JFord's Mentor Group-Closed (Page 23)

Yesterday I had a crappy run, but it was 82 degrees and sunny, which I was so thankful for! I was able to run shirtless ( sorry to all the drivers I temporarily blinded due to being indoors all winter) but it was great to get out there in the sun and sweat alittle outdoors, almost made up for it being a bad run.

On the other hand, it made me realize that outdoors, I need to remember to bring water and gels if needed. I had planned on going for 8+ miles, but ended up about 5.5 miles. I should have planned better for water and might have been part of the problem, especially with running in the heat for the time this year.

So over the past month we've done a weightloss challenge at work.  Everyone kicks in $10, 10 of us participated, so winner gets $100.

Results were announced today.

I won, losing a total of 5.7% of my body weight over the past 30 days.

YAY new pants!

Would like to hear peoples thoughts on what gear works for them and why and most importantly what gear did not work and why.

Good  Luck!  Can't wait to hear about it.  Relax and enjoy it.

I certainly got spoiled by the nice weather and riding outside.  I got used to the trainer all winter and doing 1.5 hours a few times with no problem.  Last week I went outside for 4 rides in a row.  I had to do 45 minutes of intervals on it this morning - and it was miserable!  How soon we forget.

One time I was in the wrong gear going up a hill and it literally brought me to a stop and I had to bail off and push my bike up the hill! 

That's awesome!  Congrats.  Seriously.

exciting!

I just realized my taper mine is only a couple weeks.  Snuck up on me.

kinda in a funk here, had another bad workout this morning, my head just wasn;t in it. last night I grabbed all my kids and made them go running with me (well, the two older ones rode their bikes and the baby rode in the jogging stroller). Even with pushing the stroller, and fighting the wind, I felt pretty good and was happy to keep under 9 min miles, but when I woke up this morning, I felt like someone had beat me through out the night, and not in a good way!

Just couldn;t get it started, so I am surprised I squeaked out 500 yds today.

Sorry you're in a funk... what is the timing of your workouts and nutrition like?

To me, it sounds like one of two things.  One- overtraining.  Are you following a plan?  Whenever I do too much too soon my workouts suffer miserably.

Option 2- poor recovery nutrition/meals.  Espeically if you do a late day/evening workout and then get up to do a morning session, your post-training nutrition is really important.

I know you mentioned recently you kind of eat whatever you want (so jealous, I would be 400 lbs if I did that) but the timing of your meals and nutrients can become really important as your sessions get longer.

Just my thoughts...

I dont think I understand the question?

Gear on the bike, or gear as in training/racing gear? (ie Garmin, zoot shorts, etc)

Maybe it is just one of those weeks?  Last week was a recovery week for me - only 5 hours of training after loading up 10 hour weeks right before - and I never felt so tired.  It got to the point that I fell asleep on two consecutive nights watching TV with my daughter at 8:30 pm and slept for 10 hours straight.  There's no doubt that the training takes a tremendous physical and mental toll and through it you build up a debt that sometimes needs to get paid. 

Hang in there - it will get better.

Everyone has those days.  I figure, something is better than nothing.  And even nothing, is not bad in some cases if you need the rest.

Forget about it, I say...  You will probably bounce back with some killer workouts after a bit of rest you got.

I am with you...Feel like I am overtraining.  I was falling asleep in class yesterday, weight is dropping, even though I eat all day, body is in pain, and sleep is not restful.  I am going to take a few days off of running to rest.

Relax and enjoy some family time.  A few days of no working out will do more good than damage after you get refreshed.

Yeah, What kind of equipment used in particular races. weather wise etc. So that for example when I do my first century ride in the next couple weeks,  I don't learn something the hard way....

Gotcha.  Well I'll start off by saying the easiest way to avoid making that mistake is to not do anything new on "race day", or in your case, the day of your ride.

Find shorts you LOVE, train in them, and then wear them on the day.  I have a pair of Pearl Izumi's that have the equivalent of a baby diper in them and somehow manage to be seamless on the insides that I swear by every time I ride for more than 2 hours.

Same goes for nutrition.  Play around with what works for you on shorter rides (I like Shot Blocks, orange slices and Emergen-C mixed in a water bottle) so that for your first long ride you don't have problems digesting.

I hate having stuff in my jersey pockets, so when I ride and need to carry nutrition I use a Bento Box (it velcros right onto your bike) and they're cheap. 

Other than that, I'm not a huge gear person.  Helmet that fits and keeps me alive- check.  Aerobars for more comfortable ride-check.  Cycling shoes- check.  I have a bike computer to track everything, it's basic and does the job.

I also always carry a spare tube, patch kit, a copule of co2 canisters to fix a flat, and a little wrench thing so if I need to adjust my seat or something, I can.

I know that's probably not what you had in mind, but when it comes to gear, everyone is going to use and train with different stuff.  The most important thing is that if you use it in your race/event, you've used it in your training.

My two cents.

Sounds all good. I need to figure out my nutrition.... haven't gone on long enough rides for it to matter but something I need to put more thought into.

I am picking up my Bento, a specialized Romin Pro seat, Look Blade pedals and shoes on April 1st to make sure all feels good before the big ride on the 10th. . Not sure on the weather (prob rain) so thinking shorts and a weather proof jacket. I don't want to be cold and miserable for 7 hours....

As far as nutrition goes- do you tolerate gatorade or powerade well?  I don't, at all... probably TMI but it's instant upset tummy for me.  But if you do, that will make your nutrition a lot easier.  Taking in cals via fluid is much easier than trying to eat anything.  Gels are pretty simple too.

Be sure to get a ride or two in on your new saddle and with your new clip ins before the big ride.  I think I adjusted my cycling kleet (spelling?) 15 times before I liked the angle I was clipped in at.  Same with the seat, get the height just right and make sure to use lots of body glide on the boy bits to prevent any sort of unwanted rubbing.

I live in FL so I have nothing to say about the cold and miserable... but I'm sure someone will have some advice.

Good luck, sounds like it's going to be fun!

My guess is that A. Chevy would not have any of those issues.... Smart A$$!!! :/

Thanks Nicole and Jessica! (the ladies got it goin on!!!)

Supposedly they will have SAG Stops. I won't be 'killing' myself but will try and do a respectable time. I am not sure I can ever ride 100 miles in a day for 'fun'. unless it was on the Harley

I could always put the packets into two seperate baggies. One unopened and the other garbage.

Keep in mind you will be doing that while pedaling, not as easy as it sounds.

What will be your longest ride to date before this one? 

And yes, Jess and I are by far the most awesome. 

I took a Vinyasa yoga class yesterday over lunch.

I can barely lift my arms today and my butt feels like someone took a paddle to it.

This is really funny as I strength train regularly, not to mention all the tri stuff and consider myself to be in pretty good shape. 

Who knew getting bendy and sweaty would have such a sobering effect on my ego?