Saturday, January 31, 2009
Milwaukee MultiSports Expo
I visited the Multisport expo here in Milwaukee today. For the most part is was a bunch of store stands, but I was able to take a few things away from the day. First, I was able to sign up for the Wisconsin Tri Team. I went for a ride with some of the team late last season. They seemed intense and pretty good, which I like. Hopefully, it will turn out to be a really good group to ride and train with. Second, I was able to talk with the organizers of the MSE Winter Triathlon Camp. I am excited to have participate in the weekend training event, and I signed up today. Third and best of all, I was able to ride around on the Trek Equinox 9.9 SSL. It was awesome and I think will have to be an early season purchase!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday Workouts
I think Friday workouts are the hardest to be motivated for once you have started to workout. Often times I'll get bored more quickly during a Friday workout because I realize that I dont really want to be there. However, its also during these workouts that I can really show to myself what level of commitment I really have to getting to that Iron Man.
My Lunch Time workout consisted of Week 1 Day 3 of the Power Thrash workout (Upright Rows, Curls, Incline Bench, Overhead Tris, and Pull Ups (I did pull downs)).
Post work, I had signed up for the 5:00-6:15pm Spin class with Michelle. She is good about teaching some technique during her class but I am often left to motivate myself. Also, music is a little to mellow for me so I have to put one earphone in and listen to my own iPod.
My Lunch Time workout consisted of Week 1 Day 3 of the Power Thrash workout (Upright Rows, Curls, Incline Bench, Overhead Tris, and Pull Ups (I did pull downs)).
Post work, I had signed up for the 5:00-6:15pm Spin class with Michelle. She is good about teaching some technique during her class but I am often left to motivate myself. Also, music is a little to mellow for me so I have to put one earphone in and listen to my own iPod.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
My Favorite Swim Drills
I wanted to save some of my favorite swimming drills somewhere, so I thought "why not a blog post?"
Top Winter Drills
Count your strokes: Work on increasing the distance covered per stroke to improve your feel for the water and your strength and stroke efficiency. Take as few strokes as possible from wall to wall and try to elongate each one. Last Time I checked my stroke count I was around 15 That being said its been a while since I have focused on this aspect of my technique.
Golf drill: This is a fun drill to do with stroke count and speed. Count the number of strokes you take over 50 meters and add that number to your 50-meter split time. Now, as in golf, try to decrease your score by either swimming faster or taking fewer strokes. I've never done this one but it sounds like an awesome way to balance stroke count with speed!!
Rotate to breathe: Place a tennis ball under your chin. Swim freestyle, but as you turn to breathe, keep your head down and try not to let the tennis ball pop up. This drill is difficult, but is very helpful for emphasizing proper rotation and breathing technique. Keeping your head down in order to keep the tennis ball in place emphasizes proper head positioning, particularly in the breathing phase of the stroke.
Head and neck alignment has been a huge issue for me in the past. Sounds like an awesome way to train my head to stay in the correct alignment!!!
Some others are: finger drag, catch up, one arm side stroke, and one arm in front kicking.
Top Winter Drills
Count your strokes: Work on increasing the distance covered per stroke to improve your feel for the water and your strength and stroke efficiency. Take as few strokes as possible from wall to wall and try to elongate each one. Last Time I checked my stroke count I was around 15 That being said its been a while since I have focused on this aspect of my technique.
Golf drill: This is a fun drill to do with stroke count and speed. Count the number of strokes you take over 50 meters and add that number to your 50-meter split time. Now, as in golf, try to decrease your score by either swimming faster or taking fewer strokes. I've never done this one but it sounds like an awesome way to balance stroke count with speed!!
Rotate to breathe: Place a tennis ball under your chin. Swim freestyle, but as you turn to breathe, keep your head down and try not to let the tennis ball pop up. This drill is difficult, but is very helpful for emphasizing proper rotation and breathing technique. Keeping your head down in order to keep the tennis ball in place emphasizes proper head positioning, particularly in the breathing phase of the stroke.
Head and neck alignment has been a huge issue for me in the past. Sounds like an awesome way to train my head to stay in the correct alignment!!!
Some others are: finger drag, catch up, one arm side stroke, and one arm in front kicking.
The First Week
I have been tracking my training for a little over a week now. It has been, all things considered, an inspiring start. I missed my workouts this past weekend. I think that weekend workouts are going to be tough to hit all the time, but it was really depressing to leave them unfilled in on my workout tracker. I am definitely going to be making an effort to hit these workouts.
Cycling: My cycling workouts have been entirely in the spinning room. Mondays prove to be great days. I spin 2 hours, the second hour is Joanie's spin class and she is really able to push the class harder than any of the other spin instructors. Ive also begun regularly spinning on Fridays with Michelle who subbed in on a Monday. She is pretty good at motivating the class as well. I am looking forward to getting back on a bike outside, but Milwaukee weather wont allow that for a few months
.
Running: Its still the single worst part of triathlon training, but the treadmill is becoming easier. I have a lot of work ahead of me on the run but I am very pleased with my starting point. This time last year I couldn't complete a full mile. Im already up to 5.5 mile runs at 9 mins per mile. Pace is something Im learning. I had hoped to use Nike + technology to help with this but I don't have the correct iPod for it which was a huge bummer. Also, my heart rate monitor watch has died on me. I will be taking it for a new battery and hope that that will fix the problem.
Swimming: I enjoy swimming, but the crowded pool is becoming an issue. I am going to try to move these workouts to the weekends and go during off hours. Hopefully this will help. I have been swimming about 1500yards each time with another 500-1000 in swim drills. More details to follow.
Well thats it for this first post. I will be trying to do more regular and concise posts from now on. We'll see how that works out.
Cycling: My cycling workouts have been entirely in the spinning room. Mondays prove to be great days. I spin 2 hours, the second hour is Joanie's spin class and she is really able to push the class harder than any of the other spin instructors. Ive also begun regularly spinning on Fridays with Michelle who subbed in on a Monday. She is pretty good at motivating the class as well. I am looking forward to getting back on a bike outside, but Milwaukee weather wont allow that for a few months
.Running: Its still the single worst part of triathlon training, but the treadmill is becoming easier. I have a lot of work ahead of me on the run but I am very pleased with my starting point. This time last year I couldn't complete a full mile. Im already up to 5.5 mile runs at 9 mins per mile. Pace is something Im learning. I had hoped to use Nike + technology to help with this but I don't have the correct iPod for it which was a huge bummer. Also, my heart rate monitor watch has died on me. I will be taking it for a new battery and hope that that will fix the problem.
Swimming: I enjoy swimming, but the crowded pool is becoming an issue. I am going to try to move these workouts to the weekends and go during off hours. Hopefully this will help. I have been swimming about 1500yards each time with another 500-1000 in swim drills. More details to follow.
Well thats it for this first post. I will be trying to do more regular and concise posts from now on. We'll see how that works out.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Let the Journey Begin
After a few months of debate and mental ramp up time, I can now definitively say that I am training for an IronMan race. I am targeting the Florida Iron Man November 7th 2009.
My past race experience has been both sparse and at an introductory level. This year, I plan to build a season schedule to match my long term goals and training plan. I will be posting that initial schedule of events soon. The longest race I have participated in was a 70.3 as a relay team. I have raced one International Race Solo, and multiple sprints. Needless to say I will be needing support and focus if I am to make a successful season out of 2009.
Let the Training Begin!
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