Mndymond and Disturbed275's Awesome SBR Group--- Phase 2--CLOSED! (Page 4)

I had a great ride yesterday...Before heading out, I discovered that Google maps is beta testing a biking route finder where you type in where you want to go and it will find the best bike routes for you.  The bonus is that I could use it on my iphone. I decided to give it a try with some mixed results.  A large part of the ride was on bike paths and roads where no one passed me - but there was a 10 mile stretch when I was on a road with a 45 mph speed limit and limited shoulder space.  Yikes!  Anyone ever used Google Maps?

The only real bad thing about the ride was that I completely misjudged the time and had to have my wife pick me up 10 miles from home so we could go out for our date on time.  I will tackle the 40 mile loop after my rest week.

Finally - I celebrated my ride with two amazing beers at the local brew pub: A well balanced Imperial Pils and a hoppy American IPA.  Just goes to show, I will do almost anything for beer!

Qua17, you'd probably get along well with my husband. He is brewing beer right now!

Today I went out for 18 miles on our local rail trail and realized that I AM SO INCREDIBLY SLOW!! The ride out was great - mostly downhill with the wind at my back. I had no problems keeping pace with my husband. BUT the ride BACK was mostly slightly uphill with the wind in my face. I told my husband to go at his pace, it would motivate me to push more. So - I was way behind half of the time. I'm pushing and pushing against the wind, feeling like I would actually go backwards if I stopped pedaling, and then this group of mennonite teenage boys goes FLYING past me on their bikes like it's nothing. *Sigh*. I am weak! I am still on a wal-mart mountain bike. I should probably look into getting a road bike pretty soon, but I am quite aware that the biggest problem is that I just need to keep getting out there and developing strength.

The plan for tomorrow is a 5-mile run/walk, running more than I did last time/walking less.

Keep at it.  You're right, it will come with time in the saddle.

I hit my 21 mile long run and felt great.  I took it slow the first 5, then ran 2 miles at race pace followed  by 2 at easy pace.  I repeated this till about 15 miles, then I went every mile.  finished the run with a strong 7:15 mile.  8:28/mi pace for 21 miles.  Marathon's in 7 weeks, and I have 3 more long runs planned.  Heal feals 100% after icing, ibuprofen, and resting for 10 days a while back.  Thanks for the tips David.

Mirror Pond Pale Ale for recovery drink tonight.  Easy swim tomorrow morning.

Happy Monday, group!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Sorry about the post-and-run intro last week.... I was battling a cold that basically left me in pretty rough shape.  I'm finally coming out of it and can now thing straight  I was able to get in a (slow) 10 miles on Saturday.  

Tonight, the plan is a 5-mile tempo run, though if I'm not feeling it, I'll just make it an easy run.  It's a beautiful day out there!

Lousy weekend of training etc. Ate too much, drank too much and did put on the runners once. Weather was so-so in Canmore/Banff. Trail still not clear from Canmore to Banff, glad I didn't drag my bike there.

Time to get back on track this week. Looking for 7 workouts this week. Going for a run at lunch today and hopefully on the cycle trainer after work.

David good to see that new bike taking you out on some nice rides!

Great job on the long ride Lisa! What part of BC are from?

Kevin, I read somewhere, strong bike=Strong run.

Melissa, how was the race??? race report?

I hope everyone had a great weekend! The weekend here was gorgeous. Lots of sunny skies. I only got in my long bike ride and a couple short runs. Unfortunately, I am now feeling a cold coming on. My plan is to keep this week easy so I am healthy and ready to start my plan next Monday.

Thor - I am in the Vancouver area - Surrey

So, what beer did he make?  I have fallen in love with biking - but brewing beer is still my favorite way to spend a saturday afternoon.  Do you like beer or is it just your husbands thing?

Sorry to hear that your bike ride sucked but I would cut yourself some slack.  If you are on a hybrid and trying to keep up with a road bike - that's a losing battle.  I just got a new bike and it's made a ton of difference.  

To gain speed - you need to add two types of workouts to your routine - hills and speed.  The hills will build up muscle that will improve your power and the speed workouts will help you deal with lactic acid build up.  You'll be kicking your hubby's in no time!

Good luck!

So, what beer did he make?  I have fallen in love with biking - but brewing beer is still my favorite way to spend a saturday afternoon.  Do you like beer or is it just your husbands thing?

Sorry to hear that your bike ride sucked but I would cut yourself some slack.  If you are on a hybrid and trying to keep up with a road bike - that's a losing battle.  I just got a new bike and it's made a ton of difference.  

To gain speed - you need to add two types of workouts to your routine - hills and speed.  The hills will build up muscle that will improve your power and the speed workouts will help you deal with lactic acid build up.  You'll be kicking your hubby's in no time!

Good luck!

Nice work!  Taking it easy on your feet will help you with starting out slow and finishing strong!  If you practice your tempo during these last three training runs - you will be less likely to crash and burn when you hit the wall.  How was the Pale?

Hi guys!  First off, I want to welcome everyone to the group and apologize for being MIA over the weekend.  Just bad luck that the group opened up and Melissa and I were in LA and had limited time to respond.

The trip was fun and the race went well for me for the first one of the year.  I managed a 1:33:26 which was good enough for 114th out of 6000+ runners.  So a pretty good start to the season.  I'll try and get a report written up to share with the group.

Looks like there was quite a bit of good training being done by everyone this so congrats on that.  I am going to try and go back and tackle some of the questions that were posted, but if I don't get around to all of them feel free to repost

Hey - it was Easter Sunday - cut yourself some slack and then use it as motivation this week.

Get on it brother!

Wow - Sunday's run on tired legs sucked!  But I got it in and burned enough calories to enjoy a fattening meal nearly guilt free.

I celebrated the week with two amazing local beers.  One was a saison fermented in a white wine barrell and the other was a beer based upon a 173 year old recipe.  It was fantastic.  Different but awesome.

It's a light week for me.  Hate them but I need to respect them.  Tomorrow I'll do a short run and swim.  I bet it will be cold at 4:30 (however not as cold us it will be in the Great White North, eh?).

Have a great week!

I realize you've already made your decision about this topic, but thought I'd weigh in anyway.  If your marathon is an "A" race I wouldn't sweat the long rides at this point.  You still have several months before the HIM, and plenty of time to build up the long ride after the marathon.  The nice thing about riding is that you build up volume much quicker without risk of injury like running. Plus after the marathon you'll have a pretty good running base and can focus on those long rides, which I think is key in HIM training.

Also, I personally like to keep the long run and the long ride separated.  I realize the weekend may be the only time people can squeeze in their long stuff, but doing a long run the day after the long ride can risk injury.

You can check out Jorge's cycling program in the Challenge forum (it's the top link).  I think his program is geared towards workouts on the trainer but I followed a few of them a few years ago to alleviate boredom.  I've heard a lot of good things from people who have done the program

I lived in Dublin for 2 years and have a really soft spot for hard cider!  The beer was good too.  I totally forgot about it- but with weather I need to pick up some Bulmers!  Mmm!

Thanks for the cycling tips Neal! - I will check out Jorge's program.  We just started a triathlon sprint training program at work for 8 weeks in the fitness center that Dave Scott puts together the workouts for.  The first spin class was hard.  I have to say the swim workouts look monotonous.  I think I'm going to go to master's instead.  I really really struggle with boredom in the pool.  Anyone have tips to get past that?  I promised myself after college I was done- but I really like it for about a half hour.  And I love how I feel when I'm done.  I just have trouble keeping going.  I've been thinking of getting one of those waterproof ipods.