New Year New You...reopened for late comers (Page 12)

Hey David,

swimming is definitely improving and I had a great session Sunday evening after watching loads of youtube videos on total immersion swimming! Today I managed to hit the 100m. Felt great but my technique still needs some work. I still get an awfully sore neck after a swim which I think is partially bad technique (I still do the turtle head thing when I get tired and can't wait for the rotation to get my breath) and age/genetics. I can work on the technique, the other I'll just live with.

But hey I'm loving life, loving a 5.30am trip to the pool at -21C and loving the path to my first triathlon.

I get a better workout on a spin bike rather than the typical gym bikes. We have Kiesers with a built in power meter. Set the gear to a hard resistance and spin for a awhile and you will spike your HR.

Intervals tonight. After warmup, we did Six 6 minute intervals at about 85% FTP at 70 RPM. 2 minute easy spin in between. I tried to keep my power in the 275-300 watt range. HR was about 165 max.

I am very sorry to hear that but it did sound like you were on a pretty steep intensity increase so not altogether surprising. Hopefully it is not serious and long term. In my opinion stop right now and get PT. When I blew my calf the first time I just rested until I thought it felt ok and then made it about 100m into a run before it tore again but much worse. Second time I went to a PT and they can diagnose the injury and give you specific strengthening exercises.

Good news with tri training of course is that non impact exercises and conditioning are always available to keep you on the straight and narrow!

I wish you well, keep us posted on your progress!

agree with the focus on watts. The Keisers display watts which seem to be a function of resistence and speed. David, at 95 RPM an increase in resistance will definitely kick the heart rate up over 153 if that you're looking for. I can get my mine to 170 for short periods doing this. Just depends what you're trying to achieve (calorie burn versus aerobic fitness)

Rob, that is awesome!!! Congratulations on hitting a milestone that appeared so distant. You'll be hitting the 200 mark in no time :-)

Something that might help with lung capacity is to swim underwater as far as you can and check the distance. Of course, trying to better your distance. This could also help with keeping calm when you start needing air. It will get your mind off, I need air, and focus on, can I go further this time.

Great job!!! Keep it up :-)

Great information.

Have you heard of "base training"? I am starting to read about it. Will post some information later this week...

Thank you Rob. I will definitely look into specific goal settings. I read that too much interval training actually will get you up on speed but will level off at a liwer rate than base training. So I really need to research and at least for now get a good mixture of the two.

Thank you again for the feedback :-)

So much reading out there about what training is best. All depends on what goals you have and current fitness level. I first needed to build a base so I could finish the distances. As your base builds up, it takes longer and longer rides to gain any benefits. Hard to get a 3-4 hr ride this time of year.

Shorter training periods of high intensity intervals will help overall fitness and increase VO2max, the amount of work you can do with a limited amount of oxygen. While I'm not an expert on this, one of my riding buddies is a Peaks Training Coach. He has spent the last 20 years training and racing. I have gleaned enough info from him to know that HIIT is a large part of his training regiment.

If you want to ride faster, I can recommend two things. "Rides Lots" and also ride with people faster than you.

Hunter Allen and Joe Friel are good source of training info. Years of experience with these guys.

I'm going to an Expo on Sat where Chris Carmichael is speaking. Hope to pick up some ideas there.




http://www.wheelbuilder.com/pdf/Hunter-Allen-Wheelbuilder-Power-Pla...



Edited by pvfd304 2014-01-28 9:46 PM

You're absolutely right. There are so many different plans for different reasons. It's trying to find that balance to get from point A to point B successfully. Unfortunately, I want everything all at once (but don't we all, kind of)

I think that I'm doing things right. My distance riding has gotten a lot better. But, I noticed that in the process, I've lost some of my climbing strengths (which is where interval training and strength burst training helps; at least for the rolling hills). I think I need to drive around the area where I'm riding my 100 mile event and really understand the course to see if there is anything specific I should be concerned about. So far the first 50 miles for the elevation is nothing really different than what I've done in the past. The rest of the ride is completely flat.

I know that for a sprint triathlon (short distance bicycle ride) I'm definitely going back to interval workouts to get my speed back up.
It's pretty much training for the event without jeopardizing losing what you already have. :-)

Brian (pvfd304)

Was reading more into the attachment, etc. WOW!!! that is one heck of a training plan. 8 weeks of hard training would be something I would enjoy, believe it or not.

Where do you find out about bicycle expo's? I mean, are there web sites that have a lists of "events" or "expos"?

Sounds like you have some really good resources :-)
Have fun at the Expo. Hopefully there might be some newly learned information that you wouldn't mind sharing with everybody here :-)

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Edited by njc65 2014-01-29 3:31 PM

Edited by njc65 2014-01-29 3:30 PM

Hi Ruth, welcome! Wow what a story, very inspiring indeed thanks for sharing. Looking forward to working with you. Neil

HI Virginia, same thing happened to me when I did my first 10k a few years ago. Take a few days rest as others have been saying, I think very light stretching should be ok to do but if it feels painful stop. You may want to try a bit of pool walking too.

Here are some hamstring and lower back stretches I use. Keep me posted. Neil






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wow that's some speed...flying! The message I'm getting from your heart rate is a clear one....you are getting fitter! Have you looked at heart rate training zones, and periodization training. There's a bit of a simple rule of thumb I follow. If I train for a sprint tri I tend to work in a higher HR zone as it tend to be a short sharp blast on the bike whereas for Olympic and above I will work in a lower zone and get the body used to a longer time in the saddle. Are you are of the difference between aerobic and anaerobic heart rate zones, good article here.

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrm1.htm

Simple but spot on advice regarding rider lots and with a faster bunch. I did a lot of group rides with faster riders (and runners too to increase my speed on my feet), take turns on the front, draft a bit, mix it up. If you can't find a bunch to train with, put some faster intervals in with your normal ride and looking at another post, spin bikes are far better than exercise bikes, much closer to the actual feel of a road bike.

Its worth a look David but sounds like its nothing to be afraid of, just get some miles in the legs. My first 100 mile ride was for charity, a crazy day, we rode one hundred miles back and forth across this!







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Great work Rob, keep that head low in the water and work on the rotation!

Keep at it Don, hope the worse of the weather is nearly over

Thank you Neil for your feedback... I'll be looking into the links later tonight. Every little bit helps. Yes, I'm aware of the differences (aerobic / anaerobic). All of my training, even when growing up, has been all about "feel"; if you feel you can push yourself more, then do it. If you don't feel exhausted at the end of the workout, you didn't go hard enough. I am totally new to the HR type of training; reading about others, I figured it should be something for me to learn :-)

I'm very anxious to learn other training techniques almost to a fault. I have to remember that I'm showing marked improvements for the April ride and in the direction needed. I need to remind myself, "is this other training going to help or hinder the 100 miles?" For example, I want to hit 35mph (I've gotten up to just over 34mph already) on a flat road, but is that going to make a difference with the results for April? Probably not... But, after the event in April, sprint workout, here I come :-) My sprint tri should be about a month after the 100 miles.

Oh, and with all this, I'm having to start working on my endurance & sprint for swimming (at the same time). My son's high school last year had a practice swim meet at the beginning of the season, and the coach let me participate in a couple events (50 free, 100 breast stroke, 4 x 100 free relay). I feel it would be great for me to see if I can complete well in the 200 IM (50 butterfly, 50 back stroke, 50 breast stroke, and 50 free) and the 500 free (yards); I think it would be great to see where I'm at within a competitive atmosphere. The two events listed are ones that are the more endurance needed events (at least in high school level). If I don't come in last, my training would be successful. :-)

Top 10 Things to Check Before Every Ride

http://learn.performancebike.com/bikes/advice/riding-tips/general-c...

well I thought Sundays long run went well but it now appears that I have a calf strain.......after encouraging Virginia to go easy now I'm injured! GRRR!

encourage me to do the right thing and be patient (its not me I'm afraid)! Thankfully there's still swimming and biking to go for.

Why is it that my 48 year old body can't keep up with my ambition!

Oh man!!!
Hopefully this isn't a trend for our group :-(
I have to agree with you about body vs ambition.

Fyi: take it easy on the bike, calf muscles are used quite a bit ;-)

Get well soon :-)

Sorry to hear about the calf! Waiting it out and not jumping back into training can be so hard.

But hey, if it makes you feel any better, my 26 year old body can't keep up with your ambition. If I ran that far, I'd have all kinds of problems the next few days!

Not completely informative, but still has some information on what might work for each of you for swimming and fins

http://beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=2030