Newbz'z summer mentor group is FULL!!!! (Page 66)

adding threshold intervals to your riding will do a lot in helping you go faster.

these are intervals just faster than olympic bike pace/around sprint bike race pace.


start a bit shorter, and add to them.

ie start with something like 5x5 min, on 2-3 min rest, and slowly up the time spent there


so somehitng like 5x5min now
then 4x8 min,

3x10 min

2x 15 or 20.


tempo rides are good, warm up then a steady/comfortably hard pace for 20-40 min.


20minn power intervals are also good after you have the other two added in.

something like 6x4 min with at least 4 min rest, where you really kill each interval (vs the threshold ride intervals where you have less rest and thus must maintain a pace you can hold for all of them without falling off).

Dirk- Let me know what you think of the relay. I've been thinking of doing one with some friends so they can see what a tri is like.

Good news: I'm down 6.5 lbs for the month of June. Looking to do the same in July. Just might be back to my pre-baby weight by her 1st birthday in Aug. 

Wow...congrats on the weight loss.  Can you lose a few pounds for me.

if you dont have a stretch of road that long, just start the interval, get through the stop and keep going.

or so my fav bike workout, go at a moderatly hard pace/just under FTP as long as you can, use turns/lights as a break, then get back to it, keep this up till you cant, and either cool down and call it a day or rest for a bit and then repeat.

David,

You're probably right.  I think I just have this mental block that says intervals cannot be interrupted, so I don't want to start one I know I cannot finish as planned.

Part of it is so I can keep consistant data.  I want to be able to control variables so that I can compare one interval to another...and an interval from 4 months ago, to the one I may be doing today.

In a perfect world...yeah, that would be cool...I suppose I shouldn't get too caught up in that though.

Jackie - Woohoo! awesome job!  I know that must feel really good  

I fortunately only gained 5 pounds on my trip 2 of which I have already lost. Should have the remainder off by mid August. It sucks that it only takes 3 weeks to gain 5 pounds but 2 months to lose it!

BTW I changed my first bike tire today! It is harder than I thought and will take some practice in applying the right pressure to get the tire on and off. Hopefully in the comfort of my living room!


Edited by robingray_260 2010-06-30 9:49 PM

then go chase a carrot. go see what type of ave you can hold for x miles, dont structure all of it, and just hammer for a while. or tone it down a bit, and see what you can hold over a long long distance.

Good job on the weight loss.  I am actually trying to lose about 5 more pounds myself.  It would make me pretty lean but just a it faster and I am giving some serious consideration to a BQ at my first marathon in October.  According t a runners world race predictor after my HM, I am only about 4 min off a BQ.

I just found out I am going to be doing the swim portion of the relay.  I am kind of excited about doing a hard, hard swim to really test my abilities at a short distance and not have to worry about anything else for the race.  I will def let you know what I think of the relay once I complete it.

I appologize for my ignorance  - but what is a BQ?

Banana Quesadillas

JK...Boston Qualification.  So Dirk is saying that if he shaves 4 minutes off his marathon time, he can qualify for the Boston Marathon.

only w/ chocolate sauce...  

I figured that is what it was, but didn't want to assume. 

Was at the LBS for 1 1/2 hours today getting a better bike fit for me and my bike. During that time I picked up a new saddle and some aero bars. It is amazing how making a few minor adjustments (flipping the seat post and raising the stem 1 cm) will make a huge difference.  Now for the aerobars - that will take some getting used to!

JP - That is awesome!  I don't know how you keep doing it!  I'm trying to lose 1 lb a week and I'm sucking at it completely!

Newbz - When you say go for a long long distance, what do you mean exactly?

Robin - hopefully that fit will really benefit you.  Mine had made all the difference in the world. 

I'm due back from Virginia tomorrow morning.  Only got one run in while I was down here.  Not exactly good.  I have my olympic short distance next weekend (july 11) and I'm a bit worried about both the run and bike portion.  I hear that it is quite hilly and I'm just not as prepared as I want to be.  This weekend up in VT for July 4th may be good hill training if I can actually get it in.  We'll see.....

What is everyone else doing for the 4th?

Robin- Cool! Let me know how the adjustment is to the aero bars, I have yet to get them on my bike.

Jonathan- I'm also racing July 11. My race is a sprint in Carlsbad, CA (near San Diego) The swim is a 1000M ocean swim, so a bit longer than my last race (800M swim). I want to eventually do Oly distances, so I'm glad to have a longer swim to get me use to racing longer distances.

We're taking the kids to Legoland the day before (also in Carlsbad), so it should be a busy weekend.

Had a nice group ride today.  Some parts were fairly laid back, and some parts the group started to hammer.  I was just glad to keep up.  Averaged 20 mph even with a few stop signs, red lights, etc.  I think that's the fastest I've averaged that wasn't a race.

instead of doing 2x20 min or Y x Y min, do something like warm up, and however long your ride is, 2hr, 3 hr, etc, go see what you can ave for that.

sort of like going out and doing a half IM bike leg as a workout

Getting a little nervous for my tri on July 11.

Reason 1- Longer swim. Not by much (200M more than the last- total distance 1000M). I've been doing OWS every Sat for weeks now and have done more than double that distance each time I've been out, so I'm very confident that I will finish it, but I'm still not good at pacing myself and I've never swam in the ocean before.

Reason 2- It's not local. My last tri was a 10 min drive from my house, so I was very familiar with the area. I was also able to bike parts of the actual bike course before the race. This tri is in CA. Hopefully, I will be able to drive the bike course the day before so I at least know what to expect. I'm worried about a lot of little details like getting lost or not finding a parking space the morning of the race (ok- yes, I've officially turned into my mother. Can't believe I'm worried about that.) 

Reason 3- I actually have expectations for myeslf. My last tri, the goal was just to finish. This time, I have some times in mind, especially on the bike & run. Again, I haven't seen the course, so I have no idea if these times are even reasonable for me. But, I've been running alot and my ave mph on the bike have improved quite a bit, so I would like to see some improvement if only by a minute or 2.

For the swim, don't get nervous about it.  You'll do fine.  You have been in the open water several times so don't let the idea of the bigger water scare you.  You'd be just as dead at the bottom of a 25' lake. LOL  if you have swam more than the distance the only thing that will be different will be the surf and the salt.  Just stay focused on you goal, not the water.

The bike course shouldn't be a big deal.  Sure it would be nice to ride it, but it can be just as interesting and fun trying to figure out where its going to go.  If they have a map use google earth or bing maps to look at a satellite image of it and study it.  I did this for my tri and it really helped.

Its awesome to have goals and you should try to set them high enough that you have to work to attain them......so when you finish........YOU'RE FINISHED.  Of coarse if you're not highly competitive this might not make a difference to you.

You'll do great for sure1  Make sure you have fun in the process.

I'm sure you'll do fine.

Go out there and have fun.  I think as beginners and amateurs who do not compete to win...we sometimes put too much focus on our race results.  When really our training logs are probably a better measure of success or failure.

All we can do is try to make a plan...stick to the plan as best we can...and see how it goes.  As we gain more experience, we can fine tune that plan...but really, you can't fault yourself if the plan is wrong.  You can only fault yourself if you didn't stick to the plan.

Dirk- Thanks. I will def do the google earth thing. The bike is only 15 miles, so I feel very confident about the distance, but I do like to know if the course is hilly, flat, etc. It was cool knowing exactly what was coming at my last tri. You're totally right, I just have to relax and enjoy the event. That's what my mom did when she learned to play golf. At first, she was terrible, but she just took the attitude that she was outside, getting exercise, and spending time with friends and she would just relax & do her best. Now, she's actually pretty good at the game.

J- You're right about focusing on the training. I'm pretty happy that the Peach Challenge and Team Skinny have motivated me to get in the training. I am proud that I only had 3 days in June where I didn't do any training and that I've upped my volume quite a bit in all 3 sports. Regardless of how the race goes, I put in that time and lost some weight. Hey, back in Nov I could only run for 2 mins without needing a walking break and I could barely get on and off a bike without thinking I was gonna fall . Less than a year ago doing a tri wasn't even a possibility for me, now I can go into this tri being very confident about the distances.

Edited by jpbis26 2010-07-02 10:07 PM

Ive got a 9 mile run scheduled and a swim for today but I really won't divert much from the usual plans from training.  I will take some extra family time this weekend and see if I can get some stuff done around the house.

I feel like my training is going well for the most part but I am thinking I need to shake it up a bit.  My runs are going to get longer and longer in the coming weeks but most everything else will remain the same distances for the swims and the bikes.  But I am thinking about adding a swim and a bike into the mix.  I have to make sure I balance my time well though.  I can't take from my family activities because they are just as important as my training.  The good thing about this summer for me is that neither of my girls are active with sports over the summer, so that gives me a bit more time through the week and a less hectic time getting my training in.

I think I have my daughter talked into doing tri relay.  I hope she goes ahead with the idea of completing it because I would love to do something like that with her.  She would do the swim (since she is the swimmer and that's the only thing she cares for in the race), I would probably do the bike and another girl (HS cross country runner) would hit the run.  I am sure we would have to do the sprint distance but that's fine with me.  I just think it would be awesome to do with my daughter!

training is a bit down this weekend, just a few workouts, before monday and the start of a 25+ hour training week..

after two weeks of approx 20-22hours i'm ready for this but also know i'm going to be flat after a few weeks of this.

Dirk- That's awesome. I hope when my kids are older they'll be into doing something like that with me.

Doing a long run Sunday with my running group and a long bike Mon with my friend. Both early in the AM, to avoid the heat and still have time with the family. I might try and get some swimming in during the kids' nap time as well, I'll see.

Hope everyone has a fun weekend.