Ernesto's group (4th season) - Closed (Page 6)

If you're already doing it, trail running is great for strengthening the stabilizers. It is also another good way to nurse injuries because the stride is short and choppy, with much less impact than asphalt or concrete.

To keep the anaerobic engine up, you can also do stadium bleachers, you run them up and walk down. It is a good exercise with minimal impact.

I hope you heal soon, being injured really sucks.

I know exactly what you mean!  70 mins this afternoon in strong winds.  Averaged 25+ MPH with the wind 14 MPH going against. Sheesh!  Trying out a new "less aggressive" fit on the bike.  Feels a lot better in aero position. Think I'm going to enjoy riding a bit more than I did last year.

Ernesto-  as far as my cadence goes I generally keep it pretty quick.  I switched up my stride about a year and a half ago to a minimalist style.  Switched to a five finger shoe and mid foot rather than heel strike.  Took care of the pain I was having in my feet and knees. Don't run as much in the five fingers anymore, now I'm in the New Balance Minimus. I don't feel like I'm "pounding" the pavement while I'm running, just afterwards.

Trail running is a great idea. Its been a while since I've been, lots of fun. I just have to watch out for crazy mountain bikers where I run. Thanks for the tip.

It's good to see a good group forming.  Now that I have a minute, here's my bio:

NAME:  Scott

STORY: Married to my dream girl (Jennie) with two wonderful children.  I started running track in high school (1 & 2 mile) and over the years kept running distances from 5k up to the marathon.  After running my second marathon in 2005, I decided to try my hand at triathlon.  I did my first sprint in 2006, my first 2 half IMs, and my first IM.  IM Germany 2006 ended up as a DNF (long story involving horrible weather, a non-wetsuit swim, and hypothermia).  In the spring of 2007 I completed IM Arizona in 15:38.  I attempted two more IMs (IM Florida 2007 and IM France 2008) but both ended up being DNFs.  My training during 2008-1011 was pretty much non-existant, but since I've moved to CO this past summer I've started get my training back going.

CURRENT TRAINING: Training has been pretty good since this past July.  It has been mostly run focused until April and now it is going to be full on swim, bike, run training.

2011  RACES:  I haven't attempted a tri since IM France in 2008.  I ran a few 10ks and the San Diego Rock and Roll Marafun.

2012 RACES:  My first "A" race of the year was this past weekend at the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k in Charleston, SC.  I was hoping for a sub-40 minute time but I came in at 40:06.  It seems I misjudged where the timing chip mats were and I started my watch 10 seconds late.  My last 5k was roughly 50 seconds faster than the first 5k, but not realizing my first mile was 10 seconds slower than I thought caused me to miss my goal by a hair.  Even though I'm still a ways off my PR set in 2007 (37:35), I was 17 seconds faster this year over the same race last year ( I've run this race every year starting in 1989).  My other major races this year will be the Boulder Half IM in August and the Denver Rock and Roll half marafun in September.  I'll try to run some other running races throughout the year.

WEIGHTLOSS: No need for weightloss here.

GOALS:  My goal is to successfully balance family and training.  I'd like to go under 6 hours for the Boulder Half IM and get as close as possible to my half marafun PR (1:27:44) in September.  I'm also gunning to still go under 40 minutes sometime this year for the 10k.

Now for today.  Jennie is out for a run while I decide about my training today.  Jennie and I officiated at the AF Academy track meet today and I worked the pole vault event in 30+ mph winds.  In the process of trying to hold the crossbar in place long enough for the vaulters to attempt to clear it, I took a couple of shots from the bar as it came down.  I have a pretty good lump on my right elbow and an open wound on the back of my right shoulder.  I was scheduled for a swim and a bike, so the swim is definitely out.  I may still try the bike workout but I might go conservative and do it on the trainer so if my shoulder bothers me too much I can just quit right then instead of still having to go miles back to the house.  I certainly developed a big respect for what it takes to put on a pole vault even after today!

I hope everyone else is enjoying some good training weather like we are here in Colorado!

I have been reading a lot lately about HR training and I am up for giving it a try.  I ran 5 miles yesterday trying to stay at/under 150 and felt like I was crawling.  Then tried to drop it even further today running 7 miles at/under 140 which is roughly where I should be according to Maffetone (180-age).  This was even slower than yesterday, obviously, coming in somewhere around a 13:20 pace. 

Should I try to keep all of my runs in this range for now (other than races) or vary them with shorter tempo runs?  And if I vary them, how often should I throw them in?  Also, any ideas/rough estimates as to how long before I should start to look for improvement?  I am not impatient or in a hurry, just looking for some idea of what to expect.

I have been building my run base slowly since last Spring and am pretty comfortable with 5 mile runs at around a 12 minute pace right now, but have not added hill work or intervals as I would like to increase my base distance a little higher before focusing on speed.  My two primary goals (in no particular order) are to finish a HM and run a sub-30 minute 5K this year.  My last race was slightly over two minutes off of my 5K goal. 

Ok, 

Here's my belated intro, looking forward to training!!

NAME:  Justin

STORY: I've wanted to get into Tri for a few years now, but was sidetracked working on other things, so I've finally had the chance to put it on the front burner and devote some time to it (This could be said of endurance training in general). I'm hoping to work my way into doing a couple 70.3's by next year, and perhaps even becoming semi-competitive at the distance (in AG terms), and then in 2014, working my way into a full IM.

CURRENT TRAINING: I had some decent bouts of illness (and laziness) over the winter, so am more or less starting back at square one in terms of training, so I've been working on getting started again without injuring myself (aka: making myself not go overboard, which is hard :D)

2011  RACES:  Nothing in terms of Tri, but did a couple of 10k's, and a half-marathon late in the season.

2012 RACES:  Nothing so far, but I have an Olympic scheduled in June, a (possible?) 70.3 in July, and another Olympic in September (hopefully I'll see a good improvement in times). Also, a half-marathon in October.

WEIGHTLOSS: I'm at 203 now, and I'd like to drop about 25lbs, and in the last month or so have dropped about 3lbs, slowly but surely...

GOALS:  I guess my goals for 2012 are pretty straight forward, just to get started in Tri's, and to build up the base fitness I'll need to really ramp it up next year.

3 hr ride this morning in the mountains. Great weather, fantastic scenery.

At the beginning, every run should be at MAF.  The notion of tempo runs really doesn't matter when you work at improving aerobic conditioning.  The feeling of running ridiculously slow is exactly where you should be.  You have to train your mind to be OK with doing something that just feels too easy.  Be patient as results will come.  One thing I liked to do was to run once a week on a track the same distance each time (maybe 3-5 miles) and chart my times.  The track ensures that the conditions are always the same.

In terms of results, I saw changes within a month.  Six weeks after starting MAF training, I PR'd a 5 miler race dropping my pace from 7:10 to 6:52.  My longer runs have also improved dramatically.  Whether you are a fast or slow runner you will see positive results if you can get over the mental part.

^^^^what he said.  I started seeing improvements much faster than I expected, and as far as I can tell they're still coming.  At the beginning it should feel ridiculously easy.  I'm starting to reach the stage now where I'm actually having to work to get my HR up high enough...

Mark - as always, beautiful photo...

It's Easter weekend, which in the UK means a 4 day weekend, so we went for a lovely group ride yesterday organised by one of our club coaches.  She lives about 40 miles away in an area with some very flat riding, so it was the first really flat ride I've done in ages.  Really enjoyed it.  The group was quite mixed with at least one very good (but very friendly and patient) rider, one older person who was looking to pace himself, and a bunch of us in between.  It was interesting seeing how the different people, with different experience, dealt with the group riding.  It became fairly obvious by the end who were not good options to be riding next to (not stable, or hogged the middle of the lane), and who were really good people to get on their wheel.  During the ride we had two sections where we did little races.  I've never done anything like that, so it was interesting and fun, especially because we were all drafting, so there was quite a lot of tactics.  However, to our surprise, Kevin won the first one and I won the 2nd!  For mine it was a nice straight section of road, and I was the only person with aero bars, so I put them to good use...

After the ride we all piled back into Donna's house for quick showers and then headed out to the local pub for a very sociable (and filling) meal, before packing up the bikes into the cars in the pitch black and driving home.  It was a lovely use of an extra day off work.

The best part for me was that we cycled 58 miles and despite the fact that I've only cycled further than that twice, I really finished with something left in the tank.  The average pace was higher than we'd generally manage around home (as it should be when there were no hills), and I didn't feel like I was suffering from it.

We're planning another long ride for tomorrow, so today is just a short run and the swim session.

Agreed- Mark, that is a great photo!  I've taken some when I was on the trail here.  The view of Pikes Peak is amazing at the end of a long run, but I have yet to post them.

Yesterday I did a 45minute aerobic run followed 8 x 20sec strides.  Felt good after a long day at the track.  I can't compare yesterday's run to prior on the same route because of the strong headwinds heading back home.  I was happy with it non the less.  45minutes, 12:41pace HR 152.  The last time I ran this route HR was 155 at a pace of 11:53.  But like I said Scott mentioned yesterday...Gusts were over 30mph.  After today's track meet I am scheduled for a 1:45' aerobic ride.  Not sure what the temp will be like so that may be indoors.

Welcome to all the new folks!  Stick with the MAF training...it will eventually pay off.

Nice pic Mark!  Looks like a lovely ride!

I forgot to post the link for my race last weekend, so here it is:http://connect.garmin.com/activity/163341802

After a few years of crap training, running at MAF since July has gotten me back in decent shape as you can see from the link.  I'm looking forward t seeing how much I'll improve by the end of the summer.  I started off the day with a 4.06 mile run in 34:08.  Like Jennie, I'm scheduled for a bike ride later so we'll see how that goes.

I wanted to mention for all the people new to the group.  As you have already noticed all the old members are focused on training at MAF and thanks to Ernesto are believers in the Big Book!  I am not currently training at MAF but it is not because I am disregarding the method.  I moved to 6900ft last July and the hills and altitude made it impossible to train given the fitness I was at at the time.  With Ernesto's help we can up with a HR that I could maintain while still actually "running" at the time it was 156bpm and my running pace was around 14:00.  Training was very un regulated for me adjusting to a new life so progress was slow.  Lately I've been at a HR of 153 pace of 13:00.  Now I'll work of continuing to train at lower HR's (beat by beat) as the pace continues to pick up.  

Just wanted everyone to know why my HR and numbers are different than others in the group.  Guess I've always had to be a little different...  But thanks to Ernesto and the support of the group I hung in there and the results speak for themselves!  AND..  I don't HATE the hills like I did 6 months ago!

Had a good long run today.   80min slow pace, or at least an RPE of easy.  I don' have a heart rate monitor and my Garmin broke right around christmas time, so it's just off of feel right now on long runs.  My nike+ said 9miles, but I used mapmyrun.com and it said 8.75 so I used that one.  I felt great, didn't push the pace at all and felt like I could have gone an hour more! During the week I normaly run along a trail that is marked every 1/4mile so I can see how fast I am.  Back on the bike tomorrow and the pool on tuesday!

I'm having a hard time deciding on a HIM training plan to use.  The Kerrville Tri Sept 30 will be my first one ever.  When I look at the beginner training plan on here it just seems like it's not enough to get me ready for the race.  I'm just kind of "in training to train" mode until the end of May and would like to use a 16-18 week program...Any ideas?

8 mile run tomorrow half mary here I come!

Joe - Congratulations on a great race!

Hey Brent, I'm going to be in Houston (Hilton Houston North, close to I-45 and the Beltway 8). Do you think it would be feasible to get a bike ride in the area? Any "safe" places to roll out on my roadie that you know of?

I will be there Monday through Friday. At some point, I'll drive to The Woodlands and run around the lake to bring some memories of IMTX, really looking forward to that one.

This goes to everybody:

The ones that have been in the group in the past know already, but it isn't bad to reiterate. I strongly suggest to all the members of the group to purchase and thoroughly read "The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing" by Dr. Phil Maffettone. You will find an abundance of easy to follow tricks and tips to become a better athlete, get leaner, faster, efficient and race better.

The main focus of the book is training smart, and not hard. Everybody in this group that has put it to the test will tell you that this is no bull. The book sells pretty cheap on the kindle version, like two bucks. The paperback version is inexpensive too and it will get you more speed than any gadget you could ever purchase.

If anybody wants to chime in and share their own stories on the success of their training based on this philosophy, do it!