PLMsbr (JD) Group - FULL (Page 4)

Josh - I love the avatar! Where'd you get that? And I can see the chart now. Total mileage/yards for the year seem pretty good for your first IM. Before my IM, I kept seeing and hearing people say that one of the key lessons learned is that they would have biked more before their IM. After my IM, I knew exactly what they were talking about   You can only do what you have time to do, but you won't be sorry if you find ways to do lots of biking. Considering a hard 1 to 1.5 hours of swimming before you start, and trying to run a full marathon afterwards, you want the bike distance to be something you are comfortable with by the time you do the IM; not something that still stretches your limits.

Will, I'm with you on being flexible in regards to your training plan. I think it's really important to have one, so you have some type of plan to get in the workouts and miles needed; but you can't freak out about missing a workout or two; just keep plugging away. There's a reason that the IM champs tend to be a little bit older - it takes years of training to get that fast. What you do on a particular day isn't going to make or break you. And ultimately, if you get injured or just sick of the training, you could end up not doing anything!

How'd masters go? Is it a good group for triathletes? Did you grab anybody by the ankles and swim by just to simulate a tri?

Baowulf - how'd that bike fit work out for you? Might take a little while for your body to adjust to the new position, and it sounds like you had a lot of adjustments!

Happy New Year everyone! Looking forward to a great (and very busy) 2009. Thanks for participating in our little group, it's always fun to talk triathlon with some fellow psychos

If they are like my boys, they will be in the water before they realize how cold it is, then come running back, totally shocked, that they are freezing cold.

You have inspired me to get my bike fit, that is an amazing difference.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

I was the only person at the swim club last night.  I kept the teacher busy for 20 or so minutes before it became apparent I had enough to work on and she took off leaving me all alone in the pool with a life gaurd yelling at me.  "Point your toes!"  Nice lady, though.  She and the other coaches should help a lot.  

Wow, those are some amazing results from a bike fit!

50 degree water is just waaayyyyy too cold for me... I like it more around 80.

I've been using Hammer Nutrition products for 3 years now, especially on long distance biking. I'm using it more now and am expanding the products that I do use. One of the most important is the HEED during my workouts and Recoverite for after. I won't go into lengthy discussion about the products but I do recommend you visit the website. It is one of the best/informative sites I have ever seen. www.hammernutrition.com And I do recommend using their stuff! If you do, tell them I sent you!!...Tom

Sorry I posted this twice. I wanted to make sure you saw it and I actually responded to the wrong post earlier.
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MTNBKR

New Years Eve...I went to cancel the membership at Curves... They were closed. This is the part that bothers me...they closed 5days before Christmas/etc. It's not really training there anyhow...but, for the members..their hours suck.

Next I went to the YMCA...they were open...They were closing early though so I was able to squeeze swimming, elliptical, and some ti chi class...which wasn't a work out but, they asked if I'd try it. I am hoping to start adding some rowing soon since that is part of the training I need. 

 Today all is closed...I need to save up for a training bike/elliptical/treadmill, something... I need to go cheaper for now...anyone have ways to work out at home without equiptment? I know the wii has a running program and I did do that. Well, that's the end of the beginner lol I hear your workouts and I know I have a long way to go.

Hi All,

 Hope the weekend training is going well.  My old marathon group called me up, and I ended up doing a 10 mile run with them the other day.  I haven't been going long lately, so it was a tough run, but good to get some miles in again.  Jumped back into the biking this morning, and did a nice 2 hour ride.  I am wishing I got a tri bike now, rather than a road bike. 

 Have a good rest of the weekend, Mike.

Shawna - I love your attitude! You are going to find somewhere to workout and something to do no matter what... that is great! And everything you are doing is helpful, it's all about being active; so you're on the right track. I don't have much in the way of home workouts that are tri-related without some type of eqpt; but the cheapest thing I can think of that comes close would be to pick up a used bike trainer - whatever you can find cheap on craigslist, etc (less than $100).

If you just want to work out and be active, get cardio, etc.: some good things to do in the house are lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, jump-rope, jumping jacks, etc. I'm not being very creative, we'll see what the others come up with

JD...I have 2 Olympic Tri's scheduled...1 in April, 1 in May, and a 1/2Mari in May. The 1/2 IM is in June.

BTW...I found a Garmin Forerunner 50 HRM for $40 (1/2 price). I'm anxious to start using it next week.......Tom

JD,

Since we're on the subject of racing before the big event, I've got a question about running non-priority races.  Everything I read says don't go as hard as you can in the 'B' and 'C' priority races.  Does anyone have any experience racing without racing?  What did you use as a marker?  I imagine the HRM is a good place to start, but what are you aiming for?  I've got a few lined up to get ready for the HIM and tinman I'm really aiming for, but I've never raced without going hard and I could use some tips.

Shawna, nice work on the upgrade from Curves!!

 Will

I thougt I was saving money and doing the smarter thing, as everyone I talked to said you don't want to train on a tri bike, but now that my HIM race is looming (April 4th IM California 70.3) I am wishing I had bought a tri bike.  I want to go as fast as possible, and that means a tri bike.

I am sure I will be fine, but probably just finding things to worry about at this point.

Great, you'll have a couple chances to try out your race day tactics. How close together are the 1/2 mary and the 1/2 IM?

HRM will be interesting; we should get some dialog going here in the next couple weeks on how people use their HRM's, etc.

OK, so on the subject of A,B,C races... the answer, unfortunately, is that it depends   The two key factors are the distance of the B and C races relative to your current training; and the time that you have to recover. For example, if you are training for a half or full IM; then doing a sprint or olympic 3 months out from your main A race should not be a problem in terms of recovery. If you're doing a half IM 6-8 weeks before an IM; now you have to consider how hard you want to go so you don't affect your main race. Especially on the run portion, which is the most taxing.

Another piece of the puzzle that you need to consider is the effect that doing the race has on your training plan. That is where you need to consider doing less tapering on the front end of the "lesser" races; which means that you might not have your absolute best race (which is OK, that's why we call it a B or C race).  And you may not want to go full out if you're recovery time from that effort causes you to miss too much training time for your A race.

Quick examples: If I'm doing an Olympic in mid-summer; while training for a full IM in November - I have no problem going all out. I won't do a big taper, and then I'll just take a day or two off after the race and jump back into training.  If I'm doing a Half IM 6 weeks out from my full IM; then I'm going to really pace myself on the run so I don't burn myself out and miss that key training time.

In terms of how to pace, just know what you can do and be realistic. If you normally would run an 8:00 min  mile going full out; then shoot for 8:15 or even 8:30. HRM can be useful, but use it as additional information; not the absolute final word on your pacing.

If that leaves you with more questions, ask away... this is good discussion!

That's helpful info about tapering and recovering.  What goals do you set for your B and C races?  I know I need to continue to work on my overall mental state (not panicking) and positioning (trying to latch onto someone's feet) during the swim as well as the transitions; so I'll be working on those.  Any other thoughts?  What about fitness?  Do you use those as 'breakthrough workouts' or general fitness?

Thanks

 Will

That's one thing great about this sport... there's *always* something to worry about   If you do the right training, race smart, etc.; you'll pass a lot of people with prettier bikes and tires. BTW: supposedly the true time savings of a tri bike come during the run. The more forward position is supposed to do a better job of saving your legs for the run. Because it does change your position, make sure you time the switch to a tri bike to give yourself enough time to adjust.

Once I plan on doing a race, I usually go into it trying to do the best I can; unless it is close enough to a more important race that I'm afraid I won't recover in time (but I try to avoid that in the first place). I do look for things to focus on, like you mentioned. First race of the season I usually get reminded of just how fast "race pace" really is. I did a race before my IM that was the first of the year with a wetsuit; so I paid a lot of attention to how that went, time to get it stripped, etc. Had an olympic tri with a fairly flat bike course, so I decided to test how close to full out I could go on the bike and see what happened on the run. That would not have been smart in an A race; but for that particular race it gave me some great feedback (ended up running very well, but I knew I'd have to back it down a couple notches for a half IM). It's like any workout you do; think about what it is you are trying to get out of it, and what is it going to take for that to happen.

I found this thread where there were some good tips for OWS relaxation, including a couple from me. The most important advice in there (for me) is to control the start. If you can start off smooth and under control, everything from there is cake. Great idea to work on that during your B and C races.

Basically, just look at each of those B/C races and see what about those lends itself to working on something that is important to you, what is unique about that race.

JD