willie05's Group - Closed (Page 4)

Thanks Mark - I read that article over the weekend as well and thought it was interesting and made good points.  I was also glad to see your post as another example of how it works.

That 145 is what the threshold would be for flipping from fat burning to carb burning, so you would want to be training right up to that point (don't take any percentages of it).  The idea is that up to that point your burning fat only, and above that you burn carbohydrate.  You want to train your body to burn the fat store first before the carb. 

A point he made in the article that I hadn't heard before is that training would actually get a little easier just above that point because you would then be in the low end of the carb burning zone instead of the high end of the fat burning zone.  I think I'm going to try that to see that myself.

I agree with you on the swimming.  I'm after technique there.  I do intervals so that I can keep my technique up at faster speeds for longer periods of time.  I don't wear a heart monitor at all for swimming.  For me that definitely crosses the line into too much info to think about.

Here's another discussion about the speed going on right now.  A few who have done ironman distances pretty speedy have chimed in as well, and also added in the recovery aspect that I hadn't thought of:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=101006&posts=13#M1155133

In the beat a dead horse dept...

In case you haven't seen it, here is an excellent article about building a base by going slow.  He brought it to terms that I can understand better.  I also like the bit at the end about smelling the roses!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1391

I thought I would change up the discussion from base training and slow runs to Interval training which is my favorite type of training for all three sports.

There's an article by Chris Carmichael (Lance's coach) in this month's Bicycling Magazine about using intervals for weight loss.  I never thought of it that way.  I've always used these to improve speed.  I generally mix in one interval training per week for each swimming, biking and running.  In the article he makes the point that using intervals with rest periods between keeps your power output up throughout the entire workout vs. hammering from the getgo where your output drops as the session goes on.  

So by doing intervals your calories burned are about the same as if you were steady the whole time, but the higher output during the intense timeframes helps stimulate change more for your body than riding (or running) at one steady state.

This workout that follows is for an hour.  But if you haven't done any intervals before, cut down on the number that you do, and increase the rest/easy spin time between and then build up to these times and to an hour.  And don't do this workout every time out!  At the end, you should feel pretty well spent - and that you can't wait to go out again! 

6' - Warmup

1' - fast pedal, spinning a light gear as fast as you can

1' - recovery spinning

1' - fast pedal

1' - recovery spinning

5x2' - at max intensity w/ 2' recovery spinning between each

6' - recovery spinning

5x2' - at max intensity w/ 2' recovery spinning between each

8' - cooldown

That's a good point since you're getting close to your race.  You're definitely past the point of just building up your base only.  You should now be doing that plus some more intense training.

Since your about 12 weeks away, I had a look at the Basic Olympic 12 week plan here on BT.  Right from the first week, which would be about now, it's essentially 1 session per week of interval training and 2 sessions of endurance for each of the 3 events.  By week 3 the LT test that we mentioned above is there, then by week 4 the intervals are more intense with significant time at your LT.  The 5th week has the first brick in it (biking, then running immediately afterwards).

Since there is one interval workout per week for each of the sports, it's lined up so that on a day you're doing an interval in one of the events, you're doing an endurance in one of the others.  You should try to have a good long recovery period between these sessions on any given day.  Mine would generally be about 4 hours (before work, then 2nd workout at lunch).

Great site Mark - thanks!  I haven't seen the videos yet, I do that stuff at home, but I like the articles I've read.

Scott - I just asked one of my friends from my last group to give his impression of the 1000.  He got it in the middle of last year.  He rides it to and from work every day - even in this weather!

If you don't mind me popping in your thread, I have a Trek 1000 that I got around March last year.  I'm not an expert, but I really like it.  I came from a mtn bike, and going to the 1000 I couldn't believe how light it felt.  I just put aerobars on it a couple weeks ago, and it rides well in aero too.  It has entry level components, so the brakes don't seem too great, but I've been happy with the derailleurs and shifters.  Overall, I'm really happy with it.

Definitely test ride it and see how it feels for you.  And, the most important thing is fit.  If they don't have your size in stock, order it.  Don't try and make do with the wrong size.  And, if you do get the right size, make sure you're fit on the bike to get it set up right.

Hey Squishy - Nice job trying to stay in a low zone!  Now my question is where did the 111-130 come from?  It looks like you took 60 and 70% of 220-35.  That actually looks too low from the sources I've seen.  I think keeping it in the low to mid 140's is a better number.

Squishy, unless you've been doing a lot of running before your logs started, I don't think you should worry too much about your Heart Rate right now.  As you begin to train more, you're going to see rapid changes in what your heart rate is for each of the zones.  At this stage, I think you would be better off usind the "Perceived Exertion" chart that I posted on the previous page.  That way, rather than worrying about getting beeped at, you can judge yourself if your in the zone you want to be.

For example, that chart shows an RPE of 6 is equivalent to Z2 Upper, and the description is "Working but sustainable, able to talk in full sentences."  It sounds to me like that was how your run was the other day, and you found that point yourself rather than your watch telling you.  You'll find that your pace will quickly get faster at this level!

Oh, and just to complicate all this further - your HR zones are different for biking than running!

Well I'm going to freeze this weekend!  Heading to a campout for two nights (in a cabin) with my younger daughter.  It'll be fun, but I don't see me standing around the campfire too long tomorrow night when it's about 10 out!

Have a great weekend!  Keep on Training!