We Don't Just Tri - We Do (Season 2) - Closed (Page 2)

Thank you all for the welcome.

Thom- I am currently registered to do a 5k on March 9th and plan to register to a few more a long the way.

It sounds like a lot of you are training for big races this year! Tara, I hope you are able to reach your goal of doing a HIM for your 50th

Have been learning more about the tools available on this website and plan to take full advantage of them.

Marcy - Good luck with your swim lessons. I hope you enjoy training for your first triathlon as much as I did. I used this site religiously to prepare for my race. Have fun!

 

Edited by MamacitaT 2014-01-10 11:12 AM

Tara,

I am sure Thom will give you better information, but find a good fitter first, most bike shops will fit you to their bikes, however you really need to find what fits you and then look at bikes. Most fitters will do an assessment and tell you what bikes have the correct geometry for your body. I found mine through my local club, he is a Physical Therapist an athlete as well as a certified fitter. It will take sometime to get a proper fit, but I found out the hard way how important it is. I purchased a used road bike, great deal on a great bike, however I never got properly fitted just made adjustments until I felt comfortable. I thought all was well as I was training hard for my first HIM, then came the sciatica which led to back surgery, most likely due to poor bike form. When I finally got a fit I couldn't believe how different the setup was and my bike was really a rather poor choice for me.

Good luck, but spend the time to make sure you get the right person to do the fitting.

Can't wait to see the new bike when you do make a choice!

Dan

Tara,

You're asking the right questions from the get go. Dan's advice is good and spot on.

A question for you. You say road bike. Do you mean road bike or are you thinking about a tri-bike? Because they are different. A tri-bike is designed for the sport and how it is fit is different than a road bike. If you plan to do a lot of road cycling and occasionally do tris than get a road bike. If it is the other way around - than get a tribike. I personally do not own a road bike. I only own a tri-bike and mountain bike. Some day I will get a road bike. How it will fit will be different than how my tri-bike fits. That said - read on.

Your Local Bike Shop (LBS) will more than likely offer specific lines of bikes and will/should be familiar with the fitting for those bikes to the customers that come in. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they are experts in fitting a person to a bike. What I mean is that the best bike shops will fit you to a bike - both in the size and geometry of the bike and also to the brand of bike that best fits you.

There are different fitting technologies and vendors. One of the more prominent is Retul. There are others. The best shops will put you on a motion capture system that allows them to adjust all aspects of a bike and then see how your body fits and move on it. The set up is essentially the skeleton of a bike that allows the technician to adjust all elements of a bike (reach, seat tube, crank size, etc) . Once the technician has determined your body dimensions (e.g. do you have long torso, short legs, and long arms - or do you have a long torso, long legs, and long arms; plus how flexible are you) they can recommend not only the size of bike but the manufacturer. Once that is determined, they can fit the bike to you. They will start with a basic starting setup and then adjust the bike to best fit you

The right bike and the right fit is very important. You need to be in the most comfortable position that will allow you to generate the most power as efficiently as you can. You can imagine how a poor fit will introduce problems over a sprint race. Now multiply those problems over an IM or HIM! Not only will you not perform as well as you could, you might actually injure yourself.

If you are starting from scratch and are buying a new bike - look for a shop that offers motion capture fitting (such as retul) and will find the right bike for you and then can adjust the bike that best meets your needs. The bike setup for a beginner triathlete who has never ridden in an aero position is different than the setup for an experienced rider who can stand more challenging positions. At a minimum, find a shop that can adjust a bike to fit you. If the shop's fitting technicians are also triathletes as well then that is a bonus. There is a difference between road cycling and triahlon.

As you will find there is a science and an art to this. You are right to look for a well equipped with experienced technicians. You can quickly get overwhelmed. I learn something new all the time. Luckily, I live in the heart of the triathlon world and there are a number of great shops. The place I got my last fitting was at the place many of the pros go to. I ended up on a totally different bike manufacturer (Cervelo - changed from Felt). The technician started from scratch on a Retul system.

Also, most - if not all - bike manufacturers will have fitting information specific to their bikes.

Here are a couple of links that give some good info on bike fitting.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/
http://fitwerx.com/bicycle-fit-positioning

Some other tidbits. Learning to ride a triathlon bike is different than riding any other type of bike you might be used to you. If you are used to road bikes then you will have some idea. If you are used to mountain bikes or basic cruisers - it will be a whole new experience. Riding in an aero position is another learning experience. There is a saying - there are two types of riders - those that have fallen off their bike and those that will. It takes a bit to learn how to ride one of these machines.

When starting off it is not necessary to have tribike or road bike. I did my first tris on a mountain bike. Once I decided to buy a tri bike I started with an entry level bike. I still ride an entry level bike. My thought is that until I'm a good enough cyclist and triathlete to be losing races (or not performing as well) because of my bike then I'll move up a level. Entry level bikes are aluminum frames with carbon forks. They start at the $1200 range for a current model year (you could find prior year bikes on sale under a 1000). The next level up puts you into the $2500 range. It only goes up from there. As my wife says - when companies put their names on my shirt and pants then I will be "permitted" to get one of the more expensive bikes! You can spend as much as 10K or more for a bike. My point is that buying a tribike (or road bike for that matter) can get pricey. It will be the most expensive part of the sport and it is not necessary to buy the best bike out there. But, a tri specific bike will make a difference - no doubt.

I'm rambling. If you have any other questions or if I've managed to confuse you or generate more questions just ask.

Thom

im not quite sure how this works do ill just post a bio and pray for the best.


NAME: Jynxy - Joe

STORY: I am a 34 year old male, I live in Essex UK. there is a local Triathlon each year in my little village and after watching it for the last 2 years and getting injured last October just before I was supposed to run a Marathon I decided to take the dive. I have joined my local club and hope to be a MOP runner at the very least if not push for the better boys but my size will let me down. I am a farmer so my training times are usually early afternoon.


FAMILY STATUS: Married with 3 children. my oldest (13) is the only male and has just undergone major back surgery for a mostly unknown condition of CMT. the 2 girls are very active (10,6) with the older one hoping to compete in her own Triathlon in 2014.


CURRENT TRAINING: I am at the moment doing 4 Bike, 3 Run and the odd Swim (hoping to swim twice a week) I train by HRM .


2013 RACES: none

2014 RACES: I have 15 races lined up, from very short Duathlons , some challenge/sprint distances. I hope to use the early easier races as warm up and transition practice for my main Triathlons in May.


2015 RACES: as above hopefully, just better

WEIGHTLOSS: YES !!!, I am currently 6 feet @ 105.3 kg around 230 lbs.

I am training at the moment by the Beginner Triathlete custom plan, with 9 min miles runs, 3.45 min miles bikes and 2.30 min/100m swims.

I am hoping that by the end of my Peak I will be doing somewhere near under 8 min runs, under 3 min bike and under 2 min swims

I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Thom, Dan

 

Thank you so much for all the information. There is quite a lot to consider. I did go on-line and found a local Retul fitter and will check them out this week. I am anxious to get a bike that I can really work with and improve on.

 

I have been training on a Trek fit bike and have to hunch down to get real power to pedal. I end up with a sore back and can only go about 15mph max on it. It was frustrating during my first tri to get out of the water faster than many and see them pass me on the bike trail. I am very anxious to get a bike that is easier to ride, perhaps a bit faster and fits well.

Thank you again, I will let you know how the hunt goes.

Have a great weekend.

 

Tara

Edited by MamacitaT 2014-01-12 11:17 AM

I would like to join the group. I will post bio soon.

Hi Joey and welcome to the group. It is good to have some international flavor in our midst.

We're glad to have you and look forward to sharing our experiences with you as you share your season with us. I posted a comment a few days ago with some general guidelines that you might want to take a look at if you haven't already.

Thom

Slow Eddy - welcome to the group. We'll be on the lookout for your bio.

Thom

Here is a table that provides a link to the group forum and to the training pages of each of the current members.

You can add this to your training log page by higlighting the table, right click and select copy. Then, go to your training log page and hit the small edit button and pasting the table into the window that pops up. I will update that table as new members join the group.

Thom

Had a good week of training. After a six week layoff it is taking a bit of getting back into the groove. Still haven't hit the pool - that will come soon I'm sure.

I have my training up on here on BT if you are interested. Right now I am just doing some base training on my own. My coach and I will get started again here in the next week or so and there will be a little bit more structure to the individual workouts and the workout weeks.

Thom

as I have said in my notes I am at the moment running around 8.45 - 9 min miles, I am looking to get this down to hopefully as close to 7 min miles as possible I was training for a marathon during the summer so I feel I have a good base for this.

my bike time however I am currently going at 3.45 min miles but my heart rate is around 150 - 160 bpm I am new to the art of road racing so unsure about how quick I can get but I am aiming for anything under 3min miles if that is possible.

I have a lot of practice races duathlons and Aquathlons. to get things right but my home race is on 11th May so I am looking at the moment running 9min/miles, biking 3.45min/miles then in 3 weeks drop that to run 8 min/miles, biking 3.20 min/miles. then finally 7 weeks before the race drop it to run 7 min/miles and biking 3 min/miles.

is this the right way to do it ??

Edited by Jynxy 2014-01-13 11:33 AM

Good morning everyone, I thought I would do a little weekly round up. I am going to start with the obvious and that is a 1kg (2.2lb) weight loss for last week, wtg me. I have done well with my training aiming to do my single runs hard 180-190 bpm and bike 160-170 bpm the 2 brick sessions I did without a HRS but lowered the time. I am a fairly busy person ( with 3 children ) also coaching rugby twice a week, so far this has been at the expense of my swimming even though it would be the shortest workout to actually drive there and back takes over an hour . I have felt very good doing all my workouts only Sunday did I need to kick myself into gear to get out before 7am. When people get a chance to check out my plan and goals I would appreciate any advice.

With thanks
Jynxy

Hi there everyone, I would like to join the group

My name is Marius and I`m a man/boy/child(at heart atleast) of 24 years. From Norway and I have finally taken the step up to triathlon!

Sports background:
*Since early childhood I`ve been playing soccer, but I quit when I moved away for school at age 19.
*At age 16 I started to train for a marathon, which meant 3-4 runs a weeks averaging 7km a run. I still had soccer practice so I couldn`t run as much as I wanted.
*Until I started working at age 23 I was mostly doing 20km weeks while playing a wide varity of sports (hockey, volleyball, ultimate frisbee).
*At age 21 me and some friends had a "vacation" in Italy; 17days on the bike = 2700km
*At age 23 me and some friends had a "vacation" in France; 10days on the bike = 1800km

Injury background:
*age 16,5 I broke my right leg (Fibula) in a nasty socceraccident (they told me that if they didn`t start the operation as soon as possible, there was a big chance of loosing my foot), spent 5 days in the hospital not allowed to move out of my bed. Also not allowed to strain my foot for 2months, not allowed to run for six months.
*age 17,5 I bust my knee in another soccermatch, this time I was out for another six months.
*age 22 my knee didn`t appreciate the summerjob I had, I was up on my feet for 12hr straight on concrete floor and tried to run when I got home. My knee was NOT happy, and I spent 3months waiting for it to become happy again.
*age 24 During my training for a half-marathon I ramped up my training way to fast (from 20km weeks to 65km in just 3weeks), wich ofcourse made my knee hate me again... This was in October 2013, I haven`t run since early December. Hoping my knee is fine in February.

Why am I doing this:
Since I first laid eyes on the athletes finishing Norseman, I have dreamt of the day where I will jump of true joy and exertion at the top of Gaustatoppen :D
But what finally pushed over the edge of becoming a triathlete was a mission, and that mission is to race to raise money for charity. Me and two friends are going to start a "Ironman for charity" charity soon, and we already have a few sponsors!

Weightloss:
I need to loose a few kgs, I would like to end up at around 69kg. Currently I am at 75kg.

Current training:
I currently only train swimming and bike, I`m trying to rest my knee until February.
I started swimming in December (I have never done crawl before), and will try to make it to the pool atleast 4times a week.
Because of the extremly "good" weather in Norway my rides are indoor spinning class. There is a small chance that I am going to buy a trainer soon, need to check my budget ^^
Once I resume running in February there will be a plan to my training!

Goal for 2014:
*Participate in atleast 3 training triathlons. (the local one is 1,2km-44km-8km)
*Finish a Half-Ironman
*Swim for 2500m open water without too much of a hassle.
*Beat my half-marathon time in the annual local race
*Progress alot slower than I feel like doing (read: NOT GET MYSELF INJURED!!)

Please give me a nudge if I forgot something
Sorry if there is not alot of consistency in my writing, as English is not my native language.

If you're talking about commenting to the group - It's exactly how you do it. There is no right or wrong. What's important is to share what you're up to, you're questions and to participate in the discussions. Well done.

If you're talking about training goals and strategies see below.

So, you've got a motor on you.That is awesome. Those are great times. If you don't mind, I'll use this post to talk to the group about some training principles and even race principles. I think what you describe are great short term goals that you might write down to help focus your training. Coaches will take performance measurements at the beginning of a training cycle and again at intervals throughout to gauge progress.

With respect to getting your times down to the 7 min mark, generally early in a season we'll work on base training and work speed and power later in the training cycle. The conventional wisdom is that new triathletes are better served by building strong aerobic bases over developing speed or power - this especially holds true for the long course events.

Cycling is generally described in terms of power, power/kg of weight and threshold power. Long course athletes will plan their race to perform on the bike at a certain percentage of threshold power. IM events that might be in 70 percent range. HIM in the 80 percent range. The reason behind that is so to maintain energy reserves for the run. The shorter distances you race closer to threshold power.

I guess you are training with a HRM since you mention heart rates. What zone do those number represent? Are they zone 3 or zone 4? Have you determined HR zones for running and biking? They tend to be different. Do you train with a power meter on your bike?

Thom

If you're talking about commenting to the group - It's exactly how you do it. There is no right or wrong. What's important is to share what you're up to, you're questions and to participate in the discussions. Well done.

If you're talking about training goals and strategies see below.

So, you've got a motor on you.That is awesome. Those are great times. If you don't mind, I'll use this post to talk to the group about some training principles and even race principles. I think what you describe are great short term goals that you might write down to help focus your training. Coaches will take performance measurements at the beginning of a training cycle and again at intervals throughout to gauge progress.

With respect to getting your times down to the 7 min mark, generally early in a season we'll work on base training and work speed and power later in the training cycle. The conventional wisdom is that new triathletes are better served by building strong aerobic bases over developing speed or power - this especially holds true for the long course events.

Cycling is generally described in terms of power, power/kg of weight and threshold power. Long course athletes will plan their race to perform on the bike at a certain percentage of threshold power. IM events that might be in 70 percent range. HIM in the 80 percent range. The reason behind that is so to maintain energy reserves for the run. The shorter distances you race closer to threshold power.

I guess you are training with a HRM since you mention heart rates. What zone do those number represent? Are they zone 3 or zone 4? Have you determined HR zones for running and biking? They tend to be different. Do you train with a power meter on your bike?

Thom

Hi Marius,

Welcome to the group. I'll add you to the table. I think you may have restricted access to your training log. It is not an issue - but if you would like for group members to view your training and give you inspires you will need to allow the group members to view your log.

So, who says soccer is not a contact sport? You have quite the injury history.

As you come back from your latest injury take it slow and measured. Avoid the too fast, too far, too soon mistake that many athletes, your's truly included, make that only sets them back further. I'm not sure what kind of physical therapy you are taking but you might consider trigger point therapy, myofascial release technique or Active Release Technique as therapy approach. I believe many injuries - and the subsequent - recovery can be greatly facilitated by these approaches. They are popular in the US and are taught to international practitioners so I'm sure you could find one in Norway. If not, there are some great self help books you can find on Amazon.

You've got great goals and they are well articulated. When goals are easy to visualize they are more easily obtained. Good luck with all of them. We'll be here to support you all along the way.

Thom

Thanks for taking time to be a leader Thom.

Name- Eric (sloweddy)

I am a newbie...

Story-
I am from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario,Canada, I have recently had a birthday(33rd) and realized that I have let my self get way out of shape and have slowly stopped a lot of the sports/activities that I love to do. My career has taken precedent the past 6 years as I have built my wealth management practice, being self employed is great however I put in a great deal of hours. I am disappointed to say that I had promised myself 3 years ago that I would not let myself get to a place where it was a chore to find time for training and competition. I am a relatively new husband 2.5 years and a new father.

I played hockey growing up at a high level and enjoyed running and cycling. I have done little to keep in shape the past 3 years and I am very excited to be training and working towards a goal. I have done a couple duathlons in 2012 and a couple 5km trail running events. It was the duathlons that really got me excited about the tri's. I love to mountain bike and competed in a few races last summer 2013 and plan to mix some more races into 2014.

I am a real newbie so any advice and direction would be great.

Family-

I am married to an amazing woman, we have been together 7 years and married 2.5, we have a son that is 19 months old and has us going non stop.


Current training -

I am working on a more detailed training plan at the moment that is how I found this opportunity. I do spend time consistently on my bike trainer, I have been doing a mix of walk/runs however the conditions have been tough but I enjoy running in winter just not at -30c. I also spend time at the local gym 4 days a week and cross country ski (just started) 3 times a week.

2013 races-

A couple mountain bike races.

2014 races-

Mackinaw straights sprint tri(july)
St Joseph island sprint tri (aug)

3 mountain bike races (may, aug, nov)

Weight loss- yes,yes,yes

- I had to write it down for my wife it helps me focus more on the goal but let's say 25lbs would put me at my lowest in 4 years and 35 would have me feeling a little more like an athlete again.

Why- I want to enjoy and encourage a healthy and active life for my son.

Biggest challenge - swimming, I am looking to take lessons starting in Feb. I can swim but strictly on a I fell out of the canoe kind of way. I can't seem to string together more then 8 laps in an Olympic pool at this point.

ok I will need to look the power/kg and threshold power formula.

yes I usually always run with a HRM I say usually as sometimes its good just to get out there and run as good as you feel to see where you are .

I was tested around this time last year for my Max HR by a PT on a treadmill running. which was 204 so I use the percentile scale trying for 80-90% for my runs and 70-80% for my bike.

50% - 60% 102 - 122
60% - 70% 122 - 143
70% - 80% 143 - 163
80% - 90% 163 - 184
90% - 100% 184 - 204

I haven't done a separate biking HR test, nor do I have a power meter on my bike.


RPE Scale

RPE Zone HR Zone Description
0 Z1 Complete Rest
1 Z1 Very easy; light walking
2 Z1 Very easy; light walking
3 Z1 Very easy; walking
4 Z1 Still easy, maybe starting to sweat
5 Z2 Starting to work just a little and you can feel your HR rise
6 Z2 Upper Working but sustainable, able to talk in full sentences
7 Z3 Strong effort; breathing labored, but can still maintain pace for some minutes without slowing.
8 Z4 Olympic Distance Race Pace for MOP to FOP
9 Z5 10k effort – very hard
10 Z5+ Z5+ = 5k effort and Z5++ = cannot hold effort for more than a minute or two. (almost maximal effort)

I would say that my running is Z3/Z4 mostly Z3
and
my biking is Z2 going into Z3 for the hills, having only ever riden a bike before and never raced one I am trying to get into the habit of getting my cadence upto 90 and not trying to power along everywhere.

I haven't added any intervals yet.

currently I am using Strava and Nike+ to keep track of my excercises.




Edited by Jynxy 2014-01-14 3:52 AM

Eric,

Great goals. All very doable for sure. When I get serious about weight loss I eat paleo and shed pounds. Right now (I weighed myself this morning) I am about 8lbs heavier than I want to be, which is 10 pounds more than where I like to race at. So, I'll be trying to lose weight right along side you!

Good to have a Canadian on board with us. I have some good Canadian friends. I served in NORAD for 2 years and developed some good relationships with my Canadian colleagues. Plus - we're huge Mike Holmes fans!

Thanks for sharing your story with us. Life has a way of getting in our way sometimes. Finding a sport like triathlon is a great way to focus on ourselves - and when we have our families for support it is even better.

You will get plenty of advice here in this group and on BT. Keep checking in and post your questions and your experiences. We all learn from each other.

Thom

Joe - Great info.

Are you using a BT training plan? Their offerings have really gotten good over the years. When I started I used the plans from Mike Ricci of D3 mulitisport. He was the BT resident coach if you will. Now they have others as well. I eventually started coaching exclusively with one of Mike's other coaches. He got me through my first IM and is working with me again this season.

Since you use a HRM you might look at training plans that are HR based - if you aren't already. Most of them will have a workout that is a field test to determine your lactate threshold - which is a more accurate measurement than max HR. It is good to know your max and your threshold levels so you can better focus the other zones. BT and TrainingPeaks provide different calculation methods to determine your training zones based on those two measures.

I will post a field test on the group board that you can use in case you don't get one of the plans that provide instructions.

For most of your base training you want to be in Zone 1 and Zone 2 - occasionally creeping into Z3. Z3 to Z4 are usually done as tempo runs and used to improve LT. HR based plans will structure around that.

I like to use RPE as well. Sometimes I don't believe what my HRM is telling me and I feel differently - so I adjust based on how i feel. I might stray into higher zones if I feel it - or slow down if I feel i'm pushing too hard.

Thom

Edited by sundevil87 2014-01-14 11:02 PM

I am a little embarrassed to ask this given that there are some of you experiencing much colder weather out there... but here goes. I just changed my schedule to do my running in the morning. It is starting to get a little chilly in the morning and am having trouble doing my normal distance. My problem is breathing in cold air is not pleasant for me. Do any of you breath differently in cooler weather?

Tara- I am so glad you asked this question!

I have been shopping around for a bike and have realized I know absolutely nothing about bikes. haha.

Thank you Thom for all of the information. At the moment, I am planning to start off with a road bike. Maybe once I master riding I can think about investing in a tri bike. Of course, one step at a time

Thom:

Yeah, soccer can be quite brutal atleast in the lower divisons. In the lower divisons most people go for brute force instead of actually playing...

I`ve done the too fast, too far, too soon mistake one time or two. So this time it will be different (I`ve heard that one before).
I will do some research on the suggested therapy, next month I plan on taking a trip to the local medical clinic which focuses on athletes and hear what they have to say.

I really like those kind of goals. One year I had a goal of running "A thousand miles", just to tell people:
"And I would run 500 miles
And I would run 500 more
Just to be that man to run a thousand miles to fall down at your door" :D

PS: The training log should now be open for everyone