Baowolf's Create your Own Saga Triathlon Group (OPEN!!!) (Page 2)

Steve,

I would love to join your group again. I have been a terrible mentee over the years. Lots of lurking and not much posting. This year we are back and will be committed to posting more.

I have a busy tri schedule planned for this year so I really need the motivation and excellent advice from Steve and the rest of the group.

Thanks

Always welcome Ken.

14 mile run... have a little tweeky area in my ankle that comes and goes, usually shows up after runs. Hrm.
Swim was good, slow but I will always be slow. Each 1000 was about the same pace Plus or minus 15 seconds for a total of 3000 yards continuous.

Edited by Baowolf 2016-02-07 7:47 PM

Steve,

Quick question. Have you done/had any metabolic testing? I have never been really good at running/riding in training zones but I am thinking that may help this year.

Your thoughts?

Ken I am not sure what you mean about metabolic testing versus heart rate zone training. Can you clarify for me?

Hi Steve, hopefully you are still accepting new mentees? If so I would like to join as this group sounds like a good fit. Hello everyone!

NAME: Brian

STORY: After many years of relative inactivity, in 2015 I finally got myself back in shape, lost over 50 pounds, and completed my first triathlon! My journey started in January with a decision to make a lifelong change and regain my fitness. Although I used to be very fit and athletic, 10+ years of a sedentary lifestyle and high stress job eroded all my fitness and I was feeling pretty crummy. I began by walking regularly and hitting a daily 10,000 step goal. After I lost some weight I started running with a couch-to-5k program and ran my first 5k in April. It was a tough race but I got through it without stopping and it felt great to finish!

For years, I had wanted to do a triathlon and around that time I got involved with a beginner triathlon group at my workplace. With the support and encouragement of the group I began cycling and swimming again (I used to be a competitive swimmer so this is my strongest sport) and I continued to lose weight and increase my fitness. After a few months of multisport training I completed my first sprint triathlon in June 2015. Although the race was hard (especially the run at the end!) I was finished with a smile, it felt great, and I was hooked!

At that point I was having so much fun training with the group that it felt easy to keep running, cycling, and swimming regularly and I saw additional improvement over the summer. By end of the season, I ran my first 10k, completed an 80 mile bike ride at race pace, and finished my second sprint distance triathlon 4th in my age group (a relatively small event, but still I'm proud of it!), which felt amazing!

After a break in December, I’m now looking forward to carrying my fitness momentum into 2016 where my goals are to continue having fun, further improve my fitness, and to complete a half ironman!

FAMILY STATUS: Married 14+ years, three children ages 8 (girl), 6 (girl), and 3 (boy). No pets. Live in Maine.

CURRENT TRAINING: Spin class 2x per week, run 2-3x per week. trying to run or cycle outside at least once a week, weather permitting. About to start swimming in preparation for my first sprint tri this year in May. Looking to start a strength routine too.

THIS YEAR'S RACES (2016): I've got a full race calendar planned, leading up to my half iron in August:
Jan: 10 mile road race (completed, new distance PR!)
Apr: some 5k's
May: Sprint tri; Half marathon #1
June: Olympic tri
July: Half marathon #2; 2.5 mile open water swim race
August: Sprint tri (practice race); Half Iron (goal race)
Sept: maybe another sprint tri to finish the season...

2015 RACES: 2 sprint triathlons, bunch of 5k's, one 10k

WEIGHTLOSS: I've now lost over 55 pounds since Jan 2015, and looking to lose about 10 more this year to get to a more comfortable "race weight".

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I love to learn and I love to talk triathlon with other people that have more experience. I'm very motivated this year, having set an ambitious goal and am very excited to train and ultimately, succeed! Running is my weakest sport and my primary training objective is to improve my running this year. Your deep experience in running seems like a good fit. I'm also one of the leaders of our workplace beginner triathlon club, and I am looking for additional ways to enrich my own triathlon knowledge and experience so that I can continue giving back to the group. I hope that this forum and group mentorship can be a new source of feedback and inspiration for me.

Thank you!
Brian

Brian, what an inspiring story! After running and triathloning for several years, I've been in a slump for the last couple years physically as I've been slow to adapt to changes in my work life and figure out what is best for me at this stage of life in terms of working out. Congrats on taking your health back!

Sorry, I was probably confusing. Mostly when I run, I just run to my normal pace, not worrying about heart rate or training zones.

I was talking to a coach and they recommended that get Metabolic Rate and VO2 Max testing, to improve my training.

If you have infinite funds you can get fancy VOX testing etc., otherwise you can just add some speedwork to get faster. To set heart rate zones you just have to do some workouts. So run, warmup 10 minutes, then run 30 minutes as fast as you can maintain, start your HR timer for the last 20 minutes of the 30 minutes and that gets you your LT HR. You use that to set your zones. So for me that is 175 with zones something like 169-175, 163-168, 154-162, 147-153. etc. You do the same thing on the bike 10 minute warm up, 30 minutes hard as you can maintain, record HR for last 20 minutes, get your HR. If you want to learn more about this stuff I can put up some intensity workouts. Basically you first build up your base to a consistent 25 to 35 miles per week then add in the intensity with 800 yard repeats one day, temp run one day and long run 1 day per week.

Brian welcome, group remains open all are welcome to join. Going from a sprint to a HIM is going to be an adventure for you, it is quite a build up so make sure you don't slack on your build. You are in the right place.

Hi Steve, thanks for the welcome. I'm going in aware the half will be a big challenge for me. I'm reasonably comfortable with the bike and run distances and I think I can get to the point where I can complete those while saving energy for the run. It's the run after the bike that I'm still intimidated by. But I'm putting a lot of focus on running this winter and spring and, in combination with a couple practice half marathons, my hope is I will become confident on that leg too. I'll be definitely be looking for some feedback on my run technique and training.

Carol, thanks for the support! I've found work-life-family balancing to be one of the most difficult things to achieve. For a long time I prioritized work above many other things including myself. I'm fortunate I'm able to bring it back into balance now and it was not sustainable for me before, but it took a long time for me to realize that. I hope you find your balance again soon!

Had a rough week at work so today became an impromptu rest day. Going to make up for it this weekend and hopefully get outside for some running though the high is forecast at 19F tomorrow and 11F on Sunday!

Brian, if you fill out your training logs on BT I can look them over from time to time and see how you are doing. For a HIM you basically want your long run to be around 15 miles, your long bike to be around 65 miles and your long swim around 3000 yards. That is around where my base training is before my IM build, so I could do a HIM tomorrow, but for my first build to HIM I was so cooked that at one point I was walking up stairs two feet to each step when I realized how much upping the swim from nothing to that point was taking out of me. Remember to take a recover week every 4th week if under 40 years old and every 3rd week if over 40 years old. Sometimes you just write off a missed workout, sometimes you make it up. If you have to drop a workout have it be your short one for the week not the long one.

Thanks, Steve. I was comfortably doing those swim and bike distances last fall, but I've only just run my first 10 mile race and that's my longest to date, so I've got a ways to go there. i got Garmin sync working automatically today so my logs should be updating from now on. Occasional feedback on that would be great!

This winter I've been training without any real structure, but I have a plan for the season. Next week I'll be starting a 12 week plan for my first sprint tri of the 2016 in May -- I'm thinking to use one of the pre-built Garmin plans since they're easy to preload on my watch, but I also am going to look at what's here on BT. Any thoughts on available plans are welcome.

Starting in May I'm planning a 16 week (8 base/6 peak/2 taper) for the HIM in August, which I'm modeling off Don Fink's Iron Fit competitive level plan. Any comments on Fink's approach or training plans? They seem to be well liked and a solid starting point. My biggest concern right now is keeping enough free time for family activities, but i'm going to see how my summer routine develops and make adjustments if necessary.

Today I got in a nice hour run -- weather wasn't as cold as I expected and sun was out which was nice. Hope everyone else is getting in some time outside despite the cold and weather.

Today was my long run. It was chilly out. That NC cold, not Maine cold Brian.

It was a nice comfortable 70F for my run today. This is recovery week so 9 mile run, 2000 yard swim.

Welcome Brian! Congrats on taking control of your health and welcome to your new addiction

Good week of training but missed a short run + had to let the long run go this weekend. At -10F I have no fun running outside.
Weather should go up a bit this week so I hope I can make up for a bit of lost running, although we are in for snow and lots of freezing rain on Tuesday.

Swim is getting along good, still sore from Saturday session, our coach has us doing strength / endurance. We even had burpees on the menu, I think I strained a butt muscle I realize these take a toll on me and I feel sluggish on Sundays. Maybe time to rethink the schedule.

LTHR test on bike, planning to do this soon, my training zones are wacky; what is the recommended cadence / intensity to get a good test result? IOW should I focus on fast cadence or high intensity to get HR up?

Edited by isabella969 2016-02-15 8:42 AM

Well, you would ride as if you were in a race. So if you race at 95 rpm then do that if you race at 85 rpm do that, it just has to be HARD.

On the bike I have been focusing on lifting my foot that is coming up. Not pulling up with it, but unweighting it. I have heard it referred to as pedaling with lite feet. Basically you don't want your foot pushing down to have to raise your foot coming up. So you aim for zero weight ish on the pedal of the foot that is coming up and over the top. It can kind of make those muscles right in front of you hip bones a little sore. The same muscles are used in jogging in place with high knees. Anyway I will let you know how it goes. I did my 35 trainer ride over 20mp staying focused on this and sweat a lot. I would bike outdoors, but there is a lot of sand on the road from a cold snap where the locals feared ice. I am not a fan of sand all over the pavement so I will wait until some of it washes away and focus on form.

Welcome everyone old er I mean experienced and new. Many adventures to be had, welcome to our cyber group ride.

Does anyone use Zwift or Trainer Road for your trainer rides? I was thinking about getting Trainer Road, but it requires a trainer that's not in my budget right now.

I am well behind where I want to be on the bike because of the weather. I am not a cold weather fan.

Hi Ken
I have a basic trainer (tacx blue motion) and I use Sufferfest videos.
I just subscribed to their app, which gives you access to all 28 videos illimited and you can watch the videos offline and unsubscribe at anytime.
I was a bit tired of wathing the same old Youtube videos and for some reason I don't like to watch tv/movies when I workout.

Ken, haven't done vo2max testing but the fenix 2 last year, and now my fenix 3 has been tracking/estimating it. had a high of 51 last year, and how i'm sitting at 47. the fenix 3 estimates my lthr and though i've only had it for a month, it's got me at 166. might need some more data points. i figure those estimates are close enough for me to help out with my training.

some of you got cold weather around your way! couple days ago i ran 4.6 mi in 24F, but it was sunny so i was cozy. all my rides the past couple months have been indoors too. i just tried my brother's rollers! if you haven't tried, it's quite an experience. i thought i was a solid bike handler, but rollers humble you. simple things like wiping sweat off your brow, or grabbing water, aren't so trivial.

Don't use apps while on my trainer; I usually watch tv, usually watch dvr'd basketball, soccer, or cycling events (got the tour of qatar to finish up right now). i do have some spinerval dvds but i don't use em as often.

playing a soccer game tonight (that's my training). and i got another snowboard trip coming up this weekend. woohoo

Hi All!

I've been a terrible mentee. Still doing workouts, still logging into BT, but haven't been posting.

Welcome Brian! You are very inspiring!

Ken, glad to have you back.

We had the Tallahassee Marathon and HM week before last. Three weeks before, I decided I needed to drop down from the full to the half. Race morning was not ME cold, nor NC cold, but definitely FL cold with temps in the 30s. Hubby and I ran together except the times he ran up those hills like a billy goat and had to wait for me and the times he visited the portas and I made him chase me down. First time he and I have ever run a race together and it was nice. We ran it easy. We have HM scheduled for March, April, and May. I'm also planning to do a race with a girlfriend in May.

I've let the colder weather keep me indoors lately. But I've been adding core workouts and yoga. I'm enjoying the change in routine.

Stay warm everyone and happy training.

Yay the band is getting back together. And welcome Melody.

So for those starting running, you MUST get good running shoes. By good I don't mean expensive, I mean shoes that provide the correct level of support for your pronation or lack there of. The way to find them is go to a running store where they videotape you running on a treadmill and can slow it down and alalize your foot strike. Then provide netural, pronate or suponate (spelling) based shoe to support how your foot hits the pavement. This or running in shoes that are too old (more than 350 miles) are the main causes of shin splints. The other cause is doing speedwork too soon or building up too fast.

Workout today 800 repeats at 7:30, 7:24, 7:18, 7:13, 7:08 and 7:03 paces. Then went and swam 3500 yards continuous. Fun fun.

You can check your LT in run and in bike 1x per month if you want to be really accurate with your pacing and such. For folks who aren't in the podium group for international events the expensive testing is a bit unnecessary. But if you want to do it for fun then enjoy. Basically running faster helps you to run faster. That is what the intervals are for. Works for bike and run. For swim you need a coach as far as I can tell. Swimming more hasn't ever helped me to get faster.

Edited by Baowolf 2016-02-16 11:15 PM

No tri stuff for me still, but the weather is getting much nicer so hopefully dust off the bike soon. At least I think so. Weird, but a body was found along the route I ride here. Very odd place to find a body (lots of traffic at peak hours). Grass fire revealed it, and they haven't identified the person yet or at least not released that info). Work continues to be a drama factory. My old boss fired a couple weeks ago, and then president, who I reported to along / the owner left abruptly last week. That's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how unstable it is. Not wanting to jump to something else just yet, so for now I walk at lunch and have a couple folks joining me the last couple days. Sunshine and stress relief, who can beat that?!

Welcome Melody, and also thank you to everyone for the warm welcome and support here.

Did my first brick of the new season today. Felt pretty good! I've been getting my bike time in during spin class due to the weather. My instructor on Wednesdays is big on "going heavy" with a good amount of time spent at high resistance and low rpms (50-60), though he also does fast cadence work too.

In an interesting coincidence I happened to see the article below which was posted on the Rev3 Maine facebook page (my 70.3 goal race this year). I typically keep a high cadence when I ride (90+rpm), so am relying more on cardio than leg strength, but this article got me thinking whether this is the most efficient approach for triathlon, even though it feels good to me. Steve and everyone, what are your thoughts on cycling cadence and how it can affect the run off the bike?

http://trisutto.com/the-great-cadence-debate/

In the 60's here in KC today which was awesome, so nice to not have to bundle up for my run today! Did an easy 3.5 miles on rolling hills. Followed up with 1000 yds in the pool. Working on building up endurance with the swim but it's a struggle. Currently trying to do sets of 100s or 150s with decreasing rest in between. Every few weeks I do a long set to figure out where I'm maxing out, but it hasn't increased much the two months or so. Any other tips?

I'll be interested to hear the discussion on bike cadence, something I've struggled with (but I also haven't spent enough time on the bike, whoops).