Ironman Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 43)

STill on the trainer in Upstate NY don't dare hit the roads as they are still covered in salt and sand. Don't need to take a digger also the trainer allows me to staty more focused and less ditracted!!

Friday 1:15 Run in a Blizzard!!

Sat 2:30 Bike in the Dungeon

Sunday 1:15 run outside and 30 min Trainer ride

Good weekend of work.

The Count down!!

19 Weeks

132 days

3,168 hours

190,080 minutes

Till the RACE,

(This is the fun I have on a Rest Day!)

I ride alone a lot and with longer rides coming up it will most likely be prudent to ride with someone.  If you would like to ride when the weather gets nicer let me know. I typically do the Syracuse 70.3 course as it has some nice hills, both up and down. I usually catch up with people on the course but I tend to shy away from joining them since the last time I did that I almost took a header because someone didn't call out a pothole.

PANIC!!!! really puts things in prespective when you say under 20 weeks. EEEGATZZZ!

Ok, I'm 280 with about 70 of that as pure fat.  You may ask why I would want to be more aero and then I would have to admit that I'm signed up for Ironman Lake Placid this July. Yeah, I'm that guy that signed up way overweight.

My problem is that I want to maximize my efficiency on the bike and want to be streamlined as best as possible. So far I have been to two seperate LBS for a fitting and due to my excessive carbo loading, have built a stomach that interfers with my pedaling while down in the aero position. Thankfully neight bike shop took money to tell me the obvious, the stomach has got to go and "I'M TO FAT FOR AERO".

Who else has gone through this and other than lose weight, what have you done to modify your riding position to gain speed?

Hey dcx0162 - I am a little dude, and you are a big dude, so take what I have with a grain of salt - I am not an expert on your particular concern. That said, I wouldn't sweat it, just keep riding more and you will get "more aero" over time. This is a long game; be patient. That said, if I were trying to open up some space between my thigh and belly, and just HAD to spend some money, I would consider shorter cranks, maybe even considerably so. A shorter crank will allow you to raise your seat (you don't have to reach as far down with your foot to hit the bottom of your stroke) and open up your hips Your thigh does not have to go as high to go over the top of your stroke arc). This effectively allows us to get a little lower in the front. Our high school physics class will tell us however that by shortening the lever (crank arm) we are going to have to work more to turn the cranks. Contemporary research tells us that this is negligible in the real bike world, and any extra work can be taken up in the drive train (ie: compact cranks, which most of us AG racers should be riding anyway, and/or a deeper cassette). This is all just internet-post-thinking-out-loud though; I would guess if this were truly a viable option and you were working with a  good fitter then they would have told you so...

In the end to simply keep on riding more is the better advice.

Hey dcx0162 - I am a little dude, and you are a big dude, so take what I have with a grain of salt - I am not an expert on your particular concern. That said, I wouldn't sweat it, just keep riding more and you will get "more aero" over time. This is a long game; be patient. That said, if I were trying to open up some space between my thigh and belly, and just HAD to spend some money, I would consider shorter cranks, maybe even considerably so. A shorter crank will allow you to raise your seat (you don't have to reach as far down with your foot to hit the bottom of your stroke) and open up your hips Your thigh does not have to go as high to go over the top of your stroke arc). This effectively allows us to get a little lower in the front. Our high school physics class will tell us however that by shortening the lever (crank arm) we are going to have to work more to turn the cranks. Contemporary research tells us that this is negligible in the real bike world, and any extra work can be taken up in the drive train (ie: compact cranks, which most of us AG racers should be riding anyway, and/or a deeper cassette). This is all just internet-post-thinking-out-loud though; I would guess if this were truly a viable option and you were working with a  good fitter then they would have told you so...

In the end to simply keep on riding more is the better advice.

I know how you feel, I was where you were 2 years ago.  Though I wasn't as ambitious as you (This will be my first IM event).  I started out doing sprints at 270lbs, and last year training for my first HIM I was able to get that down.  I never tried to get fitted for a tri bike because I couldn't just understand how that bike was going to hold me up.  I already felt like I could just blow the tires from just hitting a bump too hard.  So I figured there was no way that I could get on a Tri bike.  After losing 70lbs I just picked up my first Tri bike this past Saturday.  I still feel like I'm too big for a Tri bike but I figured since I like the lifestyle and what it has done for me that I would just keep at it.  I think with your IM training now I'm sure you will drop a bunch of weight without even trying (no pun intended).  Last year/now I just tried to watch what I was eating and it naturally just came off.    Just keep your head up and it will happen.   

Why the desire for a tri bike now?  Again, in my opinion, you need to be riding the best available bike for you NOW.  I strongly suggest staying on a road bike and getting fit and staying focused on the training plan.  Remember, there are other parts to triathlon aside from S/B/R...mental prep, nutrition...

Best of luck...

To all The FINK training clan!!

How is everyones Tuesday Runs going my last two weeks I have run some of my best runs in years just curious to tohers results?

I'm still a pansy and haven't run outside yet to really see the difference.  I'm still on the treadmill So far I'm feeling pretty good all around,  it's been getting a little better since I've been losing a little weight.  I'm also feeling good when I have been adding those new speed sections to the runs.  I thought I would be hurting more the day after but so far things are going well.

Generally, my runs have been going very well.  My Friday runs have been on very hilly routes and are getting faster and Sunday runs are getting easier and easier.  My last 2 run races, an 11.5 mile trail run and a trail half marathon, have been personal course records for me.  All that said, Tuesday runs are not going well.  For some reason I seem to miss a lot of Tuesday training.  I seem to be dormant from the end of my Sunday run straight through to Wednesday evening when I ride.  This is a pattern that needs to end. 

I think that part of the problem is that the "fear" of doing an IM has not kicked in yet.  Prior to Louisville I was terrified of not making it to the finish line.  I've set a pretty aggressive time goal for myself for Lake Placid, I need that motivation to kick in soon.

Now that it will be light later into the evening and it is getting warmer, I'm hoping to be more consistent.  

I wanted every advanage at speed. It sucks traveling at 7mph for 112 miles.  Ok not 7mph but 14-16 mph. I was hoping to add a few mph by being more aero.

My lbs is assisting me with my fit on my road bike and maximizing that for this ride.

Thanks for the response

Curious about the general concensu on this. 

Regarding the run and swim I agree but I'm afraid that there are not enough long Saturday bike rides.  I modified the Fink Competitive plan just a bit build toward a half marathon that is this Sunday then I go back to following the run plan as written by Fink. 

Regarding the bike I've modified the plan to build up to my first 100 mile ride by mid/late April with a total of 6 or 7 century rides.  My longest ride to date has been 60 miles (about 4 hours).

Thoughts?

I am doing the intermediate plan I thought it was light on cycling so muy cycling is the competive plan. As we goo through this journey I am sure there will be some modifications in times but the overal basis of the PLAN will stay the same.

I had a good run yesterday, but I keep missing the transition run on Wednesdays due to scheduling issues.  It's been a great plan but hard to fit in all the double week day workouts.

this is tongue and cheek and coming from a guy who was 280 and is now 193 I know what it is like trying to ride aero with a 'passenger'.

So excuse my sarcasm but when you want every advantage at speed... then train train train. get yer fat arse (in my best Fat Bastard voice) on the f'in trainer and train.  Train with power and get your watts up and your speed will follow. It's the ARCHER not the ARROW that is going to get your that much faster. If you want to be more areo.... then physically you need to be more 'arrow'-like, and not just in body shape.

to me, buying a bike because you think it is going to make you faster is like my golfer buddies thinking they will out drive me because they have the newest driver on the market. God forbid they think their swing sucks.

don't blame the bike for you being slower... going to a tri bike may even make you slower because you WON'T be able to get in arrow and you'll spend 100 miles on the bullhorns. ouch. not fun.

again, this is not meant to be mean but if you are like me I need someone to give it to me real. I don't know you, your situation and your training logs don't say a lot. what are your bike sets like? Do you just get on the trainer for 1.5 hours and go?

I am guilty of a lot and some of the following questions I don't know the answer to yet but my coach will ask me eventually if not already. He will probably read this and ask me

what's your race plan? specifically your bike plan? do you have power (I saw it in only 1 training log)? what's your FTP? If you can't train/race with power what's your pacing plan?? What's your nutrition plan? have you read race reports (HUGE help here, just google IMLP race reports)?

Also I see you have 3... THREE?!?! marathons before placid???? and you are doing Tupper lake 70.3 three weeks before IMLP.. god bless you but I think the last thing you should be worried about is getting more aero.

I am not beating you up here just on the surface  this is what came to my head. Maybe I am way off base, maybe I am not but to me this is where I would start.

My coach was very explicit when he said,"You need to respect the distance." "You can't fake your way through an IM."

Ah, the irony of so many of us having different situations, different schedules etc.  My runs have generally been better than they have ever been.  I'm consistently doing Z2 runs around an 8:30 pace which is really good for me.  (My best marathon is 5:04.  Go ahead, take a moment, do the math and try not to snicker.)  However, on Tuesdays...I've either been missing the workout or having pretty lackluster workouts.  I don't know if it is a lactate hangover from the weekend, the M-W early morning strength sessions that I've been doing or simply some sort of weird pattern.  Any way you look at it, running is my real limiter so I'm doing everything I can to get ready to come off the bike as if it is the beginning of the day and I'm fresh.

A year ago this weekend, I ran a half marathon for the first time in 1:48 after spending three months doing almost all run training with a swim here or there sprinkled in on weekends.  I rested a bit for it in the week leading up to the race.  I'm not doing it this year -- the National Half Marathon in Washington DC -- although I bet that I could go run a PR on Saturday even though my legs are feeling beat down.  I'm getting stronger...but there are days (like yesterday's run which was the slowest that I've logged in probably six months)...and even weeks when everything feels off the rails.

I'm just trying to log the workouts...push through...and count on everything coming together in July even if March and April look messy and ugly.  Advice welcome -- I may be looking at this all wrong.