Manatees Roar into the 20s! CLOSED (Page 27)

A few pages ago Janyne asked questions about how gravel rides compare with road rides in terms of speed etc. I had and have no insight into that, but this podcast by Hunter Allen looks to answer that and other questions. It popped up in my email this morning. I haven't listened to it (yet) but the purported topics include how power is different b/w gravel and road, how does cadence compare, how should roadies travel from gravel etc.  Seems like an interesting podcast, especially for those of us thinking about making a move to gravel.

Mid-Atlantic GTD is a bit rambling at times. The Hunter Allen episode was quite good. If you are looking at bikes for this sort of thing, I suggest spending some time on the gravelcyclist.com, he does a ton of reviews. You have been warned, the rabbit hole is deep and long.

Just wanted to express my thanks to all of you and tell you why I think this group is so fantastic.  A lot of times I feel like I'm stating something totally obvious, especially with all the experience in this group, what with all the HIMs, IMs, and other really long races I see in signature lines or discussions here.  But I learned as a teacher that sometimes what "we" consider to be completely obvious and real DUH question might just be what flips the switch for the person/student asking.  My students all knew better than to ridicule a classmate for what they thought was an obvious DUH.  And I don't recall ever seeing any ridicule or shaming here.

I'm always looking for resources so I spent a little time surfing/scoping out the slowtwitch forums yesterday.  I have seen them mentioned many times and they are supposedly where a lot of BT people go when they leave here.  I was almost immediately struck by what a rude, stuck-up, elitist bunch of (expletive of your choice) they were.  There was one post in particular about why there is a Clydesdale class.  In 7 pages I might have read one or two people who attempted to justify/support Clydes/Athenas, but the overwhelming majority were basically weight shaming and saying "Fatties have no place in races/triathlons.  I would never have dared post in there and certainly would not have expected any kind of supportive or helpful answer.

The Manatees are the kind, supportive type of people I remember from my earlier BT experiences.  You should all give yourselves a pat on the back.

Yeah that site is a great place to keep tabs on emerging trends/training philosophies/products, what the pros are up to and everything "pointy end" of triathlon. But as you experienced, everything there (even mundane/safe conversations) escalates QUICKLY to the point of bullying and belittling. Too many tough internet guys who have prove everyone wrong and get the last word in. So for me it's more of a site to pop in to see what's going on in the tri world, then roll my eyes, LOL and come back here.

This. I am amazed by the level of knowitall-ness over there.  

I was surfing Manatee training logs just now.  I know I shouldn't be doing comparisons in my head, but I can't help myself.  As I've mentioned before, I have a 21 yr old Marine living in the back of my head and he is totally an overly-competitive Type A personality.  Which brings me to the point of this post.

I clicked over to Laura's website/blog and read her post where she said she hates Zone 2 work, because " ...I really hate to slow down."  I can so relate to that feeling.  I'm curious whether this is a common attitude among triathletes?  Who else has this struggle?

I know it is a huge challenge for me.  I have read about training zones, and I have tried to use them in the past.  In fact, I'm going to try to do it again tomorrow.  My bike is supposed to be 50 minutes on Alpine Splash, but I think I wanted to try to hold back just a little bit this time.  At my age, weight, and very basic level of fitness it doesn't much for me to jump the ticker up to Zone 2 and beyond.  Looking back at my previous Alpine Splash rides I see my Avg HR's have been at 80% or above , with Max HR's reaching well into the 90%+ range.  So tomorrow I am going to try to hold myself back, try to keep my Avg HR somewhere in the 70% range, and hopefully keep my Max HR in the lower 80% range.

My plan is probably going to be reducing gears while still trying to rpm's in the 60's, which seems to be my natural cadence.  Opinions?

On the run i have a real problem doing zone 2 (pace) stuff bc I feel like it throws off my form and takes forever, on the swim i don't think  about zones bc i am not a good enough swimmer to have them! On the bike, I'm more ok with using zones. So, basically I'm all messed up! But, really when we work out we should try to stay out of the gray zones bc that zone is of no real benefit, so a hard workout should be hard and an easy workout easy - almost embarrassingly easy.  Since i am bad at this this is a Do As I Say Not As I Do post!

 Thanks! Teddy the Griff loves sharing his runs . But, to your point, I agree comparing ourselves to others generally only leads to frustration!

I like seeing people's strava and BT logs so I can keep up with them and get some pointers!

Re run cadence, i sometimes repeat to myself "kick feet, little feet". That helps with turnover and not overstriding. On the bike, in general, pure cyclist will have a higher RPM than triathletes bc they don't have to run after biking! But too low a cadence for triathletes will burn your legs out pretty quickly, so there is a happy medium to find. If you practice riding at higher cadence it becomes more natural. I don't remember if you use Sufferfeset or not, if so, the Cadence Builds workout is great for this.

Just so you know, you can follow Teddy on Strava as well.  He's very insightful.

Just so you know, you can follow Teddy on Strava as well.  He's very insightful.

Non-triathlon related post.  Today our local news station reported someone found a 15 foot dead python in the woods in York county (just SW of me).  Uh, yeah...pythons cannot survive PA winters - this isn't Florida!  Which is a good thing, FL has more than it's share of pythons these days.  As much as I feel bad for the dead snake here, I had to half chuckle thinking, "What knucklehead really thought this creature could survive outside here?!"  They would've been better off taking it to a local zoo or reptile house, at least the snake would've lived.  Imagine coming across that thing while MTB or trail running?!

Python removal is kind of a big deal among a certain kind of Floridian. Here's a little info from the SFWMD:

Python Elimination Program
The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board is taking aggressive action to protect the Everglades and eliminate invasive pythons from its public lands. Starting in March 2017, the Python Elimination Program incentivizes a limited number of public-spirited individuals to humanely euthanize these destructive snakes, which have become an apex predator in the Everglades. The program provides access to python removal agents on designated SFWMD lands in Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Hendry and Palm Beach counties.Each python removal agent was provided with procedural instruction and field identification guides. Access has been given to SFWMD lands in Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier and Palm Beach counties. Python removal agents will be paid:

• A minimum wage hourly rate up to 10 hours daily. Time spent searching for pythons on SFWMD lands must be verified by a GPS tracking app installed on each python removal agent's iOS or Android mobile device.
• An additional incentive payment of $50 for each python measuring up to 4 feet plus an extra $25 for each foot measured above 4 feet. In the example below, an 8-foot python would pay out $150.
• An additional $200 for each eliminated python found guarding "nests" with eggs.

So, your 15 footer would be worth $325 if found in the Everglades.