Fred D and Jason's (Tri808) Half Ironman Mentor Group CLOSED! (Page 15)

I don't know for sure why the rule exists...and I may be wrong in that this could be a WTC rule only...not USAT.

One of the rules about speed suits (in non wetsuit legal swims) is that they can't extend past your knee...so my guess is that calf sleeves (depending on what they are made of) could act like speed suit material below your knee even if it doesn't provide flotation.

Boy, the heat on the run is a big nemesis of mine.  I find even if I slow to a crawl on the run, it is not enough.  I have played around with hydration levels, salt tabs, performance drinks, etc and nothing seems to help.  I am starting to believe it is genetic and some people simply can tolerate it better than others.  I am hoping others might have good suggestions!

I ride a road bike vs. tri bike.  For longer non-race scenarios I have to bottle holders on my frame and I have one of those little carriers for two bottles that attaches to my seat at the back.  I find these difficult to use though and so will stop part way and swap out the bottles.  For race I have a bottle of water and a bottle of gatorade and drink from those - depending on what I need.  Then I swap them out at the exchange and it all seems to work fine.  By the end I'm tired of the drinks and so will have a water bottle in T2 that I take on the run with me.

I have a swim related question.  Currently I do a masters swim 2x per week averaging around 1800-1950m per 50minute swim depending on the program.  

I feel like this isn't enough and am thinking I should add another swim in on the weekend of the 1:15-1:20 time.  

I guess I'm concerned that with the masters we aren't doing longer sets and my total distance is often less than my race distance.  What are your thoughts?  Do you have a favourite drill you do for longer swims?  I'm assuming a 2000m straight swim in a pool isn't the best workout.

I had bad heat on my run during my 70.3 last month. Water soaked sponges!!!! Awesome. 

I don't know what's best, but our Masters group does a sort of a time trial once of month to track progress:

Broken Mile

11 lengths down to 1 length @ :10 rest

Subtract out 1:40 to get total time

That is awesome! Guess that is on tap for tonight's swim!

Our masters class is 3x /week, although I can only make 2. We usually do 2800-3000 yards in the hour we have. We've not swum anything continuous over 400 yards, and that was just recently. Most of the session is focused on shorter, more intense sets which rarely have more than a 200 straight. I felt (and was) fully prepared for the HIM swim I did last year under this regime.

Edit -- The "broken Mile" is awesome! I have to try that!

Name: Scott

Story: I've already competed at something be it skydiving, lacrosse...so 2010 was a sprint. 2011 was 3 Olympics and 2012 was 2 HIMs. This year looking to do two more HIMs and get faster. I felt like I needed another year of seasoning before going IM and I'm very happy with my choice. Doing the volume this year is much easier than last and I'm not fighting just to maintain and not burnout as the season goes along.

Current Training: Took 9 days off to go to Disney with the family. Keeping the wife happy for all the training she lets me get away with. Been back at it this week and feel like it set me back a notch but not too bad.

2012 Races: Patriot HIM, Pumpkinman HIM. 

Planned 2013 Races:  REV3 Half Williamsburg, REV3 Half Maine

Weightloss: Race last year at 181 and 184. Currently 186 because of vacation. Left at 184. Would like to be 175. I can lose weight pretty easily when I put my mind to dieting. I just love food. I'll be back at 184 by the end of the week but then the pounds get tougher.

Goals: I'd like to break 5:10 in a half this year. A lot will depend on the weather I get. If it's 90 and humid or raining in both events that will go right out the door. As it is it will be hard to pull off but what's the fun of easy goals? I did 5:49 and 5:42 last year so it's aggressive but I've improved a lot since then so we'll see.

Question on race feel (not sure how else to phrase that) between short and long course.

Having done sprints and open road run races up to HM (and full Marry previously), they all feel fairly similar in terms of effort (except the full Marry).  Granted the HM starts a bit easier, but only by a few seconds per mile compared to a 10k and on down the line and gets into the red pretty quickly for a PR attempt.  In the sprints I did last year, it was even more like an open 5k or 10k, but similar to the HM - just get to redline asap (vs. after about 20' just sub-redline in the HM, then full gas the rest of the way) and hang on!

There's a lot of commentary on how pacing matters more for HIM and IM, which I totally get (no such thing as a good bike and a bad run, as has been said here recently).  But I'm wondering, from those who've done both (most folks here, it seems), how different is the feeling?  

Is the HIM more like a very long day at a HM training pace (say, goal +30-60 seconds per mile)?  Is it similar to how you feel at the end of a marathon, where you've started "easy" and hold that pace, but the pain finds you in the end, even though you're not going any faster and your HR is still not above or even at threshold?

I guess I'm wondering if it's just a different kind of pain or similar, and if you feel like you're "racing" or "pacing" through the event (with no pejorative connotation for "pacing" or saying it's not hard - at ALL - just trying to be descriptive).

Curious to get y'all's perspective.

Matt

PS - the Broken Mile sounds awesome!

Edit: spelling...

There are tons of ways to break up a set.  You can go as simple as 20x100 on a pace time or as complex as you can dream up but don't forget rule #16.    Ladders or pyramids can be a good option 50 - 100 - 200 - 300 - 400 - 300 - 200 - 100 - 50.

I detail all of my swims for the most part so you can get some examples from my logs if you want - check wednesdays and fridays.  They are probably longer than you are looking for but will give an idea.