Catherine Juon 2017 Micro Thread...

Coach Patrick

Let's get to talking strength and planning for 2017!!!!  

Great call yesterday...thanks for the chat!

~ Coach P

Catherine Juon

Thanks! I just finished up my Macro Thread post, here: http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/20070/Default.aspx#239299. Next up, to add to this thread. :-)

Catherine Juon

Ok, on the strength that you've graciously offered to incorporate, here's the scoop. There are 2 aspects of it. First is the running-specific strength... From what I can tell, Coach Jay Johnson has recently tweaked his previous 8 week general progression to simpler Phase 1 / Phase 2 "SAM" (Strength and Mobility) sessions, 1 set for the easy run days, and 1 set for the hard run days (SAM is done right after the run), plus daily Active Isolated Flexibility which I have only begun to play with - I feel like I cover some of that already with yoga. Videos and PDFs of the SAM routine are here (plus the warm up routine of his I've been using) http://simplemarathontraining.com/freetraining/

Then on Sundays I've been doing weights w/my 18 y/o. This got started b/c he wanted me to teach him how to do weights, and I barely know enough about weight lifting to do my own let alone teach, so we signed up with a trainer at our club. I'm mostly there to support Phillip, and hopefully helping my triathlon strength -- I told him in particular that I want to work on swim strength... That's because of the last swim workout with my coach before she was killed in a bicycle accident this summer, where she looked at me with sad puppy dog eyes and observed I swim with no power, probably because I didn't have enough muscle. She was never one to sugar coat things. ;-) I sure feel stronger in the water now, so we'll see what happens when I start testing in the Jan OS! Our Sunday weight routine is below, and I'm sure Jermaine, our strength trainer is open to suggestions... (I gave you access to the plan at Patrick@EnduranceNation.us; LMK if you have an alternate Gmail account you prefer.)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l0IolDeqFWmpJ7ZOAWW6zkuwTryIeEXyqXj1nwXIIGQ/edit#gid=1796355332

On weeks when we can't make it to the gym (and before we started with the trainer) I do P90x. Again, I picked an emphasis on Chest & Back, figuring that my regular typing routine doesn't build much upper body strength. If I can get to the point where kiddo does training on his own, I'd likely go back to P90x as the "admin time" is much less to turn on the DVD player at home than drive back & forth to the gym. I always tack on the Ab Ripper X section at the end, too--I feel like building actual core strength has made a big difference in both swimming and running.

Hope that helps! LMK if you have any questions, etc. Thanks!

Coach Patrick

Catherine, thanks for this. It's really great to see what the actual work is that you are doing..thank you for sharing!

So, the pre-run stuff you are doing I would file under "dynamic warmup" vs strength. It's hard to call 10 clamshells a strength session. That said, I fully endorse it (we have one inside the Team here as well: http://bit.ly/1lDeQMq

The other work you are doing with Jermaine on Sundays is strength (my gmail is patrick.mccrann@gmail.com) and good work. P90X is a simple solution and agree Chest and Back is a nice complement for your aerobic lifestyle. Note -- I also like TRX for functional body-weight related work (for those of you reading not on the P90X train).

As for swimming and swim strength, my personal bias is that we are all strong enough to move our own bodies. I think the addition of weight will give you more balance in your water (upper vs lower body) and potentially more muscular awareness -- but it won't improve your technique by any means. And improved technique is the end goal.

Long story short...I am okay with weights now in the OS, but i'd like to see that transition to swim cords as a dynamic pre-swim warm up as we move closer to your actual season.

All of that said, I don't see a Triathlon Season RoadMap™ for you so I can't really advise on how to adjust your current training. Let me know what's up with your year and we'll go from there!!!

~ Coach P

Catherine Juon

• Spreadsheet shared to your personal email 
• RoadMap was just completed 
• Agreed that pre-run stuff isn't strength per se, it's the post run... 
• Bought P90x before I knew TRX existed; have tried it at the gym since and it's fun--just not adding to gear at home right now (at least not that kind of gear--just ordered Icebug shoes for winter running; fingers crossed they do the trick!) 
• Happy to transition out of weights in season, assuming my boys are comfortable on their own by then 
• +1 for swim technique; what's the secret? ;-)

Happy holidays!

Coach Patrick

All good!!! What's your current 100 yd swim time and what's your 100 free with a pull buoy swim time?

Catherine Juon

Good question! I'm headed to farm country first thing in the morning, so no pools close for the next week. Will report back after I return!

Catherine Juon

P.S. Got kiddo #2 + best friend to the trainer for the first time yesterday, and they're both limping around today. ;-) This is HUGE because these are 2 kids that struggle with so many things and need a place IRL (in real life) to feel successful. They're already both asking to go back, so I think this means odds are good I can get the 3 guys into the session with the trainer and work myself out of the training buddy job. One would think teenage boys wouldn't be so keen to hang out with their mom at the gym, though it has been fun to watch the progression! :-)

Team Endurance Nation

That's awesome. Forget fitness for a bit....you are just being a great parent. I loved weightlifting as a teen...it was great to see the numbers go up as I got better!

HNY!

~ Coach P

Catherine Juon

Ok! Did the swim test, and the verdict is, in the 2:20s for 100, with or without the pull buoy: https://www.strava.com/activities/822649117. 

On the 50s, I did one arm drills for 25 w/normal swim back... I suspect the 10 sec. slower times are the left arm drills. :-/

On the 100s, it took me awhile to find my rhythm... I just kept alternating 100s with and without the pull buoy instead of doing 200s that were in the workout Rx for testing purposes. Sets get faster toward the end because I finally remembered to work on my turnover, even though I was pooped by that point. There's probably a few seconds lost to starting and stopping the watch for each set cause I'm not used to doing that... My hubby swears he's seen me swim faster than the Garmin is claiming, but I think he's being nice. As a real swimmer, even my 2:23s sound ungodly slow to him. ;-)

 

Coach Patrick

CJ - well, that's why we test! If you're slower than two minutes per 100, then there is absolutely a problem the positioning of your body in the water. The next time you have your husband at the pool would it be possible for him to use the iPhone and get the video in landscape mode for us? I'd love to see aside of you swimming as well as you swimming directly towards the camera.

You do need to work on your propulsion, don't get me wrong. But the present time from the date it looks like you're driving a barge through the water instead of a boat.

Sound good?

~ Coach P

Catherine Juon

A barge, eh? Thanks, Coach. ;-) Will get the videos at next Thursday's swim. Tx!

Coach Patrick

Ooohhh. Yeah that wasn't so cool. I've actually just gotten off the phone with the CEO of VASA and he was using that term to explain it to me. And with my current body composition, I thinkThe description of the barges very appropriate. My apologies for getting too enthusiastic with my adjectives.

Please give me the appropriate waterborne vehicle I can use to refer to you:

+ kayak
+ canoe
+ skiff
+ sloop
+ powerboat


HAHHAHAHAAAA... Standing by for your video!