Birkierunner's group - CLOSED (Page 11)

I hope you are feeling better soon! That's a drag. I lost a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving last year with a cold which turned into a sinus and then ear infection. So take it easy on yourself and heal up!

Nice...

I feel a bit out of the loop. My shoulder with the Bursitis was still sore so I took most of last week of from exercising except for walking. Saturday I went xc skiing, this actually made my shoulder feel better, and did a few easy runs and cycled this week. The shoulder feels better but not quite 100%. Next week I'll try swimming again. If the shoulder is still to sore to swim my doctor may send me to PT.

It looks like we're adding the group to our friends list and the latest topic is swimming drills. I've found the following drills helpful: chest press, catch ups, count strokes, fist, fingertip drag, thigh scrape, and sighting.

Have a good weekend.

Get ready to sweat... a LOT!!

So sorry, rest, rest, rest

I did 2 miles on the treadmill today and my foot felt pretty good.  Gonna try an easy run tomorrow and if all is good I'm back to running again!  I was coming off a great running season so I think a few weeks of building and I'll be back

I have a lot of work to do on the bike.  IM California has some serious hills.  Gonna do a 50 miler Sunday, then I start my hill training for a few weeks.  It's just going to be about surviving the bike so my legs are ready for the run.

57 miles on a trainer?? Oh yeah, no snow in L.A.!!!  I'm looking forward to not having to ride my bike in the basement anymore, maybe a few more months.

No snow, but lots of people and cars around. I feel a lot safer in my office on my trainer.  It was just such a beautiful day (68 and sunny) and seeing where everyone is from and I didn't want to rub it in.  I have much, much respect for those of you in the cold.  It's a lot easier to get out when you get to ride along the beach!

I'm registered for Cali 70.3 but I'm going to eat the registration fee.  Sickness has ravaged my training this winter and I don't want to fly out to Cali if I'm not ready to race hard.   I'll save some money by staying local. 

I got in some good skiing this weekend.  I'm at a meeting in St. Louis next week so I have to get in as much skiing as I can this week as prep for the Birkie a week from this Saturday.  Luckily I was cutting a lot of firewood this fall so my upper body is in reasonable shape for x-c skiing. 

What topics would folks like to discuss in this thread?  Don't be afraid to make suggestions or ask questions fearing that "everyone should know that already".  The only stupid questions are those that don't get asked!  Hope everyone has a great week!

I have to forfeit my race fee for a half marathon this weekend. Turns out I had signed up without checking our school calendar, missing the fact that it's a 4 day weekend. So, it's a short family ski trip instead. Thank goodness there was a bit of snow last weekend, and now I hope it sticks around! At least it will be cold enough to make snow at night.

Finally made it to the pool! Still no biking, though.

Bike-related question:

What do you guys watch on the trainer to keep you motivated? And how do you manage the complicated workouts if you don't have a bike computer? I usually just get on and ride, but I was hoping that there would be a dvd out there that would tell me when to go fast, climb, etc. kind of like in spin class. Anything like that?

Sorry to hear about having to eat the entry fee....I've eaten quite a few in my time.

Great bike related question.  Fighting monotony on the trainer is always a challenge, especially if your trainer is set up in a dungeon basement or garage.  I've got mine set up in the basement but it gets natural light from windows and walkout doorway which helps.  Also, make sure you have fans blowing on you to keep you cool.  I have my Computrainer set up in front of an old TV that has a dvd/vcr player hooked up so I can watch a variety of things.  If its just an easy spin/recovery type of workout I will simply put in a good movie to pass the time and may alter the resistance once in a while or get out of the saddle for a few seconds just to mix things up.

For more serious trainer workouts I have 2 strategies.  If I'm doing a specific interval type workouts I use the ERG mode on my Computrainer and use software programs that I have written myself to specify interval period/watts/recovery time etc.  This is a great feature because once the program starts you just spin away and don't have to worry about messing with buttons to alter resistance.  I have my CT connected to my laptop and my workout is displayed on the laptop screen and you can see when the next interval is coming up, then how far you are into an interval, and then know how soon a recovery is coming up.  I will usually have a movie playing on the TV to watch instead of just staring at the wall or computer.

My second strategy is to use the Spinervals series of workouts.  Some folks don't like them but I think they're great.  They not only have tapes/dvd on specific types of workouts but they also have tapes on a variety of Ironman courses that help you get a visual feel for the course.  The link above will take you to the selection of workouts.  I tend to only use a few over and over again for specific purposes.  I like the Time Trialapalooza tape because it is a good workout for improving your threshold power.  Coach Troy will talk throughout the tape and tell you the length of the interval coming up, the resistance setting you should have your trainer on, give encouragement during the interval, etc.  I also use the Big Gear Strength tape for strength workouts.  I think the website has previews of each tape so you can get a feel for what they are like.  I tend to use the Spinerval tapes that are short and sweet to make effective use of my time and cut down on the boredom factor.  He actually has a 100 miler tape but I can only spin through about 3 hours of that before I get stir crazy on the trainer.  If folks have a computrainer, you can also check out the ERGVIDEO website.  I haven't bought any of these yet but I plan to this spring. 

Usually I find myself turning on ESPN or Golf Channel.  Also frequently try doing my rides during a sporting event to watch.  I usually have the TV on mute so that I can listen to by ipod.  As far as intervals I have my bike computer along with a stopwatch on the table next to me.  Usually I just watch my computer for the length of the interval, but if I am doing a whole much I will use the split feature on the stopwatch.  Doing that also helps me move around on the bike and get out of aero occasionally to stretch out body parts. 

I don't have have any DVD's, but I've heard good things about the Spinervals that Birkie mentioned.  Some day I am thinking I might give those a try for fun.

Funny...I just did my first Spinervals DVD today.  It was good, I'll be feeling that one tomorrow afternoon.  I also have a Race Day DVD, it is a criterion race.  I'm not a fast biker, so this is a tough one for me.  I prefer to turn on a movie or DVR'd show.  These are my favorite cause although I still do intervals, I can zone out.  My kids often ride their bikes in the basement when I'm on my trainer, so I'm often refereeing arguments and directing traffic.

One question... What does it mean when Troy Jacobson says 15 or 21 or 23 on the back ring?

On topics...road bike or tri bike....

let me start off by saying that if i bike 3 times a week that would be a lot for me....and i mainly do sprint tri stuff here locally...(freakin' water fear!!!)

Usually enjoy the bike riding....when i am able to get out..but have been thinking about upgrading..I have an older trek 2300 with ok comp...do i upgrade it, if so, where do i start...or do i leave it as is, and bite into a tri bike???    Just thinking....

On topics...road bike or tri bike....

let me start off by saying that if i bike 3 times a week that would be a lot for me....and i mainly do sprint tri stuff here locally...(freakin' water fear!!!)

Usually enjoy the bike riding....when i am able to get out..but have been thinking about upgrading..I have an older trek 2300 with ok comp...do i upgrade it, if so, where do i start...or do i leave it as is, and bite into a tri bike???    Just thinking....

I checked out the website for Spinervals and would have ordered a dvd or 2, but there were so dang many that I didn't know which one to choose! Help! Never having done one, do I start at #1 or should I just pick something from their women's series?

Did a short swim yesterday and another one, a bit longer, today. Then I ran 3 miles yesterday with a good friend and running partner. Boy did I ever need that!

No rhyme or reason to the numbering, surf through a few titles/descriptoins.  Some focus on fast 30 second sprints, others are more long style hill climbs.  

I find it useful to DVR bike racing or tris and play them back when on the trainer as well.  

I forget the numbers, but they have filmed a few of them in Minneapolis!  I went to the last set, man I thought I was going to drop dead after doing all of the workouts/taping.  

Troy really has added quite a few DVDs over the past few years.  I would keep it simple.  If it were me I would order the following:

Comp 11.0 Big Gear strength

Comp 22.0 Time Trialapalooza - my favorite of the Spinervals that I do almost every week; helps improve your functional threshold power which basically means over time this workout will improve the power output at which you can maintain for a given time period (can get complicated but basically maintain for 20 min or 60 min).  Filmed in Minneapolis using many of the athletes I race against each year.

Any of the Aero Base Builder series Comp 16-18, 21, 25, 28, etc.   These are your usual interval type training workouts

I didn't know he had a threshold test dvd but it may be worth checking out Comp 27.0 Threshold test.  If you don't have power measurement on your trainer you can use a heart rate monitor to measure your heart rate at your threshold and re-measure every 4-6 weeks to monitor progress and improved fitness

I don't know anything about his introductory Spinerval 101 dvd but it might be worth checking out if you are totally new to using a trainer for interval workouts

When he prompts you to do the above simply shift your rear derailleur so that the chain is engaged on the appropriate cog.  So, before going any further look at your rear cassette on your rear wheel and start at the smallest cog and count how many teeth are on each cog.  Might be good to draw up a diagram you can tape on the wall near where your trainer is set up.  If you have a 9-speed (9 cogs on rear cassette) count how many teeth are on each cog and put that number on your diagram for the smallest all the way up to your largest cog.  So, when he says put it on your 15 in the back ring look at your diagram, determine which cog that corresponds to, then shift until the chain is on that cog.  He will frequently tell you which combination of front (big ring or small ring) and rear rings you should be in.  Let me know if my explanation isn't clear.

You will be glad to hear that my road bike is a Trek 2300 as well!! (red and black).  I have put many miles on the bike over the past 7 years and the Ultegra components are perfectly fine.  I raced my first 2 Ironman races on that bike as well, so don't let anyone tell you that you HAVE to have a tri bike to compete.  Your schedule seems so busy and you race mostly sprints so I would be the last person to tell you to go out and buy a dedicated triathlon bike....unless you have a lot of spare disposable income and just "want one".  I ended up getting a Felt DA time trial bike after my second year in triathlon.

Frankly, I would simply recommend sticking with your Trek 2300 and do some basic adjustments to it to make it a little more tri-friendly.  The first thing I would do is put on some clip-on aerobars on it.  I put on some Vision carbon clip-ons that are very comfortable.  Hopefully you have a local bike shop that has staff with triathlon experience.  I would ask them to help you make the bike more tri specific.  For me, they recommended that I put a shorter handlebar stem and they also rotated the seat post mount so that my seat was more forward.  Both of those changes put me in a posture that was more tri oriented, which should help your legs make the transition to the run as well as being more aero with the use of aerobars.  Even though I've made these adjustments I still use my Trek for a lot of just plain road riding even without using the clip on aerobars...I keep them on all the time.  The clip-ons take up a little more space on your handlebars so you tend to ride the brake hoods a little more (especially climbing) but you get used to it.  Hope this helps with your decision.