Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 54)

OK, thanks guys!  Steve, I also appreciate the input on the pacing...would have been my next question.  Dennis, glad you are enjoying the bike and related gizmos! 

Ya I'll probably do Vineman again.  I have to be 90 min faster to have an outside chance at Kona qualifying and Vineman is like $250 less for entrance, $100 to 200 less for lodging and is at the right time of the year.  Darn hilly run course though 8). 

Lt bike rides still kicking my butt.  Slow run today.  Oh well fitness will come back eventually, just need to be patient. 

Nice bike toys.  I just cant justify it until I'm up another 2 mph on the bike. 

But the new rule is that if you have completed 12 WTC Ironman races, you are guaranteed a trip to Kona(Source)  Yes Carol, I have a link for that also.  So if you just break out that Gold AMEX, buckle down with that training, you could be on the Kona starting line in just 2 more years.  And you just have to finish so no stress there either.

Speaking of Kona, with Youtube everybody is a film maker, but yesterday I saw a video from a guy who won a Kona lottery spot for 2011.  This guy ran this race like you should.  He had fun.  Wore a GoPro camera the entire race.  He did some great post production work and produced a very nice video.  As always, here's a link to the video.  The water for the swim is freaking amazing.  Be careful because after watching this video I felt like I had something stuck in my eyes for a few minutes.  Not sure what that is all about.

Loved the video, and the smile on that guy's face.  Very inspirational.

Sounds like we need to mount a "Steve for Kona" campaign.  What are your plans to shave the 90 mins?  Know you're working on the bike now.  How will you approach improving the swim, or do you think it's worth the effort/investment?

I decided to go all in on getting healthier and doing my best this year.  Started off with visits to the podiatrist and sports chiropractor and went from there to bike, wetsuit, accessories, and race fees for (count em) 12 races this year.  I tend to be pretty thrifty by nature, but have spent more money than I ever anticipated on all this with no regrets whatsoever. So here's to discovering/living that personal balance and enjoying the heck out of the ride ! 

Well I know I can improve the run another 15 min ish and the swim can be improved maybe 10 to 15 min with a lot of work and some coaching (sigh). 

However, the bike needs to improve 1:00:00 to 1:15:00.  So that is why I am giving up my winter marathon to be bike focused for the winter.  I need to go from 17.6 ish mph to 20-21 mph over 112 miles.  You have to take into consideration the hills, at least 1 bathroom stop, a stop midway through the race at special needs and you are pretty much guaranteed some wind on the 2nd half of the bike race.  I biked 3700 miles this year with 6x 100 + mile bike rides and that only bought me 6 minutes on the bike.  Some of that may have just been due to conditions.  It would probably make sense to take an entire year off triathlon and focus on the bike with no racing, but what fun is that? So hopefully I can improve the bike 15 to 25 minutes this year somehow, the run and swim 5 minutes and then go bike focused again next year. 

So ya 12 IM's for Kona.  If I do one IM a year... and they are all name branded, in 12 years I could go to Kona.  I guess in 12-15 years I will know if I am fast enough to earn a slot by getting faster.  I am not sure how I feel about going to Kona without earning the entry.  Yes if you do 12 IM IMs then you have earned a right to play, but it his honorary as apposed to qualifying.  So after I give up getting faster.... I'll think about it.  I guess I could do CDA instead of Vineman this year and hedge my bets.  But then... IM registration closes in about 2 hours online if it even gets there, so even registering for 12 IM's could be challenging. Oh well, work to do.      

I haven't actually talked about the process of registering for an IM.  If it is a name branded IM, your best bet to get and admission ticket aside from having now $600 to $625 to enter you need to 1) vollunteer a year before you want to race and then buy your ticket at the race location, 2) go to the race location the day after the race and wait until athletes and vollunteers are done registering and if there is any room left then you can register, 3) hoping it goes online and then register within the first hour it goes online or 4) drive farther to meaner courses that do not close out as fast, such as Texas or St. George (2x 30 miles up hill followed by 50 mph downhills with strong winds), 5) pay $1200 to $1225 for a charity spot (IM COE = the charity recpient I think, 6) go to an IM branded HIM ($300) and register for an IM if any slots remain in IM's.  So if you are not already prepared to buy a ticket 1 year out, it is probably already too late. 

Anyway, ya run was a little faster today, completely at the mercy of fatigue load these days, very frustrating.... bike tonight. 

Got the wheels installed today.  LBS did it for free.  Got my Bontrager Node 1 to pair up with the Powertap, my Garmin speed/cadence sensor and my HR strap.  Now that it works, gotta get to reading to know how to use the thing.

Florida is probably the highest demand IM that is open to the general public.  I know somebody volunteering this year just so he can hopefully register for 2012.

Hey Dennis, way to dare to go big!  Have a friend always wanting me to go to Houston w/ her, so maybe I'll come volunteer at that one.  And finally, I have a link for you:  http://www.myforecast.com/bin/climate.m?city=30578&metric=false

        Hi/Lo   AM Humidity/PM Humidity

April 79/58  89%/54%

May 85/65   91%/57%

Sep 89/68   93%/57%

Steve, glad you got a little taste of speed back.  So much of this seems to be about stepping back in order to leap forward later.  Are there any swim coaches anywhere near you?

As for IM aspirations, I can't say I really have them at this point.  I could see possibly doing a HIM, but am not in a hurry and will need a really good reason to do it.  I just don't like the idea of the extreme ups and downs in training and recovery.  If I get more connected to the InsulINdependence organization after the Carlsbad marathon weeekend, that might be my reason so we'll see.  Otherwise, I think next year my focus will be on getting better at the OLY distance.         

Memphis in May is right about the same - 84/59 with Hum of 91/50.

I packed up my running clothes in my bag today and ran at lunch.  Turned out well.  I realized there was an hour of my day that I usually just sat around on the internet when I could be running.  It will work out fine for a few months.  I will be able to run in the warmer parts of the day and the runs will be less than an hour in duration.

I took a swim lesson yesterday.  Cheap - $25 for one of 4 for $80 from the Y.  The guy seemed to know his stuff.  I don't need a great coach, just one that can get me down below 2:00/100yd.  He said my kick was bad, kicking from knee not hips, catch had bad form, pull was weak, recovery was too slow and breathing excellent.  1 out of 5 ain't bad. He corrected a lot of my errors so I just have to practice some.  Kickboard and short fins for a few weeks doing 400 yds. of kick drills every swim.  I liked him so I think I'll stick with him and go every Wednesday at lunch for 30 minutes.  Anything should help.

Had to ride the trainer some last night with the new PT and all.  I did Spinervals 8 which is 30 minutes.  My first time doing one-leg drills. 

So after a run at lunch, I think I'll get in a nice long trainer ride tonight.  Thinking 2 hours in zone 2 will do me good.  Friday morning go for a swim and a short 2.2km run at lunch.  Date night with wife Friday night (daycare stays open until 10pm once a month).  Long ride on Saturday.  Not sure if going out for Saturday ride or pushing 3-3.5 on the trainer.  I'm the only person that loves that damn trainer.

Good job maximizing your lunchtime.  Swim coach sounds like a very good find for that price.  And date night with the wife is a VERY good thing.  We women like to feel valued by our hubbies, and that definitely helps .

Speaking of trainers, I don't have one, but the ladies ride on Tuesday night went indoors to the cycling studio due to windy conditions outside.  I went thinking a nice easy social kind of ride was in store to shake my legs out from my 8.75 mile run earlier in the day.  Instead we did "hills" and goal was to push the watts higer each minute until you "crested" the hill, then a recovery, and do it all over again.  Quickly resolved calf cramps were my only casualty, but yes, you are the only one who likes the trainer.

Read the swim tips in the USAT magazine and tried to focus on a couple of them today (fingers below wrist, wrist below elbow, and narrowing my kick).  Then did a couple of 325 yd time trials to see where I might be for next weekend's sprint tri w/ 300m pool swim.  Shocked myself coming in at 6:20 and 6:25, which is less than 2:00/100 yds.  Can't hold that for long, but I won't have to . 

I saw that on the cover and it was the only thing I have looked at yet in the magazine.

Great job.  A little jealous but still happy for you.

As far as the date night, it reminds me of a saying I read recently, "If your relationship is working then you're not training hard enough". It's a fine line.

The closest swim coach I know of is at the nearest pool, 100 miles away (each way) and she teaches the swim team when I would be able to drive up there after work.  So the pool is 4 hours of driving (leave work 5pm get there 7pm, swim till 8pm drive home 10/11pm).  Now on Saturdays I could probably drive the 150 miles to Redding and possibly get a lesson there if I found someone (6 hours of driving when there is no snow).  So ya, until I get my bike speed up there isn't a great way for me to work on swim form.  This summer I asked at the YMCA where I was on vacation and they were booked for 9 months, try again next summer.  Lastnight was  nice easy ride on the trainer 1 hour with 2x 15 minutes at HR 135, tonight we are back to above 105% of LT again.  Those workout are soo fun, 1:00 at LT recover 1:00 rinse repeat x 5, recover for 5:00 repeat, recover 5:00 repeat.... Oh well time to go run.   

Oh someone posted what the world chapion does for workout totals annually:

Swim 700miles

Bike 17,000 miles

Run 3000 miles

Um k ya, I guess that is his job. 

I listened to Macca's audiobook and at the end of each chapter they covered some of his race results and training mileage each year.  I looked forward to them each chapter as I was listening.  Definitely some crazy training.  He claims in all his years he has never been injured bad enough to not train.  I wonder how much his mileage has dropped since he quit the IM circuit and is racing ITU for the Olympic spot.

I never heard back from my boss's Olympic friend.  Perhaps he was too busy and who would want to deal with a novice.  Another swim coach finally called back last night.  He wants $40/30 minutes.  I like 2 things about him: 1. I could get a Saturday morning private lesson, 2. he teaches at the best indoor pool in town, a private schools 50 meter indoor.  But for twice as much I think I'll stick with the Y guy.

Oh and Steve, you gotta move closer to civilization.

You mean that just because the closest stoplight is 100 miles away you think I live in the stix?  Actually if I drive north I can go 450 miles without hitting a stoplight with no freeways.  Going east is around 350 miles to a stoplight I think.  I am probably going to have to go on a summer vacation at a swim clinic location and blits it for 2 weeks or whatever.  But then that fries IM training unless I hit an April/May IM which has me peaking my hours during the busiest time of the year at work and biking 100+ miles on a trainer for my long rides, then recoverying for a month or two to hit tri season with a swim focus.  Perhaps it is time to buy a lottery ticket. So I will have time for everything.

This year I am pushing for 4000  miles biked and 1500 miles run.  I am going to ignore swimming for a bit until I feel comfortable with running 25 to 35 miles a week and doing the 15 week bike training program.  Then I might start with evil drills, like just kicking for a month.... I have no kick. 

If you follow them on FB, they just linked to a video on Swimming for Triathlon.  If you don't follow(the actual term is 'Like' but I hate it) on FB, here's their page so you can if you want.  They post on a frequent basis.

I've ridden my new bike either outside or on the trainer every day since last Saturday.  That's 6 days straight.  I think it's time I give it a day off.

So I did just 1:40 tonight.  The video I was doing was starting to go anaerobic and I wasn't in for that so I shut it down.  An hour into the ride, my average power was 139, after my power output averaged 142.  Heartrate stayed near the midway point of zone 2 the whole time also.  Not sure what it all means but obviously if power/HR stay the same for almost 2 hours, that's a good sign.

Steve, Let's see...April/May IM....Houston, with Dennis....how cool would that be?  Are you looking at 2012 or 2013??  Have the opposite problem w/ stop lights here.  Looking at my garmin graph from a 24 mile bike yesterday and see at least 9 stops for lights.  Doesn't count the ones we rolled through.  Something between the two extremes would be good.  Do you think your city will ever put in a pool?  Or maybe the school system?  You could be the swim coach .

Dennis, you really ARE enjoying your bike!  Stupid question, but does power = watts?  And thanks for the links....off to look at the swim link next.  Taking today off other than walking the Katy dog.  Oh, and I weighed this week and had actually dropped below my goal...123.9 actual vs. 125 goal.  That brings me to 25 lbs lost over the course of the year.  No crash diets or totally eliminating whole food groups.  At first I counted calories and actively worked on increasing the quality/balance of my diet, then those habits carried forward without having to give it as much direct thought as time went on.  Getting into triathlons was just the pull that I needed, and each of you have been an invaluable part of that journey.  Thank you!

Yes but I like to think of it as POWER = SPEED.

I just remembered and looked up the manual to my trainer.  It has the following graph in it.  Based on the text preceding the chart it states the trainer is calibrated to simulate real power:road speed curves.  So to travel at 17 mph it will take around 200 watts.  If I want to raise my speed up to 20, I need to average 300 watts.  50% more power for 17.64% more speed.  Now obviously all of this is an estimate game with many variables. Last night my 141 avg. = ~13 mph, not the 14 the chart estimates.  But the power:speed curve shows how much harder bike speed is to gain.

I went to the pool this morning to swim but it was closed due to fog.  It's an outdoor pool with a bubble cover.  It was 38 this morning at 5:00 and I guess the cold air mixed with the heated water caused inside the bubble to fog over.  The lifeguard said there was made 4 ft. of visibility.  I guess I'll try again tomorrow morning and skip the long outdoor ride in the cold for a long trainer ride.