THE SLAYER RULES-FULL Up (Page 31)

Good luck Gladiator! We are all pulling for you.

And get well soon Peter. Key thing with PF for me was rest then running on the softer surfaces and reducing intensity. Its frustrating to be injured but you can still swim and bike (maybe not in Orlando though). The big race for you is not until Nov. so chill out and don't do more damage.

Its great to have you back kate! I am pretty sure to race Birmingham Oly 15 July. That may be too far for you but just wanted to mention it. Will have all the Slayers with me and we are meeting some friends from Oban in Brum. Speaking of the slayers, here's the follow up article link:

http://onlineathens.com/sports/2012-03-06/12-year-old-athens-athlete-gayer-completes-triathlon

Does anybody want to talk a topic pertaining to their races or training? I have to say the short course race I just did is way more fun than the longer course stuff, making me wonder why I go for the longer course, except for the "train/race to eat" mentality. I may want to re-consider now that I am down 13lbs and "eating to train/race".

I grew up in Brum, from 1961 until 1980 before moving to Canada. Lived on the south side of the city in a town called Kings Heath. My parents still live there. I haven't been back there since 1993. Maybe should plan on doing the B'ham Tri next year.

Gladiador: Best of luck!  You've put in the training, now enjoy the race! 

I always wear a HeadSweats visor.  I don't like to wear a full hat for some reason, but wear a visor on all of my runs.

My neck is getting better, but I still haven't found my way back to the pool.  Any excuse...time to get back on it!  I had a great weekend of training with a solid bike ride and 2 good runs.  This week is pretty mellow during the week, just drainer rides and shortish runs, but I have a killer weekend planned.  An 80 miler on Saturday followed by a hilly 40 miler on Sunday.  Trying to decide when to do my long fun.  The Monday after the rides?  Usually I do my long run the day after my long bike.  Or should I shoot for a Friday long run?  What do you guys think?  I'm going to have tired legs either way.

Slayer, I want to know more about your MET.  Have you followed it completely?  No brews?  It's amazing how much weight you've lost so quickly!  I eat pretty much the same way but haven't lost any pounds, though I'm quite solid now.  Kinda weird being a 135 lb size 2.  Big props to Amy for killing it last weekend!

Rich- I went to Birmingham Polytechnic for a year and thats where I met Mrs. Slayer. We lived in Edgbaston. This is the first year ever for the Brum Oly so I am kind of excited.

Ashley-yeah, i had a couple of beers before the race night because of peer pressure (and good beer on tap) but pretty much by the book. I have cheated towards some whey protein shakes which are permitted but not really encouraged. The day I had to cheat was because I didn't plan ahead. Eating right requires some effort in planning (shopping, preparing, storing, etc). This was something I didn't realize ahead of time. However, for the most part, I am digging it. Last night was steak stir fry, night before it was tilapia and loads of veggies. SMoothies or omlettes in the am. wraps and salads with meat for lunch. fruit is my sweet and many snacks of nuts. 

you really need to get back to the pool asap! I do long runs on tues am. that works best for my schedule. monday is usually a swim which helps me bridge from the weekend. to me the schedule is the first thing you have to work out then overlay the workouts tot he time available and prioritize what you need to emphasize in training. 

Very true.  Maybe I can hit the pool at lunch.

I look forward to your race report. I used to go to the Edgbaston Cricket grounds when I was a lad. Kings Heath is not that far from there.

Anyone able to do the moving mount/dismount of the bike?  I was thinking about giving it a try this spring to see how it goes.  Figured I would first try with sneakers on before I moved to the feet on the cleats.  Id also have to adjust the angle of the water bottles on the back of the seat.  But Im not sure if the practice it would take is worth the time savings.  Maybe Im overestimating how hard of a "skill" it would be to master.

Rich-Here is the link:

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2012/02/08/birmingham-city-council-tears-up-the-rulebook-to-allow-triathlon-to-go-ahead-97319-30286256/

Vibratingp00, in long course, I really dont mess with the flying mount bec I think its too dangerous for the few secs it saves. Short course, you may need those secs and it may worth the risk. I still shy away. I am klutzy. What I do is take my feet out of my bike shoes, put my feet on my bike shoes before dismounting, then dismount (after practicing in training). I think thats safer than the run and jump on bike and rubber band tie. Perhaps you can go to a transition clinic locally or youtube then watch it and practice?

Flying mount is probably great for short coarse especially a sprint. I can do it with the rubberbands. I also like to pull my feet out of the shoes before dismounting. The downside is you don't want to do it in a sandy/grassy transition. Otherwise you end up with a bunch of that crap in your shoe. If you have a long run on a rough surface it can also be painful. I think I can actually run through a long transition faster in my speedplays than bare feet. The Elites tend to get much better transition spots that AGers and they almost all do flying mounts. I also dont use my rear mounted bottle holder for short races. Overall I think it is a great skill to learn and perfect but just not one you get to use very often. I wouldn't bother on long course as Slayer said

Brilliant nutrition article from respected researcher Tim Noakes:

http://www.health24.com/fitness/Diet_Supplements/16-481-512,73175.asp

I had to last minute back out of the gaps sufferfest that Scotty went on. Hope it goes well bro. I am trying to get some solid work in locally (just ran 14 solo and now am looking at 2-3 hours on the trainer in the dungeon). A bigger brick in store for Sunday. Saturday hopefully a good long swim  and a light run after the older girls swim meet.

I want some updates on injuries and training progress! Whats up for your weekend? Keep up the posts. Don't leave a Slayer hanging!

Before i start i just want to apologies for this post.

I'm just over 10 week into my training for ironman uk and i'm having a major confidence crisis.

After 10 week of training i really don't feel like i have made any progress. This sounds dumb because my distances have improved but i just don't feel any fitter. The other day after climbing a flight of stairs i was breathing out of my backside and this is just the tip of the iceberg. All my running seems to be done at one pace, again this is a problem with my cycling. They both seem to be done at steady slow pace. I've read before that this is how ironman training should be done but i just seem dismayed that i don't feel any fitter or stronger.

I vowed after Frankfurt last year that i would be a lot better trained and prepared this time round but i fell like i'm falling into the same path as before.  My diet is appalling. It's as if i go out for a long run or a long bike then feel like i can eat anything i want. So after 10 week of training i weigh more than when i started out.

Again sorry for the rambling nature of this post but tonight i'm laid awake getting myself worked up about the situation.

If anyone wants to comment that's fine but i just needed to get this off my chest

I wouldn't stress over your diet or the weight gain. It is normal to gain weight at this point. Your diet is not your limiter. Stay consistant with your work-outs.

I don't think anyone ever feels fit. 10 weeks of working out is not long enough for building a solid base. It really takes years. 10 weeks into a plan and the cumulative fatigue can really make you feel depressed.

I don't know about others, but when you start talking about iron distance training I would plan on doing most of it alone. Cycling groups are OK but they tend to do shorter rides at a higher intensity than you will be doing.

If you are really averaging 12 mph on the bike you are in a really hilly area or your bike is holding you back  

Silver: our IMs are both at the end of July...so I feel where you're coming from.  The good news: you have lots of time left to gain fitness.  That said, you need to get on your bike and ride much, much more to build both endurance and speed.  As far as diet goes, we all know I'm all about the paleo and metabolic efficiency (Slayer is a newbie on the bandwagon ).  For you, I would start by just cutting out junk.  No more processed foods, no candy, no baked goods, no soda.  Make sure everything you put in your body serves a purpose.  

Are you following a training plan?  Can't remember, sorry.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Last night was a long night sat in front of the pc looking back over my training and looking back over previous race results. I've concluded that about 99% of my training is done in my comfort zone which i never really push out of. So as a result i'm getting good at running and riding at a steady pace. I also found that all my running pb's came during a period where i weighed about 20lb less than i do now.

So moving forward I've decided  I'll be pushing out of my comfort zone. Will be mixing my steady training with intervals and tempo stuff.

I'm going to start keeping a record of my nutrition as some way of accountability to keep my diet in check.

If your goal is IM in July I would rethink this idea. I would try to keep 90% of my workouts in my comfort zone. The key is to make sure you get the miles in. If you do the miles, the speed and weight loss will come. If you were looking for a PR in a sprint or olympic you need the intensity but for IM you need to develop a pace you can maintain all day. DON'T MISS THE LONG RIDES AND RUNS. It's tough. If you try and do the long rides at higher intensity you will be too beaten up to do a long run the following day. Try to get in the habit of putting in a solid workout followed by a solid recovery to feel refreshed for the next day.

It is not easy but if it was, everybody would be calling themselves ironmen

There is a nutrition log on this site which is pretty time consuming to use but good. I used it during my IM training to help keep track of calories (but not for weight loss)  I would not track the calories for weight loss. At this point I would not even try to loose weight. Again that is not your limiter.

Do you have a set plan?  

I had one of the best rides I've ever had today.  NAILED it!  80.88 miles, almost 18 mph average.  Gorgeous day on the coast and I feel great now.  Not too tired and not starving, so I think my nutrition was spot on.  I ate a granola bar before starting and had 4 hours of Infinit in my water bottles.  Awesome!  Definitely ready to get off the bike the last 10 miles, but I think that's because I was aero for 90% of this ride.  Usually I do lots of climbing so I'm out of aero a good bit, but this was mostly flat and super windy.  4 months to go...

How's everyone doing this weekend?

Sounds like a great ride.  Every time you talk about riding on the coast, I get pretty jealous.  Makes me think of the bike rides during the honeymoon on the coast of Maui.  Cant get much better than that.

Im also riding a pretty good workout high.  Longest pain free run of the year (sadly, it was only a mile, but hey, its progress).  Hopped on the elliptical for 80 minutes afterwards.  No pain or swelling at all.  Doing PT twice a week and they're on board for upping the runs by 5 minutes as long as Im feeling good.  Hopefully we've isolated the issue and I can start working back towards a strong race at Eagleman.  Hope everyone else is having a good weekend.