kenj mentor group - back for another great season! CLOSED (Page 61)

Great blog Becky!  I sometimes find myself in similar situations when discussing training and racing distances with friends and co-workers trying to remember that finishing a 5K is pretty impressive and important to people that don't get into the longer distances.  I was there once too! 

Omahabritt - 2013-04-23 5:16 PM Great races Becky & Jennifer!! Looks like training is really paying off. Yes, I'm back & not lying in a ditch somewhere between here & Texas! It's been crazy busy, but I'm still getting my workouts in. April & May are always so hectic for me, you think I'd learn how to manage them better! The weather was great in Texas & it was great to get out on my bike, even if the road I had to ride on was less than ideal. The weather is STILL not cooperating this spring (it's only 40 today), so I'm still mostly running inside. I've been able to get out a few times to ride (2 hours is about my limit inside), but it's been really windy. One ride was the worst I've ever had (strong headwind/crosswind out & then it shifted & was a headwind/crosswind back!). I stopped & called my husband about 2 hours in & told him & didn't know when I'd be home! It was the 1st time I saw more people walking w/bikes than riding them(the crosswinds were scary), including a few cyclists! I'm curious if anyone has tips for riding better in windy conditions? I suck so bad at it! I try & go out regardless, & know it's good for me, but man it's hard. Trying to catch up on posts & promise not to disappear again. Looks like everyone is doing a good job at plugging along!

I hate riding in the wind too, but I tell myself that there will be races that are windy (IMFL usually is) and that training in it will prepare me for it on race day.  Also, getting in aero and holding it helps. 

Glad to have you back and to hear that your trip went well!

Didn't Andy Potts or Matt Reed keep his wetsuit on for a race last year that was unseasonably cold?  That is a great idea though!

LOL, yep we plan on having a group bbq sometime soon.  The race organizes the legs and I was asked to take the longer run.  One of our team had knee surgery about a month and a half ago and this was the first time he had ran more than 4 miles since.  Another team mate has been battling PF the last couple of weeks.  He finally got a shot on Friday after resting it a week didn't help, doctor told him not to run for a week, but he figured that since Friday and Sunday are in 2 different weeks it counted.  Good news for both though since they had no pain during or after the race. 

My coach is going to run the HM with me Sunday unless he gets called into work (he's a part time pilot).  He is talking 7:30 pace so it will be a big PR if we manage to hold it through the hilly cemetery from miles 8 to 11 or so.  I  will probably be talking to dead people by the time we are done.

Help me, please.  I bought a tri bike last summer.  I had it fitted and nothing hurts when I ride it, but I still feel very nervous when I ride it in aero.  The brakes are far away, the handling is much squirrellier, etc...  I've forced myself to ride it a lot in the past 9 months and I've gotten much better.  Last week I used it for my sprint tri, which was small and on rolling hills.  Other than slowing down on a few steep downhills because I got nervous, I was able to stay in aero for most of the ride and felt pretty good.  However, I don't think my bike time was significantly faster just because I was on this bike.

I had already decided to use my road bike for the sprint tri this week, because there will be 400+ people on a 5 mile loop which is also open to traffic, and I feel like I need to be completely comfortable maneuvering around so many bikes.  So I took out my trusty road bike on my ride today, and it felt SO GOOD.  I was so comfy down in the drops, I didn't have to freak out when I was going down curvy hills or around dog walkers on the path.  I did an interval workout and I think I was even FASTER on the road bike than I usually am on the tri bike (always hard to tell for sure because of wind, etc). 

So my question is this...was my tri bike a totally stupid purchase?  Did I buy the wrong bike?  Or do I just need to keep riding it until I'm as comfortable as I am on my road bike?  Does everyone go through this?

Sprint tris are pretty short for a triathlon bike to shine in speed savings over a road bike.  Ride the one you feel fits the conditions best and you'll be more confident and safer on in the short races.  The mental aspect is probably as important as the reality of it. 

I'm well.  Marathon is Saturday and I am set.  Running faster and farther than ever.  Training has been great. I am feeling ready run-wise for IM Moo, which was the point.  FTP on the bike is great.   No injuries.  Swim going very well with Masters and semi private lessons.  Weight is about 5 pounds higher than I like but then again, my strength training is adding upper body muscle so I am good with it.  % of fat is about 10.

All good.  Hope training is going well for you all.

I am looking forward to seeing how you do at the marathon Ice!! Your training has been solid!

Best of luck to Team Denehy!!  Sounds like a fun way to get some family time!

Good perspective Eddie!

On the tri bike issue, the savings of 1 mph on a 12.5 mile course translates to about 1:20 if the pacing on our training logs is right.  Multiplied over 112 miles or even 56 miles, that savings becomes more  significant.  Short courses, not so much, especially if the course is hilly.  That said, don't give up on the tri bike.  They are more comfortable and some coaches think the positioning actually saves the legs for the run better than the road bikes.   Unsure about that myself.  I got a Shiv to replace an Orbea last year because it didn't fit me right.  The Shiv is the most adjustable triathlon bike on the market at the moment.  Very comfortable and what I give up aero-wise, I make up with more power to the pedals because I'm more comfortable.  So it's pretty relative.  You can buy short-course speed with clip-in pedals, an aero helmet and clip-on aero bars on a road bike, too.  

I LOVE BIKES.

I think it was mostly a case of monkey-see-monkey-do.  The racing part seems to come naturally for siblings not too far apart in age.  They turn everything into a race... I've never ran with the young one, and don't push either of them.  When the 7 yo was six, I'd hold him back for the beginning of a run and just try to teach him to hold steady.  They just don't realize how far a mile is and want to take off like bats out of hell, then of course they run out of steam.  I think his last mile was around 10 min which put him near the middle of the kids participating (maybe further up in kids his size/age).  I have no idea what to do for my daughter. We are not big folk and she's downright tiny, even for 5, but she's pretty driven too... Over a 5k, I would think an 8 yo would benefit from run/walk.

Becky, how did you test/calculate for your HR zones?

(Thank you guys so much for your feedback about the tri bike)

Jaime

I always experienced the same thing.  HR is a lagging indicator and 5 minutes is not long to get it up to a certain level.  I still think its useful.  for example, if an interval calls for Z4, I'll try as hard as I would somewhere between a 10k and a HM.  As long as the HR is continuing to rise during the interval, I'm happy, as long it doesn't climb into Z5.  If I see it level off for more than 30 seconds or so, its my cue to pick up the pace.  And I too get to higher HR numbers in the later sets, even if I'm not going faster, or even harder.  I'm sure someone else can explain this more precisely, but I think you are doing the right thing.

Also, if you really want to get your heart rate up with less of a lag (but still a lag), do those intervals on hills...

This is a good question, doing a 5K or a 10K test is a better indicator than the 220 - age calculation.  Or, if it has been a while since the test was done, your conditioning has most certainly improved which would make it harder to get the HR up. 

Bill's hill suggestion will certainly raise the HR as well, but I guess the question is the purpose of the workout.  As long as you are being honest with yourself on the effort, which I trust you are, then use the effort as the gauge.  Not for nothing, but training for an Ironman doesn't require a lot of speed anyways. 

Ok, its Friday!  TGIF!!

Who's racing this weekend?

I have a HM on Sunday.