Fred Doucette's Half-Iron and Ironman Focused Group! -CLOSED! (Page 67)

x2 - what Fred said works like a charm for me as well. Try it and see if it works for you next race - it took me a lot of years to learn that!

Same here - I have the Desoto suite: First Wave Bibjohn, sleeved pullover top, speedvest top, and speedtube bottom. The two piece design is awesome and incredibly easy to get in to and out of fast. being able to mix and match all the pieces to get the perfect suit for any race is also a plus. I have only raced in the full sleeve top a couple of times, but it is very comfortable and flexible. I use the speedvest and bibjohn a good bit, or the speedvest and speedtube together. The speedtube all by it self ROCKS for big, popular races where the director will do just about anything to get a wetsuit legal temp reading on race day  (St. Anthony's, anyone?).

I've have used a coach since 2005 and over the years used 3 different coaches.

Currently my coach does my plan for the week on Sunday, based on my previous weeks training and my life constraints and also somewhat my desires. For example if weather is going to be nice on Tuesday we try to take advantage of that to get outside ride in during this iffy weather season. If life changes we talk about changing the plan.

For me having a coach makes training easier, I just do the workouts and don't have to figure out what goes where during the week or what I need to work on at certain time of the season.

Back in the "good old days," the term "brick" always referred to these kinds of workouts. A bike followed by a run was called a "run off," and a run followed by a bike was referred to as a "bike off." We used to do these a lot - usually with a bike trainer set up on the track. Anywhere from 3~10 minutes on the trainer, then 400s, 800s, 1200s (ugh) or mile repeats. Repeat ad nauseum. I have found that threshold bike intervals separated by a nice round of cycle squats does PLENTY to give me "tough legs," so I haven't done this type of workout in a long time. Where I did find workouts similar to Todd's to be helpful for me most recently was in prep for adventure racing (where there is a good chance that you might actually have to such in an actual race over a couple of days) as well as in ultra running, where it allowed me to train running with fatigued legs without all the pounding that simple running would cause.

What is funny, is if there were a race set up like Todd's workout, we would probably all sign up for it just for the challenge, and might even train for it specifically. It is easy to forget that just doing a day like that can be fun, and that is A-OK in my book. I think we talked about a while back, but sometimes we train to get better at a particular format of race. Other times we get out and do "crazy" stuff just because we like the challenge, and the confidence that successfully completing those challenges bring. Awesome all around!

I am still rather new to coaching, but went "all-in" this year. We talk as much as either of us want (I actually got admonished a little yesterday for not calling enough). I take advantage of 1 on 1 swim coaching and nutrition advice, and have access to individual run and bike instruction if I need it. I have switched over to a 7 day build-out until the end of school, but will probably go back to a 9 day cycle in May. Like Kathy, the plan is built out based on the metrics from the previous builds and my projected work/travel schedule, and is adjustable daily based on how my schedule changed. There have also been several occasions where my build has been adjusted during a week because I am exceeding my targets in some way - that has not always been a pleasant call to get!

Who knows if all this will make me race better? Thus far the most significant quantitative improvements that I attribute directly to coaching are on my swim endurance and physical toughness on the run. The biggest qualitative aspect is (also echoing Kathy) the freedom from second guessing yourself and accountability that comes with some one else putting all this together for you and then looking at it and critiquing it on a daily basis.

I have an Xterra Vortex 3 and i love it. It makes me float so much in the water I know that there is now way I'm drowning in that thing.

Someone had said something about a repeat triathlon where you do short intervals of each over and over again. There is such a race and it's called 24 hours of triathlon. Here's some info on it:

Newton 24 & 8 Hours of Triathlon are continuous loop short course road triathlons with a 0.24 mile swim, 11.2 mile bike and 2.6 mile run. Athlete’s compete to cover the most number of laps in 8 hours or 24 hours in the swim - bike - run or bike - run format. The winning relay team/solo in each category is the one that covers the greatest number of legs/laps in the allotted time, and if there are relay teams/solos completing the same number of laps, then the fastest team/solo on their final lap is the winner. There is no night swimming.

So last mentor group I posted some before and after pictures so I thought I would do it again. I haven't lost as much weight as I should but I also eat a lot of crap. I still have a long way to go in all aspects of this sport. When I started this journey in January of 2010, I couldn't run once around the track and I could barely ride 10 miles. I couldn't swim 25 yds without being completely wasted and wanting to give up. I was 216 pounds.

14 months later I can run a 1/2 marathon, bike over 60 miles and swim 2 miles. I am 185 pounds.

Way to go Todd!  You have come a long way!

I am proud of you

I'm doing exactly that with a local coach and am pretty happy so far.  FWIW, this coach and Jorge are both active with Dr. Skiba and either developed a lot of the modeling and basis for his software and books with him and/or use it for training methodology.  He has done a LOT analyzing my past workouts and races and developing a progression on the bike and run.  He identified a big weakness in my running in that my fatigue rate is way too high (something I knew as well and the reason I ran so much in the off season) as the run length increases and is targeting fixing that.  He is a friend as well, so i'm comfortable giving him a lot of pushback against things I'm not sure about or don't agree with.  It is comforting to hear him defend it and basically convince me why he's right (he usually does).  Another good thing is the key long workouts/bricks where he's forcing me to focus on nutrition to nail down a race strategy (e.g. figuring out how a higher intensity on the bike might impact my ability to keep calories down).  So it's not just "figure out your nutrition" its specifics like "ride for x time at y intensity and target 1.5 cal/pound/hr on the bike before transitioning to a run"  depending on what happened, that will affect the next try. 

My only complaint is that he calls me Josephine a lot because I'm a big wuss, especially with swimming.  I'd be willing to bet Jorge won't bring your manhood into quesiton though

Way too Hilarious! That is what friends are for.

FWIW, whenever my "manhood" is called into question, I always take it as a compliment.

Todd - great job on the weightloss.

Rusty - no way did I get into Tri's to lose weight.  I was 6', 170lbs when I started, and it took a couple of years of lifting just to get to that weight.  Now I weigh 153lbs, same as high school.  I eat a lot, simply to maintain my weight - my goal is to not drop into the 140's!

Todd you have accomplished a lot in your time training...changed your body in many ways over last year plus!

Congrats!

You guys are good salesmen for Jorge and his colleagues.    And I'm pretty sure I'd be known as 'Roberta' when it comes to swim training.

I got into tri's the first time purely for fun when I was young and lean.

I got into tri's the second time primarily to get fit and lose weight.  Thankfully, after a couple years of training, weight loss is no longer an issue.