Hashers and Mashers - Closed (Page 21)

Unfortunately I am running short on time.  I might do a brick this Friday and then one or two more next week and then I have to start tapering.  The jello legs weren't really an issue, I know the feeling and I know my legs will get over it after a couple minutes, I can push through it, so it doesn't freak me out.  My legs and lungs were just exhausted on the run from the pace I was trying to keep after having biked 26 miles.  I feel like the race adrenaline will help with that to some degree, and not running with jogging stroller will be nice too, but then balance that with the fact that at least this brick I just did was flat while the race is all rolling hills (with one cat 5 at the beginning of both the bike and run I think).  So who knows.  My goal pace might be a little optimistic, but I'd rather aim higher than feel like I didn't push it as hard as I could, especially on the run where there's no reason to hold back.

My plan was to do one a week starting a month ago but that was thrown by the wayside when I more or less took two to three weeks off due to sickness and work issues.  So since then I've had to build myself back up to where I was before the sickness, and I'm feeling more comfortable again.

March Totals:

                   Swim         Bike             Run            Total Time

Jax               7105         147.35          51.26         20:26:41 

Joe              13150         81.50          51.33         18:10:11   Another awesome week!

TJ                3937         192.54         29.83          16:32:13   Nice bike!

Yvonne         1525          40.90          53.20          14:54:35

Dave               0           190.00          20.00          14:43:05   

Mike                0               0              54.30         10:04:21 

Melody             0           22.70           28.97          08:02:16  

Sarah              0            32.00          19.17           04:58:43  

Charlie             0            14.67           6.20           02:06:11   Where are you Charlie??

Tom                 0             8.16             0              00:30:00  

Bill                   Injured Reserve

Upcoming races:

4/6  - Smithfield Sprint - Yvonne

4/7   - April Fool's HM - Tom

4/7   - Gatorade Sprint - Chrispy

4/13 - MS Mega Swim - Chrispy

4/14 - Carmel Sprint - Jax

4/14 - HITS - Napa Valley Olympic - Joe

Good plan. I think for your first Olympic you are going to do fine with the training you've already done. Just a suggestion for future races. Don't skimp on the taper!! Nothing beats rested legs...well, except really well trained rested legs.

First Olympic of the year, but I did do an Olympic last year.  I did it much slower than I would have liked, but I did it .  This time I know I can cross the finish line, I just want to do it much faster.
And regarding tapering, what specifically do you recommend?  The race is in 2.5 weeks on Sunday the 14th.  My plan was to train hard next week, either through Friday or Saturday and then taper for a week, but hadn't really thought about what I would do during taper week, other than it would be less than I normally do...

I have a very structured and crazy formula for my tapers, which vary according to race type and distance. I can give you my Olympic taper and you can toss it, use it, or tweak it to fit you. On a side note, when I am training for a specific event I do the same type of workout the same day of each week (if I usually swim on Mondays I swim on Monday of race week).

Run: 9 day taper

Days 1-3: Cut mileage of longest runs on those days by 20% (So, if days 1-3 are on Fri, Sat, and Sun go back to your longest run on each of those days and decrease it by 20%).

Days 4-6: Cut mileage of longest runs on those days by 40% (an additional 20% from the first 3 days).

Days 7-9: Cut mileage by 60%

Bike: 6 day taper

Days 1-2: Cut mileage of longest bike for those days by 20%

Days 3-4: Cut mileage by 40% of longest bike (an additional 20%)

Days 5-6: Cut mileage by 60%

Swim: 3 day taper

Day 1: Cut by 20%

Day 2: Cut by 40%

Day 3: Cut by 60%

So obviously you are not going to be S/B/R on every one of those days, but just adjust your distance according to what day you are on for each taper.

OK...looking at this I realize it is insane and confusing...

I can't judge whether it is insane until I can understand it, and I don't really understand it because it is confusing, so at best it is insane and/or confusing 

But are you saying that if I only run 3 days a week that my run taper should start three weeks before the race?

It's both! OK let me try this again:

Since your race is on the 14th the run taper would begin on Fri the 5th. For the 5th, 6th, and 7th you would run 20% less distance than you typically run on those days. If you don't run on Fridays, then you skip Friday. Keep your schedule the same.On the 8th, 9th, and 10th you would decrease your typical mileage by 40%, and on the 11th, 12th, and 13th decrease the typical mileage by 60%.

The bike taper would begin on the 8th. For the 8th and 9th decrease your typical bike mileage on whatever days you ride by 20%. For the 10th and 11th decrease by 40%, and for the 12th and 13th  decrease by 60%.

I don't really taper too much for the swim, so I would just cut back the mileage in the last few days by about 50%.

I take either the day before or two days before the race completely off (one or the other...not both), and I do no speed work the week before a race. I will do a tempo run, but nothing to stress my legs too much.

Does that make a little more sense?

I'm gonna take this one step further...

I went through your training log and calculated out how I would do my taper. This is not scientific by any means, and just what I do. There are MANY different ways to taper, and you need to find what works best for you. Since your bike is not your strong point I tapered a bit more than I typically would in the final week to avoid burning your legs out.

Fr 4/5     - Swim 2000

                Bike 20 miles

Sa 4/6    - Run 6.4 miles

Su 4/7    - Off

Mo 4/8    - Swim 2500

                Bike 18 miles

Tu 4/9    - Run 4.8 miles

We 4/10 - Swim 2000

                Bike 15 miles

Th 4/11  - Run 3.2 miles

Fr 4/12   - Swim 1200

                Bike 10 miles

Sa 4/13  - Off

Su 4/14  - Race

Okay, hoping to be allowed to train after visit to Ophthalmologist on Monday -- April Fools Day and a look at the Posterior Vitreous Separation.  Have been biking about 20ks a day but not allowed train otherwise (even golf!!) Not sure how to start logging training so as to compete with the training stars on this program.  I understand everything is posted in minutes but not sure where to do it.  Any instructons?

I had signed up for an Oly on June 1 (Bass Lake in the Sierras) before the PVS diagnosis and now feel completely out of shape so will have to really do the work for the next eight weeks (assuming I'm allowed to do it).

I like to look at my training file on the calendar view, which can be reached from that first training log page by clicking on Jump To: "Calendar", and that lists everything you've done for the month, along with your weekly and monthly totals.  (you can also click on any given day in the month and go directly to the log for that day, where you can then add a workout you did)

ETA: Bass Lake!!!  That's right by me!  I'm in Fresno!

This sound like a great idea. I went to check out my course which is a few hours from my house yesterday. We enter the water from the pier, swim out(over) around a buoy & then in.

I live with a bunch of fishermen who love to fish off piers so I KNOW what's in the water ....freaking out just a little. But I'll do it....

(pier.jpg)

I'm also not sure about mileage, I don't want to lose my training base, but don't have any long run races coming up until my 10 miler in October and a half in November. Couple of sprints and 5k s between now and then. What should I strive for as a weekly mileage?

Thanks! Yvonne

Btw, at this time I run 10:15-10:30 pace when running, try to walk at a 15:00 pace when doing the walk interval, if it matters.

Edited by Ybeal 2013-03-29 7:27 AM

I am interested in the answer to this also!!

I will pose this question to CH, who has a lot of experience in this area and get his advice for you.  That said, one thing that made a HUGE difference in my speed was strength training.  About 4-5 years ago, I started doing Pilates 1x per week and a strength training class called Body Pump 1x per week.  I was very dedicated with that, in addition to my training runs for at least a year.  Within that year, I took 20+ minutes off my HM time.  At that time I was only running...hadn't started this crazy multi sport journey yet.  But, I'm here to tell you, getting stronger, especially in my core, really made a difference in my run speeds.  A BIG difference.  I'll let you know what CH says.

Jax

Hmmm....okay, maybe I should re-visit the zones, I've never trained that way because my heart rate has always seemed high when exercising (esp. when running). Some of my training has heart rate displayed, like if you look at March 8, my 10 mile training run, the max heartrate showing is basically what my heart rate goes to when running, between 160-170bpm.

Do you have a link I could refer to for figuring out what zone 2 is for me?

TIA running guru