Penn State's mentor group - CLOSED! (Page 55)

This user's post has been ignored.

This user's post has been ignored.

You just summed up the philosophy behind all of my training.  I 100% agree.

This user's post has been ignored.

Great work!!

This user's post has been ignored.

I tried reading TI books and watching the video.  I might have snickered a time or two...

The drills ARE great.  I did the same drills that TI emphasizes when I swam in high school and college.  And you know what? I have pretty damn good technique.  But am I fast? Not really!  That speed comes from hard work (intervals) and genetics.

My biggest gripe with TI is how it approaches the basic necessity in any body of water-BREATHING!!!  How can you tell someone to bury their head and then expect them (if they are a new swimmer) to be able to comfortably breathe?!!!!  I KNOW you have to learn to get your hips up and TI does a good job of getting a swimmer's body on top of the water, but it does not address proper breathing technique.  I don't care if you prefer alternate breathing (I do) or breathing only to one side... burying your head, turning to take a breath, and getting your head back down is bad form.  I teach my swimmers to swim (in the pool) with one side of their goggles (the lens) under water as they breathe.  This addresses the hips problem and doesn't take an eternity.  It DOES prove a little more difficult in an open body of water with other swimmers around, but nothing's perfect....


MUST. STOP. RANTING!

Thanks Everyone!

I am really trying to stick to my training plan. It certainly is about time I do so

This user's post has been ignored.

Groin injury is coming along i guess. Saw another doctor yesterday who is a triathlete herself. She said to try and stay away from activities that hurt it...but that some pain is OK and that i will likely need to just manage the pain and be smart. She said i could do my 80 mile ride scheduled for this weekend....but i am unsure whether to listen to her or the other doctor. I have not workout out since monday evening (feels like forever ago!). However, with 10 weeks away i know i still have plenty of time to get ready for LP...so i might actually be cautious and skip the long ride...and take a few more days totally off.

Thanks for asking

Haha better late than never

I have never used TI...i had the dvd once but lost it. I should prob get on it...i need SOMETHING to help my swimming

This user's post has been ignored.

This user's post has been ignored.

In my completely non medical qualifications I would say skip the ride and rest until next week. Start fresh on Monday and re-evaluate how it is feeling. I've tried to do things too quick too many times and have paid in the end.

Anybody else alittle bummed out about all the doping allegations in cycling?

absolutely. all these allegations and actual proof of usage take away from the pureness of a great athletic sport

So I need some opinions from the group on HIM nutrition. We're starting to get into longer workouts on the weekends (e.g this Sat we are doing a 40 min OWS followed by a 3 hour bike and a 20 minute run) and I want to get my nutrition nailed down. 

Specifically, I want to figure out how many calories I need to take in per hour. When training and racing Wildflower I didn't use any formulas or anything to calculate nutrition intake, I just went by hunger and thirst. I train/race with gatorade endurance and water for my liquid and a combo of honey stingers and shot blocks for my "solid" nutrition. For Wildflower I ended up taking in ~22oz of gatorade endurance, ~33 oz of plain water, one pack of honey stingers and a half pack of shot blocks. I was racing for a little less than 4 hours.

Can anyone shed some light on figuring out what number of calories/hour to start out with when experimenting with nutrition? I know I'll have to tweak since everyone is different but I just want to figure out a baseline to start from. I'm 5'11" tall and weigh right around 170 pounds. 

Also, Vineman is usually very hot (90-95 degrees). Knowing that, should I be trying out using salt caps or something similar during my training? If so, what is the normal amount you take per hour? Here in SF it's never close to that hot so I've not needed them in the past, but we will be training on the Vineman course so I will have some hot weather to practice in before race day.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer, I know nutrition can be a big challenge when racing the HIM distance so I want to get it right! 

I wish I could help, I'm too pretty clueless about the whole nutrition thing.

Tonight was a milestone in my training. I ran the whole 5k tonight and felt pretty good. Once again had some operator error on my garmin for about 1/2 mile (hit stop instead of lap) so I don't have a good time but I'm guessing just under 36 minutes. Once again, I know that is slow for everyone else but I'm fine with the time for now. Just building my base. Still on track for 12-15 miles this week.

My first reaction to this is to your comment:  "I just went by hunger and thirst".  By the time your body tells your brain it needs water/nutrition, it's often pretty late in the game, especially with long distances.  I think you know this, but I'll say it anyway.... you want to be proactive on your intake, not reactive.

I have think I have my long distance nutrition at a good point (there's always ways to improve though).  Short distance where the speed is much higher, I'm currently battling with cramping.  But in terms of long distance, the majority of my intake is liquid or gel form.  I actually switch off between HEED and Gatorade (in the same ride/run sometimes).  I can take Gatorade down a little faster than I can take HEED, but Gatorade also has more sugar.  So I lean more towards HEED during the majority of my ride and use the Gatorade to just get a little more down in between if needed on hotter days.  I'll typically go through about 1 bottle of HEED per hour on the bike (each bottle will have 1 3/4 scoops of HEED).  I'll also use Clif Shots and take one every 40-50 minutes while on the bike.  I keep a clifbar on the bike as well and try to nibble on it, but over a 3 hour ride, I'm may only get through 1/2 of it.  I also will take down a pack of Shot Bloks over a 1 1/2 hour time frame.  The math on that ends up being around: 250cal from HEED/Gatorade, 100cal from Clif Shot, 75cal from Shot Bloks per hour = 425cal.  Which is definitely on the high end for what people say you can even digest, but it works for me, but I'd suggest starting quite a bit lower... I originally started with about 300cal/hour but found that I during the run I faded quickly after about 5-6 miles of running.  I do however slow my consumption down to during the last 30 minutes of a ride, taking in only about 100cal from liquids only during those last 30 minutes on the bike, but right at the 30 minute mark I pop another clif shot so it's kicking in right when the run starts.

Running I will actually change up quite a bit.  I actually like to dissolve a packet of the clif shot into my 8oz hand held water bottle.  Gives me some nutrition and hydration, but more importantly keeps a more consistent intake of the clif shot instead of a glob every 45 minutes.  I'll down at least 8oz per 6-7miles of running (~8min/mile pace = 48min to 56 minutes), but if I am going >15 miles for the run, that's not going to be enough for me, so when the distance is longer, I'll be taking in 8oz every 5 miles (~40min).   I actually like to alternate between HEED, water with a dissolved clif shot, and gatorade every 5 miles if I have the choice.  So during the run I drop down to about 100-120cal/hour based on that kind of strategy.  Implementing the different fluid types can be tricky sometimes and I'll adjust it based on what the course offers as well.  I'm lucky enough that during long distance races I can take in just about anything that's not a solid (I have trouble chewing and breathing at the same time, but if I did get a solid down, it doesn't do anything bad to my stomach).


Sprint tris I barely take in anything, 5k runs I don't take anything at all, 10k runs I might take in an oz of fluid at 2-3 of the aid stations but most of the time the water just gets poured on my head instead.

I definitely wouldn't advice starting with that amount of intake though, except perhaps the run... I think my run intake might be more "normal" for people.  But on the bike... I'm like a buffet on wheels. 

Do you have the auto-lap feature turned on for the run?  I have mine set to auto-lap every mile during the run to get my mile splits.  That way I don't have to worry about pressing the lap button ever, unless I'm at a turn around point and want to be able to calculate my out time vs back time.