Baowolf's Mentor Group - Sorry Closed. (Page 12)

I got 40+ minutes this morning in our spin class.  I really like the new bikes that the Y purchased.  They're the Keiser M3+ and display time, distance, cadence, and power.  Micah, our coach this morning, said that for his classes we are going to base everything on power and heartrate.  I'm pretty excited about this because the bike is where I feel I need to improve the most.

@Samantha -  Good luck with your training plan, if we can do anything to help just ask!  For the indoor trainer I will be watching replays of the 2010 and 2012 World Series.  I'm looking forward to my session on Saturday because I will finally get to see Matt Cain's perfect game from start to finish. 

@Squirt (or do you prefer Carol?) - I failed in my attempt to do crunches last night , so currently I'm 0 out of 8, I'll change that tonight (x30)!  Also don't worry about the pool.  I was convinced that I would be puking on the deck following yesterday's workout and it wasn't too bad.  My tris are a little sore today but nothing major.  If I've learned anything after my first season of Tri its that when it comes to training its all mindset.  You can do it!

@Brian - I just noticed that you live in Roseville!  I grew up in Sacramento, my Dad lives in Citrus Heights and my Sister in Rocklin.  Wish I had some of your weather to ride/run outside in!

Steve, thanks, I really appreicate your input.  Yes, legs/feet are feeling amazingly good.   Mile repeats have been at 9:00 pace, once per week, but as you said, only 5 so far.  Goal pace for the mary is 9:44 (4:15), but in order to do that, given my testing/nutrition needs, I think the pace for my "good" miles would need to be more like 9:35ish.  Anything under 4:30 would be OK, and realize I may need to adjust goal as the day gets closer.  That last 10K "race" was probably not very representative.  For one, it was 1 week after my first trail race (20K).  Then on race morning, I knew I needed a longer run, so first did a 1.5 mile warmup (9:27 pace), then ran the 5K race (8:32 pace), then the 10K race (9:18 pace), then a 1.5 mile cool down (10:44 pace).  I didn't go all out on either the 5K or the 10K...was trying to treat it sort of as a training day.

I hear you on upping the mile repeates.  What do you think on the mile repeat pace?  My glute issue is good to go after some ART and emphasis on strech/strengthen over the last few weeks, so hills are a possibility now as well.  Any thoughts for the rest of this week and the 15K I'm signed up for on Saturday? -- LR already done (13 cutback week), easy 7 done, plan was mile repeats on the indoor track this evening (we're socked in w/ rain), easy 5 tomorrow or Friday, 15K race on Saturday.  The 15K only cost me $15, is on familiar paths, and I can use it however will benefit training (could turn it into mile repeat day instead).  But I will admit some level of desire to give it a reasonably hard go.  Thinking it might be good for getting some idea of where I am pace wise.

Carol, given where you are at (and if you don't turn an ankle) the trail run looks fine even as a harder effort since the legs are good.  Your mile repeats are too slow....  You are doing mile repeats that will set up a 4:30:00 mary.  So you will want to get those down to an 8:30 pace or 8:00 would be better...since we want you at a 4:00:00 mary, eventually.  I think mile repeats are safer for your legs than hill repeats, but that depends on how steap the hill is.  If you have a 3 percent grade that is 1/4 to 1/2 mile then you could hit those at an 8:30 pace for repeats similar to your mile repeats.  If you are doing 5 x 1 mile repeats this week, then 5x hill repeats would make sense for next week and then 6x 1mile repeats/6x hills the next two weeks.  The hills will build stregnth (needed for miles 20-26) and the mile repeats will help move you into a faster overall pace for the first 20 miles.... with some caryover to the last 6 miles.  Make sense?  How flat is your mary, that will make a difference? I have done a mary stat started with a 5 mile downhill which fries your thighs for later in the race so I had to include downhill running.  Boston was constant rolling hills, so I picked a rout that had 2 smaller hills per mile. 

Samantha- That IM training looks daunting lol!  I wish you lots of good luck; looking forward to watching your jouney happen here.

Carol- Thanks for the invite but I feel like I'd be a little late to the party if you know what I mean   I know this is totally me but I'm an all or nothing type...I didn't start so I can't join later lol.

Ken- Good job getting in your work early today.  Hopefully, I can follow your lead and do the same because I have my sons basketball game tomorrow night.

Mike- Good weather coming our way!  If the snow melts, we need to take advantage and hit the pavement!

As for me, today was a good day of training.  I went down to do an hour on the trainer but my bike crapped the bed again after 3 minutes!  After thinking about it, I finally realized that I need a new tube.  I watched a video on how to take your road bike tires off/on, took it off, and went to my LBS.  He put in a new $6 tube, charged me $10 in labor to put it on (not sure how I feel about THAT)...but I watched him so I would know how to do it myself in the future.  I had a quick chat about getting my bike tuned up and what he thought of my tires (remember I bought this road bike used).  He mentioned and showed me that he thought I may need new ones because of cracks on that side of my tires.  He also said tune up was about $60 and it should take about a week.  I'm pretty bike dumb so I ask all of you...does this sound accurate and the pricing reasonable?

I did the last of my first portion of the 6 week 0-1650 today and it went great.  I've been able to cut down almost a minute in time between the first time I did it and the last time.  More importantly to me, I feel a lot better being a little winded and keeping my face in the water plugging away toward the next wall.  I also did some weights today and I will do some core work with my wife tonight to get started on my core focus.

Edit: Steve, I actually tried to do my BS today and sadly, I've lost my touch with it!  It used to be my go to but as I focus more on improving my crawl, my BS has gotten worse!

And a big thank you to whomever told me to take the tires on and off myself.  It sucked but its a good feeling to know that I can do it in a crunch!

Road tires are usually good for around 2500 miles, but some go more like 4000 miles.  Signs that your tires are in need of replacement are that the sides are cracking, that the center of the tire which starts out rounded when inflated starts to flatten due to wear.  If you start seeing the rubber under the tread, this is bad, think of it as seeing metal in your car tires.  Other signs are that you have lots of knicks out of the tread that look like hrm that is looking really bad, like the roads by my house.

Tires are probably really cheap online especially for the next couple of weeks.  You can go with a race tire like Pro-race3 (michelin) or conti 4000 or you can go with a more durable training tire like a gatorskin (slower but more flat resistant).  Bike tires on sale go for $35, but full price is up to $70 each.  Do not buy the $100+ tires unless you are pulling 56 miles at 26 mph...

You can change your own tires, np.  Look at youtube vidios on it and have 2 tire levers and spare tubes.  Ways to screw it up are digging the tire lever into the sidewall of the tire and making a puncture rather than getting under the edge of it (for taking the tire off) and when putting the tire on failing to get the tube completely inside the tire.  This makes it pinch between the tire and the rim and results in a flat when you inflate it.  One trick to getting that last bit of tire onto the rim if it is tight is to just lick your finger (or use a drop of water) and run it along the outside of the rim right where the tire is going to need to slip over (thus reducing the friction).  If you want to double check the seating of the tube you can pump the tire a comple times and recheck by pulling the tire back a bit and look to see if there is any exposed tube between the tire in and the rim before pumping it back up to the 110 psi or whatever.  Also be aware that most race bikes have skinny valves for pumping them up so your mountain bike tire pump won't work on them. 

Then.... we have cleaning the bike chain.

So ya the guy probalby should have changed the tire for free, but meh.  $60 is fine for the tunup, but if he wants to change out old cables ($40 for 4), chain ($50 to $75), tires ($35 online 75 in the store) and possibly hubs/sprockts ($75-125 each), and bar tape ($15) it can add up.  This is worst case and hopefully everything is fine but shifting adjustments are nice so that everything works smooth.  I would ask what all is included in the tuneup.    Shift cables tend to be replaced about ever 2 years or so depending on if your bike ever sees rain or whatever.  Brake pads last pretty long unless you are doing lots of prolonged technical desents. 

Ken, best of luck this weekend on your marathon!!!!!!!! 

Pix of my pinked-out bike.  And I know that I need clipless pedals; going to get next week.

This is how I posted pix.  Upload pix to computer.  Went to http://www.resizemypicture.com/ and reduced to 400pixels and 20%.  Copied it and then pasted here.  Gosh, I hope it stays here.

Since I may have the hang of posting pix, was going to post the pix of the lacing that I tried to post this weekend.  It won't be for everyone.  Like Steve says, the elastic laces are good.  But, for longer distances, I have to go with this because of feet swelling.

Thanks.  It should be a great time.  

Ken are you going to wear a garmin with mile splits on so I/we can see how you do.  It would be helpful when looking at your next race. Also, if you get trained up well enough your IM mary should be around 3:40-3:45 if your training is spot on and you don't cook the bike.

I would have expected $10 for the new tube installed on the bike, probably took the guy 5 minutes tops.  Some bike shops do work way cheaper than I would expect and some want $100 just to look at it.  I have had a new hub, new gears, cables and a new chain put on with labor like $25-35.  I like that shop.  A place near my parents would have charged $100 to $150 probly for the labor.  The shop should really want your loyalty and make money helmets, gels, shoes, seats, new bikes etc., and not so much on service.  At least thats how a lot of them work.  Others, not so much.

I think for pictures I needed to upload them into my album on BT and then upload them into my post with the tools on the screen here. 

Brian - That's funny you are from Sac. I am not sure if you caught my early comment to you that I went to Iowa State. I think you must be one of a few to go from this part of the country to the cold.

Ken - Good luck on the marathon looks like you have logged in the hours.

Steve - Good bike tips. All of my hole were in the same spot! While I was picking up new tube they had some stick on patches. I picked a few of those up to keep on my bike instead of a second tube. 

Jay - You definitely need to learn to change your own tube. It will happen on the road some day. Probably when your cell phone dies  

-Brian

Not gonna lie, my training plan intimidates me. But it WILL be fun to share it with y'all.

Ended up doing an unplanned training tri today. Ran 1.4 miles, swam 1500, and biked 7. I did giggle many times at the mileage my plan is starting me at. It will be good to build from low miles, but 1.4...really? It was fun to go fast. I also met a guy tonight who teaches swim technique every wednesday night at my gym. It cost a bit per month, but I would love the coaching on my swim technique and now is the time to do it. I'm praying about it. He emphasized that he teaches nothing but technique. Not like a master's class that set up a swim plan for my time at the pool. He also said he would help me structure my other swims at no additional charge. I shall see.

Ken - Have a great race.

Pam - No pics showed up.

Carol - you are just awesome! Can't wait for your race. Thanks for your consistent support and enthusiasm for this journey I am on.

Steve - if I could remember half of what you remember to tell all of us all day long I would be a super star. Thanks again for everything. Oh, and I REALLY want to run my entire marathon so I'm glad you said that!

Larry - Will be glad to hear from you when you come around. Keep up the awesome work!

Mike - still waiting for the training dungeon photo. Or did I miss it.

Night.

I feel like I'm getting older by the day. Why? Everything hurts. Not injury pain, but just general aches. Maybe a good massage will work it out, but I feel like I need to be put through a clothers wringer and given a good stretch to smooth out the various muscle aches.  its probably related to the fact I've not been overly consistent in training the past few months, but its a drag when I get out of bed and think I've been recently run over by a truck or something similar.

The trainer dungeon picture will be coming soon. I keep forgetting about it.

My strength training session last night was a session on boxing training, and I have to tell you it waaaaay harder than it looks. The whole footwork, balance, punching thing is really difficult to do right. I haven't felt so uncoordinated in a while.

Hi All,

Wow... active group!  Still trying to figure out all the names :-)

Anyway, back home post 17 hour drive (totally can relate to Mike's body aches comments... egad).  I've now completed my end of year accounting crunch (part 1 anyway), survived all the family visits and food orgies, and now should be able to settle into a more normal routine.  I'm not typically one to like routine, but after the last 3 weeks, I am so ready for "normal" days.  Did get in a reasonably good 5 days of running / biking in Florida even with the odd bike fit.  Next visit will have a bunch of work to do to get my Dad's old beach bike back in shape. 

Ken, best of luck this weekend!

Samantha... enjoy the slow build :-)

John, I've done Culpeper the last 4 or 5 years.  An excellent course and even the Sprint is a fairly challenging one as sprints go.  Try to do Giant Acorn as well.  I use those two races (and Angel's in April) as benchmark races to see where I'm at.  Of course, with the new Giant Acorn course, I lost that opportunity, but it's still a great way to end the season for me.  My one and only HIM was the Kinetic.  I'd like to give that another try, but we'll see how things progress over the next two months.  Unlike most triathletes, I tend to be a bit sign up at the last moment.  I aim for races, but often have my schedule pulled out from under me, so I have to be flexible.  Anyway, look forward to meeting you at one of 'em!

Recovery stroke.  Used to be breaststroke for me for all the reasons Steve mentioned, but I've shied away from it since the knee problems and switched to backstroke.  Not good for the sighting, but have to admit I really love looking up at the morning sky and I don't lose much pace when I switch to it (directional issues aside).  Good for normalizing your breathing as well if you're subject to OW anxiety.

Speaking of swimming, while researching the Master's swim stuff I saw they had a January "virtual" race where the race is how many laps can you do in 1 hour.  I thought that was an interesting challenge.  May try to do that as a monthly benchmark.  Anyone interested?

Hoping to get a run / swim in today, but at least one of them.

Stu

Saw this today and it gave me a chuckle.  Actually, while running in Florida last week I did see a bike with a kayak trailer and while in China, saw many creative uses of bikes.  Talk about your power workouts!

Today's swim complete!

400 WU

10x75 (every two minutes)

200 Easy

10x25 Sprint Relay (about every 35-40 seconds)

200 Cool down

Total 1800 Yards

I'm thinking about running tonight.  It'll be the first time since October when I had a horrible run.  I'm a little scared/nervous about it.  Let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Way to go Brian! Thinking hopeful thoughts for your run. I have been slowly upping my distances and while i've struggled with PF issues I am doing good so far. I ran 4 miles last night.

I swam today and was able to chick some dudes at the pool. That made me feel good.. Bad for them though. I am really slow.

Brian, no reason to be anxious about a run.  Just start off slow.  You can walk a mile or two, maybe jog for a minute in the middle see how that feels, add another minute after you walk for a bit.

With my knee I have been mostly walking.  I am currently on a walk 4:00 jog 1:00 pattern for the week and see how that works for me.  Was good yesterday.  If this week is good at that then next week will be walk 3 jog 2, then walk 2 jog 3, 1 4, and then just jog.  I am going 3-4 miles at the moment.  So no worries about the run, just get the shoes on walk a half mile to warmup and then see what you feel like doing after that. 

Carol, if you can't hold the 8:00 for 1 mile then do it for 800 yards and do repeats with that until you get more endurance at that speed.

I wouldn't do well with the swim contest because I never get to the front wall in my current pool.  It is sad that my breaststroke is almost as fast as my freestyle though 8(. 

Oh No!  Good luck on stretching it out.  Read up on the various stretches to have that in your arsenal - just in case.  Good luck.

Ok, I'm giving up on posting pix.  I do have a pix of the bike right now under my profile so I think that you can see it that way.  But I had to admit defeat on the posting pix aspect of life; my attempts are interfering with my resolution to reduce my cussing.

Got on the trainer for the first time this morn.  Had the Spinnervals dvd on and gave up halfway into the 50 min program; jumped at the chance to do a brick just to get off that bike.  Oh, I have so much to learn!