Iron Aardvark group - Closed (Page 13)

In my simple terms Z2 refers to heart rate zones

Z1 is approx 50-60% of your max Heart Rate - burns mainly fat

Z2 is approx 60-70% of your max Heart Rate - burns mainly fat

Z3 is approx 70-80% of your max Heart Rate - burns mix of carbs and fats

Z4 is approx 80-90% of your max Heart Rate - burns mainly carbs

Z5 is approx 90-100% of your max Heart Rate - burns mainly carbs

The benefit of training in Z2 for IM training is that you train your body to use fat as a fuel and we all have more than enough to burn, whereas we store a limited amount of carbs. Its also easier on the body for recovery to train in this zone.

I've found it surprisingly difficult to train in Z2 as I feel I'm going so slow. My usual pace for a 20km run would be about 5min/km. Training in Z2 brings me to about 5.30-6.00/km. The whole idea (hopefully) is that you train slower to go faster for the same effort level - I'm slowly starting to see the benefits of this.

Can be frustrating at times as the HR monitor is constantly beeping to get me to slow down. I did a fast (for me!) 10km on Tue I think and my avg HR was 176 at 4.36/km  where on Thur a 17km avg was 149 @ 5.38/km. I couldn't have continued much more at the 10km pace but could have done a bit more at the slower pace. I also felt sorer and more tired after the10km than after the 17km and I wont be doing it again in a hurry!! It was just because I wanted to go for a run and not have to concentrate on keeping my HR in check!

Hope thats not made things even more confusing!! Anyone feel free to correct me as I'm still figuring all this out myself!!

Well my name did not get selected through the Kona Lottery.  I would have had to really struggle to get ready for it, but thought what the hell, who knows my name might get drawn.  Chance and the good Lord decided this wasn't the year, so I guess I'll put in again next year and get 2 entries.

On a more serious note, I decided yesterday to kind of say, "screw it" and just went back to working out.  12.75 mile bike yesterday after yard work, and got in a 2.5 mile run today.  So far so good, I'm starting to think, if it going to happen it's going to happen, whether or not I'm doing something.  What your motto Josh, Rather live one day as a Lion, then a lifetime as a Lamb.

Question: Is their certain foods ya'll eat to curb hunger? Since I've ramped up the exercise I've been eating like I'm in puberty again. I'm 5"11 and 150 lbs so I'm already on the small side and getting smaller wouldn't help me out at all. I've upped the protein I eat, along with fiber to try not to devour everything in sight. I've added a bunch of carbs too to maintain my weight.

But what foods are good to hold off the hunger between meals?

I like to eat oranges - quick, easy, and good for you.  I also snack on sunflower seeds to keep from eating more, but then you have the sodium issue with them because I have to have the salty, seasoned ones.

Considering 8-19% body fat is considered healthy range, I wouldn't worry about trying to get lower. You're a stud anyways.

Thanks for the feed back

Sal, sorry to hear about your knee still bothering you. Glad your staying active and working around it.

Grats on the NEHS induction. I'm sure you're a proud Dad!

I've got a stomach bug floating around the family and we can't seem to not re-contaminate each other. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things soon.

Well with the weather the way it has been this spring in the midwest, I haven't spent much time outdoor training so far.  So with that said, I have spent a lot of time in the pool. 

I am not such a fast runner, so there isn't a ton of advice I can give to help everyone out on that, but I am a fast swimmer, so I want to help where I can.  Let's have a discussion to see if there is anyway we can shave a little time off everyone's swim pace.

Below are a couple of links to a short ladder swim I did last week.  It was not a speed workout, so the average pace was 1:35 / 100 yds. (btw, my flip turns suck - so disregard those)  No flipturns in a triathlon so I don't care.

Here is a link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6eXr45g1o4

Below is a link to my garmin upload so you can see the number of strokes, as well as the lap times. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/301882789

Let's start a discussion about what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong.  How can I get more speed with less effort?

ok, go.

Josh, nice idea but I would have to know proper swim techinque and not look at your easy pace as really good before I attempted to critque. Since you asked I'll have a go at it for what it's worth. You could probably benefit from a more steady kick like when doing a kick drill, but then again I sisscor kick and never do kick drills.  I guess the one thing that looked really odd to me (might be my lack of knowledge) was how far you rotated and almost flared out at your hip.  I know to rotate, but it appeared that you might be over rotating at times.  It looked some times like you were almost J shaped, which to me would appear to add drag and slow your speed.  Once again I don't really know a thing about correct form and am slow, but figured I'd give it a go and maybe end up learning something.   

It's funny that you posted this becuase after last night I was going to post how big of a difference wearing Jammer's is over normal swim trunks.  I swam 2500 yards last night with over 4 minutes of break time and still came in under 2:00 min / 100 average, which for me was really good, and the only difference was the Jammers instead of trunks.  I actually felt like I had swam less than normal and was able to log a good workout (will log tonight).

No kidding, you have an awesome pace. And I'm totally jealous of the kick/turn/flippy thing. I've been nervous about trying thinking I'm going to give myself a concussion.

Outside the obvious of removing the other swimmer and adding a propeller to your butt to increase speed you look really good.

Totally amateur opinion so please shoot it down if you think there are bad ideas.
You could decrease your drag if you try to increase the strokes between breathing. It might cause you to have to do contralateral breathes which (supposedly) causes you to go slower but will also decrease the the amount of drifting which is more important in racing than the pool, ie swim a shorter distance.

You have a distal kick from the knees which doesn't provide a lot of power. Keeping your knees loosely extended but kicking from your hips will generate more power and save your quads for the run. You do an excellent job of keeping your toes pointed as well as keeping your ankles close together streamlining your swim.

You do have a lot of rotation in your hips and low back but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I could argue it either way. I can tell you that you rotate to your right more than your left.
You also do a good job at your hand entry and exit. The stroke in the water appears to be solid as well.

Staying with the Swim topic,

I went and did my swim this morning and when I logged it I noticed that this month alone I have logged as many yards as I did all of last year.