Ernesto's group - CLOSED (Page 43)

ernestov - 2011-07-21 8:45 PM Last night I spent it in Austin (I was there for work) and had a chance to have dinner with Jackie at Pappadeaux, had some shrimp, yummy salmon, creme brulee and talked training over dinner. I wish I could meet you all some day in person, maybe we should think about a race next year and get together there...

jdiis - 2011-07-26 10:23 PM

Dinner was great and the training talk was greatly appreciated.  I vote for a race in Australia. 

Behind on updating my workout log, but you were right Ernesto.  I'm a much better runner in the wee hours of the morning.  I've switched everything but swimming to the AM.  Time for bed now.

ernestov - 2011-07-26 3:15 PM

Gang,

Sorry if I'm a little absent lately, I am overwhelmed with tons of work and barely have time to sit down for ten minutes. The trend seems to be more of the same in the upcoming weeks; shoot, I'm almost not working out at all and my weight has skyrocketed with the lack of training and so much eating out.

I hope it is over soon, I need my runner's high...

markz - 2011-07-27 12:24 AM

Good on ya Jackie, as they say here. I second this choice! But I could be biased a bit...

baurryman - 2011-07-27 9:02 AM

Ernesto, I feel your pain. Life is much the same for me now and I am such a terrible typist that I literally haven't had time to post much recently. Most of the holes in my training log are days when work won out over training! Doing my best.

ernestov - 2011-07-27 9:18 AM I would love to race in Australia and I will one day do the IM in Western Australia or Port MacQuarie, but doubt I'll pull that one next year. Going so far would be a lot of vacation time that I'm allocating for other trips that are in the plans already.

What about Cozumel Ironman in Thanksgiving 2012? Gabe has his sights on it, I'm either doing that one or Florida. But if one more buys Cozy, I'll do it. The others not doing Ironman can still go and get a cheap vacation (that is the off season).

dangremond - 2011-07-26 6:56 AM

While were sharing....

Years ago, back when I was 18, I was riding my road bike and had an upcoming curb to navigate.  I approached it at a slower speed and intended to bunny hop up the curb.  I timed my hop poorly and ran right into the curb.  I couldn't get my feet out of my toe clips in time (yes, before clipless pedals were completely widespread) and the bike cleanly fell to the left with my hip taking the full impact.  Feet still in the pedals as I lay on the ground.  Thankfully no one saw me.  It took about 3 years before my hip stopped aching on an regular basis.

Another story, probably 21 years old, crusing through my friends neihborhood on my new mountain bike, thought I would cruise off the road and tear through a field.  I didn't know that there was a rocky stream bed right after you leave the road...I head off the road, see the creek bed and hammer on my breaks...I fly right over the handle bars and am lucky that I land in grass and am able to dust myself off.

To the present - when I got back into cycling a few years ago it began with mountain biking.  The trail I would ride on a regular basis was pretty technical and my wife would shake her head every time I came home with new cuts, scrapes, bruises from my latest wipeout.  She could never understand why I would "punish" myself on a regular basis - I can never get past how exhilirating riding a bike with speed or power is.

ernestov - 2011-07-26 7:53 PM As far as training, next week should be much shorter duration but some intensity in it. Your last long ride should be this Saturday, and not longer than 40 miles if that. Remember that last week is not about gaining fitness, but recovering and filling up the tank.

Keep sessions short, very intense, such as track intervals 12X1'with 1' recoveries, and one session on the velodrome if you get a chance on Wednesday doing some fast laps alternating with easy ones.

Race strategy:

Swim: Place yourself somewhere close to the front but not that close, start easy and breath every single time, sight every three breaths or so. If you find someone slightly faster than you (that's why I'm telling you to get closer to the front) get directly behind him/her and draft, it will save you some energy.

Bike: Jump on your bike and take it easy and I mean easy, keep your HR under control and get the nutrition/ hydration started as soon as you get on the bike. Frequent sips (don't chug) and some kind of solid you've already tried during training. I am doing the "honey stinger waffle" and I gotta say I love it, very gentle. Disregard the idiots cranking up the pace early on, you'll find them on the run devastated or on the second half of the bike. Your easy gear and a high turnover will be the best indicator, HR LOW.

The last sixteen miles of the bike is when you will start to pick up the pace but only if you feel very strong, if not, just relax and make it to T2. Nutrition at this point should be minimal as far as solids but water is great mixed in with some gatorade too for electrolyte balance, endurolytes or saltstick will do the trick too.

Run: A half marathon is a challenge by itself, much more if you're off the bike. Your perception after 2:30 hrs on the bike will be that you are running very slow even if you are doing seven minute miles. THAT IS WHY IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU KEEP AN EYE ON THE GPS. Keep the first five miles 9:30 or so, trust me here.

The last 5K are going to be fast and you'll pick up people left and right, and this will be a huge motivator.

90% of folks out there mispaces the halves and fulls and then blame the heat, the course, the nutrition, the gear, whatever. When you make the jump from olys to ultra distance events (such as 70.3 or IM) the name of the game is patience. I already blew up my share of races and I can show you examples with both good and bad 70.3s that I have done, so you can get a better idea on how thin that line is.

Pre race nutrition: keep it simple, get some carbs but don't overdo it, it will give you gastric distress if you do too much. The day before the race drink a lot of Gatorade/Powerade.

baurryman - 2011-07-27 7:34 PM

Had one of the best runs I've had in a while this morning in Akron, OH. Even with the elevation gain and loss (hilly) the run felt effortless and scenery was great. It just goes to show how much the heat or lack thereof affects one. The temp. was 60 degrees. I haven't run in 60 degrees for at least six weeks and my heart rate averaged 15 bpm lower than my last solo run.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102229805

jenputnam - 2011-07-28 4:48 PM

Hey Ernesto and gang...

Any tips of acclimating to the altitude and hills?  I wake up in the am with a heart rate of 80+.  Should I still be trying to run at MAF?  My runs so far haven't been been.  In fact yesterday was the worst but it was warm.  I also forgot my sunglasses and had to run into the sun which was near blinding.  I really should have turned around but that meant going back up a hill that leads from my house.. Any suggestions would be great.  

Also, I am guessing that running MAF and staying aerobic for the time in Cali paid off.  I stepped on the scale and I'm a few pounds lighter and well as the lost inches....

jenputnam - 2011-07-28 4:48 PM

Hey Ernesto and gang...

Any tips of acclimating to the altitude and hills?  I wake up in the am with a heart rate of 80+.  Should I still be trying to run at MAF?  My runs so far haven't been been.  In fact yesterday was the worst but it was warm.  I also forgot my sunglasses and had to run into the sun which was near blinding.  I really should have turned around but that meant going back up a hill that leads from my house.. Any suggestions would be great.  

Also, I am guessing that running MAF and staying aerobic for the time in Cali paid off.  I stepped on the scale and I'm a few pounds lighter and well as the lost inches....

jdiis - 2011-07-28 11:06 PM

Hey everybody.  Ernesto's birthday is tomorrow, Jul 29!

Happy Birthday Ernesto.  I'm glad you're our mentor.

ernestov - 2011-07-30 12:39 PM

Wow! today I suffered my ride, it is amazing how much work stress and lack of training can bring you down! I felt totally out of shape, overweight, bloated... I just don't know how I'll manage to get back to where I was with all the work that lies in front of me.

How's everybody else doing in this brutal summer?

older2533 - 2011-07-30 2:11 PM Ernesto, Isn't it obvious? It's not that you're out of shape, overweight or bloated. It's just you are a year OLDER.

older2533 - 2011-07-30 2:11 PM Ernesto, Isn't it obvious? It's not that you're out of shape, overweight or bloated. It's just you are a year OLDER.