Slornow's and Wannabefaster's Summer Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 14)

I might be heading down to OBX at some point this summer. Anyone have any experience riding down there? Should I leave my bike home?

Thanks!

-Mark

Wow you miss a day you miss a lot with this group, I took yesterday off. It's amazing how a little kids party just zaps your energy.

Suzy-glad your okay

Melissa- I'm totally jealous it would be so cool to ride the Queen K

Everyone that raced- Pretty amazing results from the year over year results

Everone else- looks like some good training this weekend

As far as tri-shorts go I have some 2XU compression shorts and love them, but I usually train in gym shorts so tri-shorts are an upgrade.

I'm excited for my race this weekend but 4, 4hour training sessions at work on our new computer system at work has my schedule all messed up and training kind of off but I'll figure it out hopefully.

Suzy-not much help here. I have a PT. What I usually hear is that the Quarq and SRM usually measure a little higher in watts than a PT hub since there is some power/energy lost from the crank to the hub. Someone on the main forum or on Slowtwitch might be able to explain it. Have you been using the Quarq and this just happened or is the Quarq a new toy? Something is off somewhere and I suspect it is in the calibration.

Wow, this is such an active group. Looks like everyone had a productive weekend. Great races to the racers!!

Good to know about tri shorts- since i'm just starting out I won't invest in something I won't use too much down the road!

Suzy- glad to hear you are O.K.

Karla- Enjoy the new puppy!

Got a short 3 mile run in this morning, so the week is off to a good start!

Early morning swim followed by 5.6 tempo run after work.  I actually pushed a bit harder on the last few miles and had a good negative split.  I always feel better after a run when I'm able to pick up the pace and finish stronger on the second half. 

Jim

Strength for me comes in the form of a TRX or Rip Trainer one hour class done at the local fire department.  During the off season, I did it 3-4 times per week.  Now that SBR training is in full force, I've switched to 2 times per week.  The only rule I follow is to make sure I do it after my main SBR workouts for the day.  I'm not a class person at all, but the instructor is so motivating (she's also my swim coach) that I have learned to love it.

Quick laces changed my life, lol! I think I only did one race without them, and i'll never do it again. I use something similar to these: http://www.examiner.com/article/triathlon-transition-series-speed-laces

I did one trial TRX class and I couldn't walk the rest of the day, lol! I was thinking of doing some kind of in-home circuit training. I do some cardio classes at the gym already, plus I'll be swimming. I tend to get burned out hiking the kids up there all the time.

I lift weights in the gym twice a week.  Right now I'm doing the bare minimum to maintain off-season strength gains while not interfering with s/b/r.

On Tuesdays I do squats and bench press so no running or cycling on Monday. I usually do cycling or running intervals afterward.

On Fridays I do presses and deadlifts. Running right after heavy deadlifts can be a little touchy but I did it last week with no problems.

This is pretty much the same strength training routine I did last season, but simpler. Last year I threw in some crossfit 2-4 times a week but, those just made it easier for me to skip s/b/r ... so they are out this year.

-Mark

Good for you!  

I absolutely loved puppy classes.  Who doesn't want to hang out in a room full of cutie pies?

I have a question about running volume.

My easy runs are in the 14-15 min/mile range.  Even at low volumes I'm running for over 30 min. I did a 5K last week that took 45 min.

Because I'm overweight my legs are still taking a beating -- albeit a less severe one.

When you're a slow as me does it make sense to run for a set time vs. a set distance? Should I be going out for a 25 min. run until I get into the sub 10 min/mile range for an easy run?

Can I make similar gains while preventing injury with this approach?

Thanks,

Mark

Mark - Do you have a HR rate monitor? If so take a look at the Maffetone method. Its done by heart rate and is awesome if you follow it. 

Strength Training - I have the TRX installed in my garage and work on it once or twice a week. I also go to a Chiropractor/Sports Therapist where I do functional strength training ... lots of core work ... Planks, Site Planks, Fancy Planks ... all kinds of planks ... :-)

I do have one. Any recommended resources to learn more? Thanks!

Argh, wow, I'm out for a few days in class, and I feel I've been away for a month!

Happy mother's day!

Congratulations on the new dog Karla!

Sorry to hear about your crash Suzy, but glad you're ok!

Melissa - I'm jealous.

Mark - here's where I got a bit of information about the Maffetone method - http://nolimitsever.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/the-maffetone-method-br... past week has been a bit of a write off. I managed a rather slow post sunset run Sunday evening. felt reasonable, but nothing amazing.

I went to a yoga class this morning. I've not felt that tight and inflexible in a really long time. Thankfully, by the end of the class everything was moving a lot better and I was starting to feel human again.

I have a heave track session tomorrow night that I'm really not looking forward to, but a gorgeous long run around the bay scheduled for Saturday morning, no doubt followed up by a harbour swim and breakfast. that's why we do it, right?

Re. Running in tri suits, I haven't had any experience myself, but one of my running mates wears a tri suit every time we go out, and we're clocking up 27km this weekend. last long run, she forgot to put a sports bra on underneath, and said it was fine without. I guess it depends on your size, but she's definitely not tiny.

Cheers,

Em

http://www.markallenonline.com/maoArticles.aspx?AID=2 is probably a good place to start.  I think it explains the concept fairly well.

The most important thing is to not worry about what pace you are running at.  Just let it happen.  In terms of volume, build it up slowly, and I'd stick to time rather than distance until you've got a bit more base built up.  You should be finishing your runs feeling ok.  If you have soreness afterwards, consider dropping the volume and maybe increasing the frequency instead.

Also, don't set yourself a pace goal.  If you're waiting for a sub 10min/mile you may have a long wait ahead of you.  I started maffetone training january of last year and was running 12-13min/mile at the time.  I'm still running above 10min/mile now.  Ok, so I'm a slow runner, but setting yourself up with unrealistic expectations leads to frustration, and makes it more likely that you'll "cheat" and not get the potential gains.  Although it felt very slow running 12min/miles last year, I built up to my longest run of 16 miles, and completed the IM marathon at a similar pace to all of my training runs, including walk breaks at feed stations.

I asked this question in my previous mentor group, and the advice I got was to do sport specific training.  As a result, that's what I've been doing this year, and it seems to be working pretty well.  I do a hill run each week (5 mile run, with 1.5 miles/700ft total hill climbing) and a turbo strength session on the bike.  They definitely seem to be helping, and it's easier than trying to fit in "extra" sessions.  I also started off doing pool-based strength training (pull buoy and hand paddles), but I've been a bit lazy about that recently.  Our local pool won't let you use hard hand paddles, which broke my flow a little bit.

The only additional (non-sbr) sessions that I do are for core stability.  I had spinal surgery a long time ago and core stability is really important to me.  I vary it a lot depending on mood/specific problems etc, but generally do a bit of pilates, swissball and foam rolling, all of which help in different ways.

Long run in the bag.  I'm now heading out for my first OWS of the season.  Despite the fact that I've been swimming in open water for the last 2 years, as usual I am quite scared about this first swim.  I think it's mostly related to the fact that I know the water's going to be COLD (last week it was 10C) and I really hate getting into cold water.  But with my first open water tri in just over 2 weeks, it's time to bite the bullet.

Wish me luck!

No real strength training for me....other than a few sets of push ups here and there and some curlls when I'm at the gym for a treadmill run. Would love to incoroporate a routine but between s/b/r, foam rolling, stretching....on and on and on.....I can't find the time.

Got my swim done early as work is messing up my usual lunch workout. Never had it this morning with the swim but finished it. Bike intervals this evening.