Brian's group - FULL (Page 2)

just registered for my first sprint tri.  It's in Hillsboro, NC on March 18th.  The link is below:

 This weekend while in fla I'm gonna go get fitted for a bike and ask my questions.  Later this month I'll get one (prob aluminum).  And start getting on the road.

 In the mean time...question about strength training...how soon before your event do you normally cut the lifting out?

 Ciao

Jon

Sorry..here's the link:

http://64.38.48.134/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=652

Hi All:

Last day of skiing and decided to check in to see how everyone is doing.  The workouts for most look good albeit a little haphazard.  Now is the time to set your workout routine and to get into the groove of scheduling the time for each day (except, of course, rest days). 

As I mentioned to Bill earlier, this is the hardest part about training - not necessarily the workouts, but adapting your schedules.  For 3 weeks, try to stay disciplined about not missing a workout.  It is going to be hard, particulary since "life" has a tendency to get in the way. 

Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that you will encounter road blocks throughout the day that can prevent you from doing your scheduled workout.  Work through these and find ways to make the workout happen. 

Post your schedule for the week in your blog so that we (meaning all of us ) can check on and encourage you through the process.  I have found that it is more difficult to miss a workout if your know that someone else is going to notice ...

I believe that after 3 weeks, you will find that your schedule will naturally settles in around the workouts.

So at this point, please make sure that you have a training plan picked out, that you post your workout schedule for the week in your blog and that you check on and encourage each other.

Any questions?  Post them here ... and also, please let me know how I can help.  If you have any particular issue you want to discuss off-line, just pop me a PM.

Tomorrow is a travel day and then all day meeting on Wednesday (got to pay for the ski vacation somehow ), but I will be checking in periodically.

Hey All:

Seems like we lost momentum over the Christmas holidays and ensuing ski trip (which was a blast!) ... let's restart.

Post your one impediment to training here and then we'll discuss it as a group.  Examples may range from picking the right training program to establishing HR Zones to even finding the time and/or motivation to accomodate the workouts into your schedule.

It's a new year with new possibilities.  My goal is to pass along the advise and encouragement I received when I started (call it good karma ).

Who wants to go first?

My impediment: I can't get up in the morning!!

I used to be a total morning person but now I can't drag myself out of bed before 7. I missed my 6:30am Masters swim again! I was even in bed early although it took awhile to get to sleep. Had to let Sally (Mum's dalamation that I'm dogsitting) out at 4am and somewhere in the stream of semi-conciousness I must have turned off the alarm. I ended rolling out of bed at 9!! Good thing I was planning on working from home.

The alarm is already out of reach from bed and I had everything to go for the morning. I've been pretty consistent waking up at 7 for over a week. Other than hiring a presonal coach to supervise my wake up in person, I'm at a loss.

The best advice I've gotten is to trust your training. If you follow the plan, you'll be able to complete the race. You'll build without injury, getting stronger and stronger. Before race day, you will have completed the distances needed in training, done some bricks and collected more knowledge about how you work than you have today. Add in some of that infamous "race day magic" (ie adrenaline) and you are sure to succeed!

If you are drinking the HR Kool Aid then establishing good zones is important ... a VO₂max test is the ticket for getting this done. As I have recently found out, field tests can be tricky. That said, though, it will get you into a near enough range that you are at least hitting the target itself if not the actual bullseye.

During my run today (in my new HR zones) I recalled what my coach said last night: this stuff is not rocket science and that the things that folks obsess upon really only tinkers around the edged.  The real improvements come from consistently doing the act of exercise - be it swim, bike or run.

So the advice that I got, which I pass along to you, is don't fret the small stuff ... and definitely do not put off a work out pending having the perfect zones or whatever.  Go out there and do it

Marina is spot on about trusting your training.  Come times when you have doubt, look back at your logs and remember the time and effort you spent to get to where you are -- it will add both comfort and pressure.  Comfort in knowing that you already have momentum behind you ... pressing knowing that you do not want to lose that momentum.

You are going to do great!

Bill:

The hardest steps down this path are the first ones.  While you may not be able to see it, you are getting there.  This exercise you are doing does some incredible physiological things ... including speeding up your metabolism while building your engine (heart, cardiovascular system, ability to process fat stores into energy and so forth).  

When picking a dietician, make sure they are versed in aerobic exercise.  If they are familiar with HR training, so much the better ... because as I was told last night HR training is just simply the process by which you train your body to utilize fat stores instead of blood sugar to fuel your exercise.

Check out the following: http://www.whenbigboystri.com/.  I ahve not read it but have heard ood things ... and, btw, the author of this book is a member of this site.

- Brian

BillManduca - 2007-01-17 9:24 AM You could do like I did this past Monday: Stayed home from work because of the sinus crud I am battling. Go to the Dr.s and get a shot plus Rx for a decongestant and antibiotic. Take the drugs as prescribed and as a result, have what felt like a major 12-hour caffeine buzz that would not allow me to go to sleep at all. If you don't go to sleep you don't have to worry about waking up. . The thought occurred to me that I could take some of these babies just prior to a race to improve performance but I immdiately dismissed it. My biggest motivational challenge is to put in all this hard work in training and not see a significant reduction in my weight. I am trying to fine tune my diet and see if I can get the ball rolling one more time. I am enlisting some professional help: I am going to see a dietician to hopefully get a taylored plan that will work for me. I have used the Weight Watchers program with some success before and was doing real well with it until Hurricane Katrina messed everything up here including the food supply.

"Mommy guilt" is a difficult hurdle ... Stephanie (better half) has difficulty taking time for herself. As such, she then works 7 days a week, every week.

After a 2+ year hiatus from the gym since giving birth to our third, she has now just started going back and is remembering why she loved it in the first place. It is not because it makes her look good (she looks great) or even feel good (makes her more energetic), but because she can shut down for 1:30, turn off her mommy-radar and decompress.

The key to my triathlon training is that I have a wife who is supportive of reaching this goal (maybe not so much on the toy expenditures, but definitely the health thing ).  Be sure to talk to your husband about your goals and how important they are to you.

Be sure to communicate about when you plan on doing your long workouts (usually weekend mornings) just so that your two schedules do not collide. (We keep a family dry-erase calendar in the kitchen). 

The other thing is to try to schedule your workouts when they least affect family operations. For instance, I almost never skip the family supper to work out.  She was raised in a house where everyone sat down for dinner and it is important to her. So instead I get up early and get my workout in then.

For the weekends, I get up at o'dark:30 to be a wherever I am slated to do my long workout at first light.  This means that I can get home sooner in order to spend the rest of the day with them.

Training for triathlons is a schedule disrupting thing ... but you will find that the schedule will adapt and absorb your workouts  - and the more it is during 'off hours', the more readily it will adapt.

Okay ... the question last week got us thinking + discussing hurdles to overcome in starting our training. Thought we'd something similar this week to stir things up a bit ... 

Mission of the week: Take a look at any one of the other groups threads within the "Beginner Triathlete Mentor Program" (see link at the top of the page) and pick out one thing you either like about what they are doing and would like to do here and/or one thing you do not understand + would like a little more background information on.

Glad that you were able to shake that crud and glad to have you back ...

I have not used the HR graphing function, but there is a help forum for these types of questions that has a pretty good turn around in answers. See: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=9#s

Good question.   Here's some basics that I pulled from: http://www.bamacyclist.com/articles/groupridetech.html.  Some of the terms used below may be "roadie-speak", so let me know if it does not make sense.

Generally these are for "formal" group rides - like the ones that are sponsored by your local bike shop (aka LBS).  The guidelines also work when you are riding with another person who is familar with the announcement of road hazard, traffic stops and so forth.

When joining a new group ride, introduce yourself to the person leading the ride and tell him that you are new to all of this.  They will take this into account and make sure that you are not "dropped" (left behind) duringthe course of the ride.

The physical layout of a paceline (e.g. group of cyclist riding and working together) is either single file or, if crowded, then two riders riding side-by-side.  It is never three abreast as three cannot safely sit into a single lane.  Until you get your cycling legs, don't feel the pressure to ride up front and take your turn to "pull" (e.g. set the pace and break the wind for everyone else). Instead relax and stay in the middle as much as possible.

One piece of advice below is particularly appropriate: do not fixate on the person in front of you as you may not notice the decrease in the gap between you and them.  This also applies to road hazards - don't oogle them as you tend to steer towards what you are looking at.

1. Be Predictable—This may be the most important rule (even for solo riding) and it involves every aspect of riding from changing positions in the group to following the traffic rules. You might say that all the other rules support this one. Smooth predictable riding isn’t just a matter of style...here the word survival comes to mind! If unpredictability is the only predictable part of your riding style, you are a hazard to yourself and everyone else who has the misfortune to ride with you. Have you ever been on a ride where the group stops at an intersection and people scatter all over the lane? Some going through on the wrong side of the road and others turning left from the right side? Some running the stop sign and others doing it right? It’s confusing and irritating to drivers of vehicles as they approach a situation where cyclists are going in all different directions or just blowing through stops! Part of being predictable is riding within the rules of the road as a vehicle. Groups should maintain integrity when approaching intersections. That means staying in the correct lane, stopping together, and starting together as traffic allows. It goes without saying that if we demand the right to ride on the road, then we must be willing to ride responsibly...especially as a group.
2. Don’t Overlap Wheels—This habit will get you in real trouble. This is a good way to test your ability to do cartwheels if you don't adhere to this rule. Some people do it from lack of concentration, others may just not know any better, but sooner or later they'll crash. There is no recovery from a front wheel deflection.  All it takes is for the person in front to move sideways a few inches...if someone is overlapping his wheel, that someone will go down along with practically everyone who is behind him.  Many times the person in front can recover, but not the people behind.
3. Be Steady—This includes speed and line. If the person behind you fails to adhere to #2, you will contribute to a crash if you wallow around all over the road. When everyone is working for the group, maintain a steady speed as you go to the front. Ever notice how easy it is to ride behind some folks? If you take note of their riding style you’ll probably notice they don’t yo-yo around in the pack. They are rock steady. When they take the lead, they don't accelerate.  If they are strong enough to accelerate the group, they do it after the previous pull has rejoined the rear of the group and then only gradually so as to not string out the pack. When they are leading, they ride a straight line and their speed will be constant with the conditions. What a joy to ride with someone like this. Sometimes steady doesn’t just mean speed. It means steady pressure on the pedals…uphill or downhill, headwind or tailwind. When you are following someone like this, life is good! When they are following, they don’t make sudden moves or they know how to control their spacing by using their body position instead of using the brakes. Sudden braking will set off general alarms from everyone in the rear and make you very unpopular. If you do use the brakes, feather the front brake only and keep pedaling against the resistance. This allows you to moderate your speed without disturbing trailing riders
4. Announce Hazards—When you are in the lead, you are responsible for the safety of everyone behind you. You will become very unpopular very quickly if people behind you keep bouncing off of potholes, running over rocks, or reacting to unsafe traffic situations that you fail to point out. You need to be very vocal when approaching intersections, slowing, stopping, or turning and all actions should be smooth and deliberate.  Sudden, unannounced actions will throw terror into any peloton.  Riders in the pack should relay these warnings to the rear. When you are following, announce oncoming traffic from the rear…in this case others should relay this info toward the front.
5. Signal—Signaling lets everyone (vehicles and riders) know your intentions…remember #1? This makes you predictable. Also, it’s a good idea to make eye contact with oncoming traffic at intersections. One note here, use your right arm straight out to signal a right turn. It’s uncool to stick out your left bent arm to signal a right turn; more importantly, it’s impracticable and ineffective. In a big group combine this with a loud vocal warning of your intentions.
6. Don’t Fixate—If you are staring at something (i.e., the wheel in front of you), eventually you’ll hit it! When you walk in a crowd, you don’t stare at the back of the person in front of you…so you shouldn’t ride like that either. Learn to be comfortable looking around or through the riders ahead of you. This will allow you to see things that are developing in front of the group. With a little practice you will be able to "sense" how far you are off the wheel in front of you.
7. Stay Off Aero Bars—This shouldn’t require much discussion. They are much too unstable to be used in a group ride. Plus, you don't need to be on aero bars if you are in a pack as you will receive more aerodynamic effect from the other riders anyway. Maybe...one exception…when you are at the front pulling you can get away with it, but never, never, never when you are within the group or following a wheel. I know there are some people, usually triathletes, who are more comfortable on the bars. But, sooner or later, steering with your elbows in a group will add new meaning to the term "lunch on the road." Plus, it really tics off those behind you when you go down in a pack! Use aero bars for what they are meant for...solo fast riding.
8. Don’t Leave Stragglers— If you get separated at intersections, as a matter of courtesy, the lead group should soft pedal until the rest have rejoined. Another note here is that if you are the one who will be caught by the light, don't run the red light to maintain contact. If they don't wait for you to catch up, you may not want to be riding with them anyway. Also as a courtesy to those who may not be able to stay with the group, the pack should wait at certain points along the route to regroup. Especially, at turn points and if the stragglers don’t know the route. Now obviously this is not applicable during a race but we're not talking about a race...No one should be left alone on a group ride.  If you don't adhere to this rule, your "group" will get smaller each week until you're riding solo.
9. Know Your Limitations—If you’re not strong enough or too tired to take a turn at the front, stay near the back and let the stronger cyclists pull in front of you instead of making them go to the back of the line. Unless they are a complete...well you know...they will appreciate that more than having to get past you to get back to the front. Plus, it strokes the animal's ego as you admit that he/she is the stronger rider. Another point here, don’t pull at the front faster and longer than you have energy to get back in at the rear (Remember, your "pull" isn't over until you do). I've seen this scenario many times, it comes "biker wannabe's" time to take his/her pull and the pace is getting up there.  The thoughts running through his/her mind is, "I need to show these guys that I can pull 2 mph faster than everyone else has been pulling."  They go to the front and hammer.  Legs begin to burn after a monumental pull...now it's time to pull over and let some "lesser" rider take a turn.  Well, the "lesser" biker is all refreshed after tagging on a wheel and is ready to punch it up another notch.  It's bye-bye to the first rider as he/she gets blown off the back...toast! Testosterone and ego is a volatile mix (even for you females) and it can get you dropped in a heartbeat.
10. Change Positions Correctly—A common beginner faux pas is to stop pedaling just before pulling off the front. This creates an accordion effect toward the rear. Keep a steady pressure on the pedals until you have cleared the front. After pulling off, soft pedal and let the group pull through. As the last couple riders are passing through, begin to apply more pressure to smoothly take your position at the rear. If you don’t time it correctly, you’ll create a gap and have to sprint to get back on. A technique used to reenter the line is to move your bike sideways first then your body. Try it. It will feel awkward at first, but it is the safest way to move within a group. It's just a small subtle move not an exaggerated one. If you lean your body first and misjudge the speed or the person in front of you slows down, you’ll touch wheels and be leaning the wrong way…bad situation! If you move the bike first, you will have a chance to pull it back.
11. Climbing—Ever been behind someone when they stood up going up hill and all of a sudden you were all over them? If you need to stand, shift up a gear to compensate for the slower cadence and stand up smoothly keeping a steady pressure on the pedals. This will keep you from moving backward relative to the rider behind you. Apply the opposite technique when changing to a sitting position. Downshift and keep a steady pressure on the pedals to avoid abrupt changes in speed.  It takes a little practice, but your riding buddies will be glad you spent the time learning how to do it right.
12. Descending—The leader must overcome a much greater wind resistance as the speed increases. If you are leading, keep pedaling. If you don’t, everyone behind you will eat your lunch. Riders to the rear will accelerate faster downhill as drafting becomes more effective at the higher speeds. If you are following, back off a couple of bike lengths to compensate for the greater affects of drafting. If you are closing on the rider in front, sit up and let the wind slow you or use light braking to maintain spacing, but in both cases you should keep pedaling against the resistance. Keeping your legs moving not only makes it easier to keep the spacing, but also helps the legs get rid of the acid build up from the previous climb.
13. Relax—This one is really important. It will allow you to be smooth and responsive. You can bet that if you see someone who is riding a straight line and is very steady, he/she is relaxed on the bike.  It not only saves energy, but it makes bike handling much more effective. Anytime you are riding in close proximity of other riders there's always the chance that you may come into contact. If you have tense arms and get bumped from the side, the shock will go directly to the front wheel and you will swerve, possibly lose control, and possibly cause a massive pile up. If you are relaxed, it's much easier to absorb the bump without losing control. A good exercise is to go to a grassy field (which is softer than pavement if you fall) with a friend and ride slowly side by side.  Relax your arms and lightly bump each other using your relaxed elbows to absorb the (light) impact. You will become familiar with how to safely recover from that type of contact.  It may save you some road rash someday.