Gray Guys/Girls Maturing Triathlete Mentor Group (Page 10)

Scott - thank you!  I've been wondering if something like KT tape would help but didn't know how to go about doing it.  I'll watch the video tonight.  One question - once you start using the tape, do you continue to use it all the time or just until the problem area feels better?  

Janet

Kathy - congrats!  My tri club does something similar every winter.  It's called the "Icy Iron" and we have 6 weeks to complete either 1x or 2x the Ironman distance in swimming, biking, and running.  There's usually a small prize for anyone who completes the distances - last year was a water bottle and an ice scraper.  It's a good way to keep motivated during the winter months.  Good luck with February!

Janet

Kathy - congrats!  My tri club does something similar every winter.  It's called the "Icy Iron" and we have 6 weeks to complete either 1x or 2x the Ironman distance in swimming, biking, and running.  There's usually a small prize for anyone who completes the distances - last year was a water bottle and an ice scraper.  It's a good way to keep motivated during the winter months.  Good luck with February!

Janet

Janet,

I've just used it for as long as the "need" was there.  I know of some people that use taping to strengthen joints or avoid strain, etc.  That would obviously be a personal choice - perhaps in conjunction with a medical professional.

I am somewhere in the middle of Kathy's IM in a month and Adrian's IM in a day.  I like the IM in a week plan. :-)

The foot is feeling a lot better and yes, I did run the 5k.  I don't know if it was the time off or the fact that I wrapped the ankle/foot for the race but it didn't bother me at all.  It did start to tighten up a little after I got home, but no issues during the race.  Our weather this past week was nuts - warm and 60* on Tuesday, snow on Wednesday, then back up to 74* on Saturday (new record for the date).  I ran in shorts and a T-shirt for my race.  Finished in 33:22 which is pretty good for me, 13th of 39 in my AG.  

Hi all ... I think I'm done with skiing for the season, unless it's a day trip local to home.  It snowed 2 feet at the resort between the day I left and next 2 days ... timing is everything.  But I must say when I got home I was absolutely wasted.  My last week, I skied with some of the locals there who were my age, but went absolutely non-stop all day except to break for lunch.  It was fun, but man I was tired!

Got back in the gym today and picked up with Marc's week 2, Threshold training.  Based on my HR data, it truly was threshold training.  I worked in a bit of strength training afterwards and some time on the BOSU ball for balance.

My plans are cycling Mon-Wed-Fri ... swim/run Tuesday and Thursday using the Maffetone method.

Janet ... hope your foot is better.

Chet ... on your question re: rollers.  I had rollers and they were like fire and ice.  I must say, training on these really improved my balance and bike handling.  I had to keep my body very quiet on these as you can go down like lightning.  Speaking of that ... after my second crash on these, I decided they were not for me.  Definitely the trainer is the safer option. 

Hope all have a good week.

Ciao - Dorm

I swam today and called it quits after 800 meters.  Almost no mojo and towards the end my form was so bad that I just got out.  Bad swimming is absolutely worse than no swimming.  I did concentrate on flip turns and they were the bright spot for today's swim.  They're getting easier to do quicker; I know my "spot" at the "T" where I initiate the turn and overall they worked pretty well for me today.

I ran 40 minutes on the treadmill after the swim using the Maffetone method.  I ran at about 10bpm higher (~80%ftp) than my last run with no issues. This method works so well for me ... I have almost no joint soreness after running and I could have easily stretched today's workout into an hour.  

Speaking of this ... if I increase my time ~10% a week, and run within the HR boundary - this seems a reasonable method to increase my time.  Any thoughts from the group?

First race of the season is March 11 for me so I'm working to be ready.

Ciao ... Dorm

Hi All, I'm afraid I've been out of action for a while and probably won't get going again until after this weekend.  I'm thinking maybe I was working out too hard and just reached a point where my body said, "no more".  Trouble is this was to be my easy week.  

Janet - Good you were able to run your 5K and a nice time as well.

Greg - Welcome to the group and, you've got a great story with a great outcome.  I enjoyed your video.  It was neat to actually see you and have a face to go with your posts but, I have to ask, Did you finish with your daughter?  By the way she handled herself very well in answering her questions.  

I would say from your story, you have already achieved that something special you have been searching for.  Everything else from now on is bonus.  Anyone who can go from couch potato to a sub 6 hour HIM in such a short time is pretty amazing.  Stay healthy and have fun.

Dorm - Just speculating on what you asked about increasing time each week.  I would think that yes you would achieve some improvement but I think you would find any improvements would tend to come in periodic spurts with plateaus in-between.  As for having a bad swim day, I find I have a bad day every once in a while.  A day where I just can't seem to get warmed up or I just seem slow.  Fortunately, they pass and I have more good days than bad by a long shot.

Hey Greg,

Welcome to the group.  It's never too late to join!  I don't close the group so everyone is welcome at any time!

It occurs to me that what you have been through is EPIC.  An Ironman will be a piece of cake!

Oh gosh!  Now there's two of us that are long winded!  Well, if nothing else, folks will have lots to read!  Happy to answer any questions you might have.  Looking forward to getting to know you!

Greg,

First, to "over training."  There are three generally accepted stages of "Over-Training Syndrome (OTS)" - Stage 1 - functional overreaching; stage 2 - non-functional overreaching; stage 3 - over-training syndrome.  I doubt seriously that you are approaching even stage one functional over-reaching which is the lowest level of OTS.  So don't confuse having high training volume with "over-training."  Those terms are not synonymous.

What I see when I look at the training volumes you had in January is a training plan that currently has a bike focus.  I encourage most people to do a focused bike block during the off-season - especially those people planning to do a 140.6 or 70.3 in the upcoming season.  Indeed, three of the athletes I am currently working with are in the midst of, or just completed, a 12-week focused cycling block..  

I like to see a minimum of 30-35 miles/week run volume so you are inline there.  How that volume is done (Z2 runs vs. tempo runs, vs. speed work, etc.) is another conversation entirely.

To put your swimming into perspective.  when I was swimming competitively I was swimming 13-15,000 meters/day for about 100,000 meters/week.  Obviously you aren't a swimmer so that volume would be crazy high.  For a triathlete I generally advocate building to 1.5-2.0 times the race distance swim 3-4 times per week for a strong middle of the pack finish.  For an Ironman that means building to 6,300-8.400 yards 3-4 times per week.  I like to see that volume for at least 6-weeks prior to the beginning of the taper/peak.  Do you absolutely have to do that kind of volume?  NO.  However, the important thing during the swim is to stay aerobic in the water.  You need to do at least enough volume so that you can stay aerobic during the swim stage of the race.

If you are going to sabotage an Ironman race, it will most likely occur on the bike.  People constantly worry about the run.  The run is merely a reflection of how well you paced/rode the bike.  You CAN'T have a good run unless you have a good bike.  Conversely, if your run was bad, it's because your bike was bad - PERIOD.  That means the bike is VERY important.  You're doing TR HV Sweet-Spot which is 9-10 hours/week.  For a 140.6 plan, that is going to be fairly representative of the bike volume you will be doing for a good chunk of the season (no, you won't be doing the sweet spot base plan all season).  Of course volume will fluctuate up and down, but later in the season when you're doing 100+ mile rides, you'll regularly be doing that kind of volume.

GENERALLY speaking, you should strive to have your training volume (duration) around a 1:2:1 ratio - swim:bike:run.  So, using what you are currently doing as an example, you are doing 10 hours/week on the bike, you should anticipate around 5 hours swimming and running.  That works out to 20 hours/week training.  That volume is NOT sustainable for most age-group triathletes so typically the plan builds over the season to that volume.  You might be the exception, I don't know as I don't know YOU and how you respond to training stress.  Remember, this is an example in general terms.  You're currently in the middle of a focused cycling block so the ratio is not going to directly apply while you are doing that.  Weekly training volume will fluctuate up and down through the course of the season. 

As important, I actually believe MORE important, is to allow proper recovery time.  It is NOT during training that we get stronger and faster.  It is during recovery.  It's during recovery that your body rebuilds itself.  If you have a well thought out, effective training plan that has sufficient, properly timed recovery, your body will achieve "super-compensation" and you will get stronger.  Most people should have a recovery week built in to the training plan every 3rd or 4th week.

If you aren't already using Training Peaks, I STRONGLY encourage you to set up an account and upgrade it to a premium account.  I think it's $19.99 per month if you pay it monthly and you can get it down to $10/month if you pay it annually.  TP allows you to quantify all of the workouts you do and make informed decisions about  how your body is adapting to training stress.  Something else to remember.  As your fitness improves, your body will be able to tolerate increasing levels of training stress.  As your fitness level increases, it will take increasing levels of training stress to continue to raise fitness.  Training Peaks allows you to objectively see that, not simply "guess."

It is VERY important that you have a plan - whether that plan is one of the plans available here on BT (there are a number of free 140.6 plans), you purchase a plan, or you retain a coach - HAVE A PLAN.  Having a plan assures you will have a balanced approach to your training.  It takes "YOU" out of the training equation - instead of getting up in the morning and saying, "What should I do today,"  a question whose answer will be influenced by how you feel on that particular day; you would get up and simply do your scheduled workout.  Having a plan will also insure that you have a sustainable, healthy build over the course of the season that will allow you to taper at the proper time to allow peak performance on race day.

That's a couple of random thoughts.  I don't think you have a "problem" with your training so much as you might want to think it out while looking at the "big picture."  Big picture meaning the entire season.  Look at where you are now and where you want to get.  Your training plan should connect those dots.

Hope that helps a little bit.

Dorm,

The Maffetone method is based on the heart rate range you determine using Dr. Maffetone's formula - https://philmaffetone.com/180-formula/

Your training HR while using the Maffetone method DOESN'T CHANGE.  I read what you said to mean you allowed your HR to go 10 BPM above your Maffetone range which would not be following the Maffetone method.

Maffetone is a tremendous method to increase volume as well as build aerobic base.  Remember as you build volume, as you indicated, the 10% rule should be your guide.  I generally like to see two-weeks between "steps" but I tend to be conservative in my build.  It is important to be regularly doing the MAF test (every 6-8 weeks).  When you see your MAF pace plateau, that is the indication that you need to add tempo/speed work to your plan.

George,

I'm curious what has happened and why you think your body said, "No more!"

A bad choice of words.  I was feeling tired and was looking forward to my recovery week this week but my body decided I needed a better rest and I got sick.  I wasn't meaning to imply anything more permanent.  I'm going to go swimming tomorrow morning and ease myself back into my routine.  I don't think I'm anywhere near an overtraining syndrome.  I love my recovery days and weeks too much.

Greg,

I was pondering a response to you asking for clarification in your earlier post when this current post came in.

You said you are using Training Peaks - What is your TSB?  CTL?  ATL?  I'm curious about those numbers for all sports, meaning inclusive of all three, not separate values.

Your comments the past couple of days combined with what you said here leads me to believe you are in need of a couple of days off.  More in a little bit when I respond to your earlier post.