JohnnyKay and Fred Doucette's HIM/IM focused Mentor group-CLOSED (Page 2)

Looks like this group is finally live 

Did a 60/2 mile bike run brick Saturday, then a 13 mile long run Sunday.

4 mile recovery run today...and heading off to masters class shortly.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning a lot in the next few months.

~Jason

Twice I've tried to fit in workouts during trips (vacation) to vegas.  It never really worked out...LOL.

Had a good masters swim.  Main part of the workout was 13x100's on 3 minutes.  Yeah...our class is pretty mellow to say the least.  I was a bit faster than our lane leader, so I was drafting pretty much the first 10 sets taking it easy in the high 1:20's.  Then I got bumped to the front, so I went hard the last 3 since I was still fresh and clocked in the 1:20-1:22 range.

Still need to find that balance of going hard but keeping good form.  When I'm going easy the first 40 yards or so, I feel like I'm flying through the water.  But as my arms start to tire, my form goes to crap and the last 30 yards feels like I'm swimming through mud.

If there is still room I would love to be in.  Self coaching for IM louisville, using Be Iron Fit plan.

Will post more later, if still room.  Thanks, looing forward to it.

For me, this year's 'A' race is IMWI.  (With Silverman being "out" for a year this is my one key race).  

I 'participated' in IMWI in 2009.  It was my first full distance race, and while I fully enjoyed every minute of the race, I was over cautious and likely left quite a bit in the reserves (14:09).  

I'm a bigger guy and will be looking to balance effort with my ability to take in nutrition.  I have found that with Infinite (which works great for me), I can get around 300 calories an hour in and with a few other snacks I average around 320-350.  My 'burn' rate is around 1000-1200 cal/hr.  So the question at hand in that space is... do I go faster (to some level of additional burn) through different training and spend less time burning calories or continue to focus on pacing alone... (I know it is somewhere inbetween along with weight loss where I hope to be about 15-20 lbs lighter than my last run at IMWI)

One other area where I am just learning (and loving all the data) is my use of Power while training.  There is quite a bit there and still not sure exactly what I will need to focus on, but with early season base riding, I am certainly gathering the data.

I think Fred laid out some good info in his 'Welcome' post above.  I won't repeat any of that, but will just add some added notes from me:

I actually tend to have more access to BT during the work day.  Evenings & weekends I check BT intermittently, but am often off at kids' soccer, baseball, swimming, track, etc.  Or maybe even training. 

I do try to 'make the rounds' to people's logs once a week or so.  But If you don't log or don't stay active, then I'll probably stop visiting.  So get involved and use the logs! 

Finally, I'm awful with names.  So if I call you TriPerson12534, instead of Bob, please don't be offended. 

Edit:  Will try to post my general nutrition thoughts a bit later today.

Whoops, my mistake - did not read the whole thread. I'll post a bio in a little bit.

Thanks!

My "A" race this year is Racine 70.3 and possibly Pigman or Steelhead 70.3 in August as well and my goal is to go sub 5 (5:27:xx last year). However, looking at it from a different angle I am using this race as a gauge to my progress towards going back to IMWI next year looking to field a more competitive time. I am also planing on a late season HM in October as well to work on my run (my major weakness).

I am going to be incorporating a lot more intensity into my training for Racine this year and training on the ratio of 23 days hard, with 5 days of rest. I did 3 weeks on followed by a week of recovery last year and I felt that a week was too long. If anyone has trained with a 23:5 ratio I would love to hear how it worked for you.

Also for those that are doing IMWI this year let me know if you have any plans to ride the course this summer. I live 90 min north of the course and usually ride it once a month as my parents live just off the course.

"A" race for me this year will not be until September - Muskoka 70.3, so I'm hoping to start on a 20 week training plan near the end of this month.  I had very little run volume last year due to ITBS so I've been ramping up the volume (and slowing down as per Fred's suggestions) for a May HM which should hopefully carry through for the rest of the summer and set me up well for Muskoka.

Nutrition - I like Infinit.  I used a custom mix for my first HIM, and had a single concentrated bottle.  Plan was to take a sip with some water every 10minutes while on the bike, and I felt that worked.  No issues with GI or anything like that, although I was admittedly sick of sugary sports drinks by the time I got off the bike (this was with the flavor dialed way down).

Here are some of my basic nutrition thoughts.

First, keep it as simple as possible.  You may not be able to stomach a single drink for the whole race but, if possible, try to keep your bike from becoming a rolling buffet table.  But you may find that simply NEED to have something solid or that certain drinks don't work for you (fructose seems to be an ingredient that can bother some people).

And, second, rely on the course where you can.  This partly goes hand-in-hand with the first and also keeps you from worrying about how to carry & mix you your super-special nutrition. If you spill/lose something, you can just replace it.

Despite the seemingly endless options out there which make this seem very complex, long-course nutrition is pretty simple.  You need calories and want most of them to be in the form of carbs (sugars).  You need water--hydration.  And you probably need some level of electrolytes to help keep your system balanced as you sweat and drink through the day.  For all of these items, you want to get 'enough', but not 'too much'.  Figuring out where you lie on that spectrum can be a challenge because people do differ in their needs and their ability to digest and process.  My general belief is that you are better off erring towards the 'too little' side, as you can always pick more up along the way.  But you really should try to 'feed' at fairly regular intervals.  It's difficult for your body to digest while exercising and it does not get easier as the day goes along.  The one time where you may find it advantageous to 'delay' is right after the swim.  Some people have trouble digesting first thing on the bike, so you may want to think about sticking with water for the first 20 min or so on the bike.  Get settled down and then start your feed routine.

While this may only apply to me, here is what I did during my last IM race (where I was generally pretty happy with my nutrition) just as an example.  I carried 2 bottles on my bike.  One water and one 3-hr 'feeding' bottle of Infinit (my mix is about 300 cal/hr).  I also carried 2 gel flasks in my jersey pockets, each with ~400 cal in it.  Course provided water & gatorade.  Target is 300-350 cal/hr on the bike through the Infinit, gels and gatorade and I try to be fairly disciplined about taking in some kind of nutrition about every 20 minutes.  Try to dilute the gels or Infinit concentrate with water, but will use gatorade if that's what I'm carrying at the time.

On the run, I try to take something at each aid station.  If my stomach does not feel like eating, I still try to at least take a few swigs of water.  Mostly I aim for Gatorade to get 'easy' calories down.  Course provided Powergels (not my favorite, but I try not to be too picky at this point--just avoid the banana, if possible!) and I try to take one of them about every 3-4 miles for as long as I can stand them.  About 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through the run, generally switch to cola.  My rough goal is to get about 150-200 cal/hr on the run.  I don't measure this quite as well as on the bike which is why I try to just make sure I am taking something at every aid station.  If I do that, there's a good chance I will come close to that range.

Name: Trigal38 or Dina

Story: This will be my 3rd year racing triathlons. I have been swimming, biking, running for fitness for a long time (9 years swimming, 15 years cycling, 20 years running) but never raced much in any of the 3 sports. My biggest issues are injury, pacing, and mental toughness. I have had numerous running injuries over the years - most to my feet and ankles. For this reason I have a hard time mentally seeing myself get through the training necessary for my first HIM.

Family Status: I am a stay at home mom with a 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter. I have been married for 14 years! My husband has a running background, has completed 3 marathons, and is very supportive of me racing triathlons.

Current Training: I am following the BT HIM training plan and my race will be in June. This is the first year I have  followed any kind of plan. I have basically been preparing (see my sig line ) for this race since last season by trying to maintain a consistent, injury free running routine, and adjust to my new tri bike. Swimming is a not an issue for me. I know my running volume looks low but just the fact that I have managed to keep running through the winter without a lay off due to injury is significant for me. This was the first year in 3 years that I was not at the podiatrist on Christmas Eve LOL!

Race History: I have raced 5 triathlons a season for the last two years. Mostly sprints, a couple of Oly's and a HIM aqua bike last year. My first year I loved racing - it was so easy to improve. Last year I worked on getting faster. Lots of races in terrible weather and bad pacing left me feeling a little less enthusiastic about racing triathlons by the end of the season. This year I have a new tri bike (which I already love even though I have not raced it), I've been following a plan, and learning a lot from everyone on BT. Now if someone can just control the weather for me......

2011 Races: My first race will be a sprint on May 1st then the HIM in June. I'd like to do another sprint and an olympic distance before the season is over. All of the races I do are small, local races. Very low key and I don't have to travel.

What race are you doing? I am also doing a HIM in June in Illinois - Cutting Edge HIM.