Beer Drinker Accountability/Appreciation Society - Open (Page 16)

After a strong start last week was a bust for me training-wise while dealing with home repairs. Long story short, I have a functioning shower again with great water pressure!

On Saturday I managed a 4.5 mile run before walking in a 5k charity walk and today I put in 1000m in the pool. Back on track, however I may not hit the 28 workouts for the month unless I double up a bunch of days.

Beer report: Saint Archer makes a nice IPA and Green Flash's "30th Street Pale Ale" is very tasty.

I have about 5-6 pairs of tri shorts that I use on all my cycle training. I personally would not wear bike shorts for a tri as the pad would be very uncomfortable.

Your butt will get used to the seat...eventually!

As for races, I usually wear tri shorts/tri top/one piece tri suit for the whole race. Most of the tri shorts I have purchased have been on sale. Check your tri stores for sales, especially in the off season. At least figure out your sizes for the different brands as you may be able to find them on line pretty cheap.(the /Nashbar)

the end of the day, I would say you can use tri shorts for longer rides but not the other way around...just my 2 cents.

Here you go!

I am laying out the June Challenge for those who need a little push to train. Let's make it 28 S/B/R workouts in 30 days. That would be 7 workouts/week.

Minimums:

Swim:15 minutes.

Bike:30 minutes.

Run:20 minutes.

As long as you hit the minimums, bricks count as 2.

S/B/R only. One exception ...if you drink a dozen cans warm coors lite in one sitting, I will count that as 8 workouts. Of course if there is no video, it didn't happen.

It depends on your level of comfort in the saddle. At this point I can ride without a chamois altogether. My butt is accustomed to it.

I wouldn't wear a pair of bike shorts with a very thick chamois during a Tri because of the comfort during the swim and run. I really only wear my Tri suit, however, when I'm in a Tri. The rest of the time I wear my regular roadie kit (bib shorts and jersey). The main reason is that Tri suits tend to be sleeveless and made of very thin material so they provide almost no protection from the sun, even the parts that are covered. Cycling Jerseys also offer more pocket space so on long training rides I can stuff extra gear that I wouldn't bother to bring with me during a race (phone, cash, rain jacket, banana, etc.) 

Get out on your bike for some easy spinning! Southern Ontario? How about some OWS training?

Good luck!

Well being a bit of a baby today. Switching my bike for a run at lunch today. High of 13C(55F) with rain today. We are having a crappy spring here!

That will put me at 13/30! One short of the halfway mark of 14!

First off, how did you determine your HR zones? Did you base them off your max HR or resting HR and how did you figure out those numbers? The best method I've come across, short of lab testing, is to first determine your functioning threshold. This is the max HR effort you can sustain before going anaerobic. You can do an FT test for running by running a flat course (a lap around the block, for example) for 30min at your maximum sustainable effort after having done a 20 twenty minute warmup. If go so hard that you need to walk, you've blown the test and will have to try again another day. Based on that you can estimate your HR zones. I suggest picking the Triathletes bible (or Going Long) by Joe Friel. His book has the zones laid out and the tests. 

If you already have a good idea of what your zones are, running in them is a matter of running slow enough to keep your HR in that zone. It may seem hard at first. When I started training with HR zones I felt like my zone 2 run was just a pinch above a brisk walk. Every once in awhile do a run at near to your FT (functioning threshold), which sounds like what you're doing every run. Training at threshold will increase your threshold so you can run faster and work your HR higher and still feel comfortable. Doing this on every run, however, will result in overtraining and peaking to early. You could also end up overtraining your body to only draw on carb and glycogen stores rather than from fat. Training slower trains your body to fuel itself more efficiently with fat stores so that you can run faster for longer periods without burning out your muscles. 

Also keep track of your RPE (rate of perceived exertion, usually a 1-10 scale, 1 being the least effort, 10 being all out heart-exploding intensity). If your HR is high and your RPE is low, then that is probably a sign of increased fitness. If your HR is low and your RPE is high, you are probably fatigued and need rest. 

As far as weather is concerned, most people will notice an increase in HR in hotter weather. This can mess up your training if aren't conscious of the temperature when you're running.