Fred D's triathlon training group CLOSED (Page 5)

Leaving for my favorite group ride.  Always a hammerfest where everyone just tries to drop each other on the hills.  So much fun.

One thing not completely obvious was that the large amount of folks around Lance when he was on the bike created a draft for the rider in second.  I heard from someone else on the course that dude was sitting right behind one of the vehicles following Lance.  Smart.  But, also an advantage and harder for Lance to just pull away.  That is only part of the race mind you.   That being said, I don't expect every race Lance does to be a success.  Although if I came in 7th I'd be calling success.

Here is a bit about me - pretty much an edited cut-and-paste job from the last time I was in Fred's group - feel free to skip it if you have already read it (or even if you haven't!)

NAME: Rusty - yep, that is right: a grown man with a dog's name.

STORY: I come from a bike racing background - started racing mountain bikes when they were nothing more than beach cruisers with gears. I was really, really good at it, until the sport actually became popular - then, suddenly, I was not so good any more. I actually went backwards from most at the time and purchased a road bike to cross train for mountain biking - everyone else was crossing over from road to mountain - oh! the road bikes you could buy back then for next to nothing, simply because everyone quit buying them! Of course then LeMond went and won the Tour for his second time in rather dramatic fashion, and suddenly road cycling became slightly more popular - but it took a guy named Armstrong to come along later and make road bikes really expensive again. Fast forward a bit to 1991 - I had just graduated college and fell in with some strange folks that called themselves "triathletes." My roommate and I began racing dualthlons (called biathlons back then - no skis or rifles though) with this bunch of hooligans. Throughout that first summer we would train with them, which mostly consisted of hammering group rides, hammering runs, and then drinking beer on the boat while they swam to and fro. I still remember thinking how awesome it would be to be able to actually swim from one place to another. near the end of that first summer and late on a Friday evening one of my buddies called me up to let me know that another one of our friends would not be able to make it to a triathlon race they had all signed up for, and wanted to know if I was interested. I laughed, as the extent of my swimming up to that point was basically from the back of the boat to the end of the ski rope. However I was easily convinced that I could do it when he told me the swim would only be 400 yards. Had he told me it would be a quarter of a mile, I most likely would not be typing this right now, but 400 yards on the other hand just didn't seem that far. Needless to say I did the race, and was 12th to last out of the water. I know this because the 12 of us dog paddled the entire course together at a nice conversational pace. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "your first race?"
Them: "oh, yes!"
Me: "mine too!"

I crushed the bike, and did great on the run, and was totally hooked - both line AND sinker. I have not done a straight up bike race, and very few duathlons since. I will never forget the day when I could finally swim 1/2 a mile in less than 20 minutes. I celebrated the occasion by immediately going out and buying my first speedo, which back then was the de rigueur race suit. Ah, the good old days. Just thinking of Kenny Souza almost brings a tear to my eye...

Over the past 20 years I have raced regularly, often competitively, in all kinds of events: dus, tris, adventure races, mountain biking, stage races, marathons, ultras, and relays. Over the years I have been healthy, injured, overweight, under weight, wicked fast, depressingly slow, absolutely rabid for the sport, and completely burned out. I would describe myself now as rather balanced all around. On occasion I can still find myself out competing for the Weekly World Championship trophy, but am trying to be a lot smarter with my training and racing. no matter what, first and foremost, this sport hobby is FUN!

FAMILY STATUS: That roommate I mentioned earlier? we lived together for 6 years and eventually decided that we liked each other a little bit. We subsequently got married and have remained happily so for the last 16 years. My best friend is simply awesome. She races herself, so she completely gets this ridiculousness. Training and racing is a big part of our social life - not sure if we travel to race or race to travel. No kids, dogs, cats, or even a fish. A friend gave us a chia pet as a joke a couple of years ago, but it is still in its original packaging.

WORK: I am an educator and college administrator. I am the currently the Chair of the Architecture Program at Auburn University, and the Associate director of the Rural Studio, our remote design/build program in West Alabama. I live in Atlanta, Georgia however, so I am on the road quite bit between it all.

CURRENT TRAINING: After being self-trained my whole racing life, I took on a coach last year, and have really enjoyed it. I like the accountability, and I have learned a tremendous amount. At 45 years old, I have found that the things that used to work no longer do, and it has been important for this old dog to learn a lot of new tricks in order to remain competitive.  The number one thing my coach has done is to actually slow me down a bit and have me train a good bit less, but a whole lot smarter. I am a self-professed technology wonk - but gave it all up a few years ago as I really began to feel a little bit of a slave to it all. I got to where a poorly functioning HRM could really wreck an otherwise great workout. In the three years prior to becoming coached I threw it all away and trained and raced totally RPE. Call it a deep cleansing. That said, as part of my coaching, I have found myself once again completely jacked in: HR/GPS/Power - at first I did not pay much attention to it, it really just provided information for my coach. As the year went on and with his guidance, I have come to be able to use the feedback myself as another set of data points marbled in with RPE.

LAST YEAR'S RACES: Last year my big goal race last year was IM Lake Placid, which in large part due to Fred's shepherding, was an absolute blast. I really enjoy going long and tackling tougher races. I did a couple of other 1/2 IM's, and a handful of olympics and sprints for fun. I also did a couple of distance swim races which were a ball (as I thought all those years ago when I couldn't swim a stroke, being able to swim somewhere actually IS pretty cool).

2012 RACES:
This year is the middle year in a three year plan to see just how fast I can still get at the IM distance. If I can still have a strong year at 46, I am really aiming at 2013 in which I will have 8 months off from work in which I can train, train, train like an pro and see what I am really capable of. I am guessing that I may actually have some pretty terrible races this coming season as I will be really trying to find my edges. Starting May 3rd, I am officially off work for the summer and don't have to report back until mid August.

Current confirmed plans:
May: Mountain Madness 1/2 IM
June: 5k OWS
From May to the end of July, I am all-in for IM Lake Placid - for those three months, I will do a couple of sprints and/or olympics, but the focus will be on IMLP.

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS: For years when faced with the inevitable question "Why do you train like you do?" my stock answer was always "so I can eat and drink whatever I want." At about 35 years old, that was revised to "so that I can drink whatever I want." At 45, even that is no longer the case. For the past two years, I have raced best at about 152~153 pounds. between October and January, it would be normal for me to plump up to about 170lbs, and all I had to do was give up the martini (gin, of course) for about 6 weeks to get back to race weight. Last year that did not work. I seem to have a real problem with those "last 5 pounds." They are proving to be incredibly stubborn. This year I would actually really like to figure out what my ideal race weight might be. In the past year I have worked hard to increase my power, strength, and run durability. Along with that has come increased muscle mass; I have actually gained weight while IM training.

LIMITERS: For me, my current limiter is not one of the stages of the race - it is really my overall strength and power. Last year I worked on elevating my endurance and establishing a solid base with some basic strength work thrown in. This year I have an increased focus on strength training, so I am actually not much concerned about my weight, but rather my ratio of body fat and power/kg.

WHAT WOULD MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: OK - I make a living as a professional mentor. As such I have learned that for better or worse we spend the bulk of our life knowing all the answers and simply trying to figure out what questions we need to ask to get to the answers that we want to hear. I am here to forget the answers that I know, and to learn new questions to ask. I am wide open. Also, I am pretty scientific, but usually defer to experience over lab tests. This is a long game. As such I have always been a regular logger - I have about 10 years of paper logs followed up 10 years of digital logs. In addition to understanding that what works for me may not work for you, these logs have allowed me to see that what works for me this year may not work for me next. I look forward to learning from all of you - this seems to be a remarkably knowledgeable and accomplished group. My coach and I use TrainingPeaks to communicate, but I also post here as well if folks want to see - my logs are open. I speak with my coach several times a week, and we meet often. In my logs I sometimes include the short notes he provides when he builds my week, so they sometimes read kinda strange. I am really honored to be a part of this team.

Not sure how Lance will do, but I would really like to be there to see.  They moved the race to Haines City this year and my in laws live there.  I have done some running on the run course.  I didn't see a lot of went on in Texas this weekend with his race, but if a hot flat course is not suited to him, this course and time of year in Florida will not suit him either.

I for one hated it. Just as I was heading out the door for track intervals, I remembered that Ironman Live was broadcasting the race. Of course I sat down and watched it from beginning to end. It kept me from getting to the track early. Instead I got there at noon, when it was 82 degrees.

I thought it was awesome - and I was fortunate that my feed stayed active right up almost to the end, and I was able to watch O'Donnell and Kienle battle it out and swap the lead several times during the last mile - I did not see the finish, but it was clear O'Donnell had ultimately out battled Kienle for the win. Even though he didn't podium, I think Raelert's 4th place finish after flatting in some way defines what is so interesting to me about long-course endurance racing: you plan, train, take calculated risks, sh*t happens, and you don't panic - how well you deal with it is what becomes the important measure. It was well worth doing intervals in the unseasonable heat just to see that.

Hey Tom - thanks! Lake Placid was an absolute ball, and in my messed-up way of thinking about it it actually was a perfect race - it got way more interesting and "fun" after I crashed.

My fear is this is becoming my schtick though - I hit the deck again pretty hard this weekend on an 80 mile ride. I am beginning to think I am developing a real problem with keeping it shiny side up. In 30+ years of bike racing, I have enjoyed 5 memorable crashes. None the worse for wear, but 2 of those in one year are way too many. I will be happy to have a much more boring and run-of-the mill IM this time around.

Wow, can't believe its only been 24hrs since I last checked this thread!

Welcome Rusty, Jeff, Melissa and Ken.

Decided to skip this morning's run and get a bit of extra sleep to try and fight of what is feeling like the start of a cold. As some people know, I really hate missing workouts, but I guess it's for the best. Hope everyone else's day is going better.

Wow, i've got some reading to do to catch up!  Thanks for letting me join.  Here's my deal:

Name: Jeff Sklarz (not Jason, dang auto correct)

Family Status:  I am 37, married and have 2 daughters (8 and 4)

Story: I am very busy and have little free time.  I am a lawyer with a crazy practice of litigation, bankruptcy and tax work.  My kids do not believe in sleep and, as i sit here typing this, the girls have been up for almost an hour already.  I'm very involved with my kids, coaching, going to talent shows, etc.  Between work and family, i have a minimal amount of time to train, 8-10 hours a week at best, and it shows.

I do not come from an endurance sports background.  I played college football (D3 - Colby College, go mules), but at age 31 i had gotten fat and out of shape and stumbled into triathlon.  I have raced a ton, trained alto (but not enough) and lost weight and got back in shape.  3 years ago I herniated a disc in my back and it has been a struggle to get back from that.  I actually feel good this year, but have, for whatever reason not been as motivated as i have in the past to train. I have learned a lot over the years and made some great friends

I have mapped out a pretty challenging 2012 race schedule (see below) and need to get my butt in gear!

Current Training: 8 weeks until Rev3 Quassy, using a BT HIM plan.

2012 Races: Cheshire CT HM (April), Bloomin Metric Century (May), Rev 3 HIM (June), Griskus Oly (June), Park City Oly (Aug), New Haven Road Race 20k (Sept), Marthas Vineyard Oly (Sept), Hartford HM (Oct), Marine COrp Mary (Oct).

Goals: Sub 5:45 at Rev3, Sub 1:45 HM, Sub 1:30 Oly, sub 4 mary.... oh and stop eating everything in the freakin house!

I have to update my logs.  Looking getting remotivated.

Morning Peeps,

Got 6.5 running on last night, which puts my april total ahead of my march total.....on April 3rd, lol

slept in till 630am this am, 20 min power test tonight.

Welcome to all the new peeps!!!

JSklarz and i are friends in real life, he was one of my biggest mentors and helped me out quite a bit when i first started this lifestyle back in 2008, now i kick his butt regularly, but he can eat more chicken wings and drink more beer than i can. So that counts for something...HAHAHAHA

Dood, you don't even know your name???

that made me laugh just a bit. I had a mixed set if pursuit intervals with our nationals team yesterday afternoon. They warmed up for approximately 10 minutes (I remember thinking "$@&*## - I am counting this warm up as one of my intervals!" then they did the set, and immediately following the set I am off to get at least a 45 minute cool down. No cool down for them - that's a waste of time and besides cooling down is for wimps. Instead they have to race off so they don't miss the beer and wings special at a local joint. The thing is both our men's and women's teams totally dominate the SEC, they have nationals coming up in a couple of weeks and will be top 20, probably top 15, and our best guy in all likelihood will be on the podium. Youth, as they say, is DEFINITELY wasted on the young!

work and travel for me; if I can thread the time needle I will get about 1.5 in at the pool this evening.

hey Fred, et.al. - seems like these days we often talk about training with power or not, but at some point I would be interested in hearing points of view on the broader topic of training metrics in general: not really looking for right or wrong answers, just a discussion of what folks use during training for feedback and post training for analysis. For instance, in planning a workout, when do you use RPE or HR or Power or speed/pace and time or distance as a metric? How do you decide? How does it make a difference to you(physically or mentally)? Do you use the same metrics in training as you do in racing? With all the new gadgets we have to record data and the subsequent metrics (TSS, IF, etc.) what do you find most useful as an analytical tool to look both forward and back through your training?

or we could just do a poll on flip turns?

Rusty,

That is one heck of an intro thread!!!  Very impressive.

Only if you want me to turn into the Incredible Hulk and smash things

I'm planning on a 1.5 hour ride, but if the movers get there with my stuff today, there will be some schedule rearranging. 

I really need to sit down and at least plan some weekly total targets for base training. I'm having a blast, but I don't want to over - or under - do it.