BigSkiesMentorGroup - COMPLETE! (Page 46)

Yikes!!  That temp. would be one of the coldest days of the year here!!

Steve,

The front porch lattice painting was calling this week-end and with my boys in town I could not pass on the free labor.  Of course I did have a $100 grocery bill while they were here.  I am starting to relax a bit after seeing your training sessions. We can stick with what you remember for your T times were and just forget the logs.  Good news is that Katia is forecasted to make a sharp right and head north so your race should not be soggy.  The last track I looked at was showing her passing by DC on Fri at 0200  and a pretty good distance from the coast.  

I did do my plan's longest bike today of 4:30 (about 75 miles) with a 15 min run that followed.   Similar to your July 24th ride with the added joy of a quick run.  The bike went well except for a 15 minute delay an hour into the ride for a cloud burst.  At least on the first one I was able to get under a store front and wait it out.  The second one 20 minutes later, no store front but it was not as intense but I did get pretty wet.  The run was went slow with my calves giving the most "trouble" which was a bit of a switch.  My heart rate shot up to the 160 range (HRM broke) which I believe is more a reflection of my run fitness.  Coming off the bike I was in the 130 range.   I believe  I have 3 more 3.5 hr bike sessions which falls almost in line with your plan.  I have to look at my run training.  Oh my bike nutrition, 2 gels, 1 Kashi bar (140 cals total, 5g fat, 19g carbs, 7g protein), 2.5 water bottles and 1 bottle of G2.  I really got to get away from gatorade and get back to hammer perpetum.  This bike helped build my confidence back along with your observation that this session was 4:45 which is close enough for my bike/run time in the race.  My swim I am comfortable with as long as I do not try to keep up with the pack and not get winded at 500 meters.  My remaining 6 weeks I will be focused on the run.  I did 10.5 miles on Sat which was not pretty by any means. 

I have driven the run course already and I have  bridge right out of T2 and shortly after that  a fairly steep short hill when the course drops down a block.  Going out that will be downhill but coming back it is going to be a short steep uphill.  That should get the heart rate going. 

The race at the end of the week is the Outer Banks tri with the HIM and OLY on sat and the sprint on Sunday.  Last year the sprint and OLY were on Sunday and that was my wife's first tri (sprint) while I did the OLY.  The race I did last month was at Washington. I do not have the most experience to pull upon but here goes.....The start/finish is in a private park in a fairly nice neighborhood which means no parking near by.  I parked about 3 blocks away.  The transistion area was on the small side but good for getting out of the water into T1 quickly (about 20 yds), this was the same for T2 so pretty quick in and out.  The swim start was the most crowded and a water start.  Over all the swim course was nice in a river with no current or waves.  It is brackish water so you will get your sodium intake.  Water was cloudy/muddy but no plant growth or other things to worry about.  Water temp was 82 I believe.  Bike course was essentially flat.  Lots of turns.  I think I had about 10-12 turns which took me down some rural roads.  Only 1 water stop on the bike.  The run was a 2 loops run by the river which was nice and 3 water/heed stops per loop.  Overall it was okay not a wow like White Lake but comparable to Outer Banks.  I will ask around and see what a couple of other people think that have a bit more experience to pull from and let you know their thoughts.  B2B I heard closed a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe next year you can come down and we can do the IM.  I guess I should stay focused on the HIM though.

JK

Denise,

37F???? It is still early sept you know?  I think that is our low for the year.  Stay warm.

JK

I guess I have been pretty quiet here. Just marathon training, not complaining much tho working through some quirks, but perfect running weather mid50s to 60s sometimes a light rain, mostly not.

Tho I am heading to Atlanta (for work) in a couple of weeks so looking forward to likely better warmer weather and then a long run in Virginia Beach as I visit my brother who is stationed there. I still have to check if there is a group to run with. My brother will likely think I am a little crazy when I tell him I want to run 3.5 hrs, ah heck, he already knows "I'm a runner" and that speaks for itself.

Keep up the good training!

Steve,

You're leaving tomorrow for your race?  Are you making stops along the way or do you have extra plans when you get there?

I wanted to make sure I wished you "Good Luck" and have a great time.

Denise

Joe,

You're doing Outer Banks Olympic this Saturday? Is that right?  Tune-up for your HIM?

Good luck and ahve a great time.

Denise

Denise - Cool article! You are my hero!!

Steve - So you've been swimming in Texoma? Cool beans. Not the prettiest lake in the world, but the water is clear and there are some coves with sheer rock cliffs on the Texas side that are lovely. Yes, my husband is goofball...I'll ask him if he knows any guys named Jeff.

Oh, and did I mention that since Sunday it has been 75-85F highs here in OKC? I'm ecstatic!!!  

stevebradley - 2011-09-07 11:55 AM JK again - Got it! Found it! It was, uh, right where I left it! It's in the Oct issue of Triathlete if you want to track down the text along with what I'm putting below this paragraph. Or you could go to the author's (Lance Watson) website, www.Lifesportcoaching.com, just incasre the info is available there as well. The following applies to the nutrition plan for a 150-pound athlete aiming for a 3:00 olympic-distance. Even if you are a fair bit off either (150 lbs, 3:00 finish) of those, the protocol below will be close enough. You can make arguments that bigger athletes needs more input, and alos that people out on coyurse longer will need more.....although speedy folks also have cause to keep their furnaces stoked. 4:30 --- breakfast of two slices of toast with jelly, plus oatmeal with a banana, for 300-500 cal 5-6:00 --- pre-race water, about 16 oz, periodically sipped 6-6:50 --- sip 8 oz diluted electrolyte drink 6:50 --- energy gel (100 cal) 7:00 --- START 7-7:40 --- zero calories during swim 7:45 --- leave T1 7:55 --- energy gel 8:25 --- energy gel 8:55 --- energy gel 7:45-9:10 --- consume 32-40oz of fluid througghout the bike 9:10 -- leave T2 9:25 --- energy gel or energy drink 9:50 --- energy gel or energy drink 9:10-9:50 --- consume 32oz of fluid throughout run 10:00 --- FINISH 10:00-10:10 --- energy drink and fruit (200-300 cal) 10:30-12:00 --- chocolate milk and psot-race meal (800-1200 cal) What do you think?? 9:50 ---

Maybe this is one of my problems with racing.  For Sprints and Olympics I have a difficult time getting anything down (I even have to force energy drink down).  That's a lot of gels during the race.

However, I didn't have any problem getting about 3 brownies down after dinner tonight.  I think that's another one of my problems!!

There some bike mojo waiting for you in DC (my old stomping ground) Steve.  Have a safe trip and good luck with the race.

Steve,

First and foremost safe travels and enjoy your race.  I mentioned the word achilles a couple of posts ago and now I have a very tendor lower achilles right above the heel. Only when I push on the area though.   Below the old injury site so I think I am convincing myself it is a bruise vice an injury.  How is that for rationalizing.  I am most likely going to play it safe and skip the race on sat. Tomorrow will be my decesion day after my sports massage.  My whole left leg had been feeling a bit "gimpy" after Saturdays slow long run and yesterday's speed work I think flaired something up.  Not good but not to the point where I have a lump on my tendon like last year.  So I think a few days off with ice and the usual scarifices to the multisport gods should do the trick. 

The nutrition plan looks like the intake is about 300 cals on the bike  with no solids.  I guess gels are more easier on the digestive track than a bar. Sounds like a good target that I will stick with that intake on my next few practices.  Now on a 56 mile bike should that be doubled?  My translation would be about 300cals / 75min or so. I will check under my bed to see if I can locate the issue. That article is not coming to mind but it sounds like a good read.  I will also check out the web site to see if there is similar article for a HIM.  I also started reading "Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes" by Monique Ryan and I will let you know if there are any pearls in there.  What caught my eye on Lance Watsons article was the amount of water intake on the run. 32 oz on a 10K seems like a bit much or maybe that is one of my problems that I did not realize.  Generally I think each cup is typically an 8 oz(?) cup and is half full when you get it, so rough math would be 8 cups of water on the run. Of course that assumes you actually get most of it in you which I generally do not.   Does that sound right? I do not think I would argue about the chocolate milk for a post workout. Always hits the spot pre/post/ rest days/ middle of the night etc....  

Sunday's DC weather looks like it is 81 and partly cloudy.  Should be a great day for the race and I will also make a couple of scarifices to the bike gods for your ride on Sunday.

JK

Hey Steve - I haven't gone back and read any of the posts so if I'm not replying to someone, please excuse me. 

My question is, what should I be looking at in terms of nutrition/hydration for a half aquabike? I have a bento box, but no aerobottle because I don't have aerobars, yet. 

stevebradley - 2011-09-07 11:07 PM JEFF - I agree that it seems like a lot, but that's from my perspective that tends towards the slack side of race-day nutrition. My oly protocol is usually a bagel and tea for breakfast, and then a bit of Clif Mojo bar and/or a banana to go with sips of HEED pre-race. I then have the pre-swim gel....but after that I take in less than what Lance Watson recommends. I will have two 20oz bottles, one with HEED and one with water. I will generally make it through the HEED, but maybe only half of the water. Some of that water will be used to help down a gel at about mile 18-20 or so. The run will see me having small hits of whatever energy drink is on-course, and even less of the water; most of that turns into dousing material. There will be a gel about halfway throught he run, and that'll be it. I just can't see how to drink 32oz while on a 10km run!!! As for the matter of having trouble getting stuff down, that's much more common (actually, a foregone conclusion) at half-irons --- where, sadly, it is much more critical. I haven't seemed to work that through satisfactorily yet! Maybe I'll aim for a second gel on the bike on Sunday, and see how that sits and works. If I do it, you'll be the first to know. I've been happy with PowerGels lately, so I figure that trying for an extra gel event can't hurt me ----- much???

Steve,

Your protocol is much more in line with what I'm able to do for Olympics.  I can finish the energy drink that is in my Profile Design aerobottle during the bike.  Maybe a bit of the Cliff Bar or gel while on the bike but I can tell you it doesn't go down easy (I have to force it with water).  Not a chance of getting anything down on the run outside of water or energy drink.

Interestingly enough I'm different from you on the HIM distance.  I can get solids down on the bike and run.  I'm way to frighten of the distance to push in manner.  When I'm traveling at a "Steady" pace (on the bike or run) I can get solids down.  Not a chance when my HR is up around my functional threshold for Sprints and Olympics.

Steve,

Hopefully you are now dreaming about smooth tranisitions and trees with no low hanging branches.  Sorry to hear about the swim, I guess Irene, Lee, and the front moving through was just a bit much saturation.  I did bail on Outer Banks but being the procastinator that I am, I did not lose any fees.  Great news on the leg....I went and visited the Doc Friday who said it was my bursa sac (sp?) behind my achilles and gave me a cortisone shot.  Though he failed to mention that he had to go through the achilles tendon with the needle which tends to wake you up a bit when administrating the shot.  But it feels a whole lot better and he said it I was good to start running tomorrow.  The Doc also recommended that I run with gel heel lifts to minimize the impact.  My shoes have about 250-300 miles on them (I have to add up my runs) but I think they are still in good shape.  I guess the determination between the bursa sac inflamation vs the achilles is where the pain manifests itself.  In my case the  tenderness was on the sides of the achilles and pain was experienced when I fully extended (pushing off on the run) the foot and of course I did not have the tell tale bump on my achilles this time.  I glad I went, I was resigning myself to taking a couple of weeks off with lots of ice.  So great news in that area.

Bike nutrition on todays 50 mile ride (2 hrs 50 min) was one Kashi bar and 1 gel along with 3.5 water bottles. I felt fine afterwards but I think that I was a little lite on the nutrition and I might be setting myself up for a bonk on the run.  I think I need to work on a couple of more gels and get on a schedule of a gel every 40 minutes or so on my practice rides. 

I did get loaned a Blade Lite speed to use on my HIM if I want to shift to a tri bike vs my road bike which is starting to have issues with the drive train.  Wow what a difference.  This bike wants to go fast.  I have it currently set up with 1 water cage and an areo bottle.  Going down hill is a bit uneasy. I think I have to shift my weight back in the saddle but the first hill I went down in the areo position got my very nerveous and I wouldn't move from the areo position for fear of shifting my weight and tumbling.  The second downhill I stayed upright (yes I wimped out).  Anyway I have some work to do.  I am not 100% sure I will use it for the race but it did seem a lot easier on the legs and the shifting was so much more easier which I am not sure if that was due to the drive train being Dura Ace vs my 105 or the shifters being on the areo bars.  Oh I do have a bento box also. 

Looking forward to a fantastic race report and with DC only 6 hours away I might be pencilling that race in for next year. 

JK

Joe, I too switched to a tri bike this summer.  The aero bars take some getting used to and I still get somewhat nervous on some big descents, but you'll get used to it.  My advice is to simply spend as much time on the bike as you can before your event.  You'll feel more comfortable every ride.  Getting ready to leave for a 65 miler in next few minutes.  Will be my longest yet.  Still planning on riding a century next month so I need to spend some serious time in the saddle.

JRH

WAY TO GO STEVE! Fantastic times! And 32 in your age group but you won it with a very healthy margin. 

Denise

Joe

It is good to know there is a learning curve with the bike.  I understand that the geometry shifts your weight distribution forward and I am now looking down on the front hub.  I am not sure if shifting back in the saddle will do anything or more likely I will just ride the hoods on descents until I build my confidence.  Good news is that my race coming up is not technical and I think I only have one bridge to come down. Of course that is right before T2 which is always a great place to take a spill, eh. 

JK