Triathlon training

[RachMarie]

After wound care clinic, yesterday, I went to Walmart and did some shopping, I crisscrossed around the store, pushing my walker, and pulling behind me one of their shopping carts. I pushed myself a bit harder, walking more briskly.

[MattP]

I swam for another 30 mins today and then did shoulders/back

I was gonna do arms too but swimming wears me out so much

But this time I did freestyle the whole time without inhaling water hurray

I'm just trying to get basic comfort down and then I'll start incorporating practices into it, I'll start with the ones you recommended fishnchips

But man I really do not like swimming. I seriously doubted doing a triathlon today because of it.

[MattP]

And rach that's awesome. Your doctor knows youre doing this right?

[MattP]

Mattp- that is the goal. Triathlon stuff starts next week, i'll probably decide after i see how the program is. Right know you can put me down as a 70% chance.

Fishnchip- honestly, that is some good shit. Thanks lots for the swimformation

!!!

Also what do you mean triathlon stuff starts

[RachMarie]

yeah Im under medical care lol considering how many times I write that in so much of the stuff I do for ghostwriting I kinda know that

[mastin2]

But man I really do not like swimming. I seriously doubted doing a triathlon today because of it.

Hey, if it helps any: I learned to swim mostly by half-drowning myself.
By that, I mean, I sink like a rock...and I learned to utilize this in pools, sinking to the bottom and then pushing off of them. (Which is a lot like pushing off of a wall.)

It might sound stupid, but it's a great way to get familiar with how your body handles the water. Just jumping in the water and expecting your body to act naturally as you force yourself to train using techniques you've only seen or heard about won't work so well. It sounds like a little kid's method of learning how to swim, and to be fair, it is! This is how most kids begin to figure out how to swim, starting from clinging the wall and slowly working their way up, using inflatables to swim, or lacking them to sink and go underwater and feel the water around them. (Including using cannonballs for sudden submerging.)

And you know what? Silly as it sounds, it works. Get an idea for what you're naturally inclined to do in the water, and then start working around it. You have to gain familiarity and comfort with the water, all forms of it. There's more to water than just swimming in it; you have to essentially

live

in it. Do underwater cartwheels (much easier than it sounds, if given 4 feet or so of water), bob your head up and down in water, if your pool has a deep end dive into it, basically, train yourself so that you can have fish-like lungs.

You won't be allowed to hyperventilate (that technique helping you in swimming is just an urban legend anyway; science has since disproven it but it still persists) if you're in any competent swimming pool, and likewise, can't train yourself to breath hold. (Definitely not stationary, but most pools won't even allow you to complete a 25 underwater for risk of you passing out.) Does that mean your lungs can't get stronger? Heck no! Does that mean you can't get better at preventing water from getting in? Also no.

You just need to do these activities, childlike as they may sound, and they will build up your strength, build up your abilities, to the point where swimming laps will begin to feel more natural. So while it might seem ridiculous, what could help is to have a warmup of sorts that resembles casual swimming, and once you've acclimated your body, switching to the lap swimming. From there, you can use lessons. Things like counting strokes: how many do you use? How many do you breathe on? Stuff like that.

I mean, I'm not exactly a trained swim coach. My methods are a bit unusual and unorthodox. My experience with competitive swimming is a single year in high school (and I was mostly a backstroke swimmer), plus what I've picked up from watching as a lifeguard. But if you're having trouble with conventional training because your body hates the water...try something a little unconventional so that your body

doesn't

hate the water.

[Errantparabola]

Also what do you mean triathlon stuff starts

well there is an "Ice Cream Run" Sept 2
there is a "What is Triathlon" Sept 3
there are some other things too.

It's a recruitment week but i'm already interested so i'll just go to the fun stuff and the info stuff and get to know people i guess.

"All beginners welcome, just tri it out!"

i assume after they weed out the people who were just there for the fun stuff we start TRAINING maybe

[mastin2]

Also, I do have more experience in running.
So, first and foremost, what I recommend: go to a foot doctor. (I'm not sure if it's a podiatrist or a chiropodist. I'd have to look it up.)
This might be a little bit expensive, and there are several other methods you can use. But going to a foot doctor will save you a

lot

of trouble in the long-run. Foot doctors are the specialists for runners. They will be able to tell you all sorts of useful information: how you walk, how you jog, how you run. In the whole world, most people do not have perfect strides. Their ankles can be out of place, their bones can be curved, their hips can be out of perfect alignment, their back can have an unusual arc to it, and ALL of these things contribute to running. The foot doctor will tell you about all of it.

Not only that, but they will give you tips on what to do. They can even craft a custom insert for your shoes that will help to correct problems in your feet over time. The advice they give, the insight offered, the mechanical fixes they give, make the visit worth it in the long-run. They can even tell you what types of shoes to wear, and what shoes not to wear. This can differ off of various different factors, from the length, width, and arch of your foot.

For running, starting at the feet really is the most important.
And speaking of the foot:

protect your ankle!

Your ankle getting damaged is one of THE most common runner injuries in existence. To strengthen it, I recommend running on uneven terrain: run through dirt, run through grass, run through rocks, run through anything except for concrete, asphalt, or similar flat artificial terrain. (Exception: running on a track field is obviously okay, because it will not hurt your ankle, but it will also not condition your ankle.) This training does run minor injury risk (running on that sort of terrain has the potential to trigger the very injury you're strengthening against), but trust me, overall, it's worth it: the uneven terrain will, piece by piece, strengthen your ankles such that they don't suffer fatigue and rolling is a reduced possibility.

You might also experience knee issues when running. For a start, this is where the foot doctor advice comes in handy, but beyond that, the treatment is similar: knees are shock absorbers. So, expose them to shock: uneven terrain works wonders. In this case, hills (especially uphill) can help a lot, especially if they lack asphalt/concrete. (Rough roads, again, being of assistance.)

Now that we have those issues covered, there are two related starting issues: one, you will get some super-strong pain in your calves, especially if you run long distances on hard, flat surfaces. (Noticing a trend here?) This is only natural for a beginner! This is your body, basically breaking in new muscles that have barely begun to be used, the same way you'd break in new shoes. (Speaking of new shoes: they are something likely to trigger this in the first place, even if they're designed for your feet.) There are stretches to help with that, but given a couple of weeks, the feeling will disappear, if you let it.

The second problem, the sideache you get from running, is a result of not getting all the air out of your diaphragm. It helps to have a good breathing technique: about two steps, breathe in through nose, and two steps breathe out is what I remember it to be, though I can't be absolutely sure. You also need good running arms: as one leg goes forward, that same arm should be going back. You also should not cross your center: keep your elbows pointed back at ALL times. Your hands should also be loosely in a fist, but not TIGHTLY in a fist. We trained in high school by placing a potato chip in each hand: as you're running, you should not break it, and also not lose it. Break it, you're gripping too tight; lose it, you're too loose.

Also, I was taught to keep pace to the Oscar Meyer Wiener song. It sounds ridiculous, but if you can match your strides to the timing of that song, you've got the perfect pace. Count the beats in that song over and over and over again. Get one foot step for each beat.

And I assume this is true for all parts of the triathlon, I know it's helpful for both running and swimming at least: core strength will help you. Do lots of proper sit-ups (proper sit-ups are HARD! If you're out of shape, you won't be able to do ten. If you've done ten, you're either not out of shape, or far more likely, you did them wrong), see if you can maintain a proper plank for at least a minute (three reps of a minute is what I remember, but again: proper planks are nearly impossible to maintain so if you count to a minute fair chances are you did it wrong), do push-ups (again, you're unlikely to get ten done right), things like that. Core strength will boost you like NOTHING else. It helps your breathing, it helps your technique, it makes the difference between sucking and being decent.

Bonus points: you can work your core almost every day. It's one of the ONLY muscles which you can do that for. (Others you need to alternate days on.) So, do those daily.
Speaking of rotating: you should not be doing the same running stuff every day. One day, run up (and maybe down) a hill. Another, try a track. Sometime, try going around town, and/or through a forest. Try intervals one day. You should be rotating.

As for what you need, beyond good shoes: hydrate often, but make sure you give at least half an hour before you run. (Else, expect those side-aches.) High-protein foods will help your recovery, so have them available after the workout. (A simple granola bar will suffice.) Stretching before you run may or may not help (I've heard it both ways), but you definitely want to stretch AFTER you run. Before you run, you also want to do warmups where you trigger the muscles you're going to be using: swinging your legs side to side, up and down, high knees, butt-kickers, mario-jumps, the like.


Now, admittedly, this was a few years ago, so my knowledge of the specifics is only vague, but it should help those who are less running-inclined.

[Flameaxe]

Oh hey this thread.

Nowhere near the same magnitude, but I'm working towards a 5k. Never been much of a distance runner in my life (I'm baseball/tennis conditioned, I like to run then stop repeat :p ), but what the hell. If you don't hear from me I probably just died.

[RachMarie]

podiatrist is a foot doctor. I miss being able to go to one. I have plantar fascitiis among other conditions and it is the reason I struggle with mobility issues. Walking too long or even worse standing too long, and my heels hurt something fierce. One of the reasons for the walker when I am out and about.