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!

[Running Mommy]

Yeah Googlie, I'm pretty lucky. We moved from high rent nor cal to low rent AZ last year so I've "retired" at the ripe old age of 36! LOL
Actually will probably go back to work after IMAZ just cause the walls of the house are starting to close in. I may also run the office for my husband when he gets established out here. Right now he's working between CA, NV, and AZ so he wants me close to home for our son. Which brings on the kind of sucky part... I have to do multiple laps of my hood when I ride. I have a ten mile loop- and by the 3rd or 4th loop I'm ready to go insane! ha ha
I actually look forward to my long rides because I get to venture out of the neighborhood!
But really, I can't complain. We have such wonderful weather here. I actually did my long ride today (hubby had to go to CA for the weekend) and I wore long sleeves for the first time since last spring. Of course I layered and took it off my mile 20. In fact I actually got a bit sun burned! HA HA

[runner2]

I just want to say-
Good luck to your IM in AZ.

[Lise]

Hi, CC,

I find the drinking enough/without peeing too much a difficult balance. I get really thirsty during the swim, so I'm going to practice drinking more before I get in the water. If it means I have longer transitions because I'm in the porta-potty, so be it.

I'm good at drinking on the bike. Tougher to drink while running. I walk through the water stations and take the beverage one swallow at a time. I try to get in at least 4 swallows per water station. I don't like carrying a water bottle on training runs. Over the summer, I planned my routes around city parks with water fountains, but they're all turned off for the winter now. I'm going to try running with my camel-bak, although I imagine it'll be really sloshy. We'll see.

Hal Higdon's running web site has some good stretches. The best I've found is a book by Bob and Jean Anderson, just called _Stretching_. It's got specific stretches for every sport, including triathlon. I love their AM and PM stretches. Good reminder to stretch as part of my daily routine. What a difference it makes.

Best wishes as you find what works for you!

Lise

[crazycanuck]

Thank you for all your info ladies, much appreciated!

c

[Running Mommy]

Hey Lise-
They have a couple of different camelbacks for running now. I just replaced mine and the new one has a bunch of places to cinch it close to you so it doesn't slosh. They really have gotten much better. My original flash flo from the late 90's was a nightmare compared to my new one!

[Lise]

OK, I'll check it out. I did try running with the Camelback I use for biking. Sloshing wasn't a problem at all, but the shoulder straps kept slipping down. When I use it on the bike, of course, my arms are forward, and holding it in place. I'm thinking of just putting a strap across my chest with two clips for the shoulder straps. If that doesn't work, I'll break down and buy a second one for running.

I really don't like carrying a bottle in my hand. Once I wore a fanny pack that holds a bottle, and hated that! Talk about sloshing! I've eye-balled the belts that hold a lot of little bottles. Again, looks sloshy, and, I'm so vain that I don't want anything emphasizing my pudgy hips and belly!

And the search goes on! L.