RE-OPENED Birkierunner's 2013 mentor group - RE-OPENED!!! (Page 16)

It depends on how important extra time is on the day vs. a new setup.  The fastest (tested) place to have a water bottle is between your aerobars - with extras behind the seat.  The slowest - two bottles on the frame in regular cages.  Approx. cost over an IM is a few minutes.  You just need to determine if your comfort with where the bottles are outweighs a few minutes over what will be a very long day.

Just to offer up an alternative opinion.  Sheila Taormina's book "Swim Speed Secrets" specifically references using bands to help swimmers strengthen their muscles, and practice a high elbow catch.  She specifies not to use the bands for a full range of motion, but rather to focus on the pull phase as it can be very difficult to accurately focus on the position of your arms, etc, when actually swimming. 

Thanks for the great feedbacK!

That's pretty much what I was thinking.  You confirmed it.  I can't do speed work and not risk injury.  I'll get faster as my endurance workouts progress.  I'm currently going at a swim pace I'm happy with.  My bike times are little slower then I would like.  I'm aiming to stay in zone 1-low 2.  That allows me a bike pace of about 23-25km/hr.  I would like a little more speed.  My runs are my concern.  I ran my first marathon last May 2012 with a 3:45 time.  My current goal for IM run is 4hrs.  Right now my endurance pace to stay in low zone is upwards of 7min/km which is way high for my goal.  But as you said, my times will improve with time.

As for nutrition I will take your advise and do some more research.

Thanks again!

Craig

Craig - while many people aim to minimize their run intensity, you should not fear injury by ramping up your intensity in swimming or riding.  I'm sorry to say, but you will not see as many improvements on the bike by riding around in Z1/2 as you will if you incorporate periods where you are pushing much harder.  These intervals can be a complete workout and makeup part of some of your long rides.  You can also push yourself a bit harder in pool.  Incorporating faster/harder 25/50/100's will help you develop as a swimmer.

I agree, however can anyone explain why the program designed by BT for me incorporates ONLY endurance workouts???  I assumed that because this is my first IM distance race the purpose of the endurance based training was to "just get me to the distance".  In the site articles it talks about endurance workouts only being done in Z1-2.  Every workout in the plan calls for "endurance pace" no matter how long or short the session.  I'm confused.  As a newbie I was trusting in the BT plan design for me.  During my other training programs (not designed by BT)I did lots of speed work and tempo, but these were for shorter distances like half marathon or full.

What gives BT???

Let me start by saying I have not read "Swim Speed Secrets."  Next, I am not trying to start a heated debate over stroke technique.  All of that said, I will elaborate on why I am not a fan of dry land "swimming."  Then anyone considering using dry land methods can make an informed decision, or at least have additional information to ponder.

In my opinion, freestyle begins and ends with a good body roll.  Body roll being defined as - the rotation of your shoulders, torso, hips and legs around the long axis of the body.  Note that the definition of body roll does NOT include bending at the waste, which is what you generally have to do in order to simulate freestyle on dry land, unless you are on a bench of some sort, in which case you can't simulate body roll.  You can't have a good entry and catch if you don't have a proper body roll and you aren't going to have a proper body roll on dry land - period!  Here is the main thing to consider, if your body roll is correct, you are naturally in position to have a proper entry and catch.

The concern I have, when you try and pull out little segments of the stroke, is that while you may indeed improve that little segment, something else in the stroke WILL suffer.

In my opinion, freestyle is not a series of little segments that merge together into a complete stroke.  Rather, it is one fluid motion from entry, through the catch, pull, extension and recovery that is built upon the foundation of a good body roll.  If you want to improve your freestyle, perfect your body roll - in the water.  Your stroke technique will naturally improve once your body roll is correct.

Just my two cents . . . ok, two-and-a-half cents.

agree!

Craig, if you are a GOLD member on BT I believe they have a forum for GOLD members using a BT training plan where you can ask specific questions.  I would recommend asking BT directly why they have designed their program that way.  I'm not a gold member so I can't view the plan.  For fear of contradicting what they may say, I will give my personal views and add on to what Neil has already contributed.

We need to keep in mind that the training load of a program is equal to the sum of the duration, intensity, and frequency of workouts.  By applying a progressive load over time, coupled with recovery, your body will adapt to that load and be able to take on increased load.  The net effect is that you get faster.  So, to some extent you will get faster by applying an increasing load just limited to z1/z2 workouts but you will not see nearly as much improvement as if you incorporated some higher intensity workouts.  And I'm not talking killer speed workouts.  If you remember some of my past posts, performance is improved by increasing your speed at lactate threshold.  We tend to think of LT workouts as around the middle of zone 3.  You really need to have some workouts that key in on training at or near your LT.  Again, this isn't speed work, but its not easy endurance either.  These shorter workouts are done at a pace faster than your IM race pace will be.  By doing enough of them you raise your LT and the net effect is that you will be able to race your IM at a faster pace than if you had simply trained z1/z2 all the time...but you must keep that IM race pace slower than your LT or you will implode.  I wouldn't be afraid of doing some of your workouts at a pace faster than z1/z2, especially biking as Neil outlines above...but I would also do it in running as well.  There will be a place for faster paced (z4/z5) workouts as you get more experience.

An example of how training load is managed to improve performance is my own marathon training.  If you read various plans they may have you do several slow runs in the 22-25 mile range with the argument, "hey if you can't do it in training you can't do it on race day".  Well, in my 10 standalone marathon races I never, ever, had a training run over 19 miles...ever.  So how did I run 8 sub 3 marathons on such "short" "long run" training?  It was because I made the most of my weekly mileage (I only peaked at 60-70 mpw).  My bread and butter quality run at the time was a 12 mile course near my house that I tried to maintain a 6:45-7:00 min/mi pace on....which is actually about 15-25 seconds/mile slower than my marathon PR pace.  My 19 milers were run at a slower pace obviously, but it was the more intense shorter runs that helped improve my LT and allow me to run a marathon faster.  Not sure if that makes sense or not.  As some say, train slow....race slow.

Ahhhhhhh!  Good question.  The key is....we do use caffeine (in form of caffeinated gels and clif bloks) in my longer key workouts and Ironman race fueling plan, especially in the later stages.  I think her rationale is, if I drink caffeinated coffee for every day existence then my body may become accustomed to a continual supply of caffeine and its stimulant effects may get blunted?  That's just my way of explaining it.  So, if you wean yourself off of it but then use it in longer key workouts and the later stages of an Ironman as a stimulant it may have a more potent effect.  I think green tea is recommended due to all of the antioxidants it contains and it helps assist in free radical neutralization. 

Thanks for the feedback Scott.  For me, my swim stroke is all about little pieces unfortunately.  If I swim what feels natural, then I'm doing things wrong - simply because I'm late to the game and don't have an instinctual feel for the water or what is right.  Hopefully I'll progress to the point where things click and it becomes more fluid.  At least, I keep hoping it will!!

Been off the grid as well at a work conference all last week.  Brought my bike and trainer and used the hotel treadmill to get my workouts in...but not ideal...and zero time to play on the computer.

I do much better on a routine so glad to be home.  Hope to check in on a daily basis here.

I have no clue :-)  But, like Reid, I'm willing to experiment.  And, I would probably give it longer than 3 weeks before I decided.  I'm not a guy that is like a zombie unless he has a cup of coffee in the morning.  I simply like coffee.  My nutritionist isn't stating something as fact.   She simply provided dietary suggestions and said replace coffee with green tea and caffeine would be used in key workouts and in an Ironman.  I don't think its a stretch to say if you haven't been exposed to caffeine (or very little) for an extended time (again, I don't think 3 weeks is long) and then its re-introduced to your body it may have a greater effect.  I don't need 10 double-blind studies with unequivocal results to say, "hey, I'll give it a try".  I don't think I've heard much about the benefits of coffee itself compared to the benefits of green tea but to be honest I haven't read about it either way.  Maybe I'll drink both :-)

No coffee?  Just shoot me!

Just checking in - off to a good start this week with workouts.  I have been focusing alot on the bike the last few weeks and my run frequency has dropped off so working on that.   Still want to focus on the bike but just want to get out the door more frequently for some easier runs and strides to keep the good gains I made over the last 14 weeks.

Swimming...well...yeah that will have to wait a few more weeks until I get into race prep but their is some good swim conversation happening!

2 years ago in the winter I worked so hard on improving my swim and really made nice gains in the pool that did not translate so well to my racing...for whatever reason.  So the last 2 years I have really concentrated on Bike/Run and my swim times have stayed the same without a dropoff so figure this is better at the moment as my Bike/Run has improved nicely.

I'm swimming 4-5 days a week at the moment = frustrating.  Can't get the high elbow catch when I actually swim, even though it's certainly doable in drills. 

Haven't been able to run for 2 weeks because of achilles pain, so I better find some improvements in the water!

Did a great treadmill workout to start the day.  tough one tho.  here it is:   warm up for 10 mins then 1 min each @ 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, then 5 mins at 0%, repeat 4 times then end with three 30 second sprints as fast as you can handle. 5 mins cool down.  Pace was kept comfy and there were 30 second recoveries (off the treadmill) between the sprints.

whew!