Asphalt Junkies Spring 2013 - Closed (Page 25)

A few follow up thoughts on topics from yesterday.

On the topic of cadence, since it was on my mind, I tried to see how fast I could spin this morning.  I spent about a whole minute spinning fast with no real resistance just as a challenge to my neurons to fire that fast.   I got up to 136rpm and not just for a moment either.  I didn't know I could spin that fast.  That has no value beyond training myself to spin more efficiently at a lower cadence...meaning you'd never really spin that fast in real life....and I was definitely bouncing...

But if I currently spin efficiently up to 100 or 105 or 110...then a few efforts like that 136 blast can help me maintain my efficiency spinning up a few rpms higher yet (with consistent practice).

And I don't mean to suggest that any particular rpm is mandatory for anyone.  But that there is a theoretical advantage to learning to spin faster as long as you are doing so efficiently (without wasted effort becoming required to keep the foot speed).

On the 2nd topic of warmup...

I usually try to get to a race 1.5hrs before race start but still seem to have a hard time getting in the warmup I want.  Here's kind of how my race morning goes and where that 1.5 hrs disappear to.

1. Park the car as close to packet pickup or transition as I can
2. Grab my wallet and go to packet pickup
3. Wait in line for packet, then get timing chip, then get body marked
4. Chat with old friends I run in to
5. Go to bathroom!
6. Go back to car and leave the swag bag and wallet but keep the race number(s) and timing chip
7. Pump up my tires to race pressure
8. Get my duffel bag with ALL race gear and my bike and go to transition
9. Put race number(s) on bike if necessary
10. Put bike in rack
11. Set out towel, timing belt with number affixed, racing flats, helmet
12. Chat with old friends I run in to
13. Reset cyclometer for the race
14. Put shoes in the pedals and rubber band the pedals horizontal
15. Check out transition ins and outs
16. Check out the water entry and exit
17. Check the water temperature to see if I'll be using my wetsuit
18. Chat with old friends I run in to
19. Go back to car one last time to tell my son that it's time to come and get ready to watch
20. Warmup?  What warmup, it's time to get in the water!

So you can see why it's hard for me to get in my warmup.  In fact I end up spending more time socializing than I listed.  Often I will know a first-timer (that I often recruited in to this) and I feel obliged to walk them through the race logistics.

But I have a solution to this!  Here's how I have begun doing it this past season:

1. Park the car as close to packet pickup or transition as I can
2. Grab my wallet and JOG to packet pickup
3. Wait in line for packet, then get timing chip, then get body marked
4. Chat with old friends I run in to
5. JOG to bathroom!
6. JOG back to car and leave the swag bag and wallet but keep the race number(s) and timing chip
7. Pump up my tires to race pressure
8. Get my duffel bag with ALL race gear and my bike and JOG to transition
9. Put race number(s) on bike if necessary
10. Put bike in rack
11. Set out towel, timing belt with number affixed, racing flats, helmet
12. Chat with old friends I run in to
13. Reset cyclometer for the race
14. Put shoes in the pedals and rubber band the pedals horizontal
15. Check out transition ins and outs (by JOGGING around)
16. Check out the water entry and exit (by JOGGING around)
17. JOG to check the water temperature to see if I'll be using my wetsuit
18. Chat with old friends I run in to
19. JOG back to car one last time to tell my son that it's time to come and get ready to watch
20. Warmup?  I'm already warmed up!

mambos - 2013-01-08 10:25 AM Aaahh! Now my OCD is going to go into overdrive! Supposed to get up early and go for swim, but I am just not a morning person. So instead I figured I could go on lunch and get my swim in that way. perfect plan, sleep in and still get my swim in, or so I thought! Who schedules a meeting across lunch on short notice! Now instead of swimming I get to sit in a board room, I guess at least lunch is free! Hope it matches my diet, I gotta weigh in tomorrow . guess I will just have to look forward to my evening run!

Happens all the time!  That's why I need my morning routine.  Something will get in the way of a certain percentage of your evening plans too.  But when was the last time early morning got preempted?  It does happen, but it's rare.

JeffY - 2013-01-08 12:41 PM

mambos - 2013-01-08 10:25 AM Aaahh! Now my OCD is going to go into overdrive! Supposed to get up early and go for swim, but I am just not a morning person. So instead I figured I could go on lunch and get my swim in that way. perfect plan, sleep in and still get my swim in, or so I thought! Who schedules a meeting across lunch on short notice! Now instead of swimming I get to sit in a board room, I guess at least lunch is free! Hope it matches my diet, I gotta weigh in tomorrow . guess I will just have to look forward to my evening run!

Happens all the time!  That's why I need my morning routine.  Something will get in the way of a certain percentage of your evening plans too.  But when was the last time early morning got preempted?  It does happen, but it's rare.

 

That is why I get up at 3:30  to do my runs and biking, now if I could just get a pool that would open...

JeffY - 2013-01-08 12:41 PM

mambos - 2013-01-08 10:25 AM Aaahh! Now my OCD is going to go into overdrive! Supposed to get up early and go for swim, but I am just not a morning person. So instead I figured I could go on lunch and get my swim in that way. perfect plan, sleep in and still get my swim in, or so I thought! Who schedules a meeting across lunch on short notice! Now instead of swimming I get to sit in a board room, I guess at least lunch is free! Hope it matches my diet, I gotta weigh in tomorrow . guess I will just have to look forward to my evening run!

Happens all the time!  That's why I need my morning routine.  Something will get in the way of a certain percentage of your evening plans too.  But when was the last time early morning got preempted?  It does happen, but it's rare.

I have to concur as well. This happens often but I have a little more flexibility working from home so if I have to take "lunch" in the morning like 10 or 10:30 am I do it just to get my swim in. I usually go between 11 and 11:30 am. I can't do early mornings since I take my daughter to work but I always manage to find time in the morning to get my run or swim in during the week. I'm a little more challenged now since the pool which is 5 minutes from my house added more hours on Sat. and now are open on Sun.  which is great but they are closed during the week from 12:30 to 4 PM.

mambos - 2013-01-08 1:16 PM

KWDreamun - 2013-01-08 12:52 PM

JeffY - 2013-01-08 12:41 PM

mambos - 2013-01-08 10:25 AM Aaahh! Now my OCD is going to go into overdrive! Supposed to get up early and go for swim, but I am just not a morning person. So instead I figured I could go on lunch and get my swim in that way. perfect plan, sleep in and still get my swim in, or so I thought! Who schedules a meeting across lunch on short notice! Now instead of swimming I get to sit in a board room, I guess at least lunch is free! Hope it matches my diet, I gotta weigh in tomorrow . guess I will just have to look forward to my evening run!

Happens all the time!  That's why I need my morning routine.  Something will get in the way of a certain percentage of your evening plans too.  But when was the last time early morning got preempted?  It does happen, but it's rare.

 

That is why I get up at 3:30  to do my runs and biking, now if I could just get a pool that would open...

Was that 3:30am? Are you going to bed at 8:00pm? I have a hard enough time getting up by 6:30am let alone earlier! Every year I say I am going to start getting up earlier, only thing that happens is I annoy my wife because my alarm goes off at 5:00am but I do not wake up!

I'm the same way after years of getting up at 3:30 and 4 AM to get to the city for 7 AM I just can't do it anymore. I burned all my early morning matches for life!

JoAnne I'm sorry to hear about the fall, it sounds like that could've been alot worse. Glad to hear you are alright and take it easy and make sure you are feeling ok before jumping into your workouts. Better to take time out now then have it affect any of your races later on.

whoa, are you sure you didn't get a concussion from that?

Owie!  I was thinking the same thing!

Will this keep you from testifying on the Benghazi incident?

Seriously, I hope everything is alright.  It would be more of a concussion that I would be worried about.  If your knee is tender, try to ice it and stretch if it's not swollen.

Jo, glad you are OK and its not too serious. Take care...

Dirk, your comment got me chuckling. Her staff supposedly presented her with a padded football helmet as a gag gift!

Alright after the workout on the bike on Sunday I was definitely a broken man and I did not think it could get any worse until I did the week 6 day 1 workout of Jorge's WCP tonight. That workout brought pain and suffering to a whole new level. Now I know I have been tired lately and recouping from Sunday's workout. I have also been slamming Zicam to ward off the onset of a cold but I won't make any excuses tonight's workout (5x4 @20 MP with 1" rest) was absolutely brutal. The hardest workout I have done so far. I truly have a new found respect for everyone here who was survived Jorge's program. When I got to the cool down I think my legs were just moving on their own I had no control of them anymore they were just moving the pedals. I was soooooo happy to just finish the workout.

Now I apologize to everyone doing Jorge's program as I don't want to be demotivating to anyone but these workouts should have a warning label like ***** Warning this workout can be hazardous to your health *******. I would say week 5 day 4 and week 6 day 1 were the worse workouts I have done by far, they have totally sucked. I was looking at the workout all afternoon thinking there is no way I am going to be able to finish it. I did but I could not sustain my 20 MP for 4 minutes although I gave it everything I had and hung in as best I could without going into cardiac arrest.

The worse part about this is that I know there must be workouts in the plan far worse than these two which is an absolutely frightening thought.

I LOVED that workout!!!!  I ate it up and spit out endorphins!!!!  Rawr!!!!! 

Well that would explain why you are dropping everybody on your rides. I was ready to die after these two workouts.

I know the discussion on event WU's is kind of growing a little stale but I'll throw my WU out there.  I don't really have a normal WU but I do have a couple of things that are "must do's" prior to the race.

• Depending on how large the race is or how far away I am required to park from the transition area I may throw my gear bag over my shoulder and ride my bike to transition.  If the latter is the case I take it easy but it feels pretty good to get my legs moving and start getting them freshened up a bit.
• Once I have have my packet and I'm marked I'll set up my transition area but I don't really spend a lot of time getting everything "just so" this far from the start.
• If I have plenty of time I'll get on my bike and ride 10 minutes miles in a low gear using more power than spinning.  My goal is to drive some blood into my legs and really get them thinking about some demand that will come later.
• Rack my bike and grab my running shoes and run about a half mile to get a little bit of a sweat up.  I don't worry about getting to worked up because it is very likely I won't stay warmed up.  I do allow my HR and effort to get up to a moderate level but nothing crazy.
• If I have time I will do a short swim but I don't usually get to do this because they have the lake closed before the event begins.  If I cannot swim I'll do a lot of shoulder circles and things to loosen up my shoulders.  I have done pushups a few times and I actually liked doing them but I tend not to think about doing them that much.  I guess that's because I'm more caught up in other things.

Yup, unfortunately so....but if you take of it now, you'll have a lot less time lost during race season!