Sdanaher's HIM or IM Group - CLOSED (Page 3)

Hi Dave,

I think I started worse than you. For my first tri, I had assumed bike tires had to be inflated once a month or something, so I did not check them out. A couple of weeks, I realized they were at 30 psi!!! After I get them to 120 psi, I did feel some difference 

Also, had to remove the front wheel as we went the 6 of us in the mini-van. Took me some time to realize you have to unlock the brakes to disengage the wheel! Ironically,  I am an engineer also.... 

All that to say that before jumping in a rear tire replacement, I did check some video on you tube and it definitely helped.  

How does the spinervals DVD work btw? Does it tell you how to adjust your gear or cadence or is it just a video of a bike ride? I have no cadence sensor nor power meter, just my HRM, so I am not sure how to get feedback. On that note, do some you use the Garmin cadence sensor?

Hi all,

After a few days off of training, went for a swim tonight--have been following the TI program.  For the last few swims I have been feeling like I am finally getting the hang of it, but still have NO endurance.  It's amazing to me that there is such a difference in fitness between running and swimming!  Last time I went out I was only able to do 50m without having to stop for a rest--I get so out of breath.  I realized that it is my kick that tires me out.  So tonight I really focused on doing the relaxed kicking and was able to swim 100m without stopping.  I think part of my problem is also going too fast (I had the same problem when I started running), so that is my focus for my next swim. 

Hope everyone is recovering from too much food and drink!

Kirsten

Good morning everyone. Just like a few of you mentioned earlier, I let myself go a little in the indulging department with all the chocolate, ham, chocolate... You get my point. Lol

Anyway, another triathlon buddy and I went to the YMCA this morning and abused ourselves with a great brick workout. We started with a 20minute swim followed by a 20 min. Bike and then finished ourselves out with an all out 20 minute run. Wow that felt so good in a crazy way. 

I am sure I worked off a few chocolates. By the way, I usually don't crave or eat chocolates. Not sure why these past few days I have been craving and eating them.

Johnny, I appreciate your description of the Sufferfest videos. I have been debating on buying a couple of them, but did not know if they were good. What one would you suggest I start with?

Have a great day everyone. I look forward to hearing everyone's questions and successes this coming year.

Good job on the brick/mini tri, and thanks to you and everyone else here for letting me know I was not alone with my complete lack of discipline. If you go to the sufferfest website (www.thesufferfest.com) they have a comparison chart for all of their videos so you can find one you will like the best. They are all equally painful and entertaining, but your choice of music style and certain workout preference might influence your choice. I started with "Fight Club" and loved it, and my wife today did her very first Sufferfest, "The Hunted," this morning and she loved it as well. I actually haven't talked to anyone who didn't love their first sufferfest. Just don't pick "Revolver" as it is a straight interval workout and not as exciting or entertaining as the others (IMO). If you want bursts of intensity try "Fight Club."

That is good information. My next stop tonight will be to order my first sufferfest video. It is kind of entertaining that we look for ways to inflicting on ourselves. I will keep you posted once I have tried it. 

Thanks again!

I have a question.  Is 20 days in between a olympic triathlon then a Half ironman enough time for proper recovery?

I don't want to bonk on the Eagleman.

Brian

Back from my last 2011 swim. Had the privilege to get my own lane for my 4km long swim. Gave me some time to reflect on this first year of triathlon for me.

Looking forward to sharing with the group expectations, hopes, doubts and achievements for 2012.  I know it is still 2011 at the time of writing, but it is getting close for Australia.

Congrats on the new record! That is a pretty amazing accomplishment, and a nice way to end a year of good training.

Happy New Year everyone!

Had a nice swim this AM--pool was pretty empty.  Had my partner film me for a few laps--definite improvement in my swimming with the TI, but was able to pick out a couple things to work on as well.  My biggest problem continues to be that I feel out of breath.  Is this something that just changes as your body adapts the more you swim, or does anyone have any pointers??

TIis a great program to learn how to slow down and relax. I used it because I get real tense when I swim. I also struggle with being out of breath like you. I by no means am an expert or one who thinks I should be giving swimming advice, but I did learn how to overcome being out of breath and increase my distance. This works for me and not saying it is the right way, but here is what I did.

First, a friend of mine who has been swimming competitively since he was a child told me that even though I though I was not holding my breath that he would bet I was. Even for just a couple extra second while I turned my head back into the water after taking a breath. I went back to the pool and really focused on not holding my breath at all. I forgot about my technique and focused on nothing else. I found he was right. I took a breath and held it for a second or two. The other thing is that I found I was not exhaling totally and over several breaths I was retaining more and more air. I was out of breath after about 50 yards. Focusing on feeling or seeing bubbles as my mouth enters the water after my breath helps considerably. It might work for you. 

The other thing is that my friend challenged me to push myself to swim as far as I could for 12 minutes. He challenged me to try for 500 yards. I really pushed myself to beat his challenge and I did. I actually went 575 yards. I say this not to boast, but to tell you my limitation on distance was as much psychological as it was my endurance and breathing.Next time you go to the pool try to see how far you can swim in 12 minutes or try to double your longest distance to date. Maybe get someone that knows how to swim well get in and push you a little.

okay, that is all I have to offer, but as someone who knows and feels exactly what your saying, I thought I would share my experience just in case it can help.

100% agree on increasing the distance. I used to take breaks to catch my breath, then one day decided to keep on swimming no matter what. It forced me to go in a more "economy" mode, and glide more than I used to. Breathing is obviously key (Input), but controlling how you use your oxygen is also important IMO. 

I am no expert at all (never joined a master class), but you may want to give the pull-buoy a try. If you fell you can go longer with it, then maybe you need to work on your posture and kick, else breathing technique should be your focus. 

Do you feel the same when you are wearing a wetsuit?

Thanks for both your replies.  I had read about holding breath, and I didn't think I was, but perhaps I am doing the same as you, so will try to check that out.  I had also wondered about perhaps I was taking a breath too often, so maybe I will try more strokes before taking a breath.

I have never swum in a wetsuit, so can't answer that question.  But I have tried a pull buoy, and did find that it helped, but not so much since I started with TI.

I have wondered if part of it is just 'in my head' so perhaps I will just go for it and try the 12 minutes and see what happens. 

Thanks again for the suggestions!

I would say yes for sure.  The olympic shouldn't take that much out of you.  As long as your fitness is sufficient to do the 1/2 anyways, the Oly shouldn't bother you...Good luck, let us know how you make out.

Let us know how it goes. You just might surprise yourself.

Good luck!

Generally agree with this statement.  But of course it depends on what effort you take at the OLY.  You can't treat both as an A race, it just won't work.  Pick one that is your A race and let the other be a training day.  In other words, don't smoke it.  

I should mention I did 2 Ironmans 14 days part in 2011.  I didn't plan it that way, but the first one, while I finished (and PR'd) it was not the day I had hoped for and walked a good bit of the run due to poor nutrition on the bike (600 total calories.. i know, I know...)

I signed up last minute for Rev 3 CP a few days later, rested the entire 2 weeks - a couple WALKS (really, walk) and a couple very light swims.  I don't think I biked at all, as I recall.

I had another PR at Rev 3 by 1:15:00 - and it was almost entirely due to nailing nutrition.

I probably would not do it that way again (almost definitely), but it can certainly be done.  

Absolutely agree with this.  Learn how to have the most efficient stroke.  You'll read that some of the world's fastest swimmers take a mind-numbingly low number of strokes to go a length (probably half that most of us use).  The key is they get the most efficiency from every stroke, and in turn use less energy per stroke and can swim better.

So I'm throwing this out more to get a better understanding training and not to be the dissenting voice. How do you fit an olympic race into your training plan for a HIM? I'm guessing 4 weeks prior to the HIM (the week prior to the Oly) isn't your peak week, or I would imagine there might be some problems there. If you tried to do a peak week prior to the Oly race you might be a bit tired for the race, and/or the race itself might not give you enough of a workout for your HIM prep. Is that week a recovery week on your calendar, and is it pre or post peak? I won't even pretend to know what the best arrangement of this should be, but I'd love to hear someone more experienced break out how to make this scenario work optimally.

Shane,

You just hit on something I have never given any thought to since I have only participated in sprints.

That is nutrition. This is an area that should be straight forward, but yet I have so much trouble with.

What are your staple foods for your every day training needs. What are the kind of foods you typically eat on a daily basis during your training season? I struggle with being creative with my meal choices. Also, do you have a strategy for the amount of food you consume?

Another area I need to start looking at is nutrition in preparation, week before, and during my OLY and HIM since this will be my first for both and I do not have a clue what to expect during these races.

It would be good if we could tackle these in similar order to the above questions since we don't need to worry about race nutrition yet.

Well considering I have not even wrote my training plan out for this year yet. I go to the Ortho Doc tomorrow for the left knee, so I get to find out when surgery is.  

So my training the last 6 weeks and probably the week 4 to 5 weeks will be all swimming ( 6 days a week).  It does not hurt that bad to do it.  Not helping the weight loss only losing 1 pound a week.