Scott's Mentor Group-Closed (Page 23)

Good morning all ...

Looks like I'll make today a rest day. My first in 10 days. This stupid cold has moved into my chest and I haven't been able to break it up all night. I teach tonight, so I won't get in my post-work workout. I'm thankful for an amazing session in the pool last night, though. 2700 yds with more moments I've had recently where I really felt like I was gliding through the water. I may have gone sub 1:30 for a couple of 100yd splits, but that's only based on my quick glances at the pool clock. If I did, that'll be the first time I've broken that barrier. I'm not calling it official, but will look at it as a nice sign that I'm still improving.

Hi folks

My first month of training measurement has come to an end, really enjoyed the month, not quite as dedicated as some of you guys yet, but during the month I  started to increase the amounts and vary it up a bit.

Training for the month has been

Monthly totals:
S:  4702.54 Yd - 1h 41m 49s
B:  148.42 Mi - 8h 04m 34s
R:  43.32 Mi - 6h 56m 58s

Need to increase my swimming this month, so aim to increase by 20% also increase my running by 20%. Happy wiht my bike rides (even though most done on exercise bike), this month going to put some slicks on my mountain bike and try to get out more.

Like others, really into triathlon, like the variation that you can do in training, but want to do a couple of sprints before I consider buying any specialist equipment.

Keep posting, enjoy reading

Cheers

Gareth

Welcome back Nicole!  I hope your trip was everything you wanted it to be.

Easy run for me tonight.  Working on consistency right now.  I got 5 days straight of running last week.  I am planning on that again this week with 10% increase in total time running.  Next week I'm looking to run 6 days.  Mr. Achilles is hanging in there.  

Pitiful volume for me this month.  Looking to come back strong in March.  

I did a 4 miler today in 33:44 which is an average pace of 8:25. My miles were 8:16, 8:37, 8:32, and 8:19. 

 My totals were not as high as I wanted but there was improvement. My distances did not get much higher but my times came down dramatically. I'm happy to see that. My January times were not documented that well plus I was literally getting started. I am most disappointed in my biking distance.

My February times are pretty solid and well kept. I missed 3 days from illness but stuck to my 6 days a week routine with Sundays off. 

All in all, very pleased but there is lots to improve on. With my sprint being 25 days a way- I am going to focus on improving my times. I halve just over 3 weeks which is 7 sessions of each leg. I'm going to hit each sessions a little harder to see improve some times. I need to throw in some bricks workouts. 

25 days to go! 

Hooray!  I am finally getting back to this!!!

An overseas move has basically killed all productivity on training... but we landed here Sunday, and while we still have a lot to do to really be settled (get a car, phones, place to live...) I am planning to get back to running this weekend!!!

It's been inspiring seeing everyone training and doing so well!  I am so glad that I'll have time again!

Kate, 

Great to see you back in the group.  Congratulations on your successful move.  Looking forward to seeing you get at that running.  Good luck.  

Welcome back, Kate.

Will you remind me where you moved to and what you will be doing?

Good luck with your training!

I have been averaging 16mph on the bike. Based on that math, it should take 45 minutes to go 12 miles. I hit the road today for a 12 mile bike ride. I set a goal of 40 minutes. That is 3:20/mile  My plan was to put a little extra on the hills and straight aways. Well, I hate making excuses but mother nature was against me today. I fought high winds most of the ride and ended up at 43:39. That is 3:40/mile. At certain times, I was pedaling as hard as I could go and barely moving.

I was bummed but I put the effort in. I think I would have hit my 40 minute mark on a calm day. We'll try again next time. I have to run the next two days due to traveling and not having a pool. 

Train hard my friends!

Troy,  

I hear you man.  My house has been full of colds and flu bugs for weeks.  Hope you feel better.  Those are some great times.  

I am now in Saipan, a small US Territory near Guam.  I'm working at the local hospital as their only registered dietitian.  it's challenging, but so far, I love it!

Must get out to run!!!

Nice to see the full group popping in! Keep checking in Nicole and Kate!

****************

Had another great swim last night ... 2800yds and I definitely went 1:27 on the first of my 5 x 100 splits (starting on 1:50). Unfortunately, I used it up good on that split and stayed in the high 1:30s and into the 1:40s for my final splits. It's very cool how different the water feels at that pace.

So ... while I slept in, again, this morning ... I refuse to let this swim trajectory go. I've got one more month of Master's Swim, so I'm going to make full use of it. I'll be in the pool again after work despite the fact that I'm resting longer in the morning. Things are just not breaking up with this congestion and I can't get it going for a morning workout.

I go into the pool well medicated with cough suppressant. That's not like me at all ... I don't take medicine very often. But it gives me an hour in the evening.

Hopefully I can do the same for a mid day long trainer ride tomorrow. 

Hello from the Chicago airport lounge on another flight delay.

Kate, glad to have you back.  Good luck with the unpacking.

Not a productive week for me.  With all day meetings and dinners this week (and a crapy hotel gym and no water in the pool) I didn't get much done.

I hope to get home today in time for a run or swim.

I should have a lot of time this Sunday probably do a bike run brick.

Good training to all.

FYI, my February totals.  They were down quite a bit which was expected.  January is one of my slowest months at work and February is one of my busiest.

Monthly totals:
S:  7600.00 Yd - 3h 29m 58s
B:  25.00 Mi - 6h 28m
R:  27.78 Mi - 7h 07m 20s

Hi All! (warning....this is way longer then I intended. Must have something to do with the Belgian Beer I had with my dinner )

I wanted to give an update on all three sports based on my experiences over the last several months. 

Run - 

I think most of you remember that I had been sidelined from running completely over the course of the last four months because of a plantar fascitis issues. Well I am happy to say that I am finally completely over this injury and back to running! If any of you happend to suffer from PF, hopefully you never will, I wanted to give some advice based on my own experience. First is prevention. You have heard it said many times, "listen to your body". I failed this. I failed it because I choose to follow my training schedule at all cost no matter how I was feeling. This whole thing surfaced when I was in Vermont over Columbus day weekend. My family and I went for a hike up Mount Equinox which turned out to be far more strenuous then I had ever anticipated. At the end of that hike my legs and my feet where killing me. My training schedule said that I had to do a six mile tempo run the next day so I did just that. I got through that run but my legs and feet didn't feel any better. From there it was all down hill. Ran a 10 K a week or two later and that was all she wrote. My best advise if you every have to deal with the dreaded PF is to stop running completely. It took me a full four months to get over it but there is no guaranteed waiting period. Everybody is different and you have to really judge things based on how you feel. Just remember to never try to come back too soon. 

I have only been back at the run for three weeks now but so far so good. I have been trying what is know as the "Barry P" plan that many people on the BT forums advocate. The mantra is run often, mostly easy, sometimes hard. I have been trying to run six days a week with Three short runs, two medium runs and one long. The intensity and distance is reasonable. The idea is that you want to become a habitual runner but you also want to keep the runs easy enough to be able to recover so you can run the next day. You can't do that if you have too much distance or intensity. So far I think it is working for me although I will say that I am finding it hard to run everyday as a triathlete. It's hard to mix in workouts for all three sometimes!

Swim - 

The swim had been a love hate relationship for me. When I first started triathlon this was my biggest fear. My first swim was in a pool in July of 2010. I couldn't even make it 25 yards without resting at the wall. Since that time I had made some significant gains. To summarize my experience I can point to two key things that have helped me to prepare for the swim leg in a triathlon. The first thing was joining my local Tri Club so I could participate in weekly group swims in open water. To me, this is the best thing a newbie can do to prepare themselves to get over the fear of swimming in open water while you are surrounded by multitudes of other people. Open water is different because there are no walls to hold on to and no black lines on the bottom to follow. Throw in the fact that you are surrounded by other feet, arms and legs and it becomes an entirely different animal. The more you can practice in this scenario the better off you will be. The weekly OWS that I did helped me tremendously. 

The second key to my swim improvement was to hire a coach for some one on one instruction. I had participated in a Total Immersion swimming class at my local "Y" in the winter of 2011 and that was good but working with a experienced swim coach one on one was far superior. My coach was a collegiate swimmer who was also a triathlete in his adult life. In other words he was a "real swimmer" but also understood that I needed to still get on a bike after I exit the water. He worked with me this past fall and winter with an emphasis on two things. First he wanted to develop my kick and second he wanted to improve my conditioning. I was under the false pretense that swimming with a strong kick during a triathlon swim was a bad thing because it would sap my energy for the bike and run. I have found that nothing could be further from the truth. Having a good kick is the key to getting your hips high in the water column preventing your legs from sinking and otherwise making your stroke way more efficient. I have found that swimming well comes down to good stroke technique and conditioning.  Not necessarily in that order. 

Bike -

Cycling is my passion. In fact, one of the reasons I had gotten into triathlon was because I was a bored cyclist looking for a new challenge. Even though I consider cycling my first love it is certainly not what I consider a strength. I consider my cycling abilities to be fairly average at best. Nonetheless, I have trained hard on it this winter and feel like I have made some significant gains. There are a few things that I have experienced as a cyclist that I am hoping can help others. One of the things that a new triathlete asks is should I buy a road bike or a tri bike? I personally have a road bike but I lust after a tri bike. I purchased a brand new bike last year but it was a road bike. For me I think the answer to the tri vs. road is that you really are best off with both. For now I am sticking with my roadie until I have some more experience with racing. My bike is not your typical racing bike that looks "pro" I had two of those bikes in my past but now that I am over 45 and not very flexible I have what I consider to be my best bike to date. I ended up driving three hours from my home to Waitsfield, VT to buy my bike at a shop called Fitwerx. I learned about these guys right here on BT and quickly discovered that the shops owner, Ian Buchanan, has quite the reputation as a superior bike fitter. The fitting was way more involved then I had ever imagined. This little shop had all of the latest high tech gadgetry available. All in all having a professional fitting by a reputable bike fitter is probably the best thing one can do to get the best possible position on your bike. My former carbon fiber racing bike looked cool but any ride over two hours and my shoulders and back where killing me. No aero postion is going to be effective if you can't hold it for any significant amount of time. Now with my custom geometry road frame I can ride comfortably for hours. I went with a steel frame because that was within my budget. I have no regrets about this. Steel is an excellent material and weight absolutely doesn't matter IMHO. What matters is that the bike fits you the rider and that you can hold a comfortable and reasonably aero postion for long periods of time. I hope to eventually get a tri bike but when I do it has to be a good fit which unfortunately for a tall guy like me means a custom frame. I am currently saving my pennies for this. 

Training with power - 

In our sport,  the marketing comes at you from every corner (just like everything else) Aero helmets, aero wheels, aero frames, aero clothing. It never stops. I won't hesitate to admit that I am a sucker for all the marketing. I love the way tri bikes look and I love the way deep dish carbon wheels look.  Who wouldn't, they just look fast. As tempting as it all is I decided the best investment I could make to help myself become faster on the bike was a power meter. My thinking was that the best way that I could possible spend my hard earn dollars would be to buy a power meter with the goal of improving my engine. I think most people go the route of aero helmets or sexy carbon wheels. Now to be certain, this appeals to me as well. It's just that a power meter seemed to make more sense. So I took the plunge and started training with power. I followed Jorge's winter cycling training with power since November just like Scott had done. The end result? I am in the best cycling shape of my life. I attribute this to my focused power training. This basically amounts to interval training at an established effort level base on your power output. This is far different then what I had done in the past which was to get on my bike and ride for a given period of time. Nothing is wrong with that but you eventually will reach a point where you no longer see any significant gains if that is all you ever do. I believe that bike training needs to be like swim training. Intervals and varying levels of intensity as opposed to simply throwing your leg over the bike and just going for a ride. 

Diet -   

I have stuck with my mostly vegan diet since January and the results have been incredible. My weight is at an all time low and I feel great. I have been following the "Thrive Diet" which was written by a professional triathlete by the name of Brendan Brazier. This has worked very well for me and I am happy I took the plunge. Fortunately for me my wife had also made the choice to give up meat and dairy products. She is so into it that she has started a blog called Greenfoodie.net. She has blogged about a few recipes that we have tried successfully and has done a great job with her writing about it. It is so nice to have your spouse/partner on the same page with your diet. It makes things a lot easier. I still have a lot to learn about eating this way but I must say that I absolutely love it. I look forward to further refining it as time goes on.  

Good morning all!

Tim ... awesome update. So much in there to be excited about. My PF gave me a little reminder last night after a long snowshoe. I massaged it hard and wore the boot last night (first time in months). Not even a peep from it this morning. I, too, took a solid 4 months to get over my fasciitis.

Scott ... awesome job with the 500 TT. Gaining a minute in a year is impressive.

****************

As I mentioned, I opted for a 2.5 hour snowshoe yesterday in lieu of a longish run. We had to drive into the mountains to get the snow, but it was a great day for it. We had a solid climb.

Today marks the start of my 12 week marathon training program. The Pfitzinger plan starts with a rest day, but I had intended on cross training anyway. I was getting my bike set up last night for what I thought would be a 90 minute trainer ride this morning when I noticed I had a rear flat. The valve was leaking, so I knew I had to replace the tube. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I had pinched the new tube and I popped that (my only spare) in the process of inflating. So no spin for me this morning. Given the PF pain I was having last night, I also decided to stick with the recommended rest day with the Pfitz schedule. So it'll just be a swim for me tonight after work.

Looking forward to the run focus over the next 12 weeks, as I've been a bit neglectful with any sort of consistency in running. 

Good morning triathletes,

Yesterday I had a killer mountain bike ride with some intense climbing and great friends.  My legs were completely wiped after that one.  I did experiment with some gu and electrolite drinks durring the ride.  Glad to say no problems.

Today, I'm going to the pool before the airport.  Probably just running the next couple days while I'm away.

Just two weeks left until my first race.  Yesterday I bought a tri jersey online to wear on race day (I already have tri shorts). 

I figure I'll train hard this week and just very short work outs next week.  Any thoughts?

I'm going to spend some hotel time this week planning my transistions.  Any thoughts?

Train hard but remember to have fun. 

"Every baseball game starts with Play Ball not Work Ball"

Tim,

Thanks for the great read. 

Tim, thanks for the read. I am doing my best to listen to my body. I have revamped my diet but I don't think I'll ever be a vegan. I love my beef, fish, chicken, and cheese. 

I have been very disciplined in my training but it hit a bump over the weekend. I had to go and work on my rental house in SC. It was 18 hour days of painting/fixing. I did not exercise but I was worn slap out by the time I hit the pillow. Sometimes life gets in the way of training as I know you all have experienced. I am back on the grind today. I plan on hitting the pool today for a good swim. 

Craig, I am getting excited as well. My first race is 20 days away! I'm going to keep my routine going. I am going to hit it hard for two more weeks and have a easier pace with a week to go. I will rest 1-2 days before. That is my plan as of now. 

Hmmm ... I could have sworn I checked in last night, but now I don't see it here. And I don't recall what I wrote about. Oh well ...

Got up and out there for 8 miles this morning to officially start my marathon training. 5F at the start, so I went with a face mask. It was just getting light upon my return which will all change this weekend when we switch the clocks again. Back to my dark mornings.

Swam for 3000yds in the pool last night which is a new yardage milestone for one workout. And I'll head back tonight.

Train hard!

Hello everyone!

It took me a few days to get back to training as all the traveling was exhausting and I was feeling a bit lazy but I got back in the pool last night. I felt a little off and swam a bit crooked and had some BAD flip turns but otherwise it felt good to stretch out a bit. Glad to be back!!

Glad to hear of everyone's experiences.  My running is coming along.  I had a great run Sunday evening: 4.6 miles with one of those miles being 8:09.  My hamstring was bothering me yesterday after my pool session, but it has seemed to work itself out today.

Tim,  Thanks so much for your thoughts.  Your journey mirrors my own in many ways.  Be great today everyone.  I have a trainer session tonight followed by an easy 10 min transition run.