Fast Twitch Tri-FULL (Page 48)

MATT -

Nifty schedule, lots of diversity -- you run no risk of getting stuck in a rut!

I envy you the James Joyce 10km, which almost always ahs a great t-shirt, I believe.  I have just dug out "Finnegans Wake" for the umpteenth time, so I'm attuned to things Joycean.  I have never made it through FW, though, and guaranatees I will this time.  And heck -- I've never made it through "Ulysses", either!

You may rmember my chest-pounding about Emerson, my place of birth, and to add to my vicarious pleasure in you doing that race is the fact that it is tied into the Thoreau Club -- which brings me to the time I was about 9 and doing red Corss swimming lessons in Walden.  i dove too deep , split open my noggin and had to be ambulanced to -- ta-da! -- EMERSON!  I am SO pleased you are doing that race!!

Pay attention to Pumpkinman,  It always sells out well before race day, and i don't think they put "warnings" up on the website to the effect that WE ARE NOW 99.9% FULL!!!!!

P@P

P2P sounds fabulous; color me green with envy!

As for B2B, 6/14..........tell more, please??

I'm not going to be an Aquaman any time soon but yesterday I swam 2150m/2351yds in an hour.  I only stopped a couple times for instruction and at times I slowed down in the turns to grab a couple extra breaths.  No flip turns either.  This same day last year I swam 900m.  The best part was how good I felt at the end of the swim.

Later I went for a 4 mile run.  I don't usually run at night but it was nice and balmy so I went out after dinner.  I was a bit unsure about running on a full stomach.  I was surprised to find it was no problem at all.  I even managed a fair portion of the run (half) at 6.4mph.  Not as fast as I want to be but definitely an improvement.

So today I was expecting my legs may not be ready to handle another cycling session after the run yesterday but I was pleased that I was able to keep up for the whole class.

Walden and Thoreau - Does it count that I once drove by there (August 1970)?

We really like the Emerson race.  We're members at Thoreau (we both swim there, plus some indoor stuff in the winter like spin, etc., and Kim works out there it seems daily - in addition to the other training… makes me tired just thinking about it!) and the kids also do camp there in the summer.  Plus, Emerson is the local hospital and who wouldn't want to support the cancer care they give, as the race proceeds go there?  All in, it's a great race/day.  Last year the kids all clocked speedy miles.  In fact, all 5 of us podiumed for our respective age groups (made a very nice PR picture, except for the bald guy with a way too big smile being so proud of the little ones).  Good stuff.

As for B2B, it's "Brewery to Brewery" and a Harpoon race.  You start at the Boston brewery and ride up to the old Catamount brewery in Vermont, which they bought some years ago.  It's largely unsupported, so it's a fairly tough one day ride, uphill, for two "free" beers at the end.  Never done it, but I know a bunch who have and who will do it this year - they really like it.

There has been some controversy around it, though, as the proceeds go to support Team Psycho, Harpoon's triathlon team.  Mostly the roadies in the area that liked the ride when it was less organized, didn't sell out and didn't support those tri-nuts (middling in everything - not pure in their riding).  Basically a combo of snobbery and nostalgia - tough.  Me, though?  I'm PSYCHED to give it a go (and only a little worried that HM and long distance rides will make me slower for the tris).

As for race schedule, I'm a bit concerned that it's too varied.  Sort of a "if you don't stand for something, you fall into everything" problem…  I'm wondering if by training for all of these, I'll be even MORE mediocre at everything - already the bane of the tri-guy.  I guess we'll see.  That's got to be at least some of the fun of it, right?

And the P2P is awesome.  We (about a dozen friends/riders) go to the Seaport in S. Boston, give our bags to someone who sherpas them out to P-town (usually a neighborhood college kid who wants the couple c-notes to carry 12-20 bags out 100 miles down Cape), take the train (with bikes, 'course) to Kingston on the train, ride from there to P-town, get a ton of food and one or seven drinks, take the Fast Ferry back to the Seaport (awesome in itself) and finally drive home.  LOOOOONG day, but - if you'll excuse the MA-hole expression, "wicked pissah."  

Matt

Wow, as I work my way down the posts, they just get more interesting and unbelievable!  Very cool.  

I'm sure the area would welcome another drive-by, but I suspect it's a bit of a hike for you!

Congrats on the progress.  One of the things I find so very cool about tri and endurance sports in general is that they yield to effort.  Just a year ago I would have never believed I could actually get back into the shape I'm in (and that's not really saying much, unfortunately - but at least there's still a lot of upside!).  I bought my bike last April 10th (got rid of the steel number with downtube shifters) and have been having a great time since.  Sounds like you're not only having a great time, but really make huge strides (strokes?).  Congrats again.

Keep grinding it out!

Wow!  That's an impressive day.

Must be something in the air this week (or maybe just a lack of snow!), as I did hills, swimming, chill run and a long (for this time of year) bike over 36 hours.  I don't know about you, but I'm TOAST.  

… and loving it.  

Nice effort!

Steve and others -- My swim times usually don't convert from pool to open water very well. I've thought about it and have reached a couple of conclusions on why that is. As a former competitive high school swimmer I learned how to maximize speed in a pool. There is a guy I swim next to on most mornings that is an Iron distance guy. His speed is about the same as mine, but I kill him off the wall. Neither of us uses flip turns, but I get a really good push in aerodynamic position that is worth about two strokes on him per 25. If you take out the walls and put me in open water we are probably dead even (but don't tell him that please). I also get really good use out of a wall mounted digital clock that I can check every 50 or 100 yards to see if I am on pace. I don't have a very good sense of pace in open water without that. 

Wayne,

All that swim is wasted when you guys catch me half way through the bike.

Hoosierman

DOUG -

I'm sure the following is no news to you, likely having been gone over in the previous group, but.....

Yeah, how different we are!  There is the raw speed set, which is yours but not mine.  There is the ability to come off the wall aerodynamically -- that's two for you, none for me.  Finally, you know how to use a pool clock, whereas I've never been able to make it work for me at all.  So, you-3, me-0!

I guess my only "advantage" over you is that I have a decent sense of my open water pace --- which should sure be the case given the amssive number of OWS I cram into those four-montjts-and-maybe-a-week-or-two.  But, given my inability to work a few swim gears, my sense of pacing is pretty straightforward; no rocket-science involved at all!  About the best it does for me is enabling me to keep chugging away, same old MOP pace.  I suoppose that's better than going out way too fast and then dying in the final few hundred meters........but I always hope for so much more!!!!

Sorry about my Celtics beating your Pacers last night, by the by. 

<warning: vent approaching>

More snow today.  Great.  Really.

OK, I know all you Canucks likely think that a foot or so of snow is no big deal and something through which one should cavort and trip merrily along, but I'm just soooo done with it this year.  

OK - venting done!

At least Kim and I got a bunch of outdoor runs in this week through yesterday (ran through hail, wind and then... SUN yesterday, in only ~3miles - totally bizarre weather lately).

Makes me all psyched up for Spring, though, truth be told.    Feeling like a coiled spring!

Hopefully, the roads are clear before next week's 5k.  We shall see.

Hope you're all having better luck with the weather than we've had the last month or so.

Matt

You're absolutely allowed to vent about snow.  I love snow and walking outside when its snowing.  I look forward to the first snowfall of the winter every year but I equally look forward to seeing the last of the snow every spring.

I would really love snow if it would fall everywhere but not on roads, sidewalks and driveways.

On the other side of the coin though - we've had green lawns for several weeks now  and only the snow we can see on the mountains around us.  Our whole winter this year has been very mild.  Our Okanagan Lake is quite low right now and we can see sandbars where we usually swim all summer so there better be a lot of snow in the mountains to run-off into the lake and bring it back up to normal levels.

I've had a fair workout week so far but I'm particularly looking forward to running outside tomorrow and I might try a light ride on the bike on Sunday (1st outside ride of the year).  I'm a bit leary of riding out of town because they haven't cleaned all the gravel off the roads yet and my tires are due for replacing after riding the trainer all winter so I'll ride circles around home.

Speaking of bike tires, I'm coming up to 4000km/2485mi and I think I should be getting my bike overhauled - is there anything in particular I should be looking at?  Would there be much benefit to buying better wheels? 

MATT -

I was all set to come down to Boston and environs on Thursday for a couple of days, and then the forecast scared me away.  That was a good thing, as the weather turned out much worse than the forecast called for.  Our staellite picks up the four Boston networks, so i was "treated" to just about around-the-clock storm coverage on Th and Fr.  Wild stuff this winter in my old stompin' grounds, huh?!?

GEORGE -

Good question about the bike overhaul.  Because I'm far removed from being a techie, I can barely talk the talk when it comes to mechanical stuff, so i just tell my bike gurus to give it a comprehensive tune-up.  But if that strikes you as slightly vague, here's a quick-think list of what i migth hope they cover (in no particular order):

• cable tension of shifters
• tooth wear of rings and cogs
• tightness of chain
• lubing of pedals and cranks
• re-taping where needed
• check tires for uneven or excessive wear
• change out the tubes
• make sure wheels are "tracking" properly
• general tightening-up of everything that an be tightened
• maybe check frame for any minute cracks (gasp!  but it happened in '08 that one was found low my seat tube during a random tune-up-check)

On a good day for them, they check more than the above, I am sure.  But, really, I just leave it up to their discretion.  Also, I take the bike in late in the off-season (maybe think "pre-season"), then maybe mid- or late-July, and then once towards the end of the season if I am racing into October.

As for wheels, and getting better ones -- maybe, maybe not!  As you no doubt know, wheels are expensive, and for anyone who doesn't have a good position on the bike and really strong cycling technique, the cost of good wheels might not be justified.  That said, a set of really good wheels will add some  speed to your riding, even if your position is not great and your mechanics are not perfect.

For people with a good aero position, the best initial speed-chasing purchase should be an aer helmet -- a fraction of the cost of a set of wheels, and stats show the speed gains are considerable, per dollar spent, say.  BUT, that really does require a good aerodynamic riding position, as any tendency to dropping the head will result in the tail of the aero helmet sticking stright up, and those causing drag.  That is something that a bike-fitter could tell you in a second or two, which brings me to the following:

If your LBS does fittings, book a time in which to have them completely assess how well you and your bike are meshed, which mostly comes down to whether or not your are set up on the bike so that you are capable of assessing maximum power.  So if you are too high or too low, too far forward of too far back (and this could be where your saddle is, or where you perch on the saddle), well, these can then affect how well you are riding.  Makes sense?

So, first might be a fitting, and then if your position is good, go for an aero helmet.  BUT -- if your position cannot be kept to prevent the helmet form being a source of drag.........and if you still wnat speed.........go for wheels.  For this, any reduction in spoke-count will help, as will any addition of carbon fiber.  You can also do well by getting slightly deeper rims, although anything too deep will lead to headaches when you need to change out a tube -- either by needing a valve extender, or tubes with really long valves.  (Valve extenders are a nusiance!!!!!)  One final thought on rim depth involves sidewinds, and how easy it can be to be "gusted" sideways.  So, a disc wheel can be really hazardous for people who  live in wind-plagued areas and/or who don't have strong bike-handling skills.  

LAST THOUGHT!

In-season, I clean my chain and rings and cogs and derailleurs about once a week.  I don't have one of those fancy gizmos through which one can run their chain, but just do it all manually.  I do it enough so that I can complete the task in less than ten minutes, and it all just helps to reduce wear and tear on the drivetrain.  It's kind of costly in degreaser......but a price I'm willing to pay.  And I guess it just reduces the cost of those three-a-year tune ups!

Much of the time working on the bike will be cleaning the various areas and making sure the moving parts are operating smoothly. Like shifting and braking. And those tend to be learning which knob to turn and in which direction.

Steve,

Yes it's the Pineappleman tri, nice flat sprint in early June. I'll never call a 1/3 mile swim under-distanced!!!  Best part is free food and beer afterward!

They don't have the Army 10 miler course up yet.  Wonder if possible construction, pending security issues, etc. has a something to do with it since it is DC and will wait until they actually have all the permits before making public.

Can't believe its only 12 weeks to race day, time is flying for me.  Been very busy at the office with clients visiting the past 2 weeks and another in tomorrow.  Sure puts a dampener on the training as I have to be in early and get home late.  I lost all of last week as I fell ill on Thursday evening with a weird illness that gave me stomach issues and a lot of fatigue. 

Good news was that I was able to do a short run last night without issue and this morning jumped on the trainer and decided if I felt good that I was going to do start the 3rd phase 5' power test.  The time off was good as I gained 46W from the 2nd phase 5' test.  As much as I hated those 6x4' intervals in the 2nd phase they have "been very, very good to me"!

Doing a metric century this weekend.  It'll be my longest ride ever, previous was a very hilly 58 miler back when I was doing long distance stuff.  Weather looks like it'll be perfect, 80F sunny and a light SE breeze, have I mentioned I love living in FL!

Thanks for the extra info Brigby.  I have one last cycling session then I'll take my bike in for a good overhaul and see what they have to offer.

Yesterday I had a decent swim in the morning then after dinner I went for a treadmill run and actually felt really good for 8# intervals.  For a change I didn't feel "ponderous" at all which is rare for me.  I think I might add another .2 mph next week and maybe add another interval if all goes well.

When I finished running I felt great and was looking forward to cycling today but within 2 hours of getting home I was shaky and HR was elevated with lots of coughing.  So this morning I decided to go to the cycling class but expected a weak effort.

When I got there I found out today was our last TT.  I really wanted to redeem myself after my terrible effort on the last TT so I actually worked pretty hard through the class then when the TT started I went right to Zone 4 at 90+ rpm and tried to stay there.  Around 16 minutes I started drifting down into high Zone 3 and it was getting really hard to push my pace back up to 30 kph.  Then we got into the last 5 minutes and the coach was pushing us hard which really helped to squeeze the last bit of speed out of me.  In the last 30 secs I was at 30 kph and then we hit the last 5 secs and I just spun 3 more times and then started slowing down.  It sure felt good to stop.

My final average pace was 29.4kph/18.27mph and I know I couldn't have gone any faster.  My HR was 154bpm average and topped out at 163bpm max.  I quickly calmed down and felt pretty good within a couple minutes.  It sure wasn't what I wanted to do today but I'm glad I was able to do what I did.

I'm pretty certain my swim coach has a 1000m TT planned for tomorrow or Friday then I'll have two weeks of no swimming for Spring Break.

DONTO -

Yeah, I know what you mean about no swim, really, being competitively overdistance, but in view of an "official" sprint as being 750meter/20km/5km, Pineappleman has me feeling all squishy about those 250m less of swimming, and the comparably lengthened legs of the bike and run.  Yummilicious!!

Huge congrats on those bike gains, which show that (a) layoffs can indeed be good for you, and (b) it is true that "If it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger".  My cycling history taught me that those killer sessions almost always bear sweet fruit, but lord, how they can hurt at the time.  The hardest sets I ever did were on a trainer, which isn't all that odd when considering that my hardest running sets were on a treadmill.  When a workout is set hard and followed to the letter with machine readings to keep one honester than honest.....it's just tough to beat them for effectiveness.

My former coach used to have me do a wicked miserable outside set called "Icks" --- which refers to repeated bike/run bricks.  It went something like this:

• R - 1 mile hard
• B - 6 or so miles hard
• R - 1 mile hard
• B - same as above
• R - same as last
• B - same as last
• R - same as last
• B - same as last
• R - just slightly slower than previous four runs
• R - moderate cool-down

Each "transition" (which was from the back of my car, a Ford Focus wagon at the time) was supposed to be as fast as possible, and my goals were to ride at 21mph, and to do the firts four run miles at sub-7 (and more like 6:45).  I could always make the bike part work, but for the run it was usually the first two miloes at ~6:45.......but then the next two bumping up to 6:50-6:55.  I'm not complaining about the perfomance aspects there, but the process of suffering to so so was quite massive.  I was just so depleted after any "Icks" session --- but also feeling exhilarated.  Maybe something about the pain feeling so good when it stops!!

As for your gorgeous temps down there, i'm not feeling quite so envious in view of our graaaaaaaaaadually advancing spring up here.  My last three runs have been sockless, and in just tri shorts, with only a long-sleeve top or two.  It's not at 40F yet, but i cope really well dressing minimally at thos etemps, so I'm feelin' pretty good these days!

GEORGE -

Nice account of your various efforts -- especially the bike TT one.  You did really well with it, both in terms of average speed and your ability to function well when your HR was pushing those numbers.  I can see why yo felt good upon completing it, vert similar to what i was saying in my post to DONTO just above this one.  It's those sessions that hurt lots that -- when taken in moderation -- produce lasting performance results.

When I say "in moderation", what I mean is occasionally.  Many people think that if "some" is good, then "MORE!!" is better, but as with everyting else in this game of ours, our bodies need time to recover.  And, while it may seem odd, for many of us we need not just days between tough workouts, but maybe weeks.  Those "Icks" sessions I mentioned to DONTO were set for me only about once every 4-5 weeks, slightly more conservative than the 1000m swim TT Erik set for me, maybe every 3.5 weeks.  I guess I could summarize the stuff in between as working on form and technique ---- which might be true were it not for the fact that, aside from Icks and 1000m TT, he set lots of taxing workouts for me.  Man, there wasn't much rest for the wicked in those years (early '03- late '06)!!!

Best of fortunes on the swim TT.  Glub, glub!!!

Crud.  Now I'm going to HAVE to go do that!  What an awesomely terrible workout.  Honestly, I would have never thought of that kind of suffering, but I already know that I won't be able to resist trying it.  

Not sure when to fit that into the current schedule, but I might just blow myself up some week to try it.  Do you think it's better a couple weeks before a tri and when in good brick form, or would trying it early in the cycle be OK (as in, not injure me), I wonder.  I could see it as a great monthly or so workout as the season goes along - just want to be sure I have the base for the cycling piece first, I think...

And nice paces, by the way.  

"Tapering" the rest of today and tomorrow (as in doing nothing after 4 workouts - 2R 1B 1S - in the last 24hrs) for the first 5k of the season on Saturday.  Kinda beat, but should be bouncy by then.  Should be fun - they're forecasting... wait for it... strong winds, rain and snow.

Sheesh.