Eriq's Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 7)

I had a great Friday night movie night...which translates to...I rode for 60 minutes on my indoor bike while watching a movie.  No popcorn, no twizzlers...just me on my bike pedaling away in the basement watching a movie I borrowed from the library.  I was focusing on endurance today, so didn't push myself too hard, but nonetheless pedaled 21 miles.  Good overall workout.  

My legs were heavy from yesterday's 10k run, but overall it was a good 60 minute session.  The weather here is supposed to be nice tomorrow, so hopefully I can get outside for another mid-winter run.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

An entire day without updates. Hope that means everyone is pressing away.

I updated my TP so all my updates should now be public. I plan on hitting the bike trainer later during a football game

Definitely see the bike translating to the run. Hard to quantify it, but it definitely does translate.

A good amount of tri acquaintances will tell me about a bad race, especially on the run. A lot of these people think that they need to work on their run. But a lot of times it has to do with your bike. People push too hard leaving little left in the tank for the run. If you can improve your bike, your run leg will most likely show improvement as well.

x2 - this is very true, at least in my experience.  Most folks don't realise the toll the bike takes on you during a race.  It's alot more than most people give it credit for.  The best way to train on the bike to improve your run, IMHO (and I'm sure there are other opinions) is to focus on training at race speed and on hills.  Endurance will get you through the race, but speed and hill training will help the most.

The idea is that your legs will come off the bike fresher and you won't have spent a disproportionate amount of energy on the bike leg leaving you 'near empty' for the start of the run.  And once you're 'near empty', it's very difficult to recover...hence the usual story of how tough the run leg was.

My first couple tri's the run kicked my butt.  I did more tempo and speed work running as well as started longer rides and some bricks.  This helped and I am working on running endurance at the start of this year to have a based to realize the full potential.

60 min ride tonight and a quick swim to cool down at 600 yeards.

Making progress.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Maybe you got some training in, maybe you got some recovery in.

For me, it was the end of a tough block. Sat included some bike intervals. Sun was hill sprints followed by threshold miles and repeat. Now I'm on some endurance/recovery stuff this week.

In other news, my coach left the company I'm working with and got assigned a new coach. My new coach actually coached my previous coach to a Kona qualifier at IMWI a few years ago. My new coach also comes from a competitive swimming background so I might have some new swimming stuff to share with you.

Hope all is well. I'll be checking out all your logs again in the next day or two.

Just wanted to say sorry for being so quiet... it's the first week of classes and I'm a college professor so not much time for posting, but I'm getting to the gym every day and doing something at least. 

Swam 1200 meters today and did some intervals.    I'm slow, but that's faster than my normal leisurely pace, and I know that if I want to get faster I need to swim faster.  I never know what my true pace is because I swim 200m, take a break, do some PT stretches for my back or psoas, put on fins, take off paddles, adjust goggles, adjust cap, chat with someone who wants to share a lane, WHATEVER,  and I don't always look at clock, so often I get out, and I see that about 30 mins has passed, and I've swam ~1000m, but it wasn't continuous.  I need to pay better attention.  

I can't find my 910xt, but I need to find it and start wearing it and keep track of stuff.   

I have searched these forums for an answer but without result. My question is about wetsuits, and I am not trying to start a discussion about sleeves or no sleeves but, I have a sleeveless wet suit and might be swimming in some cold water this spring. Do people ever wear swim sleeves with a sleeveless wet suit? or some type of arm warmer made of neoprene? I saw TYR makes one and was just seeing of this is an option for cold swims for those of us with only a sleeveless suit. Thanks

Eriq, at my current training level that you see, is Austin 70.3 in Oct a realistic goal?

i dont think ive ever seen people use the sleeves but that doesnt mean you shouldnt. if you have a sleeveless suit and dont have the means to buy a new suit, i think using sleeves would be the next best option.

is a 70.3 a realistic goal? hmm... how to answer this. depends...

my friend started the 2012 season with a few marathons and some biking under his belt, but no swimming experience. in 2012, his first EVER triathlon was IMAZ. he made it out of the water in under 2 hrs and finished between 15-16 hrs. would i recommend making a HIM or IM as your first tri? heck no! but is it doable, if you're willing to put in the time and effort, then sure. and one thing to consider in my friend's case is that he had a good sized running base and decent cycling base.

could you make it to the finish line before the cut-off? maybe... with enough time/effort invested in training. but i really wouldn't recommend it for your first season. plus i'm not too sure what kind of base you have previous to this year. i dont recall seeing it in the thread as i dont have it written down in my little cheat sheet on the group.

This is my first year of Tris but I have a solid running base and some experience on the bike. With that being said I think 70.3 is going to be my A race late 2014. For now I am going to do a few sprints this summer and try an olympic distance in July or August. Starting a good foundation sounds like a good idea.

I have been riding my trainer and it seems like to maintain the same speed, about 17 mph, it takes a lot more effort inside than it did this past summer. I have 7 levels of resistance but I have it set on the least and just adjust resistance with my gears. Is it typical for trainer rides to be harder than outdoor rides given the same desired speed? I was in the same gear and same cadence.

I've had the same foot cramping in the past, and I assume it's from being too tense in the water, ie. not relaxing enough.  Not sure if that's it, but as I've gotten better in the water, the frequency of foot cramps has decreased, so I just assume that's it.  

Ankle flexibility and keeping your foot flexed for a prolonged period of time might also be causing the cramping.

Hopefully there is someone in our group who has some better ideas on this.

Thanks Eriq. Sorry was away for couple of days (sick) so didn't login here. 

I just checked trainingpeaks site for a training plan for me (sprint - first timer). Can't see a free plan listed. Is there any another recommendation?  I plan to spend 5 days in a week on training (1 hour each) as follows

mon -swim 800-1500  yds easy

Tue - Run (interval or hills) 3-5 miles & strength training (30 min)

Wed-bike easy 15 miles

Thur - Swim 800 -1200 yds drills

fri - run (endurance for 4 -6 miles)

Sat - bike 25 miles

sun -rest

Would like to hear your opinion. Thanks!

Now to answer a bunch of questions. =)

For it being harder on a trainer than outdoors, I guess it all depends on what sort of tension you are applying to your rear wheel. I also find it more challenging because there isn't the stop and go nature of riding outdoors with stop lights and intersections. Also there is no coast down a slope or anything like that. So in general, I say yes it is harder.

Feet cramps while swimming. I'm with Brian that it's usually caused from unnecessary tension in the legs and feet. Could also do with lack of flexibility and conditioning; this is especially true for runners/cyclists who have tight ankles.

Early in my swimming, I used to get foot cramps when pushing hard off the walls. Also I'd focus so much on pointing my toes that my feet would be in that position for so longer and just couldn't handle it. 

But since I've started swimming more, I've become more conditioned to pointing my ankles and I really don't have those issues anymore. One thing you can do is just flex your toes for a few strokes every now and then to give your ankles some time to relax. I've also worked on my ankle flexibility by spending some time just sitting on my ankles. Flatten out the tops of your feet, put your ankles together, and just sit down on them. Pretty simple.

I know BT has a few free training plans that you can browse through to get you to your first sprint. If I remember correctly, your race is coming up in March so you only have a few weeks left. But if your able to do the workouts you listed out, you'll be fine come race day.

One thing I would suggest is turn your Saturday bike into a brick. Even if you run for just 5-15 mins off the bike, it will make a difference.

Also for your Thurs swim, don't do too many drills. Look for my post on swimming for my view on that whole deal.

Hope you're feeling better!

10k this evening on my dreadmill.  Other than running outside or getting a better movie, does anybody have any suggestions how to make dreadmill running less boring/more 'interesting'.  At one point last year, I ran 8 miles on my dreadmill, but utter and complete boredom wore me down and I stopped at 8 miles.  I was even watching a good James Bond film, and that couldn't counter the boredom.

There has to be a way to make dreadmill running sessions more palatable.  Any ideas?  

yikes! i think that's my max too on the treadmill, 8 miles. that's a bit over an hour for me. after that, i just cant take it mentally.

only thing i could think of is switch up the speed a bit. the treadmills at my gym have a lap counter thing as if you were on a track, 400m/lap. sometimes i'll run lap 3 a bit quicker, then run lap 4 a little slower just to add some variation but still have the same pace/mile. you could also simulate hills if you wanted.

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sounds like you've been putting in a lot of work. and I hope you would be since you're planning on doing a full IM this spring, right? seems like your workouts are well thought out. with still a few months to go, i'd add some intensity thoughout the week. and z1 workouts? i'm hoping you meant zone 2 and 3.

as far as working out when sick, i think i've posted about this before. they say if it's from the neck up, you are okay to exercise. just don't push too hard. but if the symptoms are below the neck, like chest congestion or whatever, then definitely rest.

when missing workouts, if it's one or two here and there, i say just skip them. no need to try and cram everything in. if it is a key workout, if your schedule allows, maybe replace a non-key workout. if you miss a whole week, i say adjust your schedule. push everything over that one week if your schedule allows.