Fred Doucette's Half-Iron and Ironman Focused Group! -CLOSED! (Page 64)

I'm guilty.  Always makes me nervous.  IMKY has a steep descent with two-way traffic.  Gets tight as in some spots riders are 4-5 abreast across the road with 2-3 going up and 2-3 going down.  Def scary!

Dang Randy - you drove right by us without even stopping and saying hello?

If you could talk that kid of yours into looking at one of our fine in-state institutions just think of the rig you could be riding next season!

So, hey everyone - I am officially back in the saddle. Work has thrown a couple more curve balls my way - but things are looking up. I basically have about 6 more weeks of craziness, then off for the summer. I have been on it for the past week, but only just got caught up on the last 10 pages of the group and updated my logs.

Next week I am officially in my build to IMLP, basically one more cycle of lactate threshold stuff during the week blended with longer, high zone 2 training in the hills on the weekend.

3 hour zone 2 ride tomorrow - 1/2 marathon this weekend (not really a race - more of a supported long run) - anybody else have races coming up?

Kathy - I know I am late to the game, but that really yanked my heart out about your bike - silly, isn't it how these things affect us? Your attitude about it has been great though - glad it has not wrecked your training camp!

So, a question for the group: once you commit to the endurance aspect of this game, you pretty much commit to traveling some distance with your bike - how do you do it? What lessons have you learned along the way that we might benefit from?

We have been using the same pair of TriAllThree Sports Velo cases for about 15 years now. They are getting pretty beat up, but they have served us well for the most part. During that time we have shipped our bikes 3~4 times per year on average. Really the only damage in all that time was in the early 2000's when an over-zealous TSA agent decided to unpack my bike and put my rear wheel in backwards with the cassette against my downtube. By the time the case arrived, the downtube was almost sawn in half. Awesome.

From that experience I have learned not to pack my case full of other stuff just because I can - make sure that the inspectors can see everything in the case without unpacking it. I have also learned to strap everything down with hidden straps - if the agent cannot figure out how to unpack the case, they most likely won't.

I am not a fan of clamshell cases - I just don't think your bike should touch the walls of the case at all - no matter how much foam you put between the bike and the case. Even with the foam, your bike is still the primary structural member in the case - yuck. Clamshell cases are much more likely to be stacked on their side as well - and your bike will always be on the bottom of the pile.

No matter what kind of case you use, make sure you place a "gorilla bar" inside it - this is basically a PVC bar that is the same width as the case fits through the top tube/down tube triangle of your bike and keeps the case from collapsing - everybody I know has their case rigged to utilize one - I cannot figure out why more case manufactures don't integrate one in their stock cases. Probably would have saved Kathy's bike.

This is kind of goofy - but print a out a label to place on your case that states that your case meets shipping regulations - on a number of occasions I have pointed to my "official" label to demonstrate to a ticket agent that the case does indeed meet the airline regulations. Mine says:

Tomorrow's plan has ~44 mile ride with 'The Fig' time trial, 9.5 mile hill climb with average grade of 9% with the first 1.5 miles 22% grade. Folks of about my ability take about 2 hours to climb.

I brought my 11-34 cassette for this ride but my rental bike I can't use that cassette so most gearing I'll have is 34 with 28...

Hi Gang,

Sorry I've been awol since coming back from vacation.  Work has been killing me and I haven't been logging workouts, or checking BT, etc.  Plus I've been missing some workouts, so all in all not a good time since coming back.  Will be making a much more concentrated effort going forward.

Kathy - really sorry to hear about your bike.  I hope you're able to get a replacement quickly.

Todd - read some of the comments and suggestions about Infinit and I'll add my own.  I used a single 4 hour bottle for my HIM, and here's how I went about it.  As Renee suggested, a bottle with lines helps - mine is a one with electrical tape strategically placed after using a measuring cup to be as equal as possible.  I needed 8 scoops in a single bottle - which sounds kind of crazy, but it can be done.  Basically, put in two scoops, and add water to reach your first line.  Mix as well as possible and then repeat.  **Try not to shake**  The froth that you get is from the protein included in the blend.  Just keep stirring, it will still froth a bit, but not as much as shaking it.  Do this and repeat for as many hours as you need, although I think 4 is the max I would try for a standard bottle.  For my race I took in fluids every 5min.  First 5 just a swig of water, next 5 Infinit chased with water. 

The Infinit can be really strong when it's so concentrated so I got a custom blend and dialed the taste way down so it wasn't too sweet.  I also found that drinking it every 10 minutes meant I was only taking in a little bit at a time - which worked well for me.  **Last tip - mix the bottle the night before you ride.  By morning most of the froth will have dissipated.**  I relied strictly on the Infinit for my ride, and felt it was the correct choice.

Joe - I've climbed the Alpe D'Huez a couple of times as I've got a Tacx trainer and the appropriate video.  I certainly don't think I came close to 46min.  How did you like the ride (I know you had a couple of glitches)?  The trainer and software is what motivates me to get on the bike in the dungeon during the winter.  Last night I spent an hour riding through Luxembourg following the Schleck brothers, which is a pretty cool new video I just got.

Neil and Rusty welcome back from the work trenches, I will be there this weekend (but at least it is just a weekend)... hit it hard this week to make up for likely doing nothing saturday and sunday.

Sounds like your big week is progressing well Rene, good luck.

Fred thanks for input about trainer ride... yes I don't want to get injured so will take your advice.   My training is rather unstructured (roughly looking at BeIronFit intermediate program) ... I think you, Fred, said this is what you did in prior years before getting a coach.  I also am like you (in prior years) in that I don't really have a nutrition plan, want to live of course, etc.  I know this is not ideal .... I will say my goal of having fun training is going very well and so far I don't feel burned out and thankfully not injured, fingers crossed.   

I don't think I have ever been as busy at work as I am right now. I can hardly remember what day it is anymore. I am going to have to change things soon as I need to get back at it.  I have to admit that while I was sidelined it didn't make me as crazy as it usually does. I also think that the rest was good for my running. Maybe I just needed a break in general.

Kathy, you are a brave woman on many levels. I am not a great on the down hills but I am more assertive (agressive) during a race then I normally would be. A typical scenario for me during a race when going down hill is me watching my computer and saying to myself " you can go faster.. don't crash... you can go faster..don't crash". 

Thanks for the tips on the Infinit. I will try the 2 hour bottle and see how that goes. I too have a customized blend and have made the flavor mild.

The trick is to know WHEN to listen to your body - if I listened to my body right now after all my time away - I never would have gotten out of bed this morning - my body is being pretty mouthy these days...

Seriously - Fred is right - knowing when to throw in the towel and when to push on through is important. For me taking an unscheduled day off is not just when something hurts, it also includes assessing my fatigue. One of my most serious injuries recently was caused while running while extremely fatigued - taking that one day off could have saved me 10 weeks off.

Yesterday I engaged in a little wasteful training by driving out about ten miles from my house to begin my 3 hour scheduled zone 2 ride, only to realize that I forgot my HR strap. Not to be deterred, I decided to just use my power numbers to stay in zone. While I watch my power numbers pretty closely indoors, I still defer to my HR when outdoors, particularly on a hilly ride like yesterday. I learned a couple of things, not sure if they are valuable or not. First, with my current granny (34/25) it is impossible for me to stay in my zone 2 power range on anything over a 5% climb. 7% requires about 215 watts, and 13% requires about 270, with a relatively smooth curve between the two. My current FTP is 245 - does that suggest anything relevant to you IMLP peeps?

Second - watching power only helped me to keep the power to the cranks on the downhills, a shortcoming I have had forever.

Oh,and third (nothing to do with power) I just got my annual shipment of gear from deSoto. I really love their 400 bibs and skin cooler stuff and got a couple more pairs of each, but they also just came out with a pair of bibs designed around their forza triathlon line, so I grabbed a pair of those to try out as well. I have to say - they are awesome! probably going to get a couple more pairs - It will be nice to have something to train in that fits like a trisuit, but looks like a normal pair of bike shorts.

Out for a short run - spring has sprung in the south - awesome sunny 80 degree weather here for the next few days.

Newbie question:

A friend's race company is putting on a duathlon in a month (2 mi/16 mi/2 mi), and I'm thinking about doing it.  

I've never done a du, so I'm wondering about the transitions...  Is the best approach is to change shoes between bike and runs?  The other option I'm considering is to swap out pedals and put cages on my TT bike so I can just ride in running shoes.  I'm estimating that a shoe change will cost me 20-30 seconds per transition.

WWFMGD?

Rob - too funny!

As a FOP cyclist you know you are going to HATE riding in running shoes and will probably lose more than the 30 seconds if you go that route.

So, my answer: slip-on flats or speed laces. I did all my (10k and under) races last year in a pair of zoot ultra speeds - they are great. One note though - they suck with socks - you gotta wear 'em barefoot.

Duathlons are so horrible they are fun - I hate, hate, hate biking after a run of any length. Ugh - now you have gone and ruined my run just thinking about it...

I've heard that about du's (biking after run == new kind of pain!).

I'm leaning towards the shoe change in transition, but I was curious to hear if anyone had any other experience.  It's been so long since I've cycled in toe-clips that I honestly don't remember how much of a hit that would be in time/mile.  I'll put some on for a ride to give it a try (I still have some from 20 years ago and they look to be in good shape).

I remember back-in-the-day there being some special kind of pedal with a built-in platform that duathletes used.  And speaking of back-in-the-day, whenever I think of doing a duathlon I think of that Kenny Souza guy with the long hair and Speedo!

I know this goes against idea of keeping your power as consistent as possible throughout a ride, but I believe that power uphill is not the same as power on a flat.  Yes, watts are watts - but it is easier to generate watts when the grade goes up, and I feel you can get away with pushing more watts when going uphill than you can on flatter terrain - you're really not burning some of thoe matches.

That said, I have not come up with my magic formula that tells me how much more I can push on an uphill vs my overall target.  i.e.   If the goal is to be at 80% for the ride, I would likely be very comfortable pushing 85% or slightly more on a long uphill.  Even if I try to keep the power at around 80% on the downhill sections.

Thoughts on this?

Do the run sections barefoot - no loss of time in transition.    But I don't think you'll lose as much time in transition as you think.  Taking the shoes off in T1, 5-10 seconds, putting them back on in T2, 15-20 seconds.  I think you'll make that up in 16 miles with clipin's vs toe cages.  However, if you plan to sport a speedo, do go with the toe cages!

Haha.  I'd never put the spectators through that again (speedo).  Not that my wife would let me even if I wanted to!

Running barefoot is a great idea, btw.

Now days I wouldn't even get warmed up at that distance.

I would definitely go running shoes/cycling shoes (NO toe cage)/running shoes. 

Use speed laces