Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 122)

Hehe - I'm tipping it wasn't the Cycleops that caused that problem....

I was in Florida for work a few weeks ago, and had a chance to swim in the Gulf and get some wetsuit time.  10 minutes in, and I got tagged probably 8 times.  Couldn't even see the little buggers, but I did see them washing up.  Garden variety jellies, only about the size of a nickel. 

So I found a product at a local dive shop, Safe Sea jellyfish lotion; use it like sunblock, and it prevents/greatly reduces the stings!  My next swim a couple days later was for 45 minutes, and only stung a couple times.  I have a sleeveless suit, so it was basically my arms, face and feet that had to be protected.

Disclaimer; I don't work for Safe Sea, get compensated, etc.

For the trainer, KK Road Machine, bought new this past winter, have about 48 hours on it total (trainerroad id tcj103) and it's rock solid.  Tried a cheaper model, and it just didn't cut it for me.  This is one area I recommend paying the extra $$; either Cycleops or Kurt Kinetic; they are the standard for trainers.

Swim squad last night was good, I'm just lacking in motivation and the squad is lacking atmosphere coz it's winter and empty and there is no IM Melbourne around the corner, come September we'll be back to normal! 

So here's the workout! -

FINS
3X300M BROKEN DOWN:

100M Breathe left
100M Breathe right
100M breathe every 3

100m Back - Left arm only
100m Back - Right arm only
100m Back

300m Breast - dolphin kick

4x25m Underwater on 60 sec cycle (yikes!!!)

NO FINS
4X250M broken down:

225m Freestyle
25m Butterfly

PULL BUOY (don't read Yanti it's hypoxic time!)
100m breathe every 4
100m nomal
100m breathe every 5
100m normal
100m breathe every 6
100m normal
100m breathe every 7
100m normal

2.8km done done done.

I used to Scuba dive in SE Alaska where we get lots of jellys...

Doing Scuba you don't even see the long dangling tendrils until your swim though them and they sting your face around your mask and regulator.

Best solution to kill jelly sting after it happens is Adolph's meat tenderizer used to have it in my Scuba bag.

If your sensitive to gross things  stop reading now....

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In a pinch urine also works to stop the sting.... it has to really hurt to rub that on your face....

On Queensland beaches at the lifeguard stations there are spray bottles of white vinegar, - trick with jellies is not to rub, wash the stingers off your skin with cold water or vinegar but don't brush.  Anyway I have no intention of getting stung whatsoever.....

Never been ther done that, but I think your plan is rock solid.  I am in the same boat, and plan on adding full on bike weeks since my bike sucks for the xtra weeks in my plan.  I would think as long as your not going to tire with the 56 milers (recovered by race time)  I'd say that's a good plan.

As you get further into the plan, do you ever find yourself pushing your paces beyond what you know is sensable?  Last night I was supposed to do an easy, slow 4 miles and ended up feeling really good and right away just turned into a hard, tempo run.  Today was my long run and I wanted to push it out to 15 miles.  First three miles were each 30 seconds too fast.  I kept pushing and while I had a pretty good run I needed to cut it off at 13 miles.  I am very, very sore right now and am dreading the aches and pains when I wake up tomorrow.  I feel like I screwed up two workouts in a row.

I am concerned because I did the same thing last year and ended up hurting myself.  I have been very disciplined in the early base periods but now I seem to be loosing it.  It is frustrating because I know better but as soon as I start running something just takes over.  From what I've read most people run their easy runs too fast and end up compromising the purpose of other workouts.  Any strategies or mental tips to deal with this?  I do not seem to have this problem biking or swimming.  I used to be a much faster runner when I was young and sometimes I think my subconscious mind starts to feel that rush but my body hasn't got the message that I'm old now.

Two things I have been told that have helped me.  First: each workout is controlled damage to your body.  You are breaking down your body, and as it recovers/heals the damage, it becomes stronger.  If you don't allow your body to heal, through rest/easy workouts, you are continuing the damage rather than healing = injuries.

The other, and I think it is someone's signature here on BT is that "HR training means leaving your ego at home".  For me, my ego is the thing that tells me that I can go faster/longer/harder, it'll be fine.  While you may not train by HR, I think the sentiment works. 

For me, remembering that even the slow workouts are making me stronger and faster usually keep me at pace.

Hope this helps!

I should have this problem as I was much faster in my youth, but actually I don't. Guess I have the soul of a marathoner, or an ultrarunner, or an Ironwoman. I love to go LOOONG and slow, and it comes naturally. I am always tempted to go longer, mainly with running. But heat and fatigue/time constraints from my job keep it very much under control. I do tend to go beserk when I go somewhere nice to run, though. Fast has always felt, and still does feel, like impending death. I (or my coach in the past) have to brag/threaten/sweet-talk myself into run speedwork. I would say just to think about the purpose of each workout as you do it....Is it to build endurance or speed, or for recovery, or loosen up for a hard bike or run workout later? How does it fit into the plan for the week? And try to stick to whatever pace/ effort level would fulfill that purpose.  

My mental hangup from being fast in my youth (close to 35 flat for 10 km, 17 flat for 5 km) is more about being disgusted with myself no matter what time I do or what pace I'm running. if I know the distance, I always look at my watch, compare to my 20 year old self, and think, "Beyond pathetic!" Then it ruins the whole run for me. If I don't bother with time/distance, then I'm just me, out there running, easy, hard, or whatever, and I'm happy with it.

My solution.... if I time myself, I don't check distance. If I know the distance, I don't time myself. I don't wear a Garmin, even for races.  I'm sure if I could deal with it mentally it would be a useful tool, but I just feel it's counterproductive.  Maybe it would be helpful to do likewise for long or easy runs, and just run by effort.

Re: Popsracer/pace : I most definitely get carried away, but running with groups can help this...the thing that has helped the most for me is to repeat (from Triathlon Revolution) Strength, Patience, or Flow as necessary (mostly on a longer run). Therefore if I'm falling apart on the run, I think FLOW, or FLUENT, when I am climbing a hill, STRENGTH (so my form is good as well) and when I get excited near the end, PATIENCE. I borrowed these words from Terri Schneider and they really help! I think it's natural to want to 'go fast' at this point - honestly, we are in such shape and it's amazing to see what we can do and push limits. Maybe just realizing you're not at the party yet - the party is the HIM and you don't want to ruin your party dress

Re: Bike Vs.Trainer: I am also on a massively tight budget but received the Up1 fluid trainer a couple of years ago. I knew I was truly into triathlon when I actually cried when I received this gift. It's worth saving up for. Quiet, nice resistance...I love being 'lazy' and watching show after show in my living room to ride that sucker. I used to relegate myself to the basement and this feels like luxury! I do love riding outdoors and the hills and cold - I like to feel the elements. However, it's almost impossible to do this with other people b/c of my schedule and also I have yet to change a flat myself. I am going to buy new tires this week (woo hoo!) and I'm going to ask the guy to let me put one of them on while he watches as practice. This reminds me - I left my heavy trainer axle on for my recent race! WHOOPS! I guess I'll have an advantage on race day....I'm used to riding with the heavy one I think it also depends on the terrain of your race. Mine is FLAT and my area is quite hilly. I have come to love the hills and am only afraid of boredom on race day. So, I started actually using my trainer more. My hands get sore on it and I think the resistance is set a bit high so even though I have it on the small ring I'm sweating like crazy - but, it gives me the opportunity to practice the mental piece of a 'flat' surface...5 minutes on upper bars, 10 minutes in drops and shifted up, 15 minutes in between...stuff like that.

gcoller - 2012-05-10 9:17 AM I just ran 10 miles. I have never done this and I am stupid amounts of proud of myself. Unfortunately, I stepped in a puddle mid-way and literally, my blister has blisters. Gross. Gross and awesome all at once.

Awesome Grace!  The run, not the blisters!  That is a great achievement for which you SHOULD be 'stupid amounts of proud'

gcoller - 2012-05-10 9:17 AM I just ran 10 miles. I have never done this and I am stupid amounts of proud of myself. Unfortunately, I stepped in a puddle mid-way and literally, my blister has blisters. Gross. Gross and awesome all at once.

Great job Grace.  Cracking into double digit runs is serious stuff.  Way to go!! 

gcoller - 2012-05-10 9:17 AM I just ran 10 miles. I have never done this and I am stupid amounts of proud of myself. Unfortunately, I stepped in a puddle mid-way and literally, my blister has blisters. Gross. Gross and awesome all at once.

Excellent job, Grace!  Blisters on blisters is a badge of honor... so is breaking the 10-mile barrier!

Nice run Grace.  10 miles is outstanding accomplishment. 

I read this little gemstone this morning and used the drops this pm.  I've never ridden with my hands on the dropbars, and it made all the difference in the world for me.  I don't know why I did not figure this out sooner except that I'm such a newbie at all this. 

On another note, I got another flat.  3 in 3 rides.  I've changed rim tape recently, and the past 2 were in different spots.  IDK.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away (1986, Orange County)  I did the bike commute up the Santa Anna river trail, some times of the year the plant thorns were nightmares. I ended up with kevlar thorn proof tires and extra thick (read heavy) thorn resistant tubes, do you have thorns?

So this Friday is the end of the first week of my HIM training plan. (Using the semi custom plan, not the basic him plan) I've been training for awhile, but prior to this I really had a run plan, a bike plan and went swimming once in awhile.  This week I will have done less mileage than in some weeks past, but more total workouts, and it is the first week where I did significant (for me) workouts in all three sports the same week.  Tonight was the long swim, plan called for 1900yds, but my earlier swim workouts were  3000 so I split the diff and did 2500. I'm still snail slow, but I did 80% crawl and 20% breast stroke, when I started swimming in Jan this number was 20% crawl and 80% breast....

I also set a PR for a HIM swim distance of 45min.

Getting all three sports in during the same week has me feeling a bit tired.

I have ZERO background in endurance sports and I read some plans and they look like just grind out the hours/miles, and other plans have all sorts of drills, and "things" in the plan. Is this sort of stuff useful for performance, or just really there to make the workouts less boring? 

Kevin--have you checked the tires inside and out? It's possible to get repeated flats from little pieces of glass or (common here) wire that embed themselves in the tires and then puncture successive tubes--all it takes is a bump and the sharp object goes slamming into the tube and pfffff. Sometimes they are sp far down in the rubber they aren't visible from the outside. I think my record was four flats in five rides. I now have super-strong tires which probably slow me down a bit but I'll take it--flats here mean that it's lethally hot by the time I start a brick run.

pbreed: Are you talking about swimming, or all three sports? For swimming, I think drills are mainly useful if you have a coach to explain the purpose, and to give you feedback. Definitely it is useful to do different kinds of repeats rather than always swimming continuously. This allows you to swim at a faster pace with better form and build fitness and efficiency.  In my opinion, the beginner HIM program is a bit heavy on swimming, and on long continious swims and repeats. Maybe these are meant as confidence-builders for beginners? Sometimes I do the workouts as is; sometimes I add a bit of my own stuff, and sometimes I use master's workouts from the ntc site ([email protected]). There are workouts for three levels, plus explanations of drills, etc.

As for other sports, I prefer programs that go beyond just time/distance. I like to know the purpose of what I'm doing. I was one of those obnoxious athletes who always wanted to know why, including the physiology involved. I was lucky to have some outstanding coaches in my younger days, and it's given me a decent knowledge base now that I'm basically self-coached. A good coach or training guide should be able to tell you WHY you're doing what you're doing. As for this particular BT program, I find the running a bit low in volume, with quicker jumps in long run, for example, than I would ordinarily do building up to HM distance. I just don't get the biking--there seems to be little of either work on speed and power, or long rides. Maybe I'm just slow--I wouldn't feel ready for a HIM with only a few 2.5 to 3 hour rides when I know the bike's going to take me more like 3.5  hours, if not longer.  I think the beginning of the program is fine, though, if you have a limited background in one or more of the sports.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the drops - they are my pretend aerobars So terrible about the flats...I hope you get it resolved really soon. I feel very bicycle beginnerish myself and have no idea how to help with that. Also, if you have to ride in the trainer definitely watch bike movies on Netflix if you can I once taped my iPod to the handlebars to do this!

http://ntcmastersswim.blogspot.ca/

Thanks for this.  I go to masters twice a week, but find my third swim of the week following the plan is not what I am needing.  This looks like a good resource.  Fixed the link.

This post may be stone dead obvious, but if your new to bikes and new to working on things the

obvious can be missed.

1)Environment, IE riding in thorns,  wires, nails, screws etc....

2)Bad Rim Tape or too ling spoke...

3)Something embedded in the tire.

4)Old tired tires getting too thin or too worn to protect the tube. (Really old old tires that are starting to crack are also in this category)

5)Repeat errors in assembling the tire/ pinching the tube on reassembly... never use a sharp object, never pinch the tube between the tool and the rim, make sure the tube is not twisted, make sure its not pinched between the rim and the tire.

Items #2 #3 and #5 can be found if you find where on the tire the hole is, is it always in the same place?

In order to find the hole location  properly you need to mark or otherwise locate the tire to the same place on the rim, ie when you change the tube its real easy for the tire to shift with respect to the rim while you are removing or installing the tube. You need to know where the hole in the tube is with respect to BOTH the Rimtape and inside of the tire.

Is the hole on the inside or outside or side of the tube, IE outside something in the tire or environment, inside rim tape, side assembly error or rough spot or gouge on on inside of the rim.

For training buy heavy reenforced tires and tubes if you can, flats are no fun...

If you are going to put new tires/tube on for a race or important ride, do it a few days ahead of time and go for a short ride to make 100% sure there are no faults or assembly errors....

Even if you are not changing tires, pump up the tires a day or two  before a race/important ride, then check them and get it fixed before finding them flat in transition after a swim ;(

I'm not a bike mechanic so much as I've been fixing all manner of things for a very long time.