JohnnyKay's Group - CLOSED (Page 6)

After a 4 day break (not of my choosing but life gets in the way sometimes) I got a workout in today.  Did a little of all three, stationary bike, treadmill, then the pool.  Tomorrow I will run and swim.  We now have almost enough daylight to run after work.  Within the next 2-3 weeks I will be able to get back out and run my usual routes.  The bike is the part I am most concerned about.  Still have to get a bike but the stationary bike is working for now.  Plan is to purchase a bike in March, which will give me two full months on it before the Sprint in May. 

Reading the posts of the experienced triathletes is inspiring!  Keep it up as you really do have an influence on us newbies!  I still remember the first triathlon I saw.  My wife and I were running a 5K at Callaway Gardens and there was an oly tri going on at the same time.  I remember looking at all the competitors, old and young, and telling my wife, "These people are freaks.  I want to be a freak!"  And so my path to this sport began. 

Hey I have been to Calloway Gardens. I actually use to live in Douglasville, GA. Keep it up training only gets easier.

You really made a big change in location from GA to NJ!  I love snow but still prefer living in the south.  Did you ever do the Callaway Tri?

No I never did that tri, this is actually going to be my second tri season. I actually grew up in NJ, lived in TN for a few years and came back home to the mother land.

"Every time I think I'm out they keep pulling me back in!"

Yesterday was a rest day and for no perceptible reason at all, halfway through the day I develop a wicked case of tendinitis in my foot.  I wanted to run today, but I can barely walk so that's not gonna happen.  I wish I could just get one week where I get all of my training in.  Just one week.  I'm supposed to do 7 miles tomorrow, I'm going to try and get it in, but I don't know.  This sucks.

Nice spin and run tonight. Days are slowly getting longer and we're seeing temps climb into the 40s and 50s this week. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather. Hoping for a REAL bike ride this weekend. I like spinning, but given the choice I'll take the open road every time. Might even do a few night rides. Swimming and weights tomorrow. Hope everyone's having a great week!

GEAUX SAINTS!!!

Ice packs help! Hope you're better today.

Question about stationary bikes -  There are two types in our recreation center that I use.  One type is a Reebok spin bike.  It has a magnetic front wheel, nothing electronic to monitor your RPMs, distance, etc.  The tension on the front wheel is adjusted by a small lever with no markings or clicks or anyway to know that I did this on level 4 and this on level 8.  The higher you pull the lever the tighter the tension.  I have ridden this bike a few times but don't know what I should be doing to get a good workout with it.

The other bike does have settings for aerobic, strength building, etc.  It has an electronic pad that gives time, distance traveled, RPMs, calories burned (which I don't think is accurate at all) and some other details. 

Any suggestions for a good workout on these type of bikes?  Do I just aim to ride for 30 mins, spinning away?  Increase difficulty and see how long I can go?  Thanks for any tips/suggestions.

If it was me I would ride the Reebok spin bike and set a certain amount of time as the goal.  Then I would change the tension throughout my ride, this way you can very the riding experience and difficulty based on how you feel.  You could ride hills, flat, rolling terain the key would be your heart rate.  As you said you don't think that the other bike is measuring your output correctly anyway and you may getting a false sense of the level of your work out.   Perceived exertion is based on how you are feeling and not what the computer is or isn't saying.  I think the key to telling you how hard you are working would be your heart rate.  There are numerous bikes in my gym and I am sure that they all measure the RPMs, distance and calories different from one minute to the next and the only thing I trust is the time.

The spin bike is probably better.  And more adjustable too.  If you have an HR monitor, that would be a good way to check against your perceived effort.

If there are spin classes at the center, that's another way to get a good workout done and let someone else dictate the variables to a degree.

Thanks for the suggestions.  The only negative is the spin bike seat is killing me.  Ordered some biking shorts so the extra padding will be great to have.  Will ride and swim tonight.

May sound contrary to comfort, but on the spin bikes I wear thinner tri shorts, not thicker. Do they have the type of spin bikes you can clip into or bring your own seat? I used to go to a class that used SPDs and brought my own seat on a post.

I find that you just have to toughen up your butt over the season. Thicker shorts or seat pads created more issues then they solved

You'll figure t out,
Pamela

I have a Spinner NXT and I really like it. I try to get up out of the saddle every three songs or so. In fact, when I put together my music mixes I intentionally add songs with slower beats for climbing. This give me a good workout and gets me off the seat.... makes my butt happier. I agree with the earlier posts: If your club offers spin classes, try one. If you can bring your own seat.... might be a good idea.... but I'd try adjusting the seat on the club bike first.

I can't wait either!!!!!!

It's been unusually cold here in southeastern VA for the past month or so. Looks like I'll finally be able to ride outside tomorrow! Temp should be around 43 by 9AM and that's warm enough for me. Looking forward to some sunshine and fresh air.

FYI - Sierratradingpost.com is have 50% off today, and has lots of tri shorts, some wetsuits, lots of running gear, etc, if anyone is interested.

Home with my daughter this morning while my son is off skiing. Not sure what the afternoon has is store for us, but the sun is shining!

I'm getting ancy to plan a race schedule for the summer, so that is one of my tasks today, to figure out which races I want to commit to.

I have the 305.  I like it and it is super handy.  I also got all of the accessories which really are necessary if you want to use it in multi-sport.  I would go for the more advanced versions if I had to do it over again, but chose the 305 for the price.  I got it on amazon, which has the best price I could find.  The one thing I would say I don't like, is that the pacing is all over the place.  It kind of bounces up and down a lot, and takes a while to "settle" on your real pace.

In other news, I just finished my 15 mile long run.  I did it in 2:27, which I'm totally happy with.  But it hurts a lot.  

A wise man once said: "Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awareness comes, it is excruciating."

Aggie!

Congrats on completing the 15 mile run...holy moly...I don't think I could run 15 miles if bears were chasing me! Great run

Just curious...do you know how many calories you burned?

(is "aggie" your name?)

Pamela

I burned 2080 calories, according to my Garmin 305.  I took in 300 calories in GU during the run.

My name is David.  Aggie is the nickname of those who attended Texas A&M University.

Ok... here's a couple of beginner's question:
How long should I wait after finishing my first sprint before attempting a second one? My first one is on 3/27.... but there's another one coming up at the end of April and one around the first of May. I'd like to do one of these. How many sprints would be realistic for a first-year rookie like me?

I had the same question earlier and read in another thread that some guys did as many as 6-8 in a season.  I am planning on 4 this year.  I have two on back to back weekends.  I am sure you will get some better answers from others.

It really depends on how long it takes you to recover and what kind of shape you're in when you finish the first one. I've known a guy who did an IM Distance Aqua-Bike and an Olympic on consecutive days!! So it depends on how you feel. I would say give yourself AT LEAST two weeks after the first one so you know how feel. If you recover quickly, then you could probably swing the second two close together. Last season was my first and I did two sprints, I probably could have done another, but I felt that was enough for my first season.

Hey John,

Last year I scheduled four and finished three sprint tri's. (I got sick and missed the last one.)

I read that you if you have multiple races close together (Joe Friel's Training Bible) to categorize them A, B, C.

For example, the Santa Barbara Tri at the end of August is my hometown and my "A+" race where I want to make my strongest showing.  My first race in Ventura the end of June I want to make a strong showing and make it a "B" race. The Onxard race is two weeks later and I plan to train right through it as if it's a brick   Then the Carp Tri end of September is my "C" race.

My Schedule:

6/27/10: "B" Race, Ventura Breath of Life Sprint Tri
7/18/10: "Train Through" Race/Brick, Oxnard Strawberry Fields Sprint Tri (nasty big wave rip tide filled ocean swim)
8/29/10: "A" Race, Santa Barbara Sprint Triathlon, big hometown Tri Club event.
9/26/10: "C" Race, Carpinteria Sprint Triathlon, wrap up the season here locally

Anyway, that's what I plan to do ..."best laid plans of mice and men"....

Pouring cats and dogs in Santa Barbara! Had to train indoors, yuk!

Pamela