brick94513-GoGoGo Mentor Group - Closed For Now! (Page 6)

OK... two bricks this weekend. Swim, bike yesterday and a bike, mini-run today. Really trying to work on improving my stroke.... counting strokes per 25m and working on my glide. So far my best is 16 strokes for 25m.  This has been a great weekend to ride. Sunny and 70s. Lots of wind, but that's normal here. I live in rural southeastern Virginia and there are literally hundreds of miles of back country roads to ride and run. Everything is fairly flat, but there are a few hills here and there. Wind is our hills.... if that make sense. I'm enjoying reading all the posts about nutrition. I went paleo a long time ago and highly recommend it. Check out the book The Paleo Diet for Athletes.... great read. In short, if it has an ingredient list... I try to avoid it. OK..... hitting the honey-do list until 1..... then a little shad fishing till dark. Enjoy the day, y'all.

Croixfan,
That bike is SCHWEET!!!

16 to good, unless you are 7 feet tall

Oh yes, wind is brutal.  I would rather climb hills than face a nasty headwind.  Its just so demoralizing.  You see flat road ahead, but are struggling to move forward.  I hate the wind, well, unless its at my back!

In training, it's definately mountain biking (I've been mtbing off and on since the mid 80's.  I have strong technical skills but am still building endurance).  However, if it's road riding (which is currently done on a mtb with city tires) or riding the rollers, then running wins easily!  So far, I have just not found the love for road riding at all...  pool swimming is sometimes fun, but mostly just frustrating (with a bit of mind numbing boredom) as I'm trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing.

Running has actually surprised me, I started last July (after never having run before in my life) and couldn't run one lap at the track without walking...  I read tons, followed a couch to 5k plan last fall, and have been trying to hit 4 runs/week keeping everything at the Z2ish endurance level.  Running sucked the first month or so, but since then has really grown on me!  I honestly look forward to lacing up the shoes and hitting the trails these days, go figure!

In a race, I LOVE the swim.  I'm not very fast, but there's just a massive excitement of swimming with so many other people.  The adrenaline of the race, the contact, the blindness of the water and the challenge of trying to find the damn bouy when sighting.  It's all just so cool!

The bike was great in the XTERRA I did with a decent amount of technical riding mixed in, but pretty boring in the regular tri.  In both cases it was more of a survival feeling than actual fun, and I'd say the run was the same way.  I'm not sure how anyone could actually enjoy the run in a triathlon.  For me, training runs are relaxing and enjoyable, but when racing it's a matter of controlled pain and discomfort till you finally reach the finish line...

Tim,

I saw you mention using a foam roller while stretching in your training logs.  What is it, and what does it do?

Foam rollers are used for myofascial release.  I believe highly in using them.  I like to stretch then roll through my IT bands, VMO, piriformis, gluts, groin, and hamstrings.

Foam rollers come in three densities: soft(red) don't bother, medium (white), and hard (black).  If you've never done this before, I would suggest you start with the white roller and work up to the black.  It will hurt really bad at first, but with consistency you will find the pain diminishes and it becomes quite refreshing.

Here's an article I found on the internet that explains myofascial release and how to use the roller:

http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/MultiPiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_91_A_PageName_E_ArticleMyofacialRelease

Running is very addictive.  Before my injury, I was up to 35 miles/week.  I found that the more I ran, the more I craved to get back out and run the next day.

A person posted this video on the main bulletin board.  I found it quite informative, so I thought I would pass it along:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ctBUV08_o&feature=related

Richard,

Thanks for the guidance on being careful with the speed work.  I definitely need the base to be built up AND my concern is the joints as you mention.  Will take it nice and slow.

Curt

Well since I can't really swim and my body aches, I'll go with the bike!  Suspect that will always be the case -- the bikes got speed and it has the "toy" factor that are not present with either the run or swimming.  When I mentioned to someone I was looking at triathlons, their response is "those guys have great toys!".

Oops that's not Richard.  He's still hasn't joined us.  He is too busy drinking mai tais in the Floridian sun!

Sorry William -- looked at the list of names wrong!

Thanks for letting me in your group, guys. I am also the member of another group, but I'm thinking I need two groups given how inexperienced I am....

NAME: Trina

STORY: Athlete growing-up  (softball and volleyball). Totally new to endurance sports.  Have exercised on gym equipment consistently for 8 years (usually about three times a week on the elliptical for 30 minutes). Received a hybrid bike for Christmas 2008. Rode it like crazy around the lake in front of my house the entire year. Don't care to ride in sub 30 degree weather, so thought I'd swim on cold days once winter arrived. Realized I'd be doing 2 out of the 3 tri sports, and being the goal-oriented and somewhat obsessive person that I am, thought it would be fun to start running and train for a triathlon. Have been training since the beginning of December 2009. I currently work out of the home and my business is pretty much running itself, so I have a LOT of time to train.  

FAMILY STATUS: Married for 23 years. One grown son. Two schnauzers and a mean cat.
 
CURRENT TRAINING: 2x balanced 20 week plan.

PAST RACES: (2010) Hope For Haiti 5K run, YMCA Chili Day Multisport Festival Triathlon (Sprint). Prior to this year I've never raced.

WEIGHT: Definitely an issue for me. I've lost 20 lbs since December with my tri training, but I've still got about 40lbs to lose. I'm 5'10" and I am not a small woman (nor do I want to be), but I do want to have a healthy BMI ratio, so that's what I'm striving to achieve. 

GOALS: I am racing in my first outdoor/OWS in two weeks at Lonestar. I'm pretty nervous about it. I would like to be able to do a couple more sprint distance tris this summer, and by next year be able to do an Oly. Running is definitely my weak point (that's putting it lightly), so I know what I'll be working on in the off-season.

Edited by kickitinok 2010-04-11 4:27 PM

It's pouring rain, and I've got a 65 minute run today.  It will be my longest ever treadmill run, if I make it the whole way...  I'm trying to decide what to watch. 

I personally like listening to music when I run. My favorite running band is Particle. Launchpad is a wonderful instrumental album and I could swear it was made for training.

Man....I just did the brick from h*ll. To make a long story short, hubby was riding with me on the cycle portion. It's really busy around the lake today since its a nice day. The bike trail winds through through the street at times. The first intersection is on an incline. A really old lady driving a car didn't notice she had the EFFING right of way, so she kept slowing down then accelerating then slowing down....by the time I realized I was going to have to stop because she was jellying, I was going really slow and on an incline. Got my right foot out of my pedal, but no go on the left because I had already lost my balance. That's cool because I've fallen over before and it didn't hurt, BUT my husband decided at the very moment the old lady and I were playing chicken to speed-up and pull up next to me. So when I fell over, I fell over onto his front wheel and the knob on his wheel axle  (don't know the correct terminology ) caught me square in the right kidney.  Oh Lord in Heaven that hurt - I think I almost passed out. All I can remember is screaming out in pain and my husband freaking out. I laid there for a couple of minutes while he calmed me down. He lifted my shirt in back and I've got a huge bruise. His front wheel is totally fubar.

So I was just crying and walking around trying to get rid of the pain. Blood running down my leg - there were quite a few people staring at me. I felt like just giving up and going home. But then I thought "Hey....HTFU and get on your bike and train!" So after a quick check to make sure my bike was OK,  I got on my bike and rode 12 miles and then ran two miles. My back felt fine on the bike, but once I started running, I could feel the injury in my back and it radiated through my body into the front of my belly. Felt almost like a side stitch, but worse. I wonder if I should go to the doctor?

Does anyone else have trouble getting your left foot out of the Look Keos? My right comes out just fine, but the darn left one is difficult at times. Is there something I can do to make it easier??? I've only had them two weeks and I've fallen twice.


 


 

Edited by kickitinok 2010-04-11 4:40 PM

I ride the Look Keo Carbon pedals.  You should be able to adjust the tension on the pedal.  My guess is your left pedal retention is set greater than the right.  At the rear of the pedal, there should be an allen bolt with a little +/- pictogram.  Simply loosen up the retention on the right, turn the bolt toward the ( - ) sign.

I was waiting for my wife to get home from running the Santa Cruz Half Marathon, so I could pass of the kids and go for a run.  Now the wind is blowin' and it's raining hard.  I think I'm just going to pass altogether.

Trina,

Switched yesterday from the SPD's to the Look and took my first tumble -- so don't feel like the lone ranger!  My son and I tried to kill ourselves today when we came across a stretch of loose gravel on a country road.

Be safe.

Curt

I hate it that you fell over, Curt, but it does kind of make me feel better to know I'm not the only one. Now H and son are telling me I shouldn't ride with the clipless pedals for safety reasons. I LIKE the clipless pedals because they make me so much faster. I'm keeping them. Hope I don't regret it. Going to take the earlier suggestion to try and loosen the setting on the left pedal. Thanks guys.

I use the Look Quartz (SPD) on my MTB and the Look Keo Carbons on my TT bike.  Yes, you will come come out of the SPDs faster, which is beneficial for off-road riding.  The downside is the pedals tend to have more float.  Whereas, the Keos allow for a much more solid mating surface and power transfer.  As you both have found out, they require a little more force to clip out.  Until you get more time on the pedals, start with the retention very loose.  As you progress, continue to tighten the retention.  You'll be shocked at how little time it will take before you are cranking down on the retention.

Alright, got a little break in the weather and got off my butt for a short run.  Kept it pretty pedestrian not letting my average HR get out of Zone 2.

Pretty excited that tomorrow morning I'm going to get my body fat percentage analysized hydrostatically.  Using various calculations, I range from 7 to 10 percent.  So, it will be interesting to get a definitive percentage before race season get into full season.  I'll share the results tomorrow.

The nice thing about the speedplays is they have dual-sided entry.  My MTB pedals are dual entry, but the Keos are one-sided.  Of coarse, everytime you stop the pedal is upside down.  So frustrating! 

Jeez, got all excited and its next Monday, not tomorrow.  Keep you updated.

QOTD : I love the bike!!!  I love to mountain bike the most, but also learned to love the road almost as much.  It's hard to train for MTB racing when you commute and don't get home till late.  I can put a couple lights on the road bike and rail during the week and hit the trails on the weekend.

Race report:  Today was an INCREDIBLE DAY for racing in Moline Illinois!  It was partly sunny and 66 degrees for a high.  Cat 3 went off at 10am.  I started about mid pack and immediately put some passes down in the double track before we took a turn into the single track.  Unfortunately, that's where I ran into a bit of bad luck.  Somebody caused a pile up on the first hill in the single track causing about 50-60 riders behind them to bottleneck.  Those lucky enough to be in front of the crash were able to escape untouched for the rest of the race.  That really urked me because a guy I went trail riding with last week and waited for all day to catch up with me was able to beat my by 2 minutes becuase of this and 2 other incidents I had.  After the bottle neck I started putting down some passes.  Until, one of the guys I was about to pass couldn't make it up the hill.  He jumped off his bike and blocked me.  I couldn't get out of my clips and fell over.  Got back up and caught him again.  Repeat!!!, (seriously) he did it again.  This time I got out of the clips but ended up kicking my chain of the sprocket.  I had to stop and get the chain back on, but I caught him again and put the pass down along with several others.  

With all the bad luck (but hey, that's racin')  I still ended up pulling off 29th place over all and 13th in my age group.  I felt good about my performance and really felt good about how I road in the technical portions of the track ( a big weakness of mine)

Lessons learned:
1.  Start up front!!  I'll always try to get to the single track first from now on to stay away from people who can't ride well and cause pile ups.
2.  I really dialed in my pre-race nutrition.  I felt great eating 2 bowls of organic oatmeal with almond topping and a hard boiled egg for breakfast, whole wheat bagel with peanut butter for a snack 2 hours before the race, a power bar 45 minutes before race time and 20oz gatorade 15 minutes before race time.
3.  Put less water in my camelback.  I had about 24oz too much in there that I didn't use during the race.

Off to bed for some much needed sleep.

Off to bed for some much needed rest.