Yanti & Salty RidiculoSnarky Almost Intelligent-Charming Manatees PART 4 - Full (Page 60)

I also keep thinking about your comment about buying a tri bike.

It's one of those things about triathlon that I have hang-ups about. I think it really sucks that someone's bike/helmet budget can determine a portion of their placing in a race. I was watching this poor girl beast-moding it up one of the hills in the triathlon  on an old mountain bike vs. the girls on their 4K TT bikes. I sit somewhere in the middle-likely closer to the mountain bike end, haha. 

Also, I hate that mechanical failure can also dictate your race. Something that could completely be out of your control. 

Hmmmmmm...those are just some of my thoughts.

• How did you feel about IM Calgary 70.3?  Good/happy.  Learned some lessons.
• How similar is the terrain of IMC and Calgary.  Have not researched a ton, but there are some pretty good hills on both bikes; run has similar elevation gain
• Training for tri for 10 months or training for 10 months?  11 months ago you were ___.  
• on the couch?
• a runner training for ___?
• Tri training for 10 months.  Started running in 2009.  Marathon Fall 2010, HM summer 2011 (same one this summer).  Late Nov 2011 started swimming and biking.  So 9 months, not 10

It looks to me like it would be in your best interest to build some good base and experience and go for 2014. I'll bet your body doesn't fall apart. In fact, I'll bet it gets stronger if you do the training responsibly. 

Remember that whole patience thing? Yeah...me neither! 

Oh, I meant to say something about the bike.  First off, Reece was how fast in IM Kansas (mapmyride gives it about 1200 climbing feet, don't know if that's right)?  And PB rides a roadie, I believe.  He has a mighty strong engine!

Secondly, IMHO, the flatter and straighter the course is, the more a tri bike will buy you.  IMC is not flat.     If you can comfortably complete 100 miles on the bike (no damage to lady parts, etc.), I think that you are fine with a roadie if you choose to go that way.  If you really *want* a tri bike, that's another thing altogether.

Yeah, I certainly agree on building up that engine. Not even an argument there.

BUT it's hard to ignore the fact that a nice bike (not even a TT)  just a really nice bike with great components (also a good fit) AND a primed engine will beat out a crap bike with a primed engine, every day of the week. 

There is that too.  Bike is definitely my limiter (I mean my bike ability not the machine).  But you guys realized that this was one of the things (buying a Tri Bike, which y'all are saying is not necessary) on the 'reasons to wait to 2014' list right?

Oh Jo.  You had me giggling with this.  I already knew what your answer would be .  This For IM Melbourne I always intended to do 2014 but after volunteering at 2012 I got caught up in the excitement and in I go! is why I am trying to get my answer before I go.  I don't want to run on emotion when I get there. 

Right.  A nicer road bike with a nicer wheelset (not even talking race wheels here, just some Mavic Ksyriums or similar) along with a stronger you would be nice.  That's for sure.  I think that if you make a plan that you are happy with -- marathon, HIM, 100 mile bike, etc. and follow it up with an IM year, that would be awesome.   

So Janyne, what do you ride? I forget.

The thing is, you are in a funny in between spot where it is hard to say ARE YOU INSANE?  It sounds to me like you have a decent running base and you need a lot more time in the saddle.  Can you get a lot more time in the saddle in the next year?  Sure.  If you say that the bike itself is part of what keeps you from doing that, you will have to address that in some way

Did you enjoy the training for the HIM?  (if not, do not pass go)

Do you have the time for IM training (June, July and August will be pretty busy with 16-20 hours of training per week during peak training).  Does that fit into your schedule?  

Is your SO on board?

I have a tri bike that I do my solo rides on and a road bike that I use for group rides.  The tri bike is what I used for Vineman and B2B.   I used the roadie for 3 Mountain Madness.

I am looking to replace the road bike in the next year or so.  It has a lot of miles on it, technologies have changed a lot, and I kinda just want a new bike.  I figure that if you get over 20,000 on a bike, you are allowed to at least look!

I'll say!

Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone has asked me that .  As I said, the bike is not the issue, my experience on it is.

Yes, very much enjoyed the HIM training.  Summer months are my 'down' time at work, so I do have the time to train.  And yes, SO is on board.  I try to train when she is working or dog training anyway, so it works out ok. 

Leaning towards waiting til 2014 at this point.  Honestly, I think it is the best decision for many reasons. 

So so important - I told my husband what was involved and he's kind of lived it with the HIM this year - not just the hours he's great with that and I allow him his training days etc - but emotional support is crucial.  Self doubt, injuries, niggles euphoria and depression, this was all part of my HIM journey and I KNOW IM is going to be worse.  Once i knew he was on board I felt better.  I also have a circle of friends doing the race too, so we're all in the same place - if you're not in one join a tri club just so you have someone to share with!  Oh of course I'll be on my journey for some of yours!

For me the critical factor was 'do I believe I can put in the training?'  If i can do that then it's fine.  I'm not worried about a DNF - if that happens it happens but if I can do the training part I'll be very satisfied with myself and hopefully 10lbs lighter!  I think the journey will make me a better person, I really do.

Well I start Monday on the 30 week program so I'll let you know how that goes. 

Manatees will help you through with love and support, you will make the right decision (sign up )

Ok, i'm roughly 2 months out from my HIM and have started thinking about nutrition.  My last (and only) HIM i definitely screwed myself with my haphazard nutrition and don't want to make the same mistake. During that race, I had 1 crustable on the bike and about 2 bottles of water.  The weather was stupid hot (look it up, I'm sure that's what the weather folk said), the wind was strong with gusts over 20mph and as a result I spent more time (with a harder effort) on the bike, but did not account for it with my nutrition.

On the run, I took water at the first stop and had plans to drink water/gatorade every other stop, however, someone i ran with for a bit told me to get nutrition at every stop, so like a dummy I did and ended up with a sloshing stomach.  So, I started just taking ice at the stops and a couple of stops took a slice of orange.  That was all i could get down.

Anyway, I am generally a minimalist when it comes to nutrition, eg, i do runs up to 10 miles in heat and humidity without water and for longer distances i alternate drinking water and gatorade every 4 miles or so.  When I get up to 18+ miles i will start with solid nutrition, but generally haven't liked the way gels make my GI react, so a couple of years ago i started using starbursts or tootsie rolls   I only eat 2-3.  Still, I never have a real plan and just consume what our running group puts out for our long runs - I know i'm lucky that they have water and gatorade every 1.5 to 3 miles throughout the neighborhood and at some stops have the candy.  Because of them, i really haven't thought about nutrition for my runs.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been experimenting with honey stinger gels and waffles on the bike.  They seem to sit well with me and i actually kind of like them.  I've been taking 1 gel every 1 -1.25 hours.

I've been "researching" nutrition for the HIM and it seems to be all over the place.  Some people are consuming 350 or more calories per hour on the bike and others only up to 200 per bike hours.  They all seem to back off a bit on the run. 

Then I found this  http://triathlon.competitor.com/2012/05/nutrition/simple-ironman-70... article from Matt Fitzgerald.  Here's a snippet since i'm sure the link won't work -

Keep it simple,” I wrote. “Too many triathletes over-think and overdo their race nutrition.” I told him to drink his favorite sports drink according to his thirst throughout the bike leg and to drink the sports drink offered at fluid stations on the run course according to his thirst as well. That’s it. Anything fancier, I said, would be unlikely to make him go faster and would only increase the risk that he would encounter a self-inflicted issue such as stomach bloating and nausea.

I know nutrition is highly personal and you need to experiment to see what works for you.  However, I'm sure there must be some generally accepted guidelines for how many calories a person should consume per hour.  I'm also sure that amount is related to the weight of the consumer (among other variables)  Fitzgerald says you should get about 60 grams of carbs per hour on the bike.  Which really doesn't help me b/c he has not done me the favor of converting that into calories

So, i guess after all that my question is what do you do about nutrition for this distance?

Carbs are 4cal/g so 60 g is about 240cal. 

When I started experimenting, I started with 250cal per hour on the bike and adjusted up for some rides and down for others to see what worked for me.  Turns out about 250/hr is good for me on the bike.  Pick a caloric point, try it out and LOG IT so you can keep track.  Then, next time, try something higher or lower, and LOG IT.  I couldn't remember what I had done from one week to the next, so I went back through my training log to remember what I had done and how I had felt. 

ETA--yes, I back way off on the run, as low as 100cal/hr.  The other thing to remember is for HIM time frame, some protein is recommended, not just carbs.  I found a ton of good info on the Hammer Nutrition site--of course it is geared towards their products, but I found the basic info really helpful when I was trying to figure it all out.

Ok like you I gave this no thought!  I gave my marathon more thought the previous year!  However in cairns HIM the weather turned hot, unexpected on my part and i suffered because of it.  I didn't hydrate enough nor replace electrolytes etc.

I think I could get away without food as long as I have a hearty breakfast - BUT I suffered on the day big time.  Food wise i was fine, I had oatmeal and a banana before the race - then on the bike ate banana, protein bars, chomps and I drank water and some Gatorade.

I needed to drink more I was inhibited by inability to take drinks from the aid stations on the bike - too scared of falling off!  hehe!

Then on the run the cramps set in - needed more Gatorade and definitely salt tablets.  On the run I ate whatever they had, fruit, candies, jellies, coke, watermelon, water, sports drink and i felt fine except for the cramp.

Do practise in the next few weeks - the fluid intake I think is way more important than anything else.  Keep an eye on the weather forecast for that weekend.

Good idea about logging - i'll start doing that.  I also thought protein was important and then I read this part of the Fitzgerald article:

A well-formulated sports drink, consumed ad um (as you please), provides all of the nutrition you need to fuel your body through an Ironman 70.3. There’s no need to fool around with water, soft drinks, gels, bars, solid food or electrolyte tablets. That stuff only complicates things.

I don't know why everyone just can't agree and make things easy for me!

Oh, thanks for doing the math

Good luck with the nutrition--it is something I wish I could give insight on, but....yeah, not so much.

I did find yesterday, that halfway through my bike, a Mojo Peanut and Pretzel flavor bar was JUST what I needed---but again, personal preference/needs...

In between spear making and  tire-wrestling (yeah I know, weird huh? The things I do for obstacle course training!), I finally got my race report up:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=456826&posts=1&start=1

Well I am back home and on a computer where I can interact again.  Can't wait to read the RRs!

I had a great weekend with the DH and DS.  I had a very interesting training run on Sunday! I was going to include photos in my blog but couldn't figure out how to do it

After my training run/hike on Sunday we went jeeping up a trail.  As we started up the trail I noticed a man running up said trail and was impressed by Runner Dude's fitness. Because jeeping is a slow process we passed and were re-passed by Runner Dude a couple times.  As we climbed a rather steep/hot portion of the trail we passed him once again. I asked DH to slow down so we could offer Runner Dude some water.  He was wearing a hydration vest but I thought he might be running low.  He did accept the water so as DH got the water out of the cooler I asked Runner Dude if he was training for something. He said that he is training for IMAZ but that this run was for something else, and that he'd already gone further than he'd planned.  So we chatted about tri some, he accepted the water and we headed on our way. A bit further up the trail we stopped again for photos, walk around etc and I got to thinking I should have offered him a ride.  Well eventually IMAZ Dude caught us again and I asked him if he needed a lift.  He said no, that there was only about 1 mile to the summit then it was 7.5 miles downhill in to Telluride.  So we said goodbye and once again headed out. That was the last time we saw IMAZ Dude but I figure he ran over 25 miles on very mountainous terrain that day.  My hat is off to IMAZ Dude! (wish I'd asked him if he's on BT)

Off to read RRs

There is a OLY to HIM thread in TT that I've been watching that talks about learning to take water at the stations.  Very good point!!!!!!!!!!!