Gordo Byrn's Group - FULL (Page 16)

 Glad you asked that.  It is something we often wonder about.

 My recommendation would be to start SLOW and build up from there.  This is most important for races and key workouts.  An early pace spike can impair performance for the entire session.  Train your body/mind so that you always finish strong.

g

Team,

 I had a request to dig out a few things I wrote (quite a few years ago) about "being fast" -- they are thoughts that completely preoccupied me when I was starting out.  You'll find the articles here:

http://www.byrn.org/write/enough.htm

Happy rainy Tuesday from NJ.  OK, so last nights pipe dream didn't work out because now the wife and baby are sick.  However, today is a new day!  Got in a 30 min ride on trainer this morning.  Finally got my HRM on, but for some reason I had an average of 104 with a high of 107 (doesn't make sense when I saw it up in the 130-140's).  ANyway it's been a while since I used it so back to the manual.  On an up note the knee felt pretty good.  Maybe 2009 won't be so bad after all ; )

15 min wu - Cadence  68-74

15 min - 79-83

10 min alternate 1 min intervales of 95 range and back down to 80.

5 min 79-83

Knee felt pretty good since swelling is down.  Didn't push too hard in a big gear, jujst want to get legs back after a week.

Trainer ride. 45 mins.

Really concentrated on keeping my heart rate under control. Kept cadence between 85-95.

Nice and easy, but I've GOT to get a tv in the garage. 

G,

This is the lap data from my TM run last night.  I had been feeling really tired all day, but definately had more energy after I was done.  One thing I noticed during the 1' walking segments is my HR wasn't coming down as low as in some of the  past workouts.  On many of my other runs the HR Avg would be 5-10 beats lower.  Do you think that was because I was tired (I used the same speeds on the TM)?  Also, do you think its worth keeping track of our waking pulse rate as a point of comparison on our recovery each day?

WU:  10' walking
MS:   6'/1' run/walk (3x)
CD:   10' walking
Total: 40' and 2.77miles
 

Doug G

 If you can then you will likely find that post workout icing (all sports) will assist with recovery.  About 12 minutes for that part of the body would make sense.

 g

 I know that feeling -- when I lived in Hong Kong we ride inside at a different time of the year -- in the summer and when typhoons roll through town.

 DVDs are good as is music.

 g

 Doug,

 Good questions about HR tracking, I sense that others have the same ideas.  A few tips:

 1 -- tracking recovery -- yes that makes sense but remember that the HRM is most useful as a tool to help us dial in to our own bodies.  So keep a rough idea of what is happening but know that +/- 5 bpm variation is absolutely normal.

 2 - that said, if the HRM is saying your HR is really high, then probably best to dial things down, this is most important when you are feeling great.  "Bonus" intensity is where we can mess up tomorrow's training.

 3 - "why" -- sometimes there isn't a clear answer why to things in our life.  With athletic training, we are being challenged to make decisions with incomplete, and changing, information.  If you get things roughly right, and train consistently, then you'll improve over time.  So focus on heading in the right direction and aim to learn from the mistakes that you (and all of us) make.

 g

Writebrained - 2009-01-07 8:38 AM Okay, what are your thoughts on compression socks?

 I like them for keeping my lower legs warm when I am riding my bike in Northern Arizona in the spring... :-)  My training partners enjoy my personal sense of style...

 Seriously, I don't think that they will slow you down.  At $60 for a pair of socks, though... most folks on the site will prefer a bag of groceries.  Be sure to fill with fruits, veggie and lean protein.  I can promise everyone in our team that effective nutrition will take big chunks out of race times.

 g

Ok, am getting more of fruits and veggies (no problem whole family loves these), trying to add in more proteins.  Added in more eggs, trying to get better at eating salmon, love chicken, cottage cheese and yogurt.  Am trying to get a serving of one of these at evey meal.  Question is what about carbs?  Am I right in thinking you're not saying no carbs?  But how much are we talking and when would be the best time to eat them?  I LOVE carbs, pastas, breads, oats, rice.  Will try to stick to as close to nature versions but how much of these can I have?

Okay...no socks, food!  No problem.

40 minutes on stationary bike and 20 min. run - brick.        

Phil.  THAT'S THE SPIRIT!  hope your wife and baby are feeling better soon.

CURIOUS I AM, gordo.  you know me SO well already.  wink.  thanks for the info, ill file it away for a later date.

im so focused on relaxing, three stroking,  breathing, keeping my nose pointed at the bottom of the pool, i cant even imagine adding in anything else anyways.

focus on EXTENDING RELAXED SWIMMING ENDURANCE ENVELOPE will be job enough for me for now

come to think of it, i need to make me a sign to take w me to the Y....PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB SWIMMER.  EXTENDING RELAXED SWIMMING ENDURANCE ENVELOPE IN PROGRESS. 

smile.

all silliness aside, the info is MOST helpful Gordo.  thanks for your time working w me (us)  this has been an invaluable experience already, and were JUST getting started....

onwardandupward

Sweet, thanks for the info.

HR DATA 23 MIN RUN 1/7

4:1 RUN/WALK w WALK @ 3.8 w 1% incline

START:  84  3.8 w 1%

10 min:  117 increase pace 4.0

4 min:  121/119   4.0 (forgot to lower incline w the run)

9 min:  129/124  increased pace 4.3 

14 min:  128/122 increased pace 4.5

19 min:  134/127  4.5

23 min:  142/130  decreased pace to 3.8 no incline

4 min/END:  105

no weird heart rate.

steady as she goes.....

I have a bike questions... I have a "performance hybrid" Diamondback bike... I bought it 4 months ago for commuting to work (2.5 miles each way)  Then decided to do a tri... questions...

1. Will this bike be okay?
2. I was riding it, and found myself at the bottom of a hill at a dead stop (to let a car pass) I had to change gears while on the hill (I know this is bad... but what to do?) My derailler broke off the bike... Is this common?
3. How do I switch gears while going up hill to avoid further problems?
4. Should I just fork out more money on a road bike?

Okay... I guess any and all advice is needed here... thanks!

 If you want to improve body composition then cut pasta/bread/oats/rice in half.  Safe not too stressful.  If you want the next step... in other words, what I do in my own life...

 ****

 pasta/rice - never, replace with quinoa

 bread - if I want to improve body composition then none, else, max 2 slices per day (buy bread with no more than 5 ingredients in it)

 oats - only after endurance training

 refined sugar - none, make sure it isn't hiding in your dairy - lots of folks get quite a bit of sugar through sweetened dairy/soy

 ****

 Feel free to follow-up.  Main thing is eat real food -- the five ingredient tip works well if you are unsure if something is processed, or not.

 Hope this helps,

 g

30 minute trainer ride:  maintained 80-83 rpm, avg hr 131, max 138

I really didn't want to do anything tonite other than curl up on the couch.  I remembered what Gordo had said in one of his responses to me : "Focus on your consistency -- use your mental energy to get-it-done on the days you don't feel like it..."So I dragged myself downstairs and got it done.  I can't say it was the best workout, but it feels good to know that I was able to silence that couch potato devil that is always on my shoulder.

Gordo, do you recommend staying away from brown rice pasta?  That is a staple of mine

G,

Nice job on the "What's My Number" video clip.  Great summarization of all the guidelines your have been teaching in this forum.

Question about aerobic threshold.  As we progress in our fitness programs will our aerobic thresholds change?  I have experienced an increase in endurance and pace at my current aerobic threshold (or at least what I think is my aerobic threshold).  Will we also experience an increase in our aerobic threshold itself?

Jeff

Writebrained - 2009-01-07 10:38 AM Okay, what are your thoughts on compression socks?

Sexy!!!

 I did my first tri on a similar sort of bike - wish I had a photo.  I wore my bike shirt over my run shirt (to save time) but pinned my race number through both shirts... bit of a mess in T2.

#1 -- yep you'll be fine.

 2 -- yes, if you shift while not spinning the cranks, then pedal, you can rip the der off.  Not common but a normal consequence of what you did.

 3 -- just like driving a stick shift, you need to shift gears a little before you need to.  This is especially important when shifting between the chain rings on the front.

 4 - upgrade not required but I recommend shifting earlier.

 When Monica (my wife) was learning about cycling, she didn't know how to shift between front chain rings -- so at her first tri she big ringed the entire thing and walked the hills.  Somewhere in the family archives is a video of the event -- haven't see it yet.

 I few years later she won Vineman 70.3.  So... know that we ALL are new to cycling at some stage and go through exactly the same challenges that you experienced on your commute.

 g 

 Jeff,

 Another great question.  There will be some movement over time.  However, a higher HR isn't better.  What you want to see is improving pace/power at a given HR (or lactate).

 Of the three thresholds (AeT, LT, FT) -- you are likely to see the most variation (over time, and  within a year) with your AeT heart rate.  This is why I prefer a bottom up approach for dialing in your steady and mod-hard endurance training zones.

 That said, you will get a lot more movement in terms of pace/power at AeT (due to increased fitness) that you will in terms of the nominal HR.  The HR doesn't move that much but the pace/power as a %age of FT (or VO2max) moves considerably.

 I'll paste a comment that my physiologist buddy, Alan Couzens, wrote yesterday on this topic.

 g

 ==

 There's definitely a level of complexity here and, as you suggested, more than one answer depending on who you listen to.