BamaDC's Mentor Group v4.0 - Closed (Page 24)

Ok guys, I need some running help.  I ran my first HM in March this year (1:56).  Feeling great while training, loving the longer distances, all good stuff.  I was still swimming and some biking (mostly on trainer) during my HM training.  Now going in to race season I'm finding that my biking on the road has improved but my run is dead.  I mean really dead.  Can't finish mid distances (6-7mi) without walking, legs feeling sluggish, really pitiful.

I did start on some new minimal shoes (Saucony Kinvara) but backed to old shoes when the deadness kicked in.  Thought I was over training or tired (at 7 hours training/week??).  But even after some rest, I'm not seeing improvement.  It's getting depressing and I'm starting to dread the run.

All of you star runners out there, give me some ideas please.  Should I increase run frequency?  Back off pace?(I'm down at least :30/mi already).  Or just relax and keep moving??  Any thoughts are appreciated!

So, I'm thinking of signing up for Augusta HIM.  I've got several friends locally that are wanting to do it, so I think I'll do it, too.  question is - I'm feeling a little burned out after training for last weeks HIM, and I'm not sure I can commit to a plan for the next few weeks.  Any harm in just doing what I feel like doing for the next few weeks, and picking up a plan 15 or so weeks out from the race?  It's 18 weeks away now.  Not saying I won't swim/bike/run, just want to do it on my own for a bit before following a "plan".  Thoughts?  Is this normal?

What's your total volume?  I had a few runs during my HIM training where I just couldn't put one foot in front of the other.  For me it was probably a combination of not enough sleep, not enough water and not enough recovery from my last hard workout.  I'd take a look at all of that and see if you can pinpoint something that's off.  I highly doubt you are losing running fitness, and it's probably not the shoes.  Sometimes your brain just says enough already, and you need to rest.  Good luck.

Race report.  LostSheep also raced - I'm sure he'll detail his soon.

Here is the race trace. Ignore the mileage and elevation - the GPS bounces around in the water.

I'm having the same problem and I don't think it's over training.  I crushed a HM PR back in march and my volume has fallen way off.  I used to be able to easily run 10-12 and now 8 miles is a struggle and my volume has dropped off too.  I think it's hard to maintain high(er) volume when only training for one sport because my legs are always tired from biking. Earlier this year I could knock out 10 miles at 8:30-8:45.  I felt fresh at the start and solid at the end. Now I'm pushing 9:00-9:15 at the start and my legs feel heavy. I'm going to try to back off the pace a little on my longer runs and see how that works.  Do you train by pace or HR?

Good race!!  Congrats on the 1st place AG finish.

First OLY in the bag this year.  It was a rainy day in Tunica, but came away with some positives.  Came in under 3 hours, which was my goal, at 2:57:38. Averaged 19.13 on the bike, but could have done a bit better.   Officially my run pace was 10:45, but the run was 1/2 mile longer than a 10k (at least according to the garmin).  I was keeping a 9:45 pace pretty much thruout.  I'm logging the 6.73 in my logs.  And, My swim needs help.

I'll get the race report up tomorrow morning.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

I don't have a race report up yet, but I did the 5k swim w/ Sands and it was awesome!

#5/12 in my age group with a 1:48:53 
#55/228 overall

Track:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87449788 I hit lap at the center of the bridge with the goal of negative splitting.

Way to go sand and LostSheep!

Congrats on beating your goal time and it's always good when you're certain you could have done better.

Congrats on beating 3 hours! 

It was fun.  Until the last 50 yards, anyway. ;-)  (My calves are incredibly tight and sore today - I doubt I'm biking tomorrow).  BTW, I wouldn't feel bad about positive splitting.  Maybe just me, but I found myself trying not to sight much at the end because it seemed I was really slowing down badly when I did.  There were evidently currents out there slowing us down - maybe they were more at the end than the beginning?

Also, I don't think we had 228 in the water.  I think I counted 135.

Race report is up for Memphis in May:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=253397

It sounds better to say 55/228 instead of 135! 

So I'm channeling Cornfed!  Worse things could happen.  I guess it may be adding in the bike.  Got a new one and have ramped up my bike volume (including a 2hr - long for me -ride 1x/wk). Not willing to give this up b/c I've seen such progress on the bike.  Plus I really love the new one.

I have been running by pace but am going back to HR.  I'm thinking I'll up run volume via frequency (adding an extra short run) and ease up on pace if necessary.  Going to keep the long run but try to ignore pace completely on that outing.  I'm going to commit to this plan for 4 weeks.  Will reevaluate then. 

I think I'll also go back to detailed nutrition tracking.  I'm big on protein and fiber perhaps to the detriment of carbs.  Not sure if this could be a factor, but it makes me think I'm doing something beneficial.  I'm all about the placebo effect.  Other ideas welcomed!

x2

I go by HR in the summer and pace in the cooler months.  Also your body hasn't acclimated to the warmer temps. 

Congrats on the win!  Are you going back next year?

Great race and nice bike split.  Keep up the good work, 3 months till Rocketman.

Do the Inside Out rides on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Its close to you. Start out with the A group and hang on as long as you can!! Then when you get dropped, the B group will pick ya up. I usually last about 5 to 10 minutes max with the A group. Those guys(and girls) hammer I swear those hard effort rides translate to your running. Do you know Mike Beaman at IOS? He just went 10:07 at St. George and KQ's. Nice guy as well.

I agree that the warmer temps may be screwing with your running a bit.  It did on my run yesterday.