Disturbed275's Group - FULL!! (Page 12)

It feels like I am on track. Yesterday I got the TI book and it looks like it will be lots of good reading.

The goal is to first do a triathlon with an indoor swim as you suggest and then try to do a sprint with open water swim of about 750m later in the season if I can swim that far.

No training yesterday as I went to pick up a bike I found on craigslist. It is a 2003 Lemond Arrivee that is a little bit scratched up from some small falls and it needs a bit of TLC and I think it will be fine for what I need. Pictures to come.

Questions on pedals: What system should I go with, there seems to be lots of options, MTB pedals have the advantage that you can walk in the shoes and you can use the same pedals on all bikes, road pedals are stiffer etc. Then there are different brands Look, Shimano etc. I have no idea of the difference. I guess at this point I do not want to spend a ton of mony for those last grams at the same time I do not want to invest in a system that I will want to change six months from now.

I've had Shimano (Ultegra or DA) pedals on every bike I've had. Never felt a reason to change, no slipping, plenty of power transfer. My roommate wanted a set but didn't want to break the bank, and he bought the SPD's (entry level shimano clips) for somewhere around $50 from Dick's. They have worked flawlessly as well.

Mtn bike pedals seem like a good idea from a beginner point of view, but there is a big loss in the difference in stiffness. I'd suggest against it if you plan on stepping up the bike training.

I really like my Speedplay pedals. I think they're very good for a starter pedal. They give you lots of float, which is awesome IMO and the ones I have are very easy to get in/out of when necessary. They are also double sided, which I'm told is a big deal (wouldn't know since I haven't had the alternative).

The downside to them is I can't use my shoes at the gym on a spin bike, but I havent' really had a desire to do that yet, either.

Question on training intensity:

I'm using the following plan right now and am in the process of melting down. I hadn't put any real thought into intensity of the workouts, though. For my runs, I pretty much try to do 8:20 pace for up to five miles, 8:30 for up to 7 and 8:45 for up to 9. For my bike, it is all about seeing the highest constant effort I can keep up for the duration of the ride. The swim is the only area where I think I'm doing something close to right, but even then all my workouts are hard, but vary in design (short repeats one day, ladders midweek, and one long swim at the end of the week).

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=41


What I'm wondering from somebody who is using this, or a similar BT plan, do you use any of these days as 'easy' days? Should I be doing one of the runs at a 10 minute mile? Should I just be coasting on the bike for a ride?

Granted, its a little late since I'm 11 weeks into it, but my legs are done right now and I just finished the short workouts for the week. I don't know how I'm going to get through the medium/long workouts. I have a feeling I eed to tweak the design to get through the next 8 weeks. Any suggestions? I think I may have my base now. I'm running 7, biking 30, and swimming 2k for my long workouts. so, hopefully I can afford to make changes now. Any thoughts? Also, is it normal to feel like you're going to break when you get to the peak weeks?

I've got speedplay pedals on my road bike and spd for the mountain bike.  As Chris said, going with a road pedal of mountain bike is probably best.  I find the fit/execution of the speedplays to be better and more comfortable for me from a pure riding standpoint.  However, the speedplays are not fun to get around in off the bike. 

Ok, Mike.  Lot's to tackle here.  First off, you should definitely not be doing all of your workouts at a hard intensity.  That's an easy recipe for injury or burnout.  I would suggest doing your long workouts at an easy pace, and your shorter workouts at a harder intensity.  Going hard all the time does not allow your body time to recover enough for the next workout and eventually your body is just going to get run down.  Just looking at your run paces I'd say there is not enough difference between an easy and a hard pace.  My long distance runs are typically 1-1:30 slower pace than hardest intensity efforts.

If at this point you are feeling run down I would suggest taking a few days off to rest and recover, if not a whole recovery week with just a few light workouts.  One of the worst things you can do is continue to slog through the workouts if your body hasn't recovered.  You are much better off resting at this point and don't worry about missing a few workouts.

Now the BT plans are great, but there's no need to follow them like gospel.  Each person is different so you can't expect the plan to work just right for everyone.  Listen to what your body is telling you and modify that plan if need be.  It can be hard sometimes to tell the difference between just being a little tired and your body needed the rest.  As you continue to train and log the miles that distinction will be easier to make.

So the short version: rest and recovery.  This is almost as important as the training itself.

Everyone will have a different opinion this one as well.  The good thing is I've never really heard of a "bad" pedal system.  As mentioned I would definitely go with a road system.

I started with SPDs and didn't have a single complaint with them and made it through my first season that way.  After reading up on Speedplays I decided to make the switch last season and actually ended up liking them a lot better.  Once I got used to the additional float I really felt I was getting a better power transfer from them (purely subjective of course).  The cleat is a little more raised than other systems, but like anything you get used to running in them and I don't think it significantly slowed down any of my transitions.

I started with spd from my mountain bike they worked fine, but after getting a new fancy bike i bit the bullet and bought road pedals and shoes.  I bought Look lower end but they work fine.  It takes a little practice getting your foot in since there you need to be on the right side, but no big deal.  The larger surface area of the pedal seems to help for long rides to me but I'm still learning.  I use cheap mountain shoes for spin classes but peformance makes a spin class shoe for 50 bucks.  Spin classes work out good for me and there is a huge difference uses bike shoe vs running shoes in the clips.

Thanks everyone for your input on pedals. It sounds like road pedals is the way to go. The bike actually came with Look PP206 which seems to be a low end pedal but maybe this is good enough for starting with.

I am heading to the lokal bike shop this weekend to get my new ride serviced and ready to go for when it heats up outside so I will start looking at shoes and all the other stuff that I need.

By the way I had some more improvements in the pool yesterday, I am starting to belive that this will actually be possible. 300m pool swim that is...

The only thing I will add is to make sure you are getting enough protein and/or calories.  If you are not your body will feel run down and you body will start dipping into muscle to get workouts done instead of carb stores.

I have been reading Joe Freils book, "The Triathletes Training Bible"  and they can't stress enough to be eating right and after hard workouts,  or during long workouts to get a protein bar in.  I was consistently doing hard workouts all the time about 2 months ago and just kept feeling sore and tired, but kept pusing it.  I was under the impression I needed to go hard all the time.  Now when I take breaks (like I took Friday off) I have great recoveries (I had better results on my Saturday ride than the previous 20 mile ride).

I went to a lecture recently on triathlon training and nutrition and I think they said for triathletes, to eat the equivalent of 0.75-0.90 x your weight in grams of protein.

Hill run and swim yesterday, was going to take today off but woke up and could not go back to sleep so I went to the gym and worked out, probably all for today.

I'm jealous of the hill work. Nice job.
No hills here in Chicago, have to drive out to the burbs to get anything that kinda looks like one.

Carrie, good call on the nutrition aspect.  I am usually eating protein with every meal (including snacks).  After a hard workout of 45 mins or more I am downing a recovery drink  such as a protein shake or chocolate milk within 15 mins of completion.  About a half hour after that I will eat my normal meal.

Me too--jealous, that is.  Flat as a pancake here.  There are actually some spots that are below sea level.  Does running over a freeway overpass a bunch of times count?    Good work Kip!

The Look pedals seem to be a pretty reasonable entry level pedal.  The LBS should be able to set you up with proper shoes, cleats, etc.

Congrats on the swim improvements!  Hope they keep coming for you!

Hill repeats!

I know of 2, maybe 3 decent hills in my town.  I've been know to run up and down them a dozen or so times for hillwork.  Boring, but I gotta work with what I have.

I just want to give you all a heads up.  I'm heading out to California for a week so I may be a little slow replying to any questions.  I'm looking forward to a trail run or two now that the doc has cleared me to run and I may try and take a look at the Escape from Alcatraz bike course while I'm there.

Everyone keep up the good training!

I would not be to envious of the hills they really suck, but I guess they help. The only issue around here is finding something semi flat especially on the bike if you go over 5 or 6 miles you are going to climb something.

Hope the bike stuff works out for you.  If the Looks are working properly, they should hang down with front of the pedals pointing up so you can push the front of the cleat into the pedal and press down. 

You got that swim.  Just keep working at it.

Bad day for me Wednesday.

Had a new problem with my right leg running my friends says it sounds like IT band.  We ran hard for three miles in my running class, but it didn't hurt till the next day.  I wondering if it is because we run on a track so its always a counter clockwise run with right leg pushing through the turn.  I'm thinking that might be part of it.  Got a good stretch from a Yoga teacher after class Wednesday that might help.  You runners got any other ideas?

Also hurt my left elbow.  It had sharp pains during my swim and hurt bad the next day.  Almost felt like I was hyper-extending it. Seems like I was dropping my elbow in my stroke.

Took Thursday off.  Up early this morning and feeling better.  Its going to be over 50 in VA and I going to hit the bike.  Maybe today will be less painful.

Listen to your body Jack. If there is one thing I've found, it's that if I *think* I may be injured, it's good to take a day or two off and then re-assess the pains.

Sometimes I end up missing a workout or two for nothing or something I could push through... but I've learned that is 100000000% better than pushing too hard and missing months off.

Hope everything heals up fine.

Have you tried a roller or getting a massage? The massage route really helped with my calf strain last year. Also, are you doing all of your stretching pre/post run? I know there's varying theories on when stretches should be done, but they should be done at some point.

FYI-

There's a post on the main board too that talks abotu ITBS. Lots of folks agreeing with the roller.

https://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=193300&posts=12&start=1