TEAM RFP (Relentless Forward Progress) CLOSED (Page 5)

Hi Tim and group members,

I'm new to BT but would love to join your group if there's room. The name of the group caught my eye as I'm a huge believer in the pursuit of continuous self-improvement.

Background: 44 years old, married father of 4. Attorney in private practice. Live in Pennsylvania (just outside of Philly). I have always wanted to do triathlon but have also always been intimidated by the swim. I did my first and only sprint two years ago but it was nothing to write home about (it was three months after rotator cuff surgery and I had a blowout on the bike) BUT it was the fulfillment of a longtime dream. I'm healthy and in reasonably good shape and decided I wouldn't let another year go by without committing to this for real, so I've signed up for the 2014 Eagleman HIM in June.

History and training: I've done three marathons and lots of halfs and 10 milers. I've been an avid runner for many years but I've never been and am not fast.

I plan on following Matt Fitzgerald's 16 week HIM training plan but have spent the last two months building swim endurance. Swimming approx 2-3x per week. I'm slow but I'm up to 1500m. I throw in a couple of 20mi indoor trainer rides and at least two runs per week.

I know very little about cycling but I generally knwo how to ride a bike. I'm riding an Argon 19 tri bike that's a few years old. It's comfortable and light so I suspect it'll do the trick for now.

Anyway, I hope you'll have me in the group and look forward to it.

Todd

Hey Dan - Welcome to the group. 15 days is pretty good for not taking a day off. How do you feel? Today is my 6th day straight and I'm feeling tired.

Congrats on your finish!

Hi Todd. Welcome to the group - I am sure Tim won't mind

I will respond more to your post later this evening - off to teach a class and then a meeting and then a ride.

Great to have you.

KC

Lou - Great job on the marathon! You're off to a great start this season!

Welcome Todd!

I had a great morning in the pool! In by 6:45am and watched the sun come up. Feeling stronger and very happy about it.
Happy training everyone!

Good to hear! Because of this Dan, you are likely a fat burning machine! You likely need a diet higher in fats!

Looking forward,

Todd

Welcome, Todd! Glad to have you!


Now, we have two Todds!


Looking forward,

Todd

So, here's my first question (for mentors and fellow mentees), what are your thoughts on a hydration setup on the bike for the HIM (I am a profuse sweater)? 2 or three bottles? aero on the bars, downtube or behind saddle?

Hi Team. Thanks for letting me in & thanks Tim & Simone. I have the uberjob of the family and so I can post only a couple days a week, but I read through them and appreciate people's information and struggles. My schedule has really interfered with bonding to a group on Beginner Triathlete so I took a break from the scheduler and used Training Peaks for a year or two.

NAME: Anne Miller AKA Herb Doc. I was very into reading about medicinal use of herbs at the time I signed up 2008? I am a psychiatrist (not your psychiatrist, so we both can relax!!!) and exercise as part of my own self-care/sanity

CURRENT TRAINING: Using Smart Coach plan from Runners World for half marathon-Oshkosh April; may abandon this and go back to online coaching with Mike Pierson out of Your Training Zone. Run 25 plus miles per week slowly but with no injuries-yeah! Mostly I've been spending 8 hrs a week shoveling snow but when the weather is better I get in 3 bikes a week, yoga once a week and teach yoga once a week, core 3 times a week and swimming...well...I sort of avoid that, feel guilty, didn't want to put $$$ into it for Total immersion or SwimLab, etc etc.

YOU SHOULD KNOW: I live in beautiful Door County! I'm a bit of a lucky one-beautiful usually but the roads are awful with ice and snow right now.

WEIGHT: 138 for 5'2" race at 128. Always a work in progress. Another area where I sacrifice precious minutes.

2014: Aurora Baycare Sprint might upgrade;? Door County Sprint; Thinking of TriRock Lake Geneva; Wisconsin Dells Honky Tonk half marathon; Fox Cities Half Marathon is an annual thing for me; need to make some active decisions re: this whole schedule. I really can't predict the days I have off so Ihate to pay money so far in advance. I see several are doing Pleasant Prairie which was my goal Olympic last year-would be cool to do and shave time off my horrid run in the heat last year

OK I hope you will consider this my bio because I'm tired of writing about myself. Thanks!!

Hello,

I am looking for a mentor to get me from the couch to my first Sprint.

Short Bio:
Male, 45, 3 kids girl 10 and twin boys 5. Avid sailboat racer that had to put on hold after the twins. Still a great skier but in the obese category, so I cannot do it as long as I would like each day.

Started Boxing 3 years ago and was getting back in shape loved it and perhaps over did it... Achilles Tendinitis, many days walking hurt.

Still in pain some days, but I have recuperated enough (18+ months later) that I signed up for a Sprint. June 29th is the day. That is in 23 weeks and I have found a 22 week plan on the site to go from couch to sprint in that time.

I will be looking for guidance to stay healthy, get to the starting line, and finish well (while finishing will be a win, I am too competitive to not push on race day).

Let me know if you think you can help me accomplish this.

Paul

Todd,

I am currently debating the same question..my bottle quantity and set-up for my first HIM. I don't sweat a lot, but I am considering two bottles: one at the normal position and one behind the seat. IOne will have water and the other will have Carbrocket (I cant eat solid fuel on the bike). Depending on whether you consider the aerodymics of the bottle or not may influence your decision. Behind the seat is most aero from what I have read. Bottles between aero bars have pluses and minuses. Straw location in aero postion; aerodynmics; position of bike comp, and ease of refill are all considerations.

Looking forward,

Todd

My last day off was Dec 29th and I feel great. I usually alternate between a run and a swim and the swim is low impact, so it feels like a rest day. If you feel run down then definitely take a day off. Eat well, get lots of sleep, and come back stronger.

Edited by pnwdan 2014-01-17 12:59 AM

Hi Team and Happy Friday.

I meant to get back on last night but just ran out of time and gas.

WELCOME TO ALL NEW MEMBERS ?

Todd 2 ? – you first – The Argon 19 is a nice bike and you will be fine with it. You are obviously a bit of a runner and that will come in handy – fast or slow – you know what to expect which is great. As far as swimming in concerned all I can say is if I can do it anyone can. I literally started swimming 4 years ago, started in a December, did 6 sprints the following year and then my first Ironman. If I can learn how to swim 2.4 miles in open water – trust me when I tell you – you can too. You will be fine for the HIM – just stick to your plan as best you can and whatever you do – don’t beat yourself up if you miss a workout. It looks like your job and family may get in the way of working out once in a while and that is fun and nothing to worry about my friend. We have a great deal of experience in this group and we love to share what we can and motivate when we can as well. I look forward to cheering you along your HIM journey.

Anne AKA Herb Doc – welcome aboard and you can analyze me anytime you feel like it ? just kidding (unless of course you feel like it lol). It looks like you have it all covered as far as the sports go and don’t worry – none of us are fast either ? You are right that it must be tough to schedule races when you don’t have a schedule you can rely on – is there any way you can change that?

Paul – welcome and if you want us we want you ? We would love to help you reach your goal – but first you have to trust me when I tell you – you can do it and you will do it! Did you seek any active physio for the injuries you sustained? What are you doing for them now? Remember – stick to the plan you have – don’t rush it or overdo it – trust it. We will kick you in the A$$ when you need it and do our best to keep you motivated and let you laugh at us along the way lol.

KC

Hello again team.
I hope everyone is doing well on this cold snowy Friday in Windsor Ontario.
Been a long week with work but so far I am on track with my first of 28 weeks leading up to IM LP. I have a run to do this afternoon and bike tomorrow morning and the first week will be in the books. It was not pretty but I think I am going to get it done. I spent 50 minutes on the trainer last night and wow have I lost some fitness - it was pathetic. If you look at the picture below you can almost hear my bike laughing at me after I got off it

Oh well - lots of work to do but I will try. I can already tell it is going to take a few weeks to iron out the conflicts with work and my training schedule but with a bit of deciation and some sleep deprication (lol) tossed in there I will struggle through

Tim – if you do look at my plan let me know what you think – built it on BT. It is a 28 week program but I am planning on tossing some of your plan into it along the way as well. The one thing about the BT plans is that when you build them that long they produce some weird and short bikes so I plan on modifying those as I start to build my fitness back. My overall goal for my workouts this year is to pay more attention to the details in them. Last year – based on a bunch of crap – selling my house, moving, buying a new house, severely twisting my ankle, missing significant training time, renovating the house I bought, getting divorced blah blah blah (insert some life event, distraction or health issue here) all I really did was put in time – I swam, I biked, I ran but with no purpose. Therefore, I am going to be purposeful in my workouts and that is going to start with the bike – because – well because – I SUCK lol. So that is my plan and I hope to do my best to stick with it. Now if you are going to force me to come up with a goal time – I have one in my head so here you go – I want to finish IM LP in less than 14.5 hours. There I said it lol – There it is and I am going to need every single one of you to help me ?
Now one other thing I want to share / ask of the team and here it is - I turned 50 last November and with that ripe old age comes certain invasive medical procedures (if you know what I mean). This has been scheduled for late March – oh yay ? I am sure that is TMI for a lot of you – sorry ? but has anyone else in here had that done and if so what can I expect in terms of missed physical activity if any? Scott I think you and I are the old ones in here lol and I know you have had some issues in that area – care to share anything with me?
OK – thanks team – run tonight and bike in the morning to finish off the week – rest Sunday – have a great weekend everyone.
KC


Edited by kcgolf 2014-01-17 2:37 PM






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KC - 14.5 hours, got it :-D

My goal for the full Olympic:

Swim 1.5k at <1:50 / 100m
Bike 40k at 20mph+
Run 10k at < 9 min / mile
T1 + T2 of 3 min

Total time under 2 hours 40 minutes

Dan,

Those are almost identical goals as I had last year for my first Olympic I ended up finishing at 2:44...was slightly slower on the run than anticipated. My training volume wasn't all that great leading up to it because of a calf injury. I have two Olys this year, hoping to best that time


Looking forward,

Todd

Let's do it!

I think if I manage a sub 2hr half marathon I'll be in good shape for the 55 minute 10k. Hopefully a consistent 15 mpw zone 2 is enough.

I looked at your race log and something is fishy with that swim distance. 1:48/100y shouldn't be good enough to place you in the top 20%. You must have swum faster than that and the course was probably longer than 1500m.

Welcome to the group Todd and Paul. So here is my list of member for this session - please let me know if I forgot anyone:

1. tmoran80 - Tim
2. kcgolf - Kevin
3. cheekymonkeys1 - Deb
4. IceManScott - Scott
5. krazytallchick - Kathy
6. WillTriForBeer - Jen
7. gdelamora - Gil
8. kruzmeister - Simone
9. ettringite - Todd
10. Lou_70 - Lou
11. murdock - Murdock
12. EV3110 - Elana
13. Herb Doc - Anne
14. pnwdan - Dan
15. Healthlawyer - Todd
16. PaulEC104

Normally I would close the group with this amount but i will eave it up to you guys. I don't mind adding a couple more new members since we have our core group and 10 returning members but I don't want it ot be too overwhelming for the newer members trying to keep up with 20 new people. let me know what you guys think? My thought is maybe 2 more?

great question and topic Todd's

It really is personal choice and needs to be worked out during your long training rides. A lot depends on what type of nutrition you are using. for example - are you going to train with what is available on the race course or are you going to use a system like Hammer or First Endurance? If you use what is on the course you can go with a simple setup and get your stuff at the aid stations. I use the Hammer Perpetuem so I have to have my nutrition with me. I use the aero bottle up front (not concerned about any drag since it is so minimal - plus my bike weighs a ton already). I only put water in the aero bottle. i like it because it constantly reminds me to DRINK! I then have my Perpetuem bottle on my down tube. I base the amount of Perpetuem by how long the race is. For 70.3 I will make a 2 hour bottle - For 140.6 a 4 hour bottle. I will then freeze the other half in another bottle that I will put on my seat post holder zip tied under my seat.

During a race the only thing I need to do is get my water first and then I grab a bottle of whatever sports drink (MUST TRAIN WITH IT FIRST THOUGH!!) and take some swigs then discard it. Pretty simple - but this took me about 2 years to get it down to what worked for me.

On my training rides it is whatever will work. If I am going on long ride 4+ hours it is a free for all where I can stash water/sports drink/gels.

Nice job on the marathon Lou and the negative splits. That is a difficult thing to pull off in a marathon.

KC I looked back and didn't see a link for you plan just the jpg. image of the time? I also went to your page and I used to be able to look at "planned" log but now I can only see the "actual" training. email me the plan and I will take a look. Based off you volume chart it didn't look like any glaring issues.

As far as the procedures aren't there are a couple that you have to do when you get to be an old man like you haha. Are you talking about colonoscopy? I had it done last year and nothing to worry about. I had to just take it easy for the rest of the day mostly because of the anesthesia. Drinking the stuff the night before -well that is a whole different story.

Thanks..

I really had a blast during that race... I can honestly say anyone interested in doing a marathon should start at this one.

Entire race just blew by.. so many things to see and all the help..


They even had expedition everest open for us to ride if we wanted to.... I passed but people were riding it!

Todd - I hated cycling when I started and thought the same way that I knew how to ride a bike so no worries right haha? Here are a couple of tips to help get you off to a good start:

1. Don't worry about your bike. I compare this to golfers. You can go out and buy a $1000 driver but if you don't know how to hit the ball straight what good does it do. Professional golfers like KC can take that expensive driver and maybe get an additional 5 yards on their drive but for the average person it really makes no difference. This is what triahlon bikes have become. You can spend $10,000 on a bike but if you don't know the basics it does you no good.

2. Triathlon biking is all about CADENCE and how you much force you are pushing while pedaling. As triathletes we want to keep our cadence around 85-90 RPM. I suggest you get some type of bike computer or garmin cadence sensor so you can get real time info on this - doesn't have to cost alot and can be anywhere from $35 to $200. As you are pedaling no matter if you are going uphill, downhill or on the flats you want to keep a steady cadence. This takes some practice getting your gearing right and figuring out when you need to shift but soon you will be doing it without even thinking about it. Always be looking up the road and being 1 step ahead of the terrain knowing when you need to shift up or down. The reason for this is to save your legs for the run. If you talk with a "Roadie" they have a differnt riding style and will grind it out pushing a harder gear at a lower cadence - but they do not have to get their butts off the bike and start running after the ride

3. Don't be afraid to make minor changes to your setup. Riding a bike for over 3 hours will never be comfortable but it shouldn't be causing you pain after the ride. Having a good fit will make a world of difference. There are good sites that can help you do it yourself or you can go to a local bike store (LBS) and pay to get a fit.

Good luck!