Fred D's triathlon training group CLOSED (Page 67)

(stern Rudy on)  You do not need amends, that is just silly.  there are more important things in life than BT and this mentor group, and anyone that would fault you for handling those real life issues first needs to review their priorities.  ?(stern Rudy off)

But i am glad to have you back bud!!!  ;o)

i took the liberty to modify that for you, sorry  Rudy is hot and cranky today, lol!!!

Yeah...main forum is a bit dull lately.  Glad to see some good folks migrating here. 

Riding legs are pretty toasty.  Will just go for a short run and masters swim today. 

The Strava lawsuit discussion on ST has actually prompted me to load more of my rides into Strava.  I created an accont a month ago just to check it out, but now I'm actually using it.  I guess the saying goes...even bad publicity is better than no publicity.

mndymond - 2012-06-20 12:32 PM I have a question about training plans. It's off in the distance but I'm trying to figure out if it would be worth it to have a coach develop a specific training plan for me for IM Cali and France. I have a pretty good relationship with Mike here on the site and he knows about my restrictions with regards to time, etc. I did IMLP following a BT plan and I'm sure it went as good as it was going to go training wise. Just wondering about all of your experiences with standard vs individualized? If you used a standard pre set, what did you use? What did you like vs not like? I know there are tons out there to choose from, but just wondering on specifics. I appreciate any advice/help/opinions!

I don't really have experience being coached on all three sports for tris but can provide you with my perspective and thoughts.  My husband and I are both training for IMMT this summer and decided to use a plan out of a book that worked for him previously.

I did think about the coach since there would be two of us but reconsidered for a couple of reasons:

• Neither of us is particularly competitive and although we want to do well within our own abilities we aren't expecting KQ or even AG results
• We have both trained and trained well for longer-distance events and understand basic principles of training.  
• Cost - although we could make it work, given the above items and all the other costs of IM training, it didn't really seem worth it.  We chose to pay for tri swimming group

To me, the coaching piece is important if you want to get to another level competitively or really thrive under the personal guidance of someone.  I feel uncomfortable with a lot of direct attention and like more a group or class setting where I can go do on my own for a bit. 

I definitely see a few drawback to self coaching with a standardized plan:

• Primarily not getting any feedback and either doing too much/too litte 
• Picking a plan that is not suited to your own abilities (where you are fitness wise when you start a plan),
• Picking that doesn't work with your training preferences - such as days off, HR focus, principle of long run/ride/swim etc
• No accountability - which again goes to preference of the athlete and what is motivating

You've been competitive at swimming and probably have a lot of experience with different kinds of coaching.

Whew!

Glad I didn't go afoul of the mods. 

LOL...so I noticed that unless your files are on your garmin, you have to upload one file at a time if it's saved on your PC, or email them to strava to upload them for you.  So I said what the heck, and emailed them 240 files from the past 2 years.  They uploaded them within an hour.

Was curious to see how I ranked on a very short climb that I hammered out a couple months ago.  Turns out I'm KOM out of 139 people.  1:18 at 525 watts

Name: Marc

STORY:  4th year of triathlon.  a few years ago I was severely overweight (70 lbs more than actual), diagnosed diabetic. Got a dog, started jogging to lose weight. Injured my knee but had to continue exercising. So I went back to swimming which I hadn't done in 30 years. When the knee came back, I decided to do both.  A friend told me to try triathlon, so I bought a bike, did a sprint and got addicted. Weight is gone, diabetes still there which makes long courses challenging. I cannot take on carbs.

 I've been slowly improving. Last year I managed to get to Vegas 70.3 and this year podiumed in a two Olys (it helps to be old). I actually did a 2:13 Oly PB this weekend, although it was a fast course.

I am pretty well rounded, fast in nothing, not atrociously slow in anything.  23:30 1500m swim, 1:30 ½ marathon, 265ish watts FTP (went as high as 280). I am a wimp when it comes to racing. Need to fix this.

I spent the winter preparing for Florida 70.3 which I have done with a buddy. My plan was to do Olys this summer, but like a bug towards a light the HIM sucks me in. So I will do provincial championships in July then back to some Olys.

I am Canadian and split my time between Montreal and Ottawa. Work brings me to Munich and Poland frequently.

I love to learn from others would love to give back to the community any information I gathered along the way.  Some of the people who’s opinion I trust the most are in this group. Some of the people’s who’s opinion I trust the most have their picture in an avatar in this group (and it’s not Stewie Griffin).

Thanks for taking me in the group

Marc

Oh, I know the answer - not very high.  Oh wait, that's just for me....

A timely question, because this has been on my mind a lot lately since Rusty posted about his studly century at 85%.  I tried to hold 85% for my last ride, but fell way short.  I started off pretty low, but after about 50min started to hold close to 85% - but then only held that for just under an hour and a half - and then dropped back to 80% and was barely hanging on at the end.  I really didn't feel like I could go any harder.

So while Fred's asking what's the max to hold for 4 hours, I'd like to learn how to hold 85% for 3+ hours (oh, and I want to achieve this before September).

If you rode at 90% of FTP for 4 hours I think your TSS would be 324 and you would be pretty wiped and take a few days to recover. TSS over 300 is not easy and I believe is HIM type effort

A good HIM would probably be a TSS of 160 bike, 120+ run and not sure for the swim (maybe 40).Total would be about the same. So 4hrs at 90% would be like a HIM, which makes sense since you should be able to hold 85% for the bike and run a good 1/2Marathon with a hard swim.

I am guessing somewhere around 87-90% of FTP. But I don't think everyone can ride 90% for 4 hrs. And you would be as wiped as a hard HIM. Not a training ride. This would be racing 4hrs.

I rode 90% for 2.25 hours on Monday and was happy to get home. That was using NP which I believe is what is to be used for IF .

A 5.5hr century at 85% of FTP would yield close to a 400TSS which is pretty studly.

All theoretical since I have never tried this.

Fred, I think the hills can throw off your power numbers a little.  From what I understand, the goal of NP is to "estimate" what power you could have maintained, if you rode steady throughout.  The problem is, the formula to calculate it...it's just an estimate.  The more variation you have between your high spikes, and your low areas (your VI), the more that NP can be askew.

If you rode at 260 watts NP for 4:15...that's a beastly effort, but I would not bet money that you could hold 260 AP for 4:15 on a flat course. 

My highest ever NP ride was 275 watts for 1:25 I think.  And I believe my VI was close to 1.5 (lots of surges, sprinting, and attacking...and also coasting.  There is no way in heck I put out 275 watts AP for 1:25.

Thanks for the replies Jen, Tom, Fred. 

I think I would like to set my time goal of 12.5-13 hrs for the IM and maybe 5:30 for the HIM. I did IMLP in 14hr. I can't say my schedule with be any less hectic as it was at the end of second year...but it will definitely be better than this past year. I had some good results in Oly distance last year around 2:30, so I think 5:30 would be do-able for a HIM if I can get my act together. 

I think I would probably benefit from something more individualized. I'm also currently in the mindset that if I'm spending the money I am (or my parents are as my grad present) to do these two races that I should make sure I have defined goals that are challenging but within my limits and a way to make sure I have the best opportunity to achieve those goals come race day(s). 

I'll take a peak over Fink and Fitzgerald, etc and look into coaching a bit more. I'm def used to coaching and in a way that is what has made tri training more challenging than swimming was...It was easy to get up at 430 when I knew I would get yelled at if I missed a workout...(similarly easy to get up at 430 for surgery...knew I would get in trouble for being late)...Apparently I need the fear of being yelled at...

Thanks for the suggestions. Sorry if it was a bit of a vague question.

Hi guys, just popping in to let you know I'm still here!

Hi Marc, welcome to the group. You probably won't see me posting very often as my time has become seriouly limited this year!

welcome Marc, great to have you with us!!!!