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2015-08-22 7:45 AM
in reply to: lutzman

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Subject: RE: Announcement
Originally posted by lutzman

Originally posted by EchoLkScott

Originally posted by lutzman



Wish me luck. I'll need it.



That's great news Steve. I'll be there as well, doing the Olympic.



I'll look for you! I should be easy to find. I'll be the slow old guy.




Good luck Steve, good luck Scott!
Steve, I'm so glad you are getting back into competition despite all the difficulties this past year +. It's so easy to let things fall by the wayside. Your persistence is an inspiration to many.
I just read a great book about athletes (mostly women runners) who compete into their 70's, 80's even 90's. What the science shows is that by training hard at that age, their bodies are 2-3 decades younger than their chronological ages. And many didn't start until their 50's or later. So hang in there, Steve & everyone! ( Book is Older, Faster, Stronger, by Margaret Webb.
I'm doing my last sprint of the season tomorrow. Gonna have a great time!
Deb


2015-08-22 12:05 PM
in reply to: DJP_19

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Subject: RE: Race report

Originally posted by DJP_19 . . .  I"m just back from the Timberman 70.3 race on Lake Winniepesaukee in New Hampshire. What a great time. In addition to enjoying the race, I met a bunch of great people . . . I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere, the setting and the race itself. Think I may do this one again. Happy training.

Hey Dave,

Congrats on the Timerman 70.3!

I read your race report, looks like the race was a huge learning experience.  Glad you had a good day!

2015-08-22 12:06 PM
in reply to: lutzman

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Subject: RE: Announcement

Originally posted by lutzman Ok, the last couple of weeks I disappeared due to work requirements. It's been so hot our fruit is way ahead of schedule and we're into harvest now. That means customer calls all over the U.S. It's been trains, planes and automobiles. Through it all, my training has been mediocre. Nonetheless, I'm entered in the Lake Meridian Sprint this weekend. It will be my first race in 14 months since kissing the pavement in Boise. I'm sure I'll be way, way slower than when I last pinned on a number, but I really need to get my juices flowing again with competition before the year is over. Wish me luck. I'll need it. Best, Steve

Have a great race Steve!

2015-08-22 10:48 PM
in reply to: ok2try

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Subject: RE: Announcement

Steve, Scott and Deb - Have a good race day tomorrow.  Hopefully lots of fun.

Scott - Thanks for the info on tapering.  It really cleared it up for me.

 

 

2015-08-23 9:40 PM
in reply to: wenceslasz

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East Wenatchee, Washington
Subject: RE: Race Results
Originally posted by wenceslasz

Steve, Scott and Deb - Have a good race day tomorrow.  Hopefully lots of fun.

Scott - Thanks for the info on tapering.  It really cleared it up for me.

 

 




Whew! I survived. I can tell you it felt really weird after not racing for 15 months. I kind of got motion sickness on the swim, which gave me an upset stomach for the bike and made me dizzy as hell. Plus I was getting some odd "oh Boise crash" thoughts going through my brain which messed me up a little on some of the faster downhill sections. But those are all just excuses. My real problem was insufficient fitness. I probably ran the slowest 5K I've ever run (25:30). There were a few hills on the course, but I was just plain slow.

How slow? An AG guy I've never lost to, beating him in local races and at nationals beat me by 11 minutes! But here's the real surprise. I shockingly ended up winning the 60-64 AG. It sure helps to age up and get out of that 55-59 killer group.

Guess I've got A LOT of work to do!

Have a great week everyone.

Steve
2015-08-24 6:18 PM
in reply to: lutzman

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Subject: RE: Race Results

Originally posted by lutzman

My real problem was insufficient fitness. I probably ran the slowest 5K I've ever run (25:30). There were a few hills on the course, but I was just plain slow. 

Steve

Hey Steve,

Glad to hear you finally got to toe the line again.  Now that you have rekindled the fire in competition, I don't imagine the lack of fitness will be there very long!

BTW, I am also happy you got out of the 55-59 age group!



2015-08-24 7:14 PM
in reply to: lutzman

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Spencer, New York
Subject: RE: Race Results
Steve: it's always good to have a lot of room for improvement. It gives you a lot to look forward to.
My race report is up. You can read my typically lengthy run-down here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...
What I really learned in preparing for and executing this race is a little bit about the power of the mind. I prepared myself with several types of mental strategies & tricks to help bring out my best possible performance. Prior to the race start, I also found myself easing away from other competitors, even friends, who, were engaging in negative self-talk--how their feet hurt, how dangerous the hill is, etc, etc. I was able to identify that same little negative person inside of myself and walk away from her as well.
So, Steve, you are not that old, slow guy. You are that athlete with the amazing persistence to return after a bad crash and the determination to regain your stellar conditioning. You are that rare guy who will be able to choose how you will be living and feeling right up until the end of your life. Because you absolutely will not quit.
Deb
2015-08-24 10:30 PM
in reply to: lutzman

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Subject: RE: Race Results

How slow? An AG guy I've never lost to, beating him in local races and at nationals beat me by 11 minutes! But here's the real surprise. I shockingly ended up winning the 60-64 AG. It sure helps to age up and get out of that 55-59 killer group.

Guess I've got A LOT of work to do!

Have a great week everyone.

Steve


Congratulations Steve!

Well, we've established who is really the "old/slow guy". You won your age group and I was 10th out of 12 in my age group!

In spite of my back-of-pack position in the 55-59 AG, it was a reasonably good race for me. My time was 3:02, a minute better than my best previous Oly time. I was recovering from a lower back strain so I wasn't sure I'd be able to complete the race but, once I was racing, the pain seemed manageable. The worst pain was during the run, were it took a lot of will-power to keep moving. I could tell it wasn't really getting worse, and the pain subsided after the first 5k. I had a strong finish to the run. Overall, I really enjoyed the race!

Once again, the winner in my AG (55-59) was amazingly fast. Michael Vrbanac finished in 2:17:17, 11th place overall. The top 8 in my AG all finished in less than 2 hours 45 minutes. I have a LONG way to go if I'm going to be competitive!

In just 3 weeks I do my first 70.3. It' should be fun!

2015-08-24 10:38 PM
in reply to: EchoLkScott

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Subject: RE: Race Results
Originally posted by EchoLkScott


How slow? An AG guy I've never lost to, beating him in local races and at nationals beat me by 11 minutes! But here's the real surprise. I shockingly ended up winning the 60-64 AG. It sure helps to age up and get out of that 55-59 killer group.

Guess I've got A LOT of work to do!

Have a great week everyone.

Steve


Congratulations Steve!

Well, we've established who is really the "old/slow guy". You won your age group and I was 10th out of 12 in my age group!

In spite of my back-of-pack position in the 55-59 AG, it was a reasonably good race for me. My time was 3:02, a minute better than my best previous Oly time. I was recovering from a lower back strain so I wasn't sure I'd be able to complete the race but, once I was racing, the pain seemed manageable. The worst pain was during the run, were it took a lot of will-power to keep moving. I could tell it wasn't really getting worse, and the pain subsided after the first 5k. I had a strong finish to the run. Overall, I really enjoyed the race!

Once again, the winner in my AG (55-59) was amazingly fast. Michael Vrbanac finished in 2:17:17, 11th place overall. The top 8 in my AG all finished in less than 2 hours 45 minutes. I have a LONG way to go if I'm going to be competitive!

In just 3 weeks I do my first 70.3. It' should be fun!




Nice job, Scott. Very tough to run with a bad back.

How you feeling about your fitness for the 70.3?

I see that Paul Palumbo won the 55-59 AG in the Sprint. That's the guy who clocked a 1 mile swim in 21 minutes in Chelan,,way faster than any time he's ever posted. In the half mile swim yesterday he hit 14 minutes...about 2 minutes faster than me. I still call BS on his swim time in Chelan.

Hope you do great in your HIM.

Steve
2015-08-25 7:31 AM
in reply to: lutzman

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Subject: RE: Race Results
Originally posted by lutzman

Nice job, Scott. Very tough to run with a bad back.

How you feeling about your fitness for the 70.3?

I see that Paul Palumbo won the 55-59 AG in the Sprint. That's the guy who clocked a 1 mile swim in 21 minutes in Chelan,,way faster than any time he's ever posted. In the half mile swim yesterday he hit 14 minutes...about 2 minutes faster than me. I still call BS on his swim time in Chelan.

Hope you do great in your HIM.

Steve


I'm feeling OK about my fitness for the 70.3. I missed nearly half my workouts in the last two weeks. We traveled to a wedding (where I strained my back) and there was seldom time to sneak in a workout. Unfortunately, that's probably the worst time to miss workouts (one month out from the triathlon), but life happens. I think my base is pretty good. Our tri club is doing a 1-day training camp on the course next weekend. That will give me a better feeling for my fitness level.

Yeh, it sounds like Paul went one wave too early in Chelan!
2015-08-29 12:15 PM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Hi all:

I hope you've all got some stellar plans for something cool over the weekend. Summer weekends are nearly played out. It won't be long--at least for those of us up north--untill the cold weather gear comes out and we will longingly remember those hot sunny summer runs wearing nothing but shorts and a singlet. But for now, summer is still here.

Here, but going. I was reminded of that fact this morning when I drove down to meet my weekend running buddy for our weekend "long" run. I put that in parenthesis because right now a long run for me consists of about 8 miles. I'm slowly stretching the length as my fitness comes back. When I left the house it was freaking dark out! It was only a couple of months ago that the dawn would awaken me at 4:30 a.m. I could be on my bike or on the road at 5 a.m. in complete and full daylight. Now it's still dark when we start our run at 6 a.m. In another couple months our entire run will be in the dark. Yuck.

Ah well. Better to have just enough jam to get up and run in the morning darkness than to sleep my fitness away.

There is a final summer sprint race three weeks from tomorrow that I plan to enter. I'm hoping I can keep building on my base fitness to improve on ny race last weekend. It's not much, but it's a goal. I don't know about you, but races provide motivation for every workout, every day.

So here I am, looking at the last tri of the summer approaching with only one race under my belt. I guess I better get a Springtime race on the calendar to make bearable those dark, cold winter runs that will soon be here.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Steve

Edited by lutzman 2015-08-29 12:16 PM


2015-08-29 12:41 PM
in reply to: lutzman

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Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Originally posted by lutzman

Hi all:

I hope you've all got some stellar plans for something cool over the weekend. Summer weekends are nearly played out. It won't be long--at least for those of us up north--untill the cold weather gear comes out and we will longingly remember those hot sunny summer runs wearing nothing but shorts and a singlet. But for now, summer is still here.

Here, but going. I was reminded of that fact this morning when I drove down to meet my weekend running buddy for our weekend "long" run. I put that in parenthesis because right now a long run for me consists of about 8 miles. I'm slowly stretching the length as my fitness comes back. When I left the house it was freaking dark out! It was only a couple of months ago that the dawn would awaken me at 4:30 a.m. I could be on my bike or on the road at 5 a.m. in complete and full daylight. Now it's still dark when we start our run at 6 a.m. In another couple months our entire run will be in the dark. Yuck.

Ah well. Better to have just enough jam to get up and run in the morning darkness than to sleep my fitness away.

There is a final summer sprint race three weeks from tomorrow that I plan to enter. I'm hoping I can keep building on my base fitness to improve on ny race last weekend. It's not much, but it's a goal. I don't know about you, but races provide motivation for every workout, every day.

So here I am, looking at the last tri of the summer approaching with only one race under my belt. I guess I better get a Springtime race on the calendar to make bearable those dark, cold winter runs that will soon be here.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Steve


The days are definitely getting shorter!

My (I think) final triathlon is in two weeks - the Black Diamond Triathlon. This will be my first half-Iron distance race. Tomorrow, our tri-club is holding a one-day training camp on the Black Diamond course. If it isn't raining too hard, it should be fun!

After that I need to taper. Here's my plan - your thoughts would be appreciated:

Bike: I'm following the TrainerRoad Half-distance (low volume) training plan for the bike and it includes a fairly aggressive taper of volume. Last week was 5 1/2 hours, next week is 3 1/4 hours and the week of the triathlon is 2 hours. It maintains some intensity, but the workouts are shorter.

Run: Frankly, my volume has been pretty low over the last few weeks. I've been fighting some Achilles tendon soreness so I've been doing mostly short runs (5K). I'll drop the number of runs further in the final week. I don't want to deal with the Achilles tendon soreness on race day.

Swim: I swim 3 days a week with Masters team and have one day of lessons. I will drop to 2 masters days the final week and skip my lessons. I might also try to cut each workout a bit shorter and drop the intensity a bit. Pushing off the wall after the turns seems to irritate my Achilles tendon almost as much as running.

That's my current taper plan. Any thoughts?
2015-08-30 10:29 AM
in reply to: EchoLkScott

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East Wenatchee, Washington
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Originally posted by EchoLkScott

Originally posted by lutzman

Hi all:

I hope you've all got some stellar plans for something cool over the weekend. Summer weekends are nearly played out. It won't be long--at least for those of us up north--untill the cold weather gear comes out and we will longingly remember those hot sunny summer runs wearing nothing but shorts and a singlet. But for now, summer is still here.


Have a great weekend everyone.

Steve


The days are definitely getting shorter!

My (I think) final triathlon is in two weeks - the Black Diamond Triathlon. This will be my first half-Iron distance race. Tomorrow, our tri-club is holding a one-day training camp on the Black Diamond course. If it isn't raining too hard, it should be fun!

After that I need to taper. Here's my plan - your thoughts would be appreciated:

Bike: I'm following the TrainerRoad Half-distance (low volume) training plan for the bike and it includes a fairly aggressive taper of volume. Last week was 5 1/2 hours, next week is 3 1/4 hours and the week of the triathlon is 2 hours. It maintains some intensity, but the workouts are shorter.

Run: Frankly, my volume has been pretty low over the last few weeks. I've been fighting some Achilles tendon soreness so I've been doing mostly short runs (5K). I'll drop the number of runs further in the final week. I don't want to deal with the Achilles tendon soreness on race day.

Swim: I swim 3 days a week with Masters team and have one day of lessons. I will drop to 2 masters days the final week and skip my lessons. I might also try to cut each workout a bit shorter and drop the intensity a bit. Pushing off the wall after the turns seems to irritate my Achilles tendon almost as much as running.

That's my current taper plan. Any thoughts?



Hey Scott:

Questions on taper are tough because each of us respond differently to rest and recovery periods. In addition, your training load over the past four weeks and age come into play as well. If you've really taxed your body over the last month then a more extensive taper might be helpful.

I've concluded over the years that I need to have a slightly longer period where I back off more aggressive training to really be rested for race day. It's really hard to know what's right as there is no way to truly test and identify the optimal individual approach. What I do know is that when I have followed training plans (online and from my coadh) that had me engaged in solid training right up to the race with a limited taper, I've felt fatigued during the race. When I've allowed more time on the time, with lower training levels, my experience has been that race fatigue feeling as been lower. It could be mental. It could be real. I just don't know. But n the end, I figure I need to taper in a way that also has me feeling strongest BOTH physically and mentally.

In general terms, here's how I think about tapering for longer races:

1) Two weeks from race day my volume is cut 25% from the previous 4 week average. Final week my volume is cut by at least 60%. This looks pretty consistent with what you described in your Trainer Road plan.

2) My last long distance run/ride is 10 days from race day. Once I hit the 10 day window, I won't have any workouts exceeding an hour in length. It sounds like Trainer Road has you going a bit longer than this. I'm not saying your plan is wrong, I just found cutting the distance/time a bit more works better for me (this presumes a pretty aggressive level of training in the 6 weeks leading up to the race).

3) I'll substitute intensity for duration. So I'll go shorter, but each workout will have solid segments focused on race pace with limited intervals focused on running/riding slightly faster than race pace.

4) You won't gain any fitness during the last two weeks, only lose it. Any losses in fitness will be small. From an injury perspective, if you're nursing a sore Achilles then rest/ice is probably the best medicine. So, be careful on your runs. Get a little intensity but I probably wouldn't go longer than 40 minutes in any workout in the final couple of weeks.

5) Swims shouldn't be a problem. You've raced plenty of times at the Olympic distance. Pushing to 1.2 miles will be a piece of cake. Again, I would just focus on making sure your swim workouts aren't too taxing so you'll have fresh arms on race day.

6) I do very little two days out. Maybe a light run of 20 minutes. An easy spin of the same time. I don't even like walking around much.

On race day, watch your bike effort closely. My guess is you'll come out of the water feeling great. Your legs will be very fresh from the taper. The tendency is for your brain start thinking that because you feel fresh you can ride harder. 35 miles in, your legs let you know that was a mistake. You then pay the penalty for 13 miles on the run.

Have fun. Good luck!



2015-08-30 11:14 PM
in reply to: lutzman

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Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down

Just a fast check in.  I'm totally wiped out but I ran the Challenge Penticton Half today.  I was somewhat faster than in Chelan and I was able to "run" the entire HM (albeit very slowly) but it was another tough one.  I'm really stiff and sore again but I finished fairly well.

I'll write up a race report as soon as I can.

I think my next HIM will be a race with a flat bike ride and NO wind.  

2015-08-31 8:24 AM
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Subject: Back Among the Living

Hey Everyone!

You may have noticed I have been "away" for a few days.  Sorry about that!

Last Tuesday I had surgery during which they removed part of my pancreas and my entire spleen (the spleen was necessary because of the anatomy to get to the pancreas).  Long story short - In September of 2012 I was in ICU for several days with severe pancreatitis.  During that hospitalization they removed my gallbladder and I thought that was that.  Fast forward to July '15 when I started having some pain in my abdomen.  They did a CT Scan and discovered an "abnormality" on the tail of my pancreas.  The immediate assumption was that this was a result of the 2012 pancreatitis.  They attempted to do an ultrasound of the abnormality and determined it was a non-cancerous cyst, although they couldn't perform a full evaluation because of the location of the cyst..  The grave concern was that anything on the pancreas is likely to become cancerous and pancreatic cancer is universally fatal.  The question at that point was do we perform a biopsy or do we simply remove it.  I opted to have it removed given the consequences of pancreatic cancer.  When they went in, they discovered the cyst had become a tumor, which was successfully removed.  Final pathology reports are still pending, however preliminary reports indicate it was not cancerous and a whole team of doctors assure me that there is absolutely no reason to suspect malignancy.  They did the surgery laparoscopically so I was discharged 48-hours post-op.  What they don't tell you is that just because you are home doesn't mean you are healed.  They also fail to mention that any energy you had was left in the hospital bed.

I've not yet been medically cleared to lift much more weight than a cup of coffee.  The thought of running a mile, let alone an hour, is simply beyond comprehension right now.  My bikes stare at me from across the room, taunting me - almost as if to say, "We thought you were tougher than this."  As I look at the calendar I see that shorter, cooler days are rapidly approaching and I have come to the conclusion that the better part of valor is to look away from 2015 and lift my eyes towards the 2016 season.  Once I am medically cleared, I will begin base building and get back on track for a strong 2016.

This is the other side of being a Gray Guy/Gal.  When we maintain a high level of fitness it is easy to forget that our bodies are getting older.  Proper health, and proper health care becomes increasingly important with each passing year.  We all need to have a plan for when things don't go as planned.  We can let these little hiccups completely derail our fitness goals, or we can accept that there are occasional obstacles on the road to excellence and choose to persevere.  As for me, I just looked; Kona is still on the map.  My date with destiny in Hawaii remains unchanged.



Edited by k9car363 2015-08-31 8:26 AM
2015-08-31 1:55 PM
in reply to: EchoLkScott

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Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down

Originally posted by EchoLkScott

The days are definitely getting shorter!

My (I think) final triathlon is in two weeks - the Black Diamond Triathlon. This will be my first half-Iron distance race. Tomorrow, our tri-club is holding a one-day training camp on the Black Diamond course. If it isn't raining too hard, it should be fun!

After that I need to taper. Here's my plan - your thoughts would be appreciated:

Bike: I'm following the TrainerRoad Half-distance (low volume) training plan for the bike and it includes a fairly aggressive taper of volume. Last week was 5 1/2 hours, next week is 3 1/4 hours and the week of the triathlon is 2 hours. It maintains some intensity, but the workouts are shorter.

Run: Frankly, my volume has been pretty low over the last few weeks. I've been fighting some Achilles tendon soreness so I've been doing mostly short runs (5K). I'll drop the number of runs further in the final week. I don't want to deal with the Achilles tendon soreness on race day.

Swim: I swim 3 days a week with Masters team and have one day of lessons. I will drop to 2 masters days the final week and skip my lessons. I might also try to cut each workout a bit shorter and drop the intensity a bit. Pushing off the wall after the turns seems to irritate my Achilles tendon almost as much as running.

That's my current taper plan. Any thoughts?

Hey Scott,

A couple thoughts -

First, have you considered Kinesiology tape for your Achilles soreness?  I have had very good results improving nagging injuries/pain (Achilles tendonopathy, shin splints) with a couple of the athletes I have worked with.  Won't do any harm.  Here are a couple YouTube videos that may provide some guidance -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7OAD4zIBos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itpo-SkaR8o

As to the second part, your questions about taper - perhaps it will be helpful if we re-frame the question and look at it from a bit of a different perspective.  We all hear about tapering.  Indeed, an uninformed person might conclude that "tapering" is the magic bullet that will guarantee success on race day.  If only it were that easy.

At it's core, tapering is about freshness.  Tapering is about improving race day potential.  Tapering is not necessarily about reducing volume and/or intensity.

WHAT?

Yes, you read that correctly.  Tapering is NOT necessarily about reducing volume and/or intensity.  To think about it another way, tapering is about peaking your race day potential on race day.  So perhaps it will be helpful to replace the word tapering with peaking.  We want to peak for a race.  We want to peak our race day potential, or the ability to perform well, on race day.  With that thought in mind, let's talk about how to peak for a race.

There are three things we need to be mindful of as we train.  As we apply training stress to our body (swim/bike/run, etc.) we begin to build fitness.  Over time, our fitness climbs higher and higher, however we also begin to accumulate fatigue.  I am not referring to fatigue as in, "I want to go to sleep," rather I mean fatigue in the sense that your muscles are able to respond to your will.  If there is a high level of accumulated fatigue in your muscles; your muscles simply will not be able to physiologically provide a maximal effort.  Because of that accumulated fatigue in your muscles, your race day potential will be very low.

The goal and purpose of peaking then is to maintain fitness, while reducing fatigue, and increasing race day potential to a maximum level (note this definition is not predicated on reducing volume).

Let's put that on hold for a moment because there are two other concepts we need to look at before we tie this all together and look specifically at your race day preparation.

The first is 'specificity.'  Stated simply 'specificity' says that the closer you get to race day, the more your training looks like the race.  For example, if you are planning to run a 9:00/mile pace in an IM marathon next week, you aren't doing 6:30/mile intervals on the track this week.

The other concept I want to look at is this idea of 'fatigue.'  Perhaps for the sake of our discussion, it would be better to think in terms of 'residual fatigue.'  If I go ride my bike today at a medial effort for one-hour, how might that impact my ability to ride again tomorrow?  How about three days from now or next week?  The flip side of that question is, "If I DIDN'T have some sort of training stress last week, will I have residual fatigue this week?"

So, now, with all of that in mind, let's look at your final race preparation.

I submit that you have already had your taper and you should be looking at how to peak for the race, not further reduce your fitness. 

Let me explain what I mean.  I noticed your post on 8-25 in which you said, "I'm feeling OK about my fitness for the 70.3. I missed nearly half my workouts in the last two weeks"  Since the doctors aren't currently letting me do much more than drag a mouse across a mouse-pad, I looked at your training log and created a little spreadsheet to do a quick analysis.  I ignored the walking - yes, walking provides fitness, however unless you are doing MASSIVE miles walking (20+ miles/day for weeks), it isn't something you need to "recover" from.  I noted a couple of strength workouts, which I also ignored as they were relatively brief.  The swimming I hold somewhat separate.  Unless you are swimming overwhelming volume - in excess of 10K/day - overnight recovery from swimming is sufficient.  You have been putting in sufficient volume that 1.2 miles at a race pace around [STP + (2/3)] will prove to be little more than a warm-up, which is precisely why you have been doing the volume you have been doing.  That leaves cycling and running.  Here is your run/bike training for the last 8-weeks with variation against previous week and max week:

BIKERUNTOTAL (B/R)MINUTESOFF PREVOFF MAX
4:451:065:51351n/a-9.5%
3:211:364:57297-15/.4%-23.5%
4:401:346:1437425.9%-2.6%
4:182:006:183781.1%-2.6%
3:200:353:55235-37.8%-39.4%
1:000:341:3494-60.0%-75.8%
1:300:522:2814857.4%-61.9%
3:502:326:22388162.2%0.0%

As you can see, your volume was down significantly in each of the three weeks prior to last week.  THAT was your taper.  Looking at the run volume during those same weeks, you were well less than 50% of your typical volume so sadly, I suspect you also had some degree of fitness loss.  At this point, if it were me, I would be looking at something like 2-3 sessions per week in each discipline 30-45 minutes per session at race pace.  Something like:

Swim - STD WU, 12 x 100 @ STP + 3, 30 RI, 200 CD

Bike - 15' Z1 WU, build to 30' Z2 with 2/3 30" Z4 accelerations keeping cadence at 85-95

Run - 5' Z1 WU, build to 25' Z2 w/2-3 30" Z5 fartleks.

At this point, you are not going to be able to develop additional fitness without accumulating additional fatigue that will hamper you on race day.  Better to prepare your body for race day.  Get you body used to swimming at race pace, get your legs used to turning the pedals at race pace and get the legs used to running at race pace.

Hope that helps.  Good luck.



2015-08-31 2:05 PM
in reply to: k9car363

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Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down

Hey Scott,

One other quick thought on the Kinesiology tape.  It is waterproof and can be worn multiple days during swimming and showering.  Of course, like anything else, before you consider using it on race day, try it out in training to make sure it performs as you expect.

2015-08-31 9:14 PM
in reply to: k9car363

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East Wenatchee, Washington
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Originally posted by k9car363

Originally posted by EchoLkScott

The days are definitely getting shorter!

My (I think) final triathlon is in two weeks - the Black Diamond Triathlon. This will be my first half-Iron distance race. Tomorrow, our tri-club is holding a one-day training camp on the Black Diamond course. If it isn't raining too hard, it should be fun!

After that I need to taper. Here's my plan - your thoughts would be appreciated:

Bike: I'm following the TrainerRoad Half-distance (low volume) training plan for the bike and it includes a fairly aggressive taper of volume. Last week was 5 1/2 hours, next week is 3 1/4 hours and the week of the triathlon is 2 hours. It maintains some intensity, but the workouts are shorter.

Run: Frankly, my volume has been pretty low over the last few weeks. I've been fighting some Achilles tendon soreness so I've been doing mostly short runs (5K). I'll drop the number of runs further in the final week. I don't want to deal with the Achilles tendon soreness on race day.

Swim: I swim 3 days a week with Masters team and have one day of lessons. I will drop to 2 masters days the final week and skip my lessons. I might also try to cut each workout a bit shorter and drop the intensity a bit. Pushing off the wall after the turns seems to irritate my Achilles tendon almost as much as running.

That's my current taper plan. Any thoughts?

Hey Scott,

A couple thoughts -

First, have you considered Kinesiology tape for your Achilles soreness?  I have had very good results improving nagging injuries/pain (Achilles tendonopathy, shin splints) with a couple of the athletes I have worked with.  Won't do any harm.  Here are a couple YouTube videos that may provide some guidance -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7OAD4zIBos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itpo-SkaR8o

As to the second part, your questions about taper - perhaps it will be helpful if we re-frame the question and look at it from a bit of a different perspective.  We all hear about tapering.  Indeed, an uninformed person might conclude that "tapering" is the magic bullet that will guarantee success on race day.  If only it were that easy.

At it's core, tapering is about freshness.  Tapering is about improving race day potential.  Tapering is not necessarily about reducing volume and/or intensity.

WHAT?

Yes, you read that correctly.  Tapering is NOT necessarily about reducing volume and/or intensity.  To think about it another way, tapering is about peaking your race day potential on race day.  So perhaps it will be helpful to replace the word tapering with peaking.  We want to peak for a race.  We want to peak our race day potential, or the ability to perform well, on race day.  With that thought in mind, let's talk about how to peak for a race.

There are three things we need to be mindful of as we train.  As we apply training stress to our body (swim/bike/run, etc.) we begin to build fitness.  Over time, our fitness climbs higher and higher, however we also begin to accumulate fatigue.  I am not referring to fatigue as in, "I want to go to sleep," rather I mean fatigue in the sense that your muscles are able to respond to your will.  If there is a high level of accumulated fatigue in your muscles; your muscles simply will not be able to physiologically provide a maximal effort.  Because of that accumulated fatigue in your muscles, your race day potential will be very low.

The goal and purpose of peaking then is to maintain fitness, while reducing fatigue, and increasing race day potential to a maximum level (note this definition is not predicated on reducing volume).

Let's put that on hold for a moment because there are two other concepts we need to look at before we tie this all together and look specifically at your race day preparation.

The first is 'specificity.'  Stated simply 'specificity' says that the closer you get to race day, the more your training looks like the race.  For example, if you are planning to run a 9:00/mile pace in an IM marathon next week, you aren't doing 6:30/mile intervals on the track this week.

The other concept I want to look at is this idea of 'fatigue.'  Perhaps for the sake of our discussion, it would be better to think in terms of 'residual fatigue.'  If I go ride my bike today at a medial effort for one-hour, how might that impact my ability to ride again tomorrow?  How about three days from now or next week?  The flip side of that question is, "If I DIDN'T have some sort of training stress last week, will I have residual fatigue this week?"

So, now, with all of that in mind, let's look at your final race preparation.

I submit that you have already had your taper and you should be looking at how to peak for the race, not further reduce your fitness. 

Let me explain what I mean.  I noticed your post on 8-25 in which you said, "I'm feeling OK about my fitness for the 70.3. I missed nearly half my workouts in the last two weeks"  Since the doctors aren't currently letting me do much more than drag a mouse across a mouse-pad, I looked at your training log and created a little spreadsheet to do a quick analysis.  I ignored the walking - yes, walking provides fitness, however unless you are doing MASSIVE miles walking (20+ miles/day for weeks), it isn't something you need to "recover" from.  I noted a couple of strength workouts, which I also ignored as they were relatively brief.  The swimming I hold somewhat separate.  Unless you are swimming overwhelming volume - in excess of 10K/day - overnight recovery from swimming is sufficient.  You have been putting in sufficient volume that 1.2 miles at a race pace around [STP + (2/3)] will prove to be little more than a warm-up, which is precisely why you have been doing the volume you have been doing.  That leaves cycling and running.  Here is your run/bike training for the last 8-weeks with variation against previous week and max week:

BIKERUNTOTAL (B/R)MINUTESOFF PREVOFF MAX
4:451:065:51351n/a-9.5%
3:211:364:57297-15/.4%-23.5%
4:401:346:1437425.9%-2.6%
4:182:006:183781.1%-2.6%
3:200:353:55235-37.8%-39.4%
1:000:341:3494-60.0%-75.8%
1:300:522:2814857.4%-61.9%
3:502:326:22388162.2%0.0%

As you can see, your volume was down significantly in each of the three weeks prior to last week.  THAT was your taper.  Looking at the run volume during those same weeks, you were well less than 50% of your typical volume so sadly, I suspect you also had some degree of fitness loss.  At this point, if it were me, I would be looking at something like 2-3 sessions per week in each discipline 30-45 minutes per session at race pace.  Something like:

Swim - STD WU, 12 x 100 @ STP + 3, 30 RI, 200 CD

Bike - 15' Z1 WU, build to 30' Z2 with 2/3 30" Z4 accelerations keeping cadence at 85-95

Run - 5' Z1 WU, build to 25' Z2 w/2-3 30" Z5 fartleks.

At this point, you are not going to be able to develop additional fitness without accumulating additional fatigue that will hamper you on race day.  Better to prepare your body for race day.  Get you body used to swimming at race pace, get your legs used to turning the pedals at race pace and get the legs used to running at race pace.

Hope that helps.  Good luck.




This is fabulous!
2015-09-02 9:41 PM
in reply to: wenceslasz

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Penticton, BC
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down

So much for summer.  As soon as the smoke covered our valley last week we lost all our warmth.  On race day the water temp of the lake was 22.5C (about 72F) but with the wind the lake turned over and by the next day the water temp was significantly colder and yesterday the same fellow that measured the water on Saturday and Sunday measured the temp at 13.5C (about 56F).  Thats a pretty dramatic drop in two days.  

Today, I walked into the lake (just mid-calf deep) and the water was glacial cold.

The last couple days I've been trying to get things done that I've neglected for a while.  I'm finally getting back caught up a bit.  My triathlon season is done but I am considering registering for a local 20K "Run to the Tunnel" November 1st. and I'm looking at a couple GranFondo fun rides to keep me motivated.

I finished my race report:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=535587&posts=2&page=1#M5138276

It is quite long so don't feel obligated to read it.  I always have a good time and this race was fun as well.

I still have to get caught up on the last weeks postings.  

2015-09-03 1:32 PM
in reply to: k9car363

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270
1001002525
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Originally posted by k9car363

Hey Scott,

A couple thoughts -

First, have you considered Kinesiology tape for your Achilles soreness?  I have had very good results improving nagging injuries/pain (Achilles tendonopathy, shin splints) with a couple of the athletes I have worked with.  Won't do any harm.  Here are a couple YouTube videos that may provide some guidance -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7OAD4zIBos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itpo-SkaR8o

As to the second part, your questions about taper - perhaps it will be helpful if we re-frame the question and look at it from a bit of a different perspective.  We all hear about tapering.  Indeed, an uninformed person might conclude that "tapering" is the magic bullet that will guarantee success on race day.  If only it were that easy.

At it's core, tapering is about freshness.  Tapering is about improving race day potential.  Tapering is not necessarily about reducing volume and/or intensity.

WHAT?

Yes, you read that correctly.  Tapering is NOT necessarily about reducing volume and/or intensity.  To think about it another way, tapering is about peaking your race day potential on race day.  So perhaps it will be helpful to replace the word tapering with peaking.  We want to peak for a race.  We want to peak our race day potential, or the ability to perform well, on race day.  With that thought in mind, let's talk about how to peak for a race.

There are three things we need to be mindful of as we train.  As we apply training stress to our body (swim/bike/run, etc.) we begin to build fitness.  Over time, our fitness climbs higher and higher, however we also begin to accumulate fatigue.  I am not referring to fatigue as in, "I want to go to sleep," rather I mean fatigue in the sense that your muscles are able to respond to your will.  If there is a high level of accumulated fatigue in your muscles; your muscles simply will not be able to physiologically provide a maximal effort.  Because of that accumulated fatigue in your muscles, your race day potential will be very low.

The goal and purpose of peaking then is to maintain fitness, while reducing fatigue, and increasing race day potential to a maximum level (note this definition is not predicated on reducing volume).

Let's put that on hold for a moment because there are two other concepts we need to look at before we tie this all together and look specifically at your race day preparation.

The first is 'specificity.'  Stated simply 'specificity' says that the closer you get to race day, the more your training looks like the race.  For example, if you are planning to run a 9:00/mile pace in an IM marathon next week, you aren't doing 6:30/mile intervals on the track this week.

The other concept I want to look at is this idea of 'fatigue.'  Perhaps for the sake of our discussion, it would be better to think in terms of 'residual fatigue.'  If I go ride my bike today at a medial effort for one-hour, how might that impact my ability to ride again tomorrow?  How about three days from now or next week?  The flip side of that question is, "If I DIDN'T have some sort of training stress last week, will I have residual fatigue this week?"

So, now, with all of that in mind, let's look at your final race preparation.

I submit that you have already had your taper and you should be looking at how to peak for the race, not further reduce your fitness. 

Let me explain what I mean.  I noticed your post on 8-25 in which you said, "I'm feeling OK about my fitness for the 70.3. I missed nearly half my workouts in the last two weeks"  Since the doctors aren't currently letting me do much more than drag a mouse across a mouse-pad, I looked at your training log and created a little spreadsheet to do a quick analysis.  I ignored the walking - yes, walking provides fitness, however unless you are doing MASSIVE miles walking (20+ miles/day for weeks), it isn't something you need to "recover" from.  I noted a couple of strength workouts, which I also ignored as they were relatively brief.  The swimming I hold somewhat separate.  Unless you are swimming overwhelming volume - in excess of 10K/day - overnight recovery from swimming is sufficient.  You have been putting in sufficient volume that 1.2 miles at a race pace around [STP + (2/3)] will prove to be little more than a warm-up, which is precisely why you have been doing the volume you have been doing.  That leaves cycling and running.  Here is your run/bike training for the last 8-weeks with variation against previous week and max week:

BIKERUNTOTAL (B/R)MINUTESOFF PREVOFF MAX
4:451:065:51351n/a-9.5%
3:211:364:57297-15/.4%-23.5%
4:401:346:1437425.9%-2.6%
4:182:006:183781.1%-2.6%
3:200:353:55235-37.8%-39.4%
1:000:341:3494-60.0%-75.8%
1:300:522:2814857.4%-61.9%
3:502:326:22388162.2%0.0%

As you can see, your volume was down significantly in each of the three weeks prior to last week.  THAT was your taper.  Looking at the run volume during those same weeks, you were well less than 50% of your typical volume so sadly, I suspect you also had some degree of fitness loss.  At this point, if it were me, I would be looking at something like 2-3 sessions per week in each discipline 30-45 minutes per session at race pace.  Something like:

Swim - STD WU, 12 x 100 @ STP + 3, 30 RI, 200 CD

Bike - 15' Z1 WU, build to 30' Z2 with 2/3 30" Z4 accelerations keeping cadence at 85-95

Run - 5' Z1 WU, build to 25' Z2 w/2-3 30" Z5 fartleks.

At this point, you are not going to be able to develop additional fitness without accumulating additional fatigue that will hamper you on race day.  Better to prepare your body for race day.  Get you body used to swimming at race pace, get your legs used to turning the pedals at race pace and get the legs used to running at race pace.

Hope that helps.  Good luck.




Thanks Steve and Scott,

Sorry I've been slow to respond - my daughter has been in the hospital. She's home now, but still pretty sick.

Yes, life has gotten in the way of training in mid-August. There were a few days away at a wedding were I hurt my back, and my daughter has been in the hospital on a couple of occasions. Its not what I had planned but, in spite of that, my "race rehearsal" (1-day camp) on Sunday went pretty well. I did the full bike course and part of the run and swim courses. It was 4.5 hours of S/B/R and I still felt strong at the end!

Scott, your analysis is remarkably complete and I will follow your advice on the remaining workouts. No taper, just get my body used to race pace over the next nine days.

Thanks!
2015-09-03 3:31 PM
in reply to: k9car363

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344
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Spencer, New York
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Originally posted by k9car363

Hey Scott,

One other quick thought on the Kinesiology tape.  It is waterproof and can be worn multiple days during swimming and showering.  Of course, like anything else, before you consider using it on race day, try it out in training to make sure it performs as you expect.




I wore kinesio tape on one or both knees whenever I ran for more than a year & a half. My observation was that yes, it made my knees feel better and allowed me to keep running, My feeling though is that it allowed me to put off doing the things I needed to do to finally heal; and the knees/legs got a lot worse before they finally got better. The "things I needed to do" being primarily core & hip strengthening. I haven't used the kinesio tape for over a year.
My new improved approach this year was much better: BEFORE my new injuries became debilitating (hamstrings this time), I got myself into the hands of a really really knowledgeable physical therapist and did exactly what he said. Scott I, I highly recommend you do the same with your achilles. I had to go through a sports physician as well, also highly knowledgeable. Try not to go to anyone who is not him/herself an athlete, and if he/she doesn't take seriously your athletic committment, find someone else.

In other matters: all my west coast friends, I really feel for you who are living with all that smoke, not to mention watching your forests (& some houses) get devastated. Not good on any level.

To those with a tri left, or some running races: good luck! do well!
Happy fall ( the season, not an event) to everyone. Cross-country season starts next week and I'm jazzed to surpass last year.

Deb


2015-09-03 3:52 PM
in reply to: EchoLkScott

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Official BT Coach
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Indianapolis, Indiana
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Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down

Originally posted by EchoLkScott

Yes, life has gotten in the way of training in mid-August. There were a few days away at a wedding were I hurt my back, and my daughter has been in the hospital on a couple of occasions. Its not what I had planned but, in spite of that, my "race rehearsal" (1-day camp) on Sunday went pretty well. I did the full bike course and part of the run and swim courses. It was 4.5 hours of S/B/R and I still felt strong at the end!

Scott, your analysis is remarkably complete and I will follow your advice on the remaining workouts. No taper, just get my body used to race pace over the next nine days.

Thanks!

Scott,

First and foremost, hope your daughter is doing OK.  Everything else pales in comparison to that.

Truly it wasn't my intent to criticize your training over the past few weeks.  Life happens!  Especially to those of us competing at the age group level.  This is where having a dynamic plan that can quickly adjust to life's inconsistencies becomes so important.

Good luck on race day!  Let your body be your guide and you will do fine.

2015-09-03 4:00 PM
in reply to: wenceslasz

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Official BT Coach
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Indianapolis, Indiana
Gold member
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down

Originally posted by wenceslasz

So much for summer.  As soon as the smoke covered our valley last week we lost all our warmth.  On race day the water temp of the lake was 22.5C (about 72F) but with the wind the lake turned over and by the next day the water temp was significantly colder and yesterday the same fellow that measured the water on Saturday and Sunday measured the temp at 13.5C (about 56F).  Thats a pretty dramatic drop in two days.  

Today, I walked into the lake (just mid-calf deep) and the water was glacial cold.

The last couple days I've been trying to get things done that I've neglected for a while.  I'm finally getting back caught up a bit.  My triathlon season is done but I am considering registering for a local 20K "Run to the Tunnel" November 1st. and I'm looking at a couple GranFondo fun rides to keep me motivated.

I finished my race report:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=535587&posts=2&page=1#M5138276

It is quite long so don't feel obligated to read it.  I always have a good time and this race was fun as well.

I still have to get caught up on the last weeks postings.  

George,

I read your race report.  That was one of the best race reports I have ever read.

All the way through, I kept having the overwhelming thought, "THIS is why we do triathlon."  Your love of the sport of triathlon is amazing and more powerful than you know.  Having been sidelined for several months now, your race report served to re-ignite the fire to compete - if for no other reason than to be there among like minded individuals pursuing personal excellence.

Thank you for that!

2015-09-04 10:04 AM
in reply to: k9car363

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270
1001002525
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Originally posted by k9car363

Scott,

First and foremost, hope your daughter is doing OK.  Everything else pales in comparison to that.

Truly it wasn't my intent to criticize your training over the past few weeks.  Life happens!  Especially to those of us competing at the age group level.  This is where having a dynamic plan that can quickly adjust to life's inconsistencies becomes so important.

Good luck on race day!  Let your body be your guide and you will do fine.




I'm sorry if my response seemed a bit defensive - that wasn't really my intent. I think your analysis was spot-on, and I really appreciate the time and effort you spent on it! It changed my training strategy for the time I have left. Thanks Scott!

2015-09-04 10:07 AM
in reply to: ok2try

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270
1001002525
Subject: RE: It's a weekend with summer winding down
Originally posted by ok2try

I wore kinesio tape on one or both knees whenever I ran for more than a year & a half. My observation was that yes, it made my knees feel better and allowed me to keep running, My feeling though is that it allowed me to put off doing the things I needed to do to finally heal; and the knees/legs got a lot worse before they finally got better. The "things I needed to do" being primarily core & hip strengthening. I haven't used the kinesio tape for over a year.
My new improved approach this year was much better: BEFORE my new injuries became debilitating (hamstrings this time), I got myself into the hands of a really really knowledgeable physical therapist and did exactly what he said. Scott I, I highly recommend you do the same with your achilles. I had to go through a sports physician as well, also highly knowledgeable. Try not to go to anyone who is not him/herself an athlete, and if he/she doesn't take seriously your athletic committment, find someone else.

In other matters: all my west coast friends, I really feel for you who are living with all that smoke, not to mention watching your forests (& some houses) get devastated. Not good on any level.

To those with a tri left, or some running races: good luck! do well!
Happy fall ( the season, not an event) to everyone. Cross-country season starts next week and I'm jazzed to surpass last year.

Deb


Thanks Deb,

There is a physical therapy group that sponsor our triathlon team. I imagine they understand athletes. I think I'll make an appointment with them.
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