SBR Utopia - OPEN (Page 22)

Jennifer: I just read your race report for the Pumkinman HIM. I found it very inspiring.

Way to persevere on the run. 

Just in case you don't see another response (a lot going on right now!).

Training Peaks also attempts to do something like this with heartrate (hrTSS). If you're tracking that, then you can load the files up and it will work about the same. I *think* this can be used for both cycling and running, but I've always just used power when tracking there. For running you can also use rTSS which is basically TSS for running. And it will be based off of threshold running pace instead of threshold power (FTP).

Ben is right. TP allows to measure TSS based on HR if you have properly set your thresholds to start with. It's not bad. It will be more accurate for longer rides and long intervals, but it's a start.

For starters, Jason thanks for taking the lead on this group.

During a six-week hiatus, I certainly missed A LOT.  Got reasonably caught up on the Fred D III threads and made my way over here.  If it's not too late and still a viable option, I'd enjoy remaining in the group.  If not, no offense taken - though I may lurk and eventually figure out the W/Kg formula.

Kudos for staying focused and united amidst the noise. It's what makes this group unique.

Brian

Welcome back.  As per the first post...this group is never closed. 

X2 - really helpful to see that, and get the full explanation.

I was able to get in 3750 at the pool last night.  About 1100 on my own and 2650 from masters class.  Probably the most yards I've done in one session in about a year.

This mornings run was tough.  4th run in about 37 hours as I ran Tuesday evening and a double run yesterday.  Luckily I don't run again till tomorrow night, so they'll get about 35 hours of rest from running.  Keeping up with the ST 100/100 running challenge is tough, but I can feel the difference already through almost 3 weeks.

thanks

That was the self coached version. I suspect a good coach would have managed that chart better.

Many thanks, so back to it:

NAME: bdesotell / Brian Desotell

STORY: 2013 is my 4th year in triathlon. I have always been a decent athlete and active; not Division I-worthy, but competitive enough. Lettered in track, cross-country and soccer in high school. Continued with intramural sports through college, mostly basketball and soccer. Have pretty much run on-and-off since high school, but never elite fast.  Spent the rest of the time in the gym lifting weights.  Did a few triathlons back in the day while in college, but went on a 15 year hiatus. Approaching my 40th birthday, I decided with my family to check the IM off of the bucket list. So, I signed up for the Great Floridian, bought a bike and began training (with my brother) using a BT plan, accomplishing one OD race in 2:28 along the way. Finished the IM 13:30 (inclusive of a disappointing 5 hour marathon), good enough for 8th out 25 in the M40-44 AG.  The fastest time in my age group was 11:37, so that gives a little idea of the difficulty of the race course.  Loved it so much that I signed up for the same race again...and got hurt. I went through it all: shin splints, plantars, stress fracture, etc. Thus, I dropped down to a modified half (which is what they have at the Great Floridian - 1.2m swim, 38m bike, 9.3m run) and finished in 3:54, good enough for 3rd out of 14 AG, with the 4th fastest AG bike split and the 2nd fastest AG run split. So yes, I need to learn how to swim.  Last year I was planning on doing the B2B-full and got hurt again...are you noticing a theme and why I am here??...this time, the achilles. So, I did the B2B-half instead (my one and only race of the year) and finished with a 5:06 (10 out of 105 in my AG - woot!) Story conclusion? I love the lifelong nature of the sport, the competition and comraderie. I simply want to train smarter and better, perhaps get faster along the way, and do what I can to help grow the sport that we're all here for.

FAMILY STATUS: I have been married for 18 years.  We have four daughters, ages 15, 13, 9, and 8, two German Shepherds, two hamsters, two birds and two fish.  My daughters have all completed many more triathlons than I have, and two of them have already qualified for the IronKids Championship.  They race a lot; I typically do one race per year, maybe two. My wife cycles with me and is the family tri-sherpa - and amazing.

CURRENT TRAINING:  Re-building base.  For 2012, I logged 1,563 miles running, 1,584 miles biking, and a mere 43,000 yards swimming. 

2013 RACES:  TBD....inspire me! (but only in the southeast ;)

WEIGHTLOSS: 5'11" and 178 pounds.  Would like to race at 10 pounds less, but not sure I am in for what those last ten pounds will require.  

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MEMBER OF THE GROUP:  I believe I have a lot to learn and a lot to offer. I have immersed myself in the sport enough to be an asset to others, but also realize that there is much to absorb.

WINTER GOALS:  Pirated and modified from a thread on ST and a repeat attempt at last year's winter goals: JAN to MAR - run 50 miles per week (BarryP), bike 2 times per week, swim 2 times per week.  I started this for December 2011 and completed the run portion of the goal, but failed on swimming (no surprise there) and biking twice each per week during through March 2012. This includes a "100 runs in 100 days" challenge starting in mid-December. I also used a modified BarryP plan; basically, I used the 15-10-5 (for the 3-2-1), but never quite hit the 15 mile runs more than once or twice. I typically made them up with another run, or by lengthening one of the 10's or 5's. Would like to try to pull it off in the 3-2-1 fashion this winter...and maintain the bike and swim....I am behind schedule already....

OTHER:  I run in KSwiss, ride a Swift Carbon Aeronaut, and generally avoid the pool. This will have to change if I ever want to dream of KQ'ing. Really, my wife and I talk about KQ'ing from time to time. I would love to put in the work and make it happen, but at the end of the day, this is just a hobby. It is a hobby that the entire family is involved in, but just a hobby nonetheless. My family comes first, and that may indeed keep me off the big island....and I'm OK with that.

Agreed, I couldn't see the screenshot all day at work.  I just looked at the chart of my own - it only had a few months of data in it but cool nonetheless.  I'll have to start being more careful and uploading all of my run workouts to include the GPS data - about half the time I just enter time and distance if I am at work and don't have the cradle for my watch.

Thanks for all the detail Marc.

Srsly...LOL'ed at this getting ready for this evening's run.

1. Swimming = masters team they write the workouts and critique our technique, endlessly. Makes this area a no brainer for me. was totally easiset leg in my tri last year.
2. Biking = missed 2 weeks, was sick for a week then weather in Texas went from 80's to the 40's for a high. oh..and rainy. finally caved in and did spin bike last night. looking forward to a jaunt around the lake on flat ground before i hit the hills again. 
3. running = getting hips adjusted to put some chronic pain issue behind me. Not too concerned here, i have run more in my life than  S/B. 

Hmm...I've been running with my HRM a lot lately and I suppose I could upload this data to WKO+.  That should calculate my run TSS for me as I think they use a similar system to calculate TSS based on time spent in HR zones.

Ok...dumb question alert.

For 910 users (or anyone that has a garmin that uses wireless upload).  How do you download the actual .fit files to your computer.  I can upload them to BT, to GarminConnect, or to WKO+, but is there any way I can store the actual .fit files on my PC.  With the edge 500, it works more like a mass storage device so I can simply drag and drop from the unit itself.  Can't do that with a 910 since it's not connected as a "drive".

Do I need to export from GarminConnect?  Is there another way?  I like to keep all my files stored just in case something happens like WKO+ gets corrupted and I need to reload (which has happened once before).

Spicy brussel sprouts? blech. I can promise...  I will never do it. 

That sounds like a great endeavor. :=)

Hey Jason - I use a mac, so take this for what it is worth, but I have to imagine it works similarly on a PC. When you connect the 910 the Garmin ANT Agent automatically downloads the file from the 910, correct? Those files are actually stored permanently on your computer hard rive. On a mac the are stored in ...Garmin > Devices > long string of unique numbers > history. I actually never use the auto upload to garmin connect, strava, training peaks, BT, etc. Instead I just have a shortcut to the garmin history folders for all my devices and manually upload the files from there. It seems a lot quicker, fewer steps, and a fewer errors. I actually do the same thing with my edge 500 and 800: I just navigate to the folder on the unit (you are correct - it is just a mass storage device) and upload those manually as well.

The fit files are in a directory. They get put there by the Ant Agent

it in \\users\username\AppData\Roaming\Garmin\Devices\DeviceNumber\Activities

Username and DeviceNumber are unique to you and your PC

AppData is a hidden directory.

Sorry to be so late to the discussion, but just wanted to say x2 to this - the Performance Management Chart is probably the thing that my coach refers to the most when we talk about what we have done and where we are going. FWIW I think it is a little bit of a red herring to talk about Heart Rate and Power/Pace as "this vs. that" metrics for training. In my thinking HR is a measure of input, and Power is a measure of output. Having a good grasp on how those two are coupled (or perhaps more importantly decoupled) is key. That is why for me I find measures such as VI (Variability index), Pw:HR (ratio of Power and Heart Rate), Pa:HR (ratio of Pace and Heart Rate), and EF (Efficiency Factor, or the difference between normalized power in cycling or normalized pace when running and average heart rate) to be much more useful in understanding the efficacy of individual workouts and their impact on training the training blocks of which they are a part. For me anyway I have found these metrics to be the best at seeing how my fitness is progressing or regressing, particularly if you have workouts/courses that you train on regularly.

Hi Brian - welcome back!

OK, here are the folks that we have so far:

SBR Utopia:

I added Brian and Linda at the bottom, 'cause I am lazy

I may have missed some folks in my absence - so if you want to be on the list and I have missed you pipe up!

Maybe that's it...not sure if I was searching in hidden folders because I did a search for anything .fit on my PC and didn't find anything. 

Rusty...that's a great idea.  I also use the auto upload, through the ANT agent and GC, but just had no idea where they went after that.  I know uploading to Strava is a PITA for me if I have a few files on my devices.  The "searching for activites" process takes much longer.

Hi Kate - you have gotten tons of great advice from the group on this one, but one thing that I am a big fan of has not been mentioned: riding (or running) long workouts by time instead of distance. Both time and effort are fixed variables, and but distance in a funny way is wildly variable. Where we ride I have a 40 mile Z2 ride that takes 2 hours, and I have a 37 mile Z2 ride that takes 2.5 hours. They are WAY different rides due to the terrain - one is dead-level flat and the other has about 4200 feet of climbing. Riding by time takes the pressure off of covering a set distance and lends itself to focusing on effort, which for the most part is WAAAY more important than distance covered in training, IMHO.

Yep, that drives me crazy as well. Occasionally I will do a bulk upload to strava just in case I have missed something, and then I just let it do the auto uploading while I am doing something else. Strava is smart enough to know if you have uploaded a file already, so you don't have to worry about duplicates.

I actually upload everything manually to Training Peaks and then import that to the BT logs via the "upload" button at the top of the training log.