HILDEBEAST'S Magnificently Motivational Mentor Group - CLOSED!!!! (Page 37)

Suzie --- I'm pretty comfortable out of the saddle.  I just need to do it more.  There is a good hill on the way home to get some out of the saddle work in.  So that's the plan.

So this morning I had a meeting downtown.  Decided to ride there instead of taking the shuttle.  The time difference is only about 10 minutes each way and I don't have to wait for the shuttle on the way back.  I used the Capital Bikeshare program in DC.  The bike are pretty sturdy (45 lbs each).  I picked one up just outside my office and rode 4.9 miles.  Dropped of the bike just outside the office of the meeting.  After the meeting I road back!  

The picture below shows a Bikeshare station.  This one is right outside the Ronald Reagan Building where my meeting was (just 1.5 blocks from the White House).

(Washington-20120316-00009.jpg)

thanks for the racing attire advice, hilde!  i'm like you -- i get SO hot while running that i'd prefer to be chilly at the start and comfortable for the duration! 

melanie, that bike share program sounds/looks so cool!  love the picture, what a great idea!  i haven't seen anything like that around boston, but we could sure use something like that with our horrendous traffic and crazy roads, haha!

Well, here is the new addition to the bike stable.  He's an older gent but what a ride!  I still need to tweak a few things (these photos look like the seat is too high) but after today's lovely 30 miler I must say I love him.  His name is Luke (isn't that what "Look" spells? lol)

2005 Look 461

erin, congrats on your "new" bike!!  very exciting!  you look great on Luke and i'm impressed that you already took him out for a 30 mile ride.  NICE!

i had my HM earlier today.  it was a gorgeous day but very sunny!  lots of glare coming off of the ocean, which we ran along for a good 4 miles (not a beach run but the road runs right along the beach).  i PR'd, haha!  this was only my 2nd HM but i'll take it!!  my 1st HM was 2:22 and i ran today's HM in 2:14 so that felt good   i'm excited to have this race behind me and get back to working on more biking and swimming for tri season!!  i wrote a RR if anyone is interested in reading it - the link is in my training blog.

hope everyone had a good weekend!!

Nice ride Erin. Sorry I cut the pics out of the quote but I only need one visual to know what I'm responding to,lol.

 Kristen - congrats on the new PR. Especially the big chunky bit you knocked off the last one. Now go recover then swim for me,lol.

Me:

Goggles still leaking - not as bad as the weekend but bad enough that I've decided to take the week off til I get paid next week and can get some new/better ones.

New bike gloves are on layby - I've been using the really basic weightlifting ones, then I lost 1 yesterday because they got separated from my helmet. Ended up borrowing dad's motorbike gloves (he uses them for driving) and they went pretty good yesterday but I needed a permanent solution and the bike gloves have been on my wish list for a while. So I'm getting one pair of fingerless - only a tad thicker than the weightlifting ones but enough I think to make a difference and 1 pair of proper (read with fingers) ones - pretty cushiony and very comfy from trying them on in the shop today.

I also have a training question but I'll put that in the next post as it requires going in to a separate tab to get info and whenever I leave this it makes all the stuff I've just typed disappear.

It's basically a critique of my training: - Keep in mind that my A race is a sprint tri in November (500m, 20k, 5k)

So using my training plan - run times are as follows
Week 4 - 30, 30, 35, 20 - LR = 30% of total
Week 5 - 20, 20, 20, 20 (recovery/cutback week) - all runs 25% of total
week 6 - 35, 35, 45, 20 - LR = 33% of total
week 7 - 35, 35, 50, 20 - LR =  35% of total

Note:all numbers are minutes.
Week 7 is peak mileage and continues for the rest of the plan (22 weeks so 16 weeks) and I added in the 20 for recovery based on this weeks stuff:
25, 15, 30 (meant to do 20 on day 2 but only had time to do 15 so reassigned it to day 3 for an LR) , 20 (recovery)
Recovery is so called because I'm doing lighter intervals than the regular runs.

Here's this week's stats:
Mon - 25:06 - intervals - W3:30/R0:40/W5:10/R0:40/W5:30/R0:38/W4:42/R1:00/W3:06 - started out intending to just walk but then decided to throw some running in there.
Wednesday - 15:24 - 5w/1r intervals - this was done with my school bag on my back so there was added weight.
Friday - 30:00 - intervals: 2x 5w/1r, 2x 5w/1:30r, 5w
Saturday - 700m swim, 2.86M on the inside bike.
Sunday - 3.4 miles on the outside bike, 20 min run - intervals 9w/1r x2 - recovery/double day. I'm looking to keep this in there to get used to running when I've already done bike the same day. In preparation for at some point doing bricks.

Next week's intervals will be 5/2 for regular runs and probably 4/1, 6/1:30 or 8/2 fo the recovery - most likely the middle or first one. I like the idea of actually running less than on my normal days as wwell as having a longer walk break in there.

This weeks training looks like this:

Today: 325 swim, 2.03k bike ride on the inside bike with really really hard intervals which really kicked my butt - hence the short distance - I'm thinking 3 days of bike riding isn't a good idea.

Tomorrow: 30 min run - 5/2 intervals

Wednesday: Rest - maybe with some pilates/yoga or ST work.

Thursday: 30 min run - intervals same as above

Friday: 4 mile bike ride - really need to do some mapping to find out distances,lol - if I have enough light when I get home from school although I'm sort of contemplating actually riding at school by taking my bike on the train. If they let me that is - the first one I get in the morning is seriously packed.

Saturday - 35 min run (LR) - probably same intervals but it depends what I'm able to do - I may end up doing some sort of progression/pyramid thing with them

Sunday - 5 mile bike ride and 20 min run - see above note about recovery runs.

I'm also contemplating reassigning the mileage I missed today (1.25 out of 4) to the other 2 days but I'm not totally sure it's a good idea as I'd be adding like 1.5 miles to each ride.

The swimming will get thown back in there next week when I get my new goggles.

so what does everyong think?                     

Oh and I'm also contemplating doing a 4k race on mother's day. So the running is probably more of a focus right now too.

Wow, new bikes, new PR's and new plans!!  Lots to digest...

Kristen, FABULOUS PR!!!  What an improvement, and I'm jealous!!!  Glad it was a great run for you, you'll be able to carry that sense of accomplishment right on to your tri training!

Erin, congrats on the new bike!!  Looks Speedy... Wilson has a Look tri bike, he loves it!  And yes, your seat DOES look a tad bit high... way to break him in with the 30 miles!!  Nothing like a bike you are in love with to get you out there riding, well that and Spring weather!

Suzie, plan looks good.  This may be just me, but your race calls for a 5K which means you need to build up to running/walking that distance which will take more minutes than your plan calls for.  You don't want to go into your tri never having run that far!  You should definitely do the 4K race coming up, it will be a great benchmark to see where you are now and where you can improve!

Spring break is over .... back to school today, but they are calling for 100% chance of rain today and probably through tomorrow so we may be inside the building which would be a great way to ease back in, ha ha!!  I'm just hoping any thunder holds off till AFTER I'm done with my swim!

Hilde - the plan I posted is only this week's one to give you an idea of what I'm looking to do workout wise. The times, distances, etc are variable based on what the plan says for that week.

The current plan I'm using which is basically base building peaks at 50 mins run, 25 miles miles bike. And the swim programs peak at something that looks more like oly distance for continuous swim.  The run actually does build up to full running too. Dropping 30 secs from the walk and transfering it to the run every few weeks.

I can't quite remember where my 2nd plan which is more about actually preparing for the race peaks but I think there are a few 1+ hr runs in there and bricks.

The 4k from last year which I walked was just shy of 1hr and that was walking. So I should be much faster this year if I run/walk it. I'm a bit iffy about changing the intervals that week though - mainly cos it's a new thing for a race. I'll probably just keep the prior week's intervals and then swap them up when I feel ready. Either way it should help me gauge what sort of time I need for a 5k. I may be looking at an actual 5k in July too which since it's toward the end of my base training should give me a better idea of where my run training is.

Kristen - Congratulations on your PR!!  They are always a good reward for hard work.

Erin -  Nice bike!  Love the pics.

Suzie - Good luck on the plan.  Stick with it!  On your walking segments, do you powerwalk (very purposeful walking with lots of good arm action - faster than just strolling)?  This is a good way to get some extra work in with just a bit extra effort.  I try to powerwalk when I take walk breaks on my runs.

Did a strength session rather than a swim yesterday.  I was planning on 3 swim sessions a week from now until my HIM.  But I miss strength training !  And there's not really a way to get a ST session in and the 3rd swim.

So thoughts on 3 swims per week vs 2 swims per week + 1 ST session per week 'till HIM?  What say you?

Melanie, you should have no problem maintaining on 2 swims per week, even though 3 would be optimal.... up to you if strength training takes priority... I gave up strength when I got serious about SBR, there just isn't enough time in the week AND keep a rest day in there.  For me I get more out of a SBR workout, but that's just me... I can definitely see the point of fitting in a strength too... we'll see what everyone else chimes in!

HUGE storms passed through last night!!  I think we got about 4" of rain!  Thunder and lightning all night long, thankfully I don't think we had any hail.  Lots of flash flooding, I left extra early just in case I had to detour my normal route to school.  Looks like it is starting to clear, but we are inside this morning because of chance of lightning and more rain...

I think the bolded statement is the reason to go for it!  It is important to do what we enjoy, so go for the ST.  I cut out ST over the last year and have just started putting it back in.  I am also enjoying it.  I don't think it is doing much for my SBR, but it is good for the soul.  

Hey guys - checking in.

Kristen - I'm a bit late, but congrats on your race over the weekend!

Did a trainer ride last night - same problem I had before with my back tire feeling like it's trying to stop.  Not sure what the deal is with that (or if it even is a tire problem - maybe it's the trainer?), but it's time for a tune-up anyway so I'll try to get the bike into the LBS this week and see if they have any ideas.  I need to get it ready to start riding outside again.  Dumb question here - I probably should be cleaning/lubing the chain regularly even though I'm riding inside, right?  It didn't occur to me until last night that the chain would still get dirty even though I'm not outside. 

I'm thinking about doing a 5k this weekend and possibly another one next weekend.  It's supposed to be a little rainy on Saturday but the temps will be warm enough that the rain won't be a big deal.  Just need to get myself registered. 

Hope everyone's having a good week!
Janet2

J2, yes, you probably need to lube the chain, but not as much as if you were riding outside.  I usually go till I hear it squeaking.  Although yesterday I rode through 2 big wet areas that soaked the chain, so I'll be lubing it before I take it out again.  Do you maybe have the trainer cranked down TOO hard on the back wheel?  Seems weird that it does it after awhile... maybe it is something with the trainer??  And yea on the 5K's!!  Short enough you can do one without too much training and run fast!!

GO for it with the 5k Janet.

Oh and when I went to look at the gloves I'm getting I found out that my LBS really does know me well. They didn't even ask my name or how to spell it,lol.

So now another question:

If I'm time pressed what's better:

3 bike rides in a row or 3 runs? (meaning doing the same thing 3 days in a row)