login
Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED (Page 38)
-
No new posts
|
 2014-08-07 3:14 PM in reply to: Stuartap |
Master  3205    ann arbor, michigan |  Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSEDWeaknesses...... well, the swim for sure and the bike, probably. I have been working on the swim for a long, long time and have felt like I was stuck for a big chunk of that time without improvement. But I am subscribing to the mantra that I certainly won't get better if I don't work on it, so I keep putting his in the time and taking good lessons and reading about swimming in the hopes that one day it may no longer be a liability. I am doubtful that it will ever be a true strength. As far as the bike goes, I am not slow but I am not as fast as I want to be. I am doing a little mini bike focus for the last month or so in hopes that biking becomes more of a strength. I think it may be working. Maybe we will see this Sunday at Steelhead. |
| 2014-08-07 4:10 PM in reply to: slornow |
Extreme Veteran 990  Collierville, Tennessee | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by slornow Originally posted by skibummer About to put some money down on a used Kona Zing for stupid cheap. This will be the nicest thing I own. I will treat it nicer than I treat my kids. But...after I shell out the initial down payment I'll still have to figure out how to afford the rest of it. Enjoy the ride! I was not familiar with Kona bikes but looks like a sweet bike. New bike is a great excuse to get in more bike miles. I'm on my way to Milwaukee for AG Nationals. Should get in sometime this afternoon. Felt like crap early in the week so went to the doctor Tuesday to see if he could help. Turns out I have a sinus infection that is causing some respiratory issues. Doctor said he would "over medicate" me to try to get me ready for my race on Sunday. Shot, antibiotics and an inhaler. Definitely feeling better but I have not exercised since a short run Sunday morning. I may try to get a short run in this evening when I get in town to see how I feel. Stinks to be sick the week before my "A" race. Hopefully, I will conitinue to improve over the next couple of days. Good luck Randy, sorry you haven't been feeling well! I can't wait to hear how you dominated at the AG Champs! |
| 2014-08-07 8:18 PM in reply to: #5034401 |
Member 836 North Augusta, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Awful run tonight. A mere 4 miles hurt like hell and was agonizingly slow. This back to work thing is cramping my style. My Tri club is hosting the bike portion of an Augusta 70.3 training camp this weekend. I'll do the swim & run with campers on Sat, but manning and aid station on Sunday. They've got 250 plus cycling on Sunday. Hope it's not too crazy. Randy...hope you are starting to feel better. |
| 2014-08-07 8:44 PM in reply to: 0 |
Extreme Veteran 1190 Silicon Valley | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by glfprncs Awful run tonight. A mere 4 miles hurt like hell and was agonizingly slow. This back to work thing is cramping my style. Since misery loves company, I too had an awful training day today. I went on a new bike route that has a good climb in it. Unfortunately it was cold and overcast and windy this morning. I couldn't get my legs warm for 10 miles. Too bad that was after the two biggest climbs. It usually warms up quickly at 6:30am so I was wearing fingerless gloves and my fingers were frozen. The sun just never broke through. My ride was slow and painful and not the least bit fun. But, I think I will like the route when the weather is a bit more obliging. Edited by Stuartap 2014-08-07 8:45 PM |
| 2014-08-07 10:08 PM in reply to: #4996375 |
Member 836 North Augusta, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Stuart...our misery was for opposite reasons. While you were freezing on the bike, I was enjoying a 94 degree, 80% humidity run. |
| 2014-08-07 10:18 PM in reply to: glfprncs |
Extreme Veteran 1190 Silicon Valley | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by glfprncs Stuart...our misery was for opposite reasons. While you were freezing on the bike, I was enjoying a 94 degree, 80% humidity run. 80% humidity. YUCH!! I'll take the cold and wear full gloves and long sleeves. |
| 2014-08-08 8:36 AM in reply to: Stuartap |
Member 2098 Simsbury, Connecticut | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Just so you are all up to speed, I bought the RANDEE saddle and it came yesterday.....stay tuned for my analysis! It looks wider and shorter than I thought so......maybe?! |
| 2014-08-08 10:08 AM in reply to: mtnbikerchk |
Master 1779 | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED We're here at AG Nationals. Met up with Randy yesterday to do some pre-race stuff and for dinner. The race venue is really nice. The weather is perfect! Actually cool compared to Texas. I'm signed up for both races but plan on only racing the sprint on Sunday. Updates and weird observations are in my blog in case anyone is interested. Hope everyone has a great weekend. |
| 2014-08-09 12:55 PM in reply to: Catwoman |
Extreme Veteran 1190 Silicon Valley | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Did a two hour ride this morning. The sun finally broke through the clouds about two minutes before I finished. Really windy again today which really gives my arms a workout, just hanging on. I could use a little gearing advice. I am really good on the upshift as my cadence increases. It's smooth and consistent. Where I am still struggling is on climbs. I have added to decent climbs to my route and I not hitting the downshifts too well. I am waiting too long to down shift thinking the higher gear yields more power. Sometimes that works but other times I find my cadence dropping really low. How do you decide it's time to downshift? |
| 2014-08-09 1:35 PM in reply to: Stuartap |
Master 3058 South Alabama | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Hey Gang! Beautiful morning for the oly race in Milwaukee. I didn't race but went down with Rene and some other friends to watch my team mates race. Unreal the quality of the athlete competing here this weekend. Smoking fast times. I'm going to give it a go tomorrow in the sprint. Still not feeling 100% but going to give it my best. Top 25 in each AG qualify for Team USA to compete at AG Worlds in Chicago next year. For the M50-54 olympic race today top 25 were 2:10 or less.....HOLY CRAP!!!! Crazy fast. I'm hoping to hang on and do what I can tomorrow.... |
| 2014-08-09 3:50 PM in reply to: slornow |
Member 836 North Augusta, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Had a solid run late this morning with the training group that's in town for Augusta 70.3 camp. Running certainly feels easier when you're surrounded by 99 other people. It felt much warmer than it actually was...86 degrees, but high humidity. I got 8 miles in (which is what my long run was supposed to be this week) on the first loop of the Augusta 70.3 course (we sort of took over downtown Augusta today). I paced myself well, didn't need fuel as I'd had 1 1/2 scoops of Ucan 30 minutes prior. I carried water and saltstick tablets, and still felt relatively strong at the end (could've continued). I'm definitely behind where I intended to be at this point in time with regards to training since June was a wash, but I'm okay with where I am. I had the opportunity to swim the course this morning as well, but it rained last night which means two things: 1. The current was running about 1 1/2 times faster than normal, so swim times were in the 22-25 minute range. While it's fun to swim 1.2 miles in that time, it doesn't really do much to help with fitness. If I felt uncomfortable in the water, I probably would've joined in just to be a part of a supported swim. Alas, I've never felt panic in the water (I'm lucky, I know), so swimming wasn't a necessity, and 2. With the deluge from last night, the river was downright GROSS today. It looked chocolate milk brown and had a lot of debris. I still have an open wound on my knee from falling on a trail run last week, and I don't want to risk another infection. One guy (he's a coach with Tri Coach Georgia and a former collegiate swimmer) swam the course in 16 minutes today. He was flying! He said he wasn't swimming hard. |
| 2014-08-09 4:18 PM in reply to: 0 |
Master 3205 ann arbor, michigan | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by slornow Hey Gang! Beautiful morning for the oly race in Milwaukee. I didn't race but went down with Rene and some other friends to watch my team mates race. Unreal the quality of the athlete competing here this weekend. Smoking fast times. I'm going to give it a go tomorrow in the sprint. Still not feeling 100% but going to give it my best. Top 25 in each AG qualify for Team USA to compete at AG Worlds in Chicago next year. For the M50-54 olympic race today top 25 were 2:10 or less.....HOLY CRAP!!!! Crazy fast. I'm hoping to hang on and do what I can tomorrow.... Wow. That is crazy fast! Good luck tomorrow with the sprint. I'm expecting big things from you and Rene. I am all checked in for Steelhead tomorrow. 2200 racers signed up with some crazy fast looking people. My AG is so big that it takes up two whole waves. Last and second to last waves. It is hard to know where you are when half your AG starts four minutes behind you. Sorry to hear about the tough workouts today. The good thing us that sticking with it when things are tough makes you mentally and physically stronger for future training and racing. Edited by wannabefaster 2014-08-09 5:27 PM |
| 2014-08-10 7:24 AM in reply to: slornow |
| 504 | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Went on a long trail run late evening on an old logging road. Got back to the car and realized my pack had opened up and my work phone and headlamp had fallen out. OH SHT!!! Drove up the log road as far as I could and hiked up the rest and couldn't find my stuff in the dark. Had to call my boss at night and say "ummm...boss, I, uh, lost my phone like 5 miles into the woods somewhere." Couldn't sleep. Woke up at first light and hiked the trail. There was my phone and headlamp about a mile in. I think I ran over my phone, but it's ok. Who else has lost stuff while SBR? Happy and not so happy endings accepted. |
| 2014-08-10 4:56 PM in reply to: wannabefaster |
Master 3205 ann arbor, michigan | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Rumor has it that Rene and Randy both placed 31st in their respective AGs. I will wait for them to come on and let us know how the races went and how they feel..... Done with Steelhead 70.3. It was tough. I guess it always is. I went 4:45:49 and that was really all I had. Good for 9/246 in my AG and 93/2200 over all. I am still not quite satisfied but I think progress is being made, slowly but surely. I will try to put together a race report tomorrow for general consumption  |
| 2014-08-10 5:59 PM in reply to: wannabefaster |
Member 2098 Simsbury, Connecticut | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by wannabefaster Rumor has it that Rene and Randy both placed 31st in their respective AGs. I will wait for them to come on and let us know how the races went and how they feel..... Done with Steelhead 70.3. It was tough. I guess it always is. I went 4:45:49 and that was really all I had. Good for 9/246 in my AG and 93/2200 over all. I am still not quite satisfied but I think progress is being made, slowly but surely. I will try to put together a race report tomorrow for general consumption WOO HOO!!! Sounds like great racing all around! |
| 2014-08-10 8:31 PM in reply to: mtnbikerchk |
Master 3058 South Alabama | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Jason-great racing. That is a fast 70.3. You are set up to have a great race at 70.3WC Rene and I both finished 31st in our age groups. I was almost a minute faster this year than last year but was 16th last year with the slower time. Competition level at the races this weekend was unreal. I gave it everything I had today but was no where near 100%. My run and especially my bike suffered from the lingering effects of the sinus infection. In my last 3 sprints my bike wattage has been 253-255....today I was only able to push a 230 average. So, I gave up a good bit of time on the bike to the top guys when I usually have my best result on the bike. Not dissappointed with my race effort but discouraged with my placing as I know my fitness this season would have allowed for a stronger result absent the illness. I was 30 seconds out of 25th which is the last guaranteed spot for qualification for World Championships in Chicago. I think I probably have a 50/50 chance for a roll down spot once USAT figures out who is committed for Chicago. My friend/team mate was 2nd in the 50-54AG and he is 54! He had a killer race. Another team mate got a WC slot finishing 12th in the 25-29AG. It was a great time and I hear AG Nats will be back in Milwaukee next year. It is a fantastic venue and USAT does a great job. Go if you can....whwther it is the oly or the sprint. I don't think there was a piece of natural fabric clothing within a mile of the race venue Got in about 325 miles this afternoon so only another 650 to get home tomorrow. |
| 2014-08-11 6:51 AM in reply to: slornow |
Master 3205 ann arbor, michigan | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Drive safe. Bummer that the sinus infection was still lingering. Without it I suspect you would have picked up that 30 seconds. I'll keep my fingers crossed for roll down slots. |
| 2014-08-12 7:45 AM in reply to: Stuartap |
Member 2098 Simsbury, Connecticut | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by Stuartap Did a two hour ride this morning. The sun finally broke through the clouds about two minutes before I finished. Really windy again today which really gives my arms a workout, just hanging on. I could use a little gearing advice. I am really good on the upshift as my cadence increases. It's smooth and consistent. Where I am still struggling is on climbs. I have added to decent climbs to my route and I not hitting the downshifts too well. I am waiting too long to down shift thinking the higher gear yields more power. Sometimes that works but other times I find my cadence dropping really low. How do you decide it's time to downshift? I was thinking about your question as I was grinding up a long hill last night. I think it mostly comes with experience. I even tried googling it to see if I could put it into words but it doesn't seem like anyone had anything Earth shattering to say on the matter. I can add that if you find yourself mid incline and need to shift try to do it for the seconds that you unweight the pedals - shifting under load usually doesn't go well. |
| 2014-08-12 3:42 PM in reply to: 0 |
Master 1779 | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Stuart- Is this when you're climbing, cresting or descending? Are you on a tri bike? Standing, seated, aero? Climbing- Is this shifting between the large and small chain ring in the front? Or the back? Your cadence may drop down for a bit. I personally think that is okay. Unless you always ride the same hills over and over again it may come down to guessing on when to shift. I just kind of go with what my legs feel like at the time. I tend to spin uphill with really low watts over grinding for the most part. Maybe there is a correct way to do it but I just go with what the legs feel like at the time.. Now if it was an IM then I wouldn't go over my planned climbing watts as to not burn too many matches on the bike. This weekend I didn't even look at my watts when climbing the bridge. Maybe that is where I could have picked up that 83 seconds that took me out of qualifying? Think about how naturally swimming comes for you. It's kind of like you trying to explain what it feels like to catch the water to me. You know what it feels like and when you have it. Its the same thing with the bike. You'll know what it feels like when you do it. Just keep working on it. Edited by Catwoman 2014-08-12 3:43 PM |
| 2014-08-12 8:10 PM in reply to: Catwoman |
Extreme Veteran 1190 Silicon Valley | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by Catwoman Stuart- Is this when you're climbing, cresting or descending? Are you on a tri bike? Standing, seated, aero? Climbing- Is this shifting between the large and small chain ring in the front? Or the back? Your cadence may drop down for a bit. I personally think that is okay. Unless you always ride the same hills over and over again it may come down to guessing on when to shift. My issue is just on the climb. I seldom move off the big chain ring on the front except for very step hills to prevent me from stopping. What I am talking about is the rear cassette. Sometimes if I don't shift early enough my cadence drops in half, which seems wrong. But if I do down shift it feels like I am spinning without going anywhere. very frustrating. Randee so what your saying is if I want to get better at the hills I need to ride the hills. I know, I know. |
| 2014-08-12 8:35 PM in reply to: Stuartap |
Master 1779 | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Try shifting into the smaller chain ring (front) and see if it makes a difference. What cassette are you using? That might also be part of the issue. |
| 2014-08-12 9:05 PM in reply to: Stuartap |
Master 3205 ann arbor, michigan | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by Stuartap Originally posted by Catwoman Stuart- Is this when you're climbing, cresting or descending? Are you on a tri bike? Standing, seated, aero? Climbing- Is this shifting between the large and small chain ring in the front? Or the back? Your cadence may drop down for a bit. I personally think that is okay. Unless you always ride the same hills over and over again it may come down to guessing on when to shift. My issue is just on the climb. I seldom move off the big chain ring on the front except for very step hills to prevent me from stopping. What I am talking about is the rear cassette. Sometimes if I don't shift early enough my cadence drops in half, which seems wrong. But if I do down shift it feels like I am spinning without going anywhere. very frustrating. Randee so what your saying is if I want to get better at the hills I need to ride the hills. I know, I know. Stuart. I try to ride at a very consistent cadence, around 88-92 RPM. When I get to a hill I shift to an easier gear as soon as I feel the effort to push the pedals getting higher. My goal is to maintain the same cadence and same effort level and not worry about the pace. My power meter makes it easier to gauge the effort level but even without one you can pretty easily tell when the effort is increasing and/or your cadence is decreasing. If you feel like when you shift to an easier cog on the rear that you go from too hard to spinning like crazy then maybe it would be worth looking at your rear cassette. The closer the "spacing" of the rings on your cassette, the less you will get that sensation of going from too hard to too easy. In other words, if you have a cassette with rings with 11 teeth, 12 teeth, 13 teeth, 15 teeth, 17 teeth, 19 teeth, 21 teeth, 23 teeth, 25 teeth and 28 teeth then the spacing is pretty close. The difference in your tempo when you shift from an 11 tooth cog to a 12 tooth is minimal. But, if your spacing goes from 11 to 14 teeth then when you shift to the bigger ring you are suddenly going to feel like you are spinning like crazy. That is why folks who ride in mostly flat areas get tightly spaced cassettes (12 as the hardest, 25 as the easiest) while folks who live with a lot of hills may have to compromise (11 as the hardest and 28-32 as the easiest). With that really wide spacing you are going to see really noticeable differences when you shift. I don't know if it makes you feel better but I felt like I had a really hard time maintaining a consistent effort while racing this weekend. Lots of power spikes and then power lulls. My goal is to be very even for the whole race. All of those power spikes have been shown to really sap your legs, especially when you are racing long-course stuff. The really talented IM athletes will ride in a very tight, smooth power band for their entire bike and will have well-preserved legs when it comes to the run. Before I got the power meter I really did not understand what I was doing as far as effort when I raced. I would do these local races and fly by everyone on the uphills and then they would fly by me on the downhills. What I was doing was putting in monster efforts while climbing and then hardly working at all while descending. It isn't a good way to race but it is somewhat hard to figure out how to do it. I understand your frustration with feeling like you are spinning and going nowhere. Take comfort in the knowledge that it is a better way to race. Your pace may slow dramatically but your effort should be consistent. Several people around me this weekend raced like the "old me," flying by me on the uphills but then falling way behind on the downhills and flats. I think everyone I saw racing like that finished way behind me. Hope that helps some. |
| 2014-08-12 9:12 PM in reply to: skibummer |
Master 3205 ann arbor, michigan | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Originally posted by skibummer Who else has lost stuff while SBR? Happy and not so happy endings accepted. Several years ago I went for a trail run, about seven miles. It seemed like a smart thing to tie a knot in my shoe, put one of the loops through the hole in my car key and then double knot my shoe. Well, the double knot didn't hold and came loose but the shoe stayed tied so I didn't notice that my key had come off. It wasn't until the end of the run, back at my car, that I discovered my mistake. Seven miles of trail is a long way to run while looking for a tiny key, especially when you have already run it once, with no guarantee that you will even find it...... Someone must have been smiling on me that day because I found the key less than a half mile back in to the run, laying on the side of the trail. I would have been totally hosed if I hadn't found it. Trail in the middle of nowhere. No way to get in my car. No cell phone. I'm going to call that a very happy ending. |
| 2014-08-12 10:55 PM in reply to: wannabefaster |
Extreme Veteran 1190 Silicon Valley | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED Rene I have a Shimano CS-5700 12-25 cassette with a 53/39 chaniring. I don't use the smaller ring up front because it feels like I am dropping between two and three gears so I have to upshift the cassette to make it feel like anything resembling a normal transition. Jason thanks for the input. I will try to maintain cadence even if it means I am crawling uphill and see how it goes. Does it make any difference that the ride in two weeks is just a 20k? I understand the concept of consistent power over a longer distance but does that still hold for a short race? Thanks again to all for the input! |
| 2014-08-12 11:43 PM in reply to: Stuartap |
Master 1779 | Subject: RE: Slornow and Wannabefaster's Summer Group-CLOSED |
|
|
|
|
| ||||
|
| |||
|
| |||
|
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK