GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 151)

LISA -

Makes me want to go out and buy a sound body!

Holy cow, I spend one day riding a bike and I come back here to find a lot of catching up to do!  Love it!

First, that trainer ride is the most mind numbing thing I have ever done. I watched an hour and a half of Coach Troy (note to self, do not do intervals to BEGIN a 100 mile ride, it doesn't "get you ahead", it just kicks your butt), The Distance, A Triathlete's Journey, The Illusionist, and Tombstone.  I swear my bike computer wasn't counting the miles right.  I took a break around 70 miles, which turned into a nap. HA!  Then got back up, and 2.5-3 hours later was finished.  Yeah, I know. I do not have a single braincell when someone tells me I can't do something - I just have to show them that I can. 

Steve B - How is the back? Did it hold up on your SBR's this week so far?  I love when high culture comes to GrooveTime! That Dickenson poem was awesome.  I think it might be my mantra on Sunday.
Steve A - Hope you get your MO back.  Oh yeah - Vineman!  Silverman! 
Mark - I do bricks just like you described.  Kicks my butt, but it feels so good!
Denise - I like the idea of getting a bell to ring to have John wait on me after the marathon.  Hmmmm...

OK a little more work to catch up on, then a dog walk and maybe a little run if the calf isn't a turd.

Cheers.

Mandy

Mandy,
I cannot believe you did that. What incredible motivation. What do your legs feel like?
Denise

Mandy, I read somewhere, sometime, that you should take your trainer time/distance and multiply time/miles/effort by 1.3, because it's that much harder.  I think I'd rather do an IM again than 100 miles on a trainer.  That is AWESOME!

MANDY -

I genuflect in your general direction for having accomplished those 100 miles on the trainer. Halleloo!

Asteve says, there is some formula out there for converting trainer miles into actual bike-ride miles, so your 100 was really a fair bit more. (I'm not sure if that leaves you feeling better or worse, but.....)

I think there is also a formula for how many braincells are irretrievably lost for every minute of every trainer session that exceeds two hours. So, if you worried about your brain cells going into yesterday's ride.......

My bike is much better, having survived a 30' swim and a 43km ride. However, the shoulder is again feeling wonky. It was fine on Saturday's swim, but started hurting about 2 hours after. Today's swim was the same. Rats. Actually, it's more the deltoid than the shoulder, I think, and I suspect a pinched nerve, possibly conceivably. I guess I'll hold off on swimming until the weekend.

Let us know if your calf was a "turd" or not. (Gang -- That's Mandy's usage, not mine!)

STEVE -

Good! weekend of sloth and gluttony is the perfect start to figuring out what's ailing you! Remember what i said, that the post-SG plan should feature eatrestresteatresteateateatresteatrestrest -- although not necessarily in that order!

GREAT effort on the swim!! The mind seemed willing, but the body just wasn't ready to give it its best. There's a good indicator for you, eh?

Hmmm. I see a link to something Silvermanish!Gotta check that out, to be sure?

(And would it help to add Silverman to Vineman when I post those not-quite-so-subliminal messages to you?)

STEVE again -

Just curious -- How did Jason do at SG?

SO you are saying I could have stopped at like 80 miles? Before I had the mental breakdown at the OK Corral? (I was watching Tombstone at that time)....OH MAN! 

LOL Yup, I lost some brain cells for sure.  Probably losing some more on Sunday.

Calf is a turd, but the bike doesn't seem to bother it.  Sticking it now. (I mean using The Stick!)

Jason did GREAT!  I think he finished in just under 14 hours, which is awesome!  He came out of the water about 30 seconds ahead of me, killed the bike, and did a very strong run/walk on the marathon.  He subscribed to the walk uphill, run downhill until the last 10k, where he ran as much as possible.  He looked very comfortable on the run when we saw each other on the loop.

He had what he's referring to as  "boring" IM - exactly what he was hoping to do.  I am extremely proud of him!

MANDY, I can't even imagine 100 miles on the trainer (or on the open road for that matter!!) ... way to go!

Just curious, has ANYONE taken a cruise to Alaska?  If so, what cruise line, etc?  Thinking about it for later this summer, after my husband is jobless.  Maybe a 7 day cruise from Vancouver to Seward with a 3 day land tour to Denali.  

Speaking of summer ... it has officially arrived here.  80 degrees F for my run at 8:00 pm tonight. 

LISA

STEVE -

That's an interesting way to think of a successful IM -- as "boring". I was very pleased with my first IM, which was Placid, but it was hardly boring. But the one the next year was very strong -- and very boring. I have never thought of it that way until just now, and almost immediately upon reading your comment abouit his comment, the lightbulb went on over my head!

Much of IMLP is still very clear in my mind (which is odd, because at times during it I didn't feel very clear-headed at all!), yet very little of The Canadian Iron is. Weird. I'll have to think about this a bit more!





Edited by stevebradley 2010-05-13 4:18 PM

MANDY -

Another thing I never thought of before (see above post to Steve) is that endurance sports might actually be a war of attrition of brain cells. It's a good thing I've never been tempted to do one of those 100-mile ultras, as I'd be going into brain-cell-deficit. (And some people worry about mere oxygen deficit. Ha!)

You keep stickin' it to that turd calf of yours! No anger management allowed! GROWL!!!

LISA -

Nonononono, you guys hit summer down there around the time of your son'd third game of the season. As for 80, well, that's a temp that represents High Summer up here!

I not-so-fondly remember teaching in May and June in Texas in rooms without a.c. The kids were in bad shape, all soggy-saggy, but I was about 18X worse. Gack!

Vineman

Steve,

If karaoke was the only problem, then I'd be golden. My "supplemental nutrition" is what needs the makeover, especially on weekend nights. Oy vey. You can take a girl out of rugby, but you can't take the rugby out of the girl. That culture is dangerous, both on and off the pitch.

As for running, that is precisely why I took up tris. I needed something that was a race but minimized the running part of it, so triathlon it is. It definitely helps that I love to both swim and bike, so the training is not too painful, mentally at least.

My first tri is just over 10 days away and I feel wholly unprepared. Any pseudo-last-minute advice? I still have to go rent a wetsuit and try it out in the pool, and get a transition zone thing set up. I think those are the last things on the list. Well, except for the part where I have to get my nerves under control.

I had my first tri dream last night, or shall I say nightmare? I got through the swim but couldn't find my bike so I walked the bike course and was obviously DQed, so I ran into my parents' arms bawling. If that's gonna be my biggest problem during the race, then I'll be alright. I figure there'll be a lot of people pointing me in the right direction. Now I just need someone to light a fire under my butt mid-run, or dangle a beer on a stick, to get me to run the distance. Is that too much to ask?

Kasia

Before you all decide to move/take a road trip to Boulder, consider this...

It's May 12th. It's snowing. It's the second snow of the week, and we're expected to get 1 foot tomorrow.

Still wanna come?

Mandy,

A tri one weekend, then 100 miles on a trainer, then a marathon the following weekend. We really have an inspiring group of people here. Congrats on everything you've done and good luck on the marathon!

Kasia

Yup, I an on my way!

I think I definitely lost some brain cells on that one. 

Oh, I am growling. And beating it with The Stick!   I am also getting on my hands and knees, taking my right knee and driving into my left calf (can you picture it?) - it really gets the pressure point.  It also hurts like heck, but if I hold it long enough, the pain eventually recedes, then I go to the next spot on the calf... I am hoping between that, the stick and Advil, I hope I can get it to behave. 

Cheers,
Mandy

STEVE A!

VINEMAN!

Sorry Steve...we may have had something to do with sucking that out of you while using you as our motivation!

I'm sure it'll get better for you. You went through quite a bit and need some time to rest.

Anne & Steve
Thanks for your response. I also prefer this format for bricks, just thought it wasn't as effective. I will plan to do more of my bricks in this way.
Stave - I don't recall you posting about "Icks", and you now have my curiosity up.
Mark

MARK -

I'd say that whatever is effective is effective, and if the shorter repeated bricks work well to help you get past the "sea legs" feeling, then that's the path to follow. After this post I will do one about how to finish the bike leg of a race so as to prep your legs better for the run to follow, but first -- ICKS!

Icks! is not only a shortened form of "short cycle bricks", but also captures a bit of the reality of the workout along about the 4th or 5th run segement.

These were set for me as: Run (6 X 1 mile) and Bike (4 X 6-7 miles), proceeding R-B-R-B-R-B-R-B-R-R.

Each run except the last was HARD, almost full effort. The transitions were as quick as possible, not a moment wasted, and the rides were also full-out. The final run was a cool-down, and rarely have cool-down runs felt as good to me as on the Icks!

This really is an amazingly demanding workout, but it can be modified an infinite number of ways in terms of distance and reps. I think that what you were referring to is a modification of sorts, yes?

The amazing thing with Icks! is that after the first run or two, the "sea legs" aspect is gone. I guess it's replaced by something else which is also unpleasant, but the problem isn't that the legs feel funny, it's that the entire system is right there at the edge.

Ideally, Icks! is best on an unbroken flat route, and I did mine on a stretch of open road with wide shoulders on both sides and only a couple of rollers on the bike. I think the goal of it being flat is to develop leg speed and fast turnover. Each run is intended as a sprint, and each bike is a high-cadence spin, averaging above 100rpm. But again, those can be modified to whatever works best without killing you!

RUNNING OFF THE BIKE


This is a slight digression from recent comments about brick workouts, and a hope it helps. I was fremiss in not mentioning this to Steve before either of his recent races, as it is a tactic that works best with longer races. But it can help at any distance of race, so....

In the final mile or two of the bike portion of a race, most people are just "bringing it home" -- cranking it out methodically, business as usual. But that's all done in the typical cycling position, which of course isn't at all the position your body will be in during the run. So, as the bike finish approaches, I will alterante between the following:

(1) Out-of-the-saddle "grinds", using tougher gearing of big ring and smaller (11- or 12-tooth) cog
and
(2) Fast spins, using little ring and bigger (19- or 21-tooth) cog

The first one serves to get me out of the seated position, but even more importantly activates my quads and calves -- wakes 'em up some before the run. The second one acts to prepare my system for foot speed, especially the first variable few minutes out of T2 in which I find shorter, quicker footstrikes to be most effective.

As I approach T2, then, I will alternate the above two techniques, always beginning with the standing grind. I will do that for 10-15 seconds, then go to the spin for about 10 seconds, and repeat this a few times -- just so that I begin to feel the different muscle groups awakening.

As for the spin parts, these are CONTROLLED spins, not the ones in which you most closely resemble a cartoon character spinning its wheels in a blur. That's why I didn't include a 23- or 25-tooth cog above, simply because those encourage wild spinning. Really, what you want is fast, but in control -- kind of how you hope the run-to-follow will be!

And like anything else, try not to try it for the first time in a race! Experiment with it at the end of ANY bike ride, even ones that are not part of a brick. In fact, i have used this technique frequently at the end of long bike rides, almost as a cool-down without taking the time to do an "actual" cool-down. My legs always love me for it!

Does any of the above make sense?