Sparrows Experiment

Sparrow: I hope you know that I posted what I did as kind of a "Snap out of it!" sort of wake up call. If I honestly thought you were a quitter (which I don't) I'd not have taken the time to post at all. That said, yes, it sucks that you couldn't finish like you'd wanted to, and that you can't immediately start training for another. But, eventually, you will... You've the heart, body and soul of a champion, and your time will come. To everything there is a season under heaven.

Flyinfree: Unfortunately I didn't see your original post. Was my post rude? Possibly. Insensitive? Probably, but it seemed like something that needed to be said. I've the utmost respect for athletes like you and Sparrow, as you do things that I probably will never do myself. However, this isn't so much about the particular goal, but the person who sets it and tries to achieve it. Perhaps the delivery was in error, but the message was true.

And to restore the good will in this log, here's a kitten:
 
ah no hard feelings and I knew your true intentions Stingo. I will snap out of it but it feels like it will take longer than it might if 1. I'd finished or 2. I could set my sights on another one soon. I don't like half baked apples and I try hard not to eat them :) I run my life majorly type A. I think most athletes at the iron level do. Its why they're there. Its like a disease that only goes away with bigger and badder things. Type A's fall harder than the others when they "fail" in their own eyes. I'll be fine, but thanks for letting me whine a little ;)

PS NROL for women is a snap after regular NROL! haha
 
Hey Sparrow,

I'm a type A personality (in business, in school, in athletics, etc.) so I know where you are coming from. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the scenery. And, if you feel like it, take a week or two off from training. It won't hurt you and it might make you feel better and I know you'll be back.

And by the way, I have been citing Lance Armstrong / Peter LeFleur in my sig for months!
 
I liked the fat loss programs. They were effective.

I swam my little heart out today and was so happy to do so. I felt great in the water, I feel like I'm still tapered. I actually feel like I wish I'd felt last week. Possibly a 2 week taper WAS necessary. One will never know ;) You know what I'm looking forward to right now? NO LONG WORKOUT TOMORROW. I get to sleep in? :eek: what a concept

500 free
400IM
300 pull fast turnover
200 kick on back
100 skull
100 skull
200 kick on back
300 pull fast turnover with smooth under water
400 IM push it
500 free faster each 100
cool down
 
You seem like you're in better spirits. This is a good thing. If you're casting about for something to do, have you considered trying Olympic lifting?
 
stingo said:
You seem like you're in better spirits. This is a good thing. If you're casting about for something to do, have you considered trying Olympic lifting?
Click to expand...

LOL I think my husband would disown me :)
 
Hey Sparrow,

It sounds like you're in a better frame of mind, now. Good for you!

I have a swimming question for you.

Both swim coaches that I have had told me to develop my kick by doing innumerable laps with the kickboard. I think my legs are reasonably strong, but when I would do those kicks, my legs would wear out fast and I would go sooooooooooooooooo painfully slow. Neither coach looked at my feet or had me try to straighten them because if they had, my feet resemble the foot in pic. #2 of . With feet like this, the kick is counter productive and terribly inefficient. This has been my result. So, I think my main problem with my kick, and thus keeping my body level in fresh water without a wetsuit, is my feet are not supple.

Now, I am sure that if you start doing this when you are still attached to the umbilical cord, as you no doubt did, you will have supple feet like pics 4 and 5 and thus a fine kick. But, for those who did not swim with their faces in the water before age 48, like me, and have rigid feet, how can we most expeditiously, quickly, efficiently, and painlessly get them supple?

I am using the blue Zoomers for a few hundred yards, but they tire me out quickly. I am sure they will relax my feet over time, but I would like to know if you have personally tried or recommended stretching protocols to straighten out the feet.
 
Stingo-its a nice thought, and thanks, but I think I'd go crazy with boredom. I'm one of the few that actually love cardio. It feels productive. I cannot go and just lift at the gym. Cardio is always attached because I like it! Lifting=vegetables, cardio=dessert :D

G8r-What you have going is really common and kicking innumerable laps in my opinion isn't the solution. If you do it wrong, you do it wrong. There's no use in doing it wrong a gob more times in a row!

The zoomers are helpful to an extent. With them do you feel your ankles stretch? Is this uncomfortable for you? One thing to do with the zoomers that will promote floppy ankles a little more is kicking either under the water completely on your stomach (with or without kickboard) or kicking on your back (arms up or down, doesn't matter) with your feet under the water. You will be forcing your feet into a pointed position both ways.

Aside from that you should get ahold of therabands. If you don't already have them go find a PT office and ask if they might not let you have, loan or purchase cheaply those large pieces of blue or red band material. They are very make-shift looking things I cannot imagine they'd charge you for them. I have both red and blue from my shin splint days.

You can loop these simple things under some heavy objects in your house and perform a lot of simple exercises that will promote greater flexibility. Just Google the exercises under ankle flexibility and you'll find some things to help. Or ask a local PT office. Often they have copied handouts.

The only other thing I can't stress enough is stretching your ankle and calf muscles regularly. Doing the runners stretch, stretching your ankle side to side as well as physically twisting it side to side with your hands. When you are in line at the store or just standing for long periods of time go on your tip-toes and then back down to your heels and lift up your toes, then back up to tip toes. Try gently and carefully tilting your feet to their outter sides and then rotate them into the inner arch. All of this stuff has helped me tremendously with my own very INflexibility and I think its helped with the shin splints.

The web has more info on things you can do

I hope that helps some.

...and just for the 411-I started swimming "late" at 13 and it was all because I was "chunky" and my mom made me :) I had loads of trouble with it too, and really didn't like it much, at first :)
 
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Swimming day. I've decided to swim 3 days a week as my primary workout. Then do "land exercise" (spin or run and lifting) the other 2 days a week, weekends off. I'd like to get back into my old swimming shape. I just feel my best in the water. Me and da bubbles

500 free
400IM
8x100 Free FAST (held 1:20) @1:45
300 kick (butterfly on back)
4x100 pull w/focus on rotation
100 kick
4x100 IM FAST @1:45
100 kick
200 cool down

3200 total
 
stingo said:
Sounds like a plan - when are you projecting you'll catch up to Mr. Phelps?
Click to expand...

Yeah, um...in Heaven where there are no limits! Sheesh, that guy is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

He's also keeping me up very late. Swimming is the last thing on each night and I'm just not willing to wait till morning to find out what happens!!
 
Son was sick last night so the gym is out today. Guess thats the beauty of not training for anything-it doesn't matter!

News today is that my husband announced he thinks my "stuff" is "pretty cool" and is interested in training for a half marathon. LOL. I feel bad, but I actually laughed when he told me that. I thought he was totally being sarcastic. No he wasn't. I sobered up quickly as to not hurt his feelings.

ha. So I printed out a plan for him. Its going to take a while since he hasn't been running at ALL. The first goal is just to get him running 30 min without stopping. That'll take about 8 weeks. His target race is May and I'll do it with him. I'm pretty proud of him-and prouder still that it was a decision made with NO prompting from me :)

Other exciting news is that I decided to weigh today and see where I'm at and where I need to be. I fully expected to get on that scale and start grumbling. I worked out 2 times last week, nothing over the weekend and swam a little yesterday. Its been "lazy" for me compared to what I was doing. I've also not been eating super well (all those months of being 'so good' has me feeling entitled!) I was down THREE pounds from my weight before the tri. Its my lowest since...well probably since I got onto this site. Crazy. Maybe its muscle loss or something.

Anyway, thats all. I'm going to try and do something later tonight, but, we'll see.
 
Maybe it's you've dropped the hard workouts and your body isn't refeeding after them to recover... Funny how one door closes and another opens.
 
Workout last night.
I really hate working out at night but thats how it fell yesterday.

running:
5 min 10 min pace
5 min 9:20 pace
5 min 8:30 pace
5 min 8:00 pace
10 min HIIT alternating a minute 10 min pace/w a minute of 6 min mile pace
cool

15 min eliptical with hubby (this machine is ridiculous)
15 min stairs level 12 intervals

Thats about it and all I had time for. This is what used to be a standard workout for me before I started into triathlons. I cannot believe how easy things are now that I've been to "the other side" I'm trying to be okay with "whatever" but wow, its a real eye opener as to how conditioned I was able to get.

My run was absolutely fantastic. I wanted to run forever. My legs were completely up for it. No fatigue at all, even on sprints. Very euphoric.

Have to workout at night again today. Maybe I'll start liking it more.
 
how come you didn't tell him to mind his own business, you were exclusively a swimmer now?

ahhhhahahaaaa

sorry, gotta run, going to the pool :newangel:
 
Hit full body weights tonight. Did A and B workouts of NROL4W. THEN I went swimming. Umm. Swimming is pretty hard after full body weights :eek: I only lasted 2000. The pool was also a thousand degrees-I checked :D hehe
 
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spin class was a bomb. I was tired and unmotivated. Only stayed in 45 min and realized nothing was holding me there :). Did a few more weights after that with a friend. Guess the taper is over. lol
 
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