kenj mentor group - back for another great season! CLOSED (Page 25)

I love that response Bill!

This is the time of year to get the diet in order and get any weight off.  Once late March or early April gets here and depending on your race schedule, you will want to be at about your race weight so you can fuel your workouts properly.  Sounds like your coach agrees with that thought process.  Good that it is working! 

I haven't been cutting back a lot, but enough that I have lost about 8 pounds in the last 3 weeks.  Unfortunately it is the easy pounds to lose and they will now get progressively tougher! 

I hope the testing goes well Nate!!  Good to have the proper zones to train in though!

We are going to be in Orlando in May and we were thinking of finding a run race to do while we were there. Does anyone have good websites they would recommend to find races?

Thanks!

BT has a pretty good feature under Races. You can also search on Active & runningintheusa

Me too, I hear testing can be brutal though!

My hubby registered yesterday for the Garrett Co. Grand Fondo in June it's a double century and 17,000 ft of climbing. no thanks!

So sorry about you pup Eddie, so sad. 

Today may be a day off - I have to go to the dentist this am to start on a new crown, but hopefully by this afternoon I will feel up to doing a short trainer ride.  Get to go back to the dentist tomorrow - yeah.

Good news here - we finally got snow to cover up all the ice!!!!!  About 6-8 inches now and still snowing! I haven't had to shovel the drive in over a month!

I will save those pages as I get down there quite a bit since my wife's family lives west of Orlando.  Thanks, good information!

Dentist, yuck!

I guess that is why you live where you do Robin! I rarely use the terms good news and snow in the same sentence unless I am referencing it disappearing!

Sounds like a busy weekend of training Jennifer!  Enjoy it and although the trainer isn't as much fun as outside, it is usually a better workout!  Training in the bank for your race!

I'm not a fan of HR.  I much prefer power for the bike and tested paces for the run.  My HR is vastly different from bike to run, beginning workout to end of workout, and even sometimes on different days.  I had a conversation last night about my Threshold testing and how wacky my HR was Wednesday on the test.  I just can't count on HR to be consistent enough to get good quality workouts.  I can use somewhat for loooooong training days when I don't have a powermeter on the bike I'm riding, but not for anything with specific intervals.  Sometimes though HR is all you have unless you can shell out the $$ for a powermeter on every bike you own.  hmmmmmmmmm!  LOL

I had to take my rest day yesterday and switch my swim TT testing to tonight.  I don't know what it is, but I just can't get used to the weight training in my program.  I'm just absolutely wrecked after weight training, for days!  I just don't seem to recover from it like I do S/B/R.  I talked to my coach about it, but he just says HTFU.  I know I have to trust my coach, but I'm having a hard time believing I'm doing any good if I can't get any quality workouts in.   I've only beein doing the weights program a few weeks now, so maybe I just need to give it a little time.  I'm also doing the coaches diet which is kinda contributing to my lack of energy right now too, and I'm sure effecting recovery times.  He suggested getting some protein powder and a blender and mixing up powder/fruit for a protein drink after weight workouts. IDK.

Don't be skeptical.  Believe! Believe!  I'm an a convert to training with HR zones.  Its a decent measure for all efforts, especially running.  I live and die by HR on the run.  Testing matters, if your workouts seem too easy or too hard then retest, but unlike power or pace your zones may not change drastically in terms of bpm (at least mine don't) you just get faster in any given zone.  One of the gripes with HR is that it is a lagging indicator of effort, so it's hard to use on short interval training on a trainer, for example.  But IM training with Fink is a lot more base time than short intervals.  Over the course of a 30 week plan, some days you'll feel like a Louisville Slugger, some days the ball. If you train by HR I think it sets you up to be able to get in all of your workouts without excessive burnout.  But HR training doesn't just mean taking it easy.  Some days it keeps me from slacking.  Zone 2 (you'll be there a lot with Fink) doesn't mean take it easy, it's an effort you can sustain for a long time.  Having the measurement tells me to go as fast as I can while keeping the effort within the zone.

Product placement - I used to get erratic, super high readings for the first 10 minutes or so of a workout if i wasn't sweating enough or my shirt was rubbing up static electricity.  After reading a post on BT I got a $5 tube of electrode gel and put a little bit on the strap before each run/bike.  Since I started using it, my readings have been consistent from start to finish of a workout.

Thanks Becky!

I haven't changed the distance to the 5 miler so I guess I am going to give it a shot  I will let you know how it goes.

That is a huge accomplishment! 

I trained some of the time with HR last year (more this year) and one of the best benefits for me as a completely new cyclist was I got much better at gauging my own effort accurately.  While I have a pretty good speedometer in my brain for running I had NO idea what I was doing on the bike, but after intermittently using the HR monitor I was much better at monitoring my breathing and guessing what zone I would be in before I looked at my watch.  And until I win that point series ($500!), there's no power meter in my immediate future...

Anyone planning new equipment purchases for this year?  I'm thinking about an aero helmet. They look so funny, but I realized in looking at some photos that I am faster than some of the people who race in them around here.  What do you think, does that give me permission to wear one? 

Happy Friday, everyone!  I have hit most my workouts so far this week, feeling a little sore and tired, but looking forward to a weekend of longish runs and bikes and slightly warmer temperatures here. Working a bunch of shifts next week, so we'll see what kind of a hit the training takes...

I'm considering buying a new bike (road).  Bought an aero helmet last year and glad I did.  I don't have any hard facts, but it makes me faster.  If nothing else, it reminds me to stay in an aero body position whenever I "forget" and start looking at daisies on the side of the road.  There's no way to not make them look silly, but the more of us who wear them, the less they stand out :-).  There will always be people with old school helmets and old school bikes who pass me.  Overweight fellas pass me too (but I usually get em back on the run). 

Generally, the best value I get is in products that help me train more and more specifically.

I won't name names........

but there are a few of us who are pretty much always plotting to make new equipment purchases.  This has been a support group in the past!  LOL

I've got a pain cave project going on now.  When it's done, I'll be looking at getting a new treadmill, wahoo fitness trainer or computrainer, and some other weight/workout equipment.  I'm also hoping to upgrade my road bike this year and I'm sure that will need some wheels.   Lastly, I'm contemplating selling one of my mountain bikes and moving to a 29er for Xterra racing and my own trail enjoyment!

Kudos to you for getting your morning training in!  Especially this morning.  When it comes to swimming, I like it warm!

HR training isn't bad once you understand it and get used to it.  I train with power on the bike and pace for the run, but HR is always tracked and monitored as it measures the effort to deliver the desired pace or power level.  So it is not a big leap to training with HR.  Doing so makes sure that you aren't training too hard, so that you will be able to do the prescribed training completely and be able to recover for the next session as well.  It also makes sure you are training hard enough to improve, which is why you will need to retest from time to time as your fitness improves.

The people that get frustrated with it usually do because they find they need to slow down some in their training, especially on the run.  I understand the frustration, but with some patience, this will pay off big time later on in the plan as well as minimize the risk of injury.

I agree power is better for the higher intensity intervals, my problem is the lag in time it takes to get up to the proper zone vs. the time of the interval.  But, for the longest time I made it work simply because it was all I had and I hadn't been doing this long enough to justify the cost.

I know, in addition the training your coach has you doing you are also dieting some.  Does your diet have enough calories from protein to help with the recovery?  I agree with Becky that it does take some time to adopt, but diet can help or hinder this process.

Have a great run Kathleen!!  Let us know how you do!