Baowolf mentor group is [ Closed ] (Page 36)

Mike, ugh, so sorry to hear about your race. Glad you bike took the worst of it, and sounds like you came out of it mentally stronger!  Next one is yours! 

More later, work calls.

So 2000 yard swim (20x100 yards (in real pool) at 1:51/100 rest 10 sec), Bike 30 miles, run 7 miles (increased pace every mile).  Tired.

Also I signed up for IM Tahoe for next year.  If anyone else wants to play it is currently 80% full and registration opened 6 hours ago.  I would think it will be full by this time tomorrow at the latest.

Larry -- you are going to crush this HIM. Just stay upright on the bike - I highly recommend it 

As for the 'blah' workout, they happen. Every day isn't Christmas, but the blah days make the good days feel even better. And fighting through the blah days makes you tougher. So its all good, I say.

Samantha -- way to go on your 5K PR!!!!  Your training consistency is already paying off.  And great job getting a swim in after that. 

Quasi -- really nice workouts for you!  I would also think the blah feeling could be from being in your bigger weeks of training.  As Steve says...sometimes gotta just get it done.

Steve -- your workouts are looking really strong too.  Your winter rest to let the injuries recover is paying off as well.  That's great you signed up for IM Lake Tahoe.  Should be beautiful!  What's the altitude where you are currently training?  Thinking it's pretty high, and know you have the hills/mountains to train on, so perfect for you!

Ceril -- Ha, ha, yes, that song Samantha mentioned is Queen .  How is your training going after the tri you did?

Jim -- Hope you are able to get in some good workouts during your travels.  That must be really tough.

EV -- Nice 42 mile bike ride for you!  Ha, maybe all that bike riding is why your swim bottoms are slipping now .

JFord -- great job getting the workouts in before work.  Sounds like that system is working well for you!

Still a bit out of sorts, and trying to track down that darn cheese that has moved.  I don't have a good picture of the new bike yet, but here is a pic from the ride on Sunday.  That's me in the turquoise top, and in front of me is the gal I ran the Carlsbad 1/2 mary with back in January.  It was a PR for both of us...first time under 2:00 hours.

Squirt: What a great pic of you & your riding group!  

 I dont usually train with others simply because its easier to train without coordinating everyones schedules. But today I trained with a friend.  We've done a couple of sprints tris together and she has a HIM in July.  Let me say that it indeed was enjoyable to have someone to chat with especially on the run, but I honestly dont feel like i had a solid workout.  Our brick was 20 ride/2.5 run. Time: 1:32/32.  I knew she was not a strong rider so was anticipating a slower speed.  I dont want to complain, but now that the brick is done i seriously feel like i need another workout.   But as I said I did enjoy the time with my friend so I will stop my pouting now. 

Your peak build weeks are not going to feel great.  The goal is just to get the workouts done.  You are getting in the longest hours in each event to help your body know that soon it will be expected to go long.  Keep some intensity, but don't worry about it if your times are not great and your motivation is low, thats just how it goes.  You will be bonkers in your taper on the other end of the pendalum.  Enjoy.  This is my 2nd biggest build week as well for the HIM.  I could actually do a slower IM with my HIM build this time around.  My run training is about the same as what I will do for my IM and then just tweek the long ride + 35 to 45 miles and the long swim + 1000 to 2000 yards.

Oh I train around 4500 feet with passes up to 6300 feet or so.  Tahoe will be higher than that, 5000-6000 for the base not sure about how high the bike will go, but it will be nasty hilly ride I am sure. 

Carol - love this pic!! Queen, yes! That is the name I couldn't remember. How are you liking your new ride?

Larry - great workouts!

Elena - I train by myself for similar reasons. I would love to find someone equal or a little bit stronger. I don't want to be slowed down or slow any one down, so I go alone. I bet finding a group would be good. Then we could hang with whoever we paced with.

Steve - it seems your swim is really starting to improve. That is so exciting! Yeah for IM Tahoe!

So I am in recovery week. It doesn't feel like it yet because my long bike was today. 25 miles at 14+mph. I am officially freaked out about my HIM. I read some race reports from people who did it and it sounds really hard. The bike gains 2500 ft. and there is a 3.5 or so mile climb right at the beginning, then rolling hills that consist of more up than down. Today I decided to try out my legs on a couple decent hills (one 6% uphill for 1/2 mi.) It was super hard. I was going about 8mph. The other was less steep, but longer and it was tough too. Steve, what are you thoughts on this? Should I be starting to add more hill climbing? Can I be ready for this type of bike course?

I am also wondering how much difference a new bike would make. I believe my bike only has 12 gears. So I do not have a small ring on front and only six on the back. Plus my shifters are on my downstem, so I have to take a hand off my handlebars to shift. I know I will need something different for IM and it seems like I would benefit from something for the HIM, but it also might just be my lack of endurance for hills. Anyway, I am concerned and would love some feedback.

I did a five mile run this week and even though it took some mental push through I did well. It was on a treadmill and that is usually harder to endure. I think I am improving in my run endurance and speed. Yahoo!

Elena, I know what you mean re: finding the right training partners.  It's really tough to do.  I tried the local running group, but just never found the right groove there.  It was like I was in some limbo land...too slow for the fast group, and too fast for the slower ones.  So I ran a lot by myself even when I went out there.

James, ha, yes I know what you mean about the office thing.  I'm very fortunate to work from home, and have lots of scheduling flexibility as a result.  But I bill by the hour worked, so nice days can really make my paycheck take a hit.

Samantha, what bike do you ride?  What type of frame (steel, aluminum, etc.)?  I'm betting a new bike (lightweight aluminum or carbon, with a few more..and more easily accessible...gears, would be a big help to you.  Awesome progress on the run!  Your nemesis may just become your friend . Oh, and yes, LOVE the new bike so far. Haven't had the chance to check it out on a fasterish ride yet, but that will come soon enough.

Mike, glad you had such a great swim!  Ha, I'd have to have a boat pull me to go that fast in the water.  But know what you mean that some days it all just clicks.  Hope your bike is back togehter soon. 

Steve, bet you will be in better shape altitude and hill wise than most of the Lake Tahoe participants.  I've heard that 8K feet is the general range for major altitude impact (illness), but I'm sure every foot counts to some degree.  Either way, pretty exciting to get in on the inaguaral race there. 

Think I found my swim solution yesterday.  Mike, it's your neice's pool in Southlake...very big and nice, and my sinuses are totally clear after swimming in it...woohooo!!  Will just have to be disciplined about when I go to fit in with the lap swim schedule there.  Finally back to having bike, pool access, and running path, yay!!  Sprint tri coming up this Sunday that I have mixed feelings about.  Going in with no bike fitness, and carrying 5 unwanted lbs on the run.  No newbies in this one either as it's a "quailfier" based on previous races, so could be ugly in terms of AG placement.  But I paid my money, so I'll take my chances . 

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/05/compact-cranks-vs-standard-cranks-gearing-implications/

I just finished reading this article and was highly educated by it, so I wanted to share for anyone who wants to learn about crank sets, cogs and gearing.

Blue skies are smiling at me today!

You may want a bike with more gears for CDA, it has a lot of hills on the bike.  I remember a sign on one of the very steep hills said "Ironmen don't walk their bikes up hills!"  On lap 2 I saw a few walking their bikes up that hill.  Yes if your HIM has hills as your IM will then riding hills is important.  That is why I was adding in that 10 mile hill every week to match the hill climb in my HIM.  So a new bike may be in the works for you, primarily because you want more gears and because those gears will shift so much nicer if you get a 105 or better gear set and shifters. 

I usually bump up 5 miles a week on my shorter rides and 10 miles a week on the longer rides.  So my standard long is now 75 miles.  For my IM build I will go 85, 95, 105, 115 for building the long ride.  The shorter rides have gone from 20 to 25, 30 and will build to 35, 40.  So a week could go from 20,20,25,55 to 20 25, 30, 65 and then 20 25, 35, 75 the following week.  You could jump up as much as 20 miles on your long ride... but that kind of assums you are riding 100 miles a week or more.  You could even do a century ride if you were only riding 60 miles for a long, you would just need to take your time and not push the intensity and take breaks.  Bike is easier to go farther with less wear and tear on the body.  Going faster is harder though. 

3200 yard swim kicked my butt this morning.  Started with 1000 yards in 18:30 which was decent.  Then around 2200 yards the arms were just getting more and more tired... This month should have 10,000 more yards than last month though so, some progress. 

1:24 /100 oh my, thems fighting words.  Grats.  Your swim puts you in Kona qualifying land.  Your bike is coming along nicely, run.... is gona be where your gona make up more time next season. 

Steve - I am starting to look at bikes and get an understanding of what I want. Tri vs. Road. Reading articles on gearing and such. I suppose it wouldn't take much to improve on my current bike. It is a sweet road bike from the 80's, but even with a weak engine I think it limits are being pushed for the hills I will need to ride. Did you hear they changed the course for IM CDA?? It still has hills, but they may be more difficult than the previous course. At least I can train on the course as much as my heart desires.

So what would adding in hills look like? Do I just find hills and ride them? Should I focus on them for my short, medium or long rides? What exactly are hill repeats? My plan doesn't call for me to do them, but should I add that in? What do I want to focus on when climbing? I don't have a HR monitor. Do I want to keep my cadence above 85 if I can? Do I want to spin as fast as I can to keep my legs from burning out, or maybe some of both? Thanks!!

I would add in more hills into one of your rides per week.  You could do hill repeats, but at your level (and mine) I would just pick a route that has some hills in it.  When I did CDA they had more hills than last year's course.  They may be just going back to the original course of around 6000 feet elevation gain over 112 miles.  The good thing is that around CDA most hills are short as in a mile or less.  Climbing 1-3 mile hills is much different than 10 mile hills.  Mostly just go up the hills in a lower (probably lowest) gear and just ride them.  At first you will be around 7-8 mph and as your legs get stronger that may be 9-10 mph.  You can add them on any ride, short, med or long.  But probably not every ride and if you want to just go up a hill and back down doing hll repeats of say a 2 mile climb then make sure you warm up first (ask how I know) and then do that only once a week. 

This is the hill near my house.....