JohnnyKay and Fred Doucette's HIM/IM focused Mentor group-CLOSED (Page 27)

This week and next are very challenging to maintain consistency.  In order to do the upcoming IM I've had to work more shifts, arrange meetings etc. to allow for the upcoming time off.  At least I have the previous 6 months behind me.  All week and next my schedule and other comittments have been basically early am till late pm (6-7 AM to 9-930 pm).  Tonight I don't get home till 930 pm.  I do have this weekend off.  Only 2 weeks and a few days till IM Texas.

So, I have the plan I've been following but these last 2 weeks are really hard to follow the taper.   I know my situation is not unique and am curious what others do when the taper is also time to take care of other issues - family, work, etc. 

Rode the trainer for 70min this morning.  That's it for today as I have little league umping duty this evening.  Been unusually tired all week for some reason and really looking forward to the weekend.

I work night shift tonight and tomorrow night then going away for the weekend so need to do some switching around of my training as I won't have my bike with me.

Today 45 minute bike I'll do shortly.  Will swim at 5pm before work, then run in the morning after work.

I did a HIM in the rain with temps in the 40s once.  My feet were numb off the bike and didn't begin to 'wake up' until about 2mi into the run.  At first I thought I had rocks in my shoes, but shortly realized that that was just the feeling coming back. 

Get a pair of neoprene booties to put over your shoes.  Makes a big difference keeping heat in and wind out.  Some toe warmers that work the same way can also be helpful for cool, but not cold, mornings.

Looks like my last couple posts never made it on the board. As far as cadance goes I usually bike in the 80-90 rpm range, but like Bryan says I never really could tell you what my cadance is. I only really notice when it slows down drastically but other then that I ride where I feel COMFORTABLE.I counted my cadance on my run last night and was around 84-88 the entire time. This was on an easier run so I am going to count again tomorrow when I am putting in a harder and faster effort.

I have heard of some people that train with different cadances such as doing hill repeats on high gears and lower cadance to build stronger torque into their pedal stroke.  But as far as raising my cadance I have found that the faster I pedal the higher my HR is so I try to find a good medium and that is usually in the 80-90 range. I am curious about this know and may try some rides with higher cadances and do a T-Run off the bike and see how I feel.

@ Jimmy - Keep Fred's advice front and center - the hay is in the barn for sure. Squeeze in the short workouts where you can to keep sharp. Work and life obligations just can't be ignored sometimes.

2 weeks from now I'll be in Texas, checking in for IMTX (I imagine Jimmy will be too).

Today just a short swim for me. Tomorrow is a big brick workout - 1 hr bike/2 hr run.

The good news is that if it was a pacu and not a piranha then it will take it a bit longer to chew through your wetsuit before reaching your skin.  Swim fast!

Did a 6 mile run this am and have little "create-your-own" 1/2 hour workout in the pool after work.  I was thinking about maybe climbing down the ladder...500,400,300,etc.  However, I am open to other suggestions of course.

That water is going to be way too hot for wetsuits.

Had another good run this morning.  Seems like ever since I took that off day to shake whatever type of bug I had, my workouts have been really good.  Finally feeling like I'm starting to peak...and just at the right time.  Maybe it's just the excitment building up as my major races are coming up soon.

I know, booties would help!  I suspect they are coming my way for Mother's Day as DH just took an unusual interest in whether I had any or not...if not, I'm getting them for myself next week!  Thx.

During workdays, I also find that I perform much better in the afternoon.  But for some odd reason, I have no problem getting up super early and having good morning long rides/runs on the weekends.

I still haven't figured out why.  I have trouble getting out of bed at 5am for a 1 hour run before work, but I pop out of bed at 4am for weekend workouts no problem.

Did some hill work today on the bike in some brutal wind. Now that it is finally keeping a steady warm temp I do not mind the wind too much.

Had a great swim this morning and my main set was planned as this

4x200 3:20

2x400 6:30

4x200 3:15

I ended up going a bit too hard on the first 200 and decided to just go with it, swam 2:50, 2:50, 2:48, and 2:50. Then I used the 400's as pulls and choose on the fly to do the final 4x200 as a descending set starting from 3:00. My question to this set would be sprinting at the beginning and descending later in the set be more beneficial, the other way around, or does it matter to much?

That sounds like a painful weekend to me!

It's variable, but I do have lots of week blocks off.  Also family responsibilities etc.  Its all good though and I'm very fortunate to have the life I have.  Divorce and issues related to that also play into this (and no, I tri's are not the reason I got divorced although it did cause stress in our marriage at times...). 

I have this weekend off and will get a few 2 hour bike rides and a good swim.  Very much looking forward to it.  It's starting to warm up in Michigan.  Whats on tap for everyone else?