Ironman Florida 2014 : Official Thread (Page 10)

Its probably not a medical issue.  The 220 - your age is notoriously not accurate.  HR is a good tool but I would not hang your hat on it 100% because its a TOOL.  Heat esp will effect HR and cause it to drift up over the course of your workout.  My best suggestion would be to hire a coach if you can afford it because its really invaluable.  We are all individuals and for better or for worse those plans are not one size fits all.  Either that do the gold membership here so you have someone you can bounce things off of or try a mentor group.  Perhaps your Sports doc will be able to help. Good luck

Originally posted by midwesttrimom THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I appreciate all the feedback on condos in the Panama City area!! I booked a room on the 12th floor of the Shores of Panama from Wed-Sun nights and my kids and husband can all stay comfortably with me! My kids are going to actually feel like it's a VACATION instead of a boring trip to the Ironman (what is possibly boring about that anyway???). I saved over $500 as well! That is huge! The hotel was very nice in refunding all but $40 of my fees so that worked out just fine. They completely understood. Thanks again! CANNOT WAIT...but I guess I better get back to training or I won't be ready for the real reason I am headed to Florida. I would certainly make a great spectator, though.

seriously great decision.   It might be 1/2 mile -3/4 of a mile from the venue. VERY walkable AND a full kitchen multiple bathrooms and bedrooms, indoor outdoor pools and hot tubs and WASHER ANS DRYER, Plus you and your family won't be tripping over each other.  Look into your husband maybe taking the kids on a dolphin watch Friday.  You can take a nap the family does something fun and different win win win. Plus they can go play on the beach.  I think there is a mini golf place not far away either

I just got back from an epic South America vacation with my grown kids.  One week of skiing in Chile, and a week in Costa Rica, hiking, canyoneering, ziplines, and scuba diving.  No bike riding, running, or swimming unless you count 50 yards in a hotel swimming pool.    Time to get back in the saddle.  Hope I can get ready by Nov 3.  That's only two and a half months away.  Yikes!

I'm sure my training suffered, but my attitude is 100% better.  Here we go, the 'final' push.

I wish I could go on vacation.  I wish anything made me happy anymore

I did Steelhead 70.3 on the 10th and is was a disaster. Swim was meh, I was really happy with my bike and came off feeling great and was ready to have a decent run.  I crumped and crumped HARD with on 3 miles and it quickly turned into a death march of epic proportions. I don't think I ran one of the last 10 miles.  I will not finish FL if things go that badly in November.  I am very upset about the whole thing because for me my running was coming along pretty well going into that race and I just imploded.  No idea why either.  I did NOT go too hard on the bike. took it pretty easy in fact, it was not hot for me and I sweated WAY less than I usually do on the bike.  Took in enough calories and just BOOM.  I'm very disheartened

thanks. the thing is for me that training is very much my mental health thing.  I am VERY cranky if I don't train.  so I am soldiering forward the best I can.  My hip is very unhappy with me right now. 

Generally what I use on the bike is a bottle of pretty concentrated Perpetuem.  The bottle is marked off in hours.  That way I can be sure I am taking my prescribed amount each hour.  I usually mix a five hour bottle, and have a three hour cold bottle in my special needs bag.  Over time I figured out that I need 1.5 scoops per hour.  I supplement that with a PowerBar gel every 45 min to hour.  Or more if I want it.  Add to that an occasional bananna or whatever from aide stations.  I mix gatoraide 1/2 strength and that's what I drink as I need it.  My nutrition is all time based.

I use an aerobottle for gatoraide and have a bento box for gels, and put the Perpetuem in my bike frame bottle holder.   -- for long training rides I have a double water bottle holder mounted behind my seat.  -- supplemented by stops at convenience stores.

You should know what they serve on the course and practice with that if you plan to use it.

Plan B is gels and aide station food only.

You are very wise to consider this now while you have many long training rides left to experiment.  I suggest that you also have a plan B and maybe even a plan C for nutrition.  You may reach a point in the race where your nutrition simply will not work for you any more.

Hope this helps.

I made my condo and air reservations Monday!  I suppose that means I'm really going.

Staying at Shores of Panama in the same condo I used last year.  When you don't have to look for something new it gets real easy.

Originally posted by midwesttrimom

Originally posted by Sulik24 Hello all, I have been experimenting a lot with nutrition on the bike but I am not sure I have it down yet. I am curious to hear what others are doing. Please share as I'd like to try out some new ideas on my rides this weekend. 1. What are you eating/drinking? 2. Are you basing it on time? Distance? Or feeling? 3. Do you have a calorie or carb count you follow? 4. How do you transport it on your bike during training/race? In a box? In your jersey? Stopping back at the car? I am especially interested in anyone who is using a more natural food approach versus all Gu/gels but am interested in everyone's opinions. Thanks for the ideas. Barbara Ann

I am doing the same but so far I have been doing "something" about every 30 minutes. I take one Bonk Breaker, one granola bar, a bag of Gu chews, 2 Gu packets, and some Hammer Electrolyte tablets on my bike. For hydration I have my front mount water bottle filled with water and my lower bottle filled with Gatorade or Powerade. I typically go through both of those bottles and stop to refill with water. I may invest in a rear mount bottle holder (2 more bottles there) and I think that would almost get me through a 6-6:30 ride?? I still don't really know if that is enough. The items I just mentioned have been for rides between 4-4:30. So, guessing I will add another Bonk Breaker and at least one more Gu (non-caffeinated) for the full Ironman distance. I think I need a plan!!!! Love hearing what others are doing. So far, however, I have not bonked out and have felt really good on my rides. Good enough to hop off and run a few miles (but maybe not 26.2).

The longer I do this stuff the simpler I try to make it. 

-Fluids I use skratch.  I really like it.  I have 2 servings in my aerobottle and I bring 2 bottles 2 servings each on my frame and water it down with water from the course.  I used accelerade the same way for many years and it worked well but I got sick of the taste after 5-6 years. 

-Solids/food.  I have used many different things over the years.  licorace actually works brilliantly.  Cut them in 1/2 and they fit in a bento box, they don't melt are cheep and readily available.  AND they taste a LOT better than a gel.  Right now I am using gels because I need to drop some weight and I dont' want to eat the licorace if its sitting around my house.  I have used fig newtons. laffy taffy and a bunch of other things over the years

Everyone is different. Figure out how much fluid and how many calories you need per hour and then find a fluid and solid that agrees with you.  Lots of people use uncrustables too. I usually have on in my T1 and T2 bags.  I would suggest going by time rather than distance.  Plus it gives you something to do. Usually I will eat something at X time and take an electrolyte tablet at Y time etc etc.  Breaks up the ride