Shellback1998 Group - FULL (Page 43)

Nice race dude!  I'm so happy to hear you improved your performance over last year's sprints!  You rock!  ^_^

~Roland

I sent you a friend request on map my ride as it won't let me view your map without it. Not sure I'm the best person for suggestions given I'm trying to figure it all out too, lol.

All suggestions welcomed.

You should be able to get in.

Guys/ Gals Remember you actually want to have a course that's hilly. Believe it or not, hills, are better on the bike as you're not hammering all the time. There is actually some relief especially on the downside of the hills.  As I told Scott before, worry about your cadence and HR. If you do have a power meter try to keep the watts constant throughout the ride.  You want to try to keep your cadence 85-90 rpms throughout the ride especially. The faster your legs are spinning the more the blood is flowing to the muscles. I'm not saying not to work on hills, but work on hills and HR. Don't be afraid to go to the lower chain ring. Don't try to spike your HR on the bike though, think of it as a book of matches. You get in the higher end of your HR zones, you burn a match. You want that book of matches to last the whole race. More importantly on the run.  Scott, if you're worried about hills. people on our team do hill intervals at Blue hills, Right around the corner where you work. You won't find a bigger hill than that on the eastern part of MA. It's fun, it's a mile long and has a steep % climb. Work on your anaerobic threshold and the recovery time with your heart will be shorter.  I'm not a small guy at all, all the small guys pass me on the hill, and I fly by them on the down hill not even pedaling then when it comes to flat I'm still passing them as I'm a strong biker. But, the more constant you are especially in long distance the better you'll be off for the rest of the bike and run. Hope that makes sense

Scott

Wow, lotsa good info posted since I last logged on.  I got an attack of food poisoning yesterday so bad that it sidelined me from work.  It's my first every sick day I've taken in the past 7 years???  I still feel a bit crappy today but hopefully I'll get over it soon.  I'm so happy it's my recovery week.  Whew!  I feel kinda bad that I missed my run yesterday and swim today ughhhh...  >.<

~Roland

Your ascents are the same as Stamford however the hills are much more gradual. So just pay attention to your heart rate and don't overexert yourself. That first hill coming out of transition is 200 feet but its 3.5 miles. The first 1.2 miles looks to be the worst of your ride so check your heart rate coming out of transition and take it slow just like Scott advised me. I think he's right though and you'll be fine.

The other thing about your ride I will say is the altitude. I'm assuming you train at 2600 feet and are used to it. I train around sea level so this course would probably rock me in that way.

Great Point Scott, I never thought about Altitude. 

Thanks Scott, some great information! Way to put it into perspective! The great thing about the 4+ mile hill going out means 4+ mile downhill coming home(don't wipe out, don't wipe out! )

Might unclip for some of it to kind of shake out the legs a bit. thoughts?

No stay clipped in... You could stand if you'd like, but I would just tuck in and get as much AERO as possible. 

Scott

I know what you're saying about having the downhills for recovery and the back 6 miles I got that and also got my heart rate back into the low 140's during that time period. However while you want hills steep hills kill me. I'm looking at my Garmin data now and at one point I was going 7 MPH with a cadence of 35 RMP and according to the Garmin the grade was 27%. I'm not sure if that's accurate but even if it's two-thirds for a sustained period that pretty damn steep. I was in the small ring on the front and smallest gear on the back pushing a 165 BMP heart rate. There was simply no way for me to keep an 80-90 cadence nor stay in zone three while still climbing these hills. It might be possible next year but this is my first season with a real tri bike where I'm training outside. This will be my first winter with a bike and trainer.  Seriously I was completely tapped out with no gears to down-shift into.

So although in theory everything you say makes 100% sense I don't see a way for me to remain in those thresholds right now.

Blue Hills as far as a bike still scares me. The drives are not courteous when I drive that route so I can only imagine on a bike. I have two different loops around my house that are pretty brutal. I'm going to turn in distance for power and do those much more often to build my leg strength and recovery.

Where you down in Aero, or were you in the pursuit bars? I agree, I'm very similar to you man. It's hard and I often feel to get my cadence that high as well for steep climbs. 

The climbs at Blue Hills is fine, they aren't going around the mtn, they do hill intervals at the access road. No car traffic at all going up to the observatory. It's great for hills, try doing this 6 times... You're legs will be burning...

Scott

I stay in aero as long as I can and switched when I had to. For perspective in Ashland I never came off the big ring and never came out of aero on climbs, descents I did for safety reasons with it being that wet.

I didn't think of the access road. Ya that's got to be brutal.

Anything under 15mph get out of the aerbars and get in the pursuit bars. In the Aerobars, you're getting less oxygen, in the pursuit bars it opens your hips and allows you to get more air in. Maybe that's why your HR climbed high.

Scott

Awesome info, thanks. I love the check list that I got out of this race. It runs the gauntlet too even going into what to wear, nutrition, technique, etc.

Don't suppose you have a electronic version or link to the list do you?

I probably should make a giant list and will but from this race.

1. READ the itinerary.

2. Map the bike in advance and know where and how big the hills are so you have a strategy.

3. Buy a white mesh running cap to keep the sun off of my head and not overheat.

4. More nutrition.

5. Go to pursuit bars on steep or long climbs.

6. Cooler for drinks to stay cold, ice and towel.

7. Monitor heart rate more closely coming out of the water especially if the bike starts with a climb.

8. No caffeine pills.

9. More hill training to build up legs and recovery.

10. Try to lower heart rate going into hills as to avoid spikes.

11. Don't be afraid to use the small ring to keep heart rate lower.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something but we pay for these lessons so we better learn from them.

Feeling lots better today.  Going to take the bike out and continue tweaking the settings on my new Adamo Road Saddle! (Thanks Scott for your recommendation). ^_^

Anyways, I'm looking to purchase a couple more on the road repair tools.  Namely a small hand pump and a CO2 pump.  What do you guys recommend/currently use?  I have an old Specialized pump that I carry in my Camelbak which can be mounted onto the frame but I'd like to start carrying stuff that will fit in my medium sized pack below my saddle. 

I'm currently interested in the Park Tool Pocket Protector Pump (PMP-3) and Innovations Ultraflate plus CO2.  Please let me know.  =)

Thanks,

Roland

Roland - Glad to hear you are on the mend.  Take it easy for a few days and stay hydrated.

I've been swimming in the pool the last 2 days.  I've never felt so balanced, breathing is relaxed and easy, felt like my stoke speed was comfortable.  I'm going to try my OWS without the wetsuit and see how it goes.

Have a great fourth everyone!

Linda

Glad to hear you're feeling better!  Be sure to stay hydrated.

As for the on-the-road repair, I have this kit from Genuine Innovations.  I keep it under my saddle.  I've never had any problems with it.  In fact, I flatted on a ride two weeks ago and got to practice using it.

http://www.genuineinnovations.com/bicycle/commuter-touring/tri-road-tire-repair-and-inflation-seat-bag.html

Thanks you guys.  Yeah, drinking lotsa water.  I'm gonna go cycling a 10 mile (or less) Z1 recovery pace after work today.  I really wanna get my new saddle adjustments perfected early enough before my 1st tri happening end of July. 

That kit looks good Daniel.  What about a hand pump?

@Shellback Scott, how many miles did you put before you perfected your Adamo Racing saddle adjustments? 

~Roland

I've never used a hand pump on the road before; hopefully someone else has a good recommendation for you.

Back on the bike for the first time since the race. Legs felt good.........finally. Did 21.6 in 72 minutes at a low intensity working on my form. Heart rate average was 138 and more importantly I really concentrated on keeping it lower on the hills and I never got above 156 even on the monster hill leading back to my house at the end. Usually I blow into at least the mid 160's on this hill. I used the small ring and focused on full peddle strokes. Cadence average was 90

I was thinking and analyzing the race in my head and it came to me that my form was crap on the big hills and I let my fatigue get to me. Which of course only added to the quad fatigue as I was pushing my way up the hill completely and not pulling on the back stroke.

So I worked on utilizing the small ring to keep the heart rate in check, worked on my form especially on the hills to keep the quads fresh and worked on my nutrition in eating two hammer gels and downing my 24-Oz endurance drink for a total of 340 calories in the 72 minutes. Honestly I find opening and eating the gels a PITA but obviously if I stick with it long term it will be old hat which will be important next season when I jump to HIM.

Great job!

It was adjusted during my fit, and haven't changed it since. I have over 2000 miles on each of my adamo saddles

I had the best brick this morning. I did 13.34 miles on the bike at an 18.9 clip on a pretty hilly course. Kept the heart rate at a 166 max which given the intensity I'm very happy with. Used my small ring very well. I still had enough left for the run to run at 8:46 pace for 3.1 miles and the best part is the miles got faster going from 9:08, 8:46, 8:25 and the last .1 at 8:10. The course is the same inclines so that wasn't a factor.

My time on the bike was mostly zone 3 which was 3.25:1 on the time I crept into zone 4. The run was about 50/50 staying at the top of 3 and the bottom of 4. The bike hills I felt like my form was really good. I even racked my bike and locked it up fast pulling a 2:19 transition which is pretty fast given I have to pull stuff in and out of my car to make this change.

Certainly feeling much better now than I was earlier in the week.

The two largest hills on this course felt easy in comparison to Stamford although one of them reminded me of the bad hill from that course in that it made a 60 degree turn half way up. 

Hope everybody has a good weekend. I'm taking tomorrow off and then doing my long bike on Monday.