kenj mentor group - back for another great season! CLOSED (Page 46)

Nice workout Jennifer/Becky!

I LOVE to workout in the morning.  Unfortunately, I get up at 4am just to get to work in the morning.  So when I workout in the morning it's pre 3am during the week!  I can't do that to often without completely wearing myself down.  It's a real struggle to not make excuses after a long day at work/commuting.  But it's the only option mostly.  Weekends I like to get up early and do the workouts.  But during the winter, I seem to get a bit worn out and catch up on sleep.  So I do the wrokouts in the afternoons or late morning.

Masters went well last night.  At one point we were doing 100's on the 1:45 and I easily had 15" to rest on the wall.  That was really hard for me to hold that pace a couple months ago. 

Just checked them out - never seen this before, but it looks like it would be similar to the taping I did.  I would be willing to try this, but hopefully I won't ever, ever, ever need to again!

I like hills when I am running. But like Ken stated - not so much during races!   Biking they are ok as long as they aren't too steep.  It is almost impossible not to do hills here though. I really struggle to find routes that are flat. 

Along these same lines - what about running surfaces?  Do you have a preference? Dirt? Asphalt? Sand? Snow? 

I am adjusting to snowpack conditions, though it is at times a slow slog (especially when it is not hardpack) and a lot like running on sand. I should be speedy fast when I get back on to asphalt - right?

kenj - 2013-02-27 7:06 PM

Meulen - 2013-02-27 1:25 PMIt's a love/hate thing for me!   Mostly love though.  I'd much rather do hills than speed sets running or VO2max and threshold work cycling.  My coach had me doing 2 short hill runs/wk for a while now.  After my 30min TT Saturday I noticed that the hill runs helped me hold my fitness while lessoning the impact of all the volume I did before.  Before the PF I would regularly run 100+ miles a month.  That took a huge toll on me!  Cycling I like hills, but it does get gruelling.  On my CA trip in April one of our rides is over 100 miles with 8000+ feet elevation gain.  I won't pretend I'm not going to be doing some suffering on the back end of that ride!   But again, I do like the bang for the buck I get for hill workouts on the bike too.  I'd much rather grind at low cadence and slow speed than do threshold work at high cadence.  I'm much more comfortable with using strenght than that high HR!

My workout today was 45 minutes in Z3 at 100 plus RPM and I was honestly worried about it last night. Kind of procrastinated getting started this morning too. But, it turned out to be very doable and made me very happy to be moving my comfort range with cadence up some. But, left to my own devices, low RPM grinding would be very comfortable.

Awesome work - I am dreading those long Z3 trainer rides!

Morning all!

Taking advantage of the recovery week for the bike and run by swimming extra.  Well maybe not extra, but what a normal triathlete would . 

How are the rest of you doing?

Jennifer, practicing on the trainer is a very good idea.  Something that would help your cycling and give you some clipping in and out practice is single leg drills.  Try doing 30 seconds each leg 3 or 4 times during your warm up or at the end of the ride.  It will help with your cycling as well as give you plenty of clipping practice.

Becky,

Sometimes I actually welcome the cold weather.  While it's nice to be outside, I don't get the "quality" of workout in that I do on the trainer or treadmill or pool inside.  So come winter, it's a good change to focus on quality.  I've come out of every winter so far sooooo much stronger than I was in summer.

Take this with a grain of salt, cuz I've never gone 140.6!   Plus, I'm not a girl!   In 70.3 I like the two piece.  Yes, because of the possibility to have to use the fascilities.  But, also I'm much more comfortable in the 2 piece.  For me I like cycling bibs.  The only bibs that work for tri's without feeling like a diaper is the DeSoto 400 mile bibs.  They have shorts too if you prefer shorts.  To me, these have the extra padding I enjoy on the bike yet I have no issue running in them.

Stop debating and start pedaling! 

Hang in there!  Springs coming! (says the four legged fury weather prognosticator!)

You should try and get up to Clermont for some training rides.  From what I have been told, there are a fair number of hills up there and since there is the training center up there, I am guessing plenty of folks out riding.  I actually have the opposite problem, IMFL is flat as a pancake and to only place I ride that is flat is my trainer.   You can get some hill simulation on the trainer.  Up the resistance and spin at a more difficult level and a slower RPM.  Not perfect, but it will certainly help.

No experience with the fast skin suit.  To be of benefit though it needs to shave more time off your swim then the extra time it takes to change out of it in transition.

What to wear is as personal as nutrition, maybe more.  But you have the right idea about trying it in training first.  I like the 2 piece tri suit I have from LG.  Padding is sufficient for me and I can run in it without issue.  I don't wear socks on the bike so I don't have to worry about that.  If I ever get to a point that I am competing for a Kona slot (maybe when I get to the over 70 AG) I will worry about peeing on the bike.  Until then I will wait at the porto potties.

A lot of pro triathletes have switched a lot of their training, especially on the bike, to the trainer for the reason you mention.  The quality and repeatability of the trainer is much better than the road.  Add in the safety factor of dealing with the increasingly growing number of distracted drivers and it becomes quite appealing.  I think you always need to get some time outside to keep up the handling skills, but the legs definitely benefit being inside.

The threads about the trainer and not being able to stand it I understand to some degree.  But if you take a little time to improve the environment with some entertainment and a fan, it becomes much more tolerable.

Been lying a bit low for a few days and missing bike/swim/ and a just a bit of run workouts.  Trying to keep my head in the game at work so maybe have a weekend with the family.  But here goes:

Hills - biking (training) - I like them just fine and really can't avoid them anyway.  They mix up the ride, give me an excuse to get out of aero, and help with handling skills on the downhills.

Hills - biking (racing) - don't like them.  I'm a speed chicken and feel like I give up a lot on the downhills, especially in a sprint.  I have  a duathlon coming up that is only 12 miles of biking.  It isn't so steep, but all of the hills are technical, so I know I'll be riding the brakes with little time to make up the difference.

Hills - running (training) - I'm indifferent.  Just part of life, but I try to take it easy on them as I'll pay for the pounding the next day.

Hills - running (racing) - LOVE them, especially in shorter races.  I'm relatively strong on the hills and during a race I don't worry so much about pushing the hills, up or down.  A decent hill in sprint tri gives me the chance to pass 5-10 big strong bikers who thought they saw the last of me on the bike leg ;-)

IM clothing - I've only done one and it was in November in AZ, so started cool, turned warm, cooled off again in the evening.  I wore a one-piece the whole day.  It's a Sugoi that's part of my LBS's kit.  It never presented a problem

Bike - in a addition to the one piece, I had socks (changed them for run), a short-sleeved jersey that helped in the chilly morning and kept the sun off my shoulders/neck when it warmed up, and a pair of gloves that I "donated" at an aid station once the morning chill wore off.

Run - just dropped the jersey, kept the onsie on and added a hat.

If I was doing a Summer IM, I'd probably do everything the same except for the gloves and maybe drop the jersey.

Swimming - never used a skin suit and doubt I ever will.  Wetsuit if it's cold, onsie if it aint...

Peeing on the bike - I don't even drink sports drink on my bike, just water, cause I dont want to get it sticky.  You can imagine that the same applies for pee.  This may change in the future, but I'll get off the bike when I need to.  Of course as a guy its a little easier.  Even in a one-piece , you just lift up one of the legs a little. So this could play into your decision on one-piece, two-piece.

couldn't agree more Ken!!!

I think if you properly structure your workouts ahead of time it also really helps make time go by.

I wanted to mention a recent purchase to the group along these lines.  I tried this fan for the heck of it.  It's a little out of the "norm".  Turned out to best fan I've ever used.  Throws an incredible amount of air.  It practically cools off my entire first floor when I have it on.  It's also the quietest fan I've ever had and the smallest and easiest to store.  I'm REALLY impressed with it!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/202185788?productId=202185788&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=202185788&ci_kw=%7bkeyword%7d&kwd=%7bkeyword%7d&cm_mmc=shopping%2d%5f%2dgoogleads%2d%5f%2dpla%2d%5f%2d202185788&ci_gpa=pla