Archive for category Training

Swimming Facilities and Programs at Mount SAC

I’ve been swimming this summer at a nearby pool that is open to the public for lap swimming and also provides a Masters Swim program and other training programs. I love this pool. The water is fresh and clean, not like the over-chlorinated, chemical soup at the 24 hour fitness pool (my alternative swim location). So where am I swimming? In the outdoor Olympic size swimming pool at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California, or Mt. SAC as the locals refer to it.

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Kicking Drills for Triathlon

Somehow in all the reading I had done about the swim portion of triathlon, and how triathletes should train for and approach the swim, I got the message that the kicking was very de-emphasized. That kicking was almost not necessary. Let your legs drag, if you wanted to. Use your upper body on the swim and save the legs for the bike and run. Makes sense, no?

And then I started my Masters Swim workouts. And the coach was having me do a fair amount of kicking. Although I thought I didn’t really need to be doing kicking drills, I tried to just suck it up and say nothing. After all, I was seeking the expertise of the coach. He knows more about this than I do, right? That’s why I was doing the Masters Swim. Eventually I did ask him about it and he said I needed to keep that end of my body up, or something like that. So…ok. Still doubtful but…just doing the drills like he said.

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Why do swim drills? Don’t you hate them?

So I started a Masters Swim program at Mt. SAC back on June 17, 2010. Six weeks ago today. Although I seem to do fairly well at self-coaching myself on running, I have  no swimming background and I’m not very good at it and I knew I needed someone with knowledge to watch me, coach me, give me tips. I did do some reading…Total Immersion swimming books, articles on Active.com, TriSwimCoach.com, BeginnerTriathlete.com. And reading was good, and did help, and I did try to use the advice. However, implementing what I read was just not going all that great without a coach.

Now one thing I did notice was that a lot of the reading material encouraged drills. The TriSwimCoach specifically encouraged doing as much drills as you could stand. And other sites also recommended drills for improving stroke technique and efficiency. It makes sense. In running I do speedwork on the track and I would say that is analagous to drills in the pool. I know that speedwork really does help me. I have to assume with all these articles recommending swim drills that that would help me, too.

But I really hate drills. Or at least, when I was trying to figure out swimming on my own, I really, really disliked them and almost never did them. I would maybe do a few laps of drills. Less than 1/4 of my workout for sure. Maybe much less than that. And then freestyle all the way, baby, because that seems to be the most fun to me.

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Exchange between a cyclist and a motorist

Yesterday after I got off work I took a ride on my bike. There’s a local 14-mile loop that I ride regularly. It takes me westbound on Temple Ave in Pomona towards Cal Poly Pomona University. The streets I ride are generally fairly busy, depending on the time of day, and cars travel 45-50 mph and faster. Most of this route has a bike lane available, but not all of it and some of the streets without bike lanes are narrow although they have 2 lanes for motor traffic in each direction.

So last night about 6:30 PM as I road west on Temple approaching Valley Blvd a motorist in a large SUV whizzed past me in the left lane, honking, and then swerved just ahead of me into the right lane where I was riding.

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Ocean Swim Entry/Exit Tips

Here is a pretty good article from Active.com on entering and exiting the ocean for open water swim triathlons. I practice ocean swimming fairly regularly with the L.A. Tri Club, but I am not using all the tips suggested in this article. Saving the link here so I can review it from time to time and make sure I’m doing all these things…

http://www.active.com/swimming/Articles/Survive_the_Surf__Entrances_and_Exits_in_Open_Water_Swims.htm

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Heart Rate Training for Triathlon

I have mostly avoided the whole heart rate training thing. I’m not big on wearing the chest strap, and though I have a Garmin 305 that includes a chest strap, I just don’t wear it and I don’t monitor my heart rate. I train by pace and perceived effort, mostly.

Well, at some point I will probably look into the whole heart rate thing. Here is a good article on the topic that seems to go into quite a bit of detail and I will want to come back and review it again. Seems balanced. Pros/cons. Alternatives. Etc.

Triathlon Training Principles: Heart Rate Training | Trifuel

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Cycling Drills

Here’s an interesting article at Active.com that discusses some good cycling drills to help you learn better control on your bike. I really like some of these suggestions and am sure it would help me to practice them:
Bike Handling Clinic: Drill That Skill

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Yoga Pose – Squat

Here’s a link to an article on Active.com on how to do the squat pose from yoga. It’s a fairly detailed description not only of how to properly do the pose, but also of the benefits of the pose. Sounds like a pose I should be doing regularly!

Pose of the Month: Squat Pose

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Race Schedule August 2009-March 2010

OK, I’ve finally made some decisions about my racing schedule. Since I just finished the San Francisco Half-Marathon this past Sunday, I found that I had not signed up for any further events, nor did I have any training schedule.

Not to worry. I did a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. And today I did my own triathlon: 1500 meter ocean swim in 45 minutes; 3 mile run in 23 minutes; later in the day 14.8 mile bike in 1 hr 6 minutes on a hilly course. Tomorrow I will swim laps at the pool.

Anyhow, I do need to sign up for events and put together some more training. And I’ve finalized my events up through March 2010. Here they are:

Aug. 2, 2009 (Sun) 5K Paws for Cause

Aug. 16, 2009 (Sun) Hansen Dam Triathlon

Sep. 13, 2009 (Sun) Oxnard Splash-n-Dash (I think the long course)

new -> Sep. 27, 2009 (Sun) Mighty Mermaid Triathlon Santa Cruz (olympic distance)

Oct. 11, 2009 (Sun) Long Beach Half Marathon (completes my California Dreaming award)

Nov. 7, 2009 (Sat) Catalina Triathlon

Nov. 26, 2009 (Thu) 10K Turkey Trot at Dana Point

Feb. 7, 2010 (Sun) Surf City Half Marathon – I think I have to do this every year. I’m a legacy runner for this race.

Mar. 7, 2010 (Sun) Napa Valley Marathon

Mar. 21, 2010 (Sun) Los Angeles Marathon

Apr 23-34 (Fri-Sat) Ragnar Relay L.A. (Santa Barbara to Dana Point)

OK, so I have to get my credit card out and start registering for some of these. And tomorrow I’m going to have to hunker down and start writing my training schedule for at least through November 2009. That is always so much work.

So, from no events to 9 events. Really, though, I’ve been thinking about most of these for a long time. Just hadn’t committed to the registration and written out my training plans. Working on it, working on it!

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More comments on Vibram Five Fingers

So more updates on my Vibram Five Fingers experiences since I last posted on the topic

In May I did do several runs in my Five Fingers, even switching to running exclusively in them. I did short runs of about 4-6 miles twice a week, and longer runs of 8-13 miles once a week. I ran a 5K race in them in June. I thought I would be able to do my July 4th 5K in them.

Problem was that I started having some pains in the top of my right foot again. I do not believe this was from the Five Fingers. This was a pre-existing issue I’d had since February, that seemed to have gone away but then came back. This was an issue I developed before I’d ever bought my Five Fingers or even considered barefoot running.

In order to resolve my pains in the top of my right foot, Read the rest of this entry »

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