Gray Guys/Girls Master's Focus Triathlon Mentor Group--CLOSED (Page 18)

Wow!  Better man than me Dan!  I ran in single digits back in Indiana, and enjoyed the heck out of running in the snow but I think I would have drawn the line at below zero temps.

Deb,

Thanks for the advice.  We plan to have a pretty good selection of "healthy" food.  Unfortunately, all the good stuff tends to call my name.  It's hard to pickup a carrot when there are wings or chips and guacamole right beside them.  I have accepted the fact that I will indulge, just hoping to keep it under some level of control.

I don't really have a dog in the hunt today.  Maybe next year will be the year of the Rams.  I am pulling for a close game and predict the Pats in a squeaker at the final gun.

Donna,

First, there aren't any "shortcuts" to training for a 70.3.  Yes, you can put in less yards and/or miles, but you are only short-cutting your preparation.  That said, I always encourage a 600 yard warm-up as outlined at Getting the Most Out of Your Pre-workout Warm-up.  Not that different from what Randy suggested, maybe just a bit more structured.  It does include some harder effort for the same reason that Randy recommends.

I have used De-Soto for a number of years.  I have tried several different brands but just prefer the De-Soto.  I use separate top and bottom.  I am real tall and just can't seem to find a one-piece that fits well.

Workout minutes - 620.6

Weight loss - no change

Donna-you make a good point about keeping it fun. Sometimes that gets forgotten in all the numbers/training metrics. Find what works for you in reaching your goals and fitting in within all of your other commitments. If you don't enjoy it then you are unlikely to stay with it. We all want different things out of the sport. You are the one investing the time, money and energy. Find the balance and keep moving forward. Now, with that said it doesn't mean you don't work hard in some of the workouts and training. But, if life gets in the way or you just need to miss a workout to take a break then that is OK. You don't have to have all the fancy gear and intense training programs to still have fun with the sport.  I can become a bit (alot) obsessive about training sets, volume etc. But in the big picture I am the only one that really cares whether I hit my intervals on the bike in a specific workout.  Have fun and try not to forget that's why we started doing this in the first place.  

I had a pretty decent week.  I might have run a bit further than I should have as I can feel some very mild right knee and plantar fascia tension.

No gain bonus    5 points

619.2 minutes/30 = 20.6 points

Total  25.6 points

Donna - I'm so far from expert on anything but I'd like to add my 5 cents (we don't have pennies in Canada anymore) to a few things:

Tri-shorts - I didn't know which to buy either so I went to our local bike shop and tried on every pair they had (without looking at the prices) and I found the pair that felt the most comfortable and I bought the most comfortable pair.  They turned out to be moderately priced and three years later I'm still wearing them.  Whenever I need anything I put them on a birthday and Christmas wish list for my wife and I usually get some good things and I don't have to pay for them.  It did back fire a bit on me as I now have three very good very long lasting jammer swim suits but usually it does work well.  I have heard a lot of good about DeSoto but I've never tried them.

Super Simple 70.3 - I had a quick look at a few of the weeks in your plan and week 14 looked pretty reasonably demanding.  I tried looking for your Bio but I couldn't find it - when is your HIM?  

Scott L - I'd be up for a Tough Dodger!  It looked like a good laugh but I wouldn't dare show it to my wife.

Hi Donna,

First, let me say, YES!  This should be fun. I think back to the earliest days of triathlon and they didn't have heart rate monitors.  Nobody made expensive GPS watches, and you couldn't buy a triathlon bike because there was no such thing.  Yet, people competed and had fun doing it.  Over the years, as more and more people became involved with triathlon and the level of competition rose, it became harder and harder to rise to the highest level and people became more and more serious.  Those same people sought out ways to become faster.  Then an increasing number of people and companies came along looking to make a quick buck offering all manner of equipment and services; which only served to further muddy the waters and make it even more difficult for the person looking to merely have a good time being physically active.

At the end of the day, you need to determine what constitutes fun for you.  Do you want to merely get across the finish line?  Do you want to be competitive in your age group?  Maybe win your age group?  Only you can answer that question and how you answer will define how your training should go.  Only you can figure out how much time you want to devote to pursuing your triathlon goals.  I will say, that if you don't enjoy this, you likely won't stay with it.  So a bit of introspection in in order for all of us at various points throughout the season.

Now, about your chosen training plan.  I hadn't reviewed the plan when I made my initial comments and only knew the plan name.   I didn't say it was easy and cutting corners.  I said, "There aren't any "shortcuts" to training for a 70.3."  When I see the word "Simple" in a training plan title, I immediately wonder, "Why is it simple?"  I kind of compare it to the diet pill we occasionally see on TV, you know the one, take this magic pill and with no exercise you will lose inches off of your waistline.  Except it doesn't work that way.  There are certain things you must do in order to achieve certain results.  In the case of a 70.3 you need to be able to swim 2,100 yards, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles.  You aren't going to do that swimming 500 yards twice a week, or running 5 miles a week.  That is what I meant by no shortcuts.  There are certain minimums that you are going to need to achieve in order to be properly prepared.  Now, what are those minimums?  That is where the debate begins and that is where your goals come in.

Specifically to your plan, I will say after a quick glance that it appears to me that the running and cycling volumes are sufficient for a 70.3 distance.  I think the swimming however is a bit light.  Let me try and explain why.

The general advice I give to someone regarding swimming volume is that you should do 1.5 - 2.0 times your race distance in each workout, with a minimum of three workouts per week.  Depending upon your race distance (spring or oly), there may need to be a few weeks of speed work.  If you want to come out of the water near front of the pack then I recommend upping the volume to 2.0 - 3.0 times the race distance per workout, four times per week.  For a 70.3 swim that works out to a minimum near the end of the build of roughly 3,000-4,200 per workout, three times a week, or 9,000 - 12,600 per week.  The first question is generally, "Why so much volume?"  My opinion is that you should be adequately prepared so that you can swim the entire swim aerobically at your threshold pace.  That takes a fair amount of volume to achieve.  Can you do the swim training at a lower volume?  Yes, you can.  However, on race day, you would be anaerobic during the swim and you will come out of the water with a much higher heart rate.  Your HR would stay high through the entire race which would ultimately result in a slower overall time.

Comparing what I believe is proper volume to your plan, looking at week 14 for example, your plan calls for a swim of 1,800 with a main set of 8 x 100, a swim of 1,600 with a main set of 2 x 400, and a swim of 2,400 with a main set of 600 yards.  None of those workouts are near my recommended minimum  for a 70.3 of 3,000 yards.  My recommended weekly yardage would be roughly 9,000 - 12,000 yards per week; week 14 of your plan is 5,800 yards.  Week 15 of your plan is the highest swimming volume and is 200 yards further.  My recommendation for a 70.3 would be a 12 week base followed by a 12 week build.  If your beginning fitness is fairly high then a 16 week build would be sufficient for a 70.3.  Will your plan get you from the starting line to T1?  Yes, it probably will.  Although I think you will likely be very disappointed by your swim split and even more disappointed by your overall finish.  There is a saying, you can't win a triathlon during the swim, but you can lose it there.  You may not be trying to win, however the saying still holds true.  If you are not adequately prepared for the swim, it will impact your entire race.

When it's all said and done Donna, you aren't doing this for me, you aren't doing this for anyone in this forum.  You are doing it for you.  Do what works for you  and have fun doing it!

Stu,

Back when I was swimming we did a Swim-A-Thon every Thanksgiving morning.  We took pledges of 'X' cents per lap and then swam non-stop for two hours in a long course pool.  The money raised went to a local charity.  My longest swim was 11,900 meters in two hours.  I think that worked out to roughly 6,500 yards/hour or 0:55/100Y (1:01/100M) for two hours.  Don't believe I could get close to those numbers today and am happy to hold 1:10/100Y for an hour now.

Scott - That's some pretty fast swimming.  I had a good swim day today (for me) and pushing myself I only managed 2200m and I was getting pretty slow by the end.  I enjoyed the swim and came out of the pool tired but I was amazed at how quickly my HR calmed down and I felt pretty good.  My goal for this year in the water is to swim under 2:00/100m for each of my races.  Last year I was really close (2:07/100m at Calgary 70.3) but just not quite fast enough.

My biggest goal for this year is to get faster/stronger at running but last week I ran about 25km in 3:20 which isn't very far or fast but since my Friday run I'm feeling a bit of patellar tendon tension and plantar fascia tension (left and right).  No pain just early warning signs.  So how do I proceed?  I want to run again tomorrow but I don't want to aggravate my knees or PF.  I'm thinking of cutting back on my total run time as I may have ramped up a bit too quickly (more than 10% by a fair bit).  I'll likely slow down as well.  I just bought new running shoes that I'll start wearing tomorrow.

George,

If it were me, I would take a day off running and then real light the rest of the week.  You aren't going to lose any significant amount of fitness and since we aren't spring chickens anymore, better to nip this in the bud than let it become a problem.

Just my opinion.  This 56-year old body doesn't recover or heal as quickly as it once did so my default position for several years has been avoid injury at all cost - if it means missing a workout, or two, or three, so be it.