Slornow and Wannabefaster's Winter Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 26)

This sounds exactly like me.  Except I'm in the "before" camp.      Good to have something to aim for!  My fastest 5K is about 29:45 -- the notion of going sub-25, let alone 21, is quite foreign to me.

Feeling pretty good today -- had a two-workout day!  One session with a swim coach / video session in the afternoon (Christmas gift from my wife), and then a 30 min treadmill run in the evening.  

Scott.

Good Morning all - I had a 40 mile ride with hill repeats on Friday and a swim workout after that. Yesterday my ride was a little shorter at 33 miles followed by another swim. Guess whats on the plan for today ... s/b/r .... congratulations to you racers those 5k times are something I strive for ... 

What is everybody else doing today?

Great job Nate and Jamie!!

Got out for a very short run this morning but it's something!

Great work nate and Jamie!!!!

I took off Friday and Saturday and now back to work.  Need to get a run done tonight after I finish at the hospital. 

I redid my 30 minute HRMLSS test - this time only recording the average for the 30 minute test and not the warm up and cool down.  EEK.  I went from 117 to 146 so I guess this week I'm in for some tougher training

I hate Sundays......Monday work is looming....

After taking the dogs for thier walk I jumped on the bike for a short 11 mile ride, medium intensity.  I wanted to keep it short because the girls wanted to run this afternoon.

We headed over the the HS track and after a warmup I managed to get through my 2 mile run I set as my new benchmark.  I did have to walk a few times finishing in 22:10.  I was not trying to push it and at times I was trying to slow myself down becuase I was working too hard for my plan.

I noticed two things different running outside as opposed to a treadmill.  First, I was running harder than I should have been.  The fixed speed of a treadmill doesn't let me do that.  Particularly at the start I was pushing too hard.

Second, outside I tend to run very straight up with almost no lean.  That may be one of my problems.  Any trick to remembering or training yourself to lean a little forward?

It was nice on both the ride and the run that everyone was home watching football.  No competition for the roads or track.

So who's working tomorrow?

Wow, busy day here with lots of good training going on (except Rene....slacker)

We got home around lunch time, I lazed around for awhile  finaly headed out on my run. First time to incorporate any degree of intensity since straining my calf. 2 miles easy, 2 miles @7:44/mile pace and then an easy mile or so to finish. Felt good to push a bit but don't want to rush things. Working steadily to hopefully get my run back to where it was. Then did an easy 30 minute spin on the bike. Unfortunately, I will be working tomorrow. Courts etc., are closed so shouldn't be too busy. Swim and  another run on Monday.

Stuart, with regards to your running straight, everything I've read says that running tall is a good thing. Stay straight up, shoulders square, and arms moving with the legs. Anyone else have anything to say about this.

My legs are officially tired...5K yesterday morning, 31 mile ride with Nate after. Then today, I traveled to Michael/Experior's neck of the woods (Columbia, SC) for a Saluda river fishing trip. We didn't catch much, so mostly paddling. Then, I got my 1 hour long run in. I am very glad tomorrow is a rest day, but also glad I haven't *knock on wood* missed a workout yet! 

Blanda-nice work on the swim. Sighting is something I really need to work on.

For those of you with the day off....enjoy yourselves! For the rest of us.....Monday sure got here fast. Have a good day!

Yes, stay more or less upright.  The slight (emphasis on slight) forward lean will come naturally if you just make sure that your shoulders are relaxed (not 'pinned back') and your arms are not too high.  (Think of your hands brushing the top of your pants.)  Keep your elbows bent at around 90 degrees and 'drive' the elbow back slightly.  Don't focus on the lean per se -- focus on relaxed shoulders and 90 degree elbows driving back a little.

As Jamie said, there are a kajillion magic formulas out there for good running form.  Ignore them and just run.

Also, be a little cautious about comparing treadmill paces and outdoor paces.  There are a few reasons that they might not totally match up, one being that treadmills can be somewhat inaccurate.

I got back at 2:00am this morning from the RRCA training.  Factually, there was little to nothing that I didn't already know, but it was interesting to see how an experienced coach approaches certain 'problems'.  I really liked the teacher -- very knowledgeable, with real-world experience at a high level (he's got athletes winning marathons), but down to earth and thoughtful as well.

Today I am 16 weeks out from my first race (a 70.3) of the year.  (I might do a tune-up or two before then.)  Serious training begins now!

With 13 weeks until my first event of the year I have the swim wired.  The run I at least have a
plan I can stick to so I will see how that progresses.  That leaves the bike.

I have ridden the one 16 mile course I will be doing for all three sprints this year (April, May & June).  It is fairly hilly plus ‘the hill’ I mentioned a few days ago.  While I finally made it over without walking the bike up, it was ugly. So I think there are three things I can work on to be better prepared come race day for the bike portion.

1. Work on the engine – obviously I need to work on getting faster but are there things that will specifically help my climbing ability?  Going the opposite direction as the race that one hill is carved up into three lesser hills.  Would that be a good thing to do, getting more hill work as a way to get better on the big hill down the road?
2. Work on my bike – Here is what is on the bike now: Crankset = FSA SLK Light Carbon, 53/39, Cassette = Shimano CS-5700 12-25 10 spd.  Should I be considering some other set up if three of my four races this year are this hilly route with the one big hill?  Anything else I should be looking at?
3. Race tactics – I am making it a priority to ride the exact course once or twice a week so I get familiar with the route, hills etc.  If I am in my lowest gear and standing on it at the top of the hill should I upshift a bit?  Standing on it at that low gear yields very little propulsion.  Any other things I should be looking at/for on the course?

Thanks in advance for any help.  The collective here has been terrific with advice and encouragement which is greatly appreciated.

For me, strength in the quads and glutes and pedaling correctly are the keys with hill climbing.  Standing only wastes energy and you lose momentum no matter how good your sit/stand transitions are IMHO.  (disclaimer: I'm a roadie not a triathlete, yet)

Keep your feet as parallel to the ground as possible when pedaling and on the uphill (and on your upstroke side) you can drop your heel slightly to engage your glutes.  Drop your heel and push up with your toes.  That's where your secret power comes from  When you feel your glutes kick in, you'll know.

Keep your feet as parallel to the ground as possible when pedaling and on the uphill (and on your upstroke side) you can drop your heel slightly to engage your glutes.  Drop your heel and push up with your toes.  That's where your secret power comes from  When you feel your glutes kick in, you'll know.

I didn't know that. I'm going to try that tomorrow. Thanks.

All of the above. 

1.  The best way to get better at climbing hills is to climb them.  Often.  Hard.  If riding the big hill 4-5 times hard in a row is not on the table yet, then sure, ride the course backwards and pick the largest hill that you can ride up hard 4-5 times (for starters) and do it every ride.  (Up hard, back down easy, then up hard again.)  When you can do that, do more repetitions (up to 10 or so), or find a bigger hill, or both.  Did I mention that you should ride it at a very hard effort?

2.  Consider putting a 27 on the rear cassette.  That's pretty cheap and will help on race day.  Don't use it when you do those hill repeats unless it is necessary.  'Necessary' means that you try to make forward progress (in the 25) but instead fall over.

3.  Racing this hill will be totally totally different from practicing on it.  In a race you want to keep your level of effort as even as possible throughout.  (Well, that's actually a bit of an exaggeration, but think of it like a swimming drill -- we need to exaggerate what we are trying to do, and then we might actually get it right.)  This too takes a little practice, so ride the course a few times trying to keep your level of effort as even as possible (at least until you spin out on the downhills).  As for seated versus standing, this can be individual, but in general people are less efficient out of the saddle.  If you do feel like you want to come out of the saddle, it's OK, but it would be good to be sitting again before you crest the hill.

And yes, anticipate the shifting a little.  Going down and going up.