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Slowtwitch Forums: Triathlon Forum:
Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment

AndyPants

Feb 24, 05 11:34

Post #1 of 11 (387 views)

Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment	Can't Post

OK, it's day 4 of my experiment: since I'm taking a break from running this week, I'd planned on having a massive swim week. I've hit the pool every day this week, 4 for 4. I was really feeling it in my shoulders this morning though, after the warmup they were saying "are we done yet?" Ugh. But I perservered, and my 100 LCM time is down by at least 5 sec. My sinuses are constantly drippy, and I'm sneezing all the time (common for me to sneeze a lot the first few hours after a swim). Plan is to take tomorrow off, then swim Sat and Sun. Total distance should be 2.5-3X usual weekly distance. Fingers crossed that a few days rest afterwards will result in improvements.

Anyone else done the picklehead thing?

Ze Gopha

Feb 24, 05 11:40

Post #2 of 11 (375 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [AndyPants] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yep. I'm currently starting mine.
I've been in the pool Monday. Tuesday. Twice Yesterday. Today I just finished a run and I'll do a modified swim/weight workout tonight.
Tomorrow will be another two swim day. And I'm not sure what saturday is going to be like.

AndyPants

Feb 24, 05 11:43

Post #3 of 11 (366 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [Ze Gopha] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Are your arms as dead as mine? Ugh. It was hard to get to the pool this morning.

Ze Gopha

Feb 24, 05 11:49

Post #4 of 11 (344 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [AndyPants] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Nope. My arms is cool. I'm on the easy side of the picklehead though. 1 1/2 hours Sunday. 45 mintues Monday. 45 mintues Tuesday. Probably a total of two hours yesterday. I'm not tracking milage right now, because I'm just focusing on speed and technique. Towards the end of next week I'll be up to 4-5000 yards per swim range. Then I can back off some, and hopefully it will be warm enough to start bike riding.

AndyPants

Feb 24, 05 11:51

Post #5 of 11 (342 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [Ze Gopha] [In reply to]	Can't Post

1hr Mon, 1.5 hr Tues, 45min Wed, 1.5 hr today. It'smore in the shoulders than the arms I spose ;-)

Ze Gopha

Feb 24, 05 11:58

Post #6 of 11 (315 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [AndyPants] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Make sure you watch that. Sore shoulders are understandable. Just make sure it's a muscle fatigue feeling. If it becomes sharp, burns, and you can put your finger on the spot it hurts, you'll need to take a little time off.
I've spent the whole winter in the weight room, so my muscles aren't tearing or breaking down, they just scream for more oxygen. Cardio training sucks.

Cousin Elwood

Feb 24, 05 12:10

Post #7 of 11 (291 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [AndyPants] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I used to do that every February. My biggest Feb was 264,000 (150 miles).

A word of caution: If your stroke isn't perfect, that big of a jump in yardage could play havoc with your rotators. Work on creating a slight outsweep in order to assure a good vertical catch. If your shoulders are aching, take care to determine if it's general or specific to the RC (probably infraspinatus which would be small band of pain (inflamed tissue) emanating from the shoulder down the arm at about 30� forward of top dead center. If you're having pain in that area, CUT BACK and let it recover, then work on your vertical catch so that you utilize the lats rather than the RC to pull yourself through the water.

Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

Reddy

Feb 24, 05 12:44

Post #8 of 11 (235 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [AndyPants] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did this last year, but rather than a week I did a month (I did not totally cut out running and biking - though the volume for those two sports did decrease a bit).

Hit about 120,000 yards. My swimming is relatively strong - so I was not worried about the overload on muscles or deterioriation of mechanics.

I think it did lay down a substanical base that I fed off of all summer. End result is that my swimming was strong through race season (kept up swimming 3 times a week all summer)

This past Oct. I did the same thing with running. Took the entire month and really focused on consistency and milage. We will see if this has a positive impact for IMAZ - but really I can't run any slower than I did at IMC last summer (guess I could crawl the eniter 26.2)

http://reddytotri.blogspot.com

www.clevetriclub.com

rob reddy

AndyPants

Feb 24, 05 14:28

Post #9 of 11 (166 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [Ze Gopha] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yeah it's just fatigue, no pain. Feb seems a perfect time to do this, maybe I'll keep it up for a few weeks... worry about running more than 1/week in late March ;-)

Aztec

Feb 24, 05 14:36

Post #10 of 11 (150 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [Cousin Elwood] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Cousin Elvis, have you been watching the "Swimming Thinking" or whatever it's called thread? I'd love to hear your opinion on the impingement stuff.

**************
Too grumpy from various injuries to have a signature line.

Cousin Elwood

Feb 24, 05 19:31

Post #11 of 11 (95 views)

Re: Day 4 of the Picklehead Experiment [Aztec] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I read enough of the thread to get he gist. What happens to swimmers is complex. The problem stems from the fact that swimming is performed in a weightless environment. Consequently, we lose our bearings. So the following things usually happen:
1- Alligatoring. You reach forward, thinking you're reaching straight ahead, but as your body rolls, it causes your arm to cross your centerline and you weave like an alligator
2- Thumbs up. As you reach forward, you may have your thumb up. Even if it doesn't start that way, your body roll (again) changes your orientation in space and your thumbs are up. Problem...
3- No vertical catch. The proper swim stroke, sometimes referred to as "kayaking" involves creating a paddle - consisting of your arm from the elbow to the fingertips (don't grab water by the handful, grab it by the armful). If your had is across your centerline and your thumb is up, it is physically impossible to creat a vertical catch. The ONLY way this works is if you begin your swim stroke with a slight outsweep, then as your body rolls (not nearly as much as TI says it should) you catch by rotating your shoulder internally and pivoting at the elbow. Your arm is then vertical in the water and you engage the lats to pull this vertical paddle down your body, and then engage the tricep to finish the stroke.

Go to http://www.swim.ee/.../freestyle/free.html
and check out two videos -

start with MarkFoster very slow motion clips and look for the outsweep. It doesn't appear dramatic, but you have to outsweep more than it appears that he's doing, because the shoulder is rotating down (in the opposite direction of the outsweep) so that it takes 10-15� of outsweep to keep the hand where it is. It takes 20-25� to actually move the arm outward.

then check out Hackett Thorpe catch up style and notice how they both appear almost double jointed as they manage to somehow achieve the vertical catch. It looks impossible, but once you master the art of the outsweep, three things happen for you:
1- You get a vertical catch and much more power (efficiency)
2- The bubbles created by your hand entry have a chance to dissipate, so that you can grab solid water, instead of bubbles - much better traction.
3- You take the load off your shoulders (RCs) and put it onto the lats, which are big enough to "shoulder" the load.

Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...