kaburns1214 and UHCoog's Mentor Group-Closed (Page 28)

Originally posted by enders_shadow

A couple of questions...

1) What's an over/under? (With respect to training - I know what it means in betting...)

2) I'm heading to Disney for 10 days at the end of May - I'll be doing a gazoodle of walking & will bring my running shoes to fit in a run on our off days (we're only taking 2, though). When I set up my HIM plan, I started a week early to leave that week blank. But - what else can I do to help myself not be a total disaster when we get back? Granted, when we get back, I'm still 3mos out from the HIM - but I don't want to spend that week worrying that I'm blowing everything I've worked on so far.

Have a nutrition plan, execute it, but don't be so tied to it that you can't improvise. There are calorie numbers you NEED to hit, don't be afraid to go over. There are fluid/hydration numbers you NEED to hit, don't be afraid to go over. This of course is within reason because you don't want to shut your gut down, but on a day like Saturday you wouldn't in regards to liquids anyway. Oh and DON'T drink water. It will dilute your salt levels in your bloodstream. Very dangerous. A guy went into seizure about 50 yards from the finish Saturday night because of low blood sodium levels.

I feel, perhaps incorrectly, that the heavier you are the better off you are generating your speed on the downhills for just the reason IM-Scott states. It's easier for me to generate speed on the downhill and then carry it through to the flats. If a hill goes into a true flat I can maintain the speed for a long time with no HR consequences vs if I try to build the speed otherwise my HR will go up.

Speaking as a triathlete with young children it's part of the reason I haven't made the jump yet. I don't know where I'll fit in 1.5-2X the volume and still keep up with the kids and work.

Originally posted by kaburns1214
my mom will be around and loves to babysit (something about not having grandchildren of her own).

Originally posted by mleech77

Larkin convinced me to give our local Masters class a call. Talked with one of the coaches last night and I head over there tomorrow morning for an eval and further talks with the coach. Decided to give swimming sans snorkel a try at my workout this morning, ugh what a difference. I made it 50m before I needed a break. Granted this was after my 900m easy workout, but still. Something tells me this is gonna be rough.

Originally posted by kaburns1214



2. I don't like speed as a governing metric on the bike during a race. Speed can be affected by so many things. Essentially you should look to have a constant effort level / HR / watts on the bike and the speed will be what the speed is. It may mean for a larger cyclist that the speed will be slower on an uphill but faster on the down. You just want to make sure that you're not pushing too hard or too little due to thte terrain.

Originally posted by kidtri33


Can I take you up on that?

Originally posted by uhcoog



Here's the thing. Ironman is a selfish endeavor. It just is. You train 6-7 days a week for 2-7 hours. When you're in it you feel like you have to get every workout in or you're going to FUBAR your race. Parenting and being married is just the opposite of selfish. So you really have to have the buy in of your spouse or significant other. Otherwise you're looking at 6 months of fighting. Cindy and I had our fights and I was TOTALLY honest about the time commitment this would take. 6 mornings a week when the kids woke up I wasn't there. I wasn't there for half a day on the weekends the last 2 or so months. When the kids went to bed and it was "us time" I just wanted to sleep later in the process. If Quinn woke up in the middle of the night I was dead to the world. It is a lot to ask of a spouse when you have young kids that aren't partially/mostly self sufficient.

That said I REALLY want to do IMFL, IMAZ, or IMCOZ in 2014, or IMLP in 2015. Cindy is pushing Vineman for the winery aspect.

Originally posted by kidtri33


Thanks B Scott and T Scott and Kelly for your feedback on this.

The family has been supportive and we have had our fights as well. She knows I want to do it and here feelings are that with the new baby it will be tough for both of us. Like you said need support from her before moving on.

Originally posted by uhcoog


Like Kelly said though. It is a lot like HIM training until 2 months out when your long rides start to creep out past the 3 hour mark. I put a lot of pressure on myself in regards to Galveston and Texas this year and it took a toll on me.

Originally posted by uhcoog



I'm 99% sure my stomach issues were heat related. I'm glad I could eat anything on the run. I talked to people who hadn't eaten since mile 60 of the bike. I keep saying that I won't go back and do that race again because of the heat, but I'm probably lying. LOL

The bike course is pretty flat with a lot of rollers. Nothing so steep that you ever even think about getting out of your saddle. I did once or twice just to change position and reposition my chamois, but it wasn't necessary.

Most of my pain was my feet (you could feel the heat radiating off the road) and my nether regions (chaffing). Just find a spot to go to mentally, or a thought. I had songs running through my head, I was scoping out other people's rigs, and I kept thinking "If I get off this bike and quit Cindy will kill me."

Advice? Ride your race. Those knuckleheads barreling past you in the first 10 miles are either elite or you'll see them at mile 80. Have a nutrition plan, execute it, but don't be so tied to it that you can't improvise. There are calorie numbers you NEED to hit, don't be afraid to go over. There are fluid/hydration numbers you NEED to hit, don't be afraid to go over. This of course is within reason because you don't want to shut your gut down, but on a day like Saturday you wouldn't in regards to liquids anyway. Oh and DON'T drink water. It will dilute your salt levels in your bloodstream. Very dangerous. A guy went into seizure about 50 yards from the finish Saturday night because of low blood sodium levels.

I'm sure I have more thoughts. Saturday is like a big blur that I keep finding little events that come through clearly from time to time and they make me smile.

Oh and I have a couple friends playing the what if game in regards to mistakes they made on race day. DO NOT DO THIS!!! When you finish an Ironman you have put yourself through an endurance test that in the grand scheme of things not that many people are stupid enough to put themselves through and you came out the other side. Yes we make mistakes on race day. I should have pulled my front left pad off on mile 5 instead of mile 50. What if I didn't spend at least 30 minutes on the run in the port a potties? What if I didn't run out of salt tabs? Just don't make the mistake in the next race and you already have a 30-45 minute PR to work with. Almost had to drive to my friend's house last night to shake her.

Originally posted by kidtri33


Thanks B Scott and T Scott and Kelly for your feedback on this.

The family has been supportive and we have had our fights as well. She knows I want to do it and here feelings are that with the new baby it will be tough for both of us. Like you said need support from her before moving on.

Originally posted by kaburns1214



IM training shouldn't be 1.5 - 2 times the volume of HIM training.

For someone who goes long on the weekends, the week day workouts should not change that much. The only thing that will happen is the weekend long bike and long run iwll get longer but with a well planned training program that addresses limiters and adjustments based on how training is going, you don't need to put in monster days or weeks.

Going into IMTX Texas Scott's longest week was 16 hours -- 2 hours swimming / 9:15 biking / 4:45 running. For most of the 16 weeks before IMTX his build weeks were 13-ish hours and his rest weeks were 9 hours.

Originally posted by kaburns1214

IMFL - Florida - November - Ocean swim (can be rough), flat, windy one loop bike, flat two loop run - PCB is a nice, esay venune, theres almost no crowd support on the bike and theres not a lot of crowd support on the run expect at the turn around.

IMAZ - Arizona - November - Swim in a drainage canal, slight incline/decline 3 loop bike, fairly flat 3 loop run - Tempe is a really fun town, there's a decent amount of crowd support because of the three loop nature of the bike and run courses, the swim is cold and murky and not nice, the air is super dry and it get VERY dark at night (I can't comment about how dark it gets at IMFL or IMLP because I either finished in the daylight or right at sunset).

IMLP - New York - July - 2 loop swim in Mirror Lake, 2 loop climb - descend- flat - big climb bike, 2 loop hilly run - Lake Placid is the BEST IM town I have ever been too, the atmosphere is absolutely fantastic, decent amount of support on the bike outside of town and tons of support in town, tons of support on the run, iconic course, GREATEVENT!

Originally posted by carrie639

Did I just hear you right that you are ready to sign up for another in 2014? Not going short in 2014?

Originally posted by jarvy01
He thinks I could be really good at it.

Originally posted by jarvy01

I am at this crazy stage where I still have the younger 2 boys who aren't yet independent, and then I have the 2 older kids who have scheduled activities every night. I try to limit extracurricular to 1 sport/1 music lesson/1 academic per kid, but this adds up quickly. The younger boys aren't getting younger, and soon I will be chauffeuring 4 people around all day every day. After this season of soccer, I realize how tough it's going to be to juggle my kids' schedules with Ironman training (and maintain the energy necessary to be an active parent).

Scott's advice is key. It's all about having a supportive spouse. My husband does most of the night wakings in my house. I'm gone on Sunday mornings, and he has his routine with the kids. He makes them pancakes and bacon, and then they all play outside while he mows the lawn. As my rides get longer they will have to be split on trainer and roads because I'll have to start them at 4/4:30. I can't be gone all day on Sunday. It's asking too much of someone when you have 4 kids.

The only fight we've ever had about training was when I threatened to quit triathlon. I think this has happened a number of times and it has always been during periods of extreme stress. He thinks I need to be doing it. He thinks I could be really good at it. He thinks I sacrifice a lot for this sport, and that means I truly love it. It's nice to have a partner who is so confident in me and my abilities. We wrote our own wedding vows and one of the things we wrote was how one of the goals of our marriage was to challenge one another. I think we've accomplished this over the last 8 years.

Originally posted by everlong



I'd love to do IMLP because of the proximity to where I live and the reputation as one huge party but the hilly nature of both the run and bike scare me a bit for my first.