TRI (Totally Radical Improvement) - Clydes/Athenas to competitors - Re-Opened (Page 16)

I think your body is a good indicator of what you can handle.  The more you train the better you know how it will handle situations.  I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning of running with too much pain, not just hurting from the length of the run, but real pain.  I would  keep running and tell myself not to wimp out and then I would have to take 3 weeks off to recover.  It's a fine line and your the only one that will know if you are crossing the line.  Not sure that helps but it's my 2 cents worth

Mitzi, 

This is a perfect example of why I do my own program rather than blindly following a canned plan. The fact that you are starting to develop an injury so soon into your training program is a clear sign that your body is not yet ready for this level of training. It will be, given time, and effort, but you can't rush through this. It takes our bodies time to build up the strength and durability needed for endurance sports. Especially a high impact activity like running. 

I think that the slow it down, nice and easy, and possibly run/walk techniques you had suggested in your other thread are bang on. Your body is telling you you're pushing to hard. Listen to it. If you try to 'harden up' and push through it you can risk turning a minor problem, into a major one. A few years ago, I turned a strained calf that needed a weeks rest into 3 months of no workouts. Don't make my mistake. 

You can get away with pushing harder in the low impact sports, biking and swimming. But my advise to you is back off on the running. Don't be stubborn and stick to your plan and keep running when your body is telling you to stop. It's a generic plan, not one made for you. We're all different, so we need to use canned plans as a guide, not a hard and fast rule. Your body is telling you your pushing to hard, so you need to be prepared to change the plan to suit you.

What I would do if I were you is I would stick to your plan for biking and swimming, but for running replace the workouts with a C25k type plan like this. Don't go back to starting from the couch level. You are ready for more than that, but find a level you can work with (say week 3, or whatever works for you, you may need to experiment with this) and build up from there until you are running consistently. And please, please, please don't worry about your speed. A lot of your posts you seem worried about increasing your speed. It doesn't matter! honestly. Just run, at an easy pace, (you should be able to talk in sentences) Your speed will be whatever it is. And given time, it will speed up. I promise. But pushing the speed and trying to run fast on all your workouts is a recipe for injury. 

Sorry this is a little harsh, but I don't want to see you getting injured and not doing your goal races. They are definitely in reach, you just have to go about getting there smartly 

Well summer has officially ended down here. 

Last weekend was beautiful, but from Monday onward, the thermals have come out, and the bike has been on the trainer. So it is starting to become a bit less fun, and a bit more work to get my workouts in. 

Also, the weather for this weekend is looking nasty so I'm considering skipping the sprint tri on the weekend. I'm going to make a call based on the weather on the morning of the race. I know that's a bit soft, but this was never a targeted race, and I have no real emotional investment in it. If I skip the race, I'll do a decent interval workout on the trainer instead... so I haven't become a total sloth. 

Have a good weekend everyone. 

Hey guys apologies for my lack of posts of late - been pretty hectic but despite all that's been going on I only missed one workout since the 10th.

I had one follow up interview and then was offered the new position (a promotion to a different FedEx facility) which is slated to start on May 7th.  What this will do to my scheduled days off for training camps and races (especially my Iron Man) I do not know yet, additionally I do not know how it will eat into my training.  I will have more responsibility with the new job so I will undoubtedly be working longer hours - at least my HIM will be in the books and I think I have a solid base at this point - just the epic long training bricks I have not touched on.

A quick recap of my training since the 1oth (the last day I posted training details):

11th - 2750 yard swim - worked mostly kick and stroke drills.  Followed swim with a 4 mile run at a 7:40 pace.

12th  - hit the gym and worked obliques, pecs, glutes and calves.

13th - I competed at the Citifield Spartan Sprint - I am a big fan of mud runs and obstacle runs and when a high school buddy and a work friend said we should do this I jumped at the chance - in hindsight this may not have been smart as my focus is the IM and I had shoulder surgery less than a year ago ... I went had a blast - as a HUGE (20+ year) Mets fan it was awesome to do stuff in the stadium especially weird places (I did push ups in the visitors locker room) ... was awesome but I know my coach was not happy as this was a slated long bike ride day which I did not do.  (race report will go up today)

14th - I woke up and my shoulders, glutes and calves hurt - I guess hitting the gym Friday and then pushing myself at the obstacle race beat me up a bit ... still got up at 5:00am and ran 13 miles in a very respectable 1:52 (my race pace from a month ago) ... followed that up with a 33 mile bike ride of 1:45.  Not quite the 60 miles my coach had wanted the day before but I got some good miles in - reported my Sunday activities to my coach who spent almost the entire half hour asking me if I want to hurt myself ... I don't so I have to get back to being smart about training.   That said I felt great after Sunday - my nutrition on the run and bike was keyed in perfect and I told him I was good to go for Monday ... he said no.

15th - day off from training - had my follow up interview - thought I blew it - spent my workout time locked in the basement watching season one of Archer - cheered me up - then Boston happened ... I should have posted more but I was feeling to negative (sorry guys).

16th - hit the pool hard for a speed session - 2850 yards - my speed was lacking which ticked me off but I had a fast paced tempo run right after the pool and that would make me feel better .... tweaked my ankle at the 34 minute mark and hobbled home - felt depressed ...

17th - after 11 hours at work which caused me to miss my gyn session I hopped the bike on the trainer and abused myself for 2 hours and 20 minutes going from easy to tempo to LT (lactate threshold) to VOMax 3 times in the session ... consumed 64 ounces of water/energy drink.  Spent - destroyed ... missed a call from the Manager at the facility I interviewed at while I showered.  Called him back - got the job - hugged my kids - felt great!  Took kids to dinner to celebrate but went to bed before my wife came home from work.

18th - went directly to the pool after 10 hours at work - 2242 yards of mostly kick and stroke drills - windy and cold but went to run after the swim - ran 3 miles at a 9:00 pace and then did loop again MUCH faster ... total run time 50:19 ... ankle felt great.

Spent the last two days at new terminal after work - doing paperwork and aligning myself with the program there - not expected as my start day isn't for 2 weeks but as my coach had me off I thought it would be beneficial - had a family fun night playing Dogopoly Friday evening and then spent hours at my nephews 6th b-day party yesterday and ate too much chinese food. 

So that takes me to today - I was slated to run the Brooklyn 15k - my kids were supposed to run the kids 2k and my wife was going to watch ... earlier in the week the RD asked if my boys could switch to the 5k since the 2k had very few registrants - I was fine with that if they allowed me to enter my wife (unbeknownst to her) ... so I told her she would be running with my youngest son (Gus - he is 6) at the family party yesterday.  My wife like Gus, has never run a 5k ... like a champ she towed the line today.  So for the first time ever we as a family woke up at 5:30am and went to a race.  I went off with the 15k runners and my wife and boys went off a half hour later with the 5k runners.  As far as distance races go - I had the race of my life - passed the 5, 6, and 7 miles faster than I thought possible and at the finish line after 9.3 miles I had beat my goal time by almost 8 minutes.  My older son was at the finish and told me he had set a PR ... I passed my wife and Gus at around the 8 mile mark.  Got to watch them finish together.  Wells (my eldest) placed third in his AG for the 5k ... I placed 38th overall and 5th in my AG ... my wife placed 3rd in her Ag so I bet she will get the running bug now.  

Again apologies for not catching up - bad form on my part as the "mentor" but you guys have been inspiring, encouraging, helping each other which is awesome and the whole purpose of the group.

I have my mojo back and a positive mental attitude.  My kids are not afraid to run despite what happened in Boston and I still can't believe my wife actually ran ... what a day! 

Great work out Mike and great story BigPaul.

Mike - REading you story all I could think was 20mph!  Damn I gotta get a real bike, those speeds are unheard of on my mountain bike cruiser (hee, hee).  But what dedication, you just knock those workouts out, uphill, facing winds and all.  Great job.

BigPaul - what a story of unity, courage and family bonding (and all those PRs and podium placements in one day, from one family).  Great workouts for your family and great family memories, to pass down the line.  Congratulations on the new role.

Hey guys - felt great after my race Sunday and still felt good on Monday (off day) ... but after only 4 hours of sleep for work Tuesday morning and then a hard swim workout (2450 yards) and then an hour on the bike my hips and shoulder were aching fierce.

I got a bit more sleep last night - and today I did about 45 minutes of weight work and then did an interval run - first day of weather in the mid-60's - felt good the whole run but now post run my right shin is aching.

Heading to bed now to try to get a solid 6 hours of sleep - tomorrow is my mile swim TT - this will be my first non drill set swim - plan to pound it out and see how I feel.  Will do some light weight work when I come home but shouldn't be a bad day at all.   Spoke to my new boss today and he verified that all my scheduled time off for June and July is a go - so thankfully I don't have to stress out about my planned 100 mile+ bike race - weekend training at Placid - and the week off around the race.  Now just to balance training and figuring out my new job responsibilities - day one there is May 7th.

Mike - looking at how you have been training and your base - first you are way faster than I am - secondly the bike will be faster than you imagine it will go (all conditions being optimum).  I did a hilly Pocono course in 3 hours (with a penalty) ... I expect that I should be able to shave 15 or more minutes off on my flat HIM in 2 weeks - the only issue I have is not enough actual road saddle time which I hope to do more of now that it is warmer.  You have all the pieces to go sub 5 - a blazing fast swim and a very fast run - just dial in your bike nutrition and be smart on the bike and you will surely make it.

Momma - I am concerned over the twinges and aches and pains I am having the last two weeks - I am hoping I have not "peaked" to early - just need to stay on the coaches plan and be smart and hopefully everything will work out.  You are being smart, listening to your body - I have to do the same.

Time trial swim today ... got it done but can't say I am happy with the results ...

Off day tomorrow and then 2 big workout days Saturday and Sunday ... keep on putting in the work folks.

Hi Guys,

Sorry I’ve been a little quiet around here the last few days.

Unfortunately, I ended up skipping my last Tri of the summer last weekend. I was starting to show signs of catching my girlfriends flu, and couldn’t bring myself to go out in the early morning rain. Which is a pity… this leaves me with real unfinished business with the sprint tri distance this year…

Like I said before, summer has definitely left us, and My bike is starting to see more time on the trainer. Which is not the most exciting way to get a workout in, but 1 or 2 interval sessions a week (at the moment spinerval, before too long will become sufferfest) is quite an effective way to improve on the bike. It sure helped me last winter.

Next on the radar is the northern crossing duathlon, in just over 3 weeks. After that, I’m not sure exactly what form my training is going to take. I think a week or 2 of nothing serious, but I want to work on my run over the winter (I have ambitions of running under 2 hours for the HM) But it’s going to be till August/September before I’m back into specific Tri mode, preparing for my 2^nd HIM in December. I’ll still keep up the work across all 3 sports over winter, but I’m not sure yet exactly how it’s going to be structured.

Hope everyone’s doing well, train hard people! 

How was everyones weekend? 

Saturday I got a 1/2 hour run, and 45 minute interval session on the trainer. 

and Sunday was long ride day (about 2hr 45 min) which I followed up with a quick jog on tired legs. 

All and all, pretty happy with how my week went, and with a total of just under 9 hours biking and running, it was my biggest training week of the year. Which is something to be pleased with. 

Monday, bit of a rest, just an easy 40 minute jog.

and today, 20 minute jog before work, and will do an interval session on the trainer this evening. 

What has the rest of the group been up to? 

Hey guys!

Six days until my first TRI of the season ... the Bassman 70.3.  Had a pretty good weekend in regards to workouts and this will be a taper/gear check week.

Saturday - 1600 meters in the pool - working mostly on speed bursts (I still have none) but at least I was amusing people in the pool with my Tarzan sprints (for those unfamiliar you keep your head out of the water and focus on fast freestyle like that - looks ridiculous).  What is interesting though is that after a bunch of these I am exhausted so they do give some sort of workout to the upper body.

After the swim it was time for a run ... the plan was to start out slow for 15 minutes as a warm up, then run for 20 minutes solid at 10k pace and then do a cool down to the finish (back home).  I ran the initial part at around an 8:30 pace then notched it up to a 7:15 pace for 20 minutes (not a month ago I could not have run that fast for that prolonged a time) ... then wound it back down.  Did 5.86 miles in 47:34 (averaged an 8:07 for the run) ... I know I haven't posted a race report from last weeks 15k (I am now 2 race reports behind - but I ran the race of my life 9.3 miles at a 7:47 pace) ... I want to run that fast all the time and as you guys know I sometimes overdo it so I am trying to remain somewhat smart and do the right thing.

Sunday - there was a 50 mile charity bike ride that a bunch of people in my training group were doing (including my coach) so I went to that.  I may be fine on flats and down hills - but this ride with it's slight rollers and a handful of hills showed me what I knew already ... I am so not ready for the MOUNTAINS at Lake Placid.  I did the ride in under three hours and averaged 17.6mph but it was hard on those climbs - even the little ones (after 30 miles).  Thankfully my race Sunday is flat as there are other issues to worry about ... namely the 50 degree water temperature on the swim.

So today was a recovery day - I put together most of my gear for the race and realized my chain on my bike is way too loose.  Went and bought a neoprene hat and booties for Sunday since I don't think I could handle 1.2 miles in 50 degree water without them - I know they say don't try anything new on race day but this will be the exception for me.  Will pick my bike up tomorrow and I have a swim/bike brick slated ... not nervous yet ... that will come Saturday night.

Check in guys!

Great weekend of workouts Paul! 

You're going to crush the 70.3

The months's over for me, so here are my totals: 

Swimming is quite down, as I've moved more to a run/bike focus as my upcoming races are a duathlon, and some running events. But overall I'm reasonably happy with my work for the month. 

How did everyone else do? 

I don't know why this does not tabulate my weight work at the gym ... but here are my SBR stuff.

Also my 2 races in April do not tabulate into the "training" totals but I did two events another 3 hours or so of running between the Spartan Race and the 15k.

Nice run paul. Those are some paces I can still only dream of!

Pretty quiet start to the week for me, 

M: 40 min easy run

T:20 min Recovery run, 45 min interval ride

W:40 min easy run

T:20 min Recovery run, 45 min interval ride

And today I have a long ride of 60 min scheduled, with a long ride (2.5-3hours) one day, and a 60 min ride with 20 min easy/brick run the other for the weekend. 

Although the forecast for the weekend is looking pretty bad, so I might change the bike plan to a 2 hour trainer session each day. (I don't think I can handle anymore than that on the trainer )

How's everyone else doing... check in you guys! 

If you go to the 'race listing' page from your training log, below the list of your races is the option to 'copy race data to training log' that might help?