Asphalt Junkies Spring 2013 - Closed (Page 111)

Dina nice job sticking with that swim workout today. I sort of did the same with the bike tonight.

So I got in a 2 hour 32 mile ride tonight, 3 loops around the neighborhood down to the marina and bay. All I can say is "oh wind how I haven't missed you at all this winter"! Damn, it was so windy tonight not just down by the water but even around the neighborhood. I was riding into walls of wind the entire 2 hours. Had to be category 1 hurricane force at least ok maybe not but it felt that way for sure.

Now I can't complain with the lack of hills where I am the wind is the next best thing to be riding in and to be honest I did sort of miss the wind while doing all that work indoors on the trainer. I know call me crazy but you get a great workout pushing into the wind.

I almost didn't do that 3rd loop but like Dina's swim workout I just felt my legs taking me back down to the marina and the bay so as much as I didn't want to do that last loop I found myself doing it anyway. I'm glad I did it and I need to be getting in as much work as I can. I will say my legs were on fire at the end of the ride. I've had tired and dead legs all week so I was surprised and happy to do as much as I did tonight.

I may need some intervention... I porked out on mexican food twice yesterday... then today i ate chik fil a twice and drank 3 cokes... someone come down to Texas and slap me in the face!

On a bright note, even though I had a crazy full day, I hopped on that trainer at 9pm and got a bike WO in...

Will, I bet living in TX, ya'll have some really good mexican food, I'm not sure I could have been good either...but there is a saying...fat last longer than flavor...lol 

Tony and Dina, GREAT w/o...I guess all Tri folks are masochist or however you spell it...lol

Matt, take care of your ankles!

Jo, enjoy your coach and tell your sisters we are thinking of them.

Hey, in Runners World, they posted the banner to the Boston people...it was from out town, Tallahassee...Like I said, I am proud of our town, it is hard to compee here because here are some real competitive folks here...lol  wish i was one of them.

Dirk, let us know when the Junkies get up and running again...I want in, if there is room.

WHOA.....You seriously did 150's on 1:45?  That's super fast!!!!!  I can't even do one 150 on 1:45!

So, here is where the new mentor group is headed.  All of the mentors, myself included, are feeling a bit of job and family related activities or concerns might impede our ability to keep up a heavy pace that seems typical when we begin a new session with new members.  It seems to get really crazy once things kick off as we try to get to know some of the new people and answer all of the questions. 

This session we are going to have a smaller group than we planned for the winter session.  Last time we allowed for 15 people in the overall group and this time we will be dialing back to 12 overall.  This will help in a variety of ways:

• The new member total will be much lower because all of the interest currently from all of you to remain in the group.  This will keep some of the "social" aspects of learning each other down and allow for an easier day to day activity level.
• The repetitive questions that sometimes occur from new group members wouldn't be so significant.  Our current group knows each other fairly well and we can recall various aspects of each others training habits, injuries, etc. to properly provide guidance or encouragement as needed.
• It will allow myself and the other mentors fair time to commit to training, racing and most importantly family time.  I cannot speak for the other mentors but I myself stress occasionally about making sure I am involved in the group as much as possible.  At times, when I've been absent for brief periods, I will feel the strain to get back in the group despite having other things I need to do, whether work, home of family life.

Finally, as the new group starts we are in the beginning days of storm season for me, Warren's employer has been bought out, Jeff and Jonathan's jobs have become more busy.  I would like to communicate with you all that as a mentor I may sometimes not attempt to keep up with all of the social aspect of each person via all of the postings.  I will read them for sure, but posting for each person takes some time and time posting is time away from other things.  Please don't be offended if I or other mentors don't post regarding each of your questions, social comments, etc.  I doubt this will be any issue because we have all come to know each other fairly well and I think most of what I have stated is assumed.

Finally (yeah, the last finally wasn't the real finally), I currently have 9 mentee's that would like to stay in the group:

Dina, Jackie, Jen, Karl, Matt, Samantha, Tony, Tracy, Will..........

.......And making a comeback to the Junkies will be the smilingest triathlete........Brenda

That will bring the total ringing in the summer session to 10, leaving room for 2 new members.

I will be posting in the mentor staging area in a little while.  Once I complete that I'll post the link here and everyone that's interested can follow the link and post in the group before it officially opens guaranteeing a spot.

My diet has been pretty lame since finishing Boston too, so I may need a slap in the face too.  We've had a couple of work related events that have provided ample opportunity to eat far to much.

Exactly what I thought last night when I read it.  I think I am going to begin to copy her swim work outs rather than the other way around.  I think she needs to do some swim clinics!  What say the Junkies?

Sorry no, typo 100 on 1:45. I wish .

Can you believe I have never eaten Chik Fil A? Your post just gave me a stomach ache! Nice job getting in that ride.

Jen I've done a couple of my Tri's last season in the rain and neither one went as planned. If they do go forward with it take care especially on the bike.

after riding with my brakes on in March, I do wonder how tomorrow's ride will go and if I will be able to "slow it down" if it is raining.

Jen,  About riding/racing in the rain...

I think you can nearly ride as normal.  Here's why I say that:  Most triathletes never come anywhere near to using all of their available traction.  You probably never use more than 75% of your available traction on dry, clean pavement.  If you have wet pavement, that same riding style is going to be within your available traction.

Things to look out for if it's wet:

• While turning or braking don't cross a metal man-hole cover
• While turning or braking, watch out for painted lines.  The paint is smooth and can be slippery.
• If you regularly ride your brakes through the turns and get away with it, you won't be as likely to get away with it when it's wet.  Get off the brakes before you begin to turn.
• Begin braking earlier because you will have less brake force.

Now to elaborate on the wet brakes topic.  Rather than brake early and slow sooner and take forever to get around the turn, the approach I use is to apply my brakes gently way out from the turn.  If the brakes are wet enough, there won't be much braking going on.  I can then keep the brakes on while I wait a second for the water to be dissipated by the friction.  As soon as I feel the brakes grab as they normally would, I let off and then continue to the turn as I would in the dry.  When brakes are needed before turn-in, I apply them as I do when it's dry out because I have 'cleaned' the water off and know they will bite.

If I apply that 'test' braking way before the turn and find the pads bite right away then I let go and continue to the turn without any difference from dry.

I feel bad for those of you struggling with your diet.  I feel guilty in a way.  I have been eating anything and everything I want and very little of it has been what we would consider nutritious. 

But with that said, my body composition is the best it's been in my life.  I might honestly be down as low as 5% BF.  At certain times during the day I can see tendons in my abs. 

Calories In < Calories Out I guess.

Holy body fat Batman!  I am no where near that.  According to my body composition scale (which I don't put a lot of faith in) my body fat is about 12.5% but fluctuates every time I step on the scale.  My weight is pretty much right on target with my race weight from last year at 156#.  I am giving consideration to trying to drop to close to 150 this season but I am not going to get sticky about it.

Here is the link to the new group:

ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - OPENED

I am not sure when it will open so keep a very close eye.  Try to get your name and bio up ASAP to ensure your spots.  We'll keep this group going here until they open the new groups.

I'm with you all on the diet front.  I'm struggling for some reason this week with any self control, and my appetite has been downright boy teenager-like.  If I actually posted a typical day's food consumption no one would believe me.  Let's just say yesterday ended  - after everyone was in bed and I was doing some side work for a game I'm part of - with eating a full box of Autumn Wheat cereal and 3/4 gallon of milk.  That is well after the standard dessert and post dinner/dessert junk food raiding.  I think I have high (inefficient?) metabolism, but someday I'll weigh 1000 pounds if I don't get some self control when I grow up.

Here's my April numbers:

B:  361.09 Mi
R:  72.57 Mi

Swimming: 0

Kind of an easy month, but the main accomplishment is that the cottage is open for business!!!!!!

You are absolutely right...the electrical impedance scale is about as inaccurate as using Heart Rate alone to estimate calories burned by exercise.

And my number is a guesstimate from eyeballing.  But I am aware of the tendency to grossly underestimate one's BF %.

12.5% is actually a value to be proud of.  It's a lot better than it sounds. 

For myself I'd actually guess between 5% on the lowest end up to 8% on the highest end.  Hence my wording: 'might...be down as low as...'

If you are going to go down to 150lbs for this race season you need to be aware that it will hurt your performance during that time you are losing.  If you want to be a STRONG 150lb racer don't just diet to 150lbs and race.  Diet to 145lbs and then fuel yourself back up to 150.

The reason is that when you are calorie deprived you first lose glycogen.  Your intense workouts will be dismal if you are doing any and so would the races.  Then you lose fat but the glycogen is never full.  Then when you reach your target weight and fully fuel up, you will gain 3-4lbs of glycogen in your muscles immediately.

I think the best way to lose weight is to diet while doing all Zone 2/bottom of 3 type of base building workouts.  Low intensity and high volume.  This type of training isn't diminished by the low calories but supports weight loss while building greater cellular efficiency in the muscles.  Then when the race season approaches and some workouts each week go in to Zone 4+, you can be fully fueled at your new weight.

Jo63 - 2013-05-03 8:47 PM Hey you missed me... Hope Iam still included

Oops!  That's why I want to make sure everyone checks in.  I knew I would miss someone.  Sorry!

Week two of no added sugar for me.  It's actually pretty easy once you get past the first week.  I no longer crave it.  Thank God!!

I'm also into three weeks of doing pretty consistent weight training.  What a difference it makes!  I feel pretty tired at the end of the week now, but my runs are getting faster from the leg work. 

Looking forward to the Summer group.  Looks like some of you jumped the gun prior to letting the mentors put bio's up.  I like the excitement!

Jen, I LOVE racing in the rain.  Enjoy it!

What great weather today. I got bike ride in earlier this morning a 44 mile ride in a little over 2:30 hours. Man the wind was worse today then it was the other day I rode this week. I was supposed to hit the hills today but stayed local since my wife had to run out at around noon but I still had a great ride.

The wind is a wonderful way to train. I got hit with headwinds in every direction if that's possible and the crosswind was just crazy. I thought I might have been riding in Kona. I almost got blown over a few times I couldn't believe it. It was just walls of wind down by the bay and marina today.

I got an awesome workout today, the legs were definitely on fire when I finished. I wished I could have put in 50 miles but I needed to get back home and my legs were toast anyway. I think I earned my serving of ice cream for tonight, it'll be a big one.