it is!) and then had to hit the Hotel Lifecycle bike for 15 miles on Sunday due to rain. So overall, didn't miss that much training, but still wasn't happy about the gap. It rained/poured at home anyway so I would've missed my Sunday long ride, but I still don't like it!

I didn't have any access to a computer over the weekend and it gets annoying trying to check things on the phone. I saw a couple of people posted about being nervous about being Newbies. I also have never done a tri and I'm looking to pick up my first sprint this June ... although truth be told there's one 5/12 that may be calling my name sooner in Annapolis, MD. My thing is to just do MY best. I'm not really worried about all the "beautiful people" that go flying by me. I'm a 6 foot 240 lbs male competing in a sport where some of the people are smaller than my 10 year old sons! I have only be doing running races for just over a year and being that my top speeds are usually circling 10 minute miles, you learn to put on the blinders and just focus on what you are doing and the time on your watch. The way I look at it, you're really only competing against yourself, because the people passing you have no idea what you've done to get here, and you may never see them again, so why worry?

On another note, Craig (who is my new personal hero for KICKING the %$@# out of that race and getting it done!), posted...

Thanks for this insight. I was wondering about this on the swim, and although a mosh pit can be fun at times, I'm not thinking the middle of the swim will be one of them, (even if I do have Drop Kick Murphy's or some Bosstones running through my head in the water stay calm and keep the elbows in!) Now it just becomes a question of how far is too far to swing it out? I'm definitely going to have to keep this in mind.

Well I've got a 5K this weekend and I need to bring my "A" game as I will be running with a 9 year old friend. As much as I don't worry about all the other people running, I will worry about keeping up with this one! Don't want to dissappoint her and we are shooting for a 10 minute mile pace!

-Matt

Matt,

Thanks for the kind words.  After the "mosh pit" of the first two turns, I navigated the last 4 turns out about 6-10 feet.  That gives plenty of room for others to cut in close and doesn't add any significant distance to the swim.  It does depend on how many swimmers are around you.  The early turns you should probably give a little more.  Once the pack has stretched out you should be able to go a little closer and since there will be fewer swimmers near you.  Good luck on you 5K this weekend.

Paul, glad your injuries are not serious.  You and me can keep up the cheering on the injured reserve list.

Ashley, nice to have you back.  I jealous, I've always wanted to eat my way around New Orleans. 

I had my meeting with my running coach Martin Dugard yesterday (here is a link to one of his books http://www.amazon.com/To-Be-Runner-Mountains-Running/dp/160961108X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335369874&sr=8-1). He had me run a very slow lap on the track to look at my gate.  Running slowly he said I had a very good mid-foot strike.  2nd lap he had me speed up to about a 10 min/mi. pace and my foot strike went back to my heel.  Unfortunately, my calf is still a little sore so he didn't have me work on some of the drills he has plans for.  Another couple of weeks of rest then I'll meet him again to start the real work.  He is very optimistic that not only can he help me reduce the injuries but also increase my speed and endurance.  

I plan on hitting the pool today at lunch.

Have a great day all.

Craig,  Sounds like you are well on your way with the coach.  Congrats on that.  

Easy run scheduled for me this evening.

Troy,  I am seeing that the Master's meet starts at 11:30.  Is that correct?  How much time do they give us between the 5k and the mile?  The closer we get the more I'm thinking that the trifecta is a good possibility.  It is at Burlington High School correct?  Thanks.  

What is considered a long distance, before adding speed work?  I have been upping my 3 miler slowly, figuring maybe once I hit 5 miles, that'd be the time to start adding in speed work.

(Sorry if it's in the links - I haven't had time to browse through them yet.  But that's for posting them!!)

Just wondering what everyone here does in the way of eating and diet. We generally eat all natural and keep the carbs to a minimum with the exception of some kashi cereal in the morning, a daily late afternoon/pre workout energy bar of sorts, and the occasional brown rice, quinoa, or bulgar with dinner. Are most people here eating very carb-centric during training or kind of sticking to whatever works?

- David

How do I eat, or what am I aiming for?  ;-)  Sadly, there is currently a large discrepancy!

I am vegetarian, so normally it would be high carb via fruits and veggies.  Then I would use beans,nuts, seeds, quinoa, etc for some proteins (minimal soy for me); and healthy fats from those along with avocado and coconut flesh.

When I do manage to stick to that type of eating, I feel great and still notice good muscle growth if I am strength training.

Hi David,

My nutrition over the last year+ has been tied to lowering body fat and increasing lean muscle. Now that I'm training for a tri I'd be interested also in what I should change so I'll keep an eye on the replies here.

My target ratio over the last year has been 45/35/20 (carbs/protein/healthy fats). I have tried loading the carbs earlier into the day with limited carbs after my afternoon snack. So now usually no more brown rice at dinner.

Breakfast carbs include oatmeal, Kashi GoLean, whole wheat bread (with eggs).

Lunch carbs include brown rice, vegetables, sometimes wheat bread if part of a sandwich, yams.

Morning post workout carbs are 35g Milo Powder added to my 30g whey protein isolate.

Afternoon snack carbs might be wheat bread if part of a peanut butter sandwich, fresh fruit.

I still have brown rice with dinner on occasion.

And one day a week I fast, from dinner one night until dinner the next, using the Eat Stop Eat approach.

I'm sure some of this should change now that I'll be doing much more endurance training. Advice appreciated. Andy

Of course there is no hard and fast rule for how soon to start speed work.  For myself, I will build slowly over a few months, then add in a tempo run.  For a 5k, this is anywhere from 10-20 pickup in pace.  After spending a few weeks to months with the tempo run, I may at that point add in some speed work and simultaneously decrease the amount of time spent at tempo.  Then build both slowly.  I've seen written, and I concur:  "It's not the miles the get you, it's how you run them."  Run mostly easy, only sometimes hard.  I hope this helps.  There is a ton of good info in the links too.  I hope you get a chance to read it.  

For the most part my wife and I follow the Thrive diet.  The Thrive Diet is a book written by Brendan Brazier.  He is a triathlete who has gone completely vegan.  The book is full of delicious recipes that keep me energized throughout the day and workouts.  So I am mostly vegan, and I eat meat when I want, which is probably once every other week or so.  

http://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Nutrition-Optimal-Performance-Sports/dp/0738212547/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335442740&sr=1-1

This is a link to his book on amazon.  

Hello All,

I've been hitting the spin class hard this week and following up at night with a run. I hope that these classes will help me. I feel that they will help as long as I'm getting the miles in. Anyone have opinions on spin classes??? 

My runs have been shorter than I wanted but I picked up the pace alot. I'm trying to keep my pace below 7:30 for a run up to 5k. The links that scott posted do have a lot of great info in them. Thanks. Either tomorrow or sat. I would like to get a 2 hr bike ride followed by a 4-5 mile run in. I will keep you posted on how it goes...

Congrats to all the people who raced last week Great job! and good luck to all who are racing this weekend! As for me I'm getting nervous for my first race (olympic distance) coming up on june 3 and really nervous for the HIM in July. Any tips to get over pre-race jitters??

C-ya Guys and Gals,

Caleb 

Diet- I wasn't going to post on this because it's complicated for me but I changed my mind (I'm a girl, what can I say?). Maybe someone will relate to it and it will help. I'm a very fussy eater. Think 4 year old. That's about how much I matured eating-wise. I literally gag on any foods that are not in my very limited "safe" area. It's been a huge struggle for me for most of my life. I won't get into the specifics of what turns me off because the list is too long. It's taken years of struggle to try to come up with a healthy diet and learn to like some healthier foods. I have been making slow changes for pretty much the last 15 years. It's finally fallen into place and I'm very happy about that.

I've never liked a lot of meat (except hot dogs, bacon and cheeseburgers, occassionally chicken-if it's in something) and eating it has always bothered me a little because I hate the way the food industry treats animals so giving up meat was kind of a no brainer once I figured out how to eat around it. I expect I will at times still eat it, especially if I'm someplace where there is nothing else I like (happened on an airport layover in February) or if I can't shake a craving but for my regular diet-no meat.

I will eat eggs (I buys Nellie's Nest because they are certified humane), cheese (which I wish I could find a "certified humane" version of  here but haven't yet) and yogurt (I'm woking on a humane version) so I can't really call myself a vegan.

I'm not a great cook so I do buy preprepared or easy-prep foods but I've become a label reader and I try to stay organic where I can. I've been counting calories for weight loss since January and have lost a little over 20lbs. I think I have 30-35 more to go before I'm where I want to be.

On a typical day I'll have some combination of this: Protein shake with berries, spinich and broccolli sprouts blended in-made with rice milk, a handful of mixed nuts, yogurt, tomato soup, cheese, whole wheat english muffins (or bread), oranges or apples, Kashi bars, dark chocolate, risotto, PB&J, oat bran with maple syrup, eggs, pizza (Newman's Own-only on weekends).

Rarely, I'll eat french toast, an Amy's Cheese enchilada meal, cereal or pancakes.

Sorry for the long post-food is a complex issue for me. As you can see my diet is very limited and not at all varied.

Just a thought... I was wondering if any of the local (to my area) people in the group might want to try to organize an open-water swim sometime this summer? Either in Lake George or Lake Champlain? I don't know if we might need someone with a boat to accompany us in case someone gets in trouble? I'm not sure how these usually work. Any thoughts?

Good morning gang!  Where has everyone been?  I did a pretty hard trainer session last night with 5x4 minutes at 105%.  This workout just plain hurts.  (In a good way, sort of)  Been feeling great lately, and realized last night that this has been my highest volume month of the year so far.  

What do you have planned?  

Thanks for everyone's input on their diets. Seems like everyone just finds what works for them and rolls with it.

I had an ok week being as the weather was pretty bad. Sunday - ran 7 miles @8:49 pace on treadmill; Monday - swam 5x100 with 20 second rests and another 200 in drills; Tuesday - weights and 60 minute spin; Wednesday - ran 3 miles @ 9:00 pace on treadmill; Thursday - swam a straight 550 and another 200 in drills. Today - possibly run outdoors if the wind dies down. 

- David

That is impressive!

Hi

Been a broken week this week, have managed a few runs and rides, but am really struggling to get into the pool. We only have public pools local to me and they get really busy. The pool is set out in lanes for slow, medium and fast, but it annoys me when people go into the wrong lane and hold everyone up!! Sorry, moan over. Am going to get to the pool today hopefully,hoping to get in somewhere around 1,250 metre swim in.

Quiet weekend as it is my wife's birthday, so will be limited to free training times. Race is 3 weeks away, so going to have a hard push for 10 days then start to taper it back a bit!!

Enjoy the weekend

Gareth

Thanks - watched last years ironman world championship to keep motivated. I hate treadmill running. 

- David

Well yesterday I ended up doing some family stuff which interrupted the normal morning training schedule. So I had at least to get in my bike ride yesterday afternoon. Since I was pissed about missing my swim in the morning I banged out 20 miles on the bike in just over an hour. This is probably the best ride I've ever had, it wasn't a cake walk either, I made sure to get 3 nice hills on it and 2 smaller ones in my 4 mile loop. Right at a solid 18 mph pace. So I was happy.

Then this morning during my swim I was feeling really good again so I banged out 2000 M including all flip turns (I'm usually lazy and just touch the wall and turn). Things seem to be coming together.

I've got a little 5K this weekend on Sunday, weather permitting. Hoping to do somewhere sub 10 minute mile range.

Which brings up a question? What does everyone do the day before a race in regards to training? I know some people take the day off to rest, but this always makes me nervous and I fear I'm going to get out of my groove? Any suggestions on what works best for you? I'm not limiting this to tris, runs, swims, bike, whatever...

-Matt