THE SLAYER RULES-FULL Up (Page 10)

I am doing swim session today (done) and tomorrow, along with stretching. My right foot is bruised out from running so I have to heal it up by refraining. Weird, I don't know the cause of this. It's right beneath the ankle and hurts when walking.

I joined Triathlon club officially, although I'm active on a daily basis on this site for 2y already. Road bike in plan in the next 30 days (second hand, but decent, I hope). Logging my sessions once a week on average. Empty logs does not mean inactivity. I'm reading your posts regularly and I am very glad to be a part of this thread because we already somehow got to know each other. We won't write down anything just to write a post, which is very important.

As far as heart rate monitor is concerned, I believe it's very important, but not for a beginner. You can have all the equipment you want, new tri bike, power meters, golden running shoes, your own pool, but it simply does not mean success. Getting to know your own limits through various temptations and difficult situation is what matters the most. Volume, volume, volume...

p.s. thank you for your inspires, I appreciate them very much.

My first Marathon race is in 2 months, I plan to do 35k in 2 weeks, and 4 weeks after that 38-39k.

Thank you all for replying about the HR zones and proper training. I think I need to run even slower then i do now probably a minute slower per mile then what i am running now to be in Z2. For me that would be a 10 min/mile

As far as this weekend training I did a 5 mile run last night and then killed some sushi

Right now I'm about to go on the trainer for about an hour or so and then tomorrow is another run probably a 7 miler.

Great to see everyone else ramping up and training. Next week will be my first week of full Triathlon training in more then a month so this includes swimming for the first time since end of October so that should be fun.

finally broke the surface in the pool in 2012! 4250yds bang! tomorrow a bigger z2 bike and another swim, with possibly some trails at Botanical Gardens for good measure...

Keep it coming. i think we should have Peter tell us how he intends to realize his potential at IMCOZ this time around. Don't y'all want to hear from the man?

I did a 5 mile run last night and then killed some sushi

@phatknot - of course we want to hear from Peter

p.s. anyone coming to Europe this year?

Cool!

How much did you pay/how much will you pay for the services? What did you get the help out from the most?

BAM is right! and I nailed my 3 hour trainer ride with a few run  miles chucked in. Have to swim more often though.

Peter is not getting off that easy. If his coach was so good last time around, he would have finished up without his wife carrying him along the last bit (or so she said). What you got other than pace booty and a coach to think for you, you cock?

And the Slayer wants to know what y'all got done other than promise me some good volume?

Good solid weekend, swim Friday, run Sat and then bike and bike again today. As Slayer mentioned I got another PB yesterday - v surprised as I bettered the one I got on New Years Day. My target for this year was to get under 30 mins for a 5 k and this was set when I was at 33. 47 but I'm now down to 30' 54'' so I think I should re-evaluate. 

Re: Big Cow half, don't think this is going to be the year graduate to a half, I've just not got the time to prepare with all the travel for work so just don't think I could do it without injury, maybe next year? 

I may make it down to support though depending on other races at that time. 

What are peoples opinion on tri bars, I have a lot of discomfort in my back at anything more than a 90 minute ride. Is this just a practice thing? Will this be improved by the addition of Tri-bars or will it throw everything out of whack? 

Any ideas appreciated!

Kate, I think the middle distance (70.3) is attainable with proper training and pacing on race day but only you know the answer to that. Would love to connect but its cool either way.

As to aerobars, the bigger question is my mind is can you afford a tri-bike. if so, it is so worth it. last year peter said tri was his country club, and thats how i view it. we only have so much time to do this stuff, so i am going to enjoy it to its fullest if that means cutting costs somewhere else. clearly aero is better than non aero, but the bars are a substitute for a tri bike as the shifters are not on the horns. this makes for a bit of a hassle. so if you can/want to get the tri bike, do it asap and get a proper fit and start accommodating the position. it'll make you faster and more comfortable. fit is key though as my IMCDA showed...

where you at everyone? get back here if you are hiding!

My wife hired the girl so I have no idea how much it cost nor am I in the position to ask. The biggest advantage of having a coach is she would review my training daily and and talk or text me with my next w/o. If I missed a w/o she would figure out how to work it back into my plan without trashing myself. The volume of training it takes to finish an IM is incredible.  You saw yourself that a long run can knock you down for several days. It takes a  smooth steady build to get to IM distance. 

FWIW the girl I am considering now is about 200 a month

I'm not trying to get off easy but am truly a time constrained athlete. Not a cop out or an excuse but a reality. I will banter on about what I did, what worked and what I will change. My first IM was not impressive but my next one will go well.  

Nutrition,

Please don't take this as right or wrong but this is what I did. I cleaned up my diet at left out all fatty foods, fast foods and sodas. I lost about 10 lbs in the first week of a tough build. I made it up by keeping nuts at work and grazing on them during the day. I also followed hard workouts with a can of ensure.

My belief during racing was to take in as many calories as my gut could tolerate. 250/hr was the goal 500 was better. My gels were about 250 per pack. I would suck down one every 30 minutes. It got old after a while and I questioned whether a little protein was needed. I started alternating peanut butter crackers, Gummi bears, gels and Payday candy bars. Nutrition was fine but I am going to transition into liquids only for the next time. I am also going to drop to 300 cals/hr. I will do this in training first. 

Swim

I thought I was a pretty good swimmer. I always did well in swim team as a kid but never went further with it after 6th grade or so. Was humbled at my first few OWS. I hired a swim coach a couple of years ago. She was awesome. She beat the hell out of me. She would jump in the pool and pace me. I was down to consistent 1:20/100s.  The problem was it took a lot of kicking and trashed my ability to bike and swim. I don't have masters available locally and swim by myself. I don't worry too much about the swim at IM distance because 10-15 minutes saved or lost during an IM swim doesn't mean anything in the big picture. Once I get my fitness built back up I will do 20x200 2-3 days per week. (Secret formula of a famous IM coach)

At Coz my swim was easy. The water is crystal clear. Buoy 1 went smooth because I was wide in the mid pack. Buoy 2 I tried to cut close. It was a disaster. Wall to wall people with arms and feet everywhere. I could barely move forward. After we turned that buoy   I was able to find fast feet in front of me and followed them to the exit. I came out of the water feeling as good as I got in. I was able to run smoothly to the bike.

Bike

I biked everywhere. If I needed to go somewhere I would figure out how to get there by bike or at least take my bike in the car and bike home. I biked to work and the y for swimming. I have mixed feelings about whether the short segments were a benefit.  This tine I plan to put more emphasis on my run but I will still get the 100-120 mile rides in. These rides take 5-8 hours so you have to schedule them and make sure they happen.

I did the time saver Spinnervals last year thinking I could maintain fitness by increasing intensity. My bike fitness fell. This year I plan to maintain my volume.

Apart from your run, which is big and you have not mentioned a plan yet so I will save a discussion of that for later, therein seems to be your biggest problems. Namely

1. how do you get the time to train?

2. how do you get her to buy in?

As you said, what's the point if you are not ready or are just going to suffer all over again? Can you make any life/work changes, have any frank discussions, etc. that can help answer these questions in the affirmative?

I just sold my road bike to a 57 year old fit AG/Clyde type of guy who was in insurance business. Long story short: Says to me, we started tri about the same time, how have you done 3 IMs and I have only done one 70.3? I say don't worry about me, worry about yourself. How come you haven't done one yet if you are so passionate?You are 57 years old mate, you may be running out of time. At 57 you need to be pursuing your passion.

He says to me, well the economy tanked and it hit me very hard. I just can't find time to train and some other reasons/excuses. I don't ask him why, but thank my lucky stars that I can find the time and support to do so and hope that he can too. We are all hoping you can find the time and support Peter because we know you are a bigballer if you had more support/time to train!

EDIT to add: and if you don't that ain't the end of the world either.  You may need to come to terms with not doing IMs but that's no so bad. I am doing a bunch of 70.3s and no IM this year and it ain't the highest mountains but its still manageable and fulfilling to some degree.