Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED (Page 10)

Nancy-I'm with you on the frustration with heart rate monitors. I didn't like the new soft strap that came with my Garmin 310XT and had several rub spots. I ordered a Polar strap that is set up to use the same sensor. More comfortable than the Garmin strap and worked fine with the Garmin sensor. Although now my HRM has died....seems to happen more than it should. Put in new battery so hope that helps. I don't use the HRM in the Summer when running as my HR is always much higher with the heat and humidity. I go more by run pace in the Summer. I don't race with HRM so it is more of a training metric for me.

I have a total off day today. Rare as most recovery days are some sort of active recovery. Have not looked back but it may be the first of the year. I'm pretty strict with following the training plan my coach sets out.....I was complaining last week about being tired/burned out and I guess all my whining warranted a rest day.

Arend-nice job on the HM.

Rene-Winning the AG with a smoking bike split....NICE!  

Originally posted by wannabefaster

Originally posted by triathlonpal07 Well, my training plan had me do a full OLY worth over the past two days... And I feel great actually had my swim test and a long bike ride Fri. And then a 6mi run yesterday. Today I'm just going for an easy spin before tearing into next weeks training Idk if anyone else feels this way, but the more I train, the more I feel I'm better suited to long course vs. Short course... I just feel like I can hit a nice rhythm and go all day, but when I try to do high intensity stuff to prepare for my sprint, I feel like I have no power whatsoever... Anyone else with me on this? Or is this something that will change with experience?

Nathan. I think a lot of people wil argue that it is good to really develop that top-end speed and the abillity to go really hard and then add in the endurance work. I think as we get older we lose some of that speed (Randy is an anomoly, he keeps getting faster as he ages......) but we can really develop the ability to go long. This is probably why we see a lot of former ITU racers, who can't quite run that 30 minute 10K off the bike any more, switch to IM and do very, very well. With all of that being said, you get to decide what you are good at and race what is fun for you. I am not fast enough to be at the front of shorter races but I feel like I am able to keep going at my pace for a long time which serves me well for long course racing. Hence my decision to suffer over 4.5-10 hours instead of over 1:15.....

I agree with the statement above.  I have a much harder time doing well in my AG on short course (due to the swim being a larger percentage of the race), but it definitely helps me maintain (or even gain) on the speed side.  While it can hurt like hell, it's short and recovery is easy.   I learned that focusing primarily on IM distance has made me a slower runner and I really don't like that at all.  Focusing on short distance was my plan for '14 to get some much needed speed back, but that is kind of on the back burner due to the rehab.  Phooey!

Interesting conversation about speed and training long course as compared to short (oly/sprint). To some extent I think the intensity you have to do to train to compete for shorter races makes it seem more strenuous. It's a different kind of pain to do a really hard 10k run as compared to a HM. The HM is more of a gradual build to pain and discomfort while the 10K and even more so a 5K will pretty much hurt from the start. Same with a short bike segment in a race as compared to a HIM or IM bike leg. When training for sprints I may do an 8X800 track workout and the first interval hurts and makes me feel that there is no way I can do 8. When doing HIM training last year my intervals were longer and at a slower pace and the first few would seem "easy." Of course the "easy" would catch up to me and by the last few intervals I was hurting just as much as when I was doing the sprint training intervals.

Age is clearly a factor but I think I was fortunate to only start doing triathlons a few years ago. I'm still in the building phase and don't have the years of accumulated wear and tear that some of my counterparts have that have been doing this for 15-20 years. They look back 15 years ago and see that they are now slower. I'm only looking back 4-5 years and I'm not comparing my current results to a 35-40 year old me.  I figure I may have one more year of potential improvement, then hopefully a couple of years maintaining, then my times will begin to fade. 

I think HIM is kind of the "ideal" distance. When doing those races I have always felt like my pace was kind of "comfortably hard." Work, but in control. Certainly by the last few miles of the run it hurts like hell but it has gradually built to that point. Never done an IM, and probably never will, so I will leave that discussion to our little maniacs who take that as their drug of choice.  

'Morning everyone...hope you all had a great weekend.  I didn't do much training with a couple of planned days off, but got in an OWS Sunday and a short run at M pace.  Quick 5 miler in this morning with some short R-pace efforts. 

Four days until my race...starting to bounce off the walls a bit.  Took my bike in for service and needed a new chain and desperately needed new bar tape.  It'll look snappy for my race Saturday!

I think we're going to be 50/50 on wetsuit-legal; it got really warm here yesterday and today and the buoy temps near there jumped 5 degrees since Saturday.  I'd prefer a wetsuit but I'm prepared to go without.

"bad" was probably a poor choice of words.  Rather, the outcome wasn't what I hoped for.  

I'm off to France for 3 weeks.  Training will be spotty and limited to running when I can find the time, will be busy working a lot.

I'm still searching for this elusive "pain" that everyone keeps talking about during races of any distance. Even the track and bike work that I do doesn't seem painful or really that difficult at the time. Either my definition or pain threshold is off or I'm not working that hard? It doesn't hurt when I do workouts. Actually the higher/faster the paces the more enjoyable the workout is.

I know what pain Is related to injury. Is that the sort of pain you're talking about during these races and workouts? Granted my ART (S&M) man has said for years that I have an extremely high pain threshold.

What exactly do you mean by pain?

Rene-perhaps pain is the wrong word. I'm talking about the feeling that you are giving everything to the extent of your physical ability. It doesn't "hurt" in any particular area but it is extremely uncomfortable to the point I am unable to continue at that pace or effort level. On a 1-10 scale of Rate of Perceived Exertion you are at a 10.....not an effort you can maintain for very long.  Have you ever had a set of swim, bike or run intervals that were so hard that you were not able to complete them.....regardless of the "will" to do it the body just can't do it?  The physical exhaustion may not last long but it keeps you from being able to complete the next interval at the prescribed pace..  

Randy, It's been a really long time since I've felt like that. The last time that I can remember feeling that way was during a bike TT. I'm sure you remember which one I'm talking about.

Most of the time it seems like I can't go on because of other factors- breathing/asthma, stomach/GI issues etc..

Good morning everyone-early morning treadmill run done. Tha's it for today other than an appt this afternoon for some ART work on my right calf and hamstring. I try to go in for a "tune up" a few days before a race to help loosen up any tight muscles or tendons.

Hope everyone has a great day! 

I must have given you part of my pain threshold. LOL.   I agree that the ART guys are into S&M or something because it hurts like a 'b#*$& when they work on you, but I swear by the results.   I can run again because of an ART guy torturing my feet when I had a really bad case of plantar faciitis.

The last mile of an open 5K running race, or the last 45 seconds of a supra-threshold interval on the trainer.

Or any Sufferfest video. 

Generally, I never hit that "pain" level in run training, given the injury risk of what it takes to get there.  I might run at 5K race pace (or even faster) during a run interval but never long enough to get to that Pain Cave.  I think that's why I race better when I race more often.

For swimming, I'm not just experienced enough in the water to get there; I definitely think there's some upward potential there.  Cycling is probably the sport where you reach that the most, whether it's the aforementioned Hell Hath No Fury video or any Strava segment you're trying to PR.

Today is going to be a dry run through everything for Saturday:  race gear, transition set up (plus some security measures like locking the bike), ~ 600M wetsuit OWS, T1, execute first 6-8 miles of bike race plan, T2, execute first mile of run race plan, CD.  Weather permitting...looking a little sketchy right now with some thunderstorms around.  If I have to bag it...I'll just try to run through the whole mess indoors.

Somewhat excited this morning.  I'm feeling like my speed is trying to come back.  Had a good run, and Whoo Hoo!  I broke the 11:00 mile barrier.   Yes, that's painfully slow, even for me as a year or so ago I was consistently running 5k distance in the low to mid 8 minute range.  But given everything, I'm pleased that it's coming back.   6 months and I'll be back in the sub 9 range I'm sure.

I'm learning a lot (although I thought I understood it) about consistency in training.   It's funny how in weeks when I only run a couple times, my pace doesn't get any better, and in fact tends to drop off.   Running 4-5 times a week, and my pace improves quite a bit.   Interesting how so little difference in consistency of training will  make.

That said, when the weight starts to come off, I know I'll do better pace wise.   I'm packing around a 40 lbs backpack as I try to run these days, due to the amount of weight I need to lose.  UGH.

I've only been consistently wearing a cap while swimming in the pool over the last year or so. My wife told me my hair was turning an odd color so I started wearing one. A little odd at first but totally normal now. Some races will have everyone in the same color cap while others will assign different colors to different waves. I think in general it is easier to spot the swimmers in the race with caps on.