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headache after workout

sollunax2 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:19:03 GMT

I noticed that after a hard work out (brick or long run) or sprint race, later in the day or evening I get a headache. I am wondering if this is a dehydration, fatigue, or heat issue. Any ideas.

To St. Anthonys or no to St. Anthonys - That is the question... (advice please)

scottuf — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:38:23 GMT

Ok, I'm debating if i really want to take the plunge and sign up for st. anthonys in 2 weeks when reg opens. for those that may not know - its olympic distance. to date i've done 2 sprint tris, and failed miserably in the water, so i'm intimidated to spend the money for an almost mile swim. granted, my swimming is improved a lot in the pool, but the open water in a race is a different beast. my 1st tri, the tropical tri in lake worth (ocean swim) was bad, really bad. i managed maybe 25 yds freestyle, pretty much paniced, flipped to my back and 25 min later hit the beach 9for a 400m+/- swim. i just couldn't freestyle any of the times i turned back over to try. my 2nd tri was a lake swim, maybe got 50 yds before i flipped over. this time only took 13 min, so about half as long. i've been hitting the pool at least 3 days a week. i know i'll be able to do at least 1, prob more sprints before st. anthonys, i'm just worried that with the distance that i won't be able to make it. i have 4+ months to get ready, so in theory i should be able to manage building the necessary endurance (just made it to 200yds in the pool w/o stopping). i just don't want to spend the money if i hit the first or second sprints next year and can't do it.

UGH!!! i'm probably just freaking myself out. i suppose if i can get 2 tris in before the deferral date (3/26) i can defer a year if i feel i won't be ready. i really like tris and want to continue, just worried i'm biting off more than i can chew at this point.

advice please.

California Ironman advice

sollunax2 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:38:28 GMT

Hi folks I'm a new guy to the sport [completed 2 sprints] but signed up to try TRY to complete the CA Ironman. Is any one out there signed up for this event. If so - I'm looking to compare cyber notes on training, support, and preparation. Also if anyone has already completed the CA Ironman would like to here your story / advice on this tri.

Looking forward to hearing from the active community.

Fatigue "spells"

Dynamic Dee — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:39:48 GMT

Do I need to change and reduce my training schedule? I run, swim and bike. Ride about 100 miles a week, run about 6-10 per week, swim about a mile or two, weight-train about 2 per week. I take an easy week every few weeks. I eat complex carbs, MUFAs (healthy fats), frequent small meals, good proteins, etc. I eat very well and went to my MD for a physical that was fine. However, I occasionally have these terrible "spells" and I can't predict when they will hit. I get extremely hungry, muscles ache, head-aches, can't really focus or function well. It generally passes after a day, but I usually overeat the entire day because I am ravenous. I am a female, 50 years, have been training for years, so I do not understand why I should have these bad days. I am frustrated because when I get to a certain weight, it is like my body is fighting me. I am 5'2' and between 112-116 and pretty muscular. I like to be 106-108, better for racing, but my body seems to say no. When I get to a leaner state, I am constantly hungry. I eat a very healthy diet, get a lot of rest, take a recovery day, etc. I feel like I am doing everything right. When I train less, I lose weight and do not have spells. But I want to be able to train more NOT less. If all the unmotivated people in America had my problem. It is ironic that it seems training is making me heavier and tired.

I am wondering if there is an expert coach or nutritionist (that is actually credible and good) that could do a one-time evaluation of my diet, rest and training to tweak me so that I can train and not have these extreme lows or have to feel like I must start LIMITING my schedule. UGH. I appreciate your advice.

Advice Needed: Being a triathlete in NYC

911turbo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:08:26 GMT

Hey everyone,

Hoping for some advice on this one. I currently live in Cincinnati and enjoy the ability to train whenever, wherever. I am considering a career move that would place me in San Francisco or NYC. I can think of a million reasons why it would be great to live in either city, but when the topic of training comes up, I am genuinely concerned that my lifestyle as a triathlete will take a huge hit in NYC. Questions such as if it's possible to do a long ride on a whim (other than Central Park...), how easy it would be to do a brick, what open water training is accessible (other than the Hudson...) keep coming to mind. These questions are much easier to answer for SF, but my hope is that someone on this board has either lived in NYC as a triathlete or know someone who does/has and can tell me how feasible it is to be a successful triathlete in the city. FYI - I am a 23 year old age-grouper who loves the sport and wants to perform as well as I possibly can while having fun. I do not have professional aspirations.

Thanks for your time and advice.

Triathlon training plans by distance

DCtoPgh — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:57:55 GMT

In the next two weeks I'm going to start to sketch out my training for 2010 which includes everything from ultramarathons to a 70.3. As a runner, I've always followed training programs that prescribe distance (5 miles) not time (45 minutes). As I've started to look at triathlon training programs, they are all by time (run 90 minutes). Does anyone know of any tri training programs that prescribe distance (run 10 miles)? I'd prefer not to impute distance because it's a bit of a different ball game, but I hate, hate, hate training by time. Thanks!

freestyle alternate breathing?

slojon — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:29:16 GMT

OK, I've completed my first tri, with a 1st place in my age group! and I'm continuing to improve in the pool. Everyone says that I need to work on alternate-side breathing, and I can see that it would improve my left-right muscle balance, streamlining, etc., BUT I have two problems;

1 - at 66 years of age, I have arthritis in my neck, among other places. I can rotate my head 90 degrees to the right, but only about 45 degrees to the left, accompanied by weird snapping and popping noises and much creaking in my neck...and even if I could breathe left...

2 - I just don't have the lung capacity to go three arm strokes without taking a breath! As it is, I find that if I push the pace too hard while breathing every two strokes, I get totally winded, to where I'm gasping for breath by the time my mouth clears the water and I can get some air, and I have to back off the pace...

and I just don't see how am I ever going to be able to go three strokes without breathing...I mean, when I was running marathons twenty years ago, if I pushed the pace to around six-minute miles, very soon I found that I had to breathe much more rapidly to keep from going into oxygen debt, like every two paces instead of every four....

Has anyone had this problem? Will it sort itself out? I just don't see my lung capacity improving 50% (from breathing every two strokes to three)

hand paddles for swimming??

Perry, Brook — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:38:38 GMT

Any suggestions on good hand paddles (brand and size) to purchase? I'm a male about 6 feet, been swimming consistently for over a year now.

Which triathlons to do in 2010 to prepare for 2011 Ironman?

gwyn523 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:49:56 GMT

I've set my sights on the 2011 Ironman Wisconsin. I'm trying to figure out which triathlons (how many and what distances) to compete in 2010 to prepare for the IM and to be sure I'll be in good shape to start my IM training. I've done several sprints in the 2009 season and have finished really well in those. I'm planning on spending the winter focusing on strength and crosstraining.

I was thinking about doing a Sprint in May/June, then doing an Olympic Distance in July, then a half-marathon in late Aug., followed by another sprint in Sept.

Does anybody have any other ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

Tales from the Trails: Training Encounters

IronMakeover — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:27:40 GMT

About 6 months ago, I asked active.com triathletes for their animal encounter stories. I'm sure we have some new "scary" stories by now?

Read the past active.com thread: http://community.active.com/thread/56002/mad-cow-what-have-you-run-into-while-training/0/15

My current blog topic on animal encounters http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2009/10/animal-frights-alligators-turtles.html

Two additional on topic links from my post:
- p. 120 Fall 2009 USA Triathlon Life's The Big Question column topic is "What is the most interesting thing you've found while training?"

- Swim survivors of Lucky's Lake swim receive a special "I survived" patch after signing the wall post-race. Athletes could see gators while swimming in Lucky's Lake.

Train safely!

Sara

10 minutes... zzzzzzzzzz

IronMakeover — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:42:48 GMT

Short & easy. What's the shortest amount of time you've tried to convert into a nap? You know, sleep? I heard that past age 35 smelling coffee beans or drinking coffee is more effective for alertness than taking a nap. Thoughts?

- Are naps for preschoolers?

- Can you actually fall asleep in 10 minutes?

- Where is the oddest place you've taken a nap? **This one time, in NYC, I was waiting to schedule a shuttle pickup and a sleepy lady crawled out of a dark little broom closet to help me make my reservation...

As triathletes, parents, spouses, employers/employees, we're TIRED. My former thread on exhaustion & funny things had 27 responses & 8,000+views. Add to that conversation http://community.active.com/thread/66814/i-was-so-tired-that-i/0/0

I thought you all may have more to say on SLEEP?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sara

p.s. I snore.