Tri Mark's Madness Group-Closed (Page 11)

linfieldpt

thanks - helpful

interesting idea to stuff emptys in your aqua bottle - I might try that - I'll be experimenting a lot.  I also thought about just stuffing them down the front of my trisuit - but that would probably be a sratchy, sticky mess.

Denise

Third try at this narrative on power meters.

1.  Two main types.  The first type is built into your crankset.  The second type goes into your hub on your back wheel. 

2.  They measure work, which means you can no longer lie to yourself, it will tell you how hard you did it.  They actually measure the force applied to either the crank or the hub in watts. 

3.  The crankset mount is more expensive, but also more accurate and has a major advantage.  If you use racing wheels, you won't need to have a second power tap hub.  If you have the hub version, you can race without your power input, or you have to have a  second tap, which effectively makes it more expensive than the crank version.

Here is why a serious athlete should have one.  It gives you an incredible amount of detail about your output.  All other measurements in cycling are variable.  Your speed can change with the wind and terrain.  Your HR can be off by how well rested you are or how much coffee you drank.  You can be high cadence, but in low gears and not working hard.  With power, it ties all of that together and shows if you worked or not.

For racing, it's invaluable.  First you determine your functional threshhold, in watts.  That is the point at which your body is putting more lactic acid in your blood than you can effectively clear.  It leads to muscle breakdowns and the end of your race is near.  You test this by increasing your output and monitoring your heart rate.  They correspond nicely for a while, then when you reach threshhold, HR starts to go out of control and bounce around.  You generally will work at a percentage of your threshhold and try to hold it there.  For me, my FTP is 315 watts.  So if you look at my chart from today, I was working at about 85% of FTP.  For a longer race like Ironman, you'd really not want to race more than 60-70% FTP at the extreme.  For a 70.3, you'd typically go no more than 75-80%, maybe 85% if you've tested yourself at that distance at that output.  Sprint and olympic you'd race 90% to 100%, maybe even above for sprint for bits of time.

FTP is a very trainable indicator too.  But just like my post on learning how to increase distance (by increasing aerobic capacity with speed work), you have to do interval work to move thresshold.  You do lots of work at 70-80% of thresshold and work in some brief (no more than 3 minutes at a time) peaks of up to 200% FTP, and lots of 45 second to 3 minute bursts of up to 130% FTP.

The end result is that you just end up getting the absolute most out of every workout if you work to the numbers.  You work in power zones, just like HR zones.  They should actually have some correlation.  When you look at my file, the HR follows the watts very nicely.  You want to always watch for the HR drifting higher while watts stay stagnant or drop.  That's a sign of something wrong.  You also want to make sure that your watts stay as smooth as possible on even terrain, as that indicates that your stroke is even and you're using the back of your leg instead of just your quads.  If you are just mashing down with your quads, your watts jump all over the place as you spike each down stroke. 

I had a couple of early requests about transition.  I'll do this with the perspective of a total newbie in mind, so it might be basic, but we can all pitch in.  I will also preface this with the fact that I think lots of people, myself included, think they need lots of stuff but you don't.  I'm going minimalist this season.  I'd rather have a fast transition and shave a 2-4 minutes off my time that way than have to shave it off the run.  It's easier to practice transition.

Day Before the Race:

Typical set up the day before the race.  You get a number, find your place on the rack, then put your bike there.  Hang it by the bars, hang it by the seat, hang it however, but good ettiquette means keeping it on your side of the bar.  Make a good mental note of where you are at.  If you are going to use a balloon or some other gimmick to make it easy to find tomorrow, please tie it down to the bar or have it on a stick or something.  If it's windy, there is nothing worse than someone's balloon wrapping up on your bike or hitting you in the head when you are trying to transition.  It's bad form.  If you're going to tape gels to the top tube, tonight is fine.  Put air in your tires, give them 2 or 3 extra pounds.  Attach your race number to the bike.  Cover your seat and remove or cover any bike computers to protect them from rain.  You're about done for tonight, so make note of when transition opens and closes in the morning.

Race Morning:

I suggest you wait until race morning to get body marked so you don't ruin the bed sheets with marker, that's from experience.  Get yourself marked, then head to the transition area.  Now you'll fill your water bottles, uncover your seat and electronics, and really lay out your little space.  Some people want mats or towels, that is your choice, just more to deal with.  Here are the things I believe are musts.  1.  Racing belt.  You'll want to put your number on a belt, that way you don't have to mess with it after the swim or pin it on your shirt/racing suit under a wet suit.  I suggest you wear into the water what you'll be wearing the rest of the race.  I know ladies have some unique issues with vanity in this case, but for God's sake, you're racing, remember that.  So with the belt, you can leave the number on it, and it on your bike, and you don't have to mess with pulling on a shirt.  Very convenient.  2.  A water bottle to QUICKLY wash sand off your feet.  You won't get it all, but get some.  3.  Helmet on the bike where you can quickly put it on.  4.  Riding glasses somewhere on the bike where they won't get jostled off.  5.  If you wear socks, have them laid out on top of your shoes.  6.  Bike shoes, in the pedals if you can mount that way, laid out if not.  I keep all of that stuff towards the back of the bike as it's for T1.  Toward the front of the bike, in by the rack, I have my gym shoes and a visor.  T2 is incredibly quick.  Get off the bike, get your shoes changed, and get gone.  Don't mess with music, don't tie your shoes, get Yankz or speed laces or lace locks.  1-1.5 minutes and out of there.  Get some water on the way out and then just run!

Things to know about the rules. 

1.  You typically must wear the cap they give you for the race.  They are color coded for your wave typically. 

2.  When swimming, you can grab on to a bouy if you need to.  You can also swim inside the marked bouy line at most races (helpful if it's crowded), but you must swim outside the bouy marking a corner turn.  That assures you have covered the required distance.

3.  If you grab on to any kayak or canoe or other safety boat and move forward, your day is over.

4.  When you go into T1, don't grab on to your bike or someone else's for balance, you're likely to knock it over. 

5.  When you leave T1 with your bike, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR HELMET FASTENED BEFORE MOUNTING.  You can get DQ'd if you don't.

6.  There will likely be a "mount line".  Do not get on your bike before your front tire is across that line.

7.  When passing, communicate.  Yell, "on your left".  Be courteous, and make sure the bike you are passing is not about to pull to the left to pass someone else, bad news.

8.  Littering is rude, and likely to get you DQ'd. 

9.  Know if drafting is legal or not (typically not) and follow the rules on it.

10.  When coming in off the bike, there will be a dismount line.  You must be off the bike by that point or face a penalty.  There will be people there yelling at you to get off the bike. 

11.  If you have a mechanical issue, you can carry your bike forward.  You cannot continue without the bike however. 

12.  Check to make sure your bike has bar end caps.  If you don't have your bar end caps in, just about every race I've done, they check.  Your bike will not be allowed.

13.  Go fast and have some fun for God's sake, you're racing!

I'm sure there a ton of other tips.  The only other one I'll share is make a list of the things you need to put in your bags and lay it all out a day or two before leaving for the race.  Make sure you bring body glide if you're going to use a wetsuit.  Use sunscreen if you need it too.  If you keep it as simple as possible for a sprint or Oly, there will be a lot less to worry about!

 For today's  swim and run workouts, I picked up the pace with intervals Mark suggested.

30 min run; I did the 3x 2.5 min pick ups (I lack technology to tell me how fast) My 3rd 2.5 got my HR to 185  (by rudimentary calc., that's 95% of my HRR) but no desire to puke. (In fact, I ran a 5k last year with an average HR of 182 bpm--is it actually possible to run for 25 min with my average HR at 93% of HRR?? Perhaps I need better data).

Swim was intervals too- 3X 200 yds strong and long with 40 sec rest and average time of 3:44 per 200. 8 x 50 yds descend with 30 sec rest and went from 52 sec for 1st to 48 sec for the 8th.

I picked up the pace for sure, but didn't kill myself in either, since I am running a 6 mile race this weekend and coming off a recent injury.  But certainly more interesting and fun workouts with these intervals than simply "doing time" or distance.

Great job Beth.  It definitely breaks up the monotony and makes swim workouts more tolerable.  I have a suggestion you won't much like in the pool, but it's really important.  Shorten the rest intervals in the pool and hold your times.  For instance on 50's, you're probably fast enough to do them on the 1 minute, which includes the rest.  So 45-50 seconds per 50, 10 seconds rest.  If you do 10x50, you'll probably be doing it on very short rest by the last 2 or 3 as your time may creep up, but it's good for you.  That's a fast way to rack up your first 500m after w/u.  Here is a good workout we did yesterday at Master's.  Very tiring, you can adjust it.

w/u 300m swim

200m pull w/ bouy (and paddles if you use them)

10x50's on the one minute (B group did 8x50 on 1:15's and C did less, not sure how much)

50 easy

100m Dolphin kick w/fins

250m swim-moderate to strong (smooth) pace

50 easy

100m Dolphin kick w/fins

250 pull w/bouy (and paddles if you wish)

50 easy

100m Dolphin kick w/fins

500m steady/strong

4x25 evens sprint, odds easy

anything for cool down

That was a bugger of a workout.  You can adjust lengths and times for your speed.  I may not have it perfect.  We did about 2400 with something very close to this and I was wiped.  It was high intensity.

Sounds like you worked really hard.  If you are well conditioned, you could theoretically run and hold those levels, but you would probably be very sore today as I would expect that you exceeded LT, and should have quite a build up of lactic acid.  I would suspect that maybe your numbers are off though if you felt ok throughout.  It's possible your max HR is higher than the norm, or it's possible your numbers are off.  A HR monitor would probably be a good investment.  I think for the dollars spent, it's the most valuable all around tool.  If you train with HR zones, you have a fair understanding of how hard you are working, assuming you adjust as you become more fit.

Once you get above 80% of max, you need to keep the intervals brief, no more than 2-3 minutes.  Once you creep over that line, you go anaerobic and have to watch carefully.  It will increase your anaerobic threshhold if you stick with it and keep working that way, which is a good thing for shorter races (Oly and under).

Here's a semi-related question: prescription eyeware, or contacts?

I'm pretty near-sighted.  I now have a pair of prescription swim goggles and prescription sun glasses.  My question- is it better to go with contacts or glasses for racing?  My prescription goggles are infinitely better (ie they don't fog) than my non-prescription goggles.  However I'm concerned about depending on switching up prescription eyeware for the ride and run (what if they get broken?  Then I can't see!).  I've never had any trouble with contacts falling out.  I suppose the best solution is to just get a better pair of non-prescription goggles?  Anybody else deal with this?

  -Tel

i always go with the glasses.  protection on the bike and run from bugs, tree limbs (on xterras) wind, sun protection etc. Plus you never know when your gonna get kicked in the face in the swim, and lose your goggles and contacts.

Mark, I knew you'd say to shorten the rest intervals! I already shortened them from what the workout said (taken from a generic swim workout for Oly age grouper) but I didn't need 30 secs after a 50.

Thanks for the suggested workout too!

did a tempo run today.

45 min. started at 10 min/mile and built up to 6:58 min/mile.  At peak pace my HR was right around 155 which is 5 beats from my calculated LT.  I really need to hone in on my numbers as i might be able to push myself a bit further before I go anerobic. 

Mark, when you have time could you write out how you set your zones for running? Did you use a protocol? 5k or 10k race?

Thanks

I checked this calculator against what my coach did for me.  It's within 1 bpm of the ranges she set up for me.  I'd give it a whirl and see how it compares to what you think your zones are.

http://www.sportscoach.netmx.co.uk/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=13

Argh!  Just aborted a workout for the first time.  The weather "guessers" predicted 48 degrees and mostly sunny so, I brought my bike to work for a lunch hour ride.  It turned out to be 36 degrees, 30mph winds and cloudy - but what the heck, HTFU right?

Fifteen minutes out and it started to hail, then it started to snow - I kept saying "HTFU" until the ice cream headache took over - I turned around.  Guess I'll head to the gym after work.

Sorry, I know you warm weather folk don't want to hear it, but just had to vent - this spring has been awful - haven't hit 55 yet.

Awful here too.  Glad we're not alone.  Snow forecast for 4 days this weekend - it'll melt fast - but still.  And the wind is bad every day.  I've got a duathlon in a little over 2 weeks and I've only ridden outside 3 times.  Whine! Whine! Whine! Oh well - I needed to vent.

Denise

I eat oatmeal almost every day for breakfast, but that's not until 9:30 or so. Pre-workout I've been having either a piece of toast with 100% fruit jam or a cup of cheerios w/ 1/2 a cup soy milk.  The oatmeal always has protein powder in it and I rotate between various combinations of adding dried fruit & nuts. It's usually around 350 cals.

When I go back to doing P90X I will join you in the smoothies using some variation on the following:

1 cup unsweetened soy milk @ 80 cals
1/2 medium banana @ 55 cals
1 cup frozen strawberries @ 45 cals
1 scoop unsweetened soy protein powder @ 110 cals
1 TBSP flaxseed meal @ 30 cals
1/4 cup quick oats @ 75 cals
Total Calories: 395 (if you used skim milk it would be about 425 calories)

Ok, now that you're all done whining and we have that out of our systems, I thought you might like to watch this and refocus on how good you have it.  You may have seen this before, but it never gets old.  If you've never seen it, take 4 minutes to contemplate life.  Simply amazing really. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGRyYKF5jVY

Just kidding about the whining, but the rest is right on.

Does your trisuit have any pockets in the back? I think mine does - I know I tried on lots of shirts that had pockets for gels and whatever. Since you're taping the gels you could easily reserve the pockets for garbage...

I'm curious about your prescription goggles. Where did you get them made and how much did it cost? I'm extremely near-sighted (can't swim off the clock in workouts so I just count rest seconds) and I can't wear contacts. I swim with non-prescription goggles and do just fine. I'm a little worried about getting out of the pool to T1 but as long as I get a chance to see where I need to go beforehand I think I'll be ok. I just have to KNOW where my bike is cos I'm planning on having my glasses there...I might check if I can have them at the edge of the pool but I'm guessing I can't. Anyway, I'll be dealing with that for the swim and then putting on my prescription transition lenses for the bike/run and I use a sports strap to hold them on my face. STylish!

Vent away, Denise! My mom & I are driving to Alexandria on Saturday to ride the race route. I was hoping to ride it once slowly with her to map it out and then ride it again solo closer to race pace, but with snow in the forcast I have a feeling we'll tough out the first round and then head somewhere for a hot lunch!

Oh, I thought of another question: the CoL guidelines suggest bringing someone to count laps for you - how exactly does that work? I'm bringing someone, but 1) is their count considered official and how is it regulated and 2) where do they stand if there are 4 people to a lane? I'm a little confused on all that and my lap-counter has been asking.

Okay, last post of the day. I'm still coughing but I haven't missed anymore workouts. I went to Masters swim this morning and did 2100 meters and felt great! It went faster than usual too. Here is the workout for anyone interested. Mark, do you have any suggestions for a good short swim workout? I'm sure I would benefit for more speed work. If I fit in a short swim on the weekends outside of Masters class it's usually around 1200 or so.

200 free
100 breast (2 kick/1 pull)
300 free pull
5x100 free w/ :10 rest
300 free breathing on 3/5/7 by 100 (so 1st 100 u breath every 3rd stroke, 2nd 100 every 5th stroke, etc)
3x150 free w/ :15 rest
100 reverse IM (free/breast/back/fly)
3x50 EZ cooldown w/ :20 rest

That is truly amazing... I will remember it the next time I think about whining.

(but I didn't see any snow )

- Ron

I always tear up a little watching Team Hoyt video's. What an amazing Father and Man!!!