Dirk's Junkie group - CLOSED (Page 53)

My goodness - something I can actually offer advice on!!

I usually leave to swim around 5:15 or 5:30 and during the summer, I'm usually out on the road by about 6:30 at the latest. On the weekends I ride/run as soon as it gets light. I LOVE early morning workouts, and since I'm still working with the horses, those usually take over post-work and I don't have time to work out. There's few things you can do to make it easier.

- My wife and I are in bed by 10 every night. I only need around 6-7 hours of sleep, so even if it takes me a while to fall asleep, I'm semi-ready to go by 5am.

- Do something after you get up, but before you run. If I have time (before 6:30 runs) I set some coffee, browse the internet, maybe watch a little TV. Something to wake you up before you run. Jumping out of bed and onto the road is horrible. It's a 20-25 minute drive to the pool for me, so that takes care of waking up on swimming days.

- Drink plenty of water during before you go to bed and during the night. You'll feel better when you wake up and not have to drink before you run, so you don't get that sloshy stomach feeling.

- When the alarm goes off get out of bed before you choose to go back to sleep. Sometimes, you're exhausted and you actually need the sleep, but most times it's just your body whining. If you STILL feel like you need to go back to bed after you've been out of bed for 15 minutes, you should probably go back to sleep.

As far as the 1pm hump goes (mine comes at 3pm, but it's the same idea) - I've been doubling up workouts, which helps sometimes but makes it worse if I haven't fueled enough in the morning. I do find that getting up and walking around helps. If I'm at home I'll go do some laundry or something on my feet. If I'm in the office I'll wander around and find someone to chat with. I've also found that nuts/trail mix are a great afternoon snack if I need a little extra pick-me-up. Sometimes a cup of coffee.

I believe it sucks pretty bad to move from one to the other, but after a few weeks you'll get the hang of it. Plus, you spend all day with that little burn in your legs that let you know you worked a little harder than everyone you interact with. I'm an , so I like being smug.

SlowTwitch had a thread about this the other day. I shall try and track it down.

I converted from a night workout at 8:30 after the kids went to bed to a 5:30 am workout so I'm nearly done before the family wakes up.  This change took me several weeks to nail the rhythm, and there are still 1 or 2 days a week that I fight it in the morning.  Two big things helped me.  First, having multiple workouts a day is a huge motivator (4 bikes, 3 runs, 3 swims, 2 lift per week), so that if I don't do my morning session, I know I'm hosed for my 2nd workout, and my whole schedule will be off.  Second, getting to bed extra early helped.  It's hard enough at first to work out right away in the morning, but it's 10x tougher when you're tired.  Err on the side of extra sleep at the start.  Now that I'm converted to mornings, I can't think of any other way of working out.

Curtis

Jeff you and Warren are correct. 

Jeff these WO's are designed as part of a whole plan as Warren was stating.  You would be much better versed to know why this workout would fit into a cycling focus.  Usually this WO is, as Warren is saying, in the middle of the week after some of the longer, harder intervals.  There are a few WO's that have 14x30" @106% as the MS.

Maybe you could explain how this would work to the advantage of a cyclist versus a triathlete.

Matt,
I used to work out early in the morning, and I found a few things helped me out.  Like everyone else has already said, go to bed a little earlier.  If you aren't doing it already, pack your gym bag the night before so you have less to do in the morning.  I probably shouldn't admit to this, but I also found it helpful to sleep in my workout clothes instead of pajamas.  I was more motivated to get to the gym when I was already dressed to go.  All I had to do was brush my teeth and put on my shoes.  The fewer things I had to think about doing that early, the better. 

So question for you experienced triathletes here.

I'm scheduled for two races in May and June (as of this afternoon) and both will most likely be wetsuit legal races. I could rent one for $45 a piece, but I wouldn't have the chance to practice with it or use it for a few practice OWS before either race (I just found out they have them near me!). I can get an Xterra Sleeveless for around $140 with the BT discount.

To me it seems worth paying the extra to own, rather than buy, since it's basically three rentals...

Here's the question. I'm right between two sizes - 6'0" and 195 lbs. I could go with a Large or a Medium Large - the cut off is 192. I DO plan on dropping a few more lbs to get to around 190, but I'd still on the big side for the smaller suit. Any advice on which way should go?

Part two - is a sleeveless going to be okay in water temperatures in the mid to high 60s? We're talking temps above 63-64. I'd appreciate any opinions!

I am going to duplicate the post in the main forum to get as many opinions as possible - what do you all use? I trust your opinions more!!

Thanks!

My 2 cents - buy the smaller one, especially if you really plan to lose any weight.  I was in between sizes when I bought mine and I went with the larger size.  It's way too big now.

I think you'll be fine in a sleeveless in terms of warmth at that temperature (but tolerance to cold is highly personal of course), but I say if you can wear a wetsuit, do it, and if you can swing the full one, do that too.

Great idea to practice a bit in a wetsuit before a race - it's a little weird the first few times you wear one, and it can be tricky to get on and off the first few times too.

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!! No one can ever doubt my loyalty to BT or tri training .

I agree with John, Curtis and kind of Allison.  Once you start the early WO's you will adapt over time and tings will fall into a routine.  I do very, very few WO's in the morning because my work day starts at 6:00 AM already so it's a 5:00 AM wake for me no matter what.  Most times on the weekend I have enough free time that I get the opportunity to sleep in a little (7:00-7:30), get up and mill around for a while and then get started.  I usually don't get to hurried to get started though.

I would love to have the ability to get a WO in at lunch but when I am out with my crew I get a 20 minute lunch and then it's "back on the line."

I agree with the sizing choice but make sure you are certain to lose weight.  (Contrary to the recent "ice cream" posts by our resident "Breyers salesman" I would not recommend to many of those tasty treats.)  I would also differ in opinion with Warren on the sleeveless vs. full suit.  I have the full suit myself and considered a sleeveless but thought it was worth taking the extra warmth if needed.  I could certainly tolerate the cold for the normal Sprint or Oly races but I personally feel no reason to chance the cold.

Now that I have said that I also have to say that the sleeveless suit would be faster to remove.  HOWEVER, in most cases this won't be an issue because the run to transition will be long enough to remove the sleeve easily and have the suit (with sleeves) around my waist within 20-25 feet after leaving the water.

In the end the biggest issue you have to decide is whether or not you have a high or low tolerance of the cold.  I actually read in Macca's book today that a wetsuit is a pretty important tool to have in your arsenal.  So it's not whether to purchase one, it's which one to buy.

Early morning workouts:

With school age kids - really, not much choice - especially if they are involved in sports. (and you coach)

Currently I swim 2x a week at 5ish...up 440a-in water by 505.....swim until 6ish...shower/home by 630. I eat while -and help kids w/breakfast -so I can be at my desk around 715/730.    

I have found: I can get in a quality swim - but I cannot move fast enough to get a quality run (or bike) in the morning. I just adjust the schedule so I do "easy" runs in the morning - and save "harder effort" speed workouts for latter in the day. sometimes thats after work - sometimes its while the kids are a practice (running round the field) or after everyone has eaten.....just to get a good workout in.  

Motivation to wake up? You just have to want to..no secrets.  How to keep the 1-3pm sleepy away? Even if I get to sleep early - this can be tough - again....motivation....is about all that works for me ---- I try to plan a work out --so I have a w/o to look forward to --- or it may be, you take kids to practice....and take a nap.....pick them up - and go work out.....gotta do what works best for you. Hydration helps. 

I always try my best to make my workout time "invisible" to the family schedule/time. That in itself is enough motivation to kick my ---- out of bed. 

You already got a lot of great advice. I used to get up early to workout, it is not easy. I had to give my body a little time to wake up like John said. After that it was all just pure determination. And I didn't make myself do it everyday. Good luck!

Dina,  Macca really didn't say anything about fitting a wet suit.  He only said that it is a good tool to have.  He did say that a wetsuit in a cold water Sprint race might be optional based on personal preference because of the time invested in taking it off.  His point was that a wetsuit is something that may very well be a "must have" item if you are serious about triathlon.

I am about halfway through the book, which is a very good read, and if there are any other insights I"ll let you all in on anything about the wetsuits.

For your personal fit you may in the boat that we all seem to get into.  The one where your body is in the middle of where the size the typical suit.  I am shorter and have a larger framed body type, so I had to go up to a the next size from where I would have fit into the height and weight chart.  You may need to think about the same type of issues. 

Can you pull the suit up higher in the groin and allow more room in the shoulders?  It sounds like your issue may be that you aren't able to pull the waist and abdominal areas up.  Do you have a longer torso than leg ratio?   If so this may another reason to look at going up one level in sizing.

BTW, used vs. new is meaningless to me.  If you can find a great deal on a used suit....giddee up!  I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything used provided it's the right price and works well for me.

First off I hope everything was okay you when you went to the doc.  I hope nothing was wrong and you can get back to training soon.   Depending on what the doc said you should ask about how your training may or may not be affecting your current problem.  Make sure it is okay to continue training.

All of my pics are on facebook for my trip.  They are sometimes hard topost here because I am a little less techno savy than others here but mostly to lazy to spend the time changing the format to a smaller size.  I also couldn't even pic out the best ones since I took 650 pics and I think they are nearly all very stunning.  If you have FB friend me (Dirk Pauley) and take a look.

For your HR accuracy, I would say that you are misreading something somewhere.  I can't imagine that Mark Allen is suggesting using the "age graded" chart that is the "formula" used for normal averaging.  That chart is inherently inaccurate by every standard because it does not take into account a persons fitness level.  The normal generic way of figuring max HR is 220-age=your max HR.  This would be where I suspect you may have misread the book at some point.

Far and away the best way to check your HR is a testing session.  As discussed earlier, it is a very difficult procedure to nail the first time you do one and it is pretty painful to complete.  Painful being a term that is suggesting that it is very hard to do.  Your body will be screaming at you to stop working so hard, but you keep going.  frankly I was really nervous about doing my first test because I thought I might blow up during the run.

The test works like this (simplified):

1. Get a solid WU before running of at least 10 minutes at an easy pace.
2. With a HR monitor, start your device for the testing phase that will be for 20 minutes.
3. Run as hard as you can for ALL of the 20 minutes BUT push the lap button at 10 minutes.
4. You will use the last 10 minutes to figure your max HR.

Now, as I stated earlier, this is a very difficult test and in order to get an accurate number you need to go as hard as you can and THAT is the reason it is so difficult.  Normally your MHR number will be 5-7 over the average HR found during your testing phase.  BTW, you should do this test on fresh legs.

Jeff, Warren and Jonathon feel free to correct any mistakes I have made in this process.

I am so happy for you!  This is great news for you!  Keep working on it and just wait until the season comes around.  (I got to thinking just now too, maybe myslef, you and Allison could try yo get together at a pool in the middle of us all (Columbia City) and see if we can work  little together on our swims.)

As far as the S type pattern that you were taught, I still find that I do that when I get tired.  I guess old habits die hard.

That is great, Brenda!  I am so happy for your breakthrough. 

Dirk, that is a terrific idea too.  I love swimming at the Columbia City Y- you never have trouble getting a swim lane!  I could get both of you in as my guests. 

I learned that silly S pattern too.  It's a really hard habit to break!

Jo, I hope you are feeling better.  Sounds like you went through some scary stuff.  Please make sure to take care of yourself. 

I think you nailed it pretty well Dirk, and always remember that your heart rates will be different for biking and running, with biking usually quite a bit less. The BT article explaining all this and the testing protocol is here.  These tests are HARD.

But what you're testing for isn't really max HR, it's lactate threshold or whatever terminology you prefer for that number.  It's designed to be the HR above which your body can't process the waste products as quickly as it manufactures them.  The idea is that if you are below that level, you can go for a very long time, but above that level you run out of gas pretty quickly.  The zones derived aren't hard and fast physical things - in other words your body doesn't magically do completely different things in zone 1 or zone 2 or zone 3, but there is a transition of energy systems as your effort gets harder.

The problem with the age graded formulas is really genetics.  Some people just have higher or lower HR than other while training, and it has very little to do with resting HR.  As an example, my running threshold is 165, while a running buddy the same age as me has 182.   He ran his last marathon at an average of 171, at age 50!  From what I understand, you actually can't change your threshold HR much, though you can modify it somewhat.  What really changes is the work you can do at that HR.  But threshold HR does decrease with age for each individual.

After all this, I will say as a data geek I like to track HR but it's always great to learn to train by RPE and stay in touch with your body's feedback.  As the wise people on this site say - run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard.  Bike lots, mostly hard, sometimes easy.  For swimming - do flip turns.

Well, I had a great ride yesterday. I put in 85 miles! The trip around Lake Tahoe is approx. 73 miles, but I decided to take a detour at the end, up to another lake and added 12 more miles. I was originally was going to take the west side of the lake around and finish on the east, but changed my mind early in the morning. I decided to take the east side around which starts out with some rolling hills and heads up Spooner for a big climb. I figured I'd get the biggest climb out of the way and have the rest of the ride pretty easy. When I got about 3/4 of the way done I decided to head up a road to Fallen Leaf Lake (which I never been to). It was brutal. The road was winding and uphill most of the way, plus it was wet, icy, and windy. By the time I made it up and back, my bike was filthy. Overall it was a great day.

I didn't really mash the pedals. I kept a good pace and stayed relaxed. My intent was to work on my nutrition as well as the mileage. I guess I did good on the nutrition, I didn't have any hydration problems, my energy was great, and after the ride no cramping. Actually, after I was done I felt like I could have gone another 25+ miles. Which bodes well for my June century race.

I took some pics and when I figure out how to get them from the phone, I'll post them. I also need to tear down my bike and give it a good cleaning and lube. It has mud and sand in just about every place imagineable. I feel great today too. No real soreness or any pain. A ride like that is just freakin awesome!

Excellent Brenda! Progress is the best reward. I was also taught the S stroke by first swimming intructor as an adult. I was so careful to learn that perfect S then the next young hot shot instructor told me that was old fashioned .