Day 3: Early Morning Swim, and Long Steady Bike ride....
Got up at the butt crack of dawn to swim today. Leaving my two cuddle bugs in a nice warm bed to be jumping in a chilly pool all for the sake of finishing a triathlon, I must be crazy! It was sooo worth it. Today I used a different pool so I could meet a friend and also fellow Vineman participant this year. Workouts are better in numbers I have to say.
This mornings pool was cooler than I am used to and had more people. I split a lane with a guy who was doing the butterfly, whoa! It was good practice for the splashing waves I will be dealing with during the event. This dude would literally push me into the lane marker every time he passed. :-) It was frustrating to see how easily I can be pushed around but also good to know what I need to work on before i hit the open water (something I am so dreading, and also need to get a wetsuit for as well).
In any case the workout was to do 3 x 100 and then 2 x 200 easy focusing on strokes, breathing and getting my butt up and chest down. Ugh I cant get my ass up if my life depended on it. Grr! Again I have time to work on this. My swimming partner watched me a few times as I would swim past her telling me that I am fast and if I can get my butt and feet up, I would be even faster. Hm nice to know but all I want to do is not drown....at least that is still what is going through my mind. Although fast isn't a bad thing either.
Out of the pool onto an hour of flexibility. I took a class called PiYo at 24 hour where I swam and it was nice to see where I need MORE work on my flexibility. It was a very low intensity yoga-esk class that we did on a mat barefoot. During some of the poses I would look down at my feet and see what my toes were doing...cool they were spread wide keeping me balanced! Yay the barefoot shoes and exercises for my feet are working. Now if only I can actually touch my hands to the ground and get these darn hamstrings to leg loose. In due time they will, I know they will.
Back at home I have so many things to catch up on, blog entries (oh wait I am doing that right now), writing up my columns for the 3 new places I will be writing for. Sorry I can't share just yet who these are for but when they get published I will let you all know. Till then just wait patiently at home in front of your computer refreshing the screen till you see it...LOL, dont' do that. Go get out there and EXERCISE! On that note I am off for my #2 workout LSD on the bike, be back in a few........
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Day 2: First Run, and Focused Lifting sessions
Today's training sessions were to be a foundation run and a weight lifting session focused on legs and core. I did great and got them both in plus a little extra, the extra was teaching and taking my group class at Varian immediately after my lifting session.
The run went great as I set my Garmin (Forerunner 305) with pace limiters and beeps to remind me if I was going to fast or slow. The slow limiter was to keep my warm up at a fast walk, and then the fast limiter was to keep my jog pace no faster than 9 minute mile pace. As this was my first run it was all about keeping a steady easy pace, to ease my body back into the pounding. It was also a great time to focus on the information I gleaned from my run evaluation the day prior. Focus needed to stay on elbows narrow and hands more relaxed, as well as keep from pushing side to side with my take off. I was able to keep the focus on my arms and it felt like I was keeping my elbows in cause I felt funny almost like my inner arm was velcroed to my sides and my chest was pushed out. I hope that is what it should feel like.
Running today took place on Shoreline trail heading out towards to bay lands and then looping back in toward Shoreline road. My hope was that it would take about 40 minutes to do. Not a bad choice as I spent the first 5 minutes in a fast walk to get to the trail head, then took the last 5 minutes to walk fast to slow as my cool down and ended right back at Evolution. You can see my run here... http://app.strava.com/runs/3590019 .
Lifting for core post running is not so back, however lifting for my legs was truly a test of mental grit. My legs were so tight and weak trying to do my Bulgarian lunges, lateral lunges, and Romanian Dead Lifts. But I changed back into my barefoot shoes for lifting to help with balance. The feel of knowing what part of the foot is not keeping in contact with the ground is so beneficial to the lifting. I have noticed a HUGE improvement in my stability since the past 4 months of using the barefoot shoes.
So workouts were done and I had a bear of an appetite. I hope this appetite thing doesn't get too much worse I might not be able to afford to feed myself enough for the training. LOL!
Today's training sessions were to be a foundation run and a weight lifting session focused on legs and core. I did great and got them both in plus a little extra, the extra was teaching and taking my group class at Varian immediately after my lifting session.
The run went great as I set my Garmin (Forerunner 305) with pace limiters and beeps to remind me if I was going to fast or slow. The slow limiter was to keep my warm up at a fast walk, and then the fast limiter was to keep my jog pace no faster than 9 minute mile pace. As this was my first run it was all about keeping a steady easy pace, to ease my body back into the pounding. It was also a great time to focus on the information I gleaned from my run evaluation the day prior. Focus needed to stay on elbows narrow and hands more relaxed, as well as keep from pushing side to side with my take off. I was able to keep the focus on my arms and it felt like I was keeping my elbows in cause I felt funny almost like my inner arm was velcroed to my sides and my chest was pushed out. I hope that is what it should feel like.
Running today took place on Shoreline trail heading out towards to bay lands and then looping back in toward Shoreline road. My hope was that it would take about 40 minutes to do. Not a bad choice as I spent the first 5 minutes in a fast walk to get to the trail head, then took the last 5 minutes to walk fast to slow as my cool down and ended right back at Evolution. You can see my run here... http://app.strava.com/runs/3590019 .
Lifting for core post running is not so back, however lifting for my legs was truly a test of mental grit. My legs were so tight and weak trying to do my Bulgarian lunges, lateral lunges, and Romanian Dead Lifts. But I changed back into my barefoot shoes for lifting to help with balance. The feel of knowing what part of the foot is not keeping in contact with the ground is so beneficial to the lifting. I have noticed a HUGE improvement in my stability since the past 4 months of using the barefoot shoes.
So workouts were done and I had a bear of an appetite. I hope this appetite thing doesn't get too much worse I might not be able to afford to feed myself enough for the training. LOL!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Day 1: Swim, Kickboxing, and STRETCHING!
It has taken me some time to get past just an outline for the training that need to be done, but I finished the first 6 weeks last night and by the end of this coming weekend I will have then entire 28 weeks finished.
So today was the official FIRST day of training and that included a swim day and kickboxing (for cross training) along with a nice long flexibility and foam roller session to round out the day. The plan for swim was to do a 200 meter warm up followed by 4 x 100 going at a 25 fast (or 75% effort right now) and 25 easy, then a full recovery between each repeat. After the efforts I was to do another 2 x 200 practicing alternating breathing, or a breath every three strokes to allow me to breathe both directions. I learned that in doing these efforts my stroke count went from 16 strokes per 25 up to 24 strokes per 25 for the effort lap and was just about 18 strokes for the recovery 25. I was also trying to be aware of my catch phase in the water on the recovery laps. Basically I was trying to be aware of keeping my elbow bent and pressing my hand back toward the wall and not down toward the bottom of the pool. WOW what a difference it makes to pay close attention to the direction of push.
Off to kickboxing...brings me back to my karate days. I love the high intensity kicks and twisting punches and all that stuff. Well good thing I like it cause working core and rotatory stability is going to be very important in keeping me strong and injury free during my training. About 40 minutes into class I decided I have been pushing the tempo pretty hard so it was time to dial back and go through the motions without the intensity. I was so happy when class was over as I was completely drenched in sweat.
Back at Evolution Trainers I had another trainer video me running. Since I will do my first run tomorrow I wanted to have something to think about as I was running. We noticed in my video that I run like a sprinter, wide stance pushing my feet side to side with wide elbows, see for yourself... http://v.coachseye.com/5yPc ...YIKES! But it is very early and I have something to focus on for these first few weeks or more. We also noticed that my foot strike is pretty darn good, not getting too far forward and a nice upright body with good upper body rotation.... http://v.coachseye.com/do8l ... And last we noticed that my right hip swings up and away from my center which is caused by my left foot. See if you can see whats going on... http://v.coachseye.com/xBve ... don't mind the chatter in the background.
Well that's all for today...tomorrow is Running and lifting for my legs and core.
It has taken me some time to get past just an outline for the training that need to be done, but I finished the first 6 weeks last night and by the end of this coming weekend I will have then entire 28 weeks finished.
So today was the official FIRST day of training and that included a swim day and kickboxing (for cross training) along with a nice long flexibility and foam roller session to round out the day. The plan for swim was to do a 200 meter warm up followed by 4 x 100 going at a 25 fast (or 75% effort right now) and 25 easy, then a full recovery between each repeat. After the efforts I was to do another 2 x 200 practicing alternating breathing, or a breath every three strokes to allow me to breathe both directions. I learned that in doing these efforts my stroke count went from 16 strokes per 25 up to 24 strokes per 25 for the effort lap and was just about 18 strokes for the recovery 25. I was also trying to be aware of my catch phase in the water on the recovery laps. Basically I was trying to be aware of keeping my elbow bent and pressing my hand back toward the wall and not down toward the bottom of the pool. WOW what a difference it makes to pay close attention to the direction of push.
Off to kickboxing...brings me back to my karate days. I love the high intensity kicks and twisting punches and all that stuff. Well good thing I like it cause working core and rotatory stability is going to be very important in keeping me strong and injury free during my training. About 40 minutes into class I decided I have been pushing the tempo pretty hard so it was time to dial back and go through the motions without the intensity. I was so happy when class was over as I was completely drenched in sweat.
Back at Evolution Trainers I had another trainer video me running. Since I will do my first run tomorrow I wanted to have something to think about as I was running. We noticed in my video that I run like a sprinter, wide stance pushing my feet side to side with wide elbows, see for yourself... http://v.coachseye.com/5yPc ...YIKES! But it is very early and I have something to focus on for these first few weeks or more. We also noticed that my foot strike is pretty darn good, not getting too far forward and a nice upright body with good upper body rotation.... http://v.coachseye.com/do8l ... And last we noticed that my right hip swings up and away from my center which is caused by my left foot. See if you can see whats going on... http://v.coachseye.com/xBve ... don't mind the chatter in the background.
Well that's all for today...tomorrow is Running and lifting for my legs and core.
Welcome to my Road to Tri blog. I thought it be best to separate my regular North Fitness training tips blog from my triathlon specific blog, so well here it is.
What is a Triathlon you wonder? Quite simply it is a sporting event comprised of a swim followed by a bike ride followed by a run with the distance varying tremendously. The shortest distance is called a sprint, and it can be as short as a 400 meter swim, 6 mile bike and 2 mile run. And the ultimate triathlon, the true test if grit called the Ironman is comprised of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run, yep that's a full marathon after already pushing yourself through the swim and bike. I was curious where the distance choice came from. How did them come up with the distances for this race, what was the history on it. Well I found something that sounded pretty true (unless someone knows otherwise)...
"The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay (a running race for 5-person teams). Among the participants were numerous representatives of both the Mid-Pacific Road Runners and the Waikiki Swim Club, whose members had long been debating which athletes were more fit, runners or swimmers. On this occasion, U.S. Navy Commander John Collins pointed out that a recent article in Sports Illustrated magazine had declared that Eddy Merckx, the great Belgian cyclist, had the highest recorded "oxygen uptake" of any athlete ever measured, so perhaps cyclists were more fit than anyone. CDR Collins and his wife Judy Collins had taken part in the triathlons staged in 1974 and 1975 by the San Diego Track Club in and around Mission Bay, California, as well as the 1975 Optimist Sports Fiesta Triathlon in Coronado, California. A number of the other military athletes in attendance were also familiar with the San Diego races, so they understood the concept when Collins suggested that the debate should be settled through a race combining the three existing long-distance competitions already on the island: the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 mi./3.86 km), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 mi./185.07 km; originally a two-day event) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.219 mi./42.195 km).
Until that point, no one present had ever done the bike race. Collins calculated that by shaving 3 miles (4.8 km) off the course and riding counter-clockwise around the island, the bike leg could start at the finish of the Waikiki Rough Water and end at the Aloha Tower, the traditional start of the Honolulu Marathon. Prior to racing, each athlete received three sheets of paper listing a few rules and a course description. Handwritten on the last page was this exhortation: "Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life", now a registered trademark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon)."
Pretty cool huh? I thought so, so when a friend asked me to do a triathlon with her this year I figured sure why not I can already ride pretty fast and I have a running history from high school and college. How bad could it be? Then she told me she wanted to do Vineman an Ironman distance triathlon. So come this July 28th at 7am I will begin the biggest endurance challenge I have done to date. Check out the info on the Vineman Triathlon here...http://www.vineman.com/triathlon.htm.
I have already spent about a month and a half of pre training is what I am calling it. What is this pre training you might be wondering? Well that is quite simple, think preventive exercise and you have it. Since the beginning of December I have been working on strengthening my body so it can withstand the stresses it will be placed under during these next 6 months of training. Some of the stuff that is included but not limited to has been starting with an evaluation to find any muscle/flexibility imbalances, then moving to a few exercises to address those issues. I am just about half way through that segment of my training. However that doesn't mean I will stop completely those specific flexibility/mobility exercises, quite the contrary those will need to be addressed throughout my entire time training leading up to the Ironman event.
Stay tuned for more training recaps and thoughts on my training process. Thanks for reading.
What is a Triathlon you wonder? Quite simply it is a sporting event comprised of a swim followed by a bike ride followed by a run with the distance varying tremendously. The shortest distance is called a sprint, and it can be as short as a 400 meter swim, 6 mile bike and 2 mile run. And the ultimate triathlon, the true test if grit called the Ironman is comprised of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run, yep that's a full marathon after already pushing yourself through the swim and bike. I was curious where the distance choice came from. How did them come up with the distances for this race, what was the history on it. Well I found something that sounded pretty true (unless someone knows otherwise)...
"The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay (a running race for 5-person teams). Among the participants were numerous representatives of both the Mid-Pacific Road Runners and the Waikiki Swim Club, whose members had long been debating which athletes were more fit, runners or swimmers. On this occasion, U.S. Navy Commander John Collins pointed out that a recent article in Sports Illustrated magazine had declared that Eddy Merckx, the great Belgian cyclist, had the highest recorded "oxygen uptake" of any athlete ever measured, so perhaps cyclists were more fit than anyone. CDR Collins and his wife Judy Collins had taken part in the triathlons staged in 1974 and 1975 by the San Diego Track Club in and around Mission Bay, California, as well as the 1975 Optimist Sports Fiesta Triathlon in Coronado, California. A number of the other military athletes in attendance were also familiar with the San Diego races, so they understood the concept when Collins suggested that the debate should be settled through a race combining the three existing long-distance competitions already on the island: the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 mi./3.86 km), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 mi./185.07 km; originally a two-day event) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.219 mi./42.195 km).
Until that point, no one present had ever done the bike race. Collins calculated that by shaving 3 miles (4.8 km) off the course and riding counter-clockwise around the island, the bike leg could start at the finish of the Waikiki Rough Water and end at the Aloha Tower, the traditional start of the Honolulu Marathon. Prior to racing, each athlete received three sheets of paper listing a few rules and a course description. Handwritten on the last page was this exhortation: "Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life", now a registered trademark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon)."
Pretty cool huh? I thought so, so when a friend asked me to do a triathlon with her this year I figured sure why not I can already ride pretty fast and I have a running history from high school and college. How bad could it be? Then she told me she wanted to do Vineman an Ironman distance triathlon. So come this July 28th at 7am I will begin the biggest endurance challenge I have done to date. Check out the info on the Vineman Triathlon here...http://www.vineman.com/triathlon.htm.
I have already spent about a month and a half of pre training is what I am calling it. What is this pre training you might be wondering? Well that is quite simple, think preventive exercise and you have it. Since the beginning of December I have been working on strengthening my body so it can withstand the stresses it will be placed under during these next 6 months of training. Some of the stuff that is included but not limited to has been starting with an evaluation to find any muscle/flexibility imbalances, then moving to a few exercises to address those issues. I am just about half way through that segment of my training. However that doesn't mean I will stop completely those specific flexibility/mobility exercises, quite the contrary those will need to be addressed throughout my entire time training leading up to the Ironman event.
Stay tuned for more training recaps and thoughts on my training process. Thanks for reading.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)