Fred D and Queen Zipp's SWIM, BIKE RUN consistency thread.... CLOSED (Page 39)

Here's my February totals:

 I'm really pleased overall with how it's gone.  By focusing on consistency I've really managed to get regular training in, and I've been seeing improvements all over the place.  My run volume is lower than I'd have liked, but I haven't been able to build it up as much as I wanted due to being ill so much.  But I finally feel like I'm making progress with my running, which is great.

In terms of my goals, I hit my consistency goals for all of my tri sports.  I'm really pleased about that.  I didn't quite manage to get as much core work in as I'd intended, but it's still been more than nothing, and apart from a little back twinge on my long bike yesterday, I've had no back pain this year, so I can feel the difference.  It's definitely important for me to keep that core work up though.

In other news, yesterday I did the "Button's Bank challenge", which involves cycling up a (big, mean) hill near where I live.  A few of us starting timing ourselves last year, to see how we improved over the year.  My best time for it last year was 6min 44sec.  Yesterday I did it in 6min 17sec.  That's a massive improvement, and it's great to have a measurable improvement in my cycling.

March goals are going to continue to build on my consistency, but with a few other bits thrown in there.

Swim: I'm going to move up to lane 1 (the fast lane) at the tri club swim session.  I've been toying with the idea for a while, but I know I'm not going to keep up.  However, in lane 2 I've got to the point where I'm swimming off the front and lapping the group, which is getting silly.  As my coach says, "the way to get faster is to swim faster", so I'm going to throw myself in at the deep end with the fish, and just keep up as best I can.  Other than that, I'm going to try to get one other swim session in each week, but my swimming's way ahead of my other sports, so if something has to give, that'll be it.

Bike: 3x per week.  I've been managing that for the past 2 weeks, so I'll keep it going.  The goal is one long ride and two others, probably a LT and a strength session on the turbo.  If the weather improves I'll move the strength session to real hills.

Run: 3x per week.  Again, one long run (gradually building - 10min per week), and two others (ideally one hill run, one track session, but we'll see).

Core: 4x per week. This will be a combination of pilates and foam roller.  They both really help.

Snuck in a easy 500m OWS this am...feeling more comfortable each time...heading out in a few hours... It looks a perfect day tomorrow with the the forecast in the low 80s so should be around the low 50s at race start...  Water temp in the low 60s so warmer then around here, might be able to swim with just a cap...

Have a great weekend all !   ...hope to survive and share later =)

I'm in for a weight challenge.  I don't have a huge amount to lose, but every bit of motivation helps.  We did challenges in the mentor group that I was in last year, and I really felt it helped having someone to be accountable to.

Good luck!  Hope you have as much fun with this one as the last one

Not only that, but the majority of it was in one week.  I recently started logging everything I eat on myfitnesspal (I'm trying to not mention it in every conversation I have, but it has been an absolute revelation to me!) and dropped 5 pounds in the first week!  I'm aiming for more like 1-2/week, I think the shock of change just took my body by surprise there.  I didn't really eat any different stuff, my base diet was already pretty solid.  I just cut out the crap between the meals and late at night.  Probably cut out 1000cals/day just by eliminating mindless snacking.  I'm totally off any drinks other than coffee (usually 3 cups in the morning) and water.  And an occasional beer if I've got a good calorie deficit for the day. 

I suppose I'd be up for a weight loss challenge, but to be honest it's more a result of other things (diet, mainly) and not so much a particular number goal in and of itself (I do eventually want to get to 175lb, but I have no particular timeline).  I weigh in on Mondays instead of Fridays though, since I find it gives me just a little extra motivation to eat clean over the weekend (which is much harder than weekdays for me).  I did weigh today though, since it's the first of the month.  198lb.

Can I have the group's thoughts on my long bike ride please?

Because I work shifts I don't get a lot of weekends off, and so many of my long bike rides are done during the week, when very few other people are available.  While I appreciate the value of sometimes doing a long ride on your own, in terms of race prep, it gets a little wearing sometimes.  This week my Dad asked if I wanted to go for a ride with him.  I enjoy spending time with my Dad (and I've finally managed to get him to agree to do a tri this year!), but at the moment he doesn't have a road bike, and at 67 he's rather less fit than I am.  Obviously he wasn't up to the 5 hours I had planned for yesterday, so I suggested that I do a bit on my own (which I managed to do on the road bike), then cycle over to his house (which is another half hour), we then went out for a couple of hours together on the mountain bikes, then I cycled home.  I really enjoyed it - not only did it mean that I got to spend some time with my Dad, but it also broke up what could otherwise have been a very long boring ride.

The issue is this: my husband is convinced that there is no value in cycling with my Dad.  Due to his age and level of fitness I am mostly cycling pretty easy while I'm with him (it's mostly zone 1), and he also needs to take regular breaks (I think we stopped 5 or 6 times in just over 2 hours).  This means that I'm not maintaining the effort the way I would be if I was cycling on my own.  At this point in the season I think that it's more important for me to be getting time in the saddle than to worry about exactly how hard I'm working, but I wondered if you guys had any thoughts on the matter?  I know that the time will come for long lonely rides, when I need to be on the right bike etc, but I feel that 4 months out from IM isn't yet that time?

Hey Rich, good luck and have fun tomorrow!

Rachel, as the father of an adult daughter who no longer lives at home, I'm gonna vote for riding with your father Sounds like a fun time for both of you. As far as your actual training, I don't think I'm really knowledgeable enough to give good advice, but maybe you could work some harder intervals into your ride. Maybe hammer a hill and then loop back around to your father, or ride hard while he's taking a break. I think it's great he'll be doing a tri. Maybe he could start logging his training here so we could shoot him some inspires.

BTW, I checked out your Garmin file of your ride with the "Button's Bank challenge". That's an impressive climb. Nice job!

PS.  I don't think four months out is early in IM training.

No matter how many times I do certain yoga videos....and bring my knee in to my chest while raising my head off the floor so close that I could wipe my nose on the knee.....I find it hurts good later.

Yoga is good cross training and we really don't have to do a huge session to reap the benefits in flexibility.  10 to 20 minutes a few days a week are awesome.

Rachel,

You are in a hard place.  Like Suzy, my dad has been gone for 7 years now.  He wasn't a cyclist......at one point in his youth he was a long distance runner.  I run most races for Dad at some point....

I agree with Suzy's thoughts that the interruptions aren't doing you a lot of good for base building.  If you could plan your rides so he is meeting up with you for maybe the last 30 minutes to hour youi would be winding down from the hard effort while having that time with your father.

I would look into various bike groups to see if they post any mid week rides.  I have a group here in VA that is posting rides almost all year with rides most days of the week. Some mid day, some before or after work hours depending on the season.  I have joined in several of the weekend rides, and when I had a job that involved working weekends an occasional weekday group ride.

i woke up with a sore throat.   My wife and one kid has been down with a flu like thing for over a week, I'm really hoping to nip it early and not get that sick!  Off day for me today.  Running around between softball and basketball with the girls, then a father daughter dance tonight.  Long run tomorrow.

hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Fred D - 2013-03-02 6:54 AM

SSMinnow - 2013-03-01 6:54 PM

chapfallen - 2013-03-01 12:46 PM

Can I have the group's thoughts on my long bike ride please?

Because I work shifts I don't get a lot of weekends off, and so many of my long bike rides are done during the week, when very few other people are available.  While I appreciate the value of sometimes doing a long ride on your own, in terms of race prep, it gets a little wearing sometimes.  This week my Dad asked if I wanted to go for a ride with him.  I enjoy spending time with my Dad (and I've finally managed to get him to agree to do a tri this year!), but at the moment he doesn't have a road bike, and at 67 he's rather less fit than I am.  Obviously he wasn't up to the 5 hours I had planned for yesterday, so I suggested that I do a bit on my own (which I managed to do on the road bike), then cycle over to his house (which is another half hour), we then went out for a couple of hours together on the mountain bikes, then I cycled home.  I really enjoyed it - not only did it mean that I got to spend some time with my Dad, but it also broke up what could otherwise have been a very long boring ride.

The issue is this: my husband is convinced that there is no value in cycling with my Dad.  Due to his age and level of fitness I am mostly cycling pretty easy while I'm with him (it's mostly zone 1), and he also needs to take regular breaks (I think we stopped 5 or 6 times in just over 2 hours).  This means that I'm not maintaining the effort the way I would be if I was cycling on my own.  At this point in the season I think that it's more important for me to be getting time in the saddle than to worry about exactly how hard I'm working, but I wondered if you guys had any thoughts on the matter?  I know that the time will come for long lonely rides, when I need to be on the right bike etc, but I feel that 4 months out from IM isn't yet that time?

As a daughter who no longer has her father around to talk to I wish I had a different answer. I agree with your husband, I don't believe this type of ride, Z1 with many interruptions is base building or giving you real time in the saddle (they bleeped my T$TS abbreviation ) . I think you should be learning to ride alone because you race alone. When you do those 5-6 hour rides solo it will be mentally and physically challenging and to me that's valuable. If you want to ride with a group that has similar or better capabilities than you, I know some people feel that is also valuable.If you want to spend time with your dad, is it possible you do that as a recovery ride or as a warm up or cool down to one of your other longer rides?

PS.  I don't think four months out is early in IM training.

I agree with everything you just said to a large degree Suzy, but I want to add some different perspective as well. While IM is about long solo rides, the longer I am in this sport the less I care about performance and the more I care about relationships with those that I love. I used to do 5 hr rides at 21+ mph by myself, now I'm more likely to ride with my good friend on the road bike much more easily. I ride the climbs harder than he does, but we talk a lot of the ride as well. I am now running with my older daughter biking alongside me. I have to take little stops here and there and have to be much more careful at intersections with her, but it's awesome! I also swim sometimes with her. She is not quite as fast, but if she wears fins its a good workout for both of us. I think we will start doing short runs together this spring, she is naturally fast! I guess what I'm saying is that for purely performance reasons I would train alone, but *MY* goal is trying to incorporate more of my family and friends into the process and also to make it as fun as possible. This is why I'm training with others more, primarily good friends and family. As for the original question, Z1 training is of little value IME, is there a way to make it Z2? If you could get him a road bike and YOU ride the mountain bike it might be more of a Z2 effort, no? It's a really good question and discussion, but it reminds me of one of my darkest moments in the sport.... Back in 2011, I took a real shot at Kona and I did all my workouts on my own. My coach did to want me even biking with others as we had specific power goals for every ride. I won a race (AG) and placed well at a few others. IMWI was the Kona qualifier! So, then when my IMWI race completely blew up and I was walking on my death march of a marathon, I was walking with a guy who had done the same things as me (sacrificed friends and family time for the Kona shot). His race had blown up as well, in fact he walked off the course soon after. We both discussed the deep regret we had at our decisions on training and racing and how we wish we had spent more time with the ones we loved. From that point on my attitude shifted and I decided that I would focus on things other than performance. No regrets. I'm not that fast anymore compared with 'old Fred' but I am happy with decisions I made. So I'm voting to ride with your dad, but somehow find an out of the box solution like I suggested. Could you do long runs with I'm while he rides his mountain bike? Hoping this stimulates some good discussion.

I think it really comes down to goals.  If your goal is to train, but still really enjoy quality time with family/friends, what you have written makes total sense.  If your goal is to hammer out the best IM you can, the training might be very different.

As I read what you have written, I am struck by the fact that you have had the chance to be the very best you can be.  I am nowhere near my final goal which is why my advice is what it is.  I am still at the point where I don't mind hammering out 5-6 hour rides solo and giving up pal time.  Might that change in the coming years?  Remains to be seen, but I am guessing one day the answer will be yes.

Excellent Advice from all on the training with family/friends.  It really does come down to what YOUR goals are.  I'm in a conundrum right now, becuase, as I've stated before in our little group here, I'm recoving from injury and lots of motivation problems over the past year or so, so I don't keep up as well as I used to with my regular training buddies.  Consequently, I'm training solo more often than I have in a long time.  They will train with me, but I sometimes feel like I'm holding them back on what they want to accomplish with a given workout.  So from the "slowpoke" perpective we sometimes feel badly that we hold others back.

Bottom line, in my opinion, is to find the right balance and do what you can do to meet your goals.  Fred stated it really well, he sounds like he's in it more now for the journey, than the hardware, and that I think is what most of us aspire when push comes to shove.  That said, I've been hesitant to race BECAUSE of current performance being below where I think it should be. 

Sorry for the rambling, I just needed to share a few thoughts.  Most important, races come and races go, but our family and friends are treasures to enjoy.  They might not be here tomorrow due to age or other things.

Now -- as for my goals for March!

March 2013

I'm in -- and I think that Chapfallen want's in as well.

Should we just report on ther forum here? 

Thanks for the idea!  I need some motivation in the weight dept.

STARTING WEIGHT:  3/1/2013 -- 215