Gray Guys/Girls Master's Focus Triathlon Mentor Group--CLOSED (Page 50)

OK, so the heading was a bit deceptive.  Originally the trip was so I could compete in IMLOU.  That became a non-starter with all the medical non-sense 2015 presented.  My entire extended family is in Southern Indiana, plus I have an athlete competing in IMLOU that I have been coaching all year so we decided the trip is still on.

Leaving tomorrow morning - 2,150 miles, a little sightseeing, the Grand Canyon, a big steak dinner in Amarillo, taking in the Ironman, probably a trip out to Churchill Downs and the best part will be time with family.  Yep, gonna be a relaxing trip!

What does everyone else have on tap for the next couple of days?

Scott - Your trip sounds great.  Quite a long way though, eh.  When I read, "IM Louisville here I come!" I thought it was Scott (Echo Lake) saying he had decided to race IMLOU.  

I don't have much planned for the remainder of this year other than my 20km "To the Tunnel" Run coming up November 1st.  But, I have been looking at and considering signing up for a half marathon October 11th in Kelowna (1 hour north of here).  My runs in my races have been challenging for me but I'm wondering if I could handle a dedicated run better and with less knee problems.  So, I've been debating the pro and con of whether or not I could handle the HM and then recover and run the Tunnel run 3 weeks later.  

I am starting easy workouts for swimming in the pool and I am running regularly but I haven't been on my bike for a few weeks.  I want to get a saddle fit before I resume riding.  My wife signed me up for regular spinning classes starting Nov 3rd (Tues/ Thurs/ Sat) with a coach.  I'm not sure she's not trying to kill me though. The sessions are pretty intense.

Scott - I tried to go to your race report but I just get a blank screen.  

I didn't race on the weekend but I ran 16km yesterday on an old railway bed.  It's uphill 2-3% for 8km then turned around and ran back downhill the whole way.  I was way slower than your time so I am very envious.  No doubt you'll reach your 8min/ mile goal.  

Scott,

I have become a HUGE fan of the run/walk strategy.  That began after last year's Ironman World Championships when Sebastian Kienle ran the IM marathon at a 6:35/mile pace utilizing a run/walk strategy by walking EVERY single aid station (aid stations were ~ every mile and he walked +/- 30-seconds at every aid station).  Two weeks ago I had an athlete I have been coaching complete Ironman Louisville.  He utilized a run/walk strategy during the marathon by walking 30-steps at every aid station (~ every mile).  He completed the marathon at a 9:07 pace.  He is 26 and was resistant to the idea of a run/walk strategy.  It took a fair amount to convince him to try it, and once he did, there was no going back. (I attached a screenshot of the Training Peaks graph of his run below.  You can pretty clearly see the pace and HR drop every mile or so).

I know you are talking about a 5K and not a marathon, however I suspect that you can make a run/walk strategy work for you.  Perhaps something like 3 minutes run, 30-seconds walk.  Obviously it is something you would need to refine in training but I suspect there is a magic ratio that will work well.

Jeff Galloway, the run/walk guru (http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/run-walk/) has coached athletes to a sub 6:00/mile pace using a run/walk strategy so there must be something to it.

Just my two cents.

(run-walk.jpg)

Hey Scott,

Before we talk about frequency of workouts, I am curious what specifically you are referring to when you say you are working on 'run durability?'  Are you talking about endurance or are you talking about physical durability (i.e. injury prevention).

Had a great time in Louisville.  I have family in Southern Indiana so it was a dual purpose trip - the Ironman and family.  My athlete completed his Ironman in 12:10.25 which was well under the target of 13:00.  It was his first Ironman so his goal was to finish with a smile on his face.  To say the least, he exceeded his goal by a considerable margin!  It was crazy in Louisville.  The day before the Ironman they had a Susan B Komen Breast Cancer event so that was two major street closing events back to back.  All in all, it was a wonderful trip and the Ironman success just topped it off.

Deb - Glad to hear running on trails is slower than on pavement.  I'm going back on Sunday for another run on the trail.  Even though it is only 2 - 3% grade I sure found it tiring the further I ran but it sure was fun to turn around and run back down.

Have fun in your run tomorrow.  NYC Triathlon no but I've heard a lot of good about NYC Marathon.

Scott (EchoLk) - At Challenge I ran between Aid Stns  and walked the Stns.  It seemed to work well for me although my knees kind of dictated what I could do.  I want to shorten my walks as I get stronger.  At the 3min : 30secs ratio I'd be quite comfortable at 9min : 1min.  I seem to need more time to get my heart rate to slow down.

Scott - Thanks for the Jeff Galloway link.

Steve - A "runner" friend wants to qualify for Boston 2017 to celebrate his 70th.  I've been toying with the idea of a marathon myself.  I'd be terribly slow but I started running at 61 and I'd like to finish a marathon just to do it.  Before 2011 I could never have considered the possibility.  I'm only hesitant because I don't want to commit myself to too many events for next year.  I was thinking of Portland or Wenatchee although I could also look at Vancouver (BC).

I definitely would like to be involved in the 2017 Worlds in any way I can (even if I just get to volunteer).  I live 4km/ 2.5mi from the start line.  My winter cycling coach is Kevin Cutjar who is the RD for Challenge and I will be talking to him next week about racing Challenge next year when there will only be the 3k/120K/30k race distance.  I'm not clear on how it works but I understand that there will be placements up to 10 deep for each age group for the Worlds.  If so I may have a very slight chance of getting a spot.

This was a good swim and run week for me.

Hey Deb,

I read your race report.

Yep, sadly  RPE has largely become a lost art as people increasingly rely on their GPS.  Don't get me wrong, GPS's are wonderful tools.  Unfortunately, people put blinders on, look at their GPS, and completely forget about what their bodies are telling them.  That doesn't always work out so well.

Good race report.  Sounds like a good learning experience.

Hey Scott,

My family is in Deputy and Paris Crossing, ~15 mile southeast of Seymour.  We actually stayed in a hotel in Seymour for a week this time around (just easier than staying with family since we had things we were doing up in Columbus and Indianapolis, not to mention Louisville).  Wow, small world eh?

As to running - if it were me, I would probably go with 4-runs per week.  I like four runs vs. three as you can get a bit more mileage while allowing recovery.  Two short, one medium, and one long.  I would keep my long run not too long until I had really built up my leg strength.  I would also stay away from ANY speed work until I had a real strong base in my legs.  I would have a full day of rest BEFORE and AFTER my long run so I would use something like -

I would use something along the lines of the ratio I have in the chart.  The point being, your long run shouldn't be too long at first.  Obviously the "rest" days would probably be used for other training.  You may prefer to do your long run on the weekend, whatever works.  My point is to not pile all the runs on top of each other and allow your body to recover between runs.

Be VERY careful about how you ramp the mileage up!  No more than 10% per week.  I would probably go two weeks, ramp my mileage 10%, go two weeks, etc. - at least initially. That will give your legs time to adapt and build strength slowly.  It will stretch out building volume, but it will do it safely without injury!  Another thing, if your goal is an Ironman, you don't really need to do any speed work.  You aren't going to be running any faster than Z2.

Down the road, as you gain strength and durability in your legs, one of the short runs can become a speed workout (if necessary, otherwise a brick workout off the bike), the other short run can become a brick after a cycling workout, the medium workout can become a tempo run and the long run will continue to be your long Z2 run.

One other thing, if you haven't already done so, you might consider having someone who knows what they are about take a look at your running form and make sure there isn't something in your form predisposing you to injury.

Just my two cents.  Hope it helps you get an idea.

Scott,

Opps!  My bad!  Ignore those earlier ratios.  You want to keep your long run less than 35% of total weekly volume, at least initially.  I had a whole page full of numbers and copied the wrong ones, didn't catch the error until this morning.  Sorry.

You might consider these ratios instead:

L - 35%

M - 25%

S - 20% x 2