The Frozen (not so) North Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 15)

That's a VERY respectable time! Woot!

About hills - as someone's signature line says, "The way to get better at climbing hills is to climb more hills"...and it is really true for me. I live in a fairly hilly area and train a lot of hills. Last year, I went down to Maryland to run a half marathon and was staggered at how flat it was compared to where I train.

That being said - be careful to not *only* train hills - always good to break up your workouts with a bit of work on the flats...

With that run time - you look like you are in a great place for your triathlon! Good job!

Congrats on your time!

I agree that adding some hills will help but don't do ir everyday or you could be looking at an injury.  Once or twice a week seems safer.  A tri in 5 weeks seems so early.  I think we will still have ice and snow!

I was talking with a friend yesterday about how we get through the winter running and I am curious - what is worse to you?
1) running outside on slush/sand/salt/melted snow
2) running in bitter cold
3) running on the treadmill
4) running on the track
5) running on ice

For me in order from worst to best:

3.
1.
5.
2.
4.

Actual favorite would be partly cloudy, low humidity, very light breeze and about 50-60- A person can dream!

Warren- Sorry to hear about your finger! Hope your first day at new job goes well!

Lovey- I am in awe of your long runs!  Strong work!!

Jeri- Enjoy some warm temps and sunshine! Hope your 5K goes well.

Jennifer- Be careful and I hope you were able to run outside!!

To be that close to a PR on a hilly course is a great time! 

I don't think you can ever get to a place you don't notice hills, but there is a mental aspect to it.  But also you just have to expect your pace to be slower on a hilly course.  That's why hills are tough!

I agree that training on hills helps with hill racing.  But be careful with too much hill training, particularly running.  Both up and down hill running presents very hard conditions for your body while running.  I do believe biking in hills really helps your strength particularly, but don't neglect the flats since you learn a lot about aero positioning and such on flats.

Thanks everyone for the support.

@Jacks4life - you eventually get use to hills. Where I live, all the courses are either rolling hills or just plain hilly. I notiv=ced over time that I get up the hill with less effort and much lower heart rate.

Congrats on the race. Hills slow you down and you were so close. You are faster than you think.

Edited by Lovey 2011-02-13 6:55 PM

Wendy - Congrats on your time, great job!  I will agree with the others and say to train hills in moderation.  5 weeks till your Tri.  Not is this neck of the woods, it would be a polar bear tri.

Lovey - Nice run this weekend. I wish I could run that far, at least you had decent weather.

I have finally finished my winter IM, took longer that I would have liked but finished it.  I really need to find a job that pays me to train. 

Hello to all. Wendy, great race! If you were only 1:18 off your last race time and that was on a flat course....that's awesome.

I took two days off this past week from jogging/spinning due to a feeling in my shin area that said 'Dude, that's lovely that you walked the dog in not-so-stable snow boots over uneven terrain for that distance two days in a row, but don't push me any farther.' So I didn't push it. 

I still completed (today) my personal goal for our challenge:

IRON MAN CHALLENGE 1/16 - 2/13/11 
Swim - 2.4 miles (4225 yards): -- opting out --
Bike - 112 miles: 112 miles done/0 miles to go
Run - 26.2 miles: 26.2 miles done/0 miles to go 
 
Have been 'off line' from exploring everyone's logs as I tried to tackle a couple of work projects, but I look forward to checking in. This week I'm continuing my 5 min-run/1-2 min-walk schedule for 52-55 minutes at the track. 

Have a great week! 

Sadly, I didn't complete the challenge. Due to so many school closings and late starts, the pool was closed and my my swim class was cancelled. Getting in spin classes was hard and I got my trainer set up too late. That biking shortfall was all on me.


IRON MAN CHALLENGE 1/16 - 2/13/11
Swim - 2.4 miles (4225 yards): 2950 yards
Bike - 112 miles: 32 miles done
Run -26.2 miles: 73.09 miles done

snow shoveling - 2:45 of activity or 11 miles (will add at the end)

If I add in my snow shoveling to my swim and bike, I would have final totals like this:

IRON MAN CHALLENGE 1/16 - 2/13/11
Swim - 2.4 miles (4224 yards): 4224 DONE! (1274 yds or .72 snow shoveling miles added)
Bike - 112 miles: 42.28 miles done (10.28 snow shoveling miles added)
Run -26.2 miles: 73.09 miles done

A question for those of you with Tri experience. I think I'm well balanced in swim, bike, run. If you had to choose a place to put extra emphasis..where is the race "won or lost" Where would you put your extra training time?
Wendy 

Good question, I would have to say the bike since that is where the majority of your time is spent.  As I am learning also and am no way an expert. From past experience and from talking with others who have more.  Warren and Jennifer maybe able to give advise on this. 

I agree with Scott - biking will have the biggest impact - but don't overlook practicing your transitions...for shorter races (read anything less than a HIM), the few minutes you could shave off your time could seriously impact your placement. Sometimes after a swim or a bike, whether I'm doing a brick or not, I'll go through the transition process just to practice.

I also must echo Kathy's statement - if we were having an outdoor tri in 5 weeks, I'd have to cut a hole in the ice to get the swim in!

I will somewhat agree with others that the bike is very important.  It's the longest part, and the bike really affects your run.  But I still think tris are won and lost on the run.  It just seems like there isn't as much difference in biking times as running times.  Or maybe that's just true for us slower runners.  What a strong bike does is allow you to run closer to your open race times.  If your open run times are ok, definitely get stronger on the bike.

I do think it's worth spending enough time on swimming to get reasonably good technique.  That should get you downaround 1:45-2:00/100 or so.  At that point, swim training time, to me, is less efficient than spending more time running/biking.

Also, absolutely spend time on transitions.  There is no reason why we all can't be good at transitions.  I'm amazed how much time I give away due to poor transitions.  It would take me many, many hours of painstaking work on the bike or run to get the same benefit as some targeted transition training time.

Hey Everyone,  I was down in Florida the last few days...what a relief from the cold and snow in Michigan.  Anyway, managed to get a 15 mile bikeride in.....ON the sand along the Atlantic Ocean!  Could have gone all day if time had allowed.

Anyway, I did a 5K while down there and achieved my personal record: 28.54.  I was 5th of 41 in my age group so I am pretty happy.  My next 5K is in April and I would like to get my time down to 28 or less.   Any advice on how to make that happen?

Thanks everyone!

Nice Job11 

Nice job!

Last week, my PT had used Kinesio tape on my foot. She said if I get just sports tape to make sure it has pre-wrap and if not get a tape spray to spray on my foot first. Otherwise, it will take my skin with it when I take it off.

Anyway, my nurse cousin was in town for a couple of days. Her feet hurt from standing all day plus excessive weight. She had pain relieving patches. I figured I would give it a try plus I have tried them in the past. They work for a short time. I used them plus my other cousin's husband who was having a plantar fasciitis flare up.
We put the patches on, on Sunday, and took them off the next day, Monday. His came off ok. Mine came off along with some skin and not just a top layer. It went a little deeper. On top of a recovering injuring, I have a tender spot to deal with.

I am so frustrated right now. I am up a 4am typing when I should be sleeping. Ugh!! Back to bed.

So sorry to hear about the difficulties with your foot. It can be really frustrating that once you've got all of your ducks in a row to have something knock them out of alignment. This is one of the great things about triathlon - you've got two other sports to rotate in if you want.

jgrigg - fantastic news about your race in Florida! (and strong jealousy from me about the nice outdoor bike ride...not in the cards for me for at least another couple of months) In order to get faster, I would recommend the adage you hear in the TriTalk forum all the time, "Run lots, mostly slow, sometimes fast." Run more frequently if you can. You can see vast improvements running 20-30 minutes 5 days a week. If you don't have a huge base, your time would be much better served building up your base rather than doing sprints/intervals and hills. I would recommend holding off on speed work for at least a year after starting running just to avoid injury. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well the run lots, mostly slow has improved my average speed.

Oh Lovey! That is not good.  Keep some antibiotic cream on that wound and watch for any signs of infection.  I probably wouldn't use a pain relieving patch in order to run.  If your body is telling you something it is best not to mask it with a pain patch.  Depending on when your race is maybe you could change to some less stressful training like the elliptical for a week or just cut back the miles as a recovery week.

Mid week hump day but a 3 day weekend for me coming up.  How is everybody doing??

Wow, sorry to hear all this happening at the same time.  Jennifer has great advice, and remember that the finish line is that much sweeter with the more we have to overcome!


First off - wow, PRs are awesome.  Great job.  I agree with Jennifer that I think running is all about consistency and frequency.  Until you're over 20 miles/week regularly, I don't think speed work is completely safe nor will you get as much out of it.  If you do any speed stuff, a very little goes a long way.  I've read a lot of runners on here saying to train like you're running a half marathon and just race 5ks.  Try to get out 4-6 times a week, even if only for a mile or two if that's all the time or energy you have.  Save time by running a mile off the bike.  Also, you've got biking and swimming to work in, so I'd still save my intense workouts for the bike and swim where the injury risk is much lower.  Good luck, and you'll get there.

After poking around our group's logs, I noticed there are a few people that have stopped logging their workouts...I'm going to suggest a game. Post your favorite meal (calories be damned!) and then write an inspire on one of our team member's logs. I think it really helps to know people are 1) looking at your logs and 2) care enough to comment. Let's make some people know we're thinking about them!

My favorite meal:

Appetizer: bruschetta with fresh tomatoes on sourdough baguette
Entree: Lobster stuffed prawns on a painted plate (I had this at a restaurant in Los Angeles almost 20 years ago and I can still taste it) with roasted brussell sprouts in a chili-garlic sauce
Dessert: fresh blueberry pie

Jennifer- I will have to think about my favorite meal a bit.  I love them all!

In an effort to feel like I "did" something today I went to the pool to swim.  I brought my running stuff and hoped to run outside before the swim.  Unfortunately the roads were lousy with slush and I didn't have much time to run and still get a swim in before lap time finished.  So I swam (1100) and then decided to use some of the Y's stuff.  Went and rode the Espresso bike for 40 minutes and topped it off with a 5K on the dreadie.  My own little sprint Tri.  Felt good to "do" it.

Okay people we are about to fall off the first page again.  Lets look alive in here!! 

What do people have planned for the long weekend?  Training and otherwise.