Ernesto's group - CLOSED (Page 13)

Fantastic pace Chris! And getting faster progressively! Congratulations!!!

Thanks for the kind words everyone.  Here's my race report.  A lot of the detail is just for me later.  For instance, this morning I couldn't remember what I ate before previous races and other little things like that.  

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=252216

Just read the report. Wow.  THAT is determination and willpower.  It must be something to know you are that strong.  

I completed my Tri today.  As with anything, sometimes things don't go as planned.  I finished and I am happy about that...And I can't wait to toss old training plans and start new!  I will work on my race report tonight and post it.  I also need to go through and read all the ones that just went up.  I have a 5k race in the morning, but I'm only going as a body count and test my watch.  Not looking for a PR tomorrow.  

Mike- You asked about running.  The strides I'm making is based off the last 4 months of just running.  I plan to have more constructive use of the miles I run in the coming weeks.  I started just running for time not milage.  I didn't have any real guidance.  My husband is a runner and has been for the past 20 years so he tries to help push me, but says you just have to put in miles (we don't always agree).  

As for the One Mile...  The run club I'm with asked who would be willing to do it....  I noticed it was mainly the elite runners of the group....  They wanted to see just how fast they could push themselves.  I liked the idea of pushing myself...To see what I could really do...Also I needed to real how to race, how to feel the difference between racing and training..(still working on this).  I'm still so new to everything.  The other reason for the One mile was because not everyone wanted to do it because it was tough....I always tell myself.."if it was easy everyone would do it"

Ok gotta get working on my race report and catch up on everyones posts and their reports!

Ok here is my very first report.  I still have to read and catch up on everyones.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/races-edit.asp?raceid=190646

Joan,

What an inspiration!  Congratulations on your Ironman accomplishment in spite of your circumstances.  That says a lot about your guts.  So, I'm guessing having the boy was easier?

Congratulations on finishing your first tri.  Hope you enjoyed your Garmin.

Get some sleep for your 5k tomorrow.  Let us know how it goes.

Congratulations  Ironman! Incredible determination to finish that tough race. Just read the RR and tried to imagine what you must have gone through there being sick. Way to go!!!

Congratulations Jen!!! The system is not letting me get to your RR, but judging from your enthusiasm you had a great day. Isn't this addictive?

Jen,

Did you make this race report public?  I can't view it either.  But the url looks odd.  Here's mine.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=252216

Note that mine has "forums/thread-view.asp?tid=xxxxx" at the end, (where xxxx is some number) and yours has "training/races-edit.asp?raceid=xxxxxx".  Note the "thread-view" versus "races-edit".  Makes me suspect that you posted the link to the "edit this race" page, viewable only by you, versus the final public product, which is viewable by everyone. 

Chris

Sorry everyone..  Chris I did just what you thought, posted it from my edit page.  I did make it public...  I hope!  

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=252247

Off to the 5k now...  

Jen,

That looks like a fine first tri to me! I did my first (and only) tri on a hybrid bike.  Went out and bought a tri bike within a few weeks.  Good job.  

how long did it take you to go vff's? I don't think I'll take it that far for running only because of the responsiveness on the toe off but maybe for my slow runs...Right now I'm training on racing flats with very little protection when I'm doing speedwork (plus they're only 8oz) but I can't do them for longer than a half Mary.

Here is my 5k results,...  Not horrible considering yesterday!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=252385

Ernesto,

I ran for one season in 2008, but stopped because of severe hip pain.  When I started up again in spring of 2010, the pain came right back, so I did a little research and switched to vff's.  But basically, that meant I started the vff's with ZERO running base.  So it was easy to slowly work up vff miles since I was slowly working up ALL miles.   By the end of August, I was still only ready for a 10k when I did my sprint tri.  I started running more miles last fall after that tri.  So my calf fitness and general aerobic fitness were never that out of whack.  I still had a few episodes of severe calf soreness after long runs. After my 11.6 mile shortened half marathon in late January, which I ran somewhat slowly but also without really running for two months, my calves were so sore I serious trouble walking for three days. 

Not that you asked, but I'm always a bit hesitant to recommend vff's to experienced fast runners under the theory if it ain't broke, don't fix it.   I had to get out of normal shoes due to the hip pain (or at least severely change how I ran, which the vff's forced me to do).  I talked to a marathoner yesterday who tried to switch, claimed he worked up slowly, but pulled a calf muscle at mile 7 of a training run and lost three weeks of training.  

Now for MY question.  I have 27 days until my Olympic Triathlon and I still suck at the bike.  (AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!)  I just installed a garmin cadence sensor and a mount for my garmin 305. You told me earlier that when I had it installed, you would tell me what fields you wanted display.  I still have my bike computer that displays mph.   But I also want advice on what bike workouts you would have me do between now and the race.  (Although I do remember that you want me out doing long bike rides.   This half marathon kind of put that on hold). 

Catching up on the posts!

Chris, excellent race.  I remain impressed by your running and you should definitely be proud of the results!

Jen, congratulations!  You've accomplished something that most people couldn't even hope to do.  Too bad the race wasn't as organized as it should have been.  And then to come back and finish the 5K as you did, I'm very impressed!  What a weekend for you.

Joan, as others have said, your race story is quite inspirational.  To finish the race is one thing, but to have to overcome the challenges you did was mind-boggling.  I lack the words to describe how your story impacts someone just starting out like me.  I will likely re-read it several times, just to live vicariously through your triumph!  My favorite part is your understated answer to "What limited my ability to do better..."   

All - I completed long bike today (26.7 mi).  My next race is 6/5, but I travel to NY from 5/26 to 5/30, so I'm trying to squeeze all the quality training in that I can between now and then.  If I don't post something to my training log, I hereby request some goading from the group!

Hope you all have great training weeks.  Ernesto, we're all rooting for you!

Mike

About the Garmin, set it to display four variables, time elapsed left top, AVERAGE speed top right, current cadence bottom left and most important heart rate bottom right. Average speed will give you a better idea of the trend (slowing down or picking up the pace), current cadence will be the tool to use your shifters and of course HR your measure of effort.

You should be looking at keeping a 92RPM cadence 95% of the time (or a bit higher). This is going to feel uncomfortable for a while (hopefully not). When you start going up a hill and you see it drop below 88 shift up and keep doing it until you run out of cogs and rings, when you're in grandma's ring and your last cog (and only then) you get off the saddle.

If I were you, I'd put the block as follows:

Saturday long ride followed by a brick of 15 minutes

Sunday another longish ride (but not as long)/ swim optional short PM

Monday swim

Tuesday run speed

Wednesday bike speed (intervals two out of three weeks, tempo 1/3)/ optional short run

Thursday long run

Friday off/ optional swim

You probably need to shift the focus from the run to the other two legs of triathlon until you bring them up to par. Btw, have you found a group of triathletes/roadies to go with?

If you want further explanation on why this block would work better I can break it down some more for you, but I think you'll get the intent. Basically, the week is broken in two major segments of volume and speed with bike emphasis.