GordoByrn's Group Full for the Spring (Page 14)

Good day for a tri, I have my international that day.  Have you done the longer distance before?

Mini race report:

26m 37s 3.07 miles 08m 40s/Mi

Avg HR: 187 Max HR: 198

I have had a cold over the last couple days and was worried about finishing, haven't run before with any sort of respiratory congestion.  I ran the route as a TT last weekend, went out too hard and blew myself up halfway through (on a 5k?? didn't know that could happen in 3 miles, it can...to me anyway), could not even finish the run or route and had to walk back home.  I was pretty bummed about that training run throughout the week and had some trepidation coming into today.  My goal was to go for a 9:00 min first mile then finish with two 8:00/mile.  I ignored the HR (high of 198, yikes) and tried to stick with my pace goal.  There were two guys that I was guessing were in my AG and they blew by me, took everything I had to not try to keep up with them.  Let some ladies and old dudes pass me and stuck to my pacing goal, proud of myself for that.  I felt strong throughout and had a nice kick to finish it off.  I came in first in my age group and picked up the gold (last local 5k I did they had same color medals, this one had gold, silver, and bronze, thought that was cool).  The second place guy came in four minutes after me and third place was about fifteen back I think.  Local run, not a lot of people there, but I don't care, first is first, even if it is 1/1.  If I never run, tri, bike, swim again I can say I won a race in my age group.  Yahoo!

Well done Justin! WOO HOO!!!

Should hopefully be going somewhere I can do some running either sometime this week or next week. It'll most likely just be on a treadmill but it's still better than nothing. Will also have access to more weight lifting equipment. I'm not sure if they have any kind of bikes down there I can use or not but I'm hoping they do now.

As I most likely won't have a lot work to do there I should have a fair bit of free time I'm hoping to do some running and lifting with. Will be nice to be able to get a bit more exercise again. I'm a little concerned with the running as it's been almost a year since I've done any significant amount of running due to my knee injury. I'm probably going to have to force myself to do less than I want to and probably run slower as well to avoid injuring myself. Hopefully it won't be too bad though and I can get some decent runs in.

Hey G

I happened to be checking out the TTT results to check out a friend and saw your name at the top of one of the races.  Did you do the whole thing?  Nice stuff.

Suzy

I have my first Oly in September. I am trying to put in some more time, but I think I'm just going to have to take it slow. You will have to report back on how the longer distance feels compared to the sprint distance.

On Friday took the family and bought my wife a pair of running shoes. She thinks my training is good and wants to try running with us.  She actually wanted to go right out Friday night. I took some cues from Gordo's website and we did a run walk sequence about every block. I didn't get too much of a work out, but she liked and thought it was hard. I am very excited to get a training partner so close to home.

Finally, went camping this weekend up in Shenandoah National Park. Went hiking for about 4 hours on Saturday. Much of the way with 30 pounds of toddler on. It sure is a workout going up the hills. I kept thinking of Gordo training with the Ranger doing the ruck marches. From all the tri training I was able to set a pretty steady pace and not just go as fast as I could. Made it more fun for all. Not a lot of training besides unfortunately, maybe a run or bike tonight after dinner.  Have a good week all.

Must be left over from last year -- I'm in Boulder this weekend.

g 

Thanks Ken.

I know, the oly/int'l seems sooo much longer to me.  I was thinking about it this weekend and just starting out in the sport it really makes you respect those who do the HIM and IM, let alone do them fast.

G- on my runs I try to not let my HR get above 150.  I have been walking till it is down to around 130.  Should I let it get lower or keep it higher?

Hi G and all--

Spent a great long weekend at our lake house in Northern WI and got plenty of chances to OW swim off the pier.  The lakes up there are COLD, but very clean which makes it pretty nice. This is my view and swim course.
 
Now that I am back in Madison, I'm trying to determine how much OW swimming versus pool swimming I should be doing.  The local coach I have been working with would  like me to build endurance in the pool with long 2,100-2,700 yard swims in prep for that 1/2IM and use my OW class as a way to perfect technique, get used to swimming with 20+ other people around me and do occasional longer distances with him.  What do you think of this approach? 

Justin--have you been following the Garmin approach we talked about? monitoring HR and distance and not worrying about pacing? what do you think?

Suzy



Edited by SSMinnow 2009-05-26 7:49 PM

That lake looks beautiful.  Yeah, I am trying to only look at the HR, I have not found a display on the 305 yet that shows only the HR.  Of course I have only tried it while out running, I need to sit down and figure it out.  But I think it is an overall patience level that I need to build up.  Not looking at the pace though is helping a lot.

Justin

Turn on the Garmin and do the following to limit the view to HR only:

1. Hit Mode
2. Hit Settings
3. Hit General
4. Hit Data Fields
5. Hit Main 1  (it will ask you how many fields you see on the page)
6. Press Enter and use the down key until you see the #1.  Hit enter and scroll down until you see HR.

You should be good to go.

Suzy

Gordo,

Any suggestions on starting to run again? I'm still hoping to get someplace I can run again soon, but I also haven't done any significant amount of running in a year. Since I probably won't have much else to do I was thinking of trying to run 5x-6x a week and just keep the volume down doing maybe 2-3 miles (or would time be better? say about 25 min?) with one day being a longer run. As much as I want to try and get running faster I know I need to work on getting my endurance back as well as proper form and just let the speed come back with time. My main concerns are not injuring myself due to over training as well as making any form adjustments if necessary due to the knee surgery. I'm also planning on doing strength training during this time. If running 5x a week is going to be too much then I'll lift on non run days otherwise I'll probably do a second workout later in the day that's just weight lifting.

Do you think that would be doing too much too soon even with the low volume? Any suggestions on something that might work better, or things to avoid?

Rob

You're brilliant, thanks Suzy.  I set it up for time and HR.  Cool.  I never would have been able to figure that out while running. 

Thanks Barb.  I hope to report back to you next year that I see the same results you see with the HR.  I am jealous! 

I have missed a couple training days over the last couple weeks with life and a bit of a cold, but I feel like I am in a good place with my training.  I am increasing my swim and bike volume slowly and have no injuries.  With some work on the calf raises and stretching I think/hope I have overcome the foot issues I was having when we started in this group.



You mean we aren't supposed to be nervous already???  I am actually feeling very good about it.  I know I can do the distances, I know that I am not "racing" and just looking to finish and set a time for next year.  I am hoping to pace myself and finish with a good run.  The big thing for me so far with this triathlon adventure has been the swim.  Before my first sprint swim (500 yd) I was terrified but made it, second sprint swim (800 yd) was pretty freaked out but did well.  I have a lot of confidence going into the 1k swim.  Like yours it is an ocean swim (my first) and I had not thought about jellyfish...till now.

I am sure you will be good, looking at the training you have done I think you will be ready.  Any chance you can get in the ocean before the race?  I don't think that I will be able to.

Here is a link to the course I will be doing, check it out:

http://onemillionrevolutions.org/maps/map.php?ID=1646 

They say it is a calm ocean swim, it is in a bay so I am hoping for the best.  The bike will be a climb up to the turn around point and the run should be flat.

Justin,

What is the duration mix between running and walking?

g 

Suzy -- I like that approach.  It is a smart way to handle your swim training.

g 

Hey Rob,

Any suggestions on starting to run again?
***Key thing to remember is your heart/lungs/muscles adjust WAY faster than joints/tendons so you'll need to be REAL cautious in the first few months.

Q - How many times per week have your been walking 30 mins or longer continuously?

++

Since I probably won't have much else to do I was thinking of trying to run 5x-6x a week and just keep the volume down doing maybe 2-3 miles (or would time be better? say about 25 min?) with one day being a longer run.
***After you have been walking 5x per week (say 30 min per time) for 2-4 weeks and find that your HR is not spiking when you are walking... then you could start with something like...
Walk 12 mins
(2x) 5 min run / 1 min walk
Walk 12 mins

That's a safe pattern to use a few times per week for a few weeks.  Not sure if you are considering cycling but it is a useful rehab exercise for the knees.

++

As much as I want to try and get running faster I know I need to work on getting my endurance back as well as proper form and just let the speed come back with time. My main concerns are not injuring myself due to over training as well as making any form adjustments if necessary due to the knee surgery. I'm also planning on doing strength training during this time. If running 5x a week is going to be too much then I'll lift on non run days otherwise I'll probably do a second workout later in the day that's just weight lifting.

***Your consistency will also be a good guide.  If you find that you are unable to hit your plan consistently for 12 weeks then, start again, with a more moderate plan.  Too often we start with a plan that's too ambitious and drop out.  That's the biggest stumbling block to improved fitness.  If you can just-keep-active on a daily basis then you will get the benefits from exercise.

Do you think that would be doing too much too soon even with the low volume? Any suggestions on something that might work better, or things to avoid?

***Pay attention to anything that causes you to miss tomorrow's training -- take that out of your plan.  Never compromise tomorrow for today.  That's a great tip that I picked up from a World Class Marathoner.

g

I try for 5:1 but don't keep that going very often.  It takes me about a minute to minute and a half to get the HR down, then anywhere between 3-5 minutes before it is back up to 150.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to do any walking for any considerable amount of time.  If they have bikes available I plan on doing some biking even if it is just stationary. However, I don't recall any of the bases I've been on over here having any and probably won't have a chance to do any biking until after I get back.

The other problem I also have is that while I'll still be able to do things at my own pace for about another 2-3 weeks (if that) as soon as I get back to the states we'll be starting PT 5x a week with most likely 3 days of that being running. Once that happens I'll have little say in the time and distance I'm running.  Unfortunately, there a few people in the Army who seem to care about preventing injury and instead ignore any problems/concerns until it's too late.

I think I'll try to take things a bit slower than I had originally planned and see how it goes. As much as I would like to take things at the pace you suggest, I don't think it's possible since I know I'll have to do a lot of running once I get back. Based on the next week or two if it looks like that isn't going to work and I do need to take things at pace closer to what you suggest then I'll have to see what I can do to prevent any injury. Hopefully I can find a doctor who would rather prevent an injury than treat it.

Thanks for the advice and I think I'll scale things back a little bit. I also like what you said about paying attention to things that cause you to miss training and taking those out.

Will let you know how things go.

Rob

Ok kids, I made the mistake of looking at the last years swim times for the race I am doing on 6/7. Unless some super poke or really old guy shows up, I have a good chance of coming in DFL.  I'm trying not to let that bother me. Has that ever happened to anyone and how did you handle it?  I have visions of every flippin' bike gone when I get to T1.

I'm OWS the distance tomorrow to get a feel for my time.  Maybe I will surprise myself?

Suzy

Where can you get yourself if you are PowerWalking only?

What's your warm-up protocol before you start running?

Thanks!
g