kenj's group closed, training hard and having fun!! (Page 44)

That hill looks like a challenge.  Good that you got out and climbed it prior to race day. 

The best advice I can give you at this point, as Kathleen has already been looking into, is to gear the bike as best you can.  Determine the best pace for you on race day, and not worry about what others are doing. 

wow, early morning Ken!

I walked my 3 mile route around the neighborhood.  My knee has been bothering me.  Thinking about going to see the doc again to check on it.

I ran almost 6 miles on Saturday (5.9 - ran out of road).  I am seriosuly considering training for a half marathon that is 12 weeks away (exactly one week after my first triathlon).  Am I nuts??

(ETA: Map my run says I did 6.42 miles on Saturday - no wonder my legs were sore yesterday - my GPS is old and not very accurate... so I think I will go with the 6.42!!)

I did an OWS yesterday.  I wanted to do one on Friday and Saturday, too... but thanks to thunder/lightening, I didn't get to.  I have been swimming in open water many a time, but it was a little weird to swim thinking about it in relation to training for a race.  I estimate I only did about 400 yards.  I am going to see if I can find a way to measure it.  I also bought a lap counter online today, so I can at least time myself.

Back to "The Lake" this weekend.  (aka. Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg).  We will be there from Friday through Tuesday, so I hope to get in a bunch of swims in between drinking beers.

Wouldn't ya know that I just got an email saying that it is shipping today with an ETA of Wednesday.  The suits were backlogged (did not tell you at the time of order) and I had read on BT about some waiting over a month for theirs.  I just assumed I'd be out of luck.

I'll probably be going to Tri Spot on Friday evening to pick up my packet. Not sure why they have you driving through downtown Buffalo during rush/dinner hour on 4th of July weekend to pick up your packet only from the hours of 5-7pm. Duh. Looking forward to seeing the store though.

Julie and Kathleen, that hill looks like a beast! Ken is right, don't worry about what anyone else is doing. If you try to go up it too hard, you could really fry your legs which could lead to a difficult run.

kenj - 2011-06-28 9:39 AM

julta - 2011-06-27 5:35 PM Question of the day. For those of you who are doing or have done a HIM I could use some help with nutrition. Mostly I’m just curious to see what others have done. Anyone want to post their plans? I’m really just trying to get mine in place. I know we’ve talked about this a little but I was hoping to see a couple of peoples “day” I think I have a pretty good idea of where I’m going but I’m unsure on a couple of things.

I train with Infinit, double up the dose for the bike and single for the run.  Chase it with water.  I also carry a couple of gels or even a cliff bar just in case something goes wrong with the plan, it is good to at least have an option.  I do this because my A race serves Heed, and I am not a fan.

First choice though is to find out what the race is serving and see if your stomach agrees with that.  This saves a lot of the logistics of planning to carry your own in and having extra, just in case.  I did this for IM as they serve Gatorade and I can deal with that.

The key to successful race day nutrition is to have a plan of how many calories you feel you need per hour and how you are going to get them.  Once you have the plan, practice it in training.  A key to remember, it is a lot easier to add more calories than it is to take them away once ingested. 

Also remember is that you are typically pushing the effort higher during a race than you would in training.  This is where a lot of athletes nutrition plan blows up on them.  The higher HR slows digestion and they keep dumping the same calories in and they get bloated or worse.  So try and push the intensity a couple of times while training with your nutrition plan.

Again, all excellent points. Very important to practice, because everyone is different. For example, I have tried a couple different formulations of infinit, but they always give me stomach cramps. Lots of people love Heed, Ken is not a fan, and I think it is the most vile stuff ever made. I use Clif Shot bloks, they work well for me, but I am sure some people can't stand them. I keep them in my mouth awhile because I think I absorb a little sublingually.

So, I raced an Oly this past Sunday. I missed a PR (set at the same race last year) by about 20 seconds, and my goal by almost 3 minutes. I think the swim course was short last year because they had a problem with low tide and had moved the buoys. Still, I am pleased with my performance, since I took a little time off both my bike and run. I haven't written a race report yet because I have had a busy couple of days. Right after the race we drove 3 hours to the Jersey shore to spend the night and the next day with friends who had some spare room in a beach house. I swan a lot in the ocean, but unfortunately did not do any actual OWS training.

Hey gang! Long time no see!  Now that I finally have a plan again I am back. It's amazing the difference. You may remember I had a coach and when we decided to let that go I was having a hard time being consistent. Just look at my June logs - LOL! I had lots of starts and stops and could not get it going and keep it going.

I took the time this past weekend to use GoogleCalendar to write up my own training plan and it has made a HUGE difference! Not sure why having a plan is so important to me but it just is. I really like being able to look at the week and the month to see what I have coming up.

Due to my previous injuries I am building my run very slowly this time being very careful not to add too much too soon in an effort to stay healthy.

Everyone is doing so great! Kathleen & Julie that is a great climb! Love the pictures, I wish we had something like that close to us. Good for you riding it before the race, always good to know what to expect.

julta - 2011-06-27 4:35 PM Question of the day. For those of you who are doing or have done a HIM I could use some help with nutrition. Mostly I’m just curious to see what others have done. Anyone want to post their plans? I’m really just trying to get mine in place. I know we’ve talked about this a little but I was hoping to see a couple of peoples “day” I think I have a pretty good idea of where I’m going but I’m unsure on a couple of things.

I asked this question when getting ready for my first HIM at least a dozen times. I got frustrated when everyone told me I had to do what worked for ME. But that is the truth. The best thing I did was start experimenting early in my trianing and doing a few bicks so I knew my stomach could handle on the run.

I drank water and Gatorade and also took electrolytes. On the bike I ate fig newtons which I love on long bike rides. I put them in a snack size zip lock bag and in my Bento box. I liked the smaller ones so I could pop the whole thing in my mouth. I used these a lot in training. I also had Chomps in my Bento - two different flavors. During my race I ate 3 of my 4 fig newtons but REALLY didn't want another so I switched to Chomps. I also had Chomps with me on the run but didn't eat them. What saved me were the animal crackers on the run. I don't even like animal crackers but they were exactly what I wanted out on the course.

Try a few different things and if you are going to be out there for a while like me I am a fan of real food instead of just gu's and gummy stuff, I think that is what helped me keep everything down.

I eat a gel when I first get on the bike and 1 right before I get off the bike. In theory you do not need anything for a sprint. You should not be expending enough calories during a sprint race to create a deficit that needs to be be replaced.

I do it cause I feel like it helps me and I need all the help I can get...... 

Sorry guys for being MIA I've been covered up at work and having a hard time finding time to train..I did sign up for an Olympic tri in Chattanooga on the 10th of July...Everyone seems to be right on track keep up the nice work...Headed to the beach tomorrow for the fourth with family..got to get some workouts in...