Gray Guys/Girls Master's Focus Triathlon Mentor Group--CLOSED (Page 46)

Deb,

This is what I was talking about when I was talking about keeping your cadence up in the hills.  Ideally, you anticipate the upcoming hills and begin shifting to a lower gear as you approach the hill so you're in the proper gear before you start "mashing."  This is part of why your NP for the ride was so high.

I looked at all of the numbers you put in your original post and something doesn't seem right.  I would need to see the entire power file to sort it out.  However, I can make a couple general comments.  When you are talking about power, talk about power, don't speak in percentages.  Yes, sometimes it is important to know what the percentages are, but talking in terms of watts is normally more instructive.

Assuming the FTP I calculated for you last week was anywhere near correct, then I come up with an intensity factor of .912 for your entire ride and a variability index of 1.095.  I suspect that is still on the low side and would need to see the power file.  Given all the numbers you cited, I think your VI is probably closer to 1.2.

Yes, if your max 20-minute power was 4 watts higher than your current FTP then you should use that new value as your FTP from this point forward.  A race is always better for setting zones if possible (whether that is from 20-minute max power, a 10K, etc.).

You don't want NP on your 510 display, it is too hard to keep it where you want it.  You want power.  On the 510, you have the choice of several smoothing values so it settles down the number jumping all over the place.  I like either 3-second or 10-second smoothing.  Then you keep your target power in the display.  If you have NP, because it attempts to account for the metabolic cost of the ride, the value shown may not by your actual instant power output.  When using power for pacing you need to know the power you are putting out NOW, not the theoretical power you are putting out over the course of the ride.

I don't concern myself with NP during a ride.  It is simply to difficult to anticipate what any small segment of a ride will do to your overall NP for the ride.  NP is a metric you look at AFTER the ride to help better understand your performance during the ride.

This is a very good example of why you want to talk about watts.  You said you did well keeping NP reasonable, at 95% and 106% respectively.  I have no idea what that means!  Your target power was 75-83% FTP.  You had no way of knowing your true NP because the ride wasn't yet complete.  Looking at NP over a segment of the ride DURING the ride is telling you nothing.  I put a piece of white medical tape on my top tube with my target power IN WATTS written on it and then I put that number in the window on my Garmin.

This was a good first effort with you power meter under race like conditions.  I imagine you learned a LOT.  It takes a fair amount of time to fully understand what a power meter is telling you and even longer to learn how to best make use of that data.

If you want, I can give you a link and you can send a copy of the Garmin .tcx file to me.  I can plug it into my RKO software and we can take a look at all the metrics.  Send me a private message and we can talk about it.

I just posted a race report:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=534212&posts=1&page=1#M5129795

It took me most of this evening to write the report and it is long so don't feel obligated to read it.

It was a death march for me and a few others.  I finished but only just. It may sound strange but I feel empowered for having suffered but survived in spite of my performance.  Once we got back to our hotel I was so stiff I could barely move.  Went straight to Walmart for some muscle relaxants and some Voltaren.  I didn't get my steak dinner and didn't feel much like having one.  I sure slept well.

I went into this race looking to get a better time than my previous 2# HIM but I wound up with a longer time than I ever imagined.

This morning I hobbled over to a restaurant and had my pancakes.  While there I met a fellow who had done the race as well plus it turns out we had done the Across the Lake swim a year ago Saturday as well.

I finished 3rd from last but I was 2nd in my age group.......out of 2.

Hey George,

Good race report!  You know, I have found over the course of my athletic career that it is often the races like this, the ones in which you were truly and deeply tested, which are the ones that are the most valuable and the most memorable. 

You closed out your race report with the comment, "This race tells me I need to re think my training. I work hard and I can swim, bike and run but I just can't seem to get it together. I don't need to be competitive I just want to be better than I already am."

I have heard triathletes make similar comments many times over the years as they discovered that while they'd been swimming, cycling, and running in training, they hadn't been training for a triathlon.  I wonder what you mean by the comment and if you have any thoughts on why "you can't seem to get it together?"

Scott,

Good race report.  Congrats on a race well done.

OH NO!!! An age group athlete that is juiced?  Tell me it isn't so!

Back when I was swimming, the USSR and East German swimmers were juiced to the gills.  Everyone knew it, but there were no rules saying they couldn't do it. For a very long time, nobody in the world could compete with them at their chemically induced level.  Then pro cycling.  Everyone pretty much acknowledged the doping - which is why I wonder why the witch hunt directed towards Lance - sorry, another conversation for another day.  Now days, the ongoing debate over whether Froome and Sky are clean or if the peloton continues to dope.  At least with Pro Cycling and professional sports I can almost understand, there is a huge amount of money on the table.

So maybe somebody can explain the motivation for a 55-59 age grouper to juice?  I fail to understand what is to be gained.  Sadly, that is is happening is beyond doubt at this point.

Apparently I missed the memo outlining all of that!

Scott - You're right about these tougher races being more valuable and more memorable.  I won't soon forget the race and I already would like to go back to Chelan for a swim.  It's a really nice body of water.  I thought of quitting often but never really considered it to be an option.  Coming to the finish line I felt pretty good.

With regards to my "putting it all together" I've heard people in other threads talk about "junk miles" and I've been increasingly suspicious that I've been doing this in my training this year.  I started being concerned in the spring when I realized I was getting slower in the pool rather than faster and I was getting the same feeling from biking and running.  I've also been trying to keep my running consistent and to increase my run fitness so I can get off the bike and run.  Yet, when I look back at my logs to what I was doing last year and the year before I really haven't progressed at all.  I have been following a plan and putting a lot of time into working out but somehow, as you say, I haven't been training for a triathlon.

I talked to my cycling coach in 2013 and he said that anyone can learn to swim, bike and run triathlon distances but it is a lot harder to put them all together and that seems to be what I am struggling with.  I'm still considering what changes I want to make to how I'm training.    

Hey George,

I also hear the talk of junk miles.  However, I am not so sure I am willing to agree with the premise that there are "junk miles."  The reality is, you are going to get some fitness gain from anything you do.  You can go out for a 20-minute walk, and you will gain something.  I think where many miss out is they have no real plan.  They often don't understand why they are doing what they are doing in any given training.  There may be little to no knowledge of how the workout they just completed will combine with yesterdays workout, or next weeks workout to achieve a specific fitness goal.  Then, to complicate matters further, as triathletes we have three disciplines we train for.  While there may be little thought to how today's workout will impact fitness, there is often zero consideration for how today's long run may impact tomorrow's long bike ride, how a strength session this morning may impact a swim this afternoon, or how any of that interacts to make them perform better in a race next month.  So instead of a concern over so called "junk miles" I think the concern should be with understanding everything being done in training and how those workouts, individually and collectively, impact the overall fitness goal.

The flip side of the volume consideration is recovery.  I regularly see athletes who worry about how they are going to get in enough S/B/R volume.  They workout everyday, sometimes two maybe three times a day - and they don't improve, and they don't understand why.  One word - recovery.  Most of your body's adaptation to training stress occurs during recovery.  If you never allow proper recovery time, your body is not going to adapt very well.  The people that are training every day, week in and week out, are setting themselves up for a plateau, injury, sickness, burnout, and frustration.  I would argue that recovery is at least as important as training, perhaps more so - especially for us older guys/gals.

The other area where triathletes miss an opportunity to improve is they fail to understand that triathlon is a single timed sport consisting of three disciplines and transitions.  I hear comments like, "I crushed the bike, but my run was weak so I need to work on my run," or, "My swim was incredible, my best swim ever, but I just didn't feel right on the bike and then I couldn't get my legs under me. I just need to bike and run more."  Both of those statements point to a lack of understanding triathlon and a clear lack of understanding that the swim impacts the bike impacts the run.

I am sure you will get it figured out.  I think if you take a step back and look at the big picture, it will become clear.

Thanks Scott and Steve.  I'm sure your assessment is right.  I've always been careful to have a rest day each week and take an easy week every fourth week but in retrospect I may need to increase my recovery times.  But, today I got a new wrinkle to make things interesting.

My troubles with my bike started with picking up a serious load of "tar" in a race and struggling with how to clean it off.  So far frequent scraping and gasoline have maybe cleaned off 80% but still lots left.  Then I had the saddle issue and a week ago I was told my tire should be replaced.  So far I've been able to get it all fixed but I took my bike to the LBS for regular maintenance yesterday and today I got a call that they found a crack in my carbon frame.

They have suggested we can send it to a company in Vancouver that does repairs to carbon frames.  They can't say how much it will cost but it could be gone for two to three weeks.  I can't ride it knowing the frame is cracked so I think I will get it done but even then I may still not trust the bike while riding.  I can't help but wonder how strong the repair would be.

Ever heard of or had experience with cracked frames and the repairing of them?

So far this week I have done nothing at all.  Tomorrow, I am planning to do an easy swim without any time or speed goals.

Steve - I've been really taking it easy.  No cycling or running but I need to gradually get going again.  My weight has been rising at an alarming rate.

I swam today in fairly rough conditions and got bounced around pretty good but I did finish the swim.  My time was a full 5 minutes slower for a 1900m swim than I usually manage in calm conditions.

I went back to the LBS and had them show me the crack in the frame and it is well away from any wear points so an impact ( I only know of one minor incident) rather than normal wear and tear.  They told me the same as Scott says about the repair being stronger than before so that alleviated some of my concerns but now I need to get going again so I'm planning a run tomorrow and if that goes well I'll build my swimming and running back up this week.  I'm also thinking of asking the LBS if they have a bike I can use for a couple weeks until mine is returned.

I feel like I've been slacking off for months.

I just heard from a friend who finished the Ironman Calgary race on Sunday so I wondered how Tammy made out.  I searched Female/ 45-49/USA and I found her.  Looks like she had a good day and her time was within seconds of my time last year.  I'm looking forward to hearing how she felt about the race.

Finished my first 70.3!!

I was pretty nervous about the race as I have really been on taper for about 6 weeks.  I was to be on vacation in NYC with planned runs and swims and ended up with a death in the family to fly home about 12 hours after arriving.   Didn't really do too much with training as the race was 14 days away so small little runs/rides and short swims.

My race report is here:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=534488

My opinion the Calgary race is bare bones from other IM races I have attended/supported - but it is also the only not-for-profit so some of it is understandable.   The bike course was a bit hillier than I was expecting, nothing too bad, but a bit more than I pictured.  Many said the second half was downhill and fast which it was; but it also had some significant rollers.

The lake where the swim was held - had a tragedy two days prior to the race so it was closed to pre-swims.  Luckily we had swam earlier the same day and I am so thankful - as I think the shakeout swim helped.   The coordinators had a moment of silence before the start for the little boy and it was fairly emotional - such a tragedy.   The swim course was confusing as they added a hook that was misunderstood by many and am told it was long.

Overall the race was fine - all I wanted was to finish within the cutoff of 8 hours and have a great bike. Towards the last 1K of run I started to get kind of emotional as I knew I had just tackled huge personal fears and gained some self confidence.   As I crossed the finish line my husband was there and gave me my medal.   We had a team of 5 from our town participate in the race, it was a great day!!   Many are registered for CDA 70.3 next June - but I am still contemplating...  

Tammy - I posted a comment in your race report page  It sounds like you had a pretty good day.  Definitely a good bike ride.  If you were to do the CDA Half what might the water temperatures be in June?

My friend said they had trouble in the lake with the buoys and at times found herself swimming head-on into other swimmers.  I think this would have been at the "hook" you mention.  They certainly should be telling people about it.