Gray Guys/Girls Maturing Triathlete Mentor Group (Page 14)

Scott - Thanks for your fins advice.  I don't think I'll be needing any fins.

noldowney - Belated congrats on your good run.  Any podium finish is a big deal.

Janet - Congrats on your 15K run and new PR.  It was also good you took a break from training to give yourself time to recuperate.

Hey Ray,

Congrats on the weight loss!  13-pounds in 6-weeks is nothing to sneeze at!

The MAF method is building your endurance.  If you are having a hard time keeping your HR down following MAF, you'll also have a hard time keeping your HR in zone 2 if you start running.  I would stay with MAF for at least another 6-weeks.  It only takes a few weeks to increase speed which you can work on when the race is closer.

For MAF to work, you need volume.  You can't run just a few miles a week and expect MAF to prove beneficial.

If it were me, I would consider "running" almost every day by following the BarryP plan.  BarryP advocates 6-runs per week.  3-short, 2-medium, and 1-long.  The distances are 1-2-3.  So, using one mile as your "base."  You would run 3 short runs of 1-mile, 2 medium runs of 2-miles, and one long run of 3-miles for a weekly volume of 10-miles.  As you increase volume, you increase your "base."  So week-2 you add 10% to your base raising it to 1.1 miles, which will add a mile to weekly volume.  To carry the example further, I've seen athletes that used 5-miles as their "base."  That worked out to 50 miles per week - 3 x 5 miles, 2 x 10 miles, and 1 x 15 miles.  The really nice thing about BarryP is it keeps your runs proportional and most importantly, keeps the long run in line with weekly volume.  So many people go out and do a CRAZY long long-run in relation to their weekly volume which is asking for an injury.  Additionally, following BarryP you are regularly running which will be far more beneficial.  Since you are spreading the volume out over 6-runs, the time investment is also more manageable.

Hope that helps.

Hi Kelly - Hope you get better fairly quickly.  I'd love to be even near as fast as your trail run.  Very impressive to me.

Have you settled on any races for this year?  Oliver Oly is looking interesting with a better bike route and Challenge has added an Oly race July 23rd along with the half.  I'm considering the half but haven't committed yet.  I signed up for the Cherry Blossom sprint again this year and the Axel Merckx Granfondo and finishing off with the ITU race in August.

Julie - Just wondering when you head to Florida?  Your race must be coming up pretty fast.  

I just dropped in to post this link to a youtube video of triathlons in my local Penticton area.  It is a good look at where we swim, bike and run if you are interested.  The video is only 2:25 so not boring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fSQe2HxmwQ 

I just watched it a few minutes ago and it looks good even to me.

1. It is normal to be nervous before your race but don't let your brain psych you out (and it will try to).  Practice visualizing everything going well and calming yourself down.  Whenever you catch yourself getting anxious calm yourself over and over.  Don't blow the race out of proportion.  All you are doing is 3 short quick workouts and then you are done - then when you finish you can celebrate and high five anyone close by.  And, remember we are waiting for your report on how it went for you.

2. Definitely take time to go to the lake where your swim is and get in the water and swim around for 20 or 30 minutes just to orient yourself (what is the water like? where will the swim be and how do you want to plan your swim).  It will help to prepare you for the race.  You should also meet other excited athletes to talk to when you go for a swim and package pick up.  I've always found the other athletes very friendly and eager to share the excitement.  Talk to your coach about sighting for OWS.

3. Don't worry about drinking so much water in the pool (or OW).  As you gain experience you'll get better at blocking it - or just not noticing it anymore.  I do like to take a waterbottle to the pool with some watered down gatorade to sip when I have a few secs rest as I swim.  I like the gatorade only for flavour and a few calories.

4. Don't worry about not training in OW.  It just isn't the right time of year.  Swimming in the pool is still good training but do swim in the lake you're racing in, as I said.  I find it helps me a lot.

5. "Bring it on!" can be your mantra so long as it doesn't raise your heart rate.  Your first race is a learning experience.  Go as fast as you can but take time to enjoy it and learn all you can for your next race.

Good for you Janet.  I've had those days where I had absolutely no mojo and plenty of bad form, and packed it in early.  I've also had days where I simply said "not today".  For me the "not today" times were likely due to fatigue ... between attitude, motivation and body. When I get to that point, I do exactly what you did ... rest!

It's always surprising how good my workouts are after resting up too!

Ciao ... Dorm

I was able to get some road time in last week ... my first outside rides for 2017.  Both were only ~20 miles and ~1,300' elevation but the first was absolutely brutal.  My Strava suffer score was 'Extreme'.  It's interesting that I road the same route the next day, virtually the same times - but I did not suffer nearly as much with the second ride. I think I'd forgotten what it felt like to suffer and once I'd gotten that under my belt ... well everything since felt 'normal'.

More cycle training today and I'll swim/run tomorrow ... with some really easy cycling on Thursday.  My first race of the season is this Saturday and do want to be fresh.  Hope all have a good week.

Ciao ... Dorm

Hey Julie,

Swimming is swimming, doesn't matter if you are in a pool, a lake, a river, the ocean, or your bath tub.  Don't get in your head.  You've been in the water with your tri-club so you have been in choppy water.  The only real difference is you can't see a big line on the bottom.  Just remember, swimming is swimming.

Good luck this weekend and don't forget to have FUN!!!

George,

Oh my gosh, I'm packing my bags!  That would be an absolutely beautiful race!  Not sure I'd be able to concentrate on actually racing.

Thanks for sharing.

Julie,

All of George's wisdom x2!

Dorm - Looking forward to hearing about your race this weekend too.  My first race isn't until May and that is a pool swim.

Scott - Glad you liked the video.  It is actually a conglomerate of a couple races.  We do have a pretty neat area for training and racing though.  Quite similar to where Steve lives in Wenatchee.

I'm afraid I'm yet again under the weather.  I went to the pool early this morning and started my warm up feeling really good but as we started a set of 12X75m I quickly realized I wasn't able to keep up the pace and at about 1000m I new I had to stop.  I couldn't even swim the last length very slowly.  I had to walk the last 12m.  I knew then all I wanted was to get home and go to bed.  I also missed my 1 hour ride this afternoon and I doubt I'm running my long run tomorrow.

Question - I think we've talked about this before but I'd like some suggestions on snacks and how to carry them without distraction.  I aim for 100 calories per 2km of my lung runs (about what I get on a race).  I already know I like bananas, most energy drinks, chews, honey stinger waffles and cookies but just curious to hear other ideas.

Julie, best wishes for your race.  Remember to stay in the moment; smile; laugh; suffer and suffer some more ... set your pace to where you just keep going.

Above all have fun!

Ciao - Dorm

Dang George ... I want to be there now!!  All of that looks appealing to me - what a great place to live and race.

On your question re: nutrition, it depends on the particular sport for me on nutrition and how to carry, and also the distances involved.  For me the bike jersey is great for carrying all of the items you mentioned ... GU's, gel, stingers and such. 

Cycling ... Even on short rides, I'll usually mix NUUN in my water and take a gel or Stinger.  I've noticed ones in group rides that wear a fanny pack and snacked on a mix of salted nuts and chocolate chips, albeit the chocolate chips were sparse.  Some made frozen peanut butter/honey sandwiches, would cut these into ~1"- 2" squares and eat these. I'm a believer in the NUUN Energy products - citrus flavor.  NUUN works very well for me to prevent cramping. 

Swimming ... I always have a water bottle at the end of the pool to sip on during a rest.  I also use the bottle to count my laps in 100m increments.  I'll pick a starting point along the drain slots at the edge and move the bottle to count of my distance ... if I've swam 500m, I move the bottle over 5 slots. 

Running ... this is the harder one for me because you feel like you need to take in something especially during a race.  But it's hard to carry stuff and harder for me to eat when running.  The Tri jerseys I use have a slot pocket in the side that doesn't balloon out during the swim and I've stashed a couple of gels in these.  If I'm on the treadmill it's water only.  If I'm running from home I don't carry anything.  I tried one of those belts that hold a water bottle once, and didn't like having the bottle slapping and sloshing around.  It was more distraction than benefit to me.

George - hope you're feeling better.

To answer your question - this will sound strange, but in addition to Gatorade and water for a long run I usually take along either some peanut butter M&M's or a BelVita soft baked breakfast bar (the banana bread variety).  I found out during my HIM training last year that both things work really well for me, on both the bike and the run.  I tried the chews and didn't like them and got tired of Gu's after a while so I went with "real" food.  I have a fuel belt that holds 2 bottles (one for Gatorade, one for water) and has a pocket big enough for the other stuff if I don't have pockets in my shorts or I'm not wearing a jacket with pockets.  The fuel belt doesn't really bother me too much, although it does take a little getting used to at first.  

Janet

Looks like I won't be running the 20k I had planned for 3/25 .  Went to register the other day and it was sold out.  I was kind of surprised since I ran this race 2 years ago and there weren't a lot of people there then.  I guess word got out about the race (it's a nice course) so I missed my chance this year.  There's a 10k that day that I can do instead that's run by someone in my tri club.  I can always run the course twice I guess if I really want to get the full 20k in.  We'll see how things go on race day.  

Good luck to anyone racing this weekend!  We're getting a blast of winter again on Sat - high's only in the 30's.  Wish the weather would just make up it's mind!

Janet

I won't be running on the 25th either.  A local 5K was on my race calendar, but I will be two hours away in a training course all day.

About 10 years ago when I was living in Tulsa one of the groups putting on races came up with the idea of doing a 5K at 8AM and a 10K at 9AM.  You could sign up for both races for $5 over the single race price.  It was a good option for people training for marathons and triathlons.  I did the 5k/10k option a few times and it worked well.  Your comment that you could run the course twice made me think of these 5k/10k events where we were running twice.    

I watched something interesting and fun tonight.  My SIL's uncle from Roanoke, Va helped organize a ZWIFT race event which was done live in a local bar.  The race was over the ZWIFT, Richmond World Championship course.  Both women's and men's races included about 10 racers each, and some pro riders.  They were positioned side by side in the bar with an announcer, live screens, monitors and such.  All were signed into the ZWIFT app, so you could see their HR, PWR, speed, peloton position, et al.

Here's some of the scoop on it but it was fun to watch via the ZWIFT - Live feature.  They were pumping out some serious wattage too!!

http://www.roanokeoutside.com/certified-virtual-race-cycling-event-comes-roanoke/

Ciao ... Dorm

Another weekend is here. It sounds like several of you might be racing this weekend.  Good luck if you are one of those!

What does everyone else have on tap this weekend?  Anything fun or challenging?