jsiegs and slornow's Train Hard and Have Fun group - CLOSED for Training (Page 30)

slornow - 2011-06-10 9:01 AM

djb45 - 2011-06-10 7:56 AM

Nicole and Christy, everything I read and my trainer confirms, is to eat some carbs and protein within 30-45 min. of working out for muscle recovery and development.

X2 on what Deb said.

Christy-not sure what to tell you about power in aero as compared to sitting up.  Tri bikes are set up to focus to some extent on stressing different areas than a road bike geometry.  Still mostly the same muscles but just a little variation.  I would suggest getting fit but you have been down that road and I would not look to change anything this close into a race. Do you feel "comfortable" in aero? as that is probably what is most important over the longer distances. 

You are 2 weeks out from your race so it is a pretty good time to do a "race rehearsal" 

I looked back on my workouts leading into my HIM last Fall.  I was using a coach at that time.  My workout 2 weeks prior was a 65 mile ride with a 4 mile run off the bike.  No set pace for the run other than to start "easy" and try to maintain a consistent comfortable pace.  On the bike I did "build intervals"  which was
30 minutes warm up;
45 minutes at 200 watts 
5-10 minutes easy
45 minutes at 210 watts
5-10 minutes easy
45 minutes at 220

This gave me 2.25 hours of riding at my planned race pace which is close to what I would be doing in the race.
My planned power pacing for the race was to be in the 210-215 watt range. The only reason I mention the watts is so you can compare your pacing to how hard you want to go whether you use HR Zones or RPE.  So, I didn't go all out in the training intervals. I also did a pretty hard bike workout a week prior to the race but remember thinking the coach was nuts.  You are welcome to look at my training logs for the weeks prior to my HIM which was 11/7/10.  Of course...do what is in your plan.  It has brought you this far

I really liked the HIM distance.  I think the big thing is to not overdo it on the bike.  I didn't hit my watts goals on the bike and felt like I had a poor bike leg as I had planned on being about 5-10 minutes faster.  BUT, I think it turned out for the best as I had a solid run where I never felt exhausted and was able to push the pace over the last few miles. 

Randy    

Thanks Randy.  I'm going to check out your logs.  I guess I need to figure out how hard I plan to go on the bike.  I need to check out the course map to see how hilly it is.   I'm really anxious to see how my run will be.  My fastest half marathon was around 2:10.  The more I think about this, the more I realize just how long I'm going to be out there.  It kind of freaks me out. 

Christy

I have another bike question. I was looking at the race course.  It has been changed due to a landslide, so it's hillier than before.  The website states 39x23 gearing is recommended.  What does that mean?  Will my tri bike be ok?   I don't want to ride my road bike, but I also want to be able to get up the hills. 

Christy

Hey all,

Wanted to post a quick 'post-race' report.

In a nut shell, I improved my time from last race about 7 minutes (same course), the swim was a bit rougher wave wise, however there were was a decent current to help you. Overall, my swim felt great. Got jammed up at the last buoy and had to slow down quite a bit, but immediately picked up a great pace/rhythm on the way to shore. Had I picked up that pace much earlier in the race, I probably could have cut a considerable amount of time off of my swim split. Oh well.

As far as the bike goes, while I did better than previously (about 3-4 minutes faster), I feel like I left time on the table. My fit on the bike is still a work in progress, and I was adjusted my extensions the night before (not the BEST idea, but it fared well for me). I felt like I was putting too much pressure on my hips. May have to adjust the cleat placement, or look into other minor adjustments. Felt comfortable, but going down a large bridge I opted to not stay in my aero bars. Not that brave...yet.

Also, since I put the Profile Design Aerodrink on my bike, I felt it was a good thing. No more reaching to drink, much more efficient, etc. However, in this short course race the placement served to be a bad thing as I drank the whole 20oz during the first 3/4 of the ride (which was Endurox R4). This came back to haunt me with intestinal issues on the run.

In short, the run started off great. Started with a 7:15-7:30 pace, but had to slow down because of the intense stomach pains. Ended up running about 1:30-2:00 slower than last run split. Oh well, learned a valuable lesson.

Overall, I felt good about the race. I was keeping up with a lot of good athletes on the bike for a while, but I definitely feel like once I get this bike dialed in further (like I said previously), I will be able to go much faster.

I will try and post a full race report tomorrow, unless I get done with my reading for grad school earlier than anticipated.

Today is a rest day for me, a much needed one. I trained everyday this week, with a nice 30 minute recovery swim on Friday. I feel it worked much better thank taking off the day before, and going easy on Thursday (since Saturday was race-day). Luckily I got a great night sleep last night, because I was not feeling to hot yesterday before the race, as well as afterward. Part of me thinks that it might be from my fiance who has been sick the last few days. Hopefully, I will stay healthy.

Randy, it's funny as I was under the same assumption as well. However was pushed by at my local nutrition store to go for the Endurox. I held them both (Endurox and Accelerade) side by side, and if I remember correctly the only difference was Accelerade had a bit more sodium.

I thought the same thing yesterday after the race in regards to doing around a scoop for the 20oz next time. This was the first time I had ever felt that way with my stomach during training, but I am glad I am figuring things like this out during a sprint race instead of a HIM or IM, that would not be enjoyable.

What does everyone else use for intra-workout/event consumption (fluid wise). I think Christy uses HEED (or whatever the Hammer Nutrition powder is called).

Randy: What was your nutrition like for the HIM you did? Bottle set-up on bike, and all of that stuff. I was thinking about this yesterday and wasn't sure what to expect during the race. I know everyone is different, but a general idea would be helpful. Mainly, do you start off with out bottles in your cages and pick them up at an aid station on the course? Or do you put throw-away bottles in the cages (with sport caps), and essentially throw them out at the aid station when passing by? I feel like Augusta will have some decent aid stations (at least I hope this since it is an 'Ironman' branded event).

-Nick

Now that I am in a cupcake and candy induced coma, I figured i would at least let you know I'm alive! Baby girl's 1st birthday was a huge hit, and now it's on to the serious stuff! this week: back in training... I'm running out of time, and losing motivation. hopefully tomorrow I wake with a fresh mind and can get back in to it. I'd hate to drop a race because I'm not prepared (again).

hope everyone had a great weekend!

Why are you losing motivation? I find that when I'm feeling down about training, sometimes all it takes is one nice event to get me super pumped again. Can you do a little local 5K next weekend or is there a big race you can go watch? It always helps me. Don't back out! You can do it!

Nicole

Hi guys - We had a terrible incident on the bike path today and are feeling really bad. From my training log:

"We got a late start because our cat kept us up all night. By the time we got to the Fox River path in Geneva, it was very crowded. I was uncomfortable and feeling claustrophobic almost immediately. Got into a groove, but at about 1:15 into our ride, we had a total tragedy: Brian accidentally ran over a chipmunk with his bike. It darted out from some tall grass along the path and right under his back tire. I swerved pretty hard to miss running it over again, since it wasn't moving from the path. Brian slammed on his breaks immediately and ran back to the little guy. I still didn't know what happened, all I heard him say was "Oh my god I feel so bad."  He went over to the chipmunk, and apparently it was totally smushed; broken legs, broken back, couldn't move half of its body. He didn't know what to do, so he moved it off the path. When it was apparent it wasn't able to move and just was writing in pain, he decided to put it out of its misery. This traumatized both of us. Then he noticed a family of little chipmunks on the other side of the path. By this time, we were both tearing up. We got back on our bikes and kept going in silence.

It's worth noting here that Brian is the biggest animal lover I know. He has rescued countless birds from the street, possums from my mom's house that get stuck in window wells, he has saved several turtles, and he even donated money once to get a random bulldog's legs fixed online even though I"m pretty sure it's a scam. He takes care of all our pets and totally loves animals. We go on wildlife viewing trips to national parks, and are zoo members. It's just a rodent, but his heart is just broken throughout the rest of the ride.

Around 2:00, his breaks started screeching horribly so we cut the ride short and went back to the car. Finished up our day with beer and fish tacos at Two Brothers Brewery, but the poor guy didn't really have an appetite. If only we would have woken up on time today! Our ride would have been less crowded and we would have never hit that chipmunk.  Sad."

Aside from the sea life we talked about, anybody have any experience with animals on the bike? How were we supposed to have handled this? We feel horrible. 

I do you use Heed and Perpetuem (Hammer's endurance drink).  I used Accelerade a couple seasons ago but iit gave me stomach problems.  Someone told me it could be the sugar.  Hammer products seem to have less sugar than others.  I also eat GU Chomps, but I eat half of the suggested serving b/c of the sugar issues. 

I'm planning on having a bottle of heed, a 3 hr bottle of perpetuem and a bottle of water on my bike.  I had this on my last long ride and it worked great.  If race day is hotter, I'll need more.  I'm freaked out about the bike exchange.  A little nervous to slow down and get a bottle with all the other bikes around.   I just found out the fluid replacement on the ride is Infinit.  I've never used it before.  I'm thinking if I need more, I'll just grab water.  I assume I'll toss one of my original bottles and get a new one.

Christy

I have no idea what I would have done.  I almost ran over a baby bunny Saturday.  I freaked out.   I wouldn't blame yourself for not waking up on time.  It could have happened at any time.

Fish tacos and beer sound good. 

Christy

Glad the birthday was a success!  I become unmotivated when I miss a lot of training.  Once you get back into it, you'll find your motivation.

Christy 

slornow - 2011-06-12 3:19 PM

cbrookhart - 2011-06-12 7:14 AM

I have another bike question. I was looking at the race course.  It has been changed due to a landslide, so it's hillier than before.  The website states 39x23 gearing is recommended.  What does that mean?  Will my tri bike be ok?   I don't want to ride my road bike, but I also want to be able to get up the hills. 

Christy

Christy-the 39x23 is for the chain rings.  I doubt your tri bike came with that size rings but don't really know.  Many times you can swap the rear cassette and get a wider range of gears with your current chain rings and in my opinion its much easier than swapping out front chain rings.  Do you know what size chain rings/cassette are on your tri and road bikes?  

There is information online about gearing with different chain ring/cassette sizes.  Try a search of the Sheldon Brown site.  Lots of good information about gearing.  Sorry I can't point you to it specifically.  I'm a flat-lander down here in South Alabama and the only elevation we have is the on ramps

Randy   

My tri bike cassette is 12-25 and the crankset is 50/34.  I'm not sure about my road bike.  It's at my mom's and I can't find the specs online.  But it does have 3 rings in the front. I know that much. 

I think I might just ride my sister's road bike.  They had a landslide on part of the bike course so they re-routed it and it's hillier than before .  I'd REALLY love a flat course.

Here is the elevation chart, just in case anyone has any thoughts. 

http://www.hfpracing.com/images/stories/misc/MTD_Courses2011Alt.pdf

Hope everyone has a great day!

Good morning everyone!

Nicole, I am a big animal lover, too and feel for you guys. What a sad end to your ride. These things happen like Randy said.

Today I start my first, real training plan. It lasts until my next race which is July 31. I would love to import it into my BT log but am having trouble. I have it in excel and tried to convert it to CSV, but still wouldn't import. If you don't use a BT plan, how do you import it? If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them!

Hope everyone has a good week!

I'm not sure if you can import a plan that's not a BT plan.  I think there is a BT technology forum.  Maybe you could ask in there.  Good luck.

Christy

i one manually (slow and tedius!).  there is a very specific format for importing somewhere...but I have no idea what it is.  Try the support forum, I'm guessing someone can help you.

I saw this posted on a friend's Facebook page. 

 http://www.chrissiewellington.org/blog/riding-the-wave-practice-perseverance-and-perspective/

Thought it was pretty interesting.  Nice to see the pros have some of the same problems/concerns as the rest of us.

cbrookhart - 2011-06-11 9:34 PM

jsiegs - 2011-06-11 9:46 AM

cbrookhart - 2011-06-11 7:57 AM

Any thoughts on biking in the rain?  It looks like rain here.  I'm going to go out and give it a try.

Christy

That's what bike trainers are for . It's actually not too bad if it's warm, I'd just be worried about t-storms today. If you do, take corners a little more carefully and don't ride on painted lines (they get very slick when wet). The glasses situation is tough, if you have clear lenses thy work well to keep the rain from stinging your eyes, but are tough to see through when wet...a real catch 22. I'm thinking about trying out the mountain bike today, I bet thats fun in the rain.

I went and didn't get rained on!  And had the best ride ever!!!  I'm not sure if it was the day off yesterday, or what, but I felt great.  51 miles and a 2.5 mile run.  It was awesome.  Then a house warming party for some friends.  I feel it was a night of bad decisions.  Or at least I think I'll feel that way tomorrow when my kids wake me up.  I just realized it is only 9:30.  Wow....I'm old.

Christy

I went mountain biking for the first time in years saturday and sunday.  I got caught in a massive t-storm Sunday for about 40 minutes.  It was pretty scary and I lost my glasses.  They were my favorite!!  I had just ordered new lenses for them too .  I checked online and to replace them it'll be over $100 (I only paid $25 for them on the classifieds here).  Not sure I want to spend the money, but I did love them.

Nicole - I'm sorry to hear about the squirrel.  I almost had a very bad accident with one last year.  On my first ride with deep, aero wheels, a squirrel ran across my path and literally bounced off the deep rim section of my wheel.  On a normal wheel I imagine it would have been sucked into the spokes and I can only imagine the carnage that would have ensued (both to the squirrel and to my bike and I).  On my t-storm mountain bike, I was also dodging frogs left and right and they came out in force after the rain started.  I'm really lucky I didn't hit any (well, I don't think I hit any...the water was deep and it was really tough to see a lot of the time).

The 39 is the number of teeth for the front chainring (a 53/39 is "standard and 50/34 a "compact" - what you have).  the 23 refers to the cassette in back.  A 39/23 is not a particularly easy gear...I regularly ride with easier gears than that (I ride a compact and 11-23 or 11-25 cassette).  So I'll have at least 1 or 2 gears easier than what they quoted, which makes me think it can't be THAT hard.  If you have a compact and 12-25, the 34-25 gear SHOULD be easy enough.  But it's personal preference too.  I like easy gears because I have a higher cadence than most and prefer to spin up hills and regularly hit over 100 rpm in a race, so I don't lose too much at high speeds.  Some prefer to spin around 80s and would probably use different gearing.  You could get a rear cassette with a 27 or 28 large cog to get an even easier gear (many experienced cyclists have these).

 I'll be honest, I don't like the idea of riding a completely different bike on race day...what if 20 miles in you find the fit is horrible and you're in tons of pain?  for all but the extreme hilly races (i.e. nothing you or I will ever race) a tri bike will be faster than a road bike if you can stay in aero (not necessary when climbing and going very slow, but all other times).

Congrants!  Nice race Nick!

oh - and good luck with the plan!  I hope you have fun starting your first one.  They are really great to keep you focused and training with purpose.  Just remember to to be a slave to it either - you are unique but the plan is made for a broad range of people.  Good luck!

I go for a pulmonary function test tomorrow to see if I have exercise induced asthma.  I'm excited to figure out what is going on.  Not so excited that I can't have coffee in the morning.  Coffee is half the reason I get out of bed.  I can't train in the morning either.  Yesterday and today were off days, so I need to do something tomorrow. 

Christy