Ernie's Group - Closed (Page 6)

I comfortable in a normal riding position on my bike but don't ride in the drops much as I get the thigh in the gut problem.  Can't imagine being any lower than in the drops.  Maybe if I got rid of the gut . . .

If I do put on aero bars I'll do it at a shop where I know the guys there know what they're doing.  If there are any obvious fit problems, I'll get them taken care of then . . . for free (or the price of the aero bars)!

Thanks

I had interesting discussion with someone yesterday regarding rest vs recovery.  Here's my thoughts on the topic.  Rest is a passive activity.  It's taking a day off and laying around the house. Resting.  To me, recovery is an active activity.  Yes, it's allowing the muscles to rest but it goes beyond that. 

All training comes down to the same thing.  Stressing a muscle and then allowing the muscle to adapt and become stronger.  Depending on the intensity of the activity the longer the muscle needs to recover from the stress.  Which is why in endurance exercise, you limit the amount of high intensity exercise you do, as you want to exercise more frequently.

Back to recovery, it starts with how you structure your training.  For me, I structure my training on a repeating week.  The types of training are spread out as well as trying to mix intensity with long training.  There is no one week that works for everyone.  Second, nutrition plays a large part in recovery.  The first 30 minutes after exercise your body is primed to rebuild the muscles and most effectively uses nutrition.  You only need about 200 calories and it should be a mix of carbohydrates and protein.  Third, you should be getting sufficient sleep.  If you read about the Pros, they are sleeping/napping machines.  Fourth, I suck at this part but it's important to stretch and massage the muscles.  There are tons of good stretching programs on the net.  If you have the money, a professional massage works well but I use the Stick.  http://www.thestick.com/  There is also Trigger Point Massage http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.cfm?SKU=20707&item=20-2491&slitrk=search&slisearch=true  Finally light workouts can aid in recovery.  This is doing something in a very low heart for a short period of time to just flush the muscles.  This only needs to be done if you done a very high intensity activity like race.  The day after a hard race, I find a 500 yard swim at a slow pace helps with muscle soreness.

Anyway, I find that recovery helps more than rest.  If done correctly with the correct periodization in your training, you don't need a lot of whole days of rest.

Ernie

So, I have lost 15 lbs since starting and I wanted to share how. Well first off I have significantly cut down on fast food and starbucks. I have consistently been working out and have reduced my calorie intake. That is pretty much it in a nutshell. I havent counted calories or done a plan. I just eliminated junk for the most part. This is just the beginning however because I hope to be at 180lbs by the end of summer I am 225-229 depending on water retention and food intake.

I have been really stressed for time and have been on here less then I have wanted to be but as things seem to be clearing up I am spending more and more time with fitness. Plus the intensity of my runs and workouts has increased and will really be increasing in the next few weeks as I start my old fitness routine from back in the military.

Hey Phil,

Thanks for posting about your progress.  That's a great start and I'm sure you'll hit your goal by summer.  It's amazing how many calories get consumed because of convienence and snacking.  All it takes for most people is becoming aware of what or how much your eating.  Some good tips I've seen:

- Avoid getting calories through liquids.  Of course, beer has zero calories but be especially careful of sodas and sports drinks.  They have a lot of calories but little nutritional value.  The Gatorade is ok when you're into a long training session (more than 90 minutes) but water works just as well otherwise. 

- The less processed the better.  This means fruits, vegatables, healthy nuts and lean meat over twinkies and ding dongs.  Of course, it usually takes longer to prepare more natural foods.

- Be careful of the sauces, dressings, gravy, etc.  It's easy to turn something healthy and low calorie into something not so good.  Salads and baked potatos are good examples.  Be careful of the salad dressings, sour cream, cheese, butter, etc that you put on food.

- Learn portion size.  A friend of mine told me he would have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, so wasn't getting many calories.  Then he figured out his bowl held 4 servings and that he was taking in about 900 calories at breakfast.  Servings sizes are usally smaller than you think.

Hopefully these help.

Ernie

Phil,

    Congrats on the weight loss, 15lbs is something to be proud of.  A good number is 1-2 pounds of weight loss a week, seems like your right on schedule.  As most are aware rapid weight loss is generally followed by a rapid weight gain.  The one saying I like, and seems to hold true is;  "It is easier to get in shape than to stay in shape."  Good luck with your future training and weight goals. 

 Greg

If you are it will be the first race where there is only one person.  Every race I've been to has been a hodge podge of different strokes.  I'm looking forward to seeing how you guys do.

Ernie

From what I've seen at sprint races with a lot of beginners, you'll see people start way too fast and either stopping at the ends of the pool or have to resort to a stroke with their head out of the water.  

Ernie

I'm not sure why you would want to do this.  It seems excessive even for marathon training and I'm not sure how it fits into your goals.  If triathlon's are your goal, it's going to be hard to get in your other training.  Also, you want more variety in your training.  Running the same distance 4 days in a row will not help as much as doing a variety of diferent distances and paces.  Here's a link to Hal Higdon's advanced marathon plan.  http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/advancedint.htm  You'll see it doesn't advance in volume in a linear fashion. 

I'm not a coach but I think this plan has a good chance of you spending time with an orthopedic surgeon.  Getting to this level would take years of base training.  As you move up it often takes more than a week before you should move up 10%.   An important aspect of run training is building up the soft tissue (ligaments, tendons, itb) to with stand the impact of running.  It takes a while for that to happen.

Ernie

I used to run consistently 10-12 miles daily back in 2005. My goal is to build up to the base of 10 miles a day and then cut down dramatically to 30 miles a week and do much faster runs. I agree with the lack of speed work, but my body doesn't really ever get beat down by running since I have a running background.

 BTW this bike is a piece of junk thank God it is on a trainer tomorrow. I had to replace the rear tire because it was completly bent. So I am going to begin saving 10 dollars or so a week and will put that to a new bike come summer time.

I'd be interested in hearing about the two races this past weekend.  What was different than what you expected?  What went right/wrong?  What would you do different?  Will you change your training?

Ernie

Question for the whole group. 

 Anyone ever get "runner's high" while riding their bike?  I had a pretty good run and was feeling the high today, but I got to thinking about it and I have never experienced this while riding?  I have heard it said that the shaking/impact motion on your body and more specifically on your brain might be attributed to runners high.  Somehow it releases endorphins?  Not sure if I really believe this or if it is an old wives tale.  Anyway this would help to explain why I never feel it while riding long distances.  About the only thing I feel on long rides are tired legs, lactate build-up, and bonking from time to time. 

Greg  

If it is the shaking maybe you need to ride cross country? No I have never gotten a bikers high.

If "runner's high" means anything more than some days are easier than others, then I've never experienced it.  If it does just mean that some days are easier than others, then I'm as likely to feel it cycling as running. 

I kept a pretty good record of distances, average speeds and heart rates while riding last summer.  And while there is some correlation between average speed and average HR, there is a pretty wide variation.  In other words, some days it's a struggle to average 17 mph with an HR up around 160 and other days I could do 30 miles in an hour and a half and wind up with an average HR in the low 150s.  I guess I'd call the latter type of experience "bikers high".

I've felt that exercise rush after both biking and running.  It seems to happen more when it's a particularly intense or long session.  For biking, I feel that way more when I ride with the local bike club and it's been a hammerfest.  I think for the 100+ mile things, it's more of a relief to just get off the bike.

Ernie

A much more realistic volume of running.  The only thing I would add is what type of run are you going to do.  I assume the Sunday run is the long run but how are you going to run the other days.  Tempo, hill work, Z2, etc. 

Ernie

I forgot to ask, how did everyone's Feb go?  What did you learn?  Are you going to change your training? 

Feb was ok for me.  I hit my swimming mark and got in more road time on the bike than expected.  It was my lowest run volume in about a year.  I tried to add in Crossfit training and it killed my volume.  It's ok though as off season is for experimenting.

Ernie