Gray Guys/Girls Masters Focus Triathlete Forum--OPEN! (Page 7)

NAME: Dan

STORY: I'm 55 and live in Sendai, Japan. I ran on and off (weekend warrior type runner) for the past 30-35 years and I always thought triathlons would be something I would like to get into if I had the time.  So when I stopped working about 5 years ago, I bought a bike (no cycling for 35 years) and started hitting the pool (no swimming for more like 40 years).   My first Oly was in 2009 and since then I've done 3-4 races per year.   I have done the HIM distance once each of the last 3 years and the rest of my races were all Olys.   I continue to struggle with the swim but the wetsuit helps me get through the races in the open water - my age group performance is actually not bad, but I never feel comfortable.    My running has been pretty consistent for the past three years and is usually my strongest from a performance perspective.    My cycling has slowly improved and is actually my weak link relative to others in my age group.

FAMILY STATUS: Married with two sons from my wife's previous marriage. We have 5 grandchildren.

CURRENT TRAINING: I am in the pool 4-5 days per week and spend way too much time on technique.   I still struggle with getting the breathing right.   Cycling - on the trainer 3 times/week through the winter and doing intervals (new for me).  I'm now outside as long as the weather is half way decent and get out at least 3 days per week.    Running - I was at 4 days per week until 5 weeks ago when I tore a muscle (more on that in another post).  No running for 5 weeks, but I was able to run an easy 5km on Sunday and will get out today and try the same distance/pace.

2013 RACES: 2 Olys, a near-HIM (near because the swim was 2 km, the bike was 105 km, the run 20 km) and a couple of HMs.  Weather caused the swim leg of the HIM to be cancelled and I did pretty well with the bike/run part - 5 hours, 14 minutes.

2014 RACES: At least 1 Oly on June 15 and then my first full distance event on Sept 7 (3.8 km swim, 190 km bike, 42.2 km run, i.e., the bike is 10km longer than an ironman).  

Weightloss: I'm currently at 129-130 pounds and will try to stay about that weight (wife's orders - I can lose more weight as long as it doesn't come off of my face).    

LOL....I'm only 5'4" and made it up to about 155 once about 12 years ago (lots of beer, wine, job related travel and stress, etc. involved).   130 is about what I weighed when I graduated from high school and the only reason I am back to that level again is triathlon related exercise.   

Hey Dave!  Congratulations!  You are a Triathlete!

Great race report!

I typically do LT tests in early spring before I start a performance build and repeat them towards the middle/end of summer to measure progress.  In the past I have tested a couple of extra times if my coaches or I perceived a dramatic improvement.

Using a race is a wonderful way of determining LT, because as you said, you are not likely going to get as hard an effort in a test that you do in a race.

I strongly suggest you revisit your HR numbers.  You likely have lap splits for the last mile of your race.  I would compare your average HR during that last mile to your HR zones.  While a one mile average is not the accepted way to determine LT, it certainly can be instructive.  I suspect that whatever average HR you had over the last mile was pretty close to your LT and if you recalculated your zones off of that you would likely see that your current zones are low.  Again, using a one mile HR average is not the accepted way of determining HR, however, to counter that, for the vast majority of athletes, running in high zone 5 for over a couple minutes is highly unlikely which indicates, at least to me, that the zones are too low. (To really clarify this, I would not reset my zones based on a one mile average from a race, however, using that one mile average to calculate zones and compare to your set zones may well indicate your set zones are too low - hope that makes sense).

I truly am not trying to be argumentative.  Many, many years ago, back when HR training was first becoming in-vogue, I really struggled with getting my zones set correctly.  Once we finally got it figured out, my progress DRAMATICALLY increased.  I mean DRAMATICALLY increased.  I just don't want you to have the same struggles I had and to maybe learn from my stumbles so you don't have too.

Lots to catch up on here.

Welcome everyone.

I went on my first MB ride since surgery yesterday. 2 hours and Bill Graves (from BT) and I were the only ones on the trails in the state park. It was an easy-peasy ride for Bill, it whooped my tail. Though, to give myself credit, I did pretty good for not being on that bike since October. This weekend I am going to a women's MB clinic for 3 days. I hope to learn some skilz because I have none. After that it is back to trying to catch up with the training plan for my Oly in 7 weeks (EGAD!)

Karl, I was just down your way to pick my Mom up for the summer. The weather was perfect for swimming.. hint hint!

Hey Deb,

When I do threshold interval training on the bike I try to stay in a range of 98-104% LT - that is high zone 4 to low zone 5b. The higher you go, the less time you will spend there.

This is where having your HR zones calculated properly really comes in to play. If your zones are too low, you will train, thinking you are in zone 4-5b when in reality you may be in zone 3-low 4. For most athletes, the difference may only be a few BPM, maybe 5-7?  However the difference in training results are huge!  True threshold training (98-104% of LT) will serve to increase your LT, thereby increasing speed while training in zone 3-low 4 would serve to increase your endurance but likely NOT increase your LT.

Remember also that you need to test LT on both the bike and the run as your LT HR's will likely be different. Using a power meter on the bike is a much more accurate way to determine cycling LT and FTP although unfortunately, power-meters are a rather expensive toy.

Done properly, high zone 4-5b training is painful and since you appear to be a fan of bringing pain upon yourself in training, I will share a good way to do so. On the bike, I am a REALLY big fan of the Sufferfest videos - http://www.thesufferfest.com . They are inexpensive, $12.99 last time I got one. You find the one you want, pay your pennies and download it. Set your bike on the trainer in front of your computer and prepare to be tortured as you ride with some of the best cyclists in the world. Two videos in particular provide EXCELLENT interval workouts - 1) A Very Dark Place, and 2) There is No Try. When you do it right, either of those videos will have you seriously questioning your sanity before you are done. The really cool thing about these videos is that they direct you moment to moment. They are based on RPE however you can certainly substitute HR or power zones if you know them - that has the added benefit of helping to learn the correlation between HR or power and RPE. The videos provide cadence instructions also. If you follow the instructions in the video, I pretty much guarantee you will not walk well when you dismount the bike and you will absolutely KNOW you just completed a really good workout.

Hey Karl,

Nothing wrong with using RPE.  Clarence DeMar won 7 Boston Marathons that way, the most by the way.  And Eddy Merckx won the Tour de France 5 times long before GPS, power-meters or HR monitors were a twinkle in anyone's eye.  Listening to your body is becoming a lost art today.