Fred D's Ironman/Half-Ironman focused Mentor Group --CLOSED (Page 26)

Yeah, I go through it every year, and still not sure why.  It certainly has something to do with weight, which I think I am addressing well for 2012.  Also volume, tried barryp's plan with consistency and still got injured.  So don't know if it's too much consistency and too little volume, too much volume and too little consistency, or both, or neither..... Or balance of bike run, or....

Seems like every time I get north of 25 mpw, my regular easy pace drops to abuot 9:15/mile, and I get injured.  Never really feel like I get a good base in

And the journey thing, that's my BT blog title.  And I completely agree.  When I DNF'd IMAZ, my masters coach sent a great note that basically said it's not about the finish, it's about the getting there.  Of course, it's still nice to finish  LOL

I always have a race PR goal for every race I enter...lucked out last year by accomplishing that feat.

Short-term this season, I really want revenge on the bike at the HIM. I would love to be at 3:00 this year...although that's lofty, considering the last two have been +3:30.

If I can keep the swim and run close to or even less than last year I would be ecstatic. So, overall for Galveston, sub-6:15 would be an amazing day for me.

There, i fix't that for ya.

;o)

Fred D - 2012-01-18 5:09 PM

TSimone - 2012-01-18 5:07 PM

golfpro - 2012-01-18 2:21 PM

Curious -

Question for the group - What are your triathlon goals for this year? any PR/race goals? times? if all the stars and planets align correctly, weather is perfect and all goes better than expected, what is that lofty time goal?

Triathlon Goal Calculator

Oh, where to start?  First, I'd like to PR every race I enter.  That's honestly doable given my current PR's and how much more I'll be trained this year, assuming no injury.  Last year I set 3 goals per race.  An attainable one that would really irritate me if I missed it, a modest one which is what I'd really like to hit, and an "if the stars aligned" goal.  I have yet to sniff the third.

This year I'm going to shoot for getting to the start line healthy in my IM.  I'd like to set time goals but I think since this is my first I'll just race as best I can relative to my training and use it as a benchmark.  Stretch goals would be sub 1:25 Sprint, sub 2:20 Oly, sub 6:00 HIM.  I'm old and slow.  I can't change the former but I'm working on the latter.

Honestly, if I maintain consistency in my training I'll call this a successful year.

Oh, and run all of the IM marathon.  j/k     

   

Yeah I somehow ended up fanning the flames in that controversy didn't I? Oh well, sometimes we do the strangest things don't we?

Tri talk is starting to get like COJ, and i am starting to avoid it.

This years goals are

improve my bike handing as i crashed last year and i need to bashish that demon.

Stowe Oly 2.45 or less

Valhalla HIM  finish

Bike is definitely the limiter.

Starting in February, I'm going to be riding a lot more. I'm hoping to hit a group ride every other week (I'd say every week, but 7am Sunday morning can be rough!), and there's a few charity rides going on. 

I'll be getting a new bike once Team Rev3's sponsorship is workout out. I'll also be getting a pro fit for the first time. The combination of those two things should be some good motivation to just ride more

Should I start Jorge's plan during the week? Is there another method I should look at?

As far as swimming goes - I could honestly get back in the pool a month before a race and be close to my best times. But, I'm hoping to start up 2x a week in February.

For running, I'll recover from the marathon, and ramp up a bit as I feel I can. I'd love to hang out around 20 mpw. 

I think this is the key, it would depend on why my race was tanking.  I am not sure I'd risk a bigger injury just to finish a race.  The race to me is the icing on the cake, the training is what I really enjoy.  So if I felt I was doing something that might risk that training I'd take a DNF.  It'd be tough, and it might take me a while to come to terms with it.  But, as mentioned, sometimes it is really hard to tell just what is going wrong, if you are putting yourself at risk or your just having a tough day. 

My goals:  To be honest I really just want to have fun and race hard.  Of course, I hope to be capable of some of these:

HIM: Sub 4:45 (possibly 4:40 if the stars aligned)

Oly: Sub 2:15

10K: 38:45

15K: Sub 1 hr

Good morning! Happy to report i am 4 for 4.  the small victories, really, and i am happy with the effort.  Short run this morning - it was bit windy and i was sleepy but I am happy to have been out.

Very interesting discussion points. 

Goals: I don't really have any except to get through Ironman training and the ironman.  I want to enjoy the process and get wicked fit!  Normally i am gunning for some run race or something but with ironman on my place and the recovery time I needed from my annual 30k run i am backing off that.

I really need to log some serious time on my bike and running too much gets in the way of that.

Bad races: i have had a few go badly.  Just runs but one was my goal marathon (before tris) and i had caught a cold. It wasn't so bad that i was home sick or anything.  My RP and I had been training very specifically to break four hours.  Well, for me I kept up for the first 10k and even through 16k but I knew my body wasn't in a good place so thankfully it was big race and i just fell back so my RP could go on (and she did break four hours).  I was a wreck.  I didn't know what to do. I made it to the half way point and then I started to walk.  I walked the whole second half to a personal worst but I walked away with a finisher's medal and some perspective on what happens when things don't go right.  In the end my time only mattered to me

What really put it into perspective for me -  because it did suck, it really sucked -  was a guy in my office who i had never met asked me how i found it and i was honest about it not being my day.  Apparently he was gunning for 3:20 and for him it was 3:20 or bust.  He was 6k from the end when he collapsed.  He woke up in an ambulance.  Even though my race sucked and i felt like my whole summer of training was a waste of time that story really brought it home for me.  This is a hobby - an arbitrary time goal is just that and it doesn't matter to anyone but you.  If it doesn't happen it can happen another day.

In the end i am happy to put in an easy effort if i don't feel right and get it done upright and smiling because i am lucky to be doing this and I truly enjoy just getting out.

Interesting and a topic that hits home for me.  I went through a horrible experience at Muncie HIM in 2010 and scared the hell out of my wife.  The weather in Muncie is notoriously hot in July for this race.  Needless to say I was naive to the whole thing.  The forecast was 85, sun, humid!  The water was 80 degrees.  I paced the bike pretty well in my opinion staying within my HR zones and cruising along.  I got off the bike feeling great.  It was hot as hell on that run.  The humidity just fried me and there was no wind to cool me off.  Anyway, I was passing people like crazy on the run.  About mile 9 or so I started to consider walking because I was so hot.  No way was I going to walk...I can rest at the finish (I say to myself).  Little did I know that I was in some serious danger.  I was approaching the finish line and my wife saw me coming..less than a quarter mile from the finish.  I was weaving all over the road and clearly disoriented.  I went down.  Could have thrown a baseball to the finish and finished 3rd AG.  My core temp was 105.  Ice bath and 2 days in the hospital.  It absolutely terrified my wife seeing me like that.  I did no HIM's last year because I did not want her to worry about me while I was racing.  Now I have a little girl.  It made me realize what I was doing this for.  I am not a pro triathlete.  I do this for fun and to put myself in that situation was stupid.  There is a difference between racing hard and racing stupid.  We have to make that determination...and its not an EZ one in the heat of the moment.  I can honestly say I backed off a bit in some races last year on the run becuase that day still haunts me a little bit. 

I think ultimately we have to remember why you are doing the sport.  We are not pros.  We do it for fun.  I would say today that race gave me perspective.