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Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - CLOSED (Page 3)
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 2015-01-08 10:59 AM in reply to: Ryan Mac |
Master  4119   Toronto Bronze member |  Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPENAwesome to see so many faces join! I am still not 100% - feeling a little off. I slept like a log last night. I need to get back to eating and such. At work but feeling tired. Won't take long to be through the day though. If i feel up to it i'll do a short spin on the trainer but no pressure on myself. |
| 2015-01-08 11:11 AM in reply to: Ryan Mac |
| 23 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by Ryan Mac Originally posted by marcagShawn: The fact that you are tackling this as a single dad with 3 young kids is awesome. Marc makes great points about starting points. I always try to look at each sport individually from a performance standpoint. The cumulative amount of work that you do will trump what you do in one workout. So, while doing the race distance in training has some merit it will be the sum of work (volume and intensity) that will pay dividends on race day. I will try to expand on that in the morning when I get some more time. Right now I gotta get the kids to bed!! Thanks! Yeah, taking care of three little ones pretty much crushes any idea of trying to workout while I have them and they are awake. My kids are just too young and require my attention constantly at this point. That's why my workouts have to be limited to very early mornings and weekends that I don't have them. I do load them up and go to the gym once a week (Thurs) to get my swim workout in. My daughter is 8 and she wants to give this triathlon thing a try so we both work our swims on that night with a swim coach. The gym has a daycare so the little guys get to hang out in there while we workout. I only attack the race distances periodically in my training more as a gauge of my progress and to get a feel for what it is like. I generally train below those distances, but have to admit that there are more junk miles in my training than I would like. That is really where I need to focus; putting more quality into my limited training time. I just barely started introducing interval training into my bike and haven't done any on the run. Swim coach takes care of that on the swims, but that is only once a week, which I know I need to figure out a way to get more time in. Fortunately, that is my strongest discipline. |
| 2015-01-08 11:14 AM in reply to: 0 |
| NH | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN USERNAME: wbayek NAME: Warren STORY: I am currently 52 years old. Team sport guy through college, mainly hockey but played football as well. Played competitive racquetball in SD for a number of years, but starting at age 30 added a few pounds a year until mid-40s. At a yearly physical, my doc pointed out that every year I was adding a few more pounds and few more points of all the bad markers, so after 15 years the numbers were actually quite alarming. I immediately went into my typical addict mode and lost 40 pounds and greatly improved all my numbers. While rehabbing tennis elbow from hockey, the PT kept talking about the Ironman races she and her husband did, and I signed up for a sprint on a whim - despite not being able to swim and never having run in my life other than as part of a sport. Five years later, I'm fully addicted to S/B/R, and I'm a member of a loosely organized team run by the aforementioned PT. I’ve migrated to the front of the AG pack on the bike, while my running and swimming are improving but still under construction. Currently recovering from serious shoulder surgery this past fall due to a bike crash – grade VI shoulder separation, full rotator cuff tear, full bicep tendon separation. FAMILY STATUS: Married 20 years, 3 sons - 18, 16, 12. My wife has been a runner her entire life and we love running together on weekends. The oldest son is my sherpa and comes to all my races, my middle guy did two races last year – one with me and one on his own. Me and my two oldest have done a sprint as a relay team for that past few years. My youngest has Down syndrome, which adds a lot of color to our family. He wants to do a race with dad someday, so I’ve started the wheels turning on how to make that happen. CURRENT TRAINING: Recovering from the surgery has been a major struggle in terms of having patience. I have a pretty aggressive surgeon who deals with getting athletes back on track, so he understands my angst. I’ve been on the trainer for about a month and have only recently started running again. The surgeon has me swimming by March. My goal is to get my bike FTP back to last year’s levels before the end of winter, and work back to consistent running by then as well. Swimming will be a wait and see proposition. LAST YEAR'S RACES: Last year’s plans were seriously thwarted due to a bike crash 4 weeks before my A race. I got a concussion and tore tendons/ligaments in my shoulder. After consulting with a surgeon and settling on a plan, I actually completed two races post accident (before surgery) with the surgeon’s ok: a sprint tri with my son and a HIM aquabike. Going sub 40 in an ocean swim HIM and completing the bike with essentially one arm may be one of the highlights of my tri “career”. Quite painful but satisfying! THIS YEAR’S RACES: This year is a little up in the air, but I have an HIM in early Sept as my A race. I’m planning a few races before that but haven't set the schedule yet pending some more rehab. WEIGHTLOSS: I’ve gained some weight sitting on my butt during the recovery. I'd like to get my weight back to around 175 from my current 190 for the race season. WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I absolutely love triathlon and the triathlon lifestyle. Despite a less than ideal endurance athlete background and body type, with focused training I've improved in every discipline each year. I’m a techie geek, so I am very comfortable talking technical training in any of the three sports, and I am especially well versed in training with power for the bike. My philosophy on this sport is to have fun and keep your family/life balance. Edited by wbayek 2015-01-08 11:15 AM |
| 2015-01-08 12:14 PM in reply to: marcag |
| 23 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by marcag Originally posted by ShawnTX With all of that said, I am up for any suggestions. I know that I am really going about it unscientifically and while I have been making good progress, I think it is time for me to start building in more of a "plan" rather than winging it. What I would do : step1 : look at where you are. How much are you running right now, do you have a recent race result? Just started back today. Haven't run in the last 3 weeks, mostly due to weather. Definitely have several race results to compare progress to. Have been logging all the way and have a decent idea for my paces up through the half marathon distance. This will give you an idea of how to scale your run and paces you should be running at How fast do you swim, how much do you do per workout, what is the structure ? Swim is currently just under 2:00/100 yards (up to 750 yards). That is down from about 2:33 in my first race last June. Have a swim coach and she has me working a structure geared toward the HIM. Problem is that I am only able to swim once a week due to schedule/kids. Am going to try to rework some things to see if I can't get this up to at least one more swim session per week. Bike : again do you have a race result ? do you have a trainer or do you do everything outdoor ? Have several race results here to gauge against as well. I currently have my bike set up on an indoor trainer and am working through the TrainerRoad HIM Mid Volume plan. Do you have a heart rate monitor ? Yes to the heart rate monitor. I also have a cadence foot pod, cadence and speed sensors on the bike. No power meter yet, so am using TrainerRoad estimates. Have been using the HR monitor from the start and am fairly familiar with what to expect from my heart during my workouts although I plan on going in and getting a professional stress test to get true HR zones. I have tried estimating, but either my cardio fitness is just way out of whack or I am not doing it right, because zone training doesn't seem to be working for me. For example, I have read that you should train in zones 2 or 5 (for a 5 point scale); 2 for endurance, 5 for aerobic gains, but have to walk to stay in zone 2 (per my estimated HR zones). Anything above a walk and my heart rate jumps into zone 3. This one really perplexes me as I am starting to wonder what the problem is. In my last half marathon my HR jumped up to the 170-180 range after the first mile or so. Average for the race was 175. The race went well and I set a new PR, but I definitely felt exhausted and think that, if I could figure this HR thing out, I could either A. not feel so exhausted at the end of a fun race or B. feel just as exhausted but have much better performances in my A races. As soon as I start to run, even at an absolutely easy effort, my HR jumps up into the 160-180 range. I used to think that, after several months, I would get in better shape and the HR's would come down. My performance and endurance have increased significantly, but there has been no change in the way my HR responds to exercise. Soooo, I am going to break down and enlist an expert (PlayTri in the Dallas area) to run some tests and give me some solid metrics; HR zones, VO2 Max, etc., because I am not really sure that my estimated max HR is even accurate. Some of this will help you properly pace your workouts. step 2 : what is your availability ? do you have 1 or 2 blocks per day. Do you for example have 1/2hr morning, 1hr night. Do you have longer blocks on the weekend ? I can pretty much work out 6 days a week in the morning (between 4-6 a.m.). Evenings are pretty much a bust for me as I am busy cooking dinner, giving baths, doing homework, etc., etc., etc. Weekends are different according to the visitation schedule. When it's my weekend, I can only get in the same 4-6 a.m. block. When it is her weekend, I can do whatever I want. These are the weekends I generally get in my beast workouts like the long rides, runs, and longer bricks. I had a friend lay out 1/2 blocks every morning, noon night and say if he was available to s/b or r in each. Working on this now. A schedule that will work and that I can keep on a regular basis. I think this should be doable and am looking to implement something to start off next week. Yes you want to build to race distances, but you have lots of time to do it. You want to work on your weakness early. My weakness is the run, then bike so I will try to place my focus a little more there. Funny thing, it seems every HIM training plan I come across seems to be swim heavy. I understand that there are a lot of people out there that have problems in the water, but I am not one of them. I grew up surfing in the Pacific Ocean from the time I could walk and have always been a fish. Not saying I don't have room to improve there, but things that bother other people like sighting, kick turns, fear of open water, the distances don't bother me at all. BTW, the weights and strength training may help your training very little, especially if you are limited in how many workouts per week you can do. The weights were just a recent addition and are primarily focused on functional strength. Particularly the legs. I don't anticipate those being more than cursory workouts as I can get them in. I have been getting a slew of nagging running pains that seem to revolve around the fact that my legs are generally weak; especially supporting muscles and tendons. Am looking into adding Yoga to the mix as it is something I can do in this area virtually on the go, without the need for any special equipment. Biggest limiter for AGers is time. BEst to figure out what you have available and then optimize the schedule to address your weakness. |
| 2015-01-08 12:47 PM in reply to: wbayek |
| 23 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by wbayek The oldest son is my sherpa and comes to all my races, my middle guy did two races last year – one with me and one on his own. Me and my two oldest have done a sprint as a relay team for that past few years. My youngest has Down syndrome, which adds a lot of color to our family. He wants to do a race with dad someday, so I’ve started the wheels turning on how to make that happen. I am hoping to be there with my kids some day. Only my oldest (8) is able to compete and my second one says he wants to when he is old enough. My youngest is too young to know anything yet. Hoping that the tri lifestyle might turn into an overall health-based family lifestyle; without pushing it on them. Sounds like you have a great family! |
| 2015-01-08 2:17 PM in reply to: ShawnTX |
Master 3058  South Alabama | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Always fun doing stuff with your kids. My son started swimming to rehab from knee issues.....after a month was already a much better swimmer than me. He signed up for a small local race and ended up winning the overall. Once he gets back to running form I can see him doing the swim and run and me the bike as a relay team. Maybe that will be an option when I start falling apart. If I could ever get him to enjoy cycling he would be a hell of a triathlete...his run 5K PR before the knee issues cropped up was 14:53. Odd day of training for me. Schedule was for an easy 20 min run and 60-75 min bike. But, I'm still trying to catch up from a missed swim workout earlier in the week so it looks like I'll have my own mini-triathlon today with the added swim. Got the swim and run in at lunch...bike tonight. |
| 2015-01-08 2:48 PM in reply to: ShawnTX |
Expert 1260 Norton Shores, MI | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Shawn: You are on the right track and I can tell you are thinking this through. I know you mentioned that most of the plans don't work with your schedule or your strengths/weaknesses. This is not atypical and why boilerplate training plans do not get the most out of each athlete and why coaches are so useful because they can tailor the plan exactly for you. Once you get a draft of what your typical training week will look like, post it up and we can take a look. Based on what you have already said here are my initial thoughts.
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| 2015-01-08 2:53 PM in reply to: wbayek |
Expert 1260 Norton Shores, MI | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by wbayek USERNAME: wbayek NAME: Warren STORY: I am currently 52 years old. Team sport guy through college, mainly hockey but played football as well. Played competitive racquetball in SD for a number of years, but starting at age 30 added a few pounds a year until mid-40s. At a yearly physical, my doc pointed out that every year I was adding a few more pounds and few more points of all the bad markers, so after 15 years the numbers were actually quite alarming. I immediately went into my typical addict mode and lost 40 pounds and greatly improved all my numbers. While rehabbing tennis elbow from hockey, the PT kept talking about the Ironman races she and her husband did, and I signed up for a sprint on a whim - despite not being able to swim and never having run in my life other than as part of a sport. Five years later, I'm fully addicted to S/B/R, and I'm a member of a loosely organized team run by the aforementioned PT. I’ve migrated to the front of the AG pack on the bike, while my running and swimming are improving but still under construction. Currently recovering from serious shoulder surgery this past fall due to a bike crash – grade VI shoulder separation, full rotator cuff tear, full bicep tendon separation. FAMILY STATUS: Married 20 years, 3 sons - 18, 16, 12. My wife has been a runner her entire life and we love running together on weekends. The oldest son is my sherpa and comes to all my races, my middle guy did two races last year – one with me and one on his own. Me and my two oldest have done a sprint as a relay team for that past few years. My youngest has Down syndrome, which adds a lot of color to our family. He wants to do a race with dad someday, so I’ve started the wheels turning on how to make that happen. CURRENT TRAINING: Recovering from the surgery has been a major struggle in terms of having patience. I have a pretty aggressive surgeon who deals with getting athletes back on track, so he understands my angst. I’ve been on the trainer for about a month and have only recently started running again. The surgeon has me swimming by March. My goal is to get my bike FTP back to last year’s levels before the end of winter, and work back to consistent running by then as well. Swimming will be a wait and see proposition. LAST YEAR'S RACES: Last year’s plans were seriously thwarted due to a bike crash 4 weeks before my A race. I got a concussion and tore tendons/ligaments in my shoulder. After consulting with a surgeon and settling on a plan, I actually completed two races post accident (before surgery) with the surgeon’s ok: a sprint tri with my son and a HIM aquabike. Going sub 40 in an ocean swim HIM and completing the bike with essentially one arm may be one of the highlights of my tri “career”. Quite painful but satisfying! THIS YEAR’S RACES: This year is a little up in the air, but I have an HIM in early Sept as my A race. I’m planning a few races before that but haven't set the schedule yet pending some more rehab. WEIGHTLOSS: I’ve gained some weight sitting on my butt during the recovery. I'd like to get my weight back to around 175 from my current 190 for the race season. WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I absolutely love triathlon and the triathlon lifestyle. Despite a less than ideal endurance athlete background and body type, with focused training I've improved in every discipline each year. I’m a techie geek, so I am very comfortable talking technical training in any of the three sports, and I am especially well versed in training with power for the bike. My philosophy on this sport is to have fun and keep your family/life balance. Warren - glad you are on the mend. I am sure we will have lots of geek discussion on power during the next couple months!! Power meter has been a great tool for me to get better and excellent went evaluating your performance in training and racing. |
| 2015-01-08 3:19 PM in reply to: #5076763 |
| 9 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN I been sick all week and haven't done a workout since Monday. It's frustrating but I know I need to get over this before I resume training. I'll definitely get a run in tomorrow and see how I feel. If I have to cut it short so be it. I'm scheduled to do 6.3 miles. |
| 2015-01-08 4:47 PM in reply to: Ryan Mac |
| 23 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by Ryan Mac Shawn: You are on the right track and I can tell you are thinking this through. I know you mentioned that most of the plans don't work with your schedule or your strengths/weaknesses. This is not atypical and why boilerplate training plans do not get the most out of each athlete and why coaches are so useful because they can tailor the plan exactly for you. That would be awesome. Exactly the kind of guidance I was hoping to get out of this group. Will post up a draft plan in next few days. Once you get a draft of what your typical training week will look like, post it up and we can take a look. Based on what you have already said here are my initial thoughts.
Sounds like very good advice. Will try to work in a higher volume of shorter/easier runs into the plan. More recently I had been training in the 5-10 mile run range and this was likely overdoing the distance given my current level of fitness. My first half marathon in Nov. had me a little scared and I was more worried about being able to cover the distance. I ran another in December, but have not signed up for any more as I feel like these were more of a training distraction since I really need to be focusing on Galveston. I'll post my race results from 2014 first to put things in context: Race Distance Time Avg. Pace Sprint Tri (first triathlon) - July: 5k 29:06 9:22/mi. Sprint Tri - August: 5k 31:20 10:03/mi. (I messed up my fluid intake and puked twice on this run) Local 5k - September: 5k 24:14 7:42/mi. Sprint Tri - October: 5k 29:07 9:22/mi. Half Marathon - November 13.28 2:21:49 10:41/mi. Half Marathon - October 13.32 2:18:02 10:22/mi. I have calculated my HR zones using the following: Estimated max HR of 200. Done using a fairly short stress test, but on my own so didn't want to push it too hard for safety's sake. I have seen actual HR's of 195 during my most stressful workouts so I think this is fairly accurate, but might be slightly higher in a controlled test. HR zones are: Z1= 100-120, Z2= 120-140, Z3= 140-160, Z4= 160-180, Z5= 180-200. Problem is, once I start to do about the slowest jog I can manage, let's say a 12:30/mi. pace, my heart rate will creep up into the 150's (solid Z3). If I drop below a 10:30 pace I start getting into solid Z4 territory (around 170-175 HR). I am linking to a pretty good example of my HR issue from a fairly typical training run. Hope the link works. Wasn't sure if I can embed a workout here. If there is a better way to post this info let me know. In this example my average HR is 153 and max is 173. Max occurred early on but did come down. http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/623063011 Here's a link to the first run I have data for from last June. Gives some perspective as to where I started from. The two spots where the pace drops to nothing were literally times I had to stop and walk. http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/518443867 I guess I have a couple of nagging questions about all of this. Am I just being impatient? I need to give the heart a little more time to catch up. I mean, just over a year ago I was a smoker that literally couldn't run 400m without stopping. The above example workouts do show that I have made great progress and the improvements in my HR is following along. I stopped smoking in Dec. 2013 and started training in April 2014. Lost 50 pounds during that same time. Maybe I'm pushing too hard or expecting too much. On the other hand, it seems to me that if my 5k PR is at a 7:42 pace, do I really have to drop off to a 12:30 or 13:00 pace to stay in Z2? That seems like a huge drop off, percentage wise. If so, how far do these training runs need to be given the fact that I can already run a half marathon at roughly an average 10:30 pace. Do I need to be doing 13:00/mi. pace training runs for 30 miles? I think at 13:00/mi. pace it actually becomes a fast walk for me. Or, given what you said above, should I focus more on doing 2-3 mile runs at let's say an 11:00 pace, but 5-6 days a week? This would have seemed like blasphemy to me a few months ago, but now that I know I can run a half marathon, I'm not so freaked out about stepping back a little. Lastly, maybe my HR zones are not right. I know there are several methods that people debate about. If I switch to a Karvonen modified method, Z2 is 144-158. I can manage that at roughly a 9:45-10:00 pace over 3 miles. Do I sound sufficiently confused? Getting some input on this from someone who really knows what they are doing will be a Godsend for me. On TR I went through the steps to establish my virtual power. Did the initial 20 minute stress test to establish my FTP. I haven't looked at my total watts, but have only been on TR for about a month now so don't have a lot of data to compare to yet as it applies to improvements over time. I will say that I "feel" like I am making very good progress and am getting stronger on the bike following their training plan. It is the first time I have worked intervals on the bike and I can definitely tell it is paying off. Agreed. All I need to do is keep it up and get more time in the pool. Progress here is going well and no major concerns or questions. |
| 2015-01-08 4:53 PM in reply to: swimdean |
| 23 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by swimdean I been sick all week and haven't done a workout since Monday. It's frustrating but I know I need to get over this before I resume training. I'll definitely get a run in tomorrow and see how I feel. If I have to cut it short so be it. I'm scheduled to do 6.3 miles. Whatever this bug is that is going around is pretty nasty. I was sick for nearly two weeks. Don't think it was the flu though. Never bad enough to keep me out of work, but just enough to bug me. Hope you get to feeling better and good luck on the run! |
| 2015-01-08 5:49 PM in reply to: ShawnTX |
Extreme Veteran 5722  | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by ShawnTX Originally posted by marcag Originally posted by ShawnTX With all of that said, I am up for any suggestions. I know that I am really going about it unscientifically and while I have been making good progress, I think it is time for me to start building in more of a "plan" rather than winging it. What I would do : step1 : look at where you are. How much are you running right now, do you have a recent race result? Just started back today. Haven't run in the last 3 weeks, mostly due to weather. Definitely have several race results to compare progress to. Have been logging all the way and have a decent idea for my paces up through the half marathon distance. This will give you an idea of how to scale your run and paces you should be running at How fast do you swim, how much do you do per workout, what is the structure ? Swim is currently just under 2:00/100 yards (up to 750 yards). That is down from about 2:33 in my first race last June. Have a swim coach and she has me working a structure geared toward the HIM. Problem is that I am only able to swim once a week due to schedule/kids. Am going to try to rework some things to see if I can't get this up to at least one more swim session per week. Bike : again do you have a race result ? do you have a trainer or do you do everything outdoor ? Have several race results here to gauge against as well. I currently have my bike set up on an indoor trainer and am working through the TrainerRoad HIM Mid Volume plan. Do you have a heart rate monitor ? Yes to the heart rate monitor. I also have a cadence foot pod, cadence and speed sensors on the bike. No power meter yet, so am using TrainerRoad estimates. Have been using the HR monitor from the start and am fairly familiar with what to expect from my heart during my workouts although I plan on going in and getting a professional stress test to get true HR zones. I have tried estimating, but either my cardio fitness is just way out of whack or I am not doing it right, because zone training doesn't seem to be working for me. For example, I have read that you should train in zones 2 or 5 (for a 5 point scale); 2 for endurance, 5 for aerobic gains, but have to walk to stay in zone 2 (per my estimated HR zones). Anything above a walk and my heart rate jumps into zone 3. This one really perplexes me as I am starting to wonder what the problem is. In my last half marathon my HR jumped up to the 170-180 range after the first mile or so. Average for the race was 175. The race went well and I set a new PR, but I definitely felt exhausted and think that, if I could figure this HR thing out, I could either A. not feel so exhausted at the end of a fun race or B. feel just as exhausted but have much better performances in my A races. As soon as I start to run, even at an absolutely easy effort, my HR jumps up into the 160-180 range. I used to think that, after several months, I would get in better shape and the HR's would come down. My performance and endurance have increased significantly, but there has been no change in the way my HR responds to exercise. Soooo, I am going to break down and enlist an expert (PlayTri in the Dallas area) to run some tests and give me some solid metrics; HR zones, VO2 Max, etc., because I am not really sure that my estimated max HR is even accurate. Some of this will help you properly pace your workouts. step 2 : what is your availability ? do you have 1 or 2 blocks per day. Do you for example have 1/2hr morning, 1hr night. Do you have longer blocks on the weekend ? I can pretty much work out 6 days a week in the morning (between 4-6 a.m.). Evenings are pretty much a bust for me as I am busy cooking dinner, giving baths, doing homework, etc., etc., etc. Weekends are different according to the visitation schedule. When it's my weekend, I can only get in the same 4-6 a.m. block. When it is her weekend, I can do whatever I want. These are the weekends I generally get in my beast workouts like the long rides, runs, and longer bricks. I had a friend lay out 1/2 blocks every morning, noon night and say if he was available to s/b or r in each. Working on this now. A schedule that will work and that I can keep on a regular basis. I think this should be doable and am looking to implement something to start off next week. Yes you want to build to race distances, but you have lots of time to do it. You want to work on your weakness early. My weakness is the run, then bike so I will try to place my focus a little more there. Funny thing, it seems every HIM training plan I come across seems to be swim heavy. I understand that there are a lot of people out there that have problems in the water, but I am not one of them. I grew up surfing in the Pacific Ocean from the time I could walk and have always been a fish. Not saying I don't have room to improve there, but things that bother other people like sighting, kick turns, fear of open water, the distances don't bother me at all. BTW, the weights and strength training may help your training very little, especially if you are limited in how many workouts per week you can do. The weights were just a recent addition and are primarily focused on functional strength. Particularly the legs. I don't anticipate those being more than cursory workouts as I can get them in. I have been getting a slew of nagging running pains that seem to revolve around the fact that my legs are generally weak; especially supporting muscles and tendons. Am looking into adding Yoga to the mix as it is something I can do in this area virtually on the go, without the need for any special equipment. Biggest limiter for AGers is time. BEst to figure out what you have available and then optimize the schedule to address your weakness. Just throwing this out there. The first year I did HIM I worked with a guy named Jorge who had also put together a winter biking plan here on BT. The bike portions were almost identical to the HIM plan he gave me. That may be a good biking plan for you and it works well with TR. It's basically 2 shorter workouts, 1 longer (on weekends) and 1 optional. With time you will be able to dial in your HIM heart rate pace to help you in your race. It sounds like your swim is cast in stone in terms access to a pool. With your constraints, it is what it is. The important thing will be for you to come out of the water not tired, so this means get as much fitness as you can and be sure to pace it right. The 5 minutes faster or slower is not going to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I would take a calendar, write in the swim session. Then write in the bike sessions, say 2 short, 1 long. The 1 long with the kids can be a disney movie session on the trainer every 2nd week I know that's cruel but it is what it is. The one long one outdoor every 2nd week. Jorge's plan who build up to this. You can use virtual power with this plan. I think it's on TR. Then take any available timeslot of 1/2hr or more and throw in run sessions. Put in as many as you can. Run at lunch, run to/from work. Many 1/2hr sessions make a huge difference if that's all you can fit in. Pick one timeslot that will be where you grow a longer run. Depending on how it looks, you can turn some of the runs sessions into more speed, or you can build some work into the long runs. Start with a rough schedule and refine. Just some ideas. |
| 2015-01-08 5:56 PM in reply to: ShawnTX |
Extreme Veteran 5722 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by ShawnTX Local 5k - September: 5k 24:14 7:42/mi. Half Marathon - November 13.28 2:21:49 10:41/mi. Half Marathon - October 13.32 2:18:02 10:22/mi. hmmmmmm.....at 24:14 you should be running sub 2h....easy |
| 2015-01-08 5:59 PM in reply to: swimdean |
Veteran 286 Brisbane, Australia | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Greetings from Australia. It's currently the middle of summer and super hot (I don't know if anyone is jealous or not?). It's currently pushing 30 degrees C, (>90F). 100% this is the group for me! I've been looking for a HIM focus group. My name is Stuart. I'm doing Hawaii 70.3 at the end of May. I'll post a bio today when I get a chance. |
| 2015-01-08 6:05 PM in reply to: stuart_little_9 |
Member 275 Cleveland OH | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN NO workout today, 0 Degrees, Neg 20+ windchills kept me from running outside and 14 hr workday. will get in a great workout tomorrow. |
| 2015-01-08 6:08 PM in reply to: 0 |
Extreme Veteran 5722 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN today's training, 1hr intervals on the bike & 40min/5mile run on the treadmill http://home.trainingpeaks.com/athlete/workout/FRQDQ4B33ZSUGNPTWQ3BF... http://home.trainingpeaks.com/athlete/workout/LO75RZLBYLDPVMGJUE3SR... Edited by marcag 2015-01-08 6:17 PM |
| 2015-01-08 6:45 PM in reply to: Ryan Mac |
Veteran 286 Brisbane, Australia | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Hi team. NAME: Stuart (stuart_little_9) LOCATION: Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. It's hot currently - middle of summer! HISTORY: Started tri's in 2008 with sprints and Olympics, racing my first 70.3 in 2012, and full IM Cairns 2013 (13:16). Did my first marathon last year (4:13 - goal was <4). 2015 GOAL RACES: Hawaii 70.3 (May 30) - first time racing this one. Will be making a holiday of it, spending 2 weeks in Hawaii then heading over to Las Vegas for a couple of days with my girlfriend. Mooloolaba Oly (March 14). PR on this course is 2:37, with recent results being 2:46, 2:47. Luckily for me it falls at the end of recovery week so even though it is a B/C race, I will be a bit rested for it which is nice. 2014 RACES: Completed Port Macquarie 70.3 in 5:59:55 (PR was 5:46). Pretty hilly bike for this one. Was very slack with my training the last 6 weeks and I suffered for it. FAMILY: Living with girlfriend, no kids. CURRENT TRAINING: Currently end of base 1 period, with a big cycling focus in the last 6 weeks, as this has been a bit of a weakness for me. Will become a bit more balanced from here on in. I use a power meter (Garmin Vector) for the last year, and it is awesome. I totally recommend power training on the bike for anyone as it really helps to dial in each and every workout. I also use HR and pace on the run. I hate swimming! I pretty much find every excuse not to go to the pool. I know this needs to change though! Help motivate me to get there. WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD GROUP MEMBER: I am an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (my job) so I am very much up to date with all the happenings in sport science and physiology, so I can certainly help out with any science questions. |
| 2015-01-08 6:52 PM in reply to: 0 |
Expert 1260 Norton Shores, MI | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Stuart: You are in. I just closed the group for now as we hit 12 folks.Now to shovel 12-inches of snow. Edited by Ryan Mac 2015-01-08 7:11 PM |
| 2015-01-08 6:55 PM in reply to: marcag |
Veteran 286 Brisbane, Australia | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by marcag Originally posted by ShawnTX Originally posted by marcag Originally posted by ShawnTX With all of that said, I am up for any suggestions. I know that I am really going about it unscientifically and while I have been making good progress, I think it is time for me to start building in more of a "plan" rather than winging it. What I would do : step1 : look at where you are. How much are you running right now, do you have a recent race result? Just started back today. Haven't run in the last 3 weeks, mostly due to weather. Definitely have several race results to compare progress to. Have been logging all the way and have a decent idea for my paces up through the half marathon distance. This will give you an idea of how to scale your run and paces you should be running at How fast do you swim, how much do you do per workout, what is the structure ? Swim is currently just under 2:00/100 yards (up to 750 yards). That is down from about 2:33 in my first race last June. Have a swim coach and she has me working a structure geared toward the HIM. Problem is that I am only able to swim once a week due to schedule/kids. Am going to try to rework some things to see if I can't get this up to at least one more swim session per week. Bike : again do you have a race result ? do you have a trainer or do you do everything outdoor ? Have several race results here to gauge against as well. I currently have my bike set up on an indoor trainer and am working through the TrainerRoad HIM Mid Volume plan. Do you have a heart rate monitor ? Yes to the heart rate monitor. I also have a cadence foot pod, cadence and speed sensors on the bike. No power meter yet, so am using TrainerRoad estimates. Have been using the HR monitor from the start and am fairly familiar with what to expect from my heart during my workouts although I plan on going in and getting a professional stress test to get true HR zones. I have tried estimating, but either my cardio fitness is just way out of whack or I am not doing it right, because zone training doesn't seem to be working for me. For example, I have read that you should train in zones 2 or 5 (for a 5 point scale); 2 for endurance, 5 for aerobic gains, but have to walk to stay in zone 2 (per my estimated HR zones). Anything above a walk and my heart rate jumps into zone 3. This one really perplexes me as I am starting to wonder what the problem is. In my last half marathon my HR jumped up to the 170-180 range after the first mile or so. Average for the race was 175. The race went well and I set a new PR, but I definitely felt exhausted and think that, if I could figure this HR thing out, I could either A. not feel so exhausted at the end of a fun race or B. feel just as exhausted but have much better performances in my A races. As soon as I start to run, even at an absolutely easy effort, my HR jumps up into the 160-180 range. I used to think that, after several months, I would get in better shape and the HR's would come down. My performance and endurance have increased significantly, but there has been no change in the way my HR responds to exercise. Soooo, I am going to break down and enlist an expert (PlayTri in the Dallas area) to run some tests and give me some solid metrics; HR zones, VO2 Max, etc., because I am not really sure that my estimated max HR is even accurate. Some of this will help you properly pace your workouts. step 2 : what is your availability ? do you have 1 or 2 blocks per day. Do you for example have 1/2hr morning, 1hr night. Do you have longer blocks on the weekend ? I can pretty much work out 6 days a week in the morning (between 4-6 a.m.). Evenings are pretty much a bust for me as I am busy cooking dinner, giving baths, doing homework, etc., etc., etc. Weekends are different according to the visitation schedule. When it's my weekend, I can only get in the same 4-6 a.m. block. When it is her weekend, I can do whatever I want. These are the weekends I generally get in my beast workouts like the long rides, runs, and longer bricks. I had a friend lay out 1/2 blocks every morning, noon night and say if he was available to s/b or r in each. Working on this now. A schedule that will work and that I can keep on a regular basis. I think this should be doable and am looking to implement something to start off next week. Yes you want to build to race distances, but you have lots of time to do it. You want to work on your weakness early. My weakness is the run, then bike so I will try to place my focus a little more there. Funny thing, it seems every HIM training plan I come across seems to be swim heavy. I understand that there are a lot of people out there that have problems in the water, but I am not one of them. I grew up surfing in the Pacific Ocean from the time I could walk and have always been a fish. Not saying I don't have room to improve there, but things that bother other people like sighting, kick turns, fear of open water, the distances don't bother me at all. BTW, the weights and strength training may help your training very little, especially if you are limited in how many workouts per week you can do. The weights were just a recent addition and are primarily focused on functional strength. Particularly the legs. I don't anticipate those being more than cursory workouts as I can get them in. I have been getting a slew of nagging running pains that seem to revolve around the fact that my legs are generally weak; especially supporting muscles and tendons. Am looking into adding Yoga to the mix as it is something I can do in this area virtually on the go, without the need for any special equipment. Biggest limiter for AGers is time. BEst to figure out what you have available and then optimize the schedule to address your weakness. Just throwing this out there. The first year I did HIM I worked with a guy named Jorge who had also put together a winter biking plan here on BT. The bike portions were almost identical to the HIM plan he gave me. That may be a good biking plan for you and it works well with TR. It's basically 2 shorter workouts, 1 longer (on weekends) and 1 optional. With time you will be able to dial in your HIM heart rate pace to help you in your race. It sounds like your swim is cast in stone in terms access to a pool. With your constraints, it is what it is. The important thing will be for you to come out of the water not tired, so this means get as much fitness as you can and be sure to pace it right. The 5 minutes faster or slower is not going to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I would take a calendar, write in the swim session. Then write in the bike sessions, say 2 short, 1 long. The 1 long with the kids can be a disney movie session on the trainer every 2nd week I know that's cruel but it is what it is. The one long one outdoor every 2nd week. Jorge's plan who build up to this. You can use virtual power with this plan. I think it's on TR. Then take any available timeslot of 1/2hr or more and throw in run sessions. Put in as many as you can. Run at lunch, run to/from work. Many 1/2hr sessions make a huge difference if that's all you can fit in. Pick one timeslot that will be where you grow a longer run. Depending on how it looks, you can turn some of the runs sessions into more speed, or you can build some work into the long runs. Start with a rough schedule and refine. Just some ideas. A weekly planner is a must. Write in all of your commitments first - family, work, sleep (that's a big one). Then your non-negotiables (eg swim squad or restrictions on pool times, or group rides/runs). Then put in your key sessions - long bike and run. For most people this is Saturday and Sunday, but depending on your work schedule you may be able to put one during the week. Personally I like to do the long run Thurs or Fri if possible as it helps to be more recovered for the long ride on the weekend. then put in the other sessions, keeping it balanced. For HIM I'd suggest minimum 2x1 hour runs, and 2x1-1.5 hr rides, and then ideally 3 swims (if you can). If you aren't really sure how to structure a training program or know the 'why' for doing certain sessions, the free plans here on BT are sufficient to start with. In my opinion the HIM plan is a little swim heavy, but does the trick. Strength training is supplemental, ie if you have time. Don't sacrifice a SBR session for weights. Only add it in on top if you can. Zones - I've always been a fan of the Joe Friel zones as per his training bible books/blog. This is based on a 30min LTHR field test (go out and smash it for 30 mins). Then he sets out zones accordingly (z1-5a,b,c). Now I'm using power for the bike, I use the Andy coggan power zones (6 zones). There is so much info out there. You just have to do what suits you best! |
| 2015-01-08 7:27 PM in reply to: marcag |
Expert 1260 Norton Shores, MI | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by marcag how did the half marathons go? Were you walking quite a bit or running a fairly steady pace. Marc is right that a 24' 5K should yield a HM around 1:55 or so.Originally posted by ShawnTX Local 5k - September: 5k 24:14 7:42/mi. Half Marathon - November 13.28 2:21:49 10:41/mi. Half Marathon - October 13.32 2:18:02 10:22/mi. hmmmmmm.....at 24:14 you should be running sub 2h....easy |
| 2015-01-08 7:56 PM in reply to: Ryan Mac |
Extreme Veteran 1018 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - CLOSED Well... I thought my 100x100 was awesome... until I read this: http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-01-08/rob-konrad-dolphin... |
| 2015-01-08 10:31 PM in reply to: stuart_little_9 |
Expert 1260 Norton Shores, MI | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by stuart_little_9Greetings from Australia. It's currently the middle of summer and super hot (I don't know if anyone is jealous or not?). It's currently pushing 30 degrees C, (>90F).100% this is the group for me! I've been looking for a HIM focus group.My name is Stuart.I'm doing Hawaii 70.3 at the end of May.I'll post a bio today when I get a chance. Hey Stuart: My sister is in Melbourne and said it was triple digits although she probably has a sweater on. she was not cut out for all this snow we are getting in Michigan. |
| 2015-01-08 10:31 PM in reply to: GAUG3 |
Regular 135 Spokane | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - CLOSED Hello Group. Got in a 1000 yard swim tonight followed up with a 1 hour trainer ride. I did the Week 2 Threshold workout from the Power Mentor Group from last year. It was interesting to see my improvement from last year at this time doing the same workout. I've haven't been on my bike much the last couple of months but I feel like I'm still miles ahead from last year. Pretty sure I'll gain most of my ftp back I lost within the next couple of weeks. |
| 2015-01-09 6:20 AM in reply to: Ryan Mac |
| 23 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by Ryan Mac Originally posted by marcag how did the half marathons go? Were you walking quite a bit or running a fairly steady pace. Marc is right that a 24' 5K should yield a HM around 1:55 or so. Originally posted by ShawnTX Local 5k - September: 5k 24:14 7:42/mi. Half Marathon - November 13.28 2:21:49 10:41/mi. Half Marathon - October 13.32 2:18:02 10:22/mi. hmmmmmm.....at 24:14 you should be running sub 2h....easyHalf marathons went fairly well. My first was in miserable conditions. 25 degrees and drizzling. Throw on top of that it was my first half marathon ever and I was not optimistic. Regardless, I kept my head and paced it well. I died in the last 2 miles, dropping to about an 11:30/mi., but never stopped running. In the Dallas Half last month the weather was nearly perfect. 60 degrees and overcast. I went out a little too hard in my opinion and clicked off the first 4 miles between a 9:20-9:47 pace. My original race plan was to start out at 10:30 pace and negative split the race. Instead I went the other way with my last 6 miles ranging between 10:50-11:33. While this race technically was the faster of the two, I felt significantly worse in the second half of the race and walked through 5 hydration stations and had to break down and walk about a quarter of a mile in mile 13 due to legs cramping. My average per mile HR in this race from mile 2 on was 172-183 with a total race average of 175. From my understanding of all the info I have studied so far, this is too high. It really concerns me when I think of the prospect of a HIM. If I start off in mile 2 of a HIM with a 170+ HR, I question whether my body will be able to sustain that over the race distance. HR in the pool is pretty much the same. Only saving grace is on the bike. Last training ride was a few days ago. Average HR was 129 @ 16.9 mph for 35 miles. I know that's not speedy, but I'm not worried about that. I'll worry about speed further along in my training. So my hope is to have a ride similar to this where my body can recover and fuel up for my weakness in the run. This morning's run was another perfect example of my struggles with Z2 training. http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/669273973 My plan for this run was to run 10:30 pace (an easy pace for me) and shoot for a 5k (an easy distance for me at this point). I started out exactly to plan with the first mile coming in at 10:33 with avg. HR of 149. Hey looking great! During mile 2 HR starts creeping up past the 150's and into the 160's. "Crap, heading out of Z2. Better slow down the pace." I drop the pace in mile 2 to 10:51. Mile 2 avg. HR ends up at 160. Mile 3 and my HR starts creeping into the 170's. I dial the pace back again to 11:25. Despite this, mile 3 average HR is 169. 11:25 pace actually starts to become painful for me as my form completely breaks down. I start feeling the stresses in my knees and hips. I worry about the possibility of injury at this pace. I can run much more comfortably anywhere in the 8:30-10:30 pace range. Form feels fluid, no pain, no injuries. So then I end up asking myself if the benefits of Z2 training are going to be trumped by an injury? I know training in Z3-Z4 are junk miles, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to avoid it. Or, maybe I take a counter-intuitive approach and minimize my run training. Since I can stay in Z2 on the bike, I can build cardio fitness there and work in just a couple of runs a week just to keep my form. Again, any advice is greatly appreciated. |
| 2015-01-09 6:30 AM in reply to: 0 |
Extreme Veteran 5722 | Subject: RE: Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - OPEN Originally posted by ShawnTX Originally posted by Ryan Mac Originally posted by marcag how did the half marathons go? Were you walking quite a bit or running a fairly steady pace. Marc is right that a 24' 5K should yield a HM around 1:55 or so. Originally posted by ShawnTX Local 5k - September: 5k 24:14 7:42/mi. Half Marathon - November 13.28 2:21:49 10:41/mi. Half Marathon - October 13.32 2:18:02 10:22/mi. hmmmmmm.....at 24:14 you should be running sub 2h....easyHalf marathons went fairly well. My first was in miserable conditions. 25 degrees and drizzling. Throw on top of that it was my first half marathon ever and I was not optimistic. Regardless, I kept my head and paced it well. I died in the last 2 miles, dropping to about an 11:30/mi., but never stopped running. In the Dallas Half last month the weather was nearly perfect. 60 degrees and overcast. I went out a little too hard in my opinion and clicked off the first 4 miles between a 9:20-9:47 pace. My original race plan was to start out at 10:30 pace and negative split the race. Instead I went the other way with my last 6 miles ranging between 10:50-11:33. While this race technically was the faster of the two, I felt significantly worse in the second half of the race and walked through 5 hydration stations and had to break down and walk about a quarter of a mile in mile 13 due to legs cramping. My average per mile HR in this race from mile 2 on was 172-183 with a total race average of 175. From my understanding of all the info I have studied so far, this is too high. It really concerns me when I think of the prospect of a HIM. If I start off in mile 2 of a HIM with a 170+ HR, I question whether my body will be able to sustain that over the race distance. HR in the pool is pretty much the same. Only saving grace is on the bike. Last training ride was a few days ago. Average HR was 129 @ 16.9 mph for 35 miles. I know that's not speedy, but I'm not worried about that. I'll worry about speed further along in my training. So my hope is to have a ride similar to this where my body can recover and fuel up for my weakness in the run. This morning's run was another perfect example of my struggles with Z2 training. http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/669273973 My plan for this run was to run 10:30 pace (an easy pace for me) and shoot for a 5k (an easy distance for me at this point). I started out exactly to plan with the first mile coming in at 10:33 with avg. HR of 149. Hey looking great! During mile 2 HR starts creeping up past the 150's and into the 160's. "Crap, heading out of Z2. Better slow down the pace." I drop the pace in mile 2 to 10:51. Mile 2 avg. HR ends up at 160. Mile 3 and my HR starts creeping into the 170's. I dial the pace back again to 11:25. Despite this, mile 3 average HR is 169. 11:25 pace actually starts to become painful for me as my form completely breaks down. I start feeling the stresses in my knees and hips. I worry about the possibility of injury at this pace. I can run much more comfortably anywhere in the 8:30-10:30 pace range. Form feels fluid, no pain, no injuries. So then I end up asking myself if the benefits of Z2 training are going to be trumped by an injury? I know training in Z3-Z4 are junk miles, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to avoid it. Or, maybe I take a counter-intuitive approach and minimize my run training. Since I can stay in Z2 on the bike, I can build cardio fitness there and work in just a couple of runs a week just to keep my form. Again, any advice is greatly appreciated. Maybe you need to continue measuring your HR but not being guided by it. I would use McMillan type in my 5k race time and get the "easy pace" from there. I would run at it and see if you can do your entire running at a conversational pace. My zones are all set by pace, not HR. I would not let my form fall apart in order to hit an arbitrary HR. Also take a look at this http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/aerobic-endurance-and-de... Edited by marcag 2015-01-09 6:33 AM |
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