PLMsbr (JD) Group - FULL (Page 10)

In response to Trinity

Congrats on the HM Mike!  Great time too!  I hope all the fast runners in this mentor group rub off on me!  I can't even hit 8:12 for a 5k yet, let alone for 13.1 miles.

 - a year ago I wasn't a runner at all, hadn't run more than 4 miles ever.  Today, i have a marathon, a Half Marathon, a sprint and olympic tri under my belt - which I had to throw away since I lost 60 pounds. 

I never thought of myself as fast, and I still don't, but I have to marvel at the human body and what it can do when you push it and stick with it.  Like JD says, you don't really know how fast you can go until you try.

If all goes as planned, I will be an Ironman after this year.  It is gratifying to have a site like this to do our bragging, etc. because my friends truly don't understand - most of them think I am weird now - and even my wife doesn't really understand what I am doing, although she is getting there.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who post because it is a good outlet, and thanks to JD for taking the time to help us all out.

Nice to hear from you again, Shawna.  Keep plugging away.  The snow has to melt sometime and you'll be ready for it.  20 minutes is a solid amount of time.  I'm no speed demon, but I've done a couple of marathons now.  A year and a half ago I started by running 3 miles over 30 minutes a few times a week - and it was a chore.  One great thing about endurance athletics is how quickly you can improve with persistent effort.

Thanks for the swimming tips JD and Baowolf.  I had a better swim today and I used the catchup drill and a couple of things from the TI book I have.  Someday I'll find my way into a TI seminar.  For now I need to keep up the frequency of my workouts.  Two weeks ago I was  very comfortable and made some rapid improvements, but I only swam twice during a rest week and then had some scheduling hiccups last week that limited my time.  It was amazing how fast I lost the little gains I had made. 

Great work everyone.  

Will

I probably already said my races, but Full Mary (just completed 1/18/09), NorCal 10 mile run 3/7/09, a HIM (still deciding which) end of may/beginning of June and the main event Vineman full IM 8/1/09 with probably a rematch on the January Mary or maybe a different location.  I am torn about whether to do a half mary or full mary at the Avenue of the Giants May 4th ish or possibly the Eugene Marathon (half or full) as I know someone who is actually going to compete in it.  I really need to just see how I fit into my new training schedule, it is much different from my previous one. 

As for running in cold weather, as long as you have decent footing, all you really need is a pair of windproof leggings and jacket (bike jersey whatever) with an underlayer, some kind of gloves and something to cover your ears.  With that setup 20 F is way warm and you will have the jersey unzipping after a few minutes to regulate your temp and probably the hat off as well (goes in back pocket of jersey).  If the temp drops below 10 you may want a full ninja head cover with the slit for your eyes and nose/mouth.  The lighting and footing are the only limiters for me in the winter, I don't want to slip and pull something. 

Don't worry about the slowness or distance for running.  You just keep at it and stay within yourself for the first year and see how far you get.  In the second year you can think about what to do to get fast.   

Hi Shawna - great to hear from you! No need to worry about hogging the thread, the more posts and interaction the better!

Running, swimming, biking, elliptical - sounds like you're keeping busy and still working hard. Let me know if you find a particular race you are interested in doing and we can look at making sure you have the training to get there and have fun

Don't ask me about freezing weather, I've lived in FL, CA, and now TX; so I whine if it gets below 60...

My recommendation for cold weather running (or biking) is layers. Keeps you warm, and you can peel a layer off if you start getting too warm. Arm warmers are a wonderful thing, and you can use them as temperature control by how far up the arm you have them pulled. And make sure you are using good running gear that wicks away moisture; as being wet in cold and windy weather can be pretty awful.

Keep those posts coming, and keep remembering that you are doing more than about 90% of the people out there, so be proud!

Just be cautious on pushing the pace on the longer runs; you still want those to be in a somewhat comfortable zone. As you push the pace on the shorter runs, you'll find the long run pace gets pushed up a little as well. Although I did make a mental change on the long runs to think in terms of how hard I was breathing/HR, etc.; and focusing on a good, steady pace -> as opposed to thinking in terms of "slow".

That half IM is sneaking up fast, isn't it? Time flies when you are having fun...

Good morning all!  R&R week is coming to a close and I feel rested, strong, and ready for another 3 weeks of base building.

I've decided to run the 10k on 2/14.  I think it will be a better test of my fitness than the 5k.  However this is only my second 10k so I'm looking for some input on race strategy.  My last 10k was in September.  I was nursing a bad knee but still managed a 54:10.  I would love to break 50:00 but that might be pushing it.

So what is a good 10k race strategy?  My 5k strategy is to go out fast and try to hang on since it is such a short race but I doubt that will work for a 10k.  What is everybody's favorite way to race 10k's?  Thanks for the input.

Ya sounds like a good idea to not do another full mary so close to the IM.  I have read that putting a HIM in a month or two out is recommended as a long workout day and to fine tune nutrition, pacing, etc.  The one that looks like alot of fun, however is only 5 weeks out (Pacific Crest HIM).  That leaves 1 week of recovery 1 week moderate, possibly with a really long bike 3 weeks out and then taper. That might work with the long bike 2 weeks after the HIM and then taper into the IM.  It means I would have to front load the training  a ton though.

Another posibility is the Boise 70.3, 7 weeks out that would allow 1 week recover, 1 week moderate, then a hard week, rest, hard and taper.  This one more cleanly fits into the whole pattern of stress thing I have read, but please toss in some input this is all new teritory. 

Actually I read some more stuff and I think I will go with the Boise 70.3, to allow the extra 2 weeks of recovery.  It should also keep my long and recovery weeks in synch with the IM race date with taper.    

My favorite 10K strategy (good or not TBD...) starts with a couple very short sprints a few minutes before the race starts. When I first start running fast, I always have that shock to the system where the HR shoots up and the lungs gasp a bit; so I do a couple fast sprints to get that feeling out of the way. For the actual race, I break it up into 2/2/1/1 segments (mentally). First two I go out pretty hard, but feeling like I could go a little faster if I needed to. Miles 3 and 4 I try to pick that pace up slightly. With 2 miles to go, I start calculating how much fuel is left in the tank, and try to maintain or maybe go a tiny bit faster (in reality, I'm probably just working harder to maintain the same pace...). Once I get to the last 1.2, I pretty much use up whatever I have left and sprint to the finish.

How about some of you other guys (and gal); any tips our thoughts on running the 10K distance?

Wow, if my notes are correct; we now have you, triscruggs, and mtnbkr all doing Boise 70.3! Maybe I need to find a way to get out there in June

Seven weeks sounds like a pretty good gap. By the end of the second week you should be back into decent training (assuming you are in IM shape; your recovery from the half should be good). 2 more weeks of peak training, then 3 weeks to taper. If you feel real fatigued/over-trained during that heavy period starting a couple weeks after Boise, you can try taking a day (or even two) off at the beginning of the week after your long weekend workouts. Trust your overall training plan and don't panic about taking a day to rest if you need it.

Thanks for the 10k tips JD.  I finally put my 2009 race plan together.  JD and whoever else would like to chime in, what do you think?

I had a good weekend, a 2 hour bike and a 10 mile run.  I went out hard on my run, and ended up slowing down and going at a better pace.  I saw a coyote the size of a wolf too.  Scared the heck out of me.

Anyway, I need to hit it hard today to work off all the crap I ate during the superbowl yesterday.

I can relate to the over-indulgence due to the SuperBowl.

My weekend pretty much sucked training-wise.  I was wrapping up an R&R week and went out to do my long run but had cut it back to 7 miles.  I thought it would be a piece of cake coming off a reduced load week but it was one of the toughest runs I've done.  Body just did not want to go and had no energy.  Within a few hours after the run both ankles felt like they had been tweaked and my legs felt horrible.

I had a 2 hour ride scheduled for yesterday but due to family stuff and SuperBowl stuff it was only going to be a 1 hour ride.  I was still feeling like junk (low energy) though and decided to blow it off.  I think I'm feeling better today.  I feel like I've got some energy and my ankles feel fine but we'll see how the swim goes.

Superbowl Sunday - we should just make it a national holiday...  and all take Monday off.  I got in 2.5 hrs on the bike yesterday.  I also cut things short because of Superbowl parties...  I don't know if I had the extra hour I was supposed to do in me anyway.  A string of night shifts killed my weekend workouts.  Any of you ever tried to train and work nights?  Ay carumba... 

But I'm at my R&R week now.  I'm off to cross-train - in Whistler!  I don't know how much internet time I'll get in, so I hope you all have a great week.   Hopefully I'll come back as charged up as you all sound. 

Will

trinity - your race schedule looks fine to me. That's a lot of races for the first year, but since they are mostly sprint that shouldn't be a problem. See how life, training, time, budget, etc. all line up and don't feel guilty if you end up missing a couple. I did about 3 tri's a year my first couple years, mostly because it was more of a background hobby at the time. You'll get some great experience this year!

Nice... hope that clavicle pain is gone for good!

Sounds like the SuperBowl got to all of us to some degree. I ended up getting in most of my bike and cut the run just a little short; and just walked in to the SB party in time for kickoff.

Been a long, long time since I did night shifts, but I remember it pretty much wiping me out. Have a great time at Whistler. I'm gonna miss out on skiing this year, which is really a bummer (just no time/money for another vacation).

OK, let's do a quick look at training for the past week...

I am 2 weeks out from the Austin Marathon; which I'm doing as basically a supported training run on my way to the Boston Marathon in April. So, last week was big running week for me; did over 40 miles with a long of 20 on Saturday. Got the bike going again, since I am planning on doing LoneStar 1/2 IM in early April. About 120 total miles, with long of 53 on Sunday. Usual 3x swimming with each day distances between 3100 and 3750 yards.

trinity: looks like you're doing fine; looking fwd to seeing how that 10K goes. You still have plenty of time before your first sprint and your long distances are already up there. To the extent that you can do it and enjoy what you're doing, start emphasizing the bike after that 10K.

baowolf: nice times on those runs, and bike looks strong too. The way your swim times are coming down, this will be an interesting year for you.

triscruggs: you're doing great. You say it yourself in your logs, though - listen to your body Smart use of the logs, tracking how things go and learning from it. As you learn about how you react to different schedules, training volumes, etc.; you keep tweaking your plans and maximizing the effectiveness of each workout.

shawnawrites: nothing in your logs, but from your update last week it sounds like you're still plugging along and doing great; so just keep that up! You do a great job of finding creative ways to get your workouts in, rather than using excuses to not do anything. Excellent approach.

mtnbkr: great progress on the swim, as mentioned. Running looks pretty good... but where's the bike?   Just kidding, you'd probably kill me on the bike.

pa10er2: try not to get eaten by wild animals.... congrats on the two hour bike and 10 mile run. How are you feeling about the swim? April is coming up fast, isn't it?

OK, time for us all to go work off those SuperBowl party pigouts!

JD

I got some decent workouts in last week, nothing too long except the one 60 mile bike ride on Saturday, but building up more frequent shorter workouts to fit into my day better, seems to be working. 

 I am basically doing an Oly on Monday and Friday (17-20 mile bike, 6 to 9 mile run and 3000 yard swim). 

Hopefuly I can brick the bike, run, bike today and the bike, run, run tomorrow. 

The 3000 yard swim is still long for me.  I can do it, but slowly.  Having no lake/pool access for the last 2-3 months was not so helpful for the swim I'm affraid.  Hopefully now getting in a couple 3000 yard swims a week will help me feel stronger in that, although a third one would be nice, I just can't make that drive more than twice a week.  

Hope everyone's training is coming along this week.

 And wow that is alot of races for one year, you are going to be soo buisy .

The secretary was going to put a short note about my marathon completion in our monthly "whats going on" newsletter thing, but my boss decided to yank it.  I can always count on him to not be supportive of well anything.  The world needs more people like him... to retire early.  

Yeah, we sure wouldn't want to publicize people taking on challenges and doing something great for themselves. Next thing you know you'll have all sorts of healthy, energized, positive people around the office...

There's no way I'll "kill you on the bike" JD but I do plan on getting out this week to start getting some riding in.

BTW...it's been interesting to keep track of my weight. Since mid-Nov I've gone from 153lbs to 147. Nov is when I started swimming and running more regular. That's when I joined Gold's Gym. My %body fat was 21. I'm going to have it checked again in March. I'm 5'8'' and do see less of that "love handle" I was developing. Once you get to be my age that handle just shows up out of no where! I have cut way back on my milk chocolate consumption, although I refuse to cut back on icecream. Instead of the chocolate, which I generally eat for a snack at work, I'm eating apples, yogurt, string cheese. I'm trying to up my protein intake. I am using HammerNutrition Recoverite after workouts and Whey before bed. I've been using Perpetuem and Heed for several years, especially for long distance biking.

I am curious, does anyone else use Hammer products?..............Tom www.hammernutrition.com

In regards to Hammer Products, I use their stuff.  I like it, mostly I like their handbook which gives a great guide to fueling and what kind of products you should be using.  It is a good guideline and a big help to me when I do anything longer than 2 hours.

I just tried Perpeteum for the first time on a 2 hour run that turned out to be only 1 1/2 hours.  A big part of fueling appears to be practicing and experimenting, so I used their book as a guide.

By the way, the best thing I have had during a race was orange slices and Cola - during my HM a couple of weeks ago.  Way better than any gel I've ever had.

In regards to Hammer Products, I use their stuff.  I like it, mostly I like their handbook which gives a great guide to fueling and what kind of products you should be using.  It is a good guideline and a big help to me when I do anything longer than 2 hours.

I just tried Perpeteum for the first time on a 2 hour run that turned out to be only 1 1/2 hours.  A big part of fueling appears to be practicing and experimenting, so I used their book as a guide.

By the way, the best thing I have had during a race was orange slices and Cola - during my HM a couple of weeks ago.  Way better than any gel I've ever had.