Asphalt Junkies Winter Edition - CLOSED (Page 11)

Way to go, Jenn! Someday, when I grow up,  I might try a marathon but until then I get to live vicariously through the Junkies. You did great and finishing that marathon will help a lot in your confidence for the Ironman in September.

Sorry, I think your spring got stuck here in sunny northern California. It's 30 degrees in the morning but most afternoons it is up above 50, and sometimes into the 70's. The weather is great for training, but it is going to leave us high and dry this summer. We've only had the one day of rain since mid December. At this point we'll take any precipitation we can get over here.  

The lake where I had planned to do my first sprint this year is at 20% capacity on water. If there is even a lake left in April, the run up to transition could be more than half a mile.

Ditto, except I haven't seen any temps above freezing in FOREVER.  We've got snow on snow, and more snow on top of that.  Running outside is now nearly impossible anywhere.  If any of you hear me complain about the heat this summer, smack me!

Jenn,

Congrats on your marathon.  I love the joy/relief on your face at the finish line. 

They haven't started water rationing here yet, but I know the folks in Sacramento (about 160 miles south of me) have had to cut water usage by at least 20%. Ours should be coming soon. We are already doing our part to try and reduce what we use, but I worry most about agriculture. When the farmers don't have enough water the California central valley will be a dust bowl this summer.

Last night was physical fitness testing at the Kung Fu school so I skipped my normal run. 1 hour and 40 minutes of Super Burpies, jumping jacks, pushups, pull ups, squat - kicks, etc. I was a mess afterward and I could barely get out of bed this morning, but it was one of those workouts where I had a partner and we kept pushing each other until pretty much complete muscle failure. It feels great to have done it, but I'll be paying for it in soreness for days.

On HR:  Are you concerned that you aren't working hard enough based on what you see in mine and other's workouts?  Each person has a very individualized HR so it's not something to compare to any one else.  If you're worried about whether you're working hard enough then you have to gauge that a little on your own.  Another way to see if you are doing some hard work is by checking the TSS (Training Stress Score) for the individual workouts you have done vs. others.  When looking at the workouts you've completed this far, excluding the 20 minute test, you are in the moderate TSS range over all.  But how did they feel?  That's a bigger question.

Intermediate Base 1:  I think this plan would be a much better plan to work up to where you can begin to pick up hours later.  I don't know what IM plan you're using but increasing the time on the bike now will support a better bike later, thereby giving you a stronger, more solid bike fitness overall for IM.  Given that both the Intermediate plans are of similar time per week, you could give plan 2 a look to develop a stronger bike early.  But it will be a little harder when looking only at the TSS.  Don't be afraid to suffer.  If you're going to suffer and develop a stronger cycling ability I suggest you make the worst of the suffering early as opposed to later in the training.

After working outside for over 26 years in my field I feel, and have for years, that I would rather work in the heat than the cold anytime.  All of the clothes that must be worn to keep my body warm are exhausting.  Then add all the snow we've gotten this year and fighting through it makes things even worse.  I think many of you have seen a pic on my FB page with the snow mountain as tall as me................YES!!!  I am ready to see some asphalt and grass again!!

Have a great time on the Ragnar relay, TERRY!   Are you doing it with a bunch of friends or just random people?   Either way, it sounds like a blast.

Happy to see you checking in, WARREN.   That May weekend is going to hurt.   What a fun challenge, though!

I study Kung Fu San Soo. I've only been practicing Kung Fu for about a year and a half, so I'm really still a baby in the art. My daughter and 2 of my nieces have been studying for about the last 6 moonths too. The other students at the school are like extended family now, and my Kung Fu master and I have become very close friends.

Those Ragnar races sound cool. That's another of those "maybe someday" kind of races for me.

Originally posted by wbayek

Originally posted by JeffY

Originally posted by JonnyVero

They haven't started water rationing here yet, but I know the folks in Sacramento (about 160 miles south of me) have had to cut water usage by at least 20%. Ours should be coming soon. We are already doing our part to try and reduce what we use, but I worry most about agriculture. When the farmers don't have enough water the California central valley will be a dust bowl this summer.

 

Last night was physical fitness testing at the Kung Fu school so I skipped my normal run. 1 hour and 40 minutes of Super Burpies, jumping jacks, pushups, pull ups, squat - kicks, etc. I was a mess afterward and I could barely get out of bed this morning, but it was one of those workouts where I had a partner and we kept pushing each other until pretty much complete muscle failure. It feels great to have done it, but I'll be paying for it in soreness for days.

Way to go Kung Fu master! That old-school conditioning stuff can be brutal. Plus most of that is a type of conditioning that triathletes don't have.

Great work Jonny! This is exactly the type of workout I'm working up to for the bone frog. These are brutal.

Funny coincidence. I was chatting with a couple of other students from Kung Fu at last weekend's Frosty Fun Run and one of them sugested that I join them for a Spartan race in November. I haven't decided to do it or not. The training for it would definetly be all encompasing.