Fred Doucette's Half-Iron and Ironman Focused Group! -CLOSED! (Page 31)

Well, I WAS going to watch a little football last night, but instead I watched the Falcons have a real change of heart. It seems that through close consultation with the Packers, in which both teams communicated their positions in a frank and forthright manner, the Falcons decided  (despite their earlier convictions to the contrary) that they really were not that interested in playing in the Super Bowl after all. Although late in the season, I for one think that their decision was both mature and showed a great deal of character.

So - since there really isn't any more interesting football to watch until next season, looks like I get 4~5 extra weekend training hours for the next few weeks!

Today - 4400 yards in the pool, then a 7 or so miler super, super easy base pace run.

Whoa, Kate - compared to what I personally need, that doesn't sound like NEAR enough calories for a 2 hour bike, let alone the strength & yoga afterward! Did you get any food in you before the bike? Any protein/carbs after?

Ditto.  I've never really paid attention to this until this winter.  I've found same RPE/HR can yield paces that differ by ~30 sec per mile on the treadmills at our local YMCA.  

I could be wrong but, best I can tell, the main difference is not so much that the belt is spinning at different rates on the different tmills.  Instead, the better treadmills seem to return more of your energy too you.  On the cheaper models I feel more like I'm running in sand.

I definitely think that running on concrete is tougher than a treadmill. I think the moving of the belt helps you as the ground below you doesn't move. I do think that it is a great alternative to outside if that just isn't an option. I also think that it can be used effectively for interval training or hills if you don't have any in your area. I would say that I do about 50/50 here in Phoenix. We have super hot weather here in the summer and outside just isn't an option when it's 110 degrees.

So here is the breakdown of my first 1/2 marathon. I actually had a great experience and a very fun time. I did really good up to about mile 11 and then I did start to get a bit sore in the front of my hips. I think as I increase my distance in running that this won't be an issue. My longest run was just over 10 miles and it was a bit split up with a few bathroom breaks and water stops. I ran it with my wife and I think that slowed me down a little but my goal was just to finish. I'm in no hurry to get a fast time yet. We finished in 2:57 with a run/walk program but I'm sure with a little more training that I can get it down to about 2:30. I don't see a day that I will be a super fast runner but I would like to get down to about 10 min/miles.

I did learn some things today and that's what I was hoping for. First, I can do this distance. Second, I need to take in more calories during the run. I only had (3) 100 calorie GU's the whole race and I felt it about the last mile and definitely after the race. I also think I need to take in more water. I had just over a bottle which is approx. 14 oz's. I was super hungry and dehydrated after the race. Third, keep walking after the race is over and eat something. We stopped almost immediately after the race to take finisher race photos and both Michelle and I started to feel a bit sick in our stomachs. I think these are all things that I can bring into upcoming races and help me to achieve a better result.

Overall, a great experience and a lot of fun spending time with my wife.

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Great job on your 1/2 Mary!

You had fun with your wife, finished and learned for the future.

I'll be looking for the full race report.

How are you feeling today?

I'm going to see a highly regarded PT for second opinion this morning. He is an Ironman, consults with some tri coaches and gives talks about injury prevention for triathletes. My goal is to figure out what is going on, what can be done to get and stay healthy.

Plan has run and swim but may swap bike for swim due to pool hours.

I posted a video of my swimming and doing various drills on the Finding Freestyle and the coaches gave me some solid feedback and things I need to work on. Key is to work on left side breathing. I posted what they said in my blog if anyone is interested. Many of their terms are their so it may not make sense.

Great Job, Todd! Congratulations to both you and your wife, the first half marathon is always a huge accomplishment of which you should both be really proud. It is awesome to be able to share this crazy endurance addiction with your spouse. Here's to many, many more together - but first - kick your feet up a bit - you certainly deserve it after the week you have had!

That is great feedback, Kathy - I share breathing problem, except I need to improve my right side breathing. Following my coach's advice, I have pegged my endurance pace on my long swims at the fastest pace I can hold breathing bilateral all the way through. It was pretty slow at first, but my times are slowly coming down, it is feeling a little more natural, and I am getting much more comfortable. It will be nice to get where I don't have to think about it any more - it is coming...

Today I have 1:30 sprint intervals on the trainer, then 30 minutes or so of plyometrics.

Congratulations to you both, what an achievement!

Glad to know you too think this was crazy...I gotta get my act together! because I did feel crappy .. I think I ate some cereal and some pancakes off my daughter's plate (can't really figure out what YOU actually eat with kids in the house  ) some hours before doing this workout starting at noon.  On bike had water with nuun, no calories.   Definitely ate a lot after workout!


GREAT JOB Todd.... so nice to do with your wife. 

Ran 9.7 on treadmill.  Going to a swim stroke clinic with a tri coach tonight!!!!! yay, hooray, finally trying to be more proactive there (still will probably always feel like Rob so aptly put it "runner and biker who manages to avoid drowning at certain distances"..love it)

Kathy will watch your video thanks for posting it!

Big congrats on your HM Todd!  Sounds like you had a good experience.  Cool that you ran it with your wife.

Nice job Todd - congrats on the milestone.

Kathy - interested to know how the finding freestyle workouts are structured.  Is it a case of doing drills + swimming every time in the pool, or do you have some sessions where you just swim?  Now that you're a couple of more weeks in, how are you finding it?

Fred - back to the treadmill question.  I think that running on a treadmill helps you develop the same sort of fitness that you would outisde.  That said, I don't know if it fully allows you to copy over your run pacing from outside.  For me, it certainly helps me improve my mental fortitude, cause I haev a tough time on them.  As a side note, Simon Whitfield trained almost exclusivly on a treadmill for the Bejing Olympics.  It was essentially setup inside a shed (I believe I have that right), and the conditions inside were created to mimic the heat and humidity they were expecting to face.  So as an n1 example, I think they can be used really well.  Similar to guys/gals that train exclusively on a trainer and basically only race outside - no training outdoors.  (That defeats half the purpose of Triathlon IMO, but to each their own).

Regarding the treadmill question, I don't know how well it translates for me. I can go much faster on a treadmill as I have to keep up with the belt.  I think that the belt propels you a little bit (or it least it does me). Maybe I don't push myself as much outside and I think sometimes I am so bored or see how slow I am going on the treadmill and I force myself to speed up..even for a short bit. I do think that I run hills better outside though. Not sure what that is about. Maybe the whole thing is just mental gymnastics for me and every day is different depending on where my head is at and how I view what I am doing.  I hated running for a really long time and it has taken me a good amount of time to try an embrace it as well as get rid of all the negative memories that I associated with running. They say much of this is mental.  Maybe it is for me in this case.

It was a great experience running my first 1/2 marathon. It was even more special doing it with my wife. It showed me that it is about more than just doing it quickly. There will be plenty of time for that in the future but for us to do it together is something that you can't put a price on. That said, I don't think I will do another distance race with anyone unless they're pacing me. I now have a slow PR to beat and I should be able to do that in my HIM in April. I'm also looking at doing the Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon in San Diego on June 5th. We'll see how things go.

I'm so glad to be back at my HIM training program now. I've been doing this bastardized training program for the last two months with a little 1/2 marathon and a little HIM in it. I don't know if it helped either but I got some good volume in at least. The Tucson shooting coverage has calmed down and most of the funerals are over so I don't think I'll putting up the OT numbers for the foreseeable future 9 (I had 31 hours the last two weeks).

I'm going to take a few days off and then get back at it on Wednesday. I would like to hear about people's ideas on HR training and how you figure out what HR to train at. I think that this is how I will do my first HIM is based on a HR and stick to it. It seems to be a successful strategy for people on HIM and IM distances.


My main goal right now is to get a good bike fit. I should do that in the next few weeks.

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start.


Todd

Treadmills, well I certainly can make it harder than any run I do outside.  You press that little button that has incline on it and see what happens.
 
I work out at three different gyms.  Two of them have the same TM (Precor 966i) and those are my favorite.  The other gym has different TM but altogether they all seem to be the same.  I see it plausible that speed indicators, along HR and other functions are off on different machines.  Then again such is life and how we feel from day to day.  It’s just another useful tool in my arsenal of greater fitness.
 

I had a great swim workout today.
 
Question how long do you folks rest in-between 200 sets?

Long enough to survive the next one. 

I'm trying to improve on not half assing the swim workouts so I'm trying to keep it to a max of 20'.  If I was pushing a harder pace, then I think I would allow myself 30', just to try and maintain some form.  But it's been a little bit since I really pushed myself in the water.  Just trying to build some endurance at this point.

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Wow that seems tight for 200’s, but great if that’s what you’re doing.
 
I've been doing like a 50 kick in between 200's.  I’ll stop that and start doing a rest and see what happens.  I am shure my 200's times will go up.
 
Even my 100's I'll do them on 1:30 normally with the 100's being around 1:15-1:18.  It's all relative I guess on what your work out is.

Todd, congratulations on the race.  Well Done!
 
I love hearing stories like this! 
 
 
As far as HR training some people truly train with HR here on BT.  I do not but use it as a limiter.
 
Here is a awesome link on BT that will get you started and answer a lot;
 
HR Zones: 220-Age - the TRUTH!

Right now if I can't run outside due to weather I'm not running.

For some reason TM is effecting my leg much more than outside.

In the past I think TM running has helped me in pacing and learning to negative split. You can control some aspects of running that are harder to do so outside.

Good stuff Todd!

We do this not to win or for a specific time, but for bigger reasons. Looking back in 10-20-30 years the memories of what you guys did together in that 1/2 Mary will be what is remembered more than anything else.

I ran with my husband for his first 1/2 Mary. We had some tense moments during the race but in the end it was good. Racing with your spouse can bring up some strange mixed feeling and some interesting interactions.