Ironman Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 18)

In 10’ I think I rode Chain Rings 52-39 rear cassette 12-25.  I think I went around 5-1/2hr. 

Gearing can be very preferential in my opinion.  Safe gearing can be Chain Rings 52-39 rear cassette 12-27. 

Last year I rode a compact (34-50) crank and a 12-25 cassette. I took the 12 off and replaced it with an 11 so I could easily maintain a little power to the pedals on the Keene descent. I rode 6:08, which includes 19:45 on the side of the road performing crash-induced bike repairs. I will be riding the same setup this time around. FWIW I am 5'-10 and raced at 158 pounds. I averaged 185 watts with a Variability Index of 1.1, so this gearing proved to work out pretty well for me.

That was my exact gearing last year and it was perfect.  I even split 1st loop 3:01, 2nd loop 3:04 for a total time of 6:05.  

Gearing is very preferential as given my Bike fitness last year going into the race I would not have dared rode a 12-25.

I think a good rule of thumb is to always go conservative.  I'd rather the problem of having too many easy gears I don't use; then find myself on climbs in the middle of the race wishing I had more bailout gears. 

I used my 12-27 on a course tougher than Lake Placid (Rev3 Quassy) and to climb up Bear Mountain, and was able to do well with the 12-27.  Because many of the climbs were similar or more difficult than the climbing in Lake Placid, I was confident the 12-27 cassette would be fine.  So for the sake of 'Specificity' and to make sure you go into the race with an appropriate gear set-up, make sure to ride terrain similar or harder than the LP bike profile sometime in May/June.     

Ill play

Name: Jayson

Ironman Resume:  First Ironman but I have muskoka half ironman and I will have Welland half ironman by then.

Why did you choose IMLP?: Closest Ironman to home.  Its affordable and driveable.   Most of the member in our club have done IMLP and love the race.

What are your goals for IMLP?: First goal is to finish.  Anything under 17hr ill be happy with.  Second is to finish within 13hrs, swim 1:30, Bike: 6:30, run: 5hrs.

What are you most looking forward to?:  I sat in the finish line last year and watched the participants celebrate and cried their hearts out.  Im looking forward to walking the finishing chute and soak up the moment!

thats sounds to many days, but itll be here before we know it!!!

hey guys,

I did a dry run of Finks 10 weeks base plan from september to december.
When I started I was running a 11:45m/m and at the end of the 10th week I was averaging a 11:20ish pace (strictly following the HRM).  Why is my speed not going any faster?  I used to run a 24min 5k before starting the plan.  Will my speed pick up when the second phase comes that consists intervals?

thanks!

Been lurking in this thread too long, time to get active.

Name: Jay

Ironman Resume:  2nd IM, did Louisville in 2010 and have done 3 Half IMs

Why did you choose IMLP?: LP has been my goal IM since a few years before I did Louisville, 2 years ago LP sold out before I could register and did Louisville as an alternate.  I'm looking forward to the challenge of the bike course and my wife's family is up there so they appreciate me being close enough for them to come and watch.

What are your goals for IMLP?: Certainly to finish, that goes without saying.  That said, as of now, my goal is to finish sub 13:00.  That would be 79 minutes faster than my Louisville time.  I chose sub 13 b/c it seems reasonably out of reach.  It's a goal that I can hit if I train for it but the liklihood of sub 13 will slip away quickly if I'm not consistent and dilegent with training.

What are you most looking forward to?:  Two things, as for training...I have a very good friend who is also doing LP as his first IM and three other friends who are doing Vineman.  So, we'll all be on the same training scheduled.  I, very much, enjoyed IM training with a group for Louisville and will enjoy it again this year.  As for the day of the race, my family and some close friends are coming to support me.  We had so much fun in Louisville together and I expect the same in LP.  Doing IM with so much support from family and friends makes all of the hard training so worth it.

Tdotnew2tri - It sounds like it is!

I was in the same boat as you when I first started taking base training seriously. In order to maintain the prescribed HRs, I often even had to walk uphill even! I will never forget thinking "you have GOT to be kidding me????" on my long runs. After my second year of really taking it seriously, I have seen very good gains in speed and efficiency in my z1 & z2 running. And September - December was PERFECT timing for it - it should pay off in spades for you in the coming season. And yes, intervals will bring your speed back, but you may still not have your top 5k gear - you are just doing a different kind of training. Although you may surprise yourself if you DO run a 5k - if you typically run a "fade" strategy - you will find that while you may not come out of the gate as fast as you used to, but you also won't fade as hard, resulting in a time still pretty close to your PB.

BTW, I actually do think it is good to run a 5k race here and there, for a number of reasons:

1. If you warm up and cool down really well, it won't hurt you or impact your training too much.
2. It does stick in the back of your mind that you are losing speed with all this IM hooie - racing a known 5k periodically helps me remember that I really am not sacrificing that much speed - it is just not what I am focusing on at the time.
3. IM training can often be long an lonely. You have to do something here and there that is fun - 5ks are something fun hat you can do with all your non-IM friends and family.

I'm scheduled for a 2 hour 50 minute ride on the trainer as part of Coach Jorge's Winter Cycling Plan.  I tackled it once a week ago and that leads me to the following questions.

Do you have any tips on how to stay on the aero bars for longer periods of time?  I find that I'm fine for the first hour only sitting up to drink or eat.  However by the second and third hour it is hard to stay down for more than 10 minutes at a time.  I'm typically not in pain anywhere, but there is a general feeling of discomfort that overrides my brain and says, "Sit up and change your position."

For those of you that do long rides on a trainer, how much do you sit up versus ride on the aeros?

By the way, this is not a problem that I have outdoors.  I don't think it is core muscles -- though it certainly could be considering that I'm 195 pounds and 6'1" -- or bike fit.  It has to do with the trainer and my brain.

On the trainer I sit up 95% of the time.  Outside I'm aero 95% of the time.  I hate going aero on the trainer; and I hate sitting up outside.  Go figure? 

As long as you're pedalling, your're gittin' R done. 

X2. I'll "practice" the aero position some on the trainer but spend most of the time being up. I agree that the discomfort is because you are not moving around on the saddle like when you are outside.  I have moved my front wheel to the highest position on the climbing block which helped.

Yeah - I am a little embarrassed to admit that this was me too. My wife always looks at me and says, "Don't worry, they are just starting." Or I think to myself, "I'll see YOU again at mile 18...."

I actually think this was some of the most important training for me for IMLP, because the former me would never be able to let someone else go even on a training run or race. Yeah, I even have a "Weekday World Champion" jersey to prove it. If you haven't prepared yourself for it, the stream of over-exited folks passing you headed out to the Keene descent can really get in your head and cause you to race someone else's race instead of your own. Just let 'em go.

Now, when I see someone plodding along reeeeeaaaaaallllllyy slowly, I always think - WOW! they must be really hardcore and training for Western States!

Hey klassman,
 
How do you like the plan?  Can you post a link for others?  Thanks.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/training-plans-view.asp?planid=10920

I've found one of the winter bike plans based on HR monitoring (for those of us rookies with no Power meter)

Interesting...I'll be trying some of these workouts

The link in the post above takes you there.  Or, click on the "Programs" icon and scroll down until you find "Winter Cycling Program with Heart Rate" or "Winter Cycling Program with Power". I'm doing the heart rate and really find it to be helpful.  Yesterday was the second workout that I missed...I'm about 5-6 weeks into it.  I'm not sure if it is biased toward building power, or speed, or endurance but I do know it has kept me on my bike and the various workouts have left me tired AND getting stronger.

For those on Iron Fit plan--or anyone:

In the training plan, there are two planned practice races scheduled for April 29 (olympic) and May 27 (half ironman)--problem is there is nothing around where I live (northern illinois) in regards to an olympic distance race until late may/early june; and there is a half distance triathlon in early June. Would I be okay just doing the half distance tri?

What do most people do in regards to practice races as part of training?

Thanks!

--Annie

tired and stronger...

I like that!

Yeah he left out the PAIN part.  I like that. 

Hi Annie.  I'm following Iron Fit and my 70.3 race will be a week after what is scheduled in the training.  I'm just planning to repeat the week of the 14th twice, then insert the week of the 21st (which includes a super-short taper) before the 70.3.  After the 70.3 I'll just Swim and Cycle SUPER-EZ and Super-Short to promote blood flow and recovery.  And by Thursday I will just pick up wherever the plan is at that point.  If there are any Z4 efforts scheduled, I'll likely skip them and just take it easy and focus on completing the Time of the workouts till the Rest Day Monday.  And by then I'll probably be entirely back on track.

But that's just me, and based on my training base and experience.  As Tasr mentioned, we don't know your background.  Is this your first Ironman or have you done more?  Have you done the 70.3 distance before?  How long have you been swimming, biking and running? 

"Most Triathletes" I know complete a 70.3 race about a month and a half out before a full 140.6.  However, I know a few athletes who do not race at all leading up to their 140.6 and do just fine.   

If you have not been consistently training Triathlon for more than a year, you may want to try and find a 70.3 in mid or early May because your Recovery time may be a bit longer. 

For me, personally, I like to do a Sprint or Olympic race as early in the season to 'blow out the cobwebs' and 'shake of the rust'.  Yes you can practice your transitions at home during training, and you should!, but race day transition is often under race-day conditions and pressures which can be different.  Granted, Ironman transition times are not as critical as shorter races.   

There's PAIN involved??  We signed up and paid for PAIN?!?  What's wrong with us.  We do this for Fun???