kenj - motivated triathletes in training - CLOSED (Page 33)

I'll be thinking of ya Richard! 

Maintaining without the extra calorie burn is an accomplishment most struggle with Robin!   Do you have any sense in whether the boot is working or not yet?

Kidney stones are tough! Glad he is doing better!

Have fun swimming!

maybe it's momma nature's way of keeping you insulated against all that insane snow & cold weather! Frustrating when life conspires against you. Don't give up!

I bet you will...Richard, you have my SINCERE sympathies...

Russ, was that you who asked? Sorry if I'm confused - been a state of mind lately - but wanted to pass along the 2 replies I've received before I forget...

Person A: "It's very popular, I've done the metric the last two years. Hilly in some parts. I'd recommend Seagull over it, but it certainly is a nice low cost century."

Person B: "That was my first century ride ever, back on 2004 - I though it quite hilly and challenging - but that was my first year ever of this world of endurance sports, so practically no base, and no experience on Carroll or Frederick County hills, though I had done some training in Prince Willian Forest Park, which had some challenging hills (though again, that's what I thought at the time). I remember some roads were just beautiful country, some was on rail-to-trail flat paths (mostly the end) and there was never-ending pizza and hoagies at the finish line. No idea how things have changed ... Is there an elevation map online somewhere?"

Will post any more as they come. Hope it's helpful!

Alternate suggestion: Get your cousin (cousin, right?) to join you here for 24 Hours of Booty, a 24 hour charity bike ride benefitting the Livestrong Foundation & the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults...it's a closed, family-friendly 2.1 mile loop, so you can each go as hard or soft as you want to go, but still hang out together. Food/entertainment/campgrounds/showers provided for the 24 hours, and it's a blast. Last weekend in August.

Just an idea....

Thanks for the info. I am pretty sure it is this or nothing. His company sponsors a team and I am just joing in with them. I don't have to pay so cost is not an issue either. As long as I can hang with the group on the ride, I am on scholarship

Sounds hilly, but at least it sounds like a nice ride, too...

How's everyone doing today/this weekend?

This week was a little bit of a bad week training-wise. Not gonna make any excuses, but it happened, so I just suck it up and move on. I'm just happy it's the base period before start with more serious training in a month. It helps to figure out what my schedule will be like. I feel like I just want to do one swim a week, and focus more on the run instead. Then when the training starts, I'll add in one more swim.  I have to shift my focus on my weakest sport (run) in order to get better. Last year I did 3x all sports, and I didn't see as much improvement in the run as I would have liked, then when I did the Half marathon in December, all I focused was on the run (and very undertrained btw), and that's where I saw huge improvements in endurance/times. 

However, I definitely need to get some mojo going to do the training. I blame lack of sleep (chronic insomnia sufferer). 

Today is extremely windy, so the group ride was cancelled, which is fine by me. I can put in the strength training/swim that I missed all week.

Hope everyone else had a good week, and will have a good weekend!  I know some places are snowed in (not me, but family in the East). 

OK  DJ.

What's going on with the private log!?!!!  Can't even send you an "inspire".

Just makin' my rounds...

Sowwry! Should work now...now kick my @$$ lol. 

Weeks happen. Hell, I had a MONTH. Was on a great roll, too, getting back into things this week til the snow today. Really not much I guess by anyone else's standards, but any = a lot for my wimpy southern self. I also have enough trouble on dry pavement, let alone ice/snow covered running routes.

Hear you on the sleep thing, too. Trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep? Melatonin seems to be helping me with sleep onset, I think, but between dental woes & my bladder I don't remember the last time I slept through the night non-stop... might also help if I consistently tried an earlier bedtime....

Yikes, sounds like we've got a group of insomniacs on our list! I'm in the same boat. I wake up about 6-7 times a night. It's been going on for 20+ years now. I had some surgery a couple of years ago to rid myself of sleep apnea. I also take a handful of medication to quell restless legs. But I haven't had non-stop sleep night since the mid-1980s. I sometimes think triathlons are a piece of cake compared to getting a good night's sleep!

Mornin' folks,

Another 6.7 miles on treadmill for me this morning.

Trying to get a running base back.

Hope y'all having fun...

GoGoGo - I have about the same... I'm sure it would help if I got out of bed!!!!  :/   Will post up when I'm done.  My training week has been sub-optimal... not too bad, but definitely not ideal.

Couple that with poor eating, poor sleeping, and anxiety about my new job and its impact on my training schedule... it's now a winning combination. 

Hoping to put a better, more consistent "foot forward" starting Monday.

~Carla

CyborgQueen - Hang in there with your training.  I'm drawn to your post because you have touched on something that has been flooding my own mind... that is "Focusing on my weakest sport (bike)".

While I do like training all three sports 3x per week, what I am struggling with is the Low Zone 2 "Stuff" and the Swimming Drills, which  to this minute I feel are a general waste of time!  I would rather focus on building at least the base that I want, 'cause I don't want to wait too long then try to "pile on the miles" with 10 weeks to go!  I have a request in to talk with my coach... and I hope that the discussion we have will be more comforting than I am able to do on my own.

Training for "Single Sport" is very different and I, too, have seen amazing improvement in myself when I focus on single sport.  Problem is, we are triathletes... so we need to at least keep our other sports "alive". 

Hugs to you and Private Message if you want to continue this dialog as you work through what blend of training would be best!

~Carla

*  Power Meters       * Training with Power      * Power Testing Protocols

QOTD:  Who has trained with power and seen results of this specific type of training?

I know we  had a discussion earlier related to Power and Testing Protocols, etc... but I'd like to bring that back up again.

I just got the SRAM Quarq GXP Powermeter Compact Crank (S975) and plan to test my Threshold power using 2 x 20 min Testing Protocol.  Not looking forward to hurting for 40 min but if it means I finish my next Ironman in June it will be worth the effort.

Training with power is incredibly helpful if you have the spendable cash.  Unsure the benefit to the weekend warrior justifies the price tag.  I use Power Tap.  It was awesome with a trainer alone but incredible with a computrainer.  My coach can send me workout files and the computer "tells" me what to do. 

I guess we all have bad weeks now and then DJ!  Just get back at again this week and you wont miss a beat!

Yikes, I fortunately don't have that problem.  I know when I don't get my "beauty" sleep, my training really suffers!

Great job Richard!  Glad to see you back running consistantly and not having the issues you had last year!

I had a nice 11 miler myself this morning, wont say under what conditions though!

I agree with Ice on training with power, it is not inexpensive, but if you have a coach or a plan that you can follow and understand, the value of training with power is very valuable and you should see impressive gains, assuming you stay consistant with following your plan.

I have used 2 downloaded plans, the Jorge plan from this site is the one I am currently using and seeing 5- 7% gains every 4 weeks.  Curious what I would see when I don't miss a week a month of riding due to my travels.  I should be able to find out when I get home from this current trip as I should be home through the end of February, other than 1 over nighter in Feb. 

Carla, I am interested in how you do with the Quarq.  I currently have  PT, but am considering switching to the Quarq or the forth coming Garmin pedal system.  I am thinking of doing this for 2 reasons, one better choice of wheels, the other is so I can switch it between bikes. 

ETA, one other thing I will add about training with power, is there is no hiding from the results.  If you do the work it will show in the numbers.  If you do the work, you will also see the results.  I used to struggle with pushing myself hard enough on the bike. 

I am in this club too. I will sleep for about 4 hours, then my brain kicks into some kind of bizarre 45 minute sleep cycle.