Dirk's Junkie group - CLOSED (Page 4)

My own training for today is complete and I feel like I have been brutalized!!!  The run was fine but my legs were a little fatigued from improper nutrition (looking backward I think that's what the cause) but the bike was horrendous.  To Warren, Matt and Jonathon you know what I am talking about when I say 6x4.  That HURT!!!!

I feel like I have been run over by a bus!  I don't know if my legs will ever recover from such brutal treatment.  I may have to retire before I can even get started this season.  For any of you that would like to brutalize yourselves, I suggest the winter cycling program found in the programs here on BT.

 10 mpw could be a little low if you are looking to get back into being competitive in your AG.  I will be gentlemanly and not ask your age but you could check out some of the races you would like to do this season to get an idea of how fast your runs might need to be.  Before you begin doing any kind of speed training I would recommend setting the base a little higher for running if you can.   Maybe close to 20 mpw depending on available time and current easy run pace.  If I might ask, what is your easy run pace?

Don't worry- I know that 10mpw is very low.  It's just my starting point post-pregnancy.  I thought that since I ran until almost the end that it would be easy to pick it back up, but I was so wrong.  I have found that I am starting over almost completely.  When I trained for my last triathlon I ran about 25 miles per week and plan to get back to that kind of distance.  I didn't have a training plan for that race- I usually just showed up at the gym or to whichever group and did the distance that I felt like that day.  This time around, I am trying to figure out strategy and how to make the most of each workout.  The plan I am doing right now doesn't have me up to 20mpw until week 17 (at 3 runs per week).  Should I try to get my distance up quicker than that?  Should I be doing more than 3 runs per week?  I am obviously a novice- I don't really know what I would consider my easy pace (maybe 9 min miles?)  I run all of my training runs at about the same pace.  Right now I am a little slow @ about 8:30 miles, but my normal training pace is more along the lines of 8 min miles.  My 5K PR is 22:46, and my 10K PR is 46:18.  I would love to beat those this season.  Don't worry, I don't mind sharing my age.  I just turned 31, so I would be in the 30-35 age group.          

I have not payed much attention to how competitive the ladies races are and, as you might guess, this is for fairly obvious reasons.  To be competitive you could pick some smaller races to begin and allow that to set your tone for training.  The olympic distance races can be smaller around here so finishing strong may not be horrible.  Actually, I just checked some races in the Muncie area (Muncie Multisport) and you could do well down there depending on your current fitness.

Actually the Muncie triathlons were the ones that I had tenatively on my race calendar this year! 

As far as a available time to train, what are you willing to do in hours throughout each week?  This obviously needs to be balanced with your family life and I would encourage you to make sure this fits well with what you and your husband can agree to.  Sometimes there can be an initial agreement that appears to work well but over time it can begin to wear.  I would encourage you and your husband to have a good sit down and try to hash this out before committing to large blocks of time.  I also think it's awesome that you and your husband can run together WITH the kids.

Mondays and Tuesdays I work long full days, so I probably can't handle more than an hour, or occasionally 2 hours.  Wednesdays through Fridays I only work a half day, and the kids are in daycare so I really do have as much time as I need those days.  I am trying to schedule my long runs on the weekends because my husband says that he would like to run the Sunburst Half Marathon this year, and this way we can do some of our longer runs together.  My husband is fine with me doing as much training as I need during the day and even riding my bike on the trainer in the evenings sometimes after the kids go to bed, as long as I am available during the evenings when they are awake.  I really want to do this and think that I am capable as long as I develop the proper training strategy.   Do you have a plan that you would recommend instead of the one I am doing now?  How many runs/bikes/swims should I be doing each week? 

It looks like our little family has grown since my last visit! Welcome to all of you, this is the best group (I may be a little partial) on the site!  It seems several of us are at the same point, with looking to do our 1st oly this summer. Of course there are also the ones that want to do the HIM, I am not even close to that point.

Finished up a good week of training, 27 mile bike, 20.5miles running and even topped it off with 1500m swimming.  This was the 1st time in a pool since September and I felt like a lead weight but I am sure that will get better.

This week has started with an 8.8 mile run through the park, its time to start ramping up the milage.  I just paid my entry fee into the Glass city Half Marathon so its time to get to business.  I am going to go outside the box and predict a 1:50 finish time

Yeah, I hear you.  I was hoping this was just a little thing that would go away, and I knew you went through achilles issues, so my workouts are just a bit in question until I get to see him.  So you're my sit-in expert until I see him!!!...  I'm calling him first thing tomorrow morning to set up an appointment.  

Anyway, I did my bike ride this morning and then just finished a two mile easy run.  I shortened my stride a bit and went easy to not engage the calves as much.  Seemed to work.  No pain.

Jonathan, I was afraid of all of that too (and spent both pregnancies worrying for the entire nine months) but in the end it was for no reason.  I have had 2 kids, and I think I look the same as I did before the first one.  Actually after my first child, I think I got into even better shape than I was before.  I suppose everyone is different, but if you eat healthy and continue exercising during pregnancy, it really shouldn't take long to get back to your old self.  It is perfectly safe to continue running and/or exercising during pregnancy if you were before.  I even raced throughout and still held up an 8:30 min/mile pace on a hilly trail race during my third trimester.  Of course I am willing to answer any questions you have, but I found a lot of guidance on a pregnancy running board that I followed: http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a34985/running_mamas.  It's not easy to continue to run as you get bigger, but I got a lot of good advice through these women (like wearing a support belt around 20 weeks when the baby's weight starts putting a lot of pressure on your pelvic bones). 
It's perfectly normal to worry, and I completely understand her feelings.  Women told me not to worry beforehand and that everything would go back to where it should go, but that obviously didn't stop me.  I even worried the entire second pregnancy even though I snapped back so well from the first one!  I am sure that she will worry too, but if there is anything that I can help with to ease her or your mind let me know. 

So, tomorrow is my last round of MRI's on my back. Tuesday I will find out from my Ortho if running is in my future within the next couple months. Really bums me out, but it is what it is. I still have aqua jogging.

My biking is great! I have 5 months to get to where I need to be for my 1st century race. The back is good when riding (made small adjustments to my fit to reduce pain on long rides), but i will need to get in some 50+ mile rides to get a better feel.

I was really wanting to add a 70.3 (Expedition Man here in Tahoe) at the end off summer, but I may just do the aqua-bike instead. Only time and healing will tell. All the other races in between are all tentative.

Anyway, I'm sure when the time comes to hit the pavement again I will be asking for advice from you all (and the doc.). Right now it's just the bike race, nutrition, and rehab that have priority.

Good training and wellness to you all!

WOW! With all this talk about home (born & raised in Peru, IN), I'm now wishing that I would have made Muncie my HIM in July.  Then I could have met some of you.  If you want a nice late season sprint distance tri in September they run a good one I have done the last 2yrs at Mississinewa. 

The only reason I have ran the Mini is because a group of HS friends all run it as a get together. The mini is nothing compared to the Vegas one. Insanity. Definitely a fun run type of event.

I went to an ortho last week. there are no tears or anything they can see.  I think strengthening it will help a lot for the front side.  But on the back side there's an annoying tendon-like pull.  I started noticing it when training for Vegas this past fall.  I know I didn't train right, and just basically went out and did my weekly long runs and nothing else.  It was noticeable on the long runs, but now its nagging all the time.  The ortho mentioned it might be some type of build up, but I can't remember what.  I'm calling tomorrow to get some PT started.

Stan, Hopefully the doc will give you some good words this week when you see him after the MRI.  Like your saying training will be pretty slow at first but it will come around.

Heather, Meeting new friends at races is a pretty cool time.  I met a couple of people at races last year and it really provides some support before and after the race.

• I figure the fluid in your knee could be from the lack of training while preparing for the Vegas HM, as you are saying.  Doing long runs only can be a pretty bad way to train.

I have a 172.5 double road crank I'm going to give to the project.  A compact crank would probably have been my recommendation, but free is free.  So we will just try to go with a road cassette that goes 12-27.

While on the topic...9 speeds are just fine and if Matt wants to really save some money he can build this with 9-speed components.

I've missed a lot of discussion during my normal weekend haitus from the computer!  I'm going to take some photos of the frame before beginning to pack it up.  Actually, I need to wrench on it first.  I'm going to install a BB and crank on it before packaging it up (or at least the BB...depending on how it fits in the box).

bswcpa - 2012-01-09 9:01 AM First up question - I'm in the market for race wheels. I ride a 48cm 650c bike and want clinchers so I'm really limited as to options. Zipp 404, HED 60s, 90s or HED 3, 3D. Anyone have any advice? I'm thinking of buying used due to cost. Zipps are harder to find but they're out there and HED tri spokes are all over the place. Any thoughts as to what questions to ask or what to look for would be appreciated. Have a great Monday everyone!

The good news is that people are getting away from 650 wheeled bikes these days (but I don't know why, they are great).  So you can get good wheels for a good price on ebay.

What to ask?  Anything you need to ask to know that they are sound wheels as a fair price.  When you see a potential wheel (or set of wheels) on ebay or elsewhere on the web, drop the link here and let us all assess.

NAME: David

STORY: My 11 year old daughter took part in the Girls on the Run program at school last year, and ran a 5K.  I've never run in my life.  In high school I was a distance cyclist, but that was 20 years ago.  She wanted me to run with her, so I started running.  Once that was done, I figured I needed a new goal, so I registered for a 10K and did that.  I definitely need to have an event to train for in order to stay motivated, so I figured I needed to find some new challenge.  I've been enamored with the idea of triathlons since I was a kid, but I never thought I could run.  Now that I've proved to myself that I can run, its tri-time. 

FAMILY STATUS:  I'm engaged (wedding summer of 2013) and I have 2 wonderful daughters, 11 and 13 who live with me half the time. 

JOB: Owner of a window cleaning company.

CURRENT TRAINING: I pretty much stopped running after the 10K last year and was weight training twice a week through the fall.  Last week I started on the 2X Balanced 20-week Olympic training program from this website.  I'm looking forward to being able to be outside again, but for now the gym will have to do.

2012 RACES:  I'm registered for the Olympic distance at the Island Lake Triathlon in Brighton, Michigan on May 26. 

WEIGHTLOSS: I'm pretty happy at 160lbs.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I'm committed to my training goals.  I'm excited for this new challenge in my life.  I proved tomyself last year that I could run a 10K when I had previously thought that running wasn't something I could do.  Now I'm ready to make some new milestones for myself.

My swim meet went fine on Saturday. 

I did mostly dry-land warmups.  I began with a 1 mile run before my 500 and just because I was worried about getting a proper shoulder warmup in, I did about 200 in the water before the start.

I had put in 8:00 as my seed time and swam 8:03.  It would have been great if the time had been faster but the way I raced it was to relax and focus on form without pushing too much.  I did push the 2nd half and worked quite hard...but only about triathlon-hard.  Meaning I could have gotten out of the water and sprinted through transition and on....

So I guess considering the shoulder surgery and my recent return to swimming normalcy (if I'm even at 'normalcy' yet regarding swim) that I'm not too far behind and it bodes OK for my upcoming tri season.

throughout the meet I kept stepping out to their indoor track to run and totalled 4 miles of running during the meet.

I swim the 200 back nice and easy.  At least that was the plan.  At the start my goggles came off so I sort of floated there on my back for what seemed like forever as I re-installed them and got the water out.  Then I began swimming with way too much tension and too much kick.  So it wasn't long until I was pegged aerobically and in my leg muscles.  I relaxed as best as I could and finished.  Then I got out of the water (it was the last heat of 200 back) and I was in heat 1 of the next event.  So I climbed right back up on the blocks and raced again.  I think that was the 100 breast.

I took all events after the 500 as relaxed swims, so reporting my times isn't worthwhile. 

But when it was all done I had completed the following:

500 free

200 back

100 breast

200 breast

200 free

4x50 free relay

The shoulder never felt so much as a twinge while swimming.  But I did notice late in the meet that it was getting stiff and would hurt slightly to lift it.  But even in that condition, once in the water and swimming there was no pain or discomfort.

Here's my overdue bio:

USERNAME: JeffY Name: Jeff Yeager

STORY: I am 45 years old.  I joined the track/CC teams in high school and lived for distance running.  Also ran my first year in
college until a big injury forced me to stop...at which point I took up bike racing for a few years.  My best 5k time at the age of 18 was 15:41.  In the Freeze-Yer-Gizzard-Blizzard-Run in International Falls that year (0 F, -30 wind chill) I was in the bathroom when the gun went off.  I had to disrobe while running to the starting line, took 1 mile to catch the lead pack, and running with flats on slick snow pack I succeeded in being the first American. (I think 6th or 7th overall) with a 10k time of 34:07.  I figure it was good for about 33:00 had it been good running conditions.
After college, I relocated, began my career, got married and pursued weight lifting and martial arts for the next decade and a half. Began dabbling in triathlon again 6 or so years ago, but only for fun.  Began training seriously about 4 years ago.  First year, was tough because I was out of shape and trying to regain fitness.  2nd year was just as bad and got progressively worse.  Began to feel out of breath during the day, while trying to sleep, of course when working out...suddenly could only swim 50m before needing to catch my breath for a minute...Dr. assumed asthma, then checked my blood, then referred me to a specialist.  The specialist assumed asthma, then assumed anxiety, then scheduled a CT scan.  And they found blood clots all over my lungs.  Then they found enough clotting in my left thigh to kill me dozens of times over.

After a brief hospitalization and appropriate medication I felt good again!  But now I was operating on about half of my lung tissue.  The other half had been killed by being deprived of oxygenated blood for 3+ months.  It was a long haul back in to shape because I was always so breathless. The next year was filled with decent performances, but lots of discomfort with breathing.  My HCT was measured at 53% which was apparently a response to chronic lack of oxygen.
The next year I began to perform OK, getting noticed by the 'in' crowd at the races (you know, the ones fast enough that they get noticed?).  I kept winning the Clydesdale division, even winning the fastest Master in one of them.  My bike prowess was the only reason for that, plus competing in the clydesdale division made it easier.  I decided to drop some weight and get even faster. Almost only by thinking about it, I dropped 20lbs for the next season (2011) and began to place and win my age group.
Even finished the season with 1 2nd overall placing.  My bike splits got even faster, but my running improved about 1 minute per mile.  Then came the big tear of my rotator cuff, ending my 2011 season with 2 races left on my calendar.  After 4 screws, part of my collar bone removed, and the labrum repaired I seem to be unhindered as far as triathlon goes. 

FAMILY STATUS: Divorced a few years ago.  4 children 20, 18, 17, 10.

Job: Systems Engineer/supervisor.  Currently working as the Application Architect for our Oracle ESuite installation

CURRENT TRAINING: The plan is roughly 2.5 hrs per day of tri training and strength training an hour per day.  But that weight training is a challenge working around the shoulder injury and is a blend of 'strenght' and 'rehab'.  Weekends ideally have a long run and long bike, but I am a little relaxed about that during winter.  35+mpw running, 3-5 hrs bike, 6-7K swim.

THIS YEAR'S RACES:
1/08/11  Barabara Stevens Memorial (SWIM meet)   Bowling Green, KY
1/22/11  Nashville Zoo Run   (5K)    Nashville, TN
2/26/11  Race Judicata    (5k/10K)   Nashville, TN
3/26/11  Cross Country for Cota    (5k)    Franklin, TN
3/27/11  CCC Mtb Race     (MTB)     Columbia, TN
4/03/11  ADPi-athlon    (SPRINT)   Murfreesboro, TN
5/29/11  GJCC Triathlon    (SPRINT)   Nashville, TN
6/04/11  Mach Tenn Triathlon   (SPRINT)   Tullahoma, TN
6/18/11  Monster Triathlon   (SPRINT)   Pulaski, TN
6/19/11  Lock 4 Blast     (XTERRA)   Gallatin, TN
6/25/11  Old Hickory Lake   (SPRINT)   Hendersonville, TN
7/24/11  Music City Triathlon   (Oly Relay)   Nashville, TN
8/13/11  Mountain Lakes Tri   (SPRINT)   Guntersville, AL
8/27/11  Cedars of Lebanon   (SPRINT)   Lebanon, TN

2012 RACES: All tentative so far, but here is what is up for consideration:

1/07/12  Barabara Stevens  (SWIM)    Bowling Green, KY  Already done
1/21/12  Nashville Zoo Run (5K)   Nashville, TN
2/25/12  Race Judicata  (5k/10K)  Nashville, TN
3/24/12  CCC 15K Trail Run (15k)   Columbia, TN
4/01/12  ADPi-athlon  (SPRINT)  Murfreesboro, TN
4/28/12  Ft Yargo Xterra  (XTERRA)  Winder, GA
4/29/12  SERC #2   (MTB)   Winder, GA
5/19/12  Xterra Southeast (XTERRA)  Pelham, AL
5/19/12  Xterra Tanasi  (X-run)   Copperhill, TN
5/20/12  Xterra Oak Mountain (X-run)   Pelham, AL
5/20/12  Memphis in May  (OLY)   Memphis, TN
5/20/12  GJCC Triathlon  (SPRINT)  Nashville, TN
6/02/12  Mach Tenn Triathlon (SPRINT)  Tullahoma, TN
6/02/12  Harpeth River Ride (Century) Nashville, TN
6/??/12  Monster Triathlon (SPRINT)  Pulaski, TN
6/17/12  Du Run Run  (DU)   Nashville, TN
6/??/12  Lock 4 Blast   (XTERRA)  Gallatin, TN
6/23/12  Old Hickory Lake (SPRINT)  Hendersonville, TN
7/??/12  Lock 4 Challenge I XC (MTB)   Gallatin, TN
7/22/12  Music City Triathlon (Relay??) Nashville, TN
7/29/12  Xterra Panther Creek (XTERRA)  Morristown, TN
8/11/12  Mountain Lakes Tri (SPRINT)  Guntersville, AL
8/05/12  Cedars of Lebanon (SPRINT)  Lebanon, TN
8/26/12  Rocketman  (OLY)   Redstone Arsenal, AL
9/??/12  Frantic Frog   (SPRINT)  Scottsboro, AL
9/08/12  Nashvegas Tri  (OLY?)   Ashland City, TN
9/??/12  Monkey Grinder XC (MTB)   Montgomery Bell
9/??/12  Lock 4 Challenge II XC (MTB)   Gallatin, TN
9/??/12  Jailbreak Triathlon (ADV)   Columbia, TN

WEIGHTLOSS: Raced at 180 last year.  Somewhere near that now.  Thinking that I'd like to race at 170 next year.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: Nothing!  I stink.  But I hope to be a great member of the group by bringing encouragement and helpful suggestions to everyone and generally backing up Dirk as needed.

I did that exact thing over the summer here at work.  I had my regular hard brick in the morning and went straight over.  I had all these readings outside the normal range that indicate organ failure!

So taking your morning off was a good idea from the testing standpoint.

I have a training question.  In all the plans I see, the 2-a-days are swim and bike.  With my schedule, it works out better for me if I swim and run on the same days. 

Is there a reason that swim/bike are normally together?  Is there any reason that I shouldn't run right after swimming?

I don't think it should matter.  Plans are made for the general populace to fit the most people, so tailor it to fit your needs.  Now if a coach came up with the plan, I would have a different answer.  One caveat would be to not schedule two key workouts on the same day if at all possible.

I think the main reason to keep the running alone would be that running is by FAR the hardest sport on your body, so recovery from running is an important part of tri training.  For me, once my tri training starts for real (after the run focus winter), I bike and run at least two and often three times a week the same day and it hasn't been a problem so far.

Wow, lots of activity since I was last on.  One thing I have to say is there are some pretty aggressive race schedules on here!

I have a request for everyone.  If at all possible, log your workouts on the site so we can answer questions more intelligently based on what we see there.  Also, again if at all possible, fill out race reports.  I love reading them for one thing, and more importantly (since it really isn't all about me despite what I think), it can really help you going forward to have a detailed report about your race experiences.

I confess to being really bad about that discipline, but agree with you regarding it's value.