enginerd's Group - FULL (Page 10)

I did not have any actual goals for February other than putting together a training schedule. Do I have a training schedule? NO! So I guess I failed. I am working on it, just need a little more time. My only lame excuse is that piecing together the basement consumes all my free time. I am actually a little stressed over not having a schedule. I know it needs to happen soon. I could just import one of the programs offered here on BT but I think I need something a bit more custom. I am hopping to meet with a friend, not this but the following weekend to get the details ironed out. He has done several IM’s and he is training for one right now. He has offered to be a sounding board so I will take him up on that offer.

So I had my interview and I feel like it went well.  I will find out for sure on Tuesday.  Also I finally got a road bike!  I will attach a pic, it is a Specialized Roubaix Comp.  Now I just need to get out and ride it!  After reading Gail's post I ended up re-thinking my goals and I changed a couple things.  First I will now be emphasizing my run more than my swim, not because I'm that good at the swim, it's more that I'm that bad at the run.  I feel like my run needs the most attention now so that is what I will be focussing on for the month of March.

Glad to see everybody is doing well!

(bike small.jpg)

Swimming faster is a great goal!  I can offer my opinion, which is based on reading/listening to others, but certainly there are others, esp here on BT!

I think the key to swimming faster is ... learning to swim faster.  That sounds trite, but the truth is that most people get tired as they swim long distances, so their times fall during the workout.  You can see this in some of Jeff's pyramids (no disrespect to you, Jeff!  You're posting times, so you're easy to look at for this point).  On the other hand, props to Jon for hauling his red bicycle out of bed  at 5 am and across the pool in 1:31 at the end of the workout with the fast dudes.  Coach Mike G told us in a track workout, if you start a workout slow and build speed throughout, you are training yourself to go fast when you are tired.  If you start fast and lose speed throughout, you are training your body to go slow when you are tired.  Which do you want?

So, the first thing to do is figure out what your pacing is.  Swim a 1000 time trial, for example, and get your split at the 250, 500, 750, and 1000.  Are you slowing down as you get tired?  Then the next thing is to start using different and descending speeds in your interval sets.  I can recommend some good workouts for you, based on what you currently are doing in terms of pacing.  I like workouts with drills that focus on increasing pull strength and thus DPS/efficiency, and main sets that focus on descending speed.

Obviously I favor the workout structure set by the coaches I've worked with at our tri club -- they have a relatively long warmup with pull and kick, then a primary set of drills, then a main set for speed/endurance, then a relatively short cooldown/stretch.  I can point you to some good ones there, too.  There are lots of good masters workouts online, but most seem more for swim-teamers than for triathletes, so be careful if you go web surfing.

I have a Q for all you runner-types:

What are running shoes supposed to feel like?

I tend toward medial-tibial shin pain, in addition to the compartment problems in the anterior tibialis, probably b/c I allegedly pronate. Before my surgery I was running in Kayano Elevens with Superfeet in my left shoe and Dr Scholls arch cushioning in my right (the Superfeet gave me a blister on my arch in that shoe, but I needed something to raise the height to match the left). I went to PT in Oct/Nov in hope of avoiding surgery, and he recommended different shoes with less flexible midsoles, I think, hard to remember ... he said something about taking out the insole and if the bottom is stitched all around, rather than glued, it's not the right shoe... He even recommended orthotics, but my sports doc doesn't.

After surgery I can tell my gait is different, either due to the surgery, which was on the non-arch side of my legs, or due to all the ankle/ROM exercises I've been doing since September, when I pretty much quit running. And despite my few running miles, my left shoe is worn almost through the sole on the spot under where my little toe joins the ball of my foot. Isn't that strange for a pronator? I just got a new camera and will try to post a pic.

So to end this long story before I ramble on forever ... I went to the "best" shoe store in LA. They looked at my old shoe and recommended the same shoe -- Kayano 11 (the 13s in my size were not in stock...). No treadmill test, no gait analysis. But I asked to try a few other pairs, so tried another pair of Asics without gel (felt very loose/wide through the toe box), a pair of Nikes (comfortable as slippers), a pair of Brooks (felt wide, but not all that different from the Kayanos; I had Brooks briefly before trading them for the Kayanos), and a pair of Sauconys (rubbed wrong). They asked which felt best. Well, the Kayano 11s felt best, but they were most familiar to me. What is a running shoe supposed to feel like? And do these experienced shoestore guys just have some sixth sense about what shoes are good for you? The guy who helped me buy my bike certainly did, so I suppose it's possible...

My feet are a little sore for the first part of a run ... I am not used to wearing any shoes, so solid soles often have that effect. ...

Gail,

I will not make an attempt to describe the feel of my running shoes, Brooks Addiction, which has been working well for me. I simply do not have the vocabulary to give you a good description. Remember, English is my second language. However, I’d like to make a quick comment about the running store where you bought your shoes. It don’t think they gave you much service. Our local running will give you a slightly different treatment. They ask you to bring your old shoes and they will not only look at the sole but also how that cap has been broken down etc. Basically they look at the whole shoe, not just the sole. Then they will look at your feet, check your arches and some other things that I can’t remember as I am typing this. Lastly they will have you either walk or run. So now that they know how you wear your shoes, what your foot looks like and how run, they will recommend some shoes for you to try. My advice is to find a different store and get a “second opinion”. See if they recommend the same shoe you just bought. If they don’t, ask why they think your current shoe is wrong shoe for you.

Hello everyone!

First off, way to go Jason!  Your coming to my neck of the woods!

Gail: love the swimming information.  It is so helpful for those of us going at it self coached.  Regarding the running shoes, I went with the one that just felt great while running.  My running store watched me walk and run and concluded that I was an over pronator and had me try on the shoes that were for that type of foot.  They let me buy the two shoes that fit well with the intent for me to try them both on a treadmill and return the one that I didn't want.  That was real nice.  The pair of Brooks that I tried made me feel like they were leading/ forcing my foot to strike the way the shoe wanted to.  The Asics gave me a very natural feeling stride, so that's what I went with.  It's the best way I can describe how I chose my shoe.  They were totally comfortable from the get go, no breaking in period.

Thanks everyone for the shoe advice!  This store wasn't as hands-off as I made it sound, I guess, and they are recommended by the coaches and the doctors.  I talked to them quite a bit about my surgery (the scars are simply impossible to ignore at this point), and technically post-surgery I officially have no problems or limits and can start "fresh."  I will hang on to these for a while but also probably get a second pair to put into rotation, when budget allows.

In the meantime, I swam this workout recently (noted somewhere in my log, with my LCM times I think):

http://www.latriclub.com/workouts/workout_detail.cfm?wid=9

The goal, obviously, is to find 3 distinct speeds, but also repeat the speeds in the set.  So all the "first-gear 50s" should  be about the same time as each other, and all the third-gear 50s about the same time as each other, but noticeably faster than the first-gear ones, which are supposed to be SLOW!  To do this sort of workout well really requires you to attend to how your body feels -- I advise do it w/o a HRM, of course .  You can modify it by doing fewer than 8 sets (I think I did 6). 

Hmm, no opinions on Bakersfield from the peanut gallery?  I can tell you it's considered Central Cali rather than SoCal here.  The biggest disadvantage is that it's really out of the way of major cities, although some people think that's a plus.  Housing is MUCH cheaper ... you can get a 3 bedroom house for less than the price of a run-down studio apartment here, and it's home to a university so there are lots of young people and the accompanying collegiate environment, but that's about all I know. 

Hey Rich. I'll take a stab at this.

Bakersfield - It seems, like Gail said, to be in the middle of nowhere. It's about 1 1/2 north of LA and I'm guessing that's with no traffic. I probably wouldn't pick to live there but could be persuaded. I've driven through there a few times but never really stopped and checked it out.

Norco - This is between Orange County and Riverside. If there was no traffic it's probably 30 minutes from my house. That's really not the case though. Heavy traffic, heat and smog.

Vista - "North County" San Diego. I used to work very close to the this area and it's probably 30 minutes from the beach. San Diego is a great county but it's a distance from downtown San Diego and the ball parks and stuff, but that might not matter to you.

Valencia - This is on the northern border of LA county. If you go north you'd run into Bakersfield. Don't know anything about it except I think it's where Magic Mountain is.

Livermore - It's inland from the bay area and no nothing about it. Maybe Donato or Gina could give you a heads up.

I have some preferences and would be happy to share them if you wish, but don't want to sway you. I would probably scope out the job availabilities in the differend areas and then try to select from there. It would seem that since this will be a new company/career for you, that you'd want to move where ever is going to give you the best opportunity and career path in the future. Although that might not be the best place to live right now, it could certainly lead to that in the future. Just my two cents.

FWIW, got this in my email last night from Coach Jamie:

::Special Qualifying and Regional Championship races will qualify the top 33 percent or top five finishers (whichever is greater) in each age group.

So at least we know you can Tri there! 

Here's a vote for Livermore!  It's really becoming a great area.  It's beautiful with the vineyards and a lot of things to do.  The homes don't seem like they are quite as expensive as other Bay Area cities and it is just 40 minutes from San Francisco if you feel the need to go to a big city.  I just really like this East Bay 680 coridor.

Jason and Richard have wised up and are currently visiting our great state; Jeff is in work hell and hoping not to leave our great state, and Gina is off in Heaven while Jon, you, and I are slaving away, I think! 

I am thinking about what I am most proud of...I just don't know!  As for what to work on ... for me it's open-water swimming, climbing on the bike, and running with good form for a full 5k.  

In the meantime, I am trying to attach a picture of my hill-climb effort yesterday.  The coach's instructions said "20min warm-up, then climb a steady hill 4 times up for 5 min seated, over geared at 60rpm.  Focus on circles."  Having a training program that balances technique/drill work, volume, AND intensity is a lot of fun for me, although the specifics can be difficult, as you'll see in the picture.

(hill-climb-annotated.jpg)

I am the type that rarely pats myself on the back but I am quick to put myself down so finding something to be proud of is hard. It’s something I am working on improving. Anyway, what I am most proud of so far is that I have put myself outside my comfort zone and joined two different master’s swim groups. As a result my swim has improved greatly. Looking back, I could hardly imagine being able to swim like I am today. That is not to say that I am a good swimmer but compared to where I started I feel really good about the progress. An added bonus is that I have met some really nice people and made some new friends.

My main focus now is to keep the swimming going while increasing both my biking and running volume. I will start doing more hill-work and speed workouts. Starting in May I will workout with the club twice per week as a part of a 12 week HIM specific training program. Lastly, I need to FINISH my training program before it’s too late. It’s the hours I need to put into the basemen that consumes most of my spare time outside work and working out.

Gail, your hill-workout is impressive on 42/23 gearing. Like I said in the Inspire Me, I struggle with my 39/27 gearing. I guess there are girly-men everywhere not only in California…

In peace,

Jon