@Paul and John - Thanks for the feedback. I'm in. I'll do the 2-1/2 hour test this Thursday and then I'll get the results back the following week. With that said, I'll do today's ride later this afternoon after I shovel AGAIN and break up an ice damn that has caused a roof leak. Then tomorrow, instead of running, I'll do an easy swim to save my legs for the Thursday morning test (which will be a run test). I'll do Thursday's bike work that evening if time/energy permits.
I'll keep everyone posted about the process and results.
I am starting my third straight day off. Been getting some stuff done around the house and just chillin'. Mentally, I need it. Last weekend was a whirlwind including 13 hours in the car driving to and from SoCal so nice to just hang. Will bike tomorrow and then run over the weekend when we are up at Lake Tahoe. Altitude training. :-)
Today was my LT and VO2 Max test at the university of Colorado sports medicine center. Let me start by saying...Holy Crap it was a hard a$$ test. 2 hours in total time. You had your choice of tests (bike or run). I went with a running test. First up LT. They had me warm up for approximately 15 minutes with a couple of blood draws to verify my lactate levels were low enough. Once that was established, they had me running 4 min intervals at 1 degree incline with each interval getting progressively faster. At the conclusion of each interval I would step off for a quick finger prick and blood draw. This continued until they had a sustained level of lactate in the blood. Once that was established, I stopped and started cooling down with blood draws every 2 minutes to see how fast I cleared the lactate out of my system.
Upon completion of the LT test I was given a pee break (drank a lot of water) and then it was time to get fitted for the VO2 test. As I'm sure you've all seen pictures, they put a snorkeling like apparatus in your mouth, plug your nose and get you warmed up again on the treadmill. This test consisted of a warmup (5min) and then 1 minute intervals where you run at a pace just below LT and they increase the incline 2 degrees every minute. It was during the 9 degree sprint that I stopped. I might have left a little bit left in the tank, but not much.
When alll was said and done, all I wanted to do was lay down in the fetal position ad cry . My legs where so freakin shelled, I could barely stand up. I'm supposed to get all the results within the next couple of days. I'll post them when I get them.
Overall, the experience was extremely interesting. I asked a ton of questions and by and large, they were very impressed with the quality of the EN workouts. Not that I needed any convincing.
I'll be back on schedule starting Sunday. Heading to the mountains for the weekend.
I was a bad boy this morning. 5200m SCM swim that had everything in it from mixed stroke, IM stuff to fast 100s and 50s, 200s pull and 250s mixed. I clocked in fastest 100s to date. 100s were @1:40, clocked in some at 1:12, that is about 1:05 SCY. I guess bike and run OS works for swimming too. Just joking. I have not touched VO2max work in the water yet, threshold yes and longer sets yes, but where is this speed coming from, no clue. I do a lot of fly, bk, br and IM work, maybe from there.
Just joining all the folks in running jail- Linda, Nemo, Tracy- although I realize some of you are looking to get out.
Not sure what I did. Something on the top of my foot. Started 2 weeks ago and was just annoying, but after my snowshoe run/walk, it became down right painful. So this is a self-imposed stand down. It is much better overall, but I don't want to aggravate it. To that end, I am on the bike every day, doing something, not intervals, usually 70-80%.
I'll check in here and get guidance from all you folks.
Here is a new one. Today, swim 3850 Vo2max set combined with the bike though scaled back to 2x10min(3min). Situation required it, had to do it.
There was some very fast swimming here. Bike was done on the spin bike, no idea on the accuracy of the work, HR was a few beats lower than usual, RPE was on, pretty hard.
Swim 3850 in 1:03, bike 45min total. Now, caught up with everything. Will see what tomorrow brings.
Just wanted to check in with the Haus after a few weeks of being out...last half of week 6 was spent snowboarding in Steamboat, CO and the first half of week 7 was spent nursing the head cold from traveling. One Z-pack later and a few miserable sweat it out jogging sessions, I am back...Yeah, the snowboarding was EPIC!!! I got in some decent work this weekend and even inserted a short swim. But now onto a testing week a little under prepared. I am inserting a Kool Aid IV today surfing the forums instead of working so I will have my head in the right place...we'll see how it goes. Have a great week everyone. Chap.
I went seriously rogue last week as well. Joe and I did a canoe/camping trip in the Everglades. 35 miles of paddling in total- just awesome. Shoulda been doing some swimming to prep for all that shoulder work, but it all worked out OK. We then spent several days with my folks in the Clearwater area and I ditched my morning run in favor of a brisk walk with my mom (and dad, but he usually fell off after a mile or so- can't quite keep up with mom). Might not have racked up many TSS points last week, but the HF (Happiness Factor) was off the charts. I stayed clear of email, facebook, and EN all week as well, so it was a little mini E-Vacation as well. Much needed on all fronts!
Back to the grind this week. I guess I need to put air in the tires huh?
Recovering from eye surgery for another week. It was done on 2/23. Haven't said much about it b/c it's long, complicated, and boring. This surgery may or may not be the last.
Went in for a regular eye exam, next thing you know I am diagnosed with a very rare eye syndrome causing high presure that will lead to severe vision loss, if not total blindness, in my R eye if I don't get it fixed. Strikes all ages. Meds aren't working, so I have to go the surgical route. The proedure was minimally invasive, but if it fails ( very high likelihood with this condition) then I have to have a tube shunt installed. That will be big-time, very long recovery . Crossing that bridge only if I have to.
So I'm lurking, reading, and enjoying the adventures. I can get back to light workouts after next Monday. I'm bored, and since I'm not hurt or feel sick it's weird to do nothing physical every day. I can't lift anything over ~8 pounds, and I have to keep things to a minimum to not raise the inter-ocular pressure. Not working out, AND I can't do things like clean out closets! Have to limit computer time, so work is on the back burner too. I am B O R E D!
Hey Chris- any chance of you doing Jeff Cup this year? Registration opens tomorrow. Toying with the idea of doing it- I'll get chewed up and spit out by those roadie chicks, but it might be fun in a twisted sorta way.
Linda, I had seen your post of F.B. about eye surgery, but didn't realize what you had going on! Big hugs to you, and prayers for a speedy, complete, recovery! You Rock, Sista!
Today, AM short swim 3000 SCM, PM 5mi@EP. Feeling much better. Common, I wanna see some posting here. I know someone is doing something, let it appear here.
@Barbara, great job. I knew at least someone was doing something.
Something strange is going on. I am cramping quite frequently for the last few days, after workouts mostly. I am hydrating, using electrolytes and everything else I should be doing, but my body is feeling strange.
This morning, my ego got in the way. I have not had a good FTP workout since the test and I was set out to do 2x20min to redeem myself for the Saturday meltdown. It did not go as well as I wanted, but I will take it. I cracked in the second interval holding IF .97 at min 16, did brake it up after and finished, but I was digging deep. I am not feeling as strong as I was in week 8, even though I have had more brakes for recovery and volume has been lower overall.
Still was an ok ride with IF .89 for 60min, 40min of FTP work. I will rejoin the OS week 10 now and continue, hoping mostly outside. I maybe trainer saturated.
Aleksandar- that ego can be a difficult thing to deal with. I think I blew my whole OS last year 'cause my ego got in the way of accepting what my FTP really was (vs what I wanted it to be).
I'm still rogue over here. Swam on Monday- did the 1000TT, surprisingly not as horrible as I thought it would be. I wanted to save my ride for a warmer, less windy day (tomorrow) so I could test out my TT bike. If things go well I may drop into a Time Trial this weekend- we'll see. Anyway, I opted to run this morning instead and am happy to report I'm up to 40 minutes of steady eazy running now with no walk breaks and no calf pain. I'm feeling good about being able to do the Half Mary next month after all (but don't tell that to my calf!) I wont be running for a PR or anything, but it will be nice to be participating again.
I'm pretty sure I would be classified as "Rogue" and I don't really know where to look or check in on the forums anymore (or the dashboard which I never looked at until this morning after watching Ps video. so...
I think I'll just join you guys :-)
I've got 4 weeks until Oceanside 70.3 and haven't been on a bike outside since Oct 9th. I'm also pretty sure that I have run outside less then 5 times since Dec 1st. At this point I'm thinking I will just have my first outside ride / run be at the race and see what happens. It's a C or lower priority race so I figure why not. I'm only doing it to test my ability to race earlier in the year on inside training (because I want to do St. George) and because I'm going to be at the race anyway and I suck at being a spectator (my wife is soooo much better at that).
@LP - so sorry to hear. Being bored and not able to do anything is the worse thing for use type-a people. I'm wishing the best for your eye.
@Aleksandar and Barbara - I've been swimming masters for a few months now and love it. I still hate swimming but love masters if that makes any sense. I'm actually doing a swim meet this weekend, 500 Free and 200 Free, I figure as long as I keep my goggles on and don't belly flop it will be a success and it will be a PR even if I screw up.
Matt- that's exciting! looking forward to hearing how it turns out for you! Diving off those starting blocks is always a little nerve wrecking, the fear of loosing your goggles is real!
2. After you push off the block, during the flight phase, make sure you form the streamline, very tight with your arms, tucking your head down. The inner side of your biceps should put pressure on the side of your head where the rubber strings are, keeping them tight in place. Look straight down, don't raise your head up, allow hands to contact the water first, still keep your head tucked in and your goggles will stay, promise.
3. After the initial shock that the goggles are still on, dolphin kick yourself to your first stroke, turbo on and you just bought yourself 4 sec. That first 50, if the start is good is going to be about 4sec faster than your second 50..........
Shocked that the goggles are still on, you will be on the way to your PR swim.
We are glad to have you here. I am sure the Oceanside will be good to you.
@Nemo, thanks for understanding. Will see if I can crawl myself back to my FTP of 277W that I tested in week 8. For now, it appears that I have dropped as I attempted now twice to hold something close and it did not go quite well.
thanks for the tips. While it is not pretty my starts are actually becoming decent after only working on them for about 2 weeks. In otherwords, I usually keep my goggles on and I usually do not slap the water. My issue is more of sometimes I go really deep, or my stream line is not tight and an arm goes out to the side as soon as I hit the water.
I'll definitely focus on getting the streamline tight in the air before hitting the water tonight at practice.
Cleared to get back to my normal life! Hallelujah. All that sitting around doing nothing was terrible. I wasn't sick, didn't have an injury or anything that forced me to be immobile, I just could not raise the inter-ocular pressure in my eye. I'm in the honeymoon phase with this procedure--it worked, but it often fails later on. There is still so much more to be revealed with this mess that I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Ohmmmm.....neutral.
Started back with my functional strength work yesterday, and got back on the trainer and into the pool today. Did 2 x 9 and nearly died on both. 13 days off from training, and what a slide backwards. I was handling 2 x 15, 2 x 20 just a few short weeks ago. I'll get it back.
Started slow in the pool today too. Went to masters and got out at 1500--will swim and bike again tomorrow. Slow and steady goes the build up. Man, I have had more comebacks than Cher.
Dear Peeps, I'm still in the OS and I have... sinned...again. This Sunday I rode 115 miles. In two weeks I'll take that to 125-130. That's because I want to do the Cross Florida ride on April 3 which goes from Cocoa Beach to Weeki Wachi...170 miles starting at sun-up and finishing before sunset. Shouldn't be a problem if there is a nice riding group.
Dear Peeps, I'm still in the OS and I have... sinned...again. This Sunday I rode 115 miles. In two weeks I'll take that to 125-130. That's because I want to do the Cross Florida ride on April 3 which goes from Cocoa Beach to Weeki Wachi...170 miles starting at sun-up and finishing before sunset. Shouldn't be a problem if there is a nice riding group.
AM 4600 SCM workout done. Started rough but late in the set toward the end 4x400@6:00 pulled with paddles without straining much and clocking in sub 5:30s, than onto some IM transition work ,that came out good, 25s fly in about 16sec steady not out of breath, wow, totally different from how it started. I thought to myself, I better drown now and end the agony somewhere after the warm up and 2000 into it.
@ Aleksandar - that's some serious swimming although I have no idea what a SCM workout is. I attempt a butterfly every now and then; and when I'm done gasping and my coach is done laughing - she always tells me that my hips are fixed instead of moving up and down.
@Paul, thanks, SCM stands for Short Course Meters, you can also have SCY Short Course Yards or LCM Long Course Meters.
SCM times are roughly 10% slower than SCY due to meter being longer than yard, so USA Swimming issues time standards based on the pool you compete in to account for difference in length and in case of LCM twice less number of turns. I am a lousy swimmer when compared to real swimmers but I buy myself 2-3sec per 100 off the wall, I can turn for sure.
Look up goswim.tv, look for body dolphin drill, nail that one and fly will become much easier. That is only if you have the time and will to do it.
Comments
I'll keep everyone posted about the process and results.
Aaron
Chap - Have fun.
Aaron - Let us know hoe it goes.
I am starting my third straight day off. Been getting some stuff done around the house and just chillin'. Mentally, I need it. Last weekend was a whirlwind including 13 hours in the car driving to and from SoCal so nice to just hang. Will bike tomorrow and then run over the weekend when we are up at Lake Tahoe. Altitude training. :-)
That sounds fun, John! Will you be altitude training on skis?
Today was my LT and VO2 Max test at the university of Colorado sports medicine center. Let me start by saying...Holy Crap it was a hard a$$ test. 2 hours in total time. You had your choice of tests (bike or run). I went with a running test. First up LT. They had me warm up for approximately 15 minutes with a couple of blood draws to verify my lactate levels were low enough. Once that was established, they had me running 4 min intervals at 1 degree incline with each interval getting progressively faster. At the conclusion of each interval I would step off for a quick finger prick and blood draw. This continued until they had a sustained level of lactate in the blood. Once that was established, I stopped and started cooling down with blood draws every 2 minutes to see how fast I cleared the lactate out of my system.
. My legs where so freakin shelled, I could barely stand up. I'm supposed to get all the results within the next couple of days. I'll post them when I get them.
Upon completion of the LT test I was given a pee break (drank a lot of water) and then it was time to get fitted for the VO2 test. As I'm sure you've all seen pictures, they put a snorkeling like apparatus in your mouth, plug your nose and get you warmed up again on the treadmill. This test consisted of a warmup (5min) and then 1 minute intervals where you run at a pace just below LT and they increase the incline 2 degrees every minute. It was during the 9 degree sprint that I stopped. I might have left a little bit left in the tank, but not much.
When alll was said and done, all I wanted to do was lay down in the fetal position ad cry
Overall, the experience was extremely interesting. I asked a ton of questions and by and large, they were very impressed with the quality of the EN workouts
I'll be back on schedule starting Sunday. Heading to the mountains for the weekend.
@Aaron, post results when you get them.
I was a bad boy this morning. 5200m SCM swim that had everything in it from mixed stroke, IM stuff to fast 100s and 50s, 200s pull and 250s mixed. I clocked in fastest 100s to date. 100s were @1:40, clocked in some at 1:12, that is about 1:05 SCY. I guess bike and run OS works for swimming too. Just joking. I have not touched VO2max work in the water yet, threshold yes and longer sets yes, but where is this speed coming from, no clue. I do a lot of fly, bk, br and IM work, maybe from there.
Enjoy you day off folks, see you tomorrow.
Not sure what I did. Something on the top of my foot. Started 2 weeks ago and was just annoying, but after my snowshoe run/walk, it became down right painful. So this is a self-imposed stand down. It is much better overall, but I don't want to aggravate it. To that end, I am on the bike every day, doing something, not intervals, usually 70-80%.
I'll check in here and get guidance from all you folks.
Here is a new one. Today, swim 3850 Vo2max set combined with the bike though scaled back to 2x10min(3min). Situation required it, had to do it.
There was some very fast swimming here. Bike was done on the spin bike, no idea on the accuracy of the work, HR was a few beats lower than usual, RPE was on, pretty hard.
Swim 3850 in 1:03, bike 45min total. Now, caught up with everything. Will see what tomorrow brings.
I went seriously rogue last week as well. Joe and I did a canoe/camping trip in the Everglades. 35 miles of paddling in total- just awesome. Shoulda been doing some swimming to prep for all that shoulder work, but it all worked out OK. We then spent several days with my folks in the Clearwater area and I ditched my morning run in favor of a brisk walk with my mom (and dad, but he usually fell off after a mile or so- can't quite keep up with mom). Might not have racked up many TSS points last week, but the HF (Happiness Factor) was off the charts. I stayed clear of email, facebook, and EN all week as well, so it was a little mini E-Vacation as well. Much needed on all fronts!
Back to the grind this week. I guess I need to put air in the tires huh?
Hi All!
Recovering from eye surgery for another week. It was done on 2/23. Haven't said much about it b/c it's long, complicated, and boring. This surgery may or may not be the last.
Went in for a regular eye exam, next thing you know I am diagnosed with a very rare eye syndrome causing high presure that will lead to severe vision loss, if not total blindness, in my R eye if I don't get it fixed. Strikes all ages. Meds aren't working, so I have to go the surgical route. The proedure was minimally invasive, but if it fails ( very high likelihood with this condition) then I have to have a tube shunt installed. That will be big-time, very long recovery . Crossing that bridge only if I have to.
So I'm lurking, reading, and enjoying the adventures. I can get back to light workouts after next Monday. I'm bored, and since I'm not hurt or feel sick it's weird to do nothing physical every day. I can't lift anything over ~8 pounds, and I have to keep things to a minimum to not raise the inter-ocular pressure. Not working out, AND I can't do things like clean out closets! Have to limit computer time, so work is on the back burner too. I am B O R E D!
Keep hammering, y'all! I'm watching!!!
I hope you're lurking and watching with 2 perfect eyes. Recover well, and a big ole WOO HOO to the BC swimmer(s)!!
cm
Linda, I had seen your post of F.B. about eye surgery, but didn't realize what you had going on! Big hugs to you, and prayers for a speedy, complete, recovery! You Rock, Sista!
Today, AM short swim 3000 SCM, PM 5mi@EP. Feeling much better. Common, I wanna see some posting here. I know someone is doing something, let it appear here.
@Barbara, great job. I knew at least someone was doing something.
Something strange is going on. I am cramping quite frequently for the last few days, after workouts mostly. I am hydrating, using electrolytes and everything else I should be doing, but my body is feeling strange.
This morning, my ego got in the way. I have not had a good FTP workout since the test and I was set out to do 2x20min to redeem myself for the Saturday meltdown. It did not go as well as I wanted, but I will take it. I cracked in the second interval holding IF .97 at min 16, did brake it up after and finished, but I was digging deep. I am not feeling as strong as I was in week 8, even though I have had more brakes for recovery and volume has been lower overall.
Still was an ok ride with IF .89 for 60min, 40min of FTP work. I will rejoin the OS week 10 now and continue, hoping mostly outside. I maybe trainer saturated.
I'm still rogue over here. Swam on Monday- did the 1000TT, surprisingly not as horrible as I thought it would be. I wanted to save my ride for a warmer, less windy day (tomorrow) so I could test out my TT bike. If things go well I may drop into a Time Trial this weekend- we'll see. Anyway, I opted to run this morning instead and am happy to report I'm up to 40 minutes of steady eazy running now with no walk breaks and no calf pain. I'm feeling good about being able to do the Half Mary next month after all (but don't tell that to my calf!) I wont be running for a PR or anything, but it will be nice to be participating again.
I think I'll just join you guys :-)
I've got 4 weeks until Oceanside 70.3 and haven't been on a bike outside since Oct 9th. I'm also pretty sure that I have run outside less then 5 times since Dec 1st. At this point I'm thinking I will just have my first outside ride / run be at the race and see what happens. It's a C or lower priority race so I figure why not. I'm only doing it to test my ability to race earlier in the year on inside training (because I want to do St. George) and because I'm going to be at the race anyway and I suck at being a spectator (my wife is soooo much better at that).
@LP - so sorry to hear. Being bored and not able to do anything is the worse thing for use type-a people. I'm wishing the best for your eye.
@Aleksandar and Barbara - I've been swimming masters for a few months now and love it. I still hate swimming but love masters if that makes any sense. I'm actually doing a swim meet this weekend, 500 Free and 200 Free, I figure as long as I keep my goggles on and don't belly flop it will be a success and it will be a PR even if I screw up.
@Matt, take it from the swim coach:
1. Put your goggles first, than cap over it.
2. After you push off the block, during the flight phase, make sure you form the streamline, very tight with your arms, tucking your head down. The inner side of your biceps should put pressure on the side of your head where the rubber strings are, keeping them tight in place. Look straight down, don't raise your head up, allow hands to contact the water first, still keep your head tucked in and your goggles will stay, promise.
3. After the initial shock that the goggles are still on, dolphin kick yourself to your first stroke, turbo on and you just bought yourself 4 sec. That first 50, if the start is good is going to be about 4sec faster than your second 50..........
Shocked that the goggles are still on, you will be on the way to your PR swim.
We are glad to have you here. I am sure the Oceanside will be good to you.
@Nemo, thanks for understanding. Will see if I can crawl myself back to my FTP of 277W that I tested in week 8. For now, it appears that I have dropped as I attempted now twice to hold something close and it did not go quite well.
I'll definitely focus on getting the streamline tight in the air before hitting the water tonight at practice.
Cleared to get back to my normal life! Hallelujah. All that sitting around doing nothing was terrible. I wasn't sick, didn't have an injury or anything that forced me to be immobile, I just could not raise the inter-ocular pressure in my eye. I'm in the honeymoon phase with this procedure--it worked, but it often fails later on. There is still so much more to be revealed with this mess that I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Ohmmmm.....neutral.
Started back with my functional strength work yesterday, and got back on the trainer and into the pool today. Did 2 x 9 and nearly died on both. 13 days off from training, and what a slide backwards. I was handling 2 x 15, 2 x 20 just a few short weeks ago. I'll get it back.
Started slow in the pool today too. Went to masters and got out at 1500--will swim and bike again tomorrow. Slow and steady goes the build up. Man, I have had more comebacks than Cher.
Linda, glad to have you back. Time to climb back up.
EN needs an FB "like"button.
AM 4600 SCM workout done. Started rough but late in the set toward the end 4x400@6:00 pulled with paddles without straining much and clocking in sub 5:30s, than onto some IM transition work ,that came out good, 25s fly in about 16sec steady not out of breath, wow, totally different from how it started. I thought to myself, I better drown now and end the agony somewhere after the warm up and 2000 into it.
Anyway, patience sometimes pays off.
@Paul, thanks, SCM stands for Short Course Meters, you can also have SCY Short Course Yards or LCM Long Course Meters.
SCM times are roughly 10% slower than SCY due to meter being longer than yard, so USA Swimming issues time standards based on the pool you compete in to account for difference in length and in case of LCM twice less number of turns. I am a lousy swimmer when compared to real swimmers but I buy myself 2-3sec per 100 off the wall, I can turn for sure.
Look up goswim.tv, look for body dolphin drill, nail that one and fly will become much easier. That is only if you have the time and will to do it.