Gray Guys/Girls Masters Focus Triathlete Forum (all levels welcome)--CLOSED (Page 9)

Heck, I am even in denial about the hair color! I am a solid back of packer and have no hope, or intention, of being anything else. The best I can ever get to the pool is once per week, running is easier and biking is pretty solidly on the trainer due to crappy roads and tourists here. So... I adore reading all the training tips and try to remember 1/100 th of them, but I am here, along for the ride, drafting on everyones experiences

That being said, I do have my races planed out for the year. 2 olys and one sprint and some running races. Hopefully my tootsie will be healed to start running soon! The pool attempt last Friday was pretty darn painful.

Here is a pretty silly question, My pool has no clock, I have no Garmin and don't have the money for one right now. What is the best way to time my laps without a huge investment of money?

Polar Bears --- Congratulations on surviving a plunge!  They are fun!

North Easters --- Hope the snow doesn't pile to high!

Stu --- I am reading Cooked by Michael Pollan.  So far pretty interesting.  Just finished the intro and now on the Fire section.

Robin --- I use a simple Timex Ironman watch for everything.  Cheap.  Works great.  I use the timer if I am doing something like 5 x 100's on 2:00.  Or I just use the watch for rest intervals of whatever seconds or minutes.  For my swim yesterday, I just hit the split button after every 100.  I used a Garmin 110 for awhile but it was too distracting and I was always worried about a specific pace and then running became no fun.  I also found I was spending way too much time on the computer uploading or looking at data -- that became no fun either.  On my bike I have a simple cyclo-computer w/ cadence sensor.  

Scott --- Wow.  Thank you so much for your post, critique, and suggestions.  I have printed it out and also made a quick link so I can refer to it often.  My plan is to follow your recommendations as best I can.  So tomorrow will be a session devoted to improving my stroke technique.  Once again, thanks.  I'm inspired!

I can already see that it will be hard to keep up with all the posts!  I just remembered someone posted something about ChiRunning.

I can say this book changed how I run completely.  I'm not sure if I follow all the points but after adopting several suggestions my times really, really improved (10:00 minute miles to mid 8:00's when I am in the groove).  The biggest change was increasing my foot turnover.  I went from sort of a shuffle to really picking my feet up.  Now I run at a cadence of 180 bpm for most runs and go up to 185 for speed workouts.  I listen to PodRunner and MotionTraxx workouts for running.

I found this swim set on a link from USAT yesterday.  Tried it today and liked it--the other one they had posted was 3400 yards which at my pathetically slow swim would take close to 90 minutes….

w/u 300

m/s 4x50K desc

     100 recovery

     4x50 pull w/ paddles  desc

   100 recovery

   4x50 pull buoy NO paddles

  100 recovery

  4x50 spring   RI 0:10

  100 recovery

   200 build by 50

  100 backstroke KICK

c/d 200

if you are short for time the link said to omit the last 500 yards.   It was good to deconstruct the components of the stroke and put it all together.

Hey Steve -

Well now I am completely unsure.  In addition to you, I also posed the same question to a USAT Level l coach and a USA Cycling Level ll coach.

The USAT coach said do the planned workout as planned.  He pointed out, as you did, that a big part of training is training the body to perform while fatigued.  He also pointed out that, by breaking up into 2 or 3 shorter segments, I would be dramatically reducing my actual zone 2/3 training because of the multiple warm-ups, cool-downs.  His recommendation is to "suck it up and ride in the dark or get on the trainer."

The cycling coach on the other hand, said if it is only two or three times spread over a number of weeks, he would rather see me break it up and get the total time in then risk blowing it off entirely.  He acknowledged that it would be better to do the full time in the saddle as planned, however "life sometimes gets in the way."

So the cycling coach said it's OK to break the ride up, the USAT coach says do the full ride, and you said it's probably OK to break the ride up but leaned towards doing the full ride.

I really dislike riding on the trainer and haven't even gotten it out since we moved back to California, but I dislike riding in the dark even more soooooo . . . guess I set up the trainer, crank up a Sufferfest video, and stop whining.

Sounds like you figured out your solution

PodRunner and Motion Traxx feature 30-60 minutes of music set at a certain BPM.  All instrumental/digital stuff with minimal voices.  It's all I listen to when I run.  Each mix has a bit of a different flavor.  Some are a steady kind of feeling while others are mellow (even at 180 bpm!) and then ramp up the emotion.  So mixes are intervals and some ramp up the BMP with time.  Both are also available in iTunes.  All PodRunner mixes are free.  Motion Traxx is a mix of free and paid.

I was worried that listening to music all the time and then not having music during a race would be an issue.  It's not been.

Kathy --- I'd be interested in your 180 bpm playlist!  Time for some new tunes!

Dave --- With respect to seeing the Timex Ironman watch...a men's is probably bigger so maybe it's not an issue.  I do have problems reading my watch when I swim with my prescription goggles but no issues with regular goggles.  Luckily, the pool I swim at most of the time has a big (really big) digital clock that I can use when I'm wearing the prescription goggles.

Hence the Sufferfest video.  I put it on the big screen, crank up the stereo, turn the fan on high and it is pretty close to bearable.

Speaking of two Daves. Has anyone made a list of who is in this group? It would be helpful for some of us with tired brains.