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If the tri suit fits, wear it?
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07-11-2011 9:52pm#1My own arguably feeble attempt at a witty thread title, but everyone else was doing it. (Hope nobody else has this title, or similar)
If I had to pick one of the three sports as a trade, it would be cycling. Started cycling properly in the summer, and racked up a little over 2000km before college started getting in the way. It was the fitness I got from cycling that led me to doing a bit of running, and eventually, working on my swimming(needs a LOT of work).
Im quite confident in my cycling abilities, but I do need to shed some weight (6"4, 100kg) to go faster up the hills. I reckon I would be comfortable just hovering below 90kg, but that can be assessed as I lose the weight. At the moment I'm riding a Canyon Roadlite 7.0
As for running, I can hold 5:00m/km on a hillyish loop for just under 6k. Not sure If I can hold it for longer. Im starting Hal Higdon's marathon training plan tomorrow morning. I run in a pair of Nike Pegasus 27's at the moment.
Swimming is my real issue. Was at the pool today. Swam 250m I think, with breaks between lengths. My breathing technique is absolute pants, so unless any of the regulars here have any insights, I will need to get lessons in about 3 weeks(once the funds permit it).
Other than that, my overall goal for the year is the Crosshaven Challenge triathlon in Crosshaven, Cork next year. That is quite short though (500m swim, 10k bike 5k run), and is late in the year, so I'd like to get something in earlier in the year. Open to suggestions on what though.
That's pretty much it, feel free to criticise or help me in anyway ye see fit
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Saturday
Went on the LSR before work. Happy with the pace (considering the pace of the other runs, myself, I probably could have pushed it a little faster?). Some of the splits vary by over a minute though, I understand hills can get in the way, but is this bad?
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/59581142
Sunday
Went for a cycle. Happy with how it went. Climbed Patrick's Hill in Cork twice. 54.8km overall, plus a few bits that I never recorded, so I would imagine we totaled closer to 56/57km.
http://app.strava.com/rides/2313236
Monday
Run this morning, a little slower than last week, but I was just keeping pace with my GF, but even as i went off by myself, I was a little slower than normal, so maybe my legs were feeling Sunday, I'm not sure. Beginning of week 2 of Hal Higdon's novice marathon plan.
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/59833620
Went for a swim. Felt tired in my legs tbh. Forgot to use the pull buoy. Breathing still not good. Hopefully starting lessons this week.
Dory Dory: Like I said there, forgot to get the pull buoy, but I tried slowing down dramatically and I think it helped at times, and other times, It made it harder
. I'm a bit of basket case :P 0 -
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Should be going for a swim tomorrow, so I'll definitely have a go with the pull buoy.
I have a one-to-one lesson booked for next Monday at 7. It's €25 for a half hour, including use of the pool (as I'm not a member of the pool she teaches in). I'm happy enough to pay that.. It was pretty much on the lower scale of what I was expecting. 0 -
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Unfortunately, I had a rather quiet week, and from the looks of it, with college, I'm gonna have another one this week, at least till the weekend.. Might try a brick session cycle run at the weekend to make up for the week..
Anyway, since my last post...
Wednesday:
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/60078767
Can't remember exactly how I felt, but I think its our fastest time yet for that particular loop. 4.89km 5:46km, with the last 890m (my finishing sprint) done at 4:36
Went for a cycle later in the morning
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/60105001
Happy with how it went. 32.55m, 27.8kmh average. Gonna use this loop I think for the brick session I'm planning next weekend
Thursday:
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/60188931
Morning run as perscribed by Mr.Hal Higdon. Not a great time, but we left at 6.30 and I had been in the library till 2am the night before :]. Went back to bed after we got in :pac:
Saturday:
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/60444669
LSR. A tad faster, and a tad shorter than last week. Nothing much else to say about it.
I had all sorts of plans to be up and out on Friday and Sunday, but work and college got in the way. Fingers crossed for a better week next week 0 -
Another quiet week. Things have calmed down though, so will be back on track next week.
Monday
Run: GF arrived outside my house as per usual, but was obviously in absolutely no form for running. I convinced her that we can just go tomorrow instead, so we both returned to our respective warm beds. Felt guilty, but it was great :pac:
Swim: Was all geared up to have my first swimming lesson, but the instructor cancelled last minute as her voice was gone. Rescheduled to the following Monday (tomorrow)
Tuesday
Run Absolutely freezing. gf text me to say that she would be a couple of minutes late as she had to de-ice her windscreen. Never has it been tougher to get out of bed for a run after seeing that text. Run itself was good. To the best of my knowledge, our fastest time on that route so far. 5:29/6:22/6:15/5:21/4:20, 5:34 avg As usual, sprinted off by myself at the end. 3miles.
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/60725758
Wednesday
Run The longer of the mid week runs, pace took a big hit compared to yesterday. http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/60835221. 4miles.
Thursday & Friday Nothing. We missed our first ever HH training plan run. Leaving a college project to last minute, mean that I managed to spend somewhere in the region of 55hrs in college this week (on top of work), and I subsisted on chocolate and hot chicken rolls. As a result, even after it was submitted on the Friday, I was in no condition to go for a run.
Saturday. LSR. Ended up being cut short due to gf's really tight calf. Not sure what caused it. On a side note, her left(i think) foot goes numb(to the point that she needs to stop and shake it out)every so often while running. She maintains her shoes aren't too tight, anything else that would cause this? Was supposed to 5 miles, ended up being a smidgen over 4. http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/61178728
Sunday.
Brick Session Was looking forward to this during the week, as I new I needed to get out on the bike, two buddies were supposed to come with me, and we had planned on racing it, plus I was looking forward to a bit of craic timing my transition. End Result: Had to battle to get myself out of bed, friends bailed on me, and I cut the cycle short. I still went out though, and am absolutely delighted that I did.
18.24k Cycle - http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/61278930. 43m05s
T1 (I even get a kick out of writing that :pac: ) 2m34s
5.62k Run - http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/61271177 27m44s
Total = 1h12m44s
I imagine it doesn't compare to any of you machines out there, but I am delighted with myself!
Cycle left a little to be desired to be honest. Can usually do it at least 2minutes faster. That said though, I havent been on the bike in 11 days, and even before that it was pretty sporadic I guess.
Transition could have been a lot faster. I found myself doing things that I could have sorted before hand, or whilst on the bike.
The Run went great! It was my second best time for this loop, which is substantially hillier(still probably not hilly by other's standards though :P ) than anything I have run in the last 3 weeks with my gf. My legs felt really strange getting off the bike, I expected it, but I was still kind of caught off guard by it. Anyway, held pace at 4:56m/km. I found myself at times slowing down on the flat, pretty much for no reason. Once I copped on to my speed, I was like, hang on, I can go faster, and upped it with little consequence, only to find myself drifting back again. Weird, but nice to know i wasn't slowing through lack of ability.Will just have to concentrate more as I run I guess. I suppose it would help to maybe have an armband for my phone, so I can see my current pace, rather than clipping it to my shorts. Last split was the fastest, as my update at the 5k mark put me at 5:02 average, so I ran like a crazed man to finish under the 5m/km mark.
Looking forward to the swim lesson, and getting back on track in general (with college and training) next week. 0 -
Had planned to go for a run this morning but left it off so I could study for a test I had this afternoon. (All the good it did me, should have just gone for the run )
So I suppose if this will be of any interest to anyone, it'll be Dory Dory.
Had my first swimming lesson today. Pretty tired after it actually, as I did a lot more lengths than what I would normally do, and I didn't take as many breaks either. Basically what she had me do was: (I was pretty awful at everything really)
Do a length by myself so she could see. Then she had me do 2/3 lengths of drills where I wasn't allowed to take my hands out of the water, but instead just glide through the stroke and practice rolling my shoulders (which I now have a much better understanding of what people mean by it).
Then I spent a couple of lengths practicing my stroke with my arms coming out of the water, practicing pulling my elbows back as far as I could and then at the other end, stretching my arm out, and rolling my shoulder to get the extra reach. It was quite tough, but I reckon with some of my own time during the week in my regular pool I can get some good practice of this in. The I did the same thing, just with the pull buoy between my legs. Really weird swimming without my legs btw.
Then she had me sort of swim on my side for a few lengths with a swim board, to practice my head position and turning for breathing. Needless to say I was horrendous at this. Then to finish up I did one length of the backstroke (the technique is the same apparently), which I thought I did pretty well (I didnt :pac: ), and one length of sculling(with no legs, not sure if this is the norm). (Have never felt more inadequate in water in my entire life).
Definitely the most lengths I have done in the pool in one go I feel. Not sure about the size of the pool (maybe 20m?).
Pretty tired after it anyway. Still in college, supposedly doing a project, but not making much headway tbh.
Tomorrow beckons the start of HH novice marathon plan week 4. 3 mile run at 6.30am. Can't wait :rolleyes: Have a short core and weights session lined up with a friend afterwards too, once I make it to the gym. Looking forward to getting back to the pool to work on what I picked up in the swimming lesson, will probably have to wait until Wednesday though.
Taking a leaf out of shotgunmcos 's log, my DQS for today (assuming I don't eat anything else today) comes in at an absolutely astounding +1. I'll try and work on that for the rest of the week :cool: :pac:0 -
Hey! Good job on the water work! Sounds like you are definitely on the road to becoming a swimmer....and so glad you understand the meaning of rolling your shoulders. You defnitely needed one-on-one attention to be able to grasp that concept....a concept that is crucial to getting the stroke (and eventually the breathing) down. One question - when you say you were not allowed to have your hands come out of the water, do you mean you had to have your fingertips drag the surface of the water on the way forward through the stroke? We would do this drill to get used to the elbow being high. Just curious. Oh, and I'm a lover of the pull buoy - especially if you are going to do triathlons as you will need to rely mainly on your upper body strength for that leg of the event.
Well done grasshopper. Keep us posted!! 0 -
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Hey! Good job on the water work! Sounds like you are definitely on the road to becoming a swimmer....and so glad you understand the meaning of rolling your shoulders. You defnitely needed one-on-one attention to be able to grasp that concept....a concept that is crucial to getting the stroke (and eventually the breathing) down. One question - when you say you were not allowed to have your hands come out of the water, do you mean you had to have your fingertips drag the surface of the water on the way forward through the stroke? We would do this drill to get used to the elbow being high. Just curious. Oh, and I'm a lover of the pull buoy - especially if you are going to do triathlons as you will need to rely mainly on your upper body strength for that leg of the event.
Well done grasshopper. Keep us posted!!
Yeah it's nice to finally grasp it (the concept, not so much in practice :pac: ). Re the hands in the water, I'm not sure what you mean by drag the surface of the water, I wasn't to have them surface at all. I think it was mainly just to get my hand angle right, as the water would provide more resistance than moving it through the air or something. I'm not sure tbh. I'll practice it anyway, and hopefully by next week I'll be challenging Michael Phelps 
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The pull buoy was a really weird sensation, but now that I've used it once, I'll have no qualms about using it again, because I know how and all that. Thanks for taking an interest though, it provide great motivationNot sure if you're already doing this but make sure you've fully exhaled by the time you take a breath in the swim. Also maybe GF foot problem due to laces too tight?
Yeah, as silly as it sounds, I know I should, but I forget to a lot. I'll have to work on that I guess! I asked her if her shoes were too tight, and she said they weren't. We'll see how tomorrow goes I guess! Thanks for the help:)0 -
Wow. Arms couldn't come out of the water at all? Cool. Got It. The drill I was speaking of is to train proper arm position through exaggeration of high elbow placement that is forced by dragging your fingertips across the surface of the water after you have finished your under water stroke and are rotating your arm forward. You've got some mileage to put in before you need to worry about this particular drill.
Again, good job....and practice makes perfect.0 -
Had a pretty poor week to be honest.
Swam 3 times I think, not sure how I'm feeling about it. I certainly feel a lot more comfortable with the pull buoy(can go for longer distances etc), but my breathing still isn't great, and I find it hard to control my kicking without the pull buoy. (I know I shouldn't be kicking at all with the buoy, but I kick for a couple of seconds out of reflex/habit every so often)
Cycling: Nothing
:(. Had meant to get out Sunday morning, but all sorts of other crap got in the way.
Running wise, missed one session of the plan, and had to cut short the long run. Gf was getting bad pains in her calf, and her foot was gone numb, so we packed it in at 7k, rather than the 14.5. After chatting to her about it, turns out she had been in pain for a lot longer on the run (after the first km or so), and has also been having pains on the other runs, but just didn't want to say it.:eek:. Turns out her shoes, she had for about 2 and a half years, and even at that, her mother had given them to her, after she had gotten a new pair! They were falling apart practically :eek:. So, lucky to avoid an injury there I feel, and I took her out first thing the next day to get a new pair. So now a proud owner of size 6 Nike Pegasus 28s (mine are only 27s :mad: :P ). Her old pair were Saucony something or other, and had a very narrow fit, which was probably contributing to the numbness.
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/61475218
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/61582751
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/62050617
Went out this morning and she reported the run pain free, which is great. Got a nice 5:03 split, albeit mostly downhill, so I feel with the new shoes things are gonna pick up for us.
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/62051835
Been monitoring my weight over the past few weeks, and have seen little to no change, although to be fair, my diet is pretty terrible. I have some good days, and then one really bad day which will just wipe out all the good work. All projects and stuff are handed in now though, and only two small exams today and tomorrow to get through, and I'm off for Christmas. If I manage to keep steady over the festive period weight wise I'll be happy, and I'm definitely going to get out on the bike this week.
Another swimming lesson this evening. Hopefully she will notice some improvement, but to be honest, I'm not expecting anything major this early on.
Other than tha, I guess I can only improve on last week 0 -
So im feeling pretty good about myself atm. Went to the swimming lesson, and the instructor firstly seemed surprised by my commitment to practice when I told her I had been in the pool three times since I was with her last.
When I started with her first last monday, my first length, I did in 23 or 28 strokes I can't remember, but today I was down to 17! She said I have made a huge improvement with my stroke, but I still need to work on my breathing, and loosening out in the water.
She told me to practice freestyle "catch up strokes" for a small bit, and what would be a real indicator of how I'm doing is when I swim on my side (im pretty awful at it at the moment), but the better I get at that, the better I get after all.
Anyway, she said that she doesn't like to take money from people when she doesn't need to, and she said that my practice has obviously been paying off, and that I have the right approach to do some good work by myself. So I told her I would keep at it by myself until after Christmas, and then come back to her for a progress update of sorts.. 0 -
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Excellent work!! I admire your commitment that is evident via your willingness to hire an instructor and then follow through with practice. You are a model! Bally8, slap on that Speedo and hop in the pool - progress is right around the corner for you too! 0
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insinkerator wrote: »
Brick Session Was looking forward to this during the week...
T1 (I even get a kick out of writing that :pac: ) 2m34s
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Love it Not even Jackyback goes into detail on training transitions.. classic. Well done on the swim progress you are making great strides. I always found going back to the pool the day after a technical sessiona and picking one drill to think about on an easy swim really helped to reinforce what I learn. Its not the lessons that will improve you, its the practice and application of learning between them that will. I reckon Crosshaven will be doddle to you by the time you get to it. I'd suggest Valentia Island for one. One of my Favs. Nice course, well run and great fun 0 -
Wow that's brilliant insinkerator, you really must have been working hard. I'm struggling so much with my swimming, its actually put me off going to the pool regularly. Obviously I should go more often- even if I saw half the improvement you've achieved I would be happy.
Well, to be fair, the base that I had to improve on wasn't much, so any improvement at all would have been a good thing
. Practice is really what made the difference though, like I spent a large amount of my time in the pool last week, with the pull buoy, practicing my stroke and rolling my body and being loose and all the other stuff the instructor told me to do, and that's where she saw my biggest improvement:)Excellent work!! I admire your commitment that is evident via your willingness to hire an instructor and then follow through with practice. You are a model! Bally8, slap on that Speedo and hop in the pool - progress is right around the corner for you too!
Well part of the reasoning behind having an instructor, was the financial commitment i.e I've paid, so I better get my bloody money's worth! :pac:shotgunmcos wrote: »Love it Not even Jackyback goes into detail on training transitions.. classic. Well done on the swim progress you are making great strides. I always found going back to the pool the day after a technical sessiona and picking one drill to think about on an easy swim really helped to reinforce what I learn. Its not the lessons that will improve you, its the practice and application of learning between them that will. I reckon Crosshaven will be doddle to you by the time you get to it. I'd suggest Valentia Island for one. One of my Favs. Nice course, well run and great fun
Haha, it was my first attempt, so I reckoned it would be a bit of craic at least :pac:. Had a look at the Valentia one, but I can't seem to find any details on the distances, also the provisional date for next year is May19th, which could be smack in the middle of my college exams BTW, I read your log from start to finish over the weekend, inspirational stuff!! :eek:
Was planning on heading out and helping with the search for the missing UCC student this evening, after my exam, but from the looks of it, that might not be necessary anymore
Think I might head to the pool instead and get some more practice in. Went for a run this morning, an awful lot slower than the last few mornings, but to be fair, we had to take it pretty handy at times, there was ice on the footpaths!:eek: http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/621454470 -
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So I was thinking I never went public on my timing goals for next year and stuff.
Basically, the two main events I'm going for are the Cork City Marathon (Sub 3:30), and the Crosshaven Challenge Tri(500m/10k/5k)(Sub 0:50). Big enough asks I'm sure, for a first timer to both, but as the quote says :"It is better to shoot for the stars and miss than aim at the gutter and hit it."
Tuesday
So went to the pool in the end yesterday evening. Didnt count lengths or anything, but I possibly did 500m, not too sure, nor am I too bothered about distance, more worried about the quality of the swimming. In that respect though, had some moments that felt absolutely great! (other moments,not so much ) We'll keep at it though.
Wednesday
This morning, I told a friend of mine I'd go to the gym and do some weight training with him, however we both pretty much slept in, and possibly it might make more sense to leave weights be and not tire my arms while trying to concentrate on swimming?
Instead I went for a short brick session. Exactly the same course as the last one.
Cycle went very well. Shaved a couple minutes off my time from the last day. http://app.strava.com/rides/2607535 Strava says 41:03. But strava includes the time spent moving on my driveway. I include that in my transition as we have electric gates so I have to come to a full stop and key in a code to get in. So actual time was 40:17 I think. Almost two minutes faster!
Transition 2m32s. Still a bit off Dory, but 2 seconds off the last day :pac:
Run. Sort of fell apart here
. Started the runkeeper app a couple of seconds too soon, so it was going as I typed in the gate code, and waited an absolute age for the gates to open. Tried to get my headphones in whilst running which slowed me down a bit, and got thoroughly confused. They have the around ear support yokes, and for some reason I just couldnt figure it out :rolleyes:. So about 500m in I just full on stopped and took about 20 seconds to get it together. Couple that with the first 1k or so was ran with a bad stitch/cramp/whatever just under my right ribs, and on the second time round I was absolutely wrecked, and practically crawled up the hill. So yeah, not great.. All things considered though,I was less than two minutes off my last time, and I was happy to come in under 30 mins for the 5.62k. 29m 31s to be exact. So in summary:
Cycle: 40:17
T1: 2:32
Run: 29:31.
Brick Total: 1h12m20s. 24s improvement on the last time. Felt I was gonna improve based on the cycle, but as soon as I went out for the run, those hopes fell apart really, and I was just urging myself to attempt damage limitation. So quite happy in the end
Forced myself to a bit of stretching afterwards, but I don't know too many so that was rather shortlived :pac:.
Just on a sidenote to all this.. whilst typing out this post, by chance I glanced at my knee, to find it covered in blood!:eek: Took a closer look at found a shard of glass stuck in there :S. Dunno how it got there, because I definitely don't remember seeing blood there during the transition, or stretching. Maybe it got into my room on a shoe and I kneeled on it or something.. gave me a fright though. 0 -
And if I streamline my transition from the trainer to the treadmill (that, by the way, are practically touching each other) by turning on the treadmill and programming it in advance, I'm sure I can get my transition time down even farther.;)
Good luck on your goals! You're really doing great. And I've found that by slogging through even the ugliest of workouts, there is value in the effort you spent.0 -
Thursday
Hit the pool for an hour or so. Think I did ~500m again. Tried to keep it nice and slow and concentrate on my techniques. (Sometimes to the point where I forget to breathe :rolleyes: )
For parts of it I felt really, really great, other parts, pretty bad, but I'm still learning, and there's plenty of time!
Friday
Myself and three friends organised a sort of a mini race/training brick for today. One bailed early on, so it was just the three of us. Started out really well, with a strong cycle. I ended up posting my best ever time for the loop we did (have done that loop countless times), and I'm pleased to say I didn't get any benefit from drafting anyone (I actually lost them on the flat) and after that it was all up and down and we were too spread out. There was one guy, who has done a couple of triathlons and duathlons before, and I was expecting him to runaway with it, but I had him for the first 5k, and after that I kept him in sight the entire time to finish at 38:34 - best time by about 90 seconds .
Transition was awful, we had three carefully folded sets of shoes and clothes out the front, and in the 38 minutes we were gone, my parents decided to just pile the whole lot into my car (do I sound like a whiny kid? :pac: ). So i had to retrieve everything for myself and my buddy who pretty much arrived in together, and then make sure everything the third guy needed to set off on the run, and then put away everything else. So I reckon it was about 4:30-5:00, but i'm gonna stick with my transition from the last day, just 'cause.
Run was great too, fastest ever time on that loop again, 25:50 with a 4:38m/km avg. I was also only about 2/3 minutes off the first guy (who 6 months ago, I think I might have hurt my back trying to keep up with him at, so I'm very happy with that).
Cycle: 38:34
T1: 2:32
Run: 25:50
Overall: 1h6m56s. So a big improvement on the last day(~5m30), but I feel it was more due to me having a bit of competition and motivation to keep up etc.
So 9mile/14.5k LSR tomorrow after work, and then my work Christmas party. Needless to say, Sunday will be a rest day :pac:. Mostly off college next week, so I'm gonna concentrate on getting 2/3 good handy length cycles in (50/60k), and not run off them, as I feel I could to with the time on the saddle to be honest. Next week I think is the first time that I'll have a lot of time on my hands to train, since I started taking it seriously, so I'll have to be careful not to over do it. GF wants me to do the Belgooly 4 mile road race on St.Stephens day. I don't fancy running in the cold with a bellyfull of Turkey, roast potatoes and whole load of other festive excesses, but I guess I'll give it a bash anyway.0 -
LSR as planned yesterday. Was a little under pressure for time when I set out, but I just put in my headphones, turn off the pace notifications, and just plod along comfortable, and see where it takes me.
The course I did was almost totally flat, bat one up and down at the halfway point, so I was hoping for some nice consistent splits. I ended up starting far too fast at 4:59m/km, and my slowest was 6:00m/km, so hardly consistent. I felt comfortable the entire time though, wasn't straining myself, didn't feel out of breath (all of these are good for LSR yeah?). So while it wasn't a consistent run, it was a very comfortable run of 13.96km @ 5:36 average. Any health benefits I would have gained from doing the run, I completely knocked out of the park later that evening at the staff party, but that's a story for another day :pac:
Will be hitting the pool at some stage today before work, and should really get out on the bike, but the weather looks threatening. 0 -
Congratulations!
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It's always nice to know that someone is always watching, waiting to pat me on the back. Even if it is automated. That was for last week, and I also forgot to include the link to the LSR - http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/62521005
So Monday, where I was making promises to go to the pool, and swim, came to nothing. I just sat on my arse for the day really (if only this was a competitve sport!).
Tuesday
Was asked to work Tuesday, on Monday night, so instead of the late morning run I had planned with my GF, had to go out early myself. Took an embarassing amount of time to will myself out of the bed.(Mental note: If I actually just get up when I wake, I could get an awful lot more sleep). Off I went, in the dark and particularly freezing cold and wind. Happy enough, until 2 minutes in. When it started hailing/snowing/punishing me. I soldiered on anyway, and recorded my best time for that loop (likely pushed on by the thought of a warm house) http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/62756782
After work, I had to call home to collect my ID/entrance card before planning to head straight to the pool. This turned into calling home to collect my card, napping for just under 2 hours (:o ), and going to the pool. Hadn't been in the pool since the Thursday before, and I certainly felt like I could feel the difference. It was a solid enough session considering, although I am noticing that I'm consistently not getting my elbows as high as I should when I stop concentrating on them. Will have to keep an eye on that. I think I did about 20ish lengths (400m) when an entire clan of people all of whom seemed to know each other, intent on just sitting at the pool wall arrived to the general swim area, along with a swimming lesson who took half of the general swim area, and the lanes were filled with too many fast people, so I left.:cool:
Wednesday
Went out for a run with my gf. Intentionally put it off till 9 so there wouldn't be too much ice. Not too much ice. Good one. Pretty sure I recorded what is the slowest km split on my runkeeper account of 8mins flat. As it happens, gf has zero balance on ice. 'Twas a bit of craic though :pac: http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/62850700
Went for a swim. Think I might have hit 600m this time. Would like to point out, just in case people are getting the wrong idea, that this is not continuous length swimming. My breathing is still poor, so after a maximum of three lengths, I need to stop and catch my breath. Along with the elbow issues, im still trying to do everything too fast, and my technique is suffering. I did however knock out one length with the pull buoy where I felt like I did everything perfectly!:) Will try for a couple more of these tomorrow. When I'm not using the pull buoy, my legs tend to sink while swimming. I spotted another girl in the pool who seemed to be still learning, and she had the same problem. I think slowing down my kick and making it bigger(if that makes sense) helps. One problem that I am having, that I don't know how to resolve, is that when I breathe I tend to sink in the water. Is this because I'm not rolling my body enough with my breath or??
Still no bike this week!! I need to HTFU and get out, or HTFU and invest in a turbo, or HTFU and do both. Common factor to all three options? HTFU.
Not sure how I managed to turn this little bit of training into this much writing. 0 -
Don't worry about only swimming a few laps then taking a break - breaks are allowed, especially at this point.
Your elbows...there is a drill that you can do to help keeping-your-elbows-high start to feel natural. (and I hope I don't confuse you...but....) As your arm starts to leave the water at the end of your underwater stroke, drag your fingertips across the surface of the water as your stoke moves forward out of the water. By dragging your fingertips, this forces you to exaggerate the bend in your elbow which will keep your elbow high. If how to do this is confusing, try to picture this: arm/hand exits water by your thigh (normal exit), immediately bend elbow, keep the back of your hand facing directly forward (palm of hand is facing your feet), forearm will basically be perpendicular to surface of water (water surface/forearm/upper arm will sort of make a 90 degree triangle...sort of), drag fingertips across surface of water as arm moves forward (remember, back of hand is facing forward), finish stroke, repeat. It's a nice drill that may help you.
Trouble with your kick? Perhaps try practicing with fins on. Really. You might better figure out your most effective kick. Keep up the good work! 0 -
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I'll have a go off that drill so, cheers! There's a sign in the pool that says no flippers allowed, so I guess I won't be doing that. What I said earlier about making the kick deeper definitely does help, but it just goes against the way I have been kicking ever since I first learned how to swim. So when I concentrate on that, I forget to raise my elbows, so then I panic and concentrate on my elbows, at which point my kick shallows out again, and then I forget to breathe:rolleyes:
Thanks for all the help though. I'd offer to thank you with a plate of freshly baked confectionary goods, but it looks like you got that covered!:pac: 0 -
In a sprint, the kick is fast, furious and high in the water. In a distance event/triathlon, you want the kick slower and lower. With your persistence and determination, you'll get it for sure!
And definitely no baked goods needed here. I'm already buzzing from sugar overload! 0 -
Im still trying to master the kick, my feet sink too if Im not careful. Two things that help. Be conscious of pushing your shoulders/chest down (pushing the t, I heard it called). And stretch out your torso, which strangely works to pull your legs higher. And the reason we do drills is to isolate one action, to correct just that, Im like you the minute I try to fix more than one issue it all falls apart. 0
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In a sprint, the kick is fast, furious and high in the water. In a distance event/triathlon, you want the kick slower and lower. With your persistence and determination, you'll get it for sure!
And definitely no baked goods needed here. I'm already buzzing from sugar overload!
So how does that work for a Sprint distance Triathlon? Should I be aiming for fast and furious or slower and lower? I'm gonna keep on learning with the slower and lower approach, as I feel that is a little more conducive, but just for on-the-day advice?Im still trying to master the kick, my feet sink too if Im not careful. Two things that help. Be conscious of pushing your shoulders/chest down (pushing the t, I heard it called). And stretch out your torso, which strangely works to pull your legs higher. And the reason we do drills is to isolate one action, to correct just that, Im like you the minute I try to fix more than one issue it all falls apart.
More things to concentrate on:o. If I don't post in the log anymore it means I got so confused in the pool, and I drowned :pac:
Yeah, im gonna have to bring more drills into my training, rather splashing up and down lengths of the pool.Addison Ambitious Minor wrote: »Touching your thumbs under your armpits will also work for a high elbow drill.
Cool, sounds good. I actually tried a bit of this when sitting in traffic, hope no one spotted me
You and me both!!Loving this log- I'm getting loads of great tips
Thursday
Marathon plan called for a 4 mile run. I went a little beyond that and actually did. Ended up doing a 3 ish mile detour with a nice hill at the end by myself, on my way to the GF's house, did the 4 mile with her, and then ran home again by myself. Total of 12.95km. Averaged somewhere around 4:40 I think by myself, and finished the run on 5:27.
http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/62953952
Not sure if the extra mileage will come back to haunt me. I don't think it will. I've been pretty comfortable in what we've been doing so far, so it shouldn't have any adverse effects.
Still haven't made it out on the bike this week. Today, hopefully!0 -
Sorry to confuse you, but I meant that fast and furious was employed for a sprint swimming event, and slow and low (comparatively speaking) is employed for triathlon events and non-sprint swimming events. A 750 meter swimming distance is not a sprint in swimming terms....so....keep learning what you're learning.
With your kick....obviously keep using the kick board to practice it. You can also try kicking without a kick board by extending your arms out in front of you and clasping your hands together. Face will be in the water, so you can practice turning your head from side to side to breathe. You can also probably practice Oryx's drill of pushing shoulders down and stretching out torso. And one last suggestion, you can always flip over on your back with your arms over your head and hands clasped together to practice the backstroke kick (and you can do butterfly on your back as well). Backstroke is not freestyle, but it will work your legs. 0 -
So pretty pi**ed off with myself.. Did absolutely nothing since my last entry. Ate enough crap to rival dory's stash of goodies, and bemoaned myself for doing nothing, whilst simultaneously doing nothing about it. Changed my ways this morning though.
Contacted a friend of mine who is also interested in training for triathlons, asked him did he want to go out for a run around 10:30/11:00. Text back to say that it was too early for him. 0_0. I've never come across anyone to say that hour of the morning is too early (too late if anything), but anyway, off on my todd I went.
Had planned to about 10k, but in the back of my mind I knew I didn't have time for it, as I have a meeting with the careers service in college (don't have time to do the run, yet I still have time to enter in my log, before the meeting :rolleyes: ). I started out too fast, and I just decided to myself I'd go flat out and see what I could muster up for a straight out 5k attempt, so as not to put myself under pressure to make it to college. Needless to say, as soon as I made the decision, all the chocolate/crap came back to bite me in the ass, (or my side if you will), and I got a stitch.
Ran through it for splits of 4:14/4:14/4:26/4:29/4:17 to record 21:41, so a Personal best by a longshot (over a minute), but I'm still not particularly happy about it. I feel like I could have held all the splits sub 4:15 if I hadn't acted the prat over the weekend. Anyway, lesson learned (until next weekend :P), and I suppose I may as well chalk that attempt down as my PB.
Going to the pool later to at last try out all the wonderful tips you patient lot have been giving me 0 -
*Was meant to post this last night, but I fell asleep, and cbf going through and changing all the todays and yesterdays
So I hit the pool twice. Once yesterday, and again today.
To be perfectly honest, both sessions were disheartening. Sometimes I feel like I'm not making any progress. Anyway, we'll keep at it.
First session, I tried out some of the drills people are talking about. Tried using the kickboard, to do leg drills, but I got subconscious, as I felt like I was going nowhere fast, and making an awful lot of splashing :O. Did some more swimming with and without the pullbuoy. I feel a lot better with the pullbuoy, but then I start to wonder whether I'm relying on it too much.
What are kickboard drill supposed to be like? When I'm swimming, I want my legs to have slow and long kicks, but if I do that with the board, I literally barely move, so should I be kicking as hard as I can? Would that not go against the slow kick technique I'm trying to master? I tried using the kickboard drill to practice my breathing too, but I couldn't turn my head far enough to breath properly.
Today's session was much of the same, didn't want to use the kickboard, as I wanted to consult here first, so I pretty much did 200m with the buoy, 100 without, thereabouts, twice, stopping after every length (not that I needed too that badly, just because I wanted to be solely focusing on my stroke, rather than keeping afloat/alive)
Afterwards, got talking to a friendly bald chap in the changing rooms who had been doing constant lengths in the regular swim area (surprisingly not the lanes). As we were chatting, it came up that he has done a few ironmans. Did IM Switzerland last year in 11:20. Wondered afterwards, if I was chatting to a fellow boardsie.. Pipe up if you are reading this!
As the swimming goes anyway, Im going to try and not get bogged down by the amount of progress I perceive myself to be making. At the end of the day, it's gonna be gradual improvements like anything else. If I keep on doing what I'm told, and keep the sessions going on a regular basis, everything else should sort itself out.
Went for a run tonight too. Just a short one to shut up the demons inside me grumbling for not doing it. Didn't have any plan, wasn't too sure what I was going to do. Decided en route, that I would do an out and back, and picked a halfway point. Just as I reached the halfway point, I had a weird sensation in my lower right calf. It wasn't sore, it was just weird. Tried stretching it out, and like you know if you try and flatten out your foot in line with your leg, (kinda like the way a ballerina does), and you hit a point where it starts pulling at your calf, and then you stop? Well, it was like I just couldn't reach that pull point. Like I said it wasn't sore by any means. I took it a bit handier coming back anyway, didn't give me any trouble, and its perfectly fine now . I wish I could explain what happened better, but I can't, so sorry for the awful explanation. :pac: I took it handier coming back anyway, just as a precaution http://runkeeper.com/user/killian1/activity/63468292
I think I'll just not run tomorrow, and go out on Friday one. Belgooly Road Race on Monday, my first ever.. I was looking up the most recent results I could find online (2008, last two possibly cancelled due to ice), and saw the times. And thinking of my 5k PB, I was like, that puts me in the top 20!!. Then realised its a 4mile race, not a 5k . I'll be lucky to hit the top 200 :P 0 -
insinkerator wrote: »Today's session was much of the same, didn't want to use the kickboard, as I wanted to consult here first
All Id say is careful what you read on D'internet ... based purely on what you've just described ...
points worth considering ... all freestyle kick ... also known as flutter kick for good reason - should be done
a) shallow, kicking from the hip, constant fast pace, point the toes
b) hold the board right at the front, keep chin on top of water, looking forward and physically stretch out your body as far as it will go .. you should feel this initially - this helps bring you up to the top of the water and ensure you're kicking keeps the hips up ... this is the position you're hoping to have when swimming (and the position the pull buoy is providing you with when you use it - as will most wetsuits).
Youtube might help illustrate my points above ... best of a bad bunch - avoid the 'straight leg kick', flexing the ankles - resistence v propulsion generated is a very good point - 'quick and small'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgZ5-oatDg8
Hope the above helps in some way - stick at it - imho, working on the kick and getting your body position higher will save you alot of grief along the path to enlightenment - a steady 2 beat or sometimes 4 beat kick when swimming (or swimming during a triathlon of any length) will ensure you're body is nice and high, not causing any additional drag or resistance. It also gives you the ability to change pace from time to time which can be handy when grabbing a pair of feet to draft off.0 -
Thanks for the advice Im heading off to the pool now, so I'll be sure to give it a go.
Just a quick question, I got an early present of a voucher, so is it worth my while picking up those hand glove paddle things. I have heard that they are good to practice your technique, but as I'm sure you've realised, I have no idea :pac:0 -
insinkerator wrote: »Thanks for the advice Im heading off to the pool now, so I'll be sure to give it a go.
Just a quick question, I got an early present of a voucher, so is it worth my while picking up those hand glove paddle things. I have heard that they are good to practice your technique, but as I'm sure you've realised, I have no idea :pac:
re: hand glove paddle things
never used them - maybe someone else around these parts have.
What I would say is that whether starting out or otherwise there is no silver bullet ... but that could be said for all 3 sports and not just swimming
As long as you continue to enjoy the challenges that come along ...0 -
Before you read this, know that if interested is a level 10 in swimming, Im about a -1. But with kicking drills, I find I cant maintain a drill with my head out of the water. Ive seen it done by others, but our coach doesnt teach it and even if he did I would avoid it, it kills my neck. Just saying in case you find it the same. Lately our kicking drills have been without boards, but with a good streamlined position (arms extended pressed against your ears,, hands locked palms down one on top of the other, just at the surface of the water. You could try it. I found it easier than pushing a kickboard through the water. 0
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