Ryan and Mike's beginner group - CLOSED (Page 7)

bigr82 - 2011-01-17 4:17 PM MIke, what style of earplug did you give me?   I had never worn any earplugs before and at our first OWS mike gave me some of a certain style, seemed to help in the colder lake water.

ransick - 2011-01-16 8:08 PM My thoughts on RPE, HR training, and power. 

RPE means rate of perceived exertion.  Several BT plans and other plans say what RPE or HR zone each workout should be in.  I use RPE or HR for most of my bike and run workouts.  I don't have a power meter for my bike (too expensive) so I can't offer much there except that I believe it is a more accurate way to train than RPE or HR.  If you have the cash and are a numbers person, I would get one.  I'm a numbers nerd (engineer) but don't have the cash.

The beauty of RPE or HR training is that they help you make sure your easy workouts are easy enough and your hard workouts are hard enough.  Without a HR monitor I tend to exercise at the same intensity and not vary things.  I still have a lot to learn here and really believe that once I figure it out a little better, my run times are going to come down.


The following zones and RPE numbers are from a BT article that explains a bunch of terms here

RPE/HR Zone Chart

Z1 - Zone 1 or Recovery
Z2 - Zone 2 or Extensive endurance
Z3 - Zone 3 or Intensive endurance/muscular endurance
Z4 - Zone 4 or Sub-threshold
Z5a - Zone 5a or Threshold
Z5b- Zone 5b or Super-threshold
Z5c- Zone 5b or VO2 Max

RPE Zone	HR Zone	Description
0	Z1	Complete Rest
1	Z1	Very easy; light walking
2	Z1	Very easy; light walking
3	Z1	Very easy; walking
4	Z1	Still easy, maybe starting to sweat
5	Z2	Starting to work just a little and you can feel your HR rise
6	Z2 Upper	Working but sustainable, able to talk in full sentences
7	Z3	Strong effort; breathing labored, but can still maintain pace for some minutes without slowing.
8	Z4	Olympic Distance Race Pace for MOP to FOP
9	Z5	10k effort – very hard
10	Z5+	Z5+ = 5k effort and Z5++ = cannot hold effort for more than a minute or two. (almost maximal effort)

Establishing your hr zones is easy but hard work.  There is an article here that explains how to determine your lactate threshold, but I'll explain it as well. Your lactate threshold is the balance point where your body can get rid of lactic acid as fast as your body produces it, in other words, your maximum all out pace you can sustain.  It's important to know that the hr zones for the bike and run are different, so you will need to do two tests if you want to train by HR.  For most people, the run LT is 5-10 beats per minute higher than the bike LT. Both run and bike tests are similar.  After a 5-10 minute warm up, you go all out for 30 minutes and record your average HR for the last 20 minutes of the 30 minute test.  By all out, you should have nothing left after the test.  Disclaimer, you should get clearance from your doc before you do something like this.

Once you have your LT, you can have BT calculate your zones by going to Settings -> Training Log Settings -> Manage your HR zones.

I'd love to hear everyone's thought on the subject or any questions anyone has.

Brightbow - 2011-01-17 5:23 PM I had to work today (I teach CPR on a contract basis) and I fell asleep after my alarm went off at 4am... the dream I had was me talking myself into the benefit of getting up and riding my bike over an extra 30 minutes of sleep. I thought that was kind of funny...

caramy - 2011-01-18 10:48 AM

My name is Amy.

ransick - 2011-01-19 10:53 AM

Does everyone have a plan picked out (or made up)?  If so what is it?

Brightbow - 2011-01-19 3:07 PM

Made Up: Strength class M and F. Tues and Thurs is spin or a bike trainer day, run 2-3 miles after wards. Weds. is the morning I swim. Saturday is for a long run.

I am looking at this plan though: 16 Week Olympic - Run Focused 

I have a swim clinic next month and I have been waiting for that to get some hands on help before I start swimming more... and it will cost me more to go to the pool more often, so that's where I am with that.

I'm counting on my husband to help me get comfortable on my bike and it needs a tune up... which will cost me too. (crossing fingers about husband riding with me)

I'm super interested in learning more about Cross Fit Endurance though... anyone know anything about it? I guess I have two goals, one is to complete a tri, but the other is that if I am going to exercise this much I want to see some muscle definition or gain. So I'm flexible with a plan and I'll change or follow whatever I have to.

_T2_ - 2011-01-19 12:34 PM Mack's Ear Seal

ransick - 2011-01-19 1:53 PM

Does everyone have a plan picked out (or made up)?  If so what is it?

ransick - 2011-01-19 3:37 PM

I'm not familar with Dross Fit Endurance.  Let us know what you find out about it.

Your plan looks good.  Is Sunday a rest day (from exercise)?  I think it is important to have a rest day, or at least a very easy recovery day.

MarlaS - 2011-01-19 6:44 PM

my made up plan was to just do what i can every day / week until my charity team gives us our 2011 training plans. so my INTENDED plan was to structure everything else around running, my weakest skill right now - i'm in 10K training group, and runs are scheduled 4 days/week. PT tells me i need rest days & to avoid consecutive running days, when i can get back to running. so now my fall-back ankle-sprain made-up plan is my favorite back-to-back class combo of spin/core on Sunday w/ some upper body weights, spin monday, rest/carpools tuesday, elliptical/weights wed, gimpy swim thurs, swim or spin friday, weights or trainer saturday, and 20 min PT homework twice/day every day.

bigr82 - 2011-01-20 6:56 AM For the group doing the 1/2, any thoughts on tools/tubes/inflator, might be using?
I'm trying to decide where on the new bike to store things, looking at a behind the seat deal. I'm thinking 2 tire irons, 2 tubes, CO2 inflator.

For my Sprint/oly this past year, I put a bottle cage on the down tube, used the bottle to put a multitool, tire irons, 2 spares, with a hand inflator on the side.   This year I will drop all of this for a sprint, as well as switch to a CO2 inflator.

Brightbow - 2011-01-20 12:34 PM

I read up a little on CFE and it seems to me that at this point my research time is probably better invested in learning swim technique. I do want to be able to perform some body weight exercises like pull ups and push ups, etc. but I can fit that in during the day here and there, I don't need a class for that.

Yes, Sunday is my rest day.



Marla, you are doing so great. I can't imagine training with an injury.



Ryan- So what are you taking with you on a sprint or oly then? Are you dropping the tools from last year simply because they aren't needed?

I have a behind the seat storage dealy, but I thought your water bottle idea was clever.

One question; would you consider aerobars a necessity for a tri?

So far today is pretty sweet. My husband (who is fabulous btw) got up this morning to ride his bike with me... although we were in separate rooms... anyway, I am still excited that he got up on his own accord to ride his bike! Yay. He used to be really into cycling and mountain biking before we were married and I took over his life. haha

Then, I called the bike shop and they are doing a winter special so my tune up is only going to cost $20!

bigr82 - 2011-01-20 2:06 PM Yes the key is getting the spouse to add the other one or two events, then spandex, then Ill pay for the double entry fee haha.

For me the extras wont kill my time, im not fast enough hahah.  But like mike said, if im in a sprint and get a bad flat, im probably done for anyway.  This new bike I  dont want anything  on my crossbars(even though I bought a carbon fiber cage) so ill have to put something on my seat, for a sprint, it might be overkill.  But hey this is coming from the guy who tapes gels to his bike "just in case"  even on a sprint

I've only owned/ridden Tri bikes, so not for sure how comfy aero bars are on a roadie, but mike seems to be comfy when hes trying to pass me(then I have to spray water at him)  I'm still having comfort issues with my bike, so more than anything, being FIT properly is key. I've also only ridden an ADAMO seat, others just don't seem like they should work.  But my  rear hasn't yet got used to it.

bigr82 - 2011-01-21 7:12 AM Since it seems that I might have been the only goof running a hand pump.  How well does the C02 work?  Will a single bottle fill a tube up?  Since I need to have my tires pumped allthe way up, wondered how much psi a single bottle can do.  Also, you guys mess around with Butyl or Latex tubes & how well CO2 works with them?