Ernesto's group - CLOSED (Page 4)

Well, that all depends on your budget and how much you want to invest in the sport. The range is huge, I know guys that have finished sprints in $150 bikes from Walmart and I know quite a few with rigs that easily surpass $10K. What kind of distance are you shooting for?

That's great news Chris! don't worry about not making it on the bike, actually indoor training is what keeps the people in States like yours going through seven months of the year. Do you have one? I have a CycleOps fluid trainer that I attach on the rear wheel when the weather is horrible (about two weeks a year here in Texas) and pedal while watching TV.

Start your research for tri-clubs or groups of roadies, they always revolve around big cycling stores during the weekends, and have routes. Another advantage I forgot to mention (vs. training by yourself) is the added safety of a group. It is way more visible for a driver a pack of 30 or 40 cyclists/triathletes than just one, mostly with all these people texting lately...

You're on the right track, patience and determination Chris. That's it, plain and simple.

Hey Ernesto, just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the recommendation re: the maffetone book.  I have in now, and am working my way through it. 

Also, you mentioned the Toyota US Open on Oct. 2.  That is really good timing with when I wanted to target a my first OLY distance.  It just sounds kind of "professional", which makes me hesitate to register.  Are there all kinds of folks participating in that?  Or would I be better off to choose another race for a first OLY? I think there is one at Stonebridge Ranch on 9/25 that would also work timing wise.

Yes, PLEASE sign up so there will be two of us "non-pros" there   I just signed up for the OLY last night!

Yes, thank you!

Pete,

That's impressive on the bike for an Oly distance! are your achilles issues chronic or acute? Actually if you travel a lot, running is the easiest thing to do, plus you have the time after work. I don't see any speed issues with the run, I wish I could look at metrics though, but overall you seem pretty consistent. I agree that a 59' 10K at your level is slow, but anybody can have a bad day, it also depends on many factors such as how hard you went on the bike, terrain, nutrition, heat, hydration, etc.

Btw, you're in as well. We're about to close the door on the bus soon!

Hi Ernesto, if you have the space, could I please join? Thanks!

Thanks Ernesto, does sound like a great thing to experience!  Guy at church also brought this one up yesterday...he did it last year in his first season of doing tri's and said it was good.  OK, Jackie, I'm in!  Have a friend I'll invite who is also not a pro and in the same AG as me, so maybe there will be at least three of us middle aged, non-pros there .  I also used the discount code this morning and it worked.  Thank you!

I Swam yesterday for 1400 yards.  My time was 48min....  I was a bit upset with it and it was 6 minutes slower than the last time I did the same distance.  I did the workout as follows:

200 Warmup

4-25y with a pull buoy 

4-200y freestyle w/ 30 sec rest (at least I tried)

4-25y kick board

200y cooldown....  Freestyle and breathstroke mixed...  Try to practice bilateral breathing here too.  I video taped my last swim and I try to critique it and figure out what I'm doing wrong since I'm self taught..  I also taped the first time I was in the pool 2 months ago..  I see a difference but still struggling.  

Is there a way you can see it and possibly critique it as well?

Also...I am heading to get the book you recommended.  I cook from scratch already and use little to no processed foods.  More than weight I think my struggle is fat percentage.  I know weight really won't tell me much.  I just don't know how to drop the percentage which is a 22%.  

I have been logging all my workout on Voomaxer via facebook, just started using garmin connect for runs and bike rides.  The Voomaxer has everything for the past year, can you look at those?

Last thing is about strength training...  I haven't done any!!  

Thank you....

Jen

Jen,

Swimming well requires training and habituation. The best way to get good in the pool is… spending time in the water. Even the supergifted swimmers keep a regime that includes 10K a week in the pool at least. Triathletes are really good at neglecting the pool for the simple reason that it represents only 10 or 12% of the race time, the missed point though is that swimming fitness carries over to the other two sports like no other, adding aLOTof aerobic capacity.

I wouldn’t worry about bilateral breathing, it is good to have it if you’re a swimmer, for triathletes it doesn’t mean much because you should be taking air in every two strokes to stay aerobic. It is not the most efficient way to breath (it slows you down a bit) but it makes you come out of the water as fresh as you entered.

I’ve had Jackie sent me video links on youtube that she uploaded so I could look at her stroke.

Join a swimming Masters program, the team workout is the best way to get better for MANY reasons.

Send me links to your Garmin workouts, nothing beats it for metrics.

E

You're in, second to last!

You're in and you're the last one. The group is closed now.

So my biggest question is where do I go from here?  I went from a couch potato to doing 3 races last year, but I'd like to get better.

Swim - I bought the TI book earlier this year and haven't finished it yet.  My time in the pool has gotten worse, I guess because I'm trying to change my stroke without really knowing what to change it to yet.  I think I'll be OK here once I finish reading.

Bike - I only bike once a week.  I do the a stationary bike at the gym when I'm strength training, but does that really do anything for you?  Should I add the bike on T/Th?  I don't want to ditch the strength training altogether but I don't know if I could do both in one morning.  But if I don't I'm not sure if I'll get any better at the bike.  And I'm not even sure what to do to improve my bike times.

Run - I run after the swim, and I'm trying to improve my pace.  I tried some intervals, but again I don't really know what I'm doing.  I ended up with some knee pain and it may have been because I was pushing too hard.

General - I have a Garmin 305 but I can't get the HRM to work.  I've re-synced, replaced the battery, wet it, etc, and nothing.  Not that I know what to do with the info, but I figure paying attention would be the first step.  I've looked at the training plans online at BT, but I can't decide if any of them would be right for me.  The swim plans seem like they're written in Greek.  This is my 3rd mentor group and I'm still looking for some help on which way to go with training.  There's just so much information and things I don't know about I don't really know where to start.

Any guidance you may provide would be appreciated.

-Mike

Hello Ernesto,

I would like to be added to your mentoring group please.

Thank you

Pauline

Great! Now time to introduce myself to the mentor group.

NAME: ironbaby (and some day I will grow up to be an Ironman )

STORY: I am 30, male, clyde and physically unfit for my age. This is my first year of tri training and my past activity background is breaking-in the couch. I have led a sedentary lifestyle from late teen years and put few pounds too many.I was around 235+ in aug 2010 and under 210 currently. Trying to drop few more lbs through the summer.Oh, height is around 5'11" but still look too 'big' due to high % of body fat. 

CURRENT TRAINING:

2-3 runs per week (1 long; 1 medium-ish). More focus on the mileage and keeping consistent HR/pace than burning myself quickly.My stamina is not very high and I go into anaerobic zone very quickly. Two months ago, I couldn't run couple of hundred yards before getting my HR 180+ (pace was over 11min/mi). It still gets high but I can squeeze out 3-3.5miles before I start pushing my HR on 11min/mi pace. I use run/walk method on long runs so overall time is more around 12:30min/mi.

Swimming - Slow and low stamina. Probably need actual coaching here on form as well. 

Bike - Weekend rider+indoor gym spinning. Starting this week, I plan to bike outdoors 2x/week (1 long dist-flat/ 1 med dist-hilly). If I can get a spinning session covered with these two... that would be a bonus. I like those because I keep my HR high and try to increase my anaerobic capacity.

OTHER BACKGROUND: No family. Less than few friends in new town and keep 60hr+ week. The thought of being able to compete in tri's keeps me strong, physically and mentally. Just with last few months of sporadic training, I have never been fitter and this is far from final result. Oh! I am a complete newbie so please be patient my stupid questions.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR FROM MY MENTOR AND GROUP: Due to my inexperience in the three sports, I am not able to judge my progression being adequate or not. So far I havent been following any strict regimented plan but have small personal goals in each of the tri-sport segments. I would like feedback on my workouts and share other people's experiences to maximize my knowledge.

GOAL: Finish my first Oly tri.

Looking forward to the next few weeks.

-ironbaby