ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 78)

That's a brick!

How are doing with the required time spent on the bike?  Meaning, are you able to make sure you're meeting the time suggested by the workout plan?  I know the plans call for certain time spent on a ride and not miles for a workout.  I think it's important because more time in the saddle (or miles over 112) will prove it's worth on race day too.

Group rides are fine as long as you are practicing proper IM pacing during these rides.  Just as Tony did at IMWI, you'll need to do to keep your run in line.  He rode easy for the ride and sometime (at least for me) it's important to practice riding and running at the pace you'll be planning for race day.  If you don't practice you may have a psychological struggle to keep things in the right pace zone.  Sometimes riding in a group produces rides that are above the effort you may be using for a given race.  I mention this because easy riding will be a MUST for me or the psychological battle will draw me into an effort too hard.  I'm just putting it out there for you to contemplate.

Nutrition:

What is your plan?  I think it would be a really good idea for you to put it out there in writing, whether or paper or in the group, for you to see and know it works.  Calories per hour?  Solids required? Gels and/or all liquid as a primary? 

Uhh?  Yep!

I am one of the one's that have been able to spoil gifts too.  I have been known to guess, with ridiculous accuracy, things being given to me.  Different but the same sort of feelings for the gift givers.

Riding off the back is the way many of the triathletes I trained with all last summer did long group rides,  That should work well.  Riding a little harder occasionally is fine to do, just make sure you know you can hold your effort down when it counts.  I am not good at holding my effort back and IM could be a very long day if I don't use some control.

Riding on the heat for training and then cooler temps for the race will help your effort but you really need to know how it feels to ride at the effort you're going to be riding.  HR will help you keep effort close but learn to know how it feels to go easy.  You are correct that you have to work harder the higher your HR, but lower temps should only help your efforts unless you try to ride at the effort level you ride in the heat. 

Effort is effort!  Whether in the heat or not, riding within a target range is the goal.  For instance, during my century rides I tried to ride in the general vicinity of my IM pace but allowed some time in HIM effort zones too.  As the day went on and the temps came up some (not Texas temps) my speed dropped but my HR stayed close to the same zone.  The heat will tax your body, for sure, and that's why it's important to know where your effort should be and stay there.  You cannot pay any attention to speed AT ALL during the race.  As  matter of fact, if you think you'll be tempted to look and get caught, turn the speed display off so you cannot see it to stay on track.

I'll talk nutrition later.  Right now I have to get off to work.

I had an email from Sufferfest. They have put together 2 new cycling workout downloads. I purchased one of these downloads last year and it is a great workout and fun to watch. These two are video of this years 2013 Giro d'Italia. One of them is 2hrs working on endurance and climbing, the next is shorter but focused on sprinting. The email offer was a bundle price with $5 off so I went for it.

What have I done?!

I've been looking at running  plans online but I just can't find anything I am very excited about because everything is race oriented and I don't have to be ready for a race at any certain time. I just want to build mileage and be a better runner so I was thinking of trying to build my mileage to 20 miles a week and see if I can hold it there for a while using a modified BarryP plan. Modified that I would run 4 or 5 days a week instead of 6. What do you think?I know 20 miles does not sound like a lot to most of you but for me that would be an increase.

Last week I ran 14.5 miles or something like that but 2.5 miles were on the ARC trainer at the gym which I did to try to keep my legs working but eliminate a little of the pounding impact since my hip is bothering me. Is it a good idea to use the machines or cheating?

I will say I am having a really hard time getting my running legs back after the break in August for my heal pain. My runs feel slow, my legs are heavy, hips are stiff. My HR is easy - just my legs won't go . It is frustrating. So I've just been running for time and putting the Garmin away for now.

For those of you who haven't seen or heard....................

I am in!!!  IRONMAN WISCONSIN here I come!!!!!!!!!!!

.......In a year of course

On the one hand I don't enjoy slogging along and not improving at running. On the other hand running 6 days a week for me requires a fair share of running on the treadmill since my body really can't tolerate a lot of pounding on the sidewalk. My favorite runs are obviously trail runs with my dog so it is hard to get excited about the treadmill.  Again, on the one hand running often hurts for me - things like foot pain or back pain. More after the runs than during but still it is difficult to wrap my brain around dealing with this 6 days a week. On the other, the BarryP folks say running more at an easy pace will help your body adapt and it won't hurt so much. So, that is where I am torn. I just get a little bored with a lot of short runs on the treadmill and if there is some workout that gets dropped - that will be it.

Thanks for your input and perspective .

WOO HOO!!!!!! This is going to be a busy training year for the Junkies!!!!!

More on the nutrition discussion:

Using only liquids on the bike could cause some GI issues when you get to the run.  I suggest getting in some solids in on the bike.  Keys being to make sure you use only enough solids to keep your stomach from sloshing around and giving all kinds of discomfort.  May people may suffer from these issues because they are trying to live off of liquids alone.  Put a little bit of solids down, but not much. 

Keep in mind that whatever solids you take in won't hit your system, in terms of energy, for as much as 2 hours.  So you'll need to get the bulk of calories in the form of liquids and gels, or some sort of quickly metabolized calories.  Something else to make sure is that you are getting some kind of protein throughout the day too.  I have no idea what the content of Infinit is so I'll leave that to you to check into.

Obviously, I have not done a IM myself, but my experience into HIM seemed to point to me taking some form of solids.  I used 2 Honey Stinger waffles through the entire bike.  I recognized that I would not get much from the calories being metabolized but I used it as an anti-sloshing mechanism AND for a few calories toward the end of the run.

Very happy for you, Dirk. I'm looking forward to watching you cross that finish line on the live feed next year!

I agree with Warren.  If the plan fits your schedule and you enjoy running said schedule, it's the right plan for you.  I also wouldn't disagree with using an elliptical as a method to support running.  We've said that being healthy is the first priority for all of us for a few years now, if an elliptical is the means to that end, it's the way to go.  I wouldn't necessarily count that as running miles but it could very well be the steps in the right direction to get you to where you want to be.

Also, 20 MPW isn't a small amount of miles!  If you are able to consistently run 20 miles a week that will bring you to over 1000 miles in a years time.  How many "runners" do you know that actually do that?  And then ride and swim on top of it.  You are no slouch at 20 MPW! 

To reach 20 MPW you can still apply a sort of Warrens favored 3:2:1 plan, and I would recommend that you do.  If you run 4 days a week start slowly and build to your goal.  You could do something like 2,2,4,6 to start and slowly increase from there.  With the history you've had it may warrant an even slower start to avoid injuries but take your time.  Nothing worth having comes easy, nor should it!  It's in great pains that we learn the significance of our achievements.

One other thing.  Shoes!  I know you love your shoes.  However, I think you should try to settle in on one or two pair and see where they lead.  If I remember correctly you have a lot of shoes that are used.  If you have had a successful pair of shoes that allowed you to run injury free in the past, I suggest you go back to them or the equivalent newer model.  With all of the changes you may be doing with shoes it may be compounding any issues you have.  If I am incorrect in my recollection that you have more than 2-3 pair of shoes you run in, and have for a while, disregard my comments.