Ironman Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 72)

Congrats!!! that's awesome.

Boo,  that's awesome!  Great news.  To a much lesser degree, I know that good feeling.  I went to my new Dr. a couple weeks ago for a check-up.  At this point he knew nothing of my background but hile he was checking my pulse he looks at me and says..."so, your an athlete."  Probably the first time I'd ever been labled an athlete.  This training does wonderful things.

That is fantastic!  Yet another example of how so many people have become dependent on the easy way out and take a pill or drugs to solve their issues rather than put in an honest effort of the time tested solution combination of nutrition and exercise.  

I had a somewhat similar experience last year - dropped 20 lbs between visits (197 to about 177) and my cholesterol numbers were borderline.  Told my dr in January 2011 that  I was training for a half iron in June 2011, so he wanted to get some bloodwork and base metrics done.  I delayed and never went in until like April, and as a result just come off of bikram yoga 4x per week for 4 months straight, and was just starting to increase my run and bike volume.  Got the measurements, and when he sat down to review, his eyes just about popped out.  He turned to me and said/asked 'what happened?!'  

Scared me for a sec - but then told him I was eating better by cutting out processed foods.  My numbers plummeted and said the results removed any possibility of statins.  The EKG showed a low HR warning - but he said that is to be expected (my guess is that anything < 60 or so triggers that warning).  He shook my hand, told me I was living the healthiest lifestyle of anyone he knows (he lied, I'm sure - but it was still nice) and sent me on my way.

You mentioning numbers like 115-126 reminds me that I'd still love to get something like a VO2max measurement or some of those other things done.  Just because I'm the curious sort like that.

That is an awesome story.  My Dr would probably laugh at me if he saw me now.  I think I have only seen him like twice in the past 10 years.  So I'm sure he would have thought he grabbed the wrong chart.  Keep up the good work!!!

awesome! Not sure how anyone can lose weight around here with training for IM. All I do is eat, eat and more eat. Let me know your secret. I may have lost a pound or 2, but nothing serious.

Great job man! You should be proud!!

On a side note...I have my FTP tonight! I'm psyched and a little nervous.  I've been putting the time and punishment in but it's 20 minutes of hell.

Bring it.

well it is good and bad. I started a diet but got off of it about 2 weeks into it because I lost too much weight too quickly. I did that dukan diet because my fiance was on it so by default I was on it. But coach told me no. so I got off the diet but didn't put on any more weight. Time to lose weight is in the winter months... Oct-Jan. Now it's all about backing up the training.

It is hard to consume less calories than what we burn. In the end we lose weight because we are depleting our body of something... or at least that's how it was explained to me. So if you wanna lsoe weight you gotta consume less. Which is bad to do during race season.

When/If we meet at Triple T you will see I have some more work to do. Going from 280 to 187 or so is a bid step but I refuse to do any cross train, P90X etc to 'tone'. All my time is spent S/B/R since that is what's going to make me better at those sports. If I went and started another discipline I wouldn't be getting married! lol

you're gonna CRUSH it.

Boo (and anyone else who wants to read my soapbox rant about nutrition ),

While training for Louisville I lost a little bit of weight at the beginning but quickly plateaued and remainded at the same weight through training and the race.  I, too, thought that I had to eat enough to recover and fuel workouts.

I've been doing a lot of reading about nutrition over the past year and, increasingly, it is becoming clear to me that simply following the calories in, calories out equation is old science.  There is so much more to it than just balancing the calories or creating a deficit.  From what I've read, most important is controlling the insulin response.  The body is incapable of burning fat, rather it stores fat whenever insulin is present.  Don't spike blood sugar = don't trigger insulin response = continue burning fat.  There is way more but not for this discussion.

Anyway, I started following paleo late last summer with lots of false starts and cheating with intermitent success.  I've been 90% paleo since the first week of January which was when I started to train for Lake Placid.  Excepting my first 2 weeks, I've never felt as though I wasn't fueling workouts or eating enough for recovery.  I rarely allow myself to be hungry and I've lost 28 lbs.  I don't even consider the idea of using any sort of nutrition for workouts up 2 hours, not b/c I'm depriving myself but b/c I honestly don't need it (I'd go longer but except for my 6 hour rides on weekends all of my workouts are 2 hours or less).  I have not the slightest doubt in my mind that I'll be another 12 lbs lighter (my goal weight) by race day.

While I've fully bought in, I know the paleo lifestyle is not for everyone.  That said, I don't want anyone to think that we can't continue to lose weight just b/c we're training for IM.

Check my logs, my training is, at best, inconsistent...far more so than when I was training for Louisville.  Despite this, EVERY race I've done so far this year (all running 5k - 13.1, trail races and road races) has been a PR or a personal course record.  I, absolutely, attribute this to my food choices.

The Georgia forum also has a thread with a local AGer who is following a similar diet.  He's always been a strong competitor but last weekend finished first in his age group for a HIM taking in only 133 calories through the entire race.  Along with his training, he attributes much of his success to his diet which has allowed him to continue dropping weight leading up to his race.

I apologize for getting long and preachy...it appears that this is a topic for which I've become passionate.

ARRGH I just caught some sort of GI bug that is making my guts rotten and fatigued as heck.  Stay away from the bugs everyone!! I am so tired of cold weather and the diseases that come with it.  Well it is cold and raining out so I am not missing my run group too much tonight

In better news my new road bike is in!! Have to wait to get fitted until next week. She is teeny tiny like my tri bike...47cm frame!!

Are you using the road bike for LP? 

Here is the Doucet pill box that I was talking about.  It worked pretty well on the trainer and theres no rubbing on my knees or leg.  I used electrical tape to add the aerodynamic look lol.
It gives me 3hours worth of salt pills for every slot. 

TDOT I like the pill box idea!

On another note... I think I'm getting pink eye and I swam this morning. I will get it checked out at the doc. Just wandering how I should sanitize my goggles or will the chlorine kill it for next swim? I don't want the guey, red eye coming back. ewwww.haha Any thoughts?

Had the FTP last night and man was it a suffer fest!!

We were split up into two groups, we've had bad luck with data getting crossed with so many guys on trainers at the same time so we split up into two groups for it to make sure nothing happens...again.

During the course of the day I found myself quite nervous for this, I had been seeing great increases in my cycling and my power from FTP tests...but there is nothing like an FTP test, you can't replicate it in your training...there is nothing like it.  

I'm all for suffering...that's how I survive.  Pushing my body to the limits/extremes of what I can do, not holding back for anything because I know when I get done with that event I can say that I gave it everything I had...there was nothing left.  Punishing my body beyond what some people dream of doing is a gift that I have and am truly grateful for. But knowing I have that mentality isn't a good thing either because I know I'm in for a world of hurt when something like this comes around.  

I was part of the second group so I got to cheer on my boys for the first bit.  I love cheering people on and getting them amped up but I found it made me more nervous than I already was.  As I stood there cheering them on I texted a friend who knew I had the test telling them I was REALLY nervous about this one.  That my mind was playing games with me and mentally was feeling quite weak in those moments.  Received a couple texts back just reassuring me that I would be fine and all the training and hard work would come out.  That settled me a bit because that person is mentally built the same as me.

First group finished up and they were beat.  Crushed.  And I found myself ready to go, that I was getting excited to start and I think part of that was to get it over with.  There was minimal gains in the first group of guys…2-3 watts and we even had one guy go down in power.  This did not lift my confidence much at all knowing they were suffering with me the last three months and not seeing results they wanted!

The first FTP I ever took was July '11 and I pulled down a whopping 223 average.  I had no idea what I was doing for that...never had any sort of training, coaching, etc.  I just got on the bike and went.  After a little bit of training and mostly work on my own my next FTP was in November at the beginning of the 3 month coaching period.  A vast improvement up to 267! I was very happy with that but would then suffer for the huge jump as the following 3 months were then based off of 267.  OUCH! At the end of the 3 months with the Thursday night ‘trash talking’ crew we took another FTP to see how much we had improved on our numbers.  I bounced to a crushing 286! DOUBLE OUCH! Our second 3 months session started in February and I quickly learned to hate a wattage load of 286 for our sessions.  I was kicking myself hard this time around for going balls out on the test AGAIN.  These three months would just be torture for me on the bike.  Why did I do this to myself AGAIN!? I hate having that ability to kill myself I kept thinking during the latest 3 months.

While the bikes were getting changed out I was talking with Ray, one of my Lake Placid training partners, and how I was really aiming for 295, an increase of 9 watts.  I thought that was a fair number and an achievable goal for where I thought my training was.  He urged me to push for 300 and how disappointed I would be if I finished at 298 or something close to it.   The bikes changed out and I hopped on and started spinning before the warmup session began hoping that it would relax me a little bit to be in the saddle and not wandering around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I wouldn’t so much call that as a warmup…my lord that was hard.  25 minutes of warmup with a few peaks at 128% load! I was already feeling it and wasn’t too happy with it as I felt like I was getting drained just doing that!

We started the FTP…the clock started ticking down from 20:00…19:59…I knew it was going to be a long hard push for this.  I started out pushing hard but I wanted to be consistent through this.  Not wanting to go out to hard and fade or save too much for the end and not get the results because I left too much in the tank. 

18:00 – wow this is going to be a long 20 minutes but I’m 10% done…just keep pushing.

15:00 – 25% of the way through, keep focusing on my objective and don’t give up.

13:00 – started falling apart, stomach was getting upset but knew I was only 3 minutes from being halfway done and the countdown would be more significant once it hit single digits.

11:00 – legs feel like tree trunks, having a hard time spinning! Really starting to not feel well…ask one of the guys from the first group to grab the barf bucket and put it next to me…just in case.

8:00 – decided that I had to start putting my brain elsewhere, get it out of here as my cadence was starting to go to the low 90’s now.  Started thinking about my 2 adopted sons and how much they mean to me and the kind of life they would have had if we didn’t adopt them.  That gave me some inner strength to push on through the suffering.

5:00 – I saw the clock roll past the 5 minute mark and remembered telling myself I was 75% done…just a little bit more, you got this, don’t stop now.  My cadence was now high 80’s as I was starting to slow even more.  My average power was starting to drop…I could watch it go down and it was destroying me mentally. 

4:00 – The snot was starting to run down my face and I didn’t care, I wanted to concentrate on my legs, not on my face.

3:00 – I got this…just push man PUSH! Starting to burp and get some stomach acid coming up.  Looking to see the best way to get to the bucket next to me if I need it. 

2:00 – Oh GOD I want to die! Save nothing for the end…

1:30 – All I have, this is it.  If you can walk after you’re done you didn’t go hard enough.

1:00 – click to a harder gear and REALLY start to crank, I take a few peaks at my watts to see what I’m pushing out…450, 480, 490…I couldn’t look anymore I just wanted this to be over. My legs were hurting so much I’ve never felt pain like that from cycling!

End – I just sank in the aero position, my whole body was shaking, I didn’t have the strength to unclip.  My legs shook as if they were having a seizure and I couldn’t control them.  Finally stopped shaking so I unclipped and put my left foot down, I had no strength to hold myself up so I sat back down on the bike.  I told myself that no matter my number I had given it all, that I felt like I couldn’t have gone another minute on the bike, that I was finished.

The guys were hooting and hollering at the numbers that the other guys were putting out.  Ray looked over at me and said ‘Jeff! You did it!!” I finally looked up and there it was, staring me in the face - 300!! My new threshold!   I was so amped but I didn’t know how to express it, I was exhausted. 

I felt the pain of training at 286 for the last 3 months and it paid off…big time.  Now the journey starts with an FTP of 300.  Bring it on. 

Numbers:

Average power: 316
Energy: 380.2
Average W/KJ: 3.03 
Average RPM: 90
Average HR: 176
Weight: 230
New Threshold Power: 300
New Threshold W/KJ: 2.91

dude, that is SICK! great job!  I think the number that doesn't get enough credit is the W/K. Pushin 2.91 that is great.

Great to see... keep it up.

Cornick

Great Job I wish I understood the whole traing by power idea but HR training is hard enough for me!!!

Cornick that is an awesome (and inspirational) story and outcome.

I only recently started training with 'power' (I put that in quotes because I don't have a power meter - but I do use trainerroad and they have virtualpower based on my trainers published power curve, which at least gives me some sort of repeatable number with regards to wattage that is supposedly fairly precise) - and it's fascinating stuff.

You're description of how you felt at the end is two things: (1) awe inspiring that you gave it your all  (2) I clearly did not give it my all during my power tests  Sure, I was fatigued, but you really slammed your balls to the wall.

Congrats on your new power numbers - very impressive!

Also..

Only an endurance athlete thinks like that - 'only three minutes (out of 20 total) until halfway done with this , only to have to do it all over again when already fatigued!'

JMoney, that is not my IMLP bike (unless for some reason it is going to be better...who knows!) I have a Guru Crono that I have used in training rides in LP many times that will do the trick! She is very comfy

Cornick...amazing work!!!

Happy Weekend everyone! It looks like another cool one up north here...but sunny

Sprint race for me today and I just HAD to talk a training buddy into racing as well - we are doing a tough HIM next Sunday and I just wanted to blow the dust off this weekend - he was not really excited about that. Turns out I shouldn't have talked him into it as he knocked me off the Master's podium and I wound up with 1st in AG (which is sketchy due to the whole masters thing - he and I were actually 1&2 in our AG). In the end I got a gold medal and he got a bronze, which is really all that matters, right??? 

Anyway, finally got a chance snap a photo of my race rig - this is pretty much the way I will probably be setup for IMLP. I have a Darkspeed Works Bento box that I used last year - not sure if I will need it this time around - still working on the nutrition  plan. While I don't usually carry anything on a sprint or olympic, this summer I have decided that I will always have a spare tubular behind the seat and kit tucked underneath. I can use more tire changing experience, so if flat in a sprint it just turns into race-day practice.

...and Cornick - I have ready your FTP 20 report like 10 times - that is awesome - better than most race reports!!!

ETA: Even though it seems to be quiet day for the group (everybody must be training and racing?) this is our 1800th post - rock on, ya'll!