Bill's House of Pain-No Vacancy (Page 7)

Hey Bill...

What is "Lactose Threshold Testing" and what does that entail?

Also, I'm starting to look for a new wetsuit. Anybody have any recommendations of good suits with a... uh-hum... inexpensive price-tag?

Today... ran 60 minutes plus 30 minutes core training...
Saturday... easy ride on bike as it's my first time back in the saddle for some time.
Sunday... 1 hour in the pool.

Cheers!

That's AWESOME!! Grats on sticking to your plan and making it work.

Even more grats on taking 1st in your age group!! Did you win a spot at Kona? hehe jk.

Thanks for posting the link. Yeah the convenational "carbo loading" thing has been in question for a while, and there's aways been a "house divided" among smart nutrtion people on who to do it. Now there's doubt about whether to do it at all.

I'll sum up my take on it and what the lastest edition of the Tri Training Bible has to say on the next nutrition topic.

FOR THOSE WITH RACES UPCOMING: The rule I'd like to suggest that applies across the board (S/B/R/N/P/R) is "Nothing new on race day". Practice your nutrition plan just like anything else: in training. If you are racing less than 2 hours, whatever you do for nutrition the day before and morning of a long workout will suffice. There's no reason to change things up just because you have a race. Longer races require a little more strategy, and we'll discuss that soon.

Edited by Bill 2009-04-25 4:26 PM

Wow Cheri that's GREAT! Where to start. Hmm....

1) I'll happily admit I was doubting you would stick to the plan. And I'm happy you proved me wrong.
2) AG Hardware is awesome!
3) AG hardware is even more awesome when you save some effort so you can get in your planned workouts afterward.

Well done!

Hey Jeremy. I'll post about LT Testing and Lactate Threshold Heart Rate as the Tip of The Day today. (If I can still type with all of the holes I have punched in my fingertip. Thanks Tyler. It's only fair. I lit his finger up repeatedly before he got his shots in.) I'll explain soon.

As for wetsuits, this is my NEXT swim topic (must have read my mind). But since you are looking I'll say a few things now. There are several brands out there for triathletes. Even though they are all fairly similar they all have their own unique features and you need to be aware of a few. One thing to know is some brands fit much better on "prototypical" triathlete body types. A guy who is 6'3" and 195 pounds will generally have a different experience than a guy who is 5'11" 195 in the same suit. I've read that Orca brand wetsuits typically fit the prototypical body whereas designs by companies like Quintana Roo, De Soto and Blue 70 are more forgiving.

If your body position whilst swimming is suspect, a wetsuit can help tremendously. A poor fitting wetsuit can be a disaster. So if you are going to buy one, the best option it to go to a store where you can try it out. If you don't have that option, before you buy online read the return policy VERY CAREFULLY. Most retailers realize it's not easy to shell out a few hundred dollars for something that may not fit.

From a customer service standpoint I know Emelio DeSoto posts here on BT and he provided excellent advice and service. If I didn't already own a Quintana Roo, I would go with DeSoto if I tried one and it fit. For my next suit I will still probably get a Quintano Roo because my current suit works for me and I don't want to mess with a good thing. For the record their customer service guys are cool too. I met them onsite at Lonestar in 2007. I didn't but direct from QR, but their company guys were first rate.  Hope that's helpful.

When you get ready to pull the trigger or you've narrowed it down to a few potentials be sure to post any questions you have before you buy.

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Fixed it.

Aaron is absolutely correct, and this was true for me. In 2006 I swam 1:50 per hundred in the pool and 1:35ish in open water in a wetsuit. Now I'm faster in the pool thanks to better form, but I don't expect to see as much improvment in the OWS with a wetsuit. (If I bust out 1:20's in the OWS with a wetsuit, I guess my form still stinks I'm just getting more fitness). What is it they say? If you can't do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.

Up very early, or very late, or both.

TIP OF THE DAY

Lactate Threshold as a concept doesn't fall neatly into any of our categorcial topics of S/B/R/N/P/R, but I suppose it can be discussed in terms of planning since it factors heavily into how I design my training plan.

The Lactate Threshold (LT) is the point at which lactate production exceeds the rate of lactate clearance. Lactate is a product of carbohydrate metabolism. For the purposes of simplicity, I want to limit the discussion to how it is used. If you want more information about lactate production and clearance there is plenty of good literature out there.

The best symbolic desription I've seen is in the Tri Training Bible (shocker). Joe Friel says "Imagine you're pouring water into a cup with a hole in the bottom. If you pour slow enough the cup will continue to drain and not overflow. When you pour faster (or produce lacate faster) the cup fills and overflows becuase it cannot drain (clear) fast enough."

When I do an LT test, I'm most interested in the heart rate at which I reach the lactate threshold. So the test protocol is set up to have an increasing workload and periodic evaluations of several parameters that will help me find that number. As the workload increases (pedaling at higher wattage on the bike, running faster on a treadmil), those serial measurements of heart rate, my personal RPE (rate of perceived exertion), and a finger poke for a drop of blood to measure my capillary blood lactate level. Yes. I'm completely over the lunatic fringe for being the owner of a blood lactate analyzer. I can't help it. So what happens is the work gets harder, but the lactate level doesn't change a whole lot at first because it is being "cleared" or burned as fuel. It's not quality fuel, but it burns and it gets eliminated. The heart rate goes up each step, the RPE goes up (which again is my perception of how hard I am working on a scale of 6-20), and the grader watches my breathing to see when I reach my "ventilatory threshold" or VT. When I get to the VT, the LT is not too far behind as a rule. SO when I reach LT, that blood lactate number is going to increase significantly (anything more than a 50% jump is usually what I get). When the lactate level spikes, and I'm past my VT, and my RPE is between 15-17, that's pretty much on the money for the LTHR. So whatever my heart rate is at that point in the test, that's my LTHR.

What we do with that number then is set up heart rate training zones. The LTHR is going to be the bottom of Zone 5a. Zones 1 through 4 are aerobic heart rate zones of increasing intensity. Zones 5a, 5b, and 5c are anaerobic training zones.We'll talk about what each zone means as a seperate topic. But suffice to say I do most of my aerobic training in zone 2, recovery training in zone 1, and moderate intensity work in zones 3 and 4.

I suspect this post answers a few questions, but no where near as many as it could potentially generate. The take home message I want you to catch is this: Make your training purposeful. The best way to do that is to have a specific goal for each and every workout by working a set number of days (frequency) at a specific intensity for a specific duration. Frequency, intensity, duration, and specificity (aerobic, anaerobic) or the cornerstones of a well designed training plan. If you know how to make good use of your time, you will get the most bang for your effort (is it a mixed metaphore if it's only half metaphorical?) and you can have time for things outside of training. You know... like planning, recovery, and nutrition.

Good night. Post your questions.

Good luck to James racing an OLY tri tomorrow!!

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Hey all. I'm not trying to gloat about this in anyway, just wanted to send a shout out to the House of Pain from Venice, Italy.

For the record though...I feel super lazy/fat for only eating pizza, pasta, and drinking copius amounts of wine during this trip. I'm with a guided tour type of thing so even though I wanted to bring my run gear, we don't really have time for that.

Back to the grind stone on Monday though...someone has to pay for my indulgence, and I know it can only be me

Hope you all have/had a great weekend working out!!

Jeff

Gotcha covered Gus. Today's topic will be on the importance of recovery.

But it's an important comment.  I think it highlights the fact that as much as we like to try to apply science to training, there is far more we can't truly "know" and there are widely divergent opinions about what works and what doesn't.
Ultimately what I DO know is this. Consistency trumps the plan. Get out and train with a purpose and good things will happen.

Awesome! Never apologize for wine, pizza, and culture. You have to live well. Training will be there when you get back. You have to do for yourself as a whole. And you can't do much better than that.

One day when I make it to the Amalfi Coast on vacation, I'm sure I'll be standing there trying to decide if I should go back to my room and get my wetsuit and goggles for an OWS. I took my wetsuit and goggles to Yellowstone National Park last summer.

Yeah. I know.



Edited by Bill 2009-04-26 9:54 AM

I could see me taking the MTB to Yellowstone, or the running shorts for some cross country running. Catch me if you can Mr. Park Ranger!! <insert chase music from the mall scene in "Blues Brothers">

Edited by bluesman 2009-04-26 10:26 AM

A few observations from a newbie regarding training for his first tri so far. As i had said earlier in the week, my first swim class was yesterday. Wow, I don't swim as good as I thought I did. I have lots of breathing and kicking work to do.

I also ran my first race ever today, a 5K. Again, Wow, do I run slow. People were passing me up like an old lady in the left lane. I finished in 28:20. My personal best.

Anyway, a little discouraging but as they say Rome wasn't built in a day. Gotta keep on pushing forward...

Gran - I bleed Cubbie Blue. Life long, die hard Cubs fan...

Sorry for my delayed response. My "A" race is the Chicago Sprint Tri however, I was thinking of doing Harbor Lights in Waukegan, IL on July 26th.

We spent a lot of time in Teton National Park as well. Everywhere you look there is an amazing cyclist, siding up some 20 mile long 6% grade on an old road bike with saddle bags packed to the top. I'd LOVE to live in Jackson. But there really aren't any jobs there and the entry level housing goes about $1.5 million. Moving to Austin will have to do. Plenty of hills. No (regular) snow.