Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 26)

Kurt sorry to hear about the cold I hope you are feeling better and can get back to training soon especially with your upcoming race next weekend.

Dina, take care of that ankle and absolutely get that ice on it.  Dirk's rehab plan is perfect - I'm adopting something similar for my Achilles now before it gets too bad.

As much as taking a day off yesterday sounded good, I split the difference and did my shorter run with the idea to do my longer one today.  Saturday kinda has to be an off day since we're going away this weekend as a family to a camp for mentally disabled children.

Well, last night on my run I didn't see an obstacle and I wiped out, getting a pretty impressive abrasion on my left knee.  It was more embarrassing than anything else, though it did make me look pretty bad##s for the last mile with blood streaming down my leg before I could get back the car and wipe it up.

JoAnne I have read Don's Ironfit training book and am using a modified version of his 30 week competive plan. I have sort of modified that for a HIM. I'm no expert but I would think that if you could do what he has in the 10 week base phase now there probably isn't any reason you couldn't start at the build phase or week 11. Also I have kind of struggled with time vs. distance thing but I am sort using both so I set up the plan using time and am estimating my distance for that amount of time. For example if I run an hour I'm figuring 6 miles for me so if I go little over an hour that's fine. I think most of the IM plans use time over distance. You could use his plan as the baseline and modify it where you think you need to. Also you can search the forums here as I have read through some of those on the Ironfit plan being using for both the IM and people modifying them for the HIM. There were quite a few people who have used his plans with success.

I think time is a fine way to train, and I bet that plan uses time to a large extent.  As long as you can comfortably do all the workouts from the week you'd like to start, it's probably fine to start 10 weeks into a 30 weeks plan.  That's a long plan, so it should be fine.  And remember that all plans are "canned" in that they are targeted for a large, general audience so feel free to tweak it a bit to your particular requirements.

I know plenty of folks who have had great success with a Finks plan.

That's impossible to say.  But the only training prescription needed to reach the 23-24 minute time frame is a high volume of easy running.

Thanks for looking out for me.  I think I'm ready for this speed work.  (The whole workout amounts to 1.5 miles fast...not too bad)

And I was smart enough 2 weeks ago to go and just coach Jordan around the track since I wasn't feeling up to it.

I usually forego speed work and just race myself in to race shape.  But this Spring is turning out to be weird with no races until May 20. 

I think that strides are a good thing for all runners to work in to their routine about once to twice per week. 

The strides and the 400s will pay a dividend in a triathlon run by enabling me to pick up and 'kick' in the last 100-200 meters.  That's currently something I cannot do.  There isn't much to be gained there.  A few seconds at the end.  If more aerobic miles can get me 30+ seconds over the entire race that's preferrable.  But I think that I'm currently ripe for a little bit of this type of speed work.  But I don't know for sure.  It's a bit of an experiment.  One thing that I'll be watching for is how readily I can improve my 400s. 

It comes down to this: I desire to be racing at a 6:00 pace some day.  I notice that a 6:00 pace (1:30 per 400) is an anaerobic sprint for me.  If 6:00 pace is realistic at all I need to run that pace enough to develop the mechanical efficiency for it to be aerobic.  I can't hope to run at 1:30/400 pace aerobically if the fastest I can manage is 1:20 (current).  You can't run that close to your full sprint and be aerobic....so there needs to be some speed increase on my part to get there.

For instance, at the moment I notice on the treadmill runs that I will begin running at 6.8mph and my HR settles in to around 130 usually.  I can increase the pace to 7.5 and just relax and lengthen my strides and the HR settles to 134.  That's a big speed increase that's almost free aerobically.  As I increase pace I cross a line where the aerobic cost elevates exponentially.  I need to develop the ability to run at a faster pace before that exponential increase begins.  And that's primarily biomechanical improvements (I think).

So with that explanation out there, you can see why this type of training isn't important for someone training for longer races (slower race pace).  I am in that aerobic comfort zone up to past 7:00/mile pace.  So if I want to improve my racing in longer races, mechanical efficiency improvements aren't needed...the cellular efficiency is what needs targeting.  So all miles then!

interesting side note on the workout yesterday.  My HR was weird.  The highest HR I was able to achieve was 165 and I felt maxed out.

30 seconds later it was still in the 150s.

But by the time Jordan and I were ready to start again (90 seconds after?) I was down in the 70s!!!

And I'm not suggesting that makes me some awesome athlete.  I was still gassed and breathing hard.  I wonder if there is a heart rate problem limiting my performance.  I may raise this issue with my Dr.

Jordan and I were discussing this ourselves.  We met on Sunday for the long run and despite going slower than normal and taking walking breaks, she couldn't do it.  She was struggling with a little fear about the upcoming HM and discouragement.  I explained that it happens for unknown reasons and had happened to me recently.  I told her the way to deal is to simply do nothing but finish the distance.  It can be slow, SLOW, have walk breaks.  (cycling and swimming can be done similarly)

She only made it 7.5 that day instead of 10 but we parted with my instructions being to not be discouraged and just get her miles in each day regardless of pace.

She confirmed for me that this week has been just fine.  She snapped right out of it without missing any workouts and is feeling as good as ever now.  But missing the workouts is counter productive...especially since the root cause is usually not overtraining.

She felt this way for 3 straight days BTW, but that was it.

Oh I'm going on Sunday - no doubt about that. Might not race the rest of the summer but they already have my money so I'm going!

Great timing on this for me to read as well.  I had this exact experience with last week's long run.  It just outright stunk.  No other way to put it.

I slowed down, and slowed down more, and did some walking.  My heart rate was still through the roof.  I was running a full minute per mile slower than my normal long run pace, and my heart rate and effort were way higher than they’ve been on my long runs.  At least my wife joined me for the last 2 miles and that made it tolerable. 

I just wrote it off and hoped it would be a one off, which it was.  Sometimes we just have an off day, or an off  week, and I guess it’s all part of the process.

Good attitude, and kill it.

Icing for the second time today. I managed a quick trip to the chiropractor for some ART this morning. He put his finger on the tender spot and I got a little sick to my stomach! He says even if it is a slight tear that the ART should help. We shall see.

Since I'm bored sitting here while I ice and you shared your story of falling down in training I thought I would share one of my MOST embarrassing training moments.

About 10 years ago (geez I've been at this a long time) I was having some back trouble. I iced it all the time with a gel type ice pack. At this time we had just moved to Southern IL and people had me all freaked out about giant spiders and snakes in the woods. I swear there is a connection, just keep reading...

Anyway, one night I'm icing my back and it kind of starts to burn a little. I don't think much of it and go to bed. In the middle of the night it starts to itch really bad, turns red and kind of swells up. I immediatly think spider bite. I woke up my husband and had him take me to the emergency room because I was sure I had been bit by a poisenous spider. The emergency room tech looks at the spot, can't find anything to indicate a bite of any sort, starts to ask me questions..... Ooops, we figure out I actually gave myself frost bite from the ice pack .

Heh, heh, my husband loves to recall this story. Now that is true love, if you stick with some crazy fitness junkie who wakes you up to go the ER for giving her own self frost bite.

Happy Friday!!

Dina...lol  sshhh  i won't tell anyone.

Jeff, great runnadvice as usual!!!

OK I just finished a 35 min hard bike ride and 25 min easy run...man this sickness made we weak but hopefully it will come back soon.  Tomorrow is a LONG ride...I hope.

Question 1.

OK I recently had my bike fitted to a more aggressive position.  They took al the spacers off the handlebar and pulled the seat forward to get me in a more aero position (this is a road bike).  Now when I look up to see where I'm going my lowerneck/upper back starts hurting.  is it to low or do i just need to get accustomed to it.  If I look basically down, it is OK but I might crash too.

Question 2...for the guys

What swimsuits do ya'll swim in during practice.  I've been using baggy swim suits...they said to get the briefs as it would make a huge difference...are they playing a joke on me...uuummm  I said i would never wear tri shorts too.  I only do that if everyone else is doing it.  If it is a run only w/ everyone wearing running shorts, i still like the compression shorts but I put a pair of running shorts over them.

sorry for the ???

Did you look up while they were fitting you?  There's no doubt that a more aggressive position takes a little time to adjust to, but if it's overly uncomfortable you won't stay in the aero position as much and you will lose the advantages.  Spend some more time seeing if you just need to adjust, but don't be overly stubborn about it.  Road bikes with aero bars are simply not the same as a tri bike.  We're basically trying to do the best to fit a square peg in a round hole when adapting a road bike to a TT bike.

I started out with a very aggressive position on my road bike, but I went back and got fitted with a more moderate but much more comfortable position.  With the new fit I'd rather ride in my bars than out, so for long course riding it's perfect.

For training I wear these speedo long swim trunks in the water.  They are basically like compression shorts but made for swimming.  When racing it's tri shorts.

Karl, are you talking about swimming with a group of swimmers or just solo training?  It is true that baggies slow you down enough to measure.  But when swimming solo for training then it's something that just adds to the training load.  A lot of swimmers wear "drag suits" for that reason.  They make it harder to pull yourself through the water.  You can keep wearing them if you want.

But if you want to go faster or you are swimming with a group and interval times matter and keeping up matters...then buy JAMMERS, not briefs.  They look like tri shorts but without a pad for the saddle.

Bike...I need to specifically see your bike fit to answer this authoritatively.  I will say that there is some adjustment to riding a bike that is fitted for racing.  It's just part of the sport.  The tush needs to get tough, hands and wrists do and the neck does.  But there is the possibility that it's pretty extreme and in this case it's not just a matter of getting tough.

On a road bike there are a number of places to hold on the handlebars and the most relaxed place is the 'tops' of the bars.  In that location I wouldn't expect the neck to have much trouble.  So where are you holding the handlebars in relation to this question?  Or are you using clip-on aerobars and talking about resting on the arm rests?

On my tri bike when I'm on my arm rests, my neck is extremely bent just to look forward.  When I ride that bike I spend well over half my time looking down.  But I'm constantly up and down with the head to keep the neck loose and rested.  When I look up, I try to look up with my eyes.  I make sure everything is clear in the distance then look down (a lot like sighting when swimming).  Then I look up with my eyes to a point about 30 feet in front of me for the bulk of the time.  It's a constant adjustment.  A REALLY aggressive position on a triathlon bike is like standing there and looking straight up at the sky all day.  No one should tell you it's comfortable.

Now that being said, everyone is free to choose comfort over speed.  Don't hate the sport. 

I'm going to be in Vegas for the next week on business.  I'm leaving tomorrow.

I hope to get the opportunity for some bike rides and runs in the Red Rock Conservation Area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rock_Canyon,_Nevada

Be on the lookout for photos.

If your recent races are an indication (which of course they are) you are gonna absolutely destroy every one of those 13.1 miles.  I race my half in 2 weeks - I challenge you to set a time I can't beat!

That place looks incredible.  Good luck getting out there.

That looks beautiful. Have a great trip!