Ironman USA Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 116)

I say....25,000 yards of swimming for May for a swim challenge

Anyone want to see my 25,000 and raise it?

Btw, and just for the Record   The 600 Mile Bike Challenge is just something I set for myself and a bunch of people jumped on and it grew from there.  I'm a big fan of the Time Idea.  Like 24 Hours of Swimming in May!!  Anyone??

I'm not in that camp either.

It's my opinion that many (most?) of the athletes that read advice like that, try to do that all the time, instead of on race day.  Thus, they end up decreasing their metabolic efficiency ( ability to utilize fat for higher percentage of energy supply ).

Your body has ~80,000 calories stored as fat.  Increase your ability to utilize fat for fuel, and you need to consume fewer carbs while racing ( needing fewer calories coming in to sustain race pace has obvious benefits ).

How to improve ME is whole longer thread, but it's a concept that I've come agree with, having shut myself down hard more than once trying to chase massive qtys of carbs/calories and loading up with gels / drinks during training.

If you want to read more, Bob Seebohar has a book that's a good introduction "Metabolic Efficiency Training".

Oh, and I'm at 635 miles on the bike this month, with one more ride to do this afternoon! 

please witty! ask away!  sorry in advance for this being so long....it's just how I feel!

I just fall asleep. never an issue.

I have a big disadvantage (or advantage?) over most people because I'm really stupid when it comes to this stuff. Like dumb as dumb can be.

I am totally lost when I hear things like "Increasing fat for fuel." "Metabolic efficiency." I simply have no place in conversations like that. Truthfully, I don't care. Not because they are not important, but because the amount of time it would take for me to actually understand it and implement it far exceeds what I have.

So, because I realize I know absolutely NOTHING about nutrition, I listen to 1-2 people and that's it. I do what they tell me, practice it, and if it works, great. If it doesn't, we try something else.

Sure, its an IM, and I've never done one. But my coach has. KQ'd more than anyone I know. has done more IMs than anyone I know. Done them in heat, done them in cold. Done them on hills, done them on flats. DNF'd. She knows what its like to fail and to succeed. I'd rather go to battle with a general who has had to retreat a few times than one who has only seen victory.

So I just do what she says, ask questions later. Typically, though, the questions are not needed, because the finish line answers them all. Sure, one day the finish line will tell me we should have done something else, it has in the past, in will in the future. I'm not going to stop doing what works, and start doing what works for others, because I fear failing on what we believe in.

You see, I think that is the one thing that hurts us. Instead of being consistent in what has works for us, every single day, we are consistent in changing what we do based on what others say.

Yes, you have to qualify those you listen to (and really, you should only listen to 1-2 people...). I mean, there are SO MANY WAYS to skin a cat. I find that just believing in ONE and putting everything you have into that ONE way, is far more beneficial that debating over 300 extra calories consumed THREE HOURS before the event even starts. And even if you find that ONE way that is best (which you won't because it does not exist), you only found it because you over analyzed everything while your competition was out training.

So, how do you qualify it all? Look at your results. Are they in-line with expectations? Are you meeting or exceeding expectations you put on yourself and by others?

To me, these are the questions you should be asking yourself.

The main thing the discussions within this thread teach me is there are many ways to do things. Many many ways. there are some great triathletes in these pages, each with a great way to do things.

Find something that works, and to do it consistently. over and over again. do not change it unless it no longer works. Don't be afraid that the day it will fail is race day! If that happens, no big deal! You learn and move on!

If my nutrition fails me because I ate too much, NO BIG DEAL!! I learn by failing.

Whether we're talking about the appropriate pace for a tempo run, if longer sets make more sense in the pool, what is "zone 2" or nutrition. You do what works and you do it every single day until it no longer works. than you change it.

If the day it fails is race day, so be it. Don't fear failing on race day!!

that's it.

Mike