Scott and Kelly's Mentor Group- Closed (Page 28)

Ben has some good stuff to offer.  He's a very polarizing figure in triathlon.  Some people would call him a nut job, others really like his stuff.  I've taken and used some of his strength training workouts with myself and my clients.

How do you schedule you're recovery?  Do you stack intense workouts one on top of the other?  I used to suffer from the same type of stuff, but I never kept my easy days easy.  My hard days were killers and my easy days were moderate intensity.  There are some tools in Training Peaks that are useful.  If you upload your data the Performance Management Chart is awesome in regards to fatigue.

So here's something I've worked through with others, including pros, about easy days.  Recovery efforts are supposed to be easier than you'd think.  Recovery runs are just a smidge faster than walking.  They walk that fine line.  Recovery efforts on the bike are almost no gear on and spinning at 90+ rpm.  I've spoken to pros who do recovery bikes at 12-14 mph.  It's THAT slow.

Trust me when I say that training smart will get you caught up with the guys a lot faster than training balls to the wall every time out.  There is a reason that many triathletes don't like to train in groups.  They get caught up in the herd and throw the day's plan out the window.  You really have to be disciplined to start a ride with a group but make sure you do your own thing regardless of what people are doing around you.

Originally posted by kathleenkp You will be happy to know, Scott, that I took a good portion of the trail on my own at 13ish mph and I didn't even feel bad about it. (Your comment helped me to relax about the speed, which is what I needed to do since today was my first time with any substantial - more than 1/4 mile - time in the aerobars.)

YAY!!

Speed is a by product of quite a few outside forces in addition to our effort.  It's not a metric really to race on train by (especially on the bike).  Ideally you race and train by zones (HR or Power) or you become really in tune with your body and learn to gauge Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE).

The more endurance I seem to do, the more I seem to gain.  As soon as I switch to short workouts with higher intensity the weight and flab come right off. I'm burning less calories, but the shorter workouts don't increase my hunger like long training sessions do.  I read an article roughly 2 weeks ago about how long training sessions increase stress hormones and hunger - the two combined causes weight gain.  Just doesn't seem fair to burn off so many calories and end up gaining weight.

Highlights from Saturday's 12 hour adventure race: flat tire at start of bike leg, self inflicted black eye from oar, 500 mph wind out of the East, waves on the lake big enough to surf during the canoe section, 50 cuts on the thighs from the thorniest state in the nation (thorn must be Iowa's state flower), winning $600 bike rims, finding elusive check point #17 in less than 12 minutes when other teams spent 60r to 90 minutes looking for it, and racing with the friendliest racers I know.

Final results haven't been posted and I'm anxious to see how we fared against the best racers in the nation.  I know they beat us, but curious how the rest of the field fared in comparison.