BigDH - Checking Off the Boxes - Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 13)

Pulled the bike out of the garage, kicked the tyres, threw some air in and went out for a quick cycle before work this morning.  Got up at 0530hrs, only did just under 7.5 miles but felt comfortable legwise etc. 

Its a bit easier to ride than my Brompton (foldup 16inch wheels).  But I do 2 miles each way on that each day.  It appears that it will assist!!  The 3 gears make hills a workout so its all good. 

Hopefully my bike fitness will come back quicker than I thought, will try a longer ride at the weekend.

I havent read any triathlon books, but am on my way to florida in a couple of weeks so I will probably get one or two for my holiday.

Hope you all had a good weekend??

Mark

Darren:

 I like to run on the road to a park with trails - so mine are not hard core trail shoes.  Brooks Adrenaline ASR 7.  Think ASR stands for all season running (Great for snow too!  )

This is my second pair -I bought my first pair at a running store - and got these online.

OWS - I am dying to get in the water to try my wet suit.  Maybe tomorrow evening.

Had a good (and busy) weekend here so far.  It's a long weekend for us though, so it's not over.  One more day with my husband still home.  Sadly, it's raining, so it doesn't look like we'll be able to go to the mountains.  We'll probably take the kids to the pool.

I ran part way up a really big hill for part of my long run yesterday and today my legs are protesting.  Basically, most of my town (and the part I live in) is in a valley.  There's some decent hills throughout that go up and down.  Yesterday, I started up one of the hills that leaves the valley.  I spent about 2km going up before I turned around.  It was brutal, but the masochistic side of me wants to run that route again so that I can go further up the hill...

Welcome back Nick!

I have to agree on enjoying trail running.  I used to hike and think "trail runners are crazy.  That's just dangerous."  There's only one small section of trail in town that I run on sometimes, but I really like that section and it makes me want to do more.

Nice job on the workouts Darren!  Oh, Ikea furniture...  I have put together my fair share of it in my day.  Seems every time I've moved or we've had a kid, we get a piece of it or two.  I'm actually better at assembling it then my husband because I've done more of it.

Nice job on the ride Mark.  I do a lot of my rides on a different bike as well because I ride my hybrid with the kids.  It may not be as specific as riding whatever you'll race on, but I have no doubt you still get benefit from riding.

Ben, which wetsuit did you get?  (Sorry if you already said in another post, but I don't remember.)

Another cool thing for me: I was at my uncle's on Saturday and he lives by a lake (in springbank).  It never even occured to me to swim there, but he mentioned that I could and he would come spot me in his canoe.  It makes me feel a LOT better and safer about practicing the open water swim.  The water will be cold, but no worse then the water where I'm doing my September tri, so it won't hurt to get used to it.

Ben - I'm dying to get a swim in with mine also.  I bought a Xterra Vortex 3 sleeveless wetsuit.  It fits well but it feels a little large in the upper body.  I'm hoping it's not too big.  I ordered a size large.  I'm 5'11" and 184 pounds.  The Xterra website says I should be in a Medium Large, but also says if you have broad shoulders to order a size up (although a sleeveless would take the broad shoulders out of the equation I guess).  I want to swim in it to see how it feels before I send it back.  Too bad my favorite open water spot does not open up until June 4th.  Does anyone with wetsuit experience have any opinions on how it should fit? 

My new (and first ever) wet suit is also from Xtrerra - Also the sleeveless Vortex 3.  Mine is a Medium/Large.

I'm about 5'9" and currently in the mid 180's (down from 202).  I tried it on twice - no photo's like some on Deb's blog) - and I think it's going to be fine.

Got in a bike after a longer than expected day of work.  I really didn't want to do anything while I was driving home but decided the bike would be a good way to blow off some steam after a busier 1st day back than I expected.

Tomorrow is the start of my weekly Tuesday night sailing races, which lets me know summer is starting up.  It's great to get out on the water and go for a short race every week.

Hopefully going to swim this afternoon - if the skies aren't lit with lightening.  I tried on my wetsuit again - and I have no wrinkles but I need to leave the bottom of the legs lower than I've seen in the videos - below my ankles.

Then it's my first Kayak evening of the season with the ADK.  Maybe try to grab another trail run first.

Sorry for the duplicate - but I have a question.

I was recalling my Saturday ride of the Hudson Crossing course, and wanted to ask for some advise.  Towards the end of the ride- there is a big down hill.  It's really pretty rough pavement - and I was pedalling in top gear because I read someplace that is the way to do downhills on bikes.  I reached 34.1 MP/h.  Wimpy though it makes me feel to admit- I braked after a particularly nasty bump on the downhill.

What's the best way to handle bumpy descents on a road bike?  Should you pedal in top gear?  Or, as my gut tells me just leave the pedals at 3 and 9 o'clock and coast?

Well, I didn't want to get up to swim this morning, I think it's cause I was tired out from the sailing last night.  So I'm going to swim tomorrow and run today instead.  It's supposed to rain all day so I'll take my swim gear to the gym when I go to run on a treadmill and if the pool has an open lane I'll pop in for a swim instead and keep things on their assigned day.

Sailing was awesome though it was so nice to get out on the water again.  It was pretty windy and we ended up winning our class after we corrected over the one boat that beat us in the last 100 yards. There is a handicap system and we are supposed to be the slowest boat in our class so everyone owes us time over the distance of the course, if we finish within that time we end up correcting over them.

On downhills I typically get up to speed on the first bit, coast then pick it back up as the hill flattens out. For a bumpy road I will have the pedals at 3 and 9 and come about 1 inch out of the saddle so my arms and legs will absorb the bumps. I also try to look far enough ahead to try and avoid pot holes and bumps. If needed I have no problem in bunny hopping over a hole. I brake for nothing

Very similar for me.  Depends on how legs feel and distance to go whether or not push mid hill,  I will normally pedal somewhat though, pedal hard at top and see how it goes!!

So, today I took a day off from training.  My first day off in the last two weeks.  It wasn't a planned day off, but I felt so tired and fatigued I figured I needed some rest.  I was planning to take Friday off.  I have really ramped up my training over the last two weeks so I guess it finally caught up with me.  I'm sure the 3 workouts on Monday didn't help things.  I was going to take last Friday off but I didn't because I didn't get a chance to double up workouts on Thursday, and I didn't want to skip any workouts.  The rest day lost out. 

So, what does everyone do in that case?  Do you miss a workout or miss a rest day? 

In our brain we know that if we got stronger by just working out, then we'd feel stronger at the end of each than at the start - so rest is therefore what allows the body to process the work.  In our hearts, we want to pound it out - no pain no gain. All that said, I am very fluid in following my plan - and rest days just happen for me.  If I miss a rest day for a whole week, then I take one at the start of the following week.  Also, I've read that some trainers are not happy with only looking at 1 week at a time - they prefer a 2 week planning scope.

Football practice was early today (we have half-days every Wednesday) so I was able to get out on the bike this afternoon.  Got in a 19 mile ride from home out to my son's baseball practice on the island.  Head wind all the way, never cracked 20 mph.  The Florida heat also made it a tough ride, one of the reasons I normally go out in the late afternoon, early evening.  

I'm still having a hard time with motivation.  I'm taking a 2 week family vacation this summer and do not have a race scheduled until the middle of July.  Without that carrot, I'm really struggling with my training.  What do you guys do when you've lost that drive?  

Darren - thanks for all of the input. 

Right now I am into my 3rd week of my custom BT Olympic Training plan for the July 10th tri.  It was an abreviated plan (only 9 weeks long) because I didn't want to overlap with my training plan for the half marathon that I just completed.  So this week and next week are still building mileage and the week of June 6th is a recovery week. 

Weekly volume is as follows: 

Week of May 23rd - swim 4000 yards/ bike 60 miles/ run 19 miles

Week of May 30th - swim 4200 yards/ bike 66 miles/ run 21 miles

Week of June 6th - swim 2400 yards/ bike 42 miles/ run 13 miles

I built the plan so that it would build mileage for 3 weeks and then rest 1 week.  I might try it for the next olympic tri to build for only 2 weeks and then rest 1 week.  We'll see how I feel when I'm done with this tri and go from there. 

The plan is built around 3 runs/ 3 bikes and 2 swims every week.  I was going to try and make every Friday a rest day.  I think I am going to make a rule for myself that it is ok to skip a workout to make sure I get that rest day in.  I think 1 of the runs will be the first to go if I miss.  I really want to concentrate on the bike because that is where I need the most work. 

I was doing my "run less, run faster" (FIRST)plan for the half marathon (on May 7th) with biking and swimming mixed in.  I started the BT olympic training plan on Monday, May 9th. 

Hey all.  Sorry I haven't posted much.  I seem to get just enough time to skim the threads and then when I go to post, I get interrupted.  I've now updated my logs and am back. 

So, as for me, I've been having this weird tightness in one of my calves.  It's not pain exactly, and so far, I can still train through it, though I've been taking it easier some days.  Any thoughts on it?  It's on the inside part of it.  I'm thinking I should just be ultra aware of stretching, which I tend to neglect.  (I don't stretch before workouts, but trying to make a point to do it afterwards.)

Another thought I have on the calf thing is the fact that I've been running faster the last couple weeks.  Seriously, ever since my doctor switched my asthma meds, my natural pace has just picked up by 20-30 seconds a km.  I'm wondering if my body needs a bit more time to adjust to a faster pace?

I've also been dropping a couple bike rides from my plan.  Not good.  I've kept up the runs and swims, and most of the bikes, but in many ways the bike is where I need to focus the most on consistency.

Tonight I'm doing a trainer ride while I watch the biggest loser.  Yeah, it's smut, but I haven't seen the finale yet and I want to watch it.  It distracts me from the fact that I'm stuck on a trainer.

Now, having said that, talk to me about rainwear for bike rides?  What do you all wear when it's raining?