MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 158)

Sounds like something I'd like to try as well.  I haven't changed my speed even a little bit but I definitely feel stronger on the bike and all the hills I usually ride seem to have shrunk over the last couple months.  Somehow they just don't look as intimidating and I don't feel as fatigued after I climb them.  Next hill I hit I'll try powering up.

A 9.9% grade is pretty steep and a 14% grade is really steep.  I've driven on a couple 18% roads (in and out on the way to Bella Coola on the coast).  I would walk up and down them.  They were so scary my wife didn't say a word for the whole 4km!    I can't imagine what 14% would be like on a bike.

Here it comes:

Sun

99° | 70°

Mon

100° | 77°

Tue

104° | 70°

Wed

106° | 70°

I'm REALLY liking how I feel after Saturday's bike session.   And now I'm thinking it must have helped me in Sunday's run because I was amazed at my ability to power up those hills as well.   I was really working on the high knees (actually exaggerating) up the hills.  

I too, have no idea what 14% is like which is why I want to do it, even though we don't have that grade on the race.   I just need to get the 9-10% under my belt once or twice and I will feel better, and it is only a couple hundred meters in the race.   The grades are so deceiving - on Saturday's ride, which wasn't easy, turns out the grade was just 4%!   The other hill in our race is mostly 5% with a short 7% spot.  

I'm thinking that I will leave my 11-23 cassette on for the race now, instead of switching back to the 12-27.  

ANNE -

Confidence is virtually oozing off your pages!  Those rides sound superb, and even though you're still abit intimidated by the prospect of 9%, I think once you do your simulations, you'll be fine.

9% is not easy, but for 400m I am sure you will NOT fall off the bike backwards (intriguing image, however.....).  I've done a 9%er a few times with Timberman in NH, and a race way back when, around Penn Yan, NY, had a 12%er; that was tough!!  But 9% is doable, to be sure. 

That said, don't think about powering up that hill in the big ring - especially since it is right out of T1.  It would maybe be powerable if you could get a decent "run" into it, but otherwise.........

It's one that I would just spin up, trying to stay "on top" of my spin at all times.  That would involve rapid shifting , anticipating when it would be absolutely necessary -- and shifting before that point was reached.  And then, after a few moments, I would have crested the top -- and so will you!!

GANG!

Futzy computer all day, and that one just [posted to Anne talk quite a while to bring to fruition.  So, i'm shutting down now and heading to bed.  Humbug!

Av8rTx - 2012-06-24 8:49 PM

Here it comes:

Sun

99° | 70°

Mon

100° | 77°

Tue

104° | 70°

Wed

106° | 70°

 

Your lows are our current highs for the day.  We're supposed to get some 30somethings ( 86F ) by next week.  Its a bit cooler than normal we should be in the 80s by now.

I had a really good swimming day today.  Managed to swim 1800m (just shy of 2000yds) which is my furthest distance by a long shot.  I didn't swim absolutely continuously but about as close as I could get.  I started out slowly swimming mostly breaststroke but once I warmed up I swam freestyle for the rest of it.

I had my bike tuned up for the Vernon GranFondo two weeks ago and I haven't ridden much due to heavy rains since it so I was wondering if it would still be a good idea to get it tuned up again for the Penticton GranFondo?

I like warm weather but our forecast for the race day is in the 33degC range (91F - although it may well change by then).  Any hot weather advice?  I'll lather up with sunscreen at 7am and I'll load up on water at each AID station but any other wise precautions? 

Volunteering for IMCanada I've been confirmed for the bike lot for Fri/Sat/Sun and then as a catcher from 7pm to midnight.  Quite excited about it.

You had it tuned once, unless you had parts replaced (cables) there should be no reason to get another tune up. Give it a good shakedown ride to make sure it is working well.

91 is still in the comfortable range, when your not on the bike weae a hat or stay in the shade. Get some AC when available even if just for a few minutes.

Is it really?    I will say that I am feeling better mentally and physically than I have in the last couple of seasons.   But always in the back of my mind is the possibility of injury.   

So I will practice the spinning up the hills today and try to get a feel for climbing that grade.   I may only climb to the 10% point, and just look at the 14%.

I was checking my log and see that my running mileage is only about 10-11km per week for the month of June but I have had alot of harder intensity stuff with the races and a fair bit of recovery time after the races as it pertains to running.   Once Edmonton is over I will transition back to more longer, slower stuff.   I miss the long walk/runs.   I firmly believe they do alot to strengthen the body.

My weight is significantly lower than last year by about 13lbs.   The most dramatic/quick loss has been the last 2 months - probably a combination of change in diet and higher intensity training.   We still continue to have a ton of energy though. 

Should I tell you that I checked out my competition? 

Is it really?    I will say that I am feeling better mentally and physically than I have in the last couple of seasons.   But always in the back of my mind is the possibility of injury.   

So I will practice the spinning up the hills today and try to get a feel for climbing that grade.   I may only climb to the 10% point, and just look at the 14%.

I was checking my log and see that my running mileage is only about 10-11km per week for the month of June but I have had alot of harder intensity stuff with the races and a fair bit of recovery time after the races as it pertains to running.   Once Edmonton is over I will transition back to more longer, slower stuff.   I miss the long walk/runs.   I firmly believe they do alot to strengthen the body.

My weight is significantly lower than last year by about 13lbs.   The most dramatic/quick loss has been the last 2 months - probably a combination of change in diet and higher intensity training.   We still continue to have a ton of energy though. 

Should I tell you that I checked out my competition? 

GEORGE -

I agree with Jeff about the tune-up, that unless you had parts replaced or suspect something isn't quite right, it shouldn't need another t-u for quite a while.  However, a good degreasing and lube is in order, and that you can do yourself.  I am an utter mechanical moron, and even i can manage to do that trask.  And FWIW, in season I do it every 7-10 days, or about every 4th or 5th ride.

My thoughts on 91 is it's okay on the bike, where I can carry fluids and where the air is at least moving well around me.  How long is Penticton GF, anyhow?  And when?

The only wise precauition I have is that if you plan on dumping water over yourself from time to time.....make sure you use the water bottle, as opposed to the bottle that has some sort of electrolyte drink in it.  And as for the latter -- make sure you have a drink with decent electrolytes in it!  Trying to do a long ride on water only is going to leave you depleted to some degree or other.

Great swim effort, by the way!

JEFF -

Uh, enjoy today, cuz tomorrow wil only be worse??

High here yesterday was about 50F, which is unseasonably cool.  Between the temp and the wind and the drizzle/showers/rain, I wimped out on a ride.  Also wimped out on an OWS.  Did a run, though!

JEFF again -

Good post on pain!!

ANNE -

Okay, I'll bite -- what DID you learn about the competition?!?

ANNE again -

Well, I was mostly referring to bike confidence, based on the two posts prior to mine.  I do see it in all areas, however, even though you are pestered by fear of injury.  I wish I had an answer to you on that front, but I don't and never have.  The best i can do is to see that every one of my injuries, serious and mundane, has resolved themselves over time.  My most current injury has been what I suspect is a tendon or ligament porblem on the top of my right foot, been there about 6-8 weeks but blessedly absent saturday and yesterday.  It's not as if i magically cured it through treatment, other than to give it decent rest between not-too-demanding run workouts.  But that's about what I had done for the previous 5 weeks or so, so why it is working now.....who knows?

No apologies for your run mileage, you know!  You're right about intensity, and as you know --- there was recovery from Ottawa, and then taper into Binbrook, and then a soft taper/tune-up week heading into tomato.  Those are all perfectly logical behavior; hardly anything less would've made any sense!

Huge weight loss.....and it's not as if you needed to get 13 off, either.  i thought i noticed that with you, and definitely thought Ken was leaner.  What's been his weight loss?

Mine's not doing anything dramatic -- a couple lbs up, a couple down, repeatrepeatrepeat.

DAVE -

Did you see my response to your HR post?  In essence it was to make easy days easy and hard days hard --- so you might be okay functioning from time to time at low Z2.  i think I said some other stuff, and it was part of one of my rare posts in which I give snippets to several people in one post.  It might've been about a week ago.

Anyhow, if you didn't see it, let me know and I will amplify on it.

Back from the beach yet?

Last night's ride was very uncomfortable, the air was thick and sticky (95 degrees at 8:15pm and humid) 25.5 miles 1:30:00 17mph avg (Litespeed). This morning by contrast was pleasant, about 88 degrees but the air quality seemed better, winds calm for both rides, this morning came to 26 miles 1:25:00 about 18.35 avg. (Kuota) I did some intervals when I got to open roads.

I may test my ankle today for a mile or two. It will be hot but I kind of miss running. I can feel only a very mild tenderness near the ankle bone, I'll take an Ibuprofen if I can find any and see how it goes

ALEX -

D'ya know anything about Stissing Sprint, in Pine Plains?  It's on Saturday the 7th, and the website is www.stissingsprint.com.  I think it's 750/17.4/3.7 -- or something similarly unnnatural (but overlong bikes and runs in a sprint setting are always welcome!).

JEFF -

Very nice ride this morning, and even with yesterday's dreadful conditions, you did quite well.  Fine determination!

Good luck with the ankle today.  My compromised foot (for the past couple months) was about 95% fine on Saturday and about 99% fine yesterday.  I rested it some....but have been doing that since the problem began back in April, to no avail until a few days ago.  I don't often pretend to know why some injuries fix themselves; i used no therapies to get this one better, especially over the past few weeks.  I ain't complaining, though!

FWIW, the run is always the one I miss the most, but then again-- over time, run-based injuries have vastly out-numbered bike- and swim-based problems.  So, it's been about 30 times more time lost from running than cycling and swimming combined.  Seriously!

I have been telling myself that I won't push to do another event until the Park City in Bridgeport but there are a couple that I am thinking about.  My PT thinks in order for my shoulder to really have a chance to heal I need to stop swimming for a while.  Even though I can find a stroke that doesn't hurt much because you never know what the conditions will be she is worried that I will keep tweaking it.  The last event I did there was very high choppy waves and forced me to pickup my cadence which cause some pain and discomfort for a week or so after.... not sure what I am going to end up doing.  Right now I only have 2 more races on the schedule. ..  the Park City Aqua-bike and the Nations Aqua-bike...

Alex

STEVE -

I did see your post and I am back at work.

I'm not clear exactly what you meant by easies easy and hards hard, but here's where I was coming from:

I started a BT 12-week Olympic training plan around May 13th. (Should have started the previous week but it was delayed due to recovering from my HM). Of course the early part was all about laying down a good base. Lots of slow zone 2 runs. For some reason I got it in my head that if the plan said HR Zone 1-2, that meant I wanted to see >1 ≤2.0 on my watch rather than <3.0. On my early runs, I average zone 1.6 - 1.8. Whereas on a more recent one, I averaged zone 2.3. The plan has changed to more of a build phase now, so my opportunity to fix that mistake is limited to maybe one endurance run per week.

The reason I started to think about it is that when the workouts started to ramp up into higher HR Zones, I struggled to get and/or keep my HR in those zones. For example, on June 15th, I was supposed to do 3x6' on 3' rest at HRZ4 - 5. I was barely willing/able to get much into Zone 4: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/189637200. Doubt crept in as to whether soft peddling those early workouts was keeping me from gaining the endurance to maintain those intervals.

Water under the bridge now, and more support for those adages about this being a multi-year learning and training process. I won't make that mistake again. (Though I'll undoubtedly make others!)

Regardless. I'm not saying it was all for naught; I have noticed running fitness gains. I compared two treadmill runs two months apart:

April 6th - 6 miles - Avg HR 137 bpm (Zone 1.9) - Avg pace 9:15 / mile

June 24th - 4 miles - Avg HR 138 bpm (Zone 1.9) - Avg pace 8:41 / mile

So that's something, maybe.

I wrote up a race report on my blog if anyone would like to read it. 

To catch up now.....

Curt, great race. I think, because you've done such a good job of pacing yourself, that you have been able to get stronger and stay injury free. If you really feel disappointed about not making the 'hard' efforts, try it in training and see how it feels. I tend to be the same way and I really feel that we have to 'train' to make the hard efforts the same way we have to 'train' to see the physical improvements. Some people are just built to make the hard efforts every time they race/train but I think most of us have to build up to it. Just my 2 cents!

Alex, if I could, I would get a tri bike. I probably could but I've only had my road bike for 1 1/2 years and I can't quite do it yet. Cycling seems to be your strong sport so it would be a lot of fun for you

Anne, is this weekend your race or next? I love the bike challenges you've been doing. It's been encouraging to me and I'm going to push a little more. I SO need to learn how to power up a hill.

Dave, loved the bike rules link

George, I would totally do those OWS with your friends. The more the better! My niece, nephew and other friends that are coming up your way for Ironman are getting into their big training days. It's coming up! Is the weather generally good for that race?

Steve, glad your 'injury' is going away. I think sometimes something aches in one place but it's a result of something going on somewhere else. So maybe somewhere else was strengthened and it helped the painful spot. Who knows? My knee was bothering me last month and now it's not too bad and not much has changed.

This is week 10 of my training plan. The base has been built and next week my 10 week build phase starts. Just a few more hours a week but the work outs change up which will be fun. I have Vineman 1/2IM 2 weeks from Sunday. Since I've been following my IM plan, I'm not as ready as I would like to be (my IM plan has me doing this distance in late September) but I know I can finish it. This will be Dave's (and our friend Mike's) first HIM so it'll be fun to race together.

Johanne