Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 34)

Good morning team!

Ken, good luck battling the pool!  What types of things are you doing as far as drills?  Sounds like the P90X stuff agrees with you.  When/what distance is your next race?

Troy, good going on the swim!  One more tri for the season huh?

Karen, when is/was your bike fit.  Need details .

Steve, how's that last big week going?

Kinda quiet here this week.  How is everyone else coming along?

Realized I haven't done a brick in quite a while, and probably should do at least one before my race next Sunday.  When I bike, I try to start after daylight and the traffic clears out a little.  But it's so blasted hot by the time I'm done that running doesn't feel like a very good option.  Also trying to fit the yard work into that same cooler part of the day.  Hmmmm....those excuses sound pretty good, but I don't think they are going to help me get it done, are they?     

You're LBS is a little more classier than mine,  I was told to pretend I was scraping dog poop off my shoe.  Same advice none the less.

 I had a rider on a group ride recently tell me the opposite, get out of the small ring and into the big one.  I asked Steve his opinion on this because I didn't see the purpose.  Except for cross-chaining(which wasn't an issue for me), no real conclusion was reached.  I have since started using the big ring almost exclusively and I feel it has helped force me to climb hills better.  Carol mentioned earlier this week about how she was relying on the lower gears too much climbing hills.  As long as you cadence doesn't drop into the 60s on a hill climb, I don't see the harm in grinding it out a little in the higher gears going uphill to gain some strength.

Here at BT (and lots of other places) the range around 90 seems to be the recommendation. <source>  As a matter of fact, you could probably spend a couple of days in the bike articles section of BT and gain lots of useful information.  I have read and reread a lot of those articles.

As far as the interval training, I'm not sure how new to biking you are, but if you have less than a year biking I would think interval training like that is not recommended.  It is where you can get injured.  Just like running speed work. When you're a newb like myself, just added mileage will make you faster.  I'm living proof on the bike (and the run, and the swim).  A little over 2 months ago I was averaging 13.33, now I am now averaging 16-17.  I climb hills easier than before also.  All I do is ride.  I don't watch my speed but I have my eye on my cadence always (actually my Garmin beeps when I get out of the 85-95 range).

Wow, I guess I'm done picking your post apart bit by bit.  I'm curious what the others think.  Maybe I have it all wrong.

Regarding my own training, I did my swim this morning.  My plan called for 1750yds today but I now feel I should always do at least 2100 if I'm going to put forth the effort to go to the pool.  I was going to bike 75 minutes before the swim but at 3:30 I convinced myself that getting lots of sleep was also essential to proper training.  So I sleep trained for an additional 1.5 hours.  I'm a little behind on my training this week and will probably miss a short bike and a short swim.  I'm not going to stress over it.  I've done well and will still get in over 11 hours of training this week.

So I have a 7 mile run tomorrow morning, a group ride (going for the C ride to keep mileage lower) of 50 miles on Saturday, a 5k race Sunday morning, followed by a 2500yd lake swim.  The 5k is the first of my local running club's road race series so I'm going to take it easy and not go all out. 

Karen - I wasn't trying to criticize your previous post, just wanted to state what I had learned.  Now to give some constructive criticism, it appears in your profile pic that you are wearing your helmet too high on your forehead.  I'm a bike safety nut so I have to point this out to you.

I forgot a little progress I had this morning in one department, noseclips.  I lost my 3rd pair in the pool this morning.  Instead of stopping to find them, I just kept swimming and told myself today was the day to get rid of the training wheels.  I survived.  Hopefully I am rid of those which will be one less thing to deal with and worry about during my swim.

One last post.  I don't think I mentioned it but a guy on Reddit has started a weekly OWS topic with some tips.  I will post the first two he's done and try to do it every week.

And this weeks

Ok, I promise I will quit posting but I found a neat device for safety during OWS.  I have to say that my last swim which was .6 miles one way had me a little nervous because even though I had somebody with me, what would I do if something when wrong, e.g. a cramp or something.  Well I found this tonight and am thinking about buying one.

Not only is it a tethered floatation device, but it will also hold your valuables if you are at a beach.  You can purchase them from here, and here is a fantastic review. 

Sure you might look like a melvin with one, but if it gives you a little more security, who cares.

Ah last long week not going so well.  On Tuesday my right calf buggered up on me so I took yesterday completely  off.  So odd not even a swm.  Did a 10 mile run in 92F today without any real pain.  Not sure about the Saturday 115 mile ride... if the calf acts up again.  I may have to do short 35 mile loops (once around the block) and see how it feels.  I also skipped 1 swim yesterday, so 5000 yard swim tomorrow.  This is probably the most dangerous week fo training for an IM.  Oh well we go by feel and see how things pan out. 

Bike seat 3 inches too low = knee pain for sure, glad you got that fixed. 

I agree intervals in the first year is inviting muscle pulls.  You can do hard...er efforts but not flat out intervals your you will have calf issues like me 8).  Although I am slow on the bike so... not sure how to get faster.  When I try I toast leg muscles and trash myeslf for a couple 2-3months. 

Dennis and Steve- Thank you so much for your input. That is why I enjoy this group, we help each other.  I posted what the LBS guy said just to get the info out there.  I did tell him, like my running, I feel I am just building a base...I was thinking of our talks here...but was glad for the info.  I don't see me doing intervals yet, perhaps next year, but glad for the info.

Dennis- Funny you commented on my bike helmet...I too noticed it was too far back.  That pic was taken during a tri race...I have semi long hair and the pony tail was apparently a tad too low, thus when putting the helmet on in the rush of the race, it was put on wrong from my hair.  Guess that is a problem many guys don't have in a race: "hmm now how high-low shall I put my ponytail for the race today?" lol. BTW I changed my pix, not because of your comment, Dennis, I just don't like the look of me on a bike-shows more buldges than I care to acknowledge.

So another guy at the shop does tri OWS help sessions a week before a race he sponsors.  Of course I'll be out of town for the next one...he talked about "dolphin-ing" out in shallow surf to get in front...what is that???

Dennis- Thanks for sharing your guy's OWS blogs- any help is appreciated, and never apologize for picking apart my posts, any comments...constructive of course... are greatly appreciated.

-Karen

OH as far as the cadence  and gear thing goes...remember I live in flat as a pancake Florida.  Any running race and now tri's I've done, they throw in a bridge to get "hills" when the bridges are near. So high gear- low gear for hills...I just do what feels good for now and that is about in the lowest gear when climbing "hills".  For the cadence discussion...I just don't know.  I've only been riding for 8 months... I have no idea what is right.  So far, I've just been doing what feels "right" to build my base.  But I am open to help and opinions... so much to learn, huh?

It is 2:30 in the morning-insomnia, tomorrow's work out (if it doesn't rain) will be a challenge. Wish I had a pool like Steve, I'd be swimming right now. -Karen

Thanks Karen for sharing what you learned in your bike fit.  Hey sounds like we have matching saddles...I replaced mine w/ a vflow max recently.  I got conflicting advice re: cadence on the group ride I went on.  Leader was suggesting low 80's, and seems like I hear from most other folks 90's. 

Dennis, thanks so much for sharing what you have learned, as well as the OWS info.  Closest I've come to OWS lately is trying to close my eyes in the pool, and only open them to sight.  But geez, I'm such a cheater!  Next swim is OW, but only 500 yds.  No wetsuit this time, so I'll have to float on my own.

Steve, quite a balance to be struck this week for you.  Sounds like you're making wise choices and have learned a few things from prior attempts.  Looking forward to a lot of posts from you during your taper weeks!

Got some clarification on the club thing, and appears that most things are open to shop customers as well as club members.  And yay, group rides this week, so I'm looking foward to not riding alone on Saturday morning.  Off to do a short brick this morning to see if the legs can shift gears.  MTA: met another cyclist on the road and got into a discussion after riding....another cycling buddy found, but missed my run...did do yardwork after that, so turned it into a bike/yardwork brick.

People who only ride bikes tend to "mash" in a higher gear with a lower cadence, 80 ish.  Triathletes need to run after the bike so they tend to run at a higher cadence 85-90 so that there is less stress on their legs (lower torque) so they can still run after the bike.  Also, your ideal run cadence is around 90 per minute, so if you have just been doing 6 hours at a 90 rpm on the bike you can theoretically transition to running 90 steps per minute on the run.  I personally have trouble staying above 85 rpms and it is a bit personal.  Probably having lighter feet on the pedals allows for a higher rpm.  It also, however, requires really good sitbone callouses as I find higher cadence causes a bit more friction with your bike seat. 

So actually that rock I turned my left ankle on last night turned out to have residual soreness today... yay.  It has just been one of those years.  After the IM I am going to have to take like 2 months off completely just to let all of these injuries heal up.  Starting from a full recovery like that soooo sucks.  Your brain says that a 15 mile run is a moderate distance and your body says a 5 mile run is longish.  Oh well, part of the dance.

And I don't like my pictures because I don't feel there is enough of a buldge. 

On your .5 mile crossing, isn't it funny how the last 500 yds.  seems like they will never be over.  You keep swimming, but the shore doesn't seem to get any closer.

Dropped back and road with the LBS C ride instead of the B ride this morning.  I just didn't have 73 miles in me.  It turned out great.  My avg. speed was just 1 MPH slower than my B avg., the hills were of course just as hard, and best of all I stayed near the front a majority of the time.  Almost 50 miles completed before 10:30 sounds like a good morning to me.

So where is everybody?

Hey there!  I was wondering the same thing.  Missing a few folks lately.   Do stop by and let us know how it's going, or if it isn't going come get some encouragement to get it going .

Dennis - nice ride!  Your cycling group sounds pretty serious if the C group is riding 50 miles.

Troy - sounds like you are really doing well on your OWS's.  Great that you can practice with a group.

Steve - hope the ankle is doing better, ouch!  The recovery required for IM, even if you are not injured, is amazing.  Hopefully you will be able to distract yourself with other aspects of life during that time. 

Steve, thanks for the perspective on tri vs. road biking cadence.  I've pretty much been going along in blissful ignorance on that since I haven't installed my cadence sensor yet....but soon I will know. 

Had lots of fun on the group ride this morning.  27 miles averaging 16 mph, which is actually an improvement for me.  Then went to a different pool this afternoon to swim w/ a friend.  This was at the richest high school in the area, beautiful pool w/ 50 meter lanes and deep water.  Felt pretty tired, tense, and not quite "right".  The gym pool I usually swim in is 25 yard lanes and shallow water, so the change of environment/lap length probably explains some of that.   Left me feeling that I have LOT of work to do prior to the OLY on the schedule for October.  

They actually offer 3 different lengths.  About 25 miles into the ride they ask who wants to just do 35.  3-4 people said yes and they took the right turn back towards the shop.  At around 38 miles they asked who wanted to do 42 and who wanted to do 50.  3 people took the right back to the shop and the remaining 6 of us went right for the 50.  That is good because the pace picked up after people chose the shorter route because obviously it was the stronger riders that wanted to go further.  I wish the B ride offered a choice of different lengths.

They actually offer 3 different lengths.  About 25 miles into the ride they ask who wants to just do 35.  3-4 people said yes and they took the right turn back towards the shop.  At around 38 miles they asked who wanted to do 42 and who wanted to do 50.  3 people took the right back to the shop and the remaining 6 of us went right for the 50.  That is good because the pace picked up after people chose the shorter route because obviously it was the stronger riders that wanted to go further.  I wish the B ride offered a choice of different lengths.

Hi Gang - just back from glamping in VT.  Didn't get as much lake swimming as I wanted to - training was hard to keep up with while trying to have family time.  Hubby did bike with me a couple early  mornings and went on my run/walks with me.  Only did 2 lake swims with the family there and one time I managed to rip my swimcap - grrr!  The place where we could swim in the lake was also a boat launch area and was fairly shallow (as far as i could tell) so stayed warmish - but the the water quickly churned up with debris and the boats/kayaks/waterskis coming and going was a bit unnerving to me so I stuck to pretty close to the shore - the kids preferred the swimming pool at the campground.  We would get to the pool early and I could try to do laps before the pool got busy.  It would have worked out better if I could get in an early morning lake swim - but didn't really feel it prudent to do an OWS in unknown water alone.   I was really disappointed in the lake access - most of the shore was either densely wooded or dangerously rocky - blah.  Dennis - I like the idea of those flotation/safety devices.  Got some time in on my bike, clipped in - did just fine at stops but did fall once on the grass - was coming back to the campsite and my son was waving me in - totally forgot I was clipped in!  The mountainbike seemed to do fine with the road tires - but I was wondering if mountainbike gearing was different from roadbike gearing?  on the downhills I ran out of gears.   I tried to maintain a steady rhythm and a faster cadence does seem to feel more comfortable - I don't have a cadence sensor.  Decided to stay in the larger ring/gearing as that seemed to make more sense to me.  The weather was great and the views were beautiful.  Stopped at the home of Ben and Jerry's with the kids and took the tour - it was pretty fun.

I was so glad that my hubby wanted to bike with me - it was nice to share that time.  I don't know about all of you, but training feels very anti-social to me when on a family vacation or having family time.   The kids wanted to ride with us too - so we found a short loop that we did with them, but it was so sloooow!  I know, they'll be running circles around me soon enough!  I did swim with the kids and tried to remember what it was like to just hang around in the water playing games and just enjoying it - haha!  So - I guess this week was just trying to remember how to enjoy the swim, bike, run. 

Lisa - did you race today?

Karen - how do you feel about the fitting adjustments when you ride?  I feel like I keep raising my seat also - but suddenly I feel like my handlebars are too close?  I used to feel that the mountainbike fit was perfect - I've had it since 1999 and my daughter told me this week that she didn't even realize that it was my bike since she hardly ever saw me ride it!

I still have some posts to go back and catch up on ....so I'm sure I'll post more in a bit.

Yes moutain bike gearing is different, you typically spin out on a MB around 20 to 25 mph.  On a road or tri bike, depending on the gearing, you won't spin out until 35 to 45 mph depending on your setup.  Lots of differences. 

So lastnight's swim just sucked.  I never got into a rythm, everything was achie and I had to go slow slow slower and short short shorter to get anything done.  So I did 5000 yards in 100 to 200 yard increments.  Man that 4400 yards felt good last week and this week struggling for 200 yards.  Gogo fatigued everything. 

So after a late night swim I slept in a bit and didn't get onto the bike until 10:30 am.  Ya cleaned some tubbing, mixed my calorie drink, ate breakfast, checked the tire pressure etc.  I get out a half mile and yup my planned ride will be into the wind or cross wind for the first 75 miles.  After lastnight's swim... sigh.  And then the rubber top of my areo bottle chose today to fatigue and bounce open with the sticky calorie mix on every bump and then I hit a pothole and got a flat tire... sigh.  So I changed the tube, rode home got a new tube and went back out.  At this point only 80 more miles to go ... yay.  Then I saw some folks on bikes... I'm all what is up with that. So I did a U-Turn rode with them for 15 miles.  They were doing a ride from NY city to San Fransico.  So I got in a group ride for 15 miles.  I pulled lead so they could draft behind me, made the head wind more endurable.  Then they were done for the day and I had 55 more miles to go.... long day got in just before dark. 

The good thing was that skipping a bike ride this day helped my legs to be able to tollerate today's ride.  I also marathon stiked the offending area.  So it looks like that muscle group was just overused and knotted but not pulled.  Yay.  Just have to get through an 18 mile run tomorrow and I can start tapering, Yay.  Hrm 10pm time to eat.

Yay for glamping and hanging out in the pool.  Swimcaps die after a couple years depending on how well they are made.  Kids say the darndest things. 

Glad you guys are getting in the group rides.  I hear that is the best way to get better, just like masters is the best way to get better at swimming. 

Night.  

Steve, I can just picture you chasing down a group of bikers.  You were all like, "I've heard that there were more like me but have never seen any."

This weekends training has went off without a hitch.  I set a new PR is the 5k by a second this morning, 24:45, even though to be honest it looks according to my garmin the course was a little short, .05 miles.  But I'm going to take the PR anyways.  Went for a 2200 yd lake swim (4x500, 1x200) afterwards.  I did the lake without my nose clips and it wasn't too bad.  2 more weeks and I should be used to not having them.

I'm finishing the week short of my planned training with just 9:45 of training.  I missed a short swim, short bike, and medium run.  Let's see if we can do better next week.

Off to finally buy that lawnmower I've been putting off.

Hrm.. 18 mile run in 87F temps and windy.  I wanted to hold an 8:30 pace, but the wheels came off around mile 11 and then it was just time to get er done.  I ended up with an 8:45 ish pace, but did not have anything left, just slugged through the last 2 miles.  Oh well allo my workouts have not been ideal performance wise because of high fatigue load.  But I got in the 3 long workouts this weekend so that will have to be that.. Yay taper time.  And sleep.

I find that blowing air out my nose while under water helps with the no water up the nose thing.  I only breath out my mouth right at the end before I take a breath again.  Grats on your progress and nice swim.  And... a PR is a PR.  Garmin is a guestimate.  At the Marathon length it can be off by as much as .4 of a mile... very irritating and it tends to think you have gone farther than you have.. making courses look short.  However in races the measure courses with a wheel that is pretty accurate (down to the foot). 

Just popping in to say I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.    We were in the mountains for a few days (no internet!) and my in-laws are (still) here.

Also, here's my chance to brag:  I ran my half marathon on Saturday and rocked it, including scoring a second-place age group finish! 

My disclaimer is that this was a very small race:  81 finishers, 51 women, and only 15 in my F30-39 division.  My time was 2:00:25, which was great under the conditions (768 feet of elevation gain at 8000 feet), but the really small field and some luck really helped.  My race report is here.  I'll have a much longer one on my personal blog in a few days and will link it then.

Hope everyone is well.  I should have time to finish updating my training and seeing what everyone is doing tomorrow, after my in-laws (finally!!!!) leave.  They've been here 9 days already.  It's a wonder I'm still sane.

Ceril-Glad you had a nice vaction with the family.  I've ridden 2 long rides with the new bike fit.  Surprise, surprise no neck pain as I was experiencing prior to the fit. So it was worth the time and $.

Dennis-Yay for you! You said the Garmin was off but I'd take it none the less. My Garmin gets wacko when I run under trees it reads my running pace like 15! I am slow, but not THAT slow!

Steve-Tough bike ride, good for you for keeping at it.  I think I would have given up with the rapair to the wheel.

Lisa-Wow! Great time in the half mary! And second in you AG.  Good for you! Hope your in-laws have been helping not adding to your already very busy life!

So Saturday I did a 25 mile bike ride then did a 4 mile brick run.  Not so bad, all things worked.  But then Sunday I thought I'd get in an easy 8 mile run... 2miles into the run my legs were hurting.  Not the normal pain, more like shin splints were threatening.  So I gave up called the hubby to come get me.  I was so mad that I couldn't go longer, but in retrospect I am glad I stopped, didn't push for more.  My legs were trashed from the day before and obviously needed a rest.  What this tells me is I am certainly NOT ready for an OLY this year.  Oh well, at least I am not hurt.

Friday I rode my bike the short 3.5 miles  to the bridge to take a pic of the shuttle lifting off.  Thought I'd post it for you all as the views here a pretty good. But my iPhone didn't take a great pic.  If I can clean up the pic I'll post.

Hope to get in a swim and prehaps that 8 mile run today.  Epcot with the kids tomorrow-walking around there all day "counts" right??  -Karen

I've done it more than once, start a long run, feel a new pain, and have to stop before I screw something up.  I hate stopping but I haven't suffered an injury this year and fell 100% today so I can say it was worth not getting the workout in.

Now as far as not ready for an Oly.  You road 25 miles then ran 4.  I would say you are right on pace for an oly.  You are a mile swim and 2.2 miles short of an Oly with that brick.  You could finish an Oly on Saturday if you wanted to IMO (I'm living proof).

Like a boss.  That's a great time.  Did it feel funny running without a stroller in your hands?  In laws suck but they sometimes are useful for watching the kids though.  I like it when mine visit now, so I can go out and SBR all day.

Got my 9.5 miler in this morning.  Tomorrow is the dreaded ~3 hour brick, (30 mile bike/5 mile run).  I might push it back to Wed. and do just a 20 mile bike/1 mile swim instead.   Just Sat, Sun and today I have racked up over 6 hours in training.