Fred D and Jason's (Tri808) Half Ironman Mentor Group CLOSED! (Page 6)

I love this ^ So I do trainer/interval work 2x a week and I have found that in the morning I have difficulty hitting my HR zones. Is this just a matter of getting the body to do what the mind doesn't want to do, or is it bc my heart just hasn't woken up yet and isn't ready to work hard? I don't usually have issues when I am on the trainer at night.  

I am not an expert by any means, but so far, I've found the bike to be the one place that I can push a little harder/further without injuring myself.  Running is high impact and can be hard on the body, so making sure to not jump up in volume too fast is important.  Swimming can be hard on the shoulders, especially if you're swimming reasonably fast/hard intervals (or if technique is lacking).  But with the bike, I've pretty much only had to concern myself with soreness (legs sore from previous days, crotch area getting used to sitting on the saddle for extended periods of time, shoulders/neck getting used to staying in aero position).

So if your hamstring doesn't bother you on the bike, my thought is that 28.5 miles is not too much given your current longest ride is 22.5.  Listen to your body, though....if something's not feeling right, bring your intensity back and reevaluate.

Also, regarding the hamstring issue, I've had very good luck with ART (better than massage, for me, as a chiropractor is likely to have more medical background than a massage therapist).  That said, if you've never done ART before, be prepared....it hurts like crazy, but makes you feel soooooo good after!

I'd be curious at Jason's and Fred's takes on this as well.  

For me (having created my own plan for my first HIM), I set up my workouts to be about an hour or less during the week (usually one in the morning and one at  night), and then hit my long workouts on the weekends.  Since I know that a) I have a knee injury, and b) that running is more likely to cause injuries for me, I put my long run in on Saturday (for fresher legs/body), and my long ride in on Sunday (as that's less likely to cause injury and I don't have time for 3+ hour rides during the week).

My (planned) schedule looked something like this:

Monday -- AM medium run, PM master's swim

Tuesday -- AM trainer ride, PM short run

Wednesday -- AM master's swim, PM medium run

Thursday -- AM trainer ride (harder than Tuesday's ride), PM master's swim session

Friday -- AM master's swim (optional)

Saturday -- long run, trainer ride (optional)

Sunday -- long ride, short transition run

Of course, I'm currently not running, so I'm doing walks in place of most of the runs....and am hitting most of my optional swim/trainer workouts, to "make up" for the fact that I'm not getting the fitness from running.  

I think for a lot of people, time management with our "real" lives comes into play, and we can't necessarily optimize our training for perfect sequence of workouts....or maybe we can and I just haven't learned how to do it quite yet!

Thanks for letting me join in. Here's my bio:

Here's my bio:

NAME: Anthony

PERSONAL: I'm a 55 year old dentist, married  for 26 years with 3 kids. Son 25, daughter 23, and son 16. The 2 oldest are out on their own and doing well.

STORY: Lost 40 pounds about 10 years ago so I started running in some local 5 and 10K's. In 2006 I found out there were sprint distance triathlons and not just Ironman so I thought I would give it a try. Luckily I found BT, did my first tri that Summer and have done 4 or 5 tris and a couple of dus each season since then. I do one HIM each year, but I probably won't ever move up to IM. I'm kinda slow but I have lots of fun.

2012: In January I had my first (and hopefully only) running injury when I slipped while warming up for a 5K and something sort of popped in my hip. Had to cut down on my running. Should have done more swimming and biking, but I didn't and did all my races undertrained, so I just took it easy and enjoyed the day.

2013: American Zofingen Duathlon Short Course in May. 1 or 2 olys, 1 or 2 sprints, and in September Toughman HIM, a great race just north of New York City with a challenging run.

CURRENT TRAINING: My running is coming back nicely although at my age I think my peak was a couple of years ago. I consider myself very lucky that when I hurt myself it was just a weird accident, and I have no chronic running issues. I think with some good bike training this Summer I can have a solid HIM in September.

Pretty much in agreement with Fred.  The one thing you want to consider is that FTP was designed as a cycling metric...not a triathlon metric.  By definition, it is the maximum amount of power you can sustain for one hour on the bike.  It has nothing to do with swimming before, or running after...and because it's a one hour test, and you would need to extrapolate that number to 56 miles...you can see why trying to pace your HIM based off a percentage of FTP can be a pure guess for first time, or even experienced power users.

Use % of FTP to estimate a number, then test it during your long rides.  See what power levels you can hold for 2.5 to 3 hours comfortably.  Once you have that number, test it with a brick to see how well you run after such an effort.

IMO, simply using % of FTP to pace a HIM is sort of like using a cake recipie to bake cookies. 

7 mile run today and a trainer ride planned for tonight. I wanted to hit the pool this afternoon but I swam last night so.. not a big deal.  

Happy training everyone!!!

Had/Having a great day!  Weather in Fresno right now is beautiful in the morning and gets up to mid 90s in the afternoon, so I took my son on a 6 mile run this morning, and when we got back my wonderful wife had breakfast made, then we took our time and got out to some farmer's markets and she dropped me and my bike off at the start of a route I love, and I went just under 30 miles with some hills.  Feeling great!

Love hearing about everyone else's workouts.  Great motivation!

Looks like Bryan punched his ticket to Vegas.

A local guy from Hawaii, Ben Williams, was the first overall amateur at 4:19. 

Decided for a complete rest day today (plus had a bunch of family fun stuff, so that helped with the decision).  I have a 5k tomorrow that I want to be able to race, though not expecting a PR performance.  Legs just a bit crisp after thursday/Friday, so didn't swim (plus, I missed the early group swim at Walden - had a blast at my son's baseball game - and want to do my first OWS at Walden with some other folks around before I go solo there).

The way I look at it, though, is I'm taking today to get faster!  Soaking up the training...

Glad to hear others are out there getting after it.

Matt

Got a little too chatty in the pool today and had to cut my set short because lap time ran out. On the plus side, I think I met a new training partner. Trying to go out for a ride later after dinner digests.

Sooo... Where do I find a good bike? I'm going to need to buy one ASAP. I've been checking out bikesdirect.com. Any experience with them? My main selling point is cost. Not looking for anything over $1000. Less if possible. My local shops have little selection and are all overpriced. 

Jason,

Thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate them. I just invested in some Belgian Buttr and so far so good. I am really looking forward to this bike ride. I have never rode in a pack before and I will be riding with over 200 people next week so it will definately be interesting. I do think that I will have some struggles during the ride since this is more mileage then I have ever done before but I am riding in honor of my friend/mentor/co-worker who was killed in the line of duty in September so I know I will be able to finish each day for him.

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond everyone. I moved this weekend and we just got our internet back up so I am going to try and read through everything tonight and get caught up. I hope everyone is having a great training weekend.

(the other) Matt,

My original plan was to train strictly for the week long bike ride I have coming up this week. I signed up for the Olympic a month or two ago because the course is roughly the same for the HIM I am doing in October and wanted to see what I am getting myself into. Also, it is the 30th anniversary of the race so I am sure its going to be amazing with extra special things thrown in. I did not follow a specific training plan for the OLY and was just kind of doing my own thing since to me, it is going to be a B race (for the experience and lots of friends doing it). After my week long bike trip and this OLY, I am going to start a 4 month HIM specific plan and that will be my A race. I have a goal of 7hours (tough course with lots of climbing).

Wow thats an amazing time by Brian!! I remember reading his posts when he was active. I am glad to see that he punched his ticket to Vegas. I can't even imagine what it takes to get that fast.

Hi, I'd like to join ...

NAME:  tmoons/ Terrence (Terry) Moons

STORY: I'm 54 live in Ft Lauderdale, FL. I am a Criminal Defense Attorney in South Florida and am into the second year of endurance racing. I did my first Triathlons in 2012. Miserably failed the first sprint last September. I hyperventilated in the water about half way through and did not finish. That motivated me to then finished a sprint and the Ironman Miami 70.3 in October, a Half Marathon on Veterans day and  a Sprint Tri on Thanksgiving day.  I have always been active, mostly martial arts, soccer and running along Ft Lauderdale Beach with an ocean swim a couple times a week and decided that Triathlon would be a great way to put it all together. Ultimately I'd like to do some full Ironman or full distance but really think HIM is a perfect distance. I decided to race every month this year - except August - to immerse myself into the experience. I have learned a lot about training and myself during this time.

FAMILY STATUS: Married and a 15 year old son. His first tri was in January 2013- a HITS Open distance race in Naples, FL (100 m swim, 3mile bike ride, 1 mile run)

CURRENT TRAINING:  I'm getting about 8-15 hours a week depending on work schedule.

2013 RACES:

January: Swimming HOF 1 mile Open Water Swim; A-1-A Half Marathon; HITS Sprint Tri in Naples, FL.

Feb: Sprint Distance in Pt St Lucie FL.

March: Great Clermont Tri Int'l Distance, Clermont FL.  

April: Swim Miami 1 mile open water Swim; Nautica South Beach Classic Distance.

May: Rocketman Triathlon HIM Titusville, FL.

June: Motivation Man West Palm Beach HIM; USMS Pan American Masters Championships 1km distance swim, Sarasota, FL.

July: New York City Int'l Distance Tri.

September: Escape Miami Int'l Distance.

October/November: (another HIM but still deciding on Ironman Augusta 70.3, REV3 70.3 in Sarasota, Or the USAT Regional HIM in South Carolina.

December: Key West Olympic Tri (not yet registered)

MY GOALS:  (1) get up to 22-25 mph on the bike by end of this year (currently nearing 19/20). (2) get to 10:00-10:40 min mile for 13.1 run.

WEIGHT LOSS: . I'm 5'9" 175. Feel really good at 165-170.

Awesome fun. Congrats!!!