I could be a Super Hero

I got my Aqua Sphere WT-80 swimming shirt last night. The tag said XL, but man it looks small. Threw it on. It stretches well, doesn't feel to tight but it is a skin suit. I decided to go with just a swim top for now. This top has Lycra on the shoulders and sides, and a .5 mm neoprene back and chest. I do not think it will make me faster like a full wetsuit, it will only keep me warmer in Rocky Gap lake (72 degrees). I have not tried to take it off wet yet. Will need to test it before then. This shirt should also function well at Kinzua for morning swimming or sun protection or fall protection when water skiing.

If this was a full wet suit I decided I would look like a super hero, not Superman or Batman, but the dad from the Incredibles, you know when he decided to come back into business after a hiatus. Shoulders and chest looks good, it is that little something around the waist.

Looking to go hard on the bike and run tonight, and try to squeeze in a weight train. Easy does it on Friday, then bricking it on Saturday. Then it I am going to taper. I am not the guy to train hard through an event and then use the event as a hard training day. I want to do a good time if I can.

Hey, Matt, have you ever tried honey for your allergies. Tamara told me honey, specifically honey that is harvested during the time of the year as your allergies assists in the production of antibodies to allow your body to combat pollen. I believe the concept is like a vaccine. Essentially digested pollen by the bees left in the honey is a weaker form of the pollen that is knocking you down. You get it in your system and it massages you immune system into functioning more effectively. Of course I don't know how effective it is once you allergies are full blown. Finally, avoid milk products. I know that sounds weird, but milk only helps produce mucus. My kids have drank very little Cows milk (more since they have been in Public School), when they have been sick even from infancy they produce very little mucus. If you think you need the calcium, I could go into a whole thing how milk is a net zero sum game on calcium because your body uses calcium to digest protein. It uses calcium already in your body. It then replaces the calcium in your body with the calcium from the milk. You should check into Kefer or eat more yogurt, because of the active cultures they don't cause your body to form mucus when you eat it.

I can't say enough about Vitamin C. I take two Emergen-C's (it is available most health food stores) every day, and usually two Vitamin C capsules, plus a B complex. The C is also very good for heart and as a antioxidant. I could go on but I will stop here. I attribute it to me not getting very many colds, Tamara's allergies are not as bad as they use to be either.

New phase

I went to the bike store today and bought a new seat out of the half-price bin; one with the hole in the middle, and much nicer feeling than the one I had on my road bike. I had them install it and raise my seatpost, which I had bent my cheap Chinese Allen wrench trying to do earlier. I rode out of the store with the feeling of a light-footed savanna-dwelling creature, able to cruise across the grasslands at alarming speeds for hours on end. Unfortunately, I only had to go to the Post Office, which was about a mile away, but I went at lightning speed. My legs are now more correctly extended at the downstroke, and my tender bottom is suspended delightfully in a bed of comfort gel.

Earlier today, I attempted to run in my target heart rate range for 30 minutes. This was my first real attempt at heartrate training, and I am convinced it will be extremely helpful. I have never done this in my life, even back in high school track, which sadly was the last time I went on extended runs. So sometime in the evenings, I guess I will read some of the sites about HR training, and try to start employing those techniques. I just hope I can scratch out enough time every day to do something.

Battle on, boys (and girl?).

Tango

I didn't get to talk with Todd. Michelle and Jerry will be on vacation that week so they are out.
There is a HS girl that works (or worked) at Genine's parents store that is a triathlete. She ran the one in WV last year. If we are really wanting to be in mixed division we could see if she is interested.
Genine is also digging in, she is hoping that she might be able to do the 4.5 mile run. Time will tell.

Well my allergies have hit me like a ton of bricks. My lungs have been so inflamed, I can't do much of anything. It's very likely that I'll have to skip my swim class tonight.
I'll have to keep this in mind next year. I always have issues from Mid May to Mid June. Hopefully I'll figure out how to keep it in check.

Bike Stores

Today, we went to a couple of Bike stores here to try to buy a new bike for the wife. Technically, the kid needed a new bike, but the wife's existing bike is perfect for the kid, so we decided to see if the wife could find something better, and give the other one to the kid. In the meantime, I tried out a bunch of bikes, including a fixed gear bike. That is a messenger-type bike in which you can't coast. The pedals and chain are always attached to the back wheel, and there are no brakes. You slow down by pushing back on the pedals. The advantage of this bike is that it weighs very little. It was kinda shocking how light it was, actually. Very cool, but I don't think it would work in a race too well. Gotta keep the cadence rather consistent, and that ain't gonna happen on one of these. I also tried a real road bike (Lemond), which put me into a very aero-esque position, and I discovered that this position can be quite uncomfortable for the two little guys who reside near "the area." Not sure how to handle that, but yikes. I didn't find anything that made me jealous. I think I'm gonna stick with my Trek for a while; probably just get a tune-up soon. Both of my hubs are a little loose, gotta tighten the spokes, true the wheels, etc. I think I'm willing to pay a few bucks to have someone else do that for me, so I don't lose my bearings as Craig recently did. I have had that very frustrating problem in the past. I'll put some smaller tires on there and get a better seat, and I think I'll have a pretty nice ride. What the heck? It's not like I'm gonna be winning this thing. I can't imagine a new bike would gain me much more than a minute or two in the whole bike portion anyway. I can live with that.

Rock Gap Approacheth

So, only two weeks to the Rock Gap Sprint Tri. Who's in? Anybody want to go just to watch? I'll have to consider that.

Today I saw, as I dropped off a sleeping bag at a friends house, a clip of killer whales training at Sea World, and it occurred to me that the water might be where I can make up for my size. Killer whales don't seem to have any trouble getting around. They are whales, for the love of Pete. They can get their entire several thousand pound bodies flying completely out of the water. They can catch seals in the water, and seals aren't slouches when it comes to swimming either. So I think I am going to assume the mindset of a migrating whale, able to swim for thousands of miles with nary a second thought. Thinking in this way, I will be able to motivate my significant mass with leisurely effort, yet with the grace of a creature who calls the seas his home.

On another note, I did a new endurance exercise today, which was that I took a walk outside with my trusty 20 pound dumbbells, and I ended up walking for 50 minutes. This definitely made the walk more challenging, as it was destroying my shoulders and forearms, and also adding 40 pounds to my load. This is sort of what I want the swim to feel like. I want it to be as if certain parts of my body are being taxed in ways that many people wouldn't like, but that does not get me all out of breath. I can sweat up a storm and work like a dog all day long (and use idioms like nobody's business) but I just don't like getting very out of breath. I like breathing! Call me crazy.

Swim Class: Round 6

Coach is saying that I've got my head position right, which is a good thing to get right. I'm happy with that.
Of course then he says this is what you work on next. The "S" Stroke. Basically you are looking to find still water to move or push against. I'm thinking of it as pulling to the inside then pushing out to the hip.

I'm not sure what all we did tonight. Something like this.

10 minute swim warmup.
1x300
4x100 stroke count/ long glide
4x100 50 free/ 50 any other stroke
4x100 speed
?
?
Kick at side of pool for 30 seconds, then race to other side with as few breaths as possible. This is where my right hamstring cramped up on me and didn't let go.

4 person Tango

So Shawn and I posted our preferences. Casey and Craig I gathered their preferences from an earlier post and added them to that "Tango Preference" post. Here is a possible event list. Comments welcome.

Half Marathon: Casey
20 mile Bike: Craig
2 mile Swim: Shawn
Orienteering: Casey, Craig (or Matt How lost can I get if I'm with someone?)
4.5 mile run: Matt (or Craig)
Canoe: Shawn Matt (or Craig)

Of course I'll talk with Michelle and Jerry as well. When I was thinking of who else could power a canoe to team with Shawn, I thought of Bob Morrison. Anyone know if he's still working out? Ha!

Couples Racing

I just got an email from a woman who does triathlons with here husband. It is a multisport group in Morgantown here and if you post everyone gets the email. Well, that being said she mentioned that her and her husband missed taking third in the couples category by 1 minute, combined time. The category was listed as "couples <80". I thought that is strange how many people do they have doing it over 80 years of age. So, I went to the web site and saw they had a "couples 80+". So, I check out the times. I was floored how could one 80 year old person do that time, and his wife did this time.

I know I am an idiot. The 80 is a combined age. It was a long Ohhhh, once I realized this.

It got me thinking. An untapped category is Clydesdale/Athena Couple. If a Clydesdale is 200lbs. and Athena I think is 150lbs. Then the couple's category could be like > 350 and 400+. Take it a step farther and you could create a domestic partner category Clydesdale/Clydesdale. It could be >400 or 500+. Now we are talking about something Shawn and I could clean up in. Of course if you are 300 then maybe we could let your partner be 100lbs.

Tango Questions Answered

Alright my friends, Thad has responded.

Here is what he had to say:

Dear Shawn,

Here are some answers to your questions...I hope they help...

- Can we use two ended paddles in the canoe?

Yes

- Are there any rules about fins in the swim portion? Such as are monofins allowed? Split fins? Freediving fins? We just want to know if anything goes there. And how about webbed gloves? Or do we have to have bare hands?

What ever fins you want and webbed gloves are okay.

- Can we use the same canoe for the safety canoe that we use for the race leg? Does the swim leg end in a convenient place to move the canoe to the river race leg? Does the safety canoe need to have two paddlers? If the safety canoeists are not racing, do they have to pay?

Yes you will have plenty of time to use the same canoe for both uses. The swim leg ends at Kinzua Beach...very Convenient.. One will be enough for the safety canoe. They do not have to pay.

- Are there rules about the definition of a canoe that we should know about?

Any open canoe can be used. Kayaks can be used by the solo racers only.

- Will some people have slick racing canoes and others have the traditional aluminum trekkers?

Yes

- Is there a map available of where each part starts and ends? Or is that part of the challenge? Obviously we don't need a map for the orienteering section, but we need to know where the runners will be staged when the orienteering guys come out.

I have attached a map of the transitions points. The start and finish are near the YMCA on Lexington Ave.

- Is there a coed division?

I have not decided on the awards yet but there will be awards for the coed and all female teams.

Call or email me if you need more questions answered.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

Thad

The map is helpful too. I'll try to post it here (Yippee, it worked! -- see top of post -- You can click on it to make it bigger). The bike ride looks to be quite exciting, starting at Kinzua beach, crossing back over the bridge, going up the LSD to Forest Road 492, around a big loop and down into the Elijah boat launch area, where the swim begins. This news of being able to basically wear any kind of apparatus in the swim excites me. (I don't know about you). I wonder what other swimmers will be using.

In case I don't get the map up, here's how the whole race works: Run from the start by the Y on Lexington Ave. all the way to Kinzua beach (that's crazy!), where the bike begins. Bike nearly 20 miles to Elijah Boat launch (no crashing! You're out in the boonies), swim from there back to the beach. Orienteerers start and end at the beach after hitting all the points, then the second run begins there and goes over to the Big Bend boat launch below the dam. The canoe proceeds from there down to the finish back at the Y.

Sounds easy. Maybe we should all do it ourselves. :)

Online Swim Videos

Alexander Popov
Freestyle Slo-mo

More videos and links on the left side of those pages, scroll down a bit.

Tango Event Preferences:

I think we have a good idea as to what we each want to do but we can use this post to dial it in a bit.

I'll start by saying that I have Zero interest in the Half Marathon or the Orienteering.
Then for the others:
4.5 mile run: I could handle that, no major speed but I'd keep chuggin. 10 minute miles?
Canoe: I could make a few trips down the river before the event scope things out, help with the navigation of the islands. Depending on how much flow there can be some shallows that could be bothersome.
Swim: I'm just starting to work on swimming with fins. I'm not very good with them yet. I still have time to improve tho'. Again, I think I'd be able to keep moving through this event. If this becomes my event, I would adjust my efforts.
Bike: I haven't put enough time on the bike yet to feel like this would be a good event for me but cardio wise I think I could chug through it.

I was going to post what I thought might work for 4 of us but why don't we wait to see what everyone has to say. Then we can submit scenarios and then make arguments for or against.

New Training Partner

I found a guy from my church, who is also the dad of one of my daughter's friends, who is somewhat into the idea of training for triathlons. He has done a few in his life, but none recently, and he still regularly does 5 and 10K runs. He was planning on trying a triathlon later this year in Illinois, when he is visiting his parents, so he needs to train. This created an opportunity for me to have a training buddy, at least on the bike. So today we went for an hour-long mountain-bike ride which was about half on-road and half off. It was very enjoyable to have someone to chat with on that long of a ride. Somehow, we averaged 12 mph on this ride, so that gave me some hope that I am not totally screwed for the real thing. It was not physically debilitating, but we did keep up the pace pretty much near the limit of our abilities for most of the ride. Okay, so 12 mph isn't going to set any records but there were tree roots and rocks and stuff all over the place, so I assume we will be able to pick up the pace a bit if the course is all road.

This was the first long ride I have done outside this year. One thing I discovered is that I need some gloves with padded palms. My fingers were kind of numb after a little while. I also experienced for the second time in a year a problem that I might encounter in a race that could be quite bothersome. My eye gets something in it that just feels like acid. I don't know if I am sweating out all the peppers I eat as pepper spray sweat or if there are chemicals on my handlegrips or what, but my eyes get so painful that I can hardly keep them open and there is serious pain involved. I suppose I can douse myself with water if this happens in a race, but dang, it feel like I got maced. Anyone have any ideas about that?

I'm looking forward to more good rides all summer. This was probably my first real endurance workout at my target heart rate (if I was even getting there) that I have been on all year. I am encouraged that I might actually be able to do this.

I think I will need to buy a heart monitor to really get my aerobic fitness where it is supposed to be. I'll look into that soon. If I focus on that for a few months, I'm sure my performance will improve dramatically.

More on the Tango

I e-mailed Thad this evening with all of our questions, at least the ones I could remember.

This is an interesting endeavor. I have been researching swim fins recently, and found some very interesting stuff. One thing of note is that monofins (one big flipper with both feet in it) seem to be the fastest thing going as far as open water swim records go, as well as freediving depth records. I am totally game for swimming with one of those, as I have swum like that for years anyway. I would love to see how fast I can go with a dolphin-like tail. Just so you don't think I'm out of my mind, I did set a course record in the Penn State Scuba Obstacle Course when I took a class in scuba (a few years back...). I have this hypothesis that I might be able to go faster than the safety canoe with a good set of flippers. I asked Thad if there were any rules about that, so I'll be interested in hearing what he has to say. If monofins are allowed, I will definitely be interested in the swim. However, if someone else wants to do that...I'm totally cool with it. I can always swim around on my own! If no one is jumping at the opportunity to do the canoe (which it doesn't seem like), then I will be totally happy doing only that part, as long as we can at least find a willing partner for me. If Craig bikes, I would assume he would be fresh enough by the time the canoe leg comes around. For some reason, this whole thing reminds me of building a team in Dungeons and Dragons. We need a fighter with a high constitution, and an elf with high dexterity...

On another note, following Eric Harr's advice, I have gotten my family involved and have instituted an evening walk for all of us every night. It's not too tough for me, but it burns a few extra calories and does work the legs and if I carry the kid on my shoulders then I get an extra workout. I have also begun in earnest the new summer diet (Volumetrics, with nuts), so the Spartan physique is on its way. By the time of the Tango, I should be under 250 lbs. I know, it doesn't sound that impressive, but for me that will be nice.

Minimum Daily Requirements

I keep thinking to myself how core strength is going to be the key to staying strong for 3+ hours. Yet I really haven't been putting much effort into making steady gains in that department. So I'm thinking of adding some basics on the spreadsheet:
Pushups
Situps/crunches
Pullups
Hindu Pushups are something I've been working on, (from the 300 video on craig's post a while ago).
Let me know of others you may want on the list.
I figure you can either check off the box with an X, or for those who like to see some numbers for motivation, type in a number.

Also check the Tri Calculator link on the sidebar.

Kinzua Tango

How are we looking for this? We have awhile before the signup deadline/price increase. We just haven't mentioned it in awhile and time seems to move quickly.

My air

I have the same problem as Craig, only in all three events. Today I decided I would do a "sprint" on my bike for a half hour, which is to say go as fast as I could the whole time. It was somewhat enlightening. I would say this was the most tired I have been since I started training. I did at one point pass a girl who was wearing bike shorts and had a Camelback on, so I felt like a real man at that moment (because she was obviously hardcore), but then she passed me back on the next uphill, which is where I just bog down like nobody's business. I never experienced any weakness in my legs; I just can't breate enough. I always feel like I'm dying. I did go really fast at one point, I'd say close to 40 mph, with the bike in the highest gear, and still spinning quite quickly. And this was the road bike, which has a bigger gear ratio than the mountain bike. So that was nice. If we could find an all downhill triathlon, I think I would do quite well.

Amy bought me a book for my birthday called Triathlon training in 4 hours a week, by Eric Harr. It is for newbies, and full of inspirational tales and useful info for people like us.

All I need is 4 hours a week. So simple.

Swim Class: Round 5

I found out a good part of my class is going to be in the Mooseman this year. Most are probably doing the Half Iron. So the instructor is already trying to keep the intensity of the workouts kind of low and was just trying to help people with technique as much as possible.
So I got 2 fixes tonight:
First when I was at my max rotation my kick would open up too much. So I had to focus on keeping a tighter kick.

The second one could be a huge fix. When pulling your hand out of the water, you want to lift with your elbow and let it carry your hand to about your ear. Then you start to drive your hand forward.
I was leading with my hand from the moment it cleared the water, driving it forward constantly. It makes you feel like you are working hard the entire time. When I was doing it correctly, lifting with my elbow, it was very relaxing in comparison.
It's going to take some practice, I felt like I was relaxed in the air but I couldn't turn on the power when I hit the water because I was already thinking of lifting the other side out properly.

I really don't think I can list what we did tonight. I was doing easy 50's with 10 sec breaks for quite awhile working on those two things. Longest distance of the night was a 400.

Oxygen every where but none that I can Breathe

Regardless of how often I take a breathe swimming (every stroke currently), the key to getting a breathe is to exhale while my face is in the water. Takes some getting use too. I was in college and lived around some swimmers. I went swimming with them out of season and got cramps real bad. They told me it was more like CO2 posioning rather than O2 deprivation. I still think the muscle cramps from not using it enough all the other time, but I saw on one of the links you had they mentioned this CO2 dilemna. I would suggest you work on exhaling with face in water and only inhaling with face out of water. It is hard to do both for the little time your face is out of the water. Of course I talk like I am an expert, I don't cramp as much as I use too, but I am screaming for air at times.

I ran 4 miles last night. Wanted to do it in 36 minutes, which I did. Had a little issue. I did jumping jacks to warm up then lightly jogged a quater mile. Then I started to run. I felt I was going good, but as I approached my first mile mark I was behind my 9 min/mile pace by 40 seconds. So, I punched it a little. I caught up, I hit the 2nd mile marker at 18:25. So, I continued at this pace, but had a nice down hill on the third mile. Came in @ 26:50. So, my goal was not to go to hard so I backed down. I finished 35:45. I jogged the last 15 seconds, then did a cooldown walk. I was happy with my ability to respond. I carried a stop watch to keep good track of time.

Bike tonight, but the lawn also needs done. Maybe I could call this a Brick?

swimming/breathing

I've been looking for clues as to how to improve my breathing.
Total Immersion Site
Drills
Video of above Drills
Some good stuff here too
I'm not sure I realized how much of a challenge the swim was going to be. Between fighting for air and cramping up after the 90 min swim classes, it makes me realize how far I have to go before I can do a mile swim then hop on a bike...

As for the clydesdale talk. I'm closer to 200 than 210. I'm disappointed that there is still a 2 at the front of that number to be honest. I'm not going to sweat it tho', at some point I'll string a few weeks of very controlled eating together and I'll get down to the next level. I have to say, it's tough to do when your workouts are making your body scream for carbs.

Swim feeling better

Just so my last little rant is not the prevalent post, I'm posting again.

Saw the work Matt was putting in the swim. Sounds Painful. I feel my swim is getting stronger, but I definitely am lacking motivation to push super hard in the swim. The first 100yd I feel great. Body position is strong, arm stroke feels good. Then it falls apart, not totally. But in the longer swims my form is awful after the first 100.

The pool I swim at does not have one of those handy monster clocks on the wall that you can read your lap time off. Also, I only own analog watches, which is hard enough to read when I'm running, impossible to read when swimming. I went to analog watches when I walked into a grade school and saw a digital clock on the wall. I attach this to the dumbing down of America, even though I know in reality it probably has no effect, and is a sign I am getting old and set in my ways. I always digress.

So, it makes it complicated to determine how much I am slowing down when I swim more than 100 yd. I only have an opportunity to see what my total time is. I will need to break down and buy a digital watch. I have seen a Timex iron man watch that is digital as well as analog. This would also be helpful in the run when I lose track of which minute I just passed on my analog watch.

Jumping subject somewhat, I saw that the Rocky Gap Triathlon has a Clydesdale division (210+ lbs). I think it may not be as much of a division as they award a plaque to the fasted "BIG BOY". I have not seen where they award the top three, just the first. I am still well into this category, so here is some motivation to go faster. I also am having trouble taking the weight off this year. Last year I was under 220 at the end of the summer. I then proceeded to put 10lbs on over the winter. Now I am currently maintaining 225. The only thing I can figure is that I do more swimming and weight stuff, which I hope is increasing my muscle mass. I feel good, but it would be nice to be lighter.

Interval run last night. Ran a warm up, then ran hard pace that I could maintain for 1.5 minutes. Then jog 1.5 minutes. Repeated 6 times. Then ran cool down home. Hope to do a interval once a week. Next week I plan to do 2 minutes hard with 1.5 jog. I hope to get to 3 minute hard run a week and half before Rocky Gap. We will see. This should help my run. I also will run two other times during the week, with a good hour run on the weekend.

The bike I have been trying to get on at least once a week. Next week I need to start twice a week with one being a hard 10 mile bike and the other being a 20+ mile ride.

Will let you know how the plan progresses.

Car, Kids & Wife Get in the Way!

Don't think I blame them in any way, but the family puts a crink in the training. Was doing good the week before last. Had a Brick planned for last Saturday. Long Run on Sunday. All came falling down when I was doing a brake job on the car Tuesday night (that would be May 1). Brakes/Strut job, decided to throw the strut in because I thought it would be easy. Well, the nut on the ball joint was rusted, so rather than say let's not do the strut, I broke the bolt with my 24" breaker bar. This made the car non-drivable, because at 6:30 in the evening the auto part stores don't have a ball joint for a 1992 Volvo. I rode my bike to work and home on Wednesday. Wanted to start doing this just not this soon, but Tamara needed other vehicle. Wednesday night, my father-in-law picked up ball joint for me. New problem, old Ball joint will not come loose from control arm (if you don't know what this is, trust me, big pain in the rear). So I disassembled control arm, sway bar, and other arm thingy. Still could not pound ball joint out of control arm. Soaked in what seemed to be a gallon of Kroil Oil (penetrating). Nothing got penetrated, no come loosey. Tamara gets home 8:30. Too late to take anywhere. Below is a picture. It was bound up just below the rubber seal shown here. I know you probably are not that interested, but it was my obsession for three days.
Thursday: Rode bike to work. Tamara comes to get me at noon. Brings control arm assembly because I couldn't carry the extra 20 pounds on bike. Mechanic at work helps me over his lunch break. We put it in the 20 ton press. Took 10 minutes to setup, 22 seconds to come loose, and only three tons of pressure. (I have ordered a small 6 ton press for home off of EBAY this week, this $60 may save my marriage). Took half a day off to go home, put car back together. Just in time for Maddy to get off the bus. Tamara claims I become some what obsessive about finishing jobs I started, I get some tunnel vision by not giving up and sending it to the garage. I really couldn't understand her until I saw the light at the end. I'm working on it.

Did I mention I was getting the car fixed to travel to Hinton, WV for Maddy's Academic Bowl. Well, that was what I was doing. I take car for 10 minute test drive, I shower, I pack clothes for the night, and Maddy and I drive 4 hours to Hinton. Car ran great, if it had broken down, I may have been calling someone here for a non-voluntary sabbatical from my family. Academic bowl was at a summer camp, so I spent the night on a bunk I thought was two mattresses stacked on top of each other, in the morning I would have sworn it was two box springs. I currently am making appointment with chiropractor.

Kids did great. The third and fourth (Maddy's group) grade took 1st in the scavenger hunt. They didn't place in the oral/math competition but were solidly in the middle of the pack (8 schools). End of day, we drove back home 4 hours. Got home around 9:30 PM Friday.

Woke up Saturday, finished setup for annual community yard sale. Did this from 8 - 4pm. Tamara said no food in the fridge, so we went out to dinner. Got home from dinner, I fell asleep early. Sunday went to church, then traveled to Pittsburgh to IKEA for all day shopping trip. Got home about 8 PM. Fell a sleep early again.

This was a little out of control for me over the last week. This week is a lot better. I'm glad my job was mellow. I backed off on the work outs to keep a little sanity. Planning to ramp it up. I have to get a good three weeks of work, then tapper for a week before Rocky Gap Triathlon.

I hope you all are living a stress free, probably not possible, so living with stresses you can handle. I know I went on a little, but it is very therapeutic to write about it. Thanks.

Swim Class: Round 4

6x100 Baton Drill
8x 25 kickboard. 30 sec break in between
6x100 Races
2x200 with paddles, heck of a workout for the shoulders
20x 25 as few breaths possible on odd, fast as possible on even, starting every 45 sec
1x 150 cooldown

The 6x100 races I think my best time was 2:00 and fatigued was 2:12.
As I fatigue I don't pivot as well at the hips, which then puts me more into Craig's drill of no body twist and just "plowing" through the water.
I'm not sure how to work on that other than working on endurance, I'll ask the coach next time around. If I were to guess, I'd say the answer is core strength/abs to carry that pivot from hips to shoulders.

Only one massive Hamstring cramp as I was getting out of the pool. Had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to get rid of that. Which made me think about the swim/bike transition. I seem to have issues leaving the pool after 90 minutes. I'll have to try some 40 minute swim to beach transitions this summer at the lake and see how it goes.

Chiropractor

Finally got there. He confirmed the hip flexor issue. The more interesting adjustment he found was actually my ankle on that same leg. Basically it was jammed and not allowing full range of motion. Which could have actually been the cause of my problem to begin with.
One quick adjustment and now I don't feel like I'm walking short on my right side. Wish I would have gone to him sooner.
Of course I got all the other tune up stuff done as well. Neck, shoulders, back.... I'm just writing this because I know Eric will be jealous. Ha!

Anyhow, tonight is swimming but I'm looking forward to a run on Wednesday night to test out the adjustment.

Swim Class: Round 3

First A Link
The Goal

I think I've lost track of the fact that you are looking to have a low stroke count. I'm probably sprinting in an sad attempt to try and keep up with the class. So my stroke count is somewhere around 24 or more, depending how fatigued I am. (for 25yd).
Later this week I'll try to see if I can slow my pace down and have a better chance at swimming longer distances. My previous attempts to slow down has made me feel like I start to sink.... so there that to contend with as well.

Class was cut short tonight due to extreme lightning. Of course we were all wondering if that's necessary in an indoor pool.
Indoor Pool Safety

Well tonight we started with 6 100's. Drilling high elbows with fingertip drags as we swam away 25, then strong regular swim back.

After that we went into "how many laps can you do in 30 minutes?" Once again, I'm struggling with thinking on everything else. So I figured I'd just count how often the other guy in my lane lapped me. He finished 250 more yards than I did. Which put me at 1500 yards if his count was correct.
I'm guessing he was a bit on the high side because I'm not sure I could have possibly maintained 50yds per minute for 30 minutes. I was happy that I never stopped the entire 30 min. Which was accomplished by being much less concerned with speed and just getting the flow going.

Then big lightning storm came along and they pulled us out.