Baowolf's Mentor Group - Sorry Closed. (Page 7)

Jay, I haven't used the BT nutrition piece, but have found SparkPeople to be pretty good...that is...when I actually get around to tracking nutrition

Steve, you had a nice 2012 in spite of the bike crash.  Here's to 2013.  And thanks for the input on the re-revised training schedule.  I'm going with option 2.

Mitch, you had a nice year given the broken foot.  Good job on the swim!  Gotta do what you can do.

OK, I'll play the numbers game:

2012

Bike 140h 38m 2004 mi

Run 244h 05m 1457 mi

Swim 45h 19m 112,929 yd

2011

Bike 119h 27m 1724 mi

Run 170h 30m 972 mi

Swim 66h 03m 167,770 yd

Jay, my sister swears by Spark people.  I had a friend on BT who seemed rather vexed by the numbers calculated in here.  Both are 2nd hand though.

Anyway, Happy New Year, everyone!  Here are my numbers.  Somewhat comparable between the 2 years, but 2012 was not as consistent as 2011.  Had some really good months and some really poor ones.  Need to be more consistent in 2013.  Changing to biking on the Skyline Drive made a huge difference in Aug-Oct which I think will carry into 2013.  The dog / traffic issues on the local roads were wearing on me and messing with my desire to ride.

 -Stu

Here is 2011 totals:

Bike: 0

Run: 0

Swim: 0

Strength: 0

Here is 2012 totals:

Here's my numbers for the past 2 years.  

This year I will be concentrating on swimming and nutrition.  

Stu, Carol, Kate: Thanks for the input on the nutrition section.  I think I'll stick with MyFitnessPal since my wife uses it to track her diet (she's on Ideal Protein) and we can keep each other on point.

First workout of the New Year done and put into my training log.  My goal was to bike and hour and then run for 6 miles.  I ended up biking half of that and running a touch over 6 miles.  The reason I had to stop my biking at about 35min was my back tire was flat (yes, it took me that long to figure it out!)  I had read that trainers make a lot of noise so it really didn't hit me for awhile that it was making too much noise....it was fine and then when I started increasing intensity, the bike would get louder.  Eventually (during a sportscenter commercial) I peeked behind me and found my flat tire.  I stopped and hope that I didn't hurt the tire. (I was able to inflate it after remembering HOW to inflate road bike tires; I'm so road bike clueless!)  The run went fairly well.  I purposely didn't wear my IPOD; I wanted to be in tune with my body.  What I found was that I'm in better shape than I thought!  I purposely didn't eat pre/during my brick because I'm a believer in getting your body used to less than ideal nutrition (I'm sure some may disagree with me!) so you don't have your first experience with that on race day.  I had some tightening in my left calf (very normal when I'm not properly hydrated) and aches from not putting in too many miles but I'll take the 8:51 pace I was able to achieve.

Thats more than enough rambling from me.  Have a great day everyone and Happy New Year! 

I'm already behind on reading the posts and need to get outside for 12 miles so I'll try to catch up later.  Totals below are correct for SBR but don't have the hours for them.  The others were recorded Oct - Dec.

2011 Totals: Run 965 miles and zip on bike and swim.  Little on strength. Prob 40 hours of race volunteering.

2013 Goals: Learn to swim more efficiently, bike lots more (still too new to set a mileage goal), run about 1000 miles (but less if it keeps me away from swim and bike), Strength 60+ hours, Volunteering 20+ hours.

Here are my 2012 & 2011 totals. Good increase year over year, but could have been better. Looking to have similar increase of 2013 over 2012. Will be starting off 2013 by taking a nice walk with the family after breakfast, and going for a run this afternoon. Happy new Year, everyone.

Happy New Year everyone!!

I am embarrassed that I do not have an account of all my mileage in 2012. I've only been tracking in BT since September. 

All I can say is that I've trained consistently throughout the year, participating in several sprints and an olympic distance in October. 

PF put a real damper on my training in August and I've been over cautious ever since. Therefor my running has suffered. 

I've averaged about 12 to 15 miles running miles per week all year, about 50 miles a week on the bike, and 3000 meters a week swimming give or take. More in August when I was getting ready for my oly. and a bit less last January. 

I appreciate your honest input Steve. I knew that signing up for the half in March was pushing it. I could always do the olympic distance, which is the same weekend, if need be. I'd also thought I might end up planning for a run/walk strategy as well.

I ended the year yesterday with a 2000 meter swim, then an hour on my fat tire, followed by a 2 mile run.

Today I ran 4 early morning miles. 

Happy New Year and it looks like some nice improvements there in time/distance. No worries at all if you don't have any numbers.  Sometimes we do an end of the month numbers check to see where folks are.  Easier than me looking at everyone's logs and you can look at progress or lack there of. 

Ok for those who are new to bike trainers.  They sell bike trainer specific tires.  They are harder and put up with the trainer a lot better than regular tires do.  Trainers tend to eat regular tires a lot faster than the road does.  The bike tariner tire tends to cost around $20 and I have maybe 5,000 miles on mine without any real signs of wear.  Do Not ride that tire on the road though, you have to switch back to your road tire.  (practice changing tires is good, don't pinch the tube.

Ken ya plans do not incorporate chit happening like getting sick.  If you can hit 3:20 with a low miles marathon plan you can probably get close to 3:00:00 with a plan that safely builds to 55 miles a week for a 2-3 months prior to the marathon given your nice speed at the 5k distance and decent speed through 15 miles.  You have a lot of run potential in there to tap into that isn't true for everyone.  I think it will be a tough last 6 miles given a 7:25 mpm ish pace, but you know yourself much better than I do.  Enjoy your mary.  What is your nutrition plan for marathons, how much and when do you eat what?

For those getting into longer workouts.... you can't teach your body to get used to exercising on not enough calories, it will just eat muscle if you don't have enough calories in you.  You can workout 90 minutes without any calories during the workout.  However if your workout is longer than 90 minutes then you should have started taking in calories after 1 hour.  So if you are going on a 2 hour run, you would take in a gel (or whatever) at 1 hour and another at 1:30 into the run.  This will keep you fueled and keep your strength from dropping off due to not enough calories in your system to get the job done.  It is the same strategy for races.  If your race will be done in 90 minutes you don't need any calories during the race.  You may want to take a gel at the 1 hour mark, it won't hurt, but it shouldn't make or break your race.  The longer the race the more important these things are.  Also you want to take in 100 calories (gel) about 15 minutes before your race to get things started.  This gives you a little cushion as you settle into your race.

Kate, lets not write off the HIM just yet.  I don't know how well you respond to a faster build.  Just know that you are in a fast build mode, so you may need to take a day off here or there if you find your run times at the same effort getting consistently slower over a week or two.  But you need to not take a day off unless you are in high fatigue mode 8).

 If you are not currently peaking for an IM, you typically don't need to do more than a 3-4 mile brick run.  For an IM you may do a 100 mile bike ride 6 mile brick run, but by that time you are well into your build.  It is best to get 6 is hours of rest between workouts, but in the real world ya sometimes you just have to put them together.

Hey all, happy new year!  Yesterday was a dizzying 80 laps on the 1/8 mile indoor track at the rec center.  I'll run in the cold, and I'll run in the rain, but not both at the same time!  Today was a 7 mile ez run back outside (yay!) and some crunches.  I'm participating in a crunch challenge with the local running club.  Basically 30 crunches every day in January, then 60/day in February, 90/day in March, etc.  If you miss a day you're out.  Hoping it will build a good habit of getting a bit of core work in since I struggle with that.  Anyone care to join me?

Kate, sounds like you had a good year, and now you're tracking it too

Mike, nice increases for you.  And good start to the year re: walk w/ family & run later.

Pam, what kind of bike to you have?  Nice to have another...ahem...middle aged gal who likes running in the group.  I admire your volunteering totals.

Jay, sorry about the flat tire, but nice run pace you have there!  If you buy a trainer tire, I highly recommend letting the shop install it for you.  I tried and tried, then took it in and it took 2 of the bike shop guys to do it.

Ken, nice increases all around!

Larry, zero to hero sums it up nicely for you for 2012!

Stu, glad you found a good bike route.  Taking the stress out of biking makes a world of difference.  I have a love/hate relationship with it, but since my hubby started biking and we did some road rally's instead of races, I've started to enjoy it more.

Brian, are the numbers you posted frequencies?  Glad you recovered from the shoulder surgery.

Steve, aren't you due to get your shoulder checked out soon?

If I missed anyone, it's because I'm old and getting senile, not because of you .

Steve/Carol thanks for the input.

It appears that most of Steve's advice on training was placed at me (thanks!)  This is why I joined a mentoring group; I have too much football player in me...my theory is hard work pays off.  The train smarter not harder thing has always been a struggle...I have to feel like I'm working hard to feel satisfied with a workout.  I'll try hard to follow your advice Steve but I'm a smidge stubborn

I'll ask my tri store that I go to about trainer tires when I go in.  One thing I do know is that I need to get my bike tuned up at some point in the winter anyway.  Oh Mike, I don't know what stores you use but I really like http://sparkbrs.com/  The owner is a really good guy who is a biker; they're knowledgeable and don't try to upsell you. (plus they give 10% discount for law enforcement which helps out lol)

Happy new year everyone!

Here are my numbers. I have not logged everything for various reasons, but gives an idea about the  magnitude. I have been impressed by the numbers I have seen!

First week of my training plan this week (prep). Swim will take a hit with the pool closed until Thursday, but will trade hours with more trainer time. Hopefully will be able to do my first outdoor run of the year tomorrow.

Carol, sounds like a fun challenge, count me in. Core training is my pet peeve, so this maybe a good way to sneak some in my routine.

Jay, I highly recommend you change your tire yourself. I had a streak of flats on the road last spring and was so happy I had done it before. Also if you go with CO2, practice once in the comfort of your home, even if it costs you one cartridge. Practice makes perfect.

Wish everyone all the best for their first week of training/healing of the year.

Fred

Carol, I want to join the crunch challenge.  I hate to admit it but I prob won't even make it thru Jan but I need to make the attempt anyway. As for my bike, hubby bought me a gorgeous Scott Speedster S20.  Then for Christmas, they "pimped it out pink" for me.  I love it!!!  Two pink bottle holders, pink handlebars, and then I already had a pink helmet.  I look like a 6 y.o. on it and I'm sure that some people laugh at me.  But I'm styling it.  I'll take a pix sometime and see if I can figure out how to post.  And as for ahem middle age, yep, that's me but I'd rather be out there trying then holding down the couch llike I used to do.  

As for the volunteering, I can't hold a candle to some people but I try to help out when I can.  I started a Volunteer challenge in the BT Challenge Forum if anyone wants to join up.  I've learned so much from my volunteer stints and have met some cool people.

Steve, thanks so much for all of the info on trainers.  We got a trainer for Christmas but still haven't truly set it up.  I said to put in the garage (cool on cold days but we live in Fl so it usually isn't awful) but hubby says he wants in the house.  Pros or cons either way?

Gotta see that pink bike..lol :=) It sounds cute. 

I am going to throw my 2 cents in about the trainer. I'd put it in the house or if you are like me you won't use it. Unless of course your garage is finished .. 

We have ours in the family room and I can watch tv.. I even rigged it up to be able to be on the computer while I ride. Recently, I've had more opportunity to ride outside, but I've already put in many hours on the trainer since we set it up. 

Pam, we definitely need a picture of your pink bike!  My "old" bike is a Scott Speedster Contessa.  It's on the trainer now because of a crack that developed in the down tube this summer that made it unsafe to ride on the road.  Bought it used, so no recourse w/ the mfg.  Really nice bike with good components, so it should serve you well.

Kate, I'm with you.  Our trainers are in the living room.  Ha, we even left them up at Christmas!

I'm glad to have some company on the crunch challenge .

Just looked at the article for today, and our very own Larry (quasimodo) is prominently featured!  Well deserved, Larry.  You'll never know how many others you have inspired with your journey.

Steve, question on HR and speed. Based on my calculations my running zones look like this (max hr never get over 200 btw...). I think these are a bit on the optimistic side but that's beyond the point.

 When the plan calls for a Z1 run, does it matter at which HR/Speed I go? Today on the treadmill (first run on it since a long time), I was enjoying a nice 9:30 mpm pace and averaged HR140. Was I wasting my time (i.e HR too low) or exactly building fundamental endurance as I hope I was??? 

Fred

Fred... how didyou determine your HR zones?

K Hr zone testing.... for the run.  Do a moderate pace warmup for 10 minutes then run 30 minutes as hard as you can sustain, like hard, you take the average of your HR for the last 20 minutes and that is your LTHR.  You can use the BT calculator to get your zones.  It is really hard to run in zone 1 without walking.  Usually an easy recovery run is top of zone 2 but not quite in zone 3. 

You do the same thing for the bike.  My bike LTHR is 10 beats slower than my run LTHR. 

If your plan specifies HR zones, then the speed doesn't matter as much as hitting the HR zone you are supposed to hit.  HR will also tell you when you are getting too much fatigue build up.  Your hr will be sluggish in rising to meet your effort as will your speed and endurance. 

Questions?

They did studies (periodization) where 1 group just went balls to the wall every workout and the other group did a 3 weeks build 1 week recovery.  The 2nd group performed much better.  Don't remember the sources, but I'm sure we have at least 1 data hound in here. 

Ok if you are younger than 40 you can do a build 3 weeks recover one.  If you are 40/over 40 it is probably best to do a 2 week bild 1 week recover.  BT asks which setup you want to do.  Us not as young people need more recover time and need to build slower.  Which doesn't mean I wont beat my 18 year old in a 5k this year.... hard work and consistency and smart training will get you to your best... over years not days or months. 

Good morning, folks. I'm 2 for 2 on workouts for 2013, so I'm happy with the trend   Nice swim this AM althought it was a bit short. Have to say the new Garmin 910 is a great tool for swimming. No worries about counting laps, figuring pace, etc. Its all right there all the time. Great to have it. I still need to get the bike speed/cadense sensor so I can get some feedback on the trainer and when I get on the road in the spring.

Nice to come to work knowing that while it may feel like a Monday, its really Wednesday.

Steve, my Ironman training plan is a 3/1 training plan and I am over the 40 threshold.  Should I find a different training plan?  

Ken

Hi y'all! Wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and let you know that I have not quit the group. I just have been busy with holidays seeing friends and family. Hopefully things calm down now so i can get into a routine once again.

I missed out in day one, but I think I will join in the crunch challenge. I need to focus a bit on core strength and this will be good motivation. Later y'all!