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I don't know about your state, but in my state the speed limits are dictated by the nature of the road. If there are steep hills and blind corners, where you can't see what's ahead of you, they generally have lower speed limits on that section of road, or even on the whole road if it's all like that. As someone else…
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Agree with building volume but take your time and add incrementally. One good pattern to follow goes in a three week cycle. On week one, you add 10% to your volume. On week two, you have a "recovery week" where you cut back - all low intensity, 20-30% less volume than week one. Week three is same volume as week one. Then…
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Super important. Banish the guilt.
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Different kind of crazy, but this is a monstrous glute burn. Watch what they start doing around 1:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owi2LUTopRE
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Your BS detector is working correctly ;-) Most pregnant women are mildly tachycardic anyway; if 90 bpm was the lethal cutoff none of us would be here. For years the recommendation has been not getting your HR above 140 bpm. Recently one of my colleagues and I wondered where this came from and decided to research it. 1) it…
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Walking is a great exercise for overall health and well-being. It does take a lot of time investment to get a similar kCal burn that you would get with higher intensity exercise. If you have enough time to put in walking, it's great. Another factor is variety. You do gain more if you are doing a variety of different…
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Another vote for ditch the inserts and get properly fitted shoes. Go to a running oriented store, not a sports department store.
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I am an SBR person - swim, bike, run - and don't do much lifting (usually only to target an area of weakness that is adversely affecting my SBR). But I do notice that SBR can challenge me in both ways. Depending on the workout and how I'm challenging myself, I may find that the muscular effort is easy and it's the cardio…
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Talk to your doctor - and if you aren't getting help there, go to a pulmonologist. Any decent physician should be thrilled to have someone walk in and say "I need a tune-up on my asthma meds to support the higher level of activity I want to do." There is a lot that can be done with this.
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Tris have been a big part of my fitness journey over the last 5 years or so. Like you I started out as a very weak swimmer - I was breaststroke only, and could only swim a lap or two. Now swimming is my favorite of the 3 disciplines and my strongest. A few of my big lessons learned: 1) tris are great because you are…
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I had PF for about a year and tried a number of things; the steroid injection was one of the least helpful. It's like magic for about two weeks; you'll think the PF has been cured. Then it comes back just as bad as ever. Also, getting steroid injections is associated with a greater risk of plantar fascia rupture. I've had…
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I used to feel self conscious about being the fattest guy in the swim group. Then I just decided to reframe it as being a lot skinnier than the fat guys sitting on the sofa eating Cheetos.
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This is an outstanding site overall, but to improve your endurance it is very productive to swim at your CSS. Go to this link and scroll down to "lactate threshold, threshold, and CSS." http://swimsmooth.com/training_adv.html They have some suggested workouts for each pace of swimmer. If you haven't been swimming for a…
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Have you ever been to an OA meeting? Most of over eating is trying to meet emotional needs with food. If you can meet the emotional needs, you don't need nearly as much food.
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Went to my swim group. We did sprints, 25-50-75-100 repeat x 3, a 10 min pull, and some drills. I did an extra drill set after cooldown to work on my posture in the water. http://www.feelforthewater.com/2012/06/simple-but-powerful-drill-sequence.html Good drill for posture in the water. Is there some place I can buy some…
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Two ways to deal with this: Keep track of your overall time and distance, and enter it as a run/jog at the average pace. Keep track of your total time running and your total time walking, and enter them as separate events. For example, if you run 9 min and walk 1 min x 5, you would enter a 45 min run and a 5 min walk. kCal…
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Exercise and building fitness is always stepping outside your comfort zone. It's always going to entail a certain degree of discomfort, because by definition, it is pushing yourself to a higher level of activity than you normally do. However, you do get to a place where you start to feel "comfortable with discomfort." I…
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Two things to add to the above: 1) Even though the ultimate goal is more speed, that does not mean pushing your pace all the time. Many top flite running coaches recommend doing most of your running (80 or 90%) at an easy aerobic pace where you can converse easily. This is the most productive zone for increasing aerobic…
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If by "trails" you mean urban/suburban multiuse paths, then a hybrid is probably the way to go. They look similar to mountain bikes, but with slight geometry changes to make a more comfortable seating position. They also have more road-ish tires; ie, tires well adapted for smoother surfaces. Usually a hybrid can handle an…
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I have done a fair amount of open water swimming. It's good to have a wetsuit for when it is cold. I don't know about your part of Lake Michigan but where I go in July, in Leland, it is very cold and hard to swim very long without a wet suit. There are groups that organize for open water swims. There is probably one in…
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I love to swim. I have gotten the best out of being in a USMS-affiliated group. I like the way they create a variety of different kinds of workouts and it's good to get some feedback on technique. I did read something about swimming giving you the munchies, and the tip was to soak in the hot tub or sauna afterward to get…
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The best endurance sports coach I know recommends work and rest in three-week cycles. The first week of the cycle is "medium week." This is your baseline level of training. The second week of the cycle is "big week" where you add 10% volume. Also may do a bit more speed work or increasing pace on longer runs. The third…
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I love to swim. I love my USMS swim group, but it takes motivation to get up at 0445 to get there in time. Add me to your list; I need some encouragement. When I do go, I always say "Why don't I do this every day?" because it makes my whole day better.
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Ouch - you are ruling out the single most effective thing you can do to address your problem. Don't let self-consciousness about low fitness level be a barrier to improving your fitness. This is a vicious self defeating cycle. I had a similar issue when I was starting in a swim group - feeling like the most overweight…
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It sounds like you may be trying to run too fast. Many of the top running coaches (google Bobby McGhee for one major advocate) advise that > 90% of your running should be done at a very easy aerobic pace - meaning you can carry on a non-breathless conversation. If you're running harder, to the point that you get breathless…
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I will differ from this slightly. Yes, very good quality bike shorts do make a difference and are better than the cheap ones - and the longer you ride and the more you ride, the more difference they make. The best way to get really good ones is to watch chainlove.com and get them on mega-clearance prices. But even a…
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The thing that really helped my plantar fasciitis was sleeping in a Strasbourg sock. You can get them on Amazon. I never found that shoes helped a bit. Inserts/orthotics made it worse - instead of strengthening the fascia, it just weakened it. The foot is supposed to be a spring. Bracing it rigidly didn't work for me.
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If you want running to be a major part of your fitness program, I have two suggestions: 1) get fitted for real running shoes at a running specialty store 2) spend some time with a coach who can help you with your form and also setting up a program that has proper warmup, cooldown, and recovery. Running with the wrong…
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My first suggestion would be to join a USMS affiliated swim group. The coaches will provide a variety of different workouts to challenge you in different ways. Swim workouts are usually structured as warmup, drills, main set, cool down. Sometimes a secondary set will be added between the main set and the cool down. In…
