Team KiterChick - CLOSED (Page 13)

Hi Chris, hope she recovers fast.

I dont think there is an optimum time as such. You want to keep it consistent though as your body will fluctuate hourly/daily depending on food, water, how much exercise, how much sleep etc. So dont weigh yourself everyday. I would just stick to the sunday morning weigh-ins, that will then ignore some of the little variations we get.

MyFitnesspal.

Great Website, Great iPhone app!!!

I use this app on android. Super easy to use!

Just downloaded it to my iPhone. Looks easy to use.

I was looking at my race schedule for this fall and I wanted to see what everyone thought as far as if I'm doing to much. This will be my third year road racing and second year doing tri's. I really want to hit it hard this year but at the same time I don't want risk injury and take myself out for the rest of the race season.

5 mile run Feb 11

Half Marathon Apr

20k run early June

HIM July 15

Oly Aug sometime

Oly Sept 2 (Hy-Vee)

Half Marathon late Sept

Full marathon mid Oct

Cross country 7 mile run late Nov.

Looks like it's a pretty spread out schedule.  Just make sure no events are too close together without an adequate recovery and you should be good I would think!

Shane

Came home after a busy 24 hour shift at work and decided to go to the gym for a treadmill run.  6.56 miles in an hour on the mill at a 0.5 degree incline just to add a little resistance.  I felt pretty good, except I hate trying to drink water while running so my mouth got dry a lot.  I'm not sure I could pull that kind of a pace right off the bike though.  I'm guess I'd be more of a 10:30 pace or so, at least to start until my legs loosened up.  I've always been a notoriously slow runner, but I can grind out some distance if I need/want to.  I've found that my run fitness has come up while improving my bike fitness like Sarah said.  It's definitely nice to see the gains!

Shane

Whew, I apologize for taking yet another day off, but I was not feeling well yesterday. I wanted to hit the pool, but ended up heading straight home from work and was asleep by 8:30. Feeling much better today though, and managed a 6M run. Was feeling a bit pokey, and my hamstring was bothering me a bit more than usual, but it was nice to get outside!

Shane - I think all of us are bored with our trainer/treadmill workouts at this point. Well, at least those of us who are stuck in the cold northern climates! I'm sure you'll be fine for your races. I had the exact same setup last year (Oly in July/HIM in August), and was fine, despite not having any winter cycling base at the time. Also, I think you'll be surprised with your run times off the bike once you start racing so don't discount that yet...

Tyler - As Frances pointed out, I think consistency is more important than time of day when it comes to weighing yourself. That being said, I weigh myself in the morning, every morning. I like doing that since it gives me a feel of what my normal fluctuations are, as mine too tend to vary by 2-3lbs any given day. I'd only advise doing this if you're not going to obsess about it though. I believe the once a week method is recommended so that people don't get too fixated on the number and/or freak out about minor fluctuations. So, do what works for you, and just make sure you try to weigh in at the same time, which it sounds like you're doing already.

Sebastian - I would NOT be loving a freezing pool! Glad you got in a good workout at least. I'm not familiar with pulling breast drills. Remember, I'm the person who can only breathe on one side still! Sounds intense though!

Hubbie - Your race schedule will certainly keep you busy, but as Shane mentioned, it looks spread out enough for recovery purposes. Which one would you consider your A race? I know doing two HIMs last year, I got burned out by the time the first one ended since I had trained so hard for it. Just watch out that you don't overdo it for the HIM, then not feel up for marathon training afterward, especially if you decide the latter is your A race.

Speaking of races, I'm officially all filled up for this year. It will be a mix of 2 sprints, 2 Olys, 2 HIMs and 1 IM. Should be an interesting and busy year!

Hubbie,

I will be doing the Hy-Vee tri in September as well.  That will be my 'A' race for the hear.  Hope to see ya there!!

They fixed the heater and today was much better. The goggles still bothered me some, but not too bad, and some of the scabs were pulling a little, but blocked that out as well. I finally got in a really nice swim! 2500m IM in under an hour, so not bad at all. Plenty of fly too. I loved one of the sets even though it was super tough. If anyone wants to try it: swim this 4 times through without stopping 25 back, 100 IM, 50 Free. Basically, you swim 700 m nonstop with those 100 IMs in there. The last 2 times I had to do fly I wanted to cry Just in case someone is not aware, IM is International Medley, 1 length of each (in the 100 IM) Fly, Back, Breast, Free.

Anyway, I am going for a run after work. Today it's speed day, hope I am not too tired for it.

I brought home my Cervelo S2 today finally since it came in and got assembled.  Even though I had a great run this morning I couldn't resist the urge to throw it on the trainer and put some miles on it.  About 7 miles into my trainer ride I felt great...until I got a flat somehow.  It looks like the presta valve was bent (the part where you unscrew it) and it let go causing the tire to lose pressure.  No big deal since I had a spare tube already and it's a $6 fix.  Just ruined a good ride when I felt good!  Oh well, there will be more chances to ride!

Shane

No workout for me today. I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately. It's frustrating, since I'm not super run down, but enough that I'm exhausted and just want to crawl into bed early. Hopefully I'll be able to get in something tomorrow!

Hubbie - We definitely are all as nuts as you! It's nice to have other people who understand. Very few of my friends can empathize with my lifestyle in this regard, so it's great to have others to chat with!

Sebastian - Your swim workouts are nuts! Glad you're back into quality pool time, since I know it's hard for you to take time off there. As for the IM workout, I'd love to give it a try, but I can't even manage some of those strokes. Seriously, if you saw me attempting to do the fly, I'm sure you'd laugh your a$$ off!

Shane - You are not having the best of luck with your bikes lately, are you? Should have gotten a Specialized - that's what both of my bikes are! Seriously though, better you have these issues now than in a race at least.

Have a great night everyone. I'm off to get a killer night of sleep!

4 Miles Today on the mill..felt AMAZING.

For the first time in YEARS I feel as though my diet is under control, and I have truly become addicted to exercise...so excited for what's to come.

Hope you all are doing amazing!!!

Amen to that! I adore my specialized!

X3 on Specialized- I have two Specialized mountain bikes and love them.  Even a fractured elbow (radial head, never would have known it existed) two consecutive summers cannot get me to part with them.  It has been a few years, but I think maybe this year I'll finally get around to getting reacquainted with off-road.  There is an Xterra in NH in August and I am really tempted to try the short course race.

It has been a week since I got sick, and today is the first day that I did not feel like death.  So I think I am getting better.  I have a swim clinic on Sunday and have not been in the pool for a few weeks, so I need to get some practice in.

Despite the massive amount of Orange chicken I had for dinner last night, my weight has done pretty well and i am continuing that slow decline back to a better range.

Have a great Friday everybody.

I think that if you are not hungry you already are in starvation mode. When you enter this stage your brain starts ignoring the hunger signals and you stop feeling hungry altogether. I recommend you force yourself to consume the level of calories you need for a few days and the hunger will come back. Also, I am assuming you are eating back the calories you spend in exercising. If the program recommends 1600 calories, and on a particular day you used 600 calories exercising, you should be eating 2200.

On a typical day, I eat 3800 calories and I am still losing a pound every 2 weeks. And trust me, it is awfully hard to consume enough food to get to 3800 calories when you are eating healthy

I agree that I haven't had the best of luck with the bike stuff lately.  At least they've been relatively easy fixes.  Looking at the tube I think it could have been my fault though on the flat.  I think I bent the presta valve putting the inflator on or taking it off by accident so that it got weak and let air out of the tube.  When I tried to straighten it, it broke off.  So that was probably my mistake in a rush to get on the trainer and not taking my time.  Oh well, lesson learned.  Six bucks and I'm back in business.

Managed to get on the trainer a bit last night for a good 12 mile ride.  My average pace is improving.  I was going to go swim last night too, but the pool at the gym was beyond packed and I didn't feel like wedging myself into an already overcrowded lane.  It was a good reminder of why I always go really early or really late at night.

I've read some full length IM reviews and see people that have focused their pace strictly on their heart rate so they don't burn out.  I know when I run or ride, my heart rate hammers away pretty good (160's-170's).  My average HR has been dropping a bit with all of the training I've been doing lately, but that's just where I live when I'm doing something active.  Is that going to cause a problem for me in longer events or is there anything that I need to be aware of or try to improve upon?  It was just something that got me thinking.  I don't feel weak, light headed or otherwise when I'm taching away like that.  I think it's just how my body functions.  My one minute recovery rates are usually better than 30 BPM and within five minutes I'm just about back down to my resting of 50-60 BPM.  Is that a better indicator than just average HR?

I downloaded myfitness pal for my phone.  I'm going to try tracking my intake and see if that helps keep me on a stricter path.  I've never done food tracking.  I've just always gone for moderation.  It allows me 2650 calories or so to lose one pound per week.  Seems light since I know I need about 4000 calories a day to maintain my weight.  I'm curious to see how tracking it plays out...

Shane

I'm going to be upfront and say that this week is looking like a total loss for me as far as workouts are concerned. I'm just not motivated to do anything tonight, and will be busy all day tomorrow. I have swim clinic on Sunday, and maybe a run and/or ride later that afternoon, so hopefully that will be my turnaround point. I've done this long enough to know that bad weeks happen, I just have to make sure that it doesn't roll over into next week as well!

Tyler - Nice to hear that healthy eating is becoming a habit. They're not kidding when they say that it becomes habit if you stick with it long enough. Keep up the great work!

Will - I'd like to try out an Xterra race someday, but after buying two bikes in only a little over a year, I'm not sure I can justify the mountain bike at this point. Looks like I won't be the only one who hasn't gotten in a ton of practice since last swim clinic. I've only been one other time...

Hubbie - I'm currently not worried about you dropping into "starvation mode". I realize available information is mixed, but I don't feel that evidence points to your body drastically changing its metabolism after short term calorie restriction. That being said, I'm not suggesting that you continue to live off of 1000 calories per day either. If you're not particularly hungry, calorie dense foods, such as shakes as Chris suggested or nuts represent good options. Conversely, I'm not sure what your diet generally consists of, but you could try changing up your meals themselves. During race season, I like to eat burritos, since you can craft them so that they're fairly healthy, but they pack a large caloric punch in a compact package. Meanwhile, are you as jealous as I am that Sebastian and Shane can lose weight while eating 3800-4000 calories a day?

Shane - In response to your HR question, I would counter by asking what your RPE is while you're biking at 160-170 bpm. Are you biking full out to hold this level? While that's fine, and even encouraged, for specific training rides, it's not the level you necessarily want to hold for a long distance race. You're probably going to be fine for a sprint, I push those as hard as possible because they're short, but since you were asking about an IM, I'm assuming you're interested in longer distances. For my HIMs I rode around a 7/8 on a scale of 1-10. It's a race, so I wouldn't recommend making it into a weekend joyride, but if you're dead by the time you hit T2, that's not going to be a good situation either. If 160-170 translates to this level of exertion for you, that's fine, but if you're pushing a 9, or even 10, that's going to be bad news.

Hope everyone's weekends are off to a great start!

Thanks for the awesome answer.  I assume that in the sprints I'll be pushing my HR to the max since like you said it's a short effort.  Max for me is 188-195 depending.  I'm definitely interested in longer events and would like to do a HIM at the end of the season with the goal of finishing (like most first timers at that distance).  In the 160's, I don't feel like I'm maxed out and could give more.  So I think you answered my question really well in that I'll be okay.  I'm curious to see how my average HR numbers change over the course of the season when I can finally ride outside again.  I've already seen significant changes in my trainer numbers.  Hopefully that will translate to a very solid gain on the road.  It's already helped my running considerably.  I know I should run more, but I'm not the biggest fan of the treadmill like I've mentioned.  It's just a necessary evil!  Planning on a swim/run on Sunday if I don't have to work overtime!

Have a great weekend and hopefully you'll be back on track this week Sarah.  Look at it as a "recovery" week!

Shane