Kenj - triathletes in training CLOSED (Page 23)

Practicing in the wind will give you some added confidence if it is windy on race day DJ, but it can be draining!  Nice work!

I just downloaded Be Iron Fit to my Ipad, not sure if I will use the plan or not, but it looked like there was some good insight into Iron man training in addition to his plans. 

Glad you are getting back into thinking about triathlon Kathleen.  I can tell you after my first IM, it took several months.  The second one was a lot easier.

Congrats on PR Wesley!  Glad you and your bike survived the incident coming into transition.  That can be a treacherous place at times! I will check out your race report!

The shoulder feels ok, probably as good as it has been or at least it was till the MRI this morning.  Some of the things they do to get it into proper position for the shots they want has it a bit tender.  Since I don't have to worry about a place to stay and as long as the race doesn't sell out, I figure I have about another week or so to make a decision on FL 70.3.  I would like to do it, so fingers crossed.

Great job Tim, like you said life has thrown more than your share of curve balls this year!  Still a lot of race season left!

Interesting on the shoes and the blisters, those are the only brand/model that I have found so far that I can wear barefoot. 

We've got 2 marathons and a half marathon in this group next weekend!   

Rest up Adam/Steve.  Good luck!

Any predictions or goals?

Lots of taper madness going on in here!  That is great!

Adam and Steve,

  What races are you doing this weekend? Can we track you guys at all?

OK, if you had the choices in the following what would you say is the most important.

A new saddle for my bike OR I can get some shimano 105 spd pedals for DIRT cheap so i would need to get shoes for them. So should I get the saddle or the shoes. For note, I do not have the clip pedals currently on my bike.

Before I would make a recommendation I would ask you are you getting more comfortable with the seat that is on your bike?  If that answer is yes, then I would go with the pedals and shoes.  If you are not more comfortable then you should probably address the seat. 

I think I am getting more comfortable. If by comfortable you mean does my hurt less, then yes. I just think I could get more out of pedals/shoes then saddle but I could be wrong.

I only have one bike, a tri bike that i use with clipless pedals and hard sole Specialized tri-shoes. The only other setup that i already have is platform pedals and running shoes. This would make my off-bike time easier, but aside from looking silly, would pedalling for hours in cushioned shoes make an easy ride hard? The platforms might feels a little safer in the throng.

Suggestions? Even if i can't find something before Sunday, I'd like to have a solution to deal with this kind of thing going forward, hopefully withou breaking the bank...

Peter, I havent gone on the journey of trying to switch to a better fitting seat yet. But switching to clipless in the middle of last season made a very noticeable difference.

+10. 

If the seat is OK, go with the pedals and shoes.  Clipless is really the way to go to get the most out of your pedal stroke.  You can always experiment with seats later. Some places even let you borrow seats to try out. 

I also use MTB shoes on my road bikes.  I have racing shoes for it and yes, they tranfer more power to the pedals. But as you said, I enjoy walking without pain.  I use tri shoes on the tri bike.  The racing road shoes and the tri shoes suck for walking.  I don't give a damn what other people think.  It's the privilege of age.  Oh wait, I've never given a crap what they think.      I think I need a new MTB pair one of these days.  

I use the same Look Keo pedal set up on all my bikes, except my mountain bike.  Honestly I prefer my Shimano bike shoes to the LG tri shoes so except for races those are the shoes I usually where.  The mountain bike I won at a raffle and it has the platforms only because I ride it so infrequently that it hasn't become an issue. 

I am not familiar with the differences between mountain bike shoes and road bike shoes so I can't offer any advice there.  But I would suggest wearing what is comfortable to you!

Hey everyone, glad to see everyone is doing well. 

Bill- I think showing up to the race and planning on giving it a go was the right move.  And, look on the bright side, now you'll never forget your bike shoes to a race ever again! 

Ken- great job on your 13.1.  Nothing better than surpassing your goals!

Things on my end are going well.  Training seems to be the only consistent thing in my life right now.  Work is insane, we are in the process of moving, and life is just crazy busy... but my time in the mornings training have been good... so that's good!

Hope you all are having a great start to the week.

Another month has come and gone! How did your training/goals stack up? Did you meet/exceed any of your personel goals?  Is there something you are still struggling with? Lets hear it!

Here's mine:

Absolutely fantastic month - in fact, best ever!  My bike (~15hrs) and swim (~10hrs) were the highest monthly totals to date.  Largest training month since I started training 2 years ago. While my running is no where near last year - I am running and that in itself is huge!  Still struggling with PF on a daily basis, but the major flare ups are definately less!

On the other hand still struggling with the weight losss.  While I am not unhappy with the current weight I STILL would like to lose those 5-10 stubborn pounds. I enjoy my weekend gluttony and I guess until weight loss > my food addiction I will struggle. A lot of times I think I put in the hours so that I can enjoy the weekend fest.

Goals for the next few months: Unfortunately, this will probably be my highest month for the year as the kids only have a few more weeks of school and we have 4 vacations planned for the summer. My goal for over the summer will be to try an be consistent even if the volume isn't as high.  I struggle with workouts when my schedule isn't rigid, especially when on vacation!

Great job Robin!

Here's my April summary:

In short, I had a great month of training, but a terrible month of racing (but I'll move on now).  I'm getting the swim in regularly finally and hopefully will start noticing some bigger gains soon.

Some major things I learned: 1)I should probably start my race season later in the year from now on (maybe July, except for running races).  My busy season at work tapers off in the first half of April, but leaves a winter/early spring of too little training and too much worrying about early season races. 2) This group Rocks!,  thanks for all your posts and sharing.

My functional threshold power rose to within 1.5% of my max last year.  Now at 314.

My swim form is rocketing thanks to semi private lessons. I swam the IM course in a good time last year, but I would love to do it now.

Run is going great.  In practicing for the run clubs 12K (7.5 miles) race this Saturday, I've knocked about 30 seconds off my last year's time on the same course.

Strength training - kettlebells.  I attribute a lot the run and bike improvement to this.

Weight - down 22 pounds since Jan. on Paleo   Several folks commented last night at the annual multi-sport expo that I looked leaner and stronger.  That is what I love to hear. 

All good.  This week is recovery from testing and tapering to Saturday.  Then next week, we'll hit it hard. 

Bill's right, this group does ROCK! If I didn't check in close to daily on this forum, I don't think I would be as motivated, but thanks to all of you, I am motivated. Just signed up for my first ever 5K on 5/19. Not too far off, I need to push myself and be more prepared for my July Tri. Just bought the book by Joe Friel "The Triathlete's Training Bible", and loving it so far.

Just coming off a cold, etc... Finally went for a great run in almost a week last night. Pushed myself and made the mile loop in 14 min. woohoo! I was pretty thrilled with the time improvement. Still more work to do though!

Heading out this weekend to buy a decent pair of running shoes. Always fun to spend money on ourselves! Hope everyone's enjoying the week. And thanks for all your support!

Lynda

My April numbers:

My month went pretty well.  I was able to put in more a little more time training this month than last (even with my trip to Vegas).  My weight has been a little annoying as Vegas (and a few BBQs and over-eating weekends) have negated any significant weight loss I would have had.  But I am sticking to the grind and eating as healthy as I can (most of the time) and getting in solid training.

Thanks everyone for the good luck vibes! I'm running the Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday - my first marathon ever. I'm setting the bar high too - sub 3 is my goal. I was approved as a seeded runner and will be in Corral A with the really fast guys. Pittsburgh has some hills especially over the first half so my plan is to stay under control and run 6:55-7 min pace through 14-15 miles and then drop down to 6:45-6:50 over the last 11-12. Weather is shaping up to be pretty good - if even a little warm for my liking.

My bib is #360 - Steve Troisi. You can track me by going to their website http://www.pittsburghmarathon.com/runners.asp. 

I've been thinking about and training for this thing for 6 months. I am just ready to race and see what this body - and heart - can do.