tri newbie looking for help

[crazycanuck]

Hi ladies,

I started my tri training course and have a few q's.

1-Can you tell me how can i increase the movement in the tops of my legs when running??? I had a hard time with one of the exercises the coach did with us. Kind of like jumping and moving your legs right up...I can do it in the water..but not well on land...Is it because of biking so much?
Any good stretching websites you know of???
I'll speak to the pilates instructor i visit about it as well.

2-Nutrition..What do you eat after your training sessions? I'm still working on this one....Is it wrong not to drink while swimming or running? I just end up having to go pee all the time...

3-How often do you train? We have three training sessions a week plus i can't get away from my bike... I'm a biker and just want to bike (or swim...)..what can i say...I don't want to wear myself out however i still want to maintain my fitness. (i can't sleep in now!)

Not sure if my qu's make sense or not but if you can help me in any way, it would be great.

Thanks
c

[Nanci]

I'll tackle question number 2. It's important for muscle recovery to eat ASAP after finishing your workout. There is in-depth info on this on the Hammer Nutrition site. I drink either Endurox R4, which has a scientifically determined ratio of carbs, protein and fat for muscle recovery, or chocolate milk, which is roughly the same.

Yes, you need to rehydrate while swimming and running. Even if you can't tell, while swimming, you are still sweating. There has been a trend lately away from "drink as much as you can." Many athletes have been dying from hyponatremia. You can read tons aobut it on the ultra cyling website. Peeing is good! But really, to tell how much water you are losing, (and thus what you need to replace) you need to do a sweat test, by weighing yourself before and after a run, and keeping track of your intake during that run.

Nanci

[Running Mommy]

hey Crazy C-
I'll give it a try here...

Sounds like you may have some flexiblility issues. From your description of what you were doing it sounds like a bounding drill, No? I'd say maybe hip flexors need some good stretching? If that is the case you really want to work on that. Tight HF's can lead to all kinds of running related injuries. Def talk to your pilates guy/gal...Though it could also be weak ham's.. Heck what am I saying?? I'm no trainer! lol Talk to your coach!!


As for the food- yes and no. Yes you do need to replace some protein and carbs, but be careful. If you are trying to lose weight you could undo all that your workout accomplished. I have a REAL tough time w/ this cause I'm trying to lose weight while training for an IM! I have to be very careful, because as said, you do need to replace some vital nutrients in order to help w/ muscle repair. Unless you train for more than 2 hours I would say no more than 200 cals mix of protein/carbs. That's what my coach had me doing and it worked. If you have no weight issues- then hey- knock yourself out. Also one other note while we are talking recovery.... If you run long - I'd say 8+ miles then treat your legs to an ice bath right after your run. It is VITAL to recovery. It hurts- but it works! Or at the very least ice down your legs well. They will thank you later. Totally helps w/ the soreness!

As for how often I train... Well as said, I'm training for IM AZ next April so right now it's 6 days a week, usually 2x a day. Or once a day if I go over 2 hours. Here is my rough schedule...

Sun: Long run or long ride/ or combo of the two(4+ hour in duration)I alternate long ride and long run weeks. One week I ride longer then run just a bit, one week I ride less but run longer.. make sense? It's like an every other week thing. Some weeks I just do one or the other though..But since I have 4 marathons under my belt I'm focusing on cycling right now as it's my limiter.

Mon: Swim/ short run (1 hr swim/ 3-4 mi run)

Tues: Ride/ Run brick (2hour total)

Wed: long swim/ run in evening (1.5 hour swim/ 4-5 mile run)

Thurs: ride(20+ miles)

Fri: morning run afternoon swim(6 mile run/ 1 hour swim)

sat OFF!!

This is probably way more than most, and maybe way less than most IM'ers out there, but it works for me. I seem to recover well. Anything more and my body breaks down. I just hope it can handle the full banana come next april! OY!