Athena/ Clydesdale Official Mentor Group (Page 22)

Bike - 17 miles - 1h 24m - 12.25 mph - AHR 137 - MHR 180!!

With schools starting to call me now I have to switch up my training schedule.  Since I can not be certain of getting a workout in during the day on Wednesdays and have my Weight Watchers meeting in the evening, that has now become my rest day.  So after resting yesterday I decided to make Sunday my long bike ride.  I had my wife drop me off at the east end of the bike path and rode that back to town, then headed for home.  But since this was to be my long ride I didn't pull in the driveway, I went straight on by and did my old 4.5 mile loop on the end.  I can see undeniable improvement in the fact that after riding 12.5 miles and two decent hills I still matched my best time ever on that 4.5 mile loop, 18:30m.  That's 15 mph pace I am striving to average before race day.  But I only have three weeks of training left.  Only 26 days to Blueman.

The ride felt great.  I managed to attack the hill coming out of Duboistown and that was my peak HR for the ride at 165 bpm.  So where was the 180?  That was when I fell over.  Nope, didn't crash, Just fell over.  The bike path was under construction at one part and I was trying to negotiate past a sawhorse, going really slow, and when I started to fall just couldn't get out of the toe straps.

Leatherneck!  I hope you're OK.  I have to admit, when I first read your story it made me laugh, but then I thought.. what if he was really hurt?    Let us know!!

I'm still terrified to bike on the road, so it's still spin class for me.  I was driving home from work last week when I came up to an accident and all I saw was a bike in the road, the cyclist sitting on the ground, and people standing all around him.  It made my stomach hurt just to see that.  I hope that guys was OK. 

I logically know that the likely hood of a cyclist getting hit is pretty low, but seeing it was pretty scary. 

Been there, done that, in LA after a race up a hill on my mtb with some friends.  I beat the two guys to the top (won beer and eternal bragging rights) with minutes to spare, then went to stop.  This is when I discovered that my feet had swelled up during the brutal ride to the top and I couldn't get my feet out of my toe straps.  My two friends found me on my back, with legs and bike above me, swearing my head off as I was trying to loosen my toe straps without bashing myself on my head with my bike handles.  We were crying with laughing about that for days, luckily they didn't have a camera, but 11 years later and they STILL remind me!

So I've got 6 days before my first Olympic race next Sunday, and I'd survived my peak training week the previous week with flying colours.  However, last week was a real grinder, even though it was far lighter training-wise than peak week.  I got through it, even the gruelling 4.5 and 3.6 miles runs, but my lower back is sore and it's making me a tad grumpy   I'm using my dreaded foam roller a lot, taking ibuprofen (athough it messes up my asthma a bit), and really hoping that the pain eases up during this taper week so I can do a 1.5k OWS race on Thursday evening, and then race the Oly on Sunday.  I do hate getting old, with certain parts of my body breaking down faster than others.....stupid back!!!!!! Grumble, grumble, grumble....

Apologies for the grumbling... grumble, grumble, grumble....

Oh leather, as long as you are ok, that is funny. My wife has decided to go riding a bit too. She was very concerned about the cleats, so when it came time to stop (she did not think she would make it up a hill) she pulled slowly to the side of the road, took her foot out of the cleat (nicely done), pulled into the gutter, put her foot down, then fell to the other side! No damage done (well except to her ego).

Good luck all of you with your training and your upcoming races.

Um, yeah, I'm fine everybody.  Go ahead and laugh.  My wife and my best friend both did.  Actually, I was laughing when I wrote that, although I sure wasn't laughing at the time.

Bike - 4.5 miles - 27 minutes+/-

I was busy all day today with taking my chickens to the processor and home so I didn't get any workout in before I got home.  Pulled in the driveway at 6pm and found that Cindy hadn't done her ride today either.  So I got my old mountain bike out of the shed and did a very low intensity, short duration ride around my old 4.5 mile loop behind her.  No HRM, no stopwatch, and no mapmyride; just a nice easy ride and conversation with the wife.

On the down side, any time I wasn't pedaling I could feel a wicked wobble in the bike.  There was difficulty using the big chain ring.  It wouldn't stay in unless I HELD the shifter in gear.  And this is AFTER the original bike shop had it in and supposedly did a complete tune-up.  I will NEVER go back to The Bicycle Center in South Williamsport again, for anything!!

Good Morning you Goddess's and Horses of Men.

Great job everybody on all that traing. Keep up the great work, you all keep me motivated to do this stuff!!

Hour run this mroning, the last part in the rain. Didn't run 4 miles again but hey I was out there moving!

New saddle to break in tomorrow, we will see how that goes.

Keep your wheels on the road, your sneakers on the ground, and your head above water. Oh and remember to unclip!!!

I agree.  I never want to own up to not pulling my weight on here when I see everyone else kicking butt.  However, I'm actually having a crazy hard time slowing down with my training.  My tri is Sunday and my right quad has been kind of iffy.  Last few runs it's tightened up and I've worked through it but I really want it to heal up in full not only for the tri but so I can also just get back to training regularly, but I keep finding myself doing another run that I probably shouldn't thinking that it's healed up only to find out after 2 miles it's not.  I'm trying to stay off it all week and just keep myself loose by doing yoga (P90x version) 2-3 times this week.  I'm afraid that I'll lose everything I've put in so far by not working out for a week, which I know is irrational, but you kind of start getting addicted to training and pushing yourself and then when you aren't out there attacking it you get down.  On a sidenote to that, I can't wait to get a trainer so I can hope on the bike whenever I want.

jonD, in his book The Triathlete's Training Bible, Joe Friel warns against exactly that scenario.  Novice athletes (us) and even elite athletes fall prey to that "more is better" mentality and can't tone things down.  He specifically cautions against this in the week immediately prior to an event.  There have been several studies that have shown conclusively that we actually gain more fitness more quickly with adequate rest.  He states in all three of the books I have  (I also have his Your First Triathlon and Cycling Past 50 books) that we will not see any significant reduction in fitness from reduced training, in fact he recommends it.  He says that for a sprint level race we should reduce our load for the final week by 50%!  He also says that's a hard pill for most of us to swallow and that most won't do it, thereby effectively reducing our potential on race day.

My advice (advice is free, take it for what it's worth) to you would be to completely rest that problem leg for this week.  Do your yoga plan, but don't do anything that's going to strain your thigh.  Swim more if you can.  But let that thigh rest ALL week.  Get a half dozen styrofoam/paper cups, fill them with water and stick them in your freezer.  At least once a day take one of them out and use it to massage the affected area for 10-15 minutes.  Use just enough pressure that you can feel the massage working tthe specific muscles aggravating you.  I don't know about your wife but Cindy would do this for me if it were on the back of the thigh where I couldn't reach comfortably.  When I was having this done for assorted therapy sessions (shoulder, forearm, thigh) it seemed to help.

**sigh** so true, so true ... good luck getting your body happy again.  Light stretching, foam roller, keep moving (lightly) so the ol' joints and parts don't seize up, LOL!  But seriously, wishing you the best in the days leading up to your first Olympic!!

Thanks Leather.  Sometimes you just need to hear it from someone else to make it click.  I'll definitely be fresh for the race Saturday.

I should get myself one of dem foam rollers too.  Get everything nice and loose.

Walk - 2 miles - 29m 47s - 4 mph

It was a crappy day here in north-central PA.  Rained all day, pretty hard at times.  Finally it seemed to have let up to just a light drizzle.  I decided to go for it.  Sure enough, 5m into the walk the skies opened up.  I made a deal with myself.  If I could finish the 2 mile out-and-back portion in under 30 minutes I would call it a completed workout and blow off the other 1.7 mile loop.  On the way out I was doing walk 3/trot 1 with the poles.  On the way back I started stretching it and was doing walk 2/trot 2.  And then I trotted the entire last 7 poles just to make sure I was under 30m.  Barely!  A nice high intensity, short duration workout.

I hit 15:27 on the way out and a 14:20 on the way back.  My first time reaching my 4 mph goal.

WARNING:  Whining ahead.......

So when does this start to be "fun"?

I've been training for real for a little over 10 weeks now.  Still waiting for that transition to take place where it's not "work" and becomes "fun".  In all honesty, there are more days where I have to whip myself out the door than days that I can't wait to go.

In fact, the closer the race gets the less I want to train.  Don't get me wrong, I love the feeling of finishing an intense workout, but most days I dread starting an intense workout.  I'd like to settle back to the zone 2 and zone 3 workouts that Friel outlines in his books, but it just seems that I can't do much of anything without jumping into at least zone 4.  I found myself thinking during today's workout that I really missed those leisurely early morning walks with Cindy, even if they didn't feel like they were hard enough to benefit me.

I can now do race distance or more for all the events individually, in semi-acceptable times.  But isn't this supposed to become something to look forward to at some point?

Mmm I know exactly what you mean!  Swimming for me always seems to be fun.   Running not so much i just get through it.  Maybe do what Chrissie Wellington suggests strip down to basics - not clothing - but foget the zones, forget the heart rate, the speed the k's, just enjoy the run.  Maybe go and run some place different - take some pictures while you're out there.

I just stumbled into this group today - I never even knew I was an Athena - I'm borderline coz I do get below 150lbs when I'm being diligent with my eating.

However when I'm training hard I eat whatever the heck I like so I seem to stick at around 154lbs - Athena status! yay!  I get to join another Mentor Group.

alburyScott - I'm in Melbourne - congrats on your first group ride - haven't done one yet.  Got bike coaching booked for Monday to give me the confidence to do so.  Also did you get a windtrainer yet - choice in Oz not so good but I got a Cycelops Fluid Pro and it's awesome.

Today did a slow 44mins (6km) and it hurt but i did it.  Feeling a bit under the weather today (fatigue!)

Welcome Jo!

Great job Leatherneck keep on truck'n.

To those with injuries I hope you heal up quick. To those with races this weekend, you can do it!!

It was a brick of a Wednesday for me, 45 Min Bike 11.92 miles, and 15 minute run. I hope I finally ran a mile in fifteen minutes this morning. I will measure it tonight.

New seat and Tri shorts seem to have given me a little boost almost a full mph faster this morning. Jeez wonder what I can do when I get my bike fit? Hopefully not slower.

Have a great day and training.

Aw thanks for the welcome!  Managed a 6km run yesterday lunchtime and a 16.5km drainer ride this morning - sweated buckets but it seems to just stay in my hair and not drip onto bike - so no danger of rusting away just yet.

Problem is with early morning exercise, it's now 11am and I am STARVING!