Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 79)

You guys are so inspiring.  I had a tough week last week. My son was sick and we had a 4 day weekend after that.  Training with my kids around requires some creativity and I was fighting it off and didn't get all my workouts in.  I could only have done the trainer but it's loud enough that I was worried I wouldn't hear my son if he was sick upstairs.  I did get workouts in when I was able but missed several.  I've got the kids in some camps for summer but the weeks that they're off are going to be a challenge.  

I'm back in the saddle now though.  Did a tough hill workout on the bike yesterday and had a nice, easy run this morning.  Off to the pool tonight to get 'er done as well.  On week 16 so just starting to ramp up for the first time.  Bring it.  

I am the same way with feeling worse if I take the days off! I have also done like you said and picked another HIM this summer and just jumped back in on week 16. I took one day of after my HIM then did a 20 mile group ride on Monday took Tuesday off and just could not take it anymore. I had to get back out and run again. Good luck on your race and let us know what you decide for your next race!

Pops has me beat on the days of rest - I'm at 15 for the year. 

Went out today and ran 15 miles holding a good pace for me and feel remarkably well.  Looking forward to a 3 hr ride this weekend and possibly a 1.2M open water swim race (just looking for the saltwater experience).  I'm at a point where I know my fitness is there to finish the race (barring any unforeseen problems), but am questioning whether I could have trained harder and farther on the bike.  When I look at other HIM plans the mileage and time in the saddle is substantially greater (but those also are not always beginner level plans).

Pops what plan would you follow for your next HIM?

Also, I regret not adding strength training into my regime as it would have been of benefit on the bike. 

Can't really see myself doing another HIM in 2011 (as I promised my wife I'd only do one for the year).  Have a couple of Olys and Sprints scheduled in 2011 and my first full marathon. 

Sitting here today it is almost impossible for me to envision training and completing an IM, but I would have said the same thing about a HIM a year ago.  We'll see . . .  

DV1 good luck racing this weekend!

Question for you all who are further in the plan. Saturday I have the 1 hr. 20 min ride with a 1 hr run to work on transition practice (8 x 8- run 4:00 min B: 10:00 min, R: 4:00 min.). Did you all do the workout as prescribed? I would just rather ride and then run.

Joe - How long did your 15 miler take? Was that longer than prescribed? - Nice Job BTW

Pops - Wow ... doing an IM only two months out seems like a lofty goal ... but I doubt you not! Go get it :-) I'm about a year behind you!!!

Trigal - I have no idea what those numbers mean in your post - LOL. I'm not near the end anyway, so I'd defer to pops, Joe and others. Sorry ;-)

Had a GREAT swim today! Thank goodness after my last pool fiasco. It was a real confidence booster for Saturday's race .... I mean triathlon ;-)

I bagged this workout because, while it is important to practice transitions, a couple of minutes isn't going to make or break my 70.3 experience.  Instead, I opted for 40+ mile bike and a 8 mile run @ slightly slower than race pace - 3.5+ hours of continuous fun in the sun.  With a rest day immediately following this workout, I used it as an opportunity to get myself in the uncomfortable zone for an extended period of time - you know, the point where you ask yourself "Why am I doing this?" or "Wow, this hurts."  The run was also in the middle of the day and it was hot and humid so that added to the punishment and race simulation experience.

Plan called for a 2hr run and I made in 2:03 - wasn't going to be happy with a 14.74 mile reading on my Garmin.

That is more what I was thinking. I would rather ride the race distance and then run than be jumping back and forth like that. I've got my transition times down to around 40 seconds in the sprints and Oly's that I race. I was hoping to be able to take my time a little more in the HIM!

OKay I've gotta ask ....

How do you make it through transition in 40 sec???

The more details the better :-)

OK - got the internet back then we got more storms and lost power! Everything is back to normal now I think.

Practice for one thing. Doing everything wrong for a few races can also really motivate you to work it out LOL. My bike shoes are tri shoes so no socks. I put yankz laces on my running shoes so no tying and for shorter races no socks again. Saves more time than you would think!

T1: Count your bike rack so you don't even have to think about where your bike is. Set your bike helmet on your handle bars, sunglasses open and in helmet. Run out of the water to your bike, glasses on, helmet on, shoes on and your done. I do not do a flying mount or have my shoes clipped on a head of time. I do make sure my pedals are in the right position so that I can get on without fumbling around trying to find the pedal. I do not mess around with a towel for drying anything. My first race I stood in T1 and dried my feet, dried off with my towel, changed my shirt, couldn't find my bike rack. Huge amount of time wasted. That was a sprint though, for the half I'm not so worried about every little second. If you are wearing a wetsuit, come out of the water and take off your swim cap and goggles. Do not wait until you are standing beside your bike. Immediately start taking that wetsuit off while your are running to your bike. Mine is usually down to my waist before I even get to my bike. Then all you have to do is pull it down to about your ankles and step on it while pulling your foot out. Again, practice. I used to run out of the lake after an OWS and practice just pulling the wetsuit off.

T2: There really isn't much to it. Take off your helmet, change your shoes, grab your race belt and start running! Don't waste time fueling in transition. Do it all on the bike or grab it and take it with you on the run. For an Oly I would probably wear socks. I don't actually have a race belt. I just pin my number on my husbands old heart rate monitor and wear it around my hips like a race belt.

That is all I can think of! I'm pretty sure there are some YouTube videos about quick transitions too if you want to see more.

Sounds like simple is king!

Do you hang or fold up your wetsuit anywhere, or just leave it lying in a pile for everyone to run over?

Also, has running through transition with your shoes on ever resulted in caked up cleats that wouldn't clip in to your bike? I read a tip about putting a piece of duct tape over your cleat if transition was muddy.

Pops - TX eh? I wonder when registration will fill up? Nothing like a jello shot induced IRONMAN!!! As you know, I'm doing Steelhead HIM in Benton Harbor, MI on August 14th. Not sure how far you want to travel, but just sayin ...

Started waking up earlier today to prepare for Saturday's 4 am alarm clock. I think I'm a little nervous ... but the good kind!

I really don't even remember what I do with my wetsuit. I guess I just leave it in a pile with the rest of my stuff. One RD uses bike racks that are a wooden frame which sits on the ground. The  frame has a space that your bike tire fits in and then a larger space for your gear. With those frames it is easy to keep your stuff separated from everyone else. I actually only do about 2 races a year with my wetsuit because the water temp gets too warm here in the summer to allow them.

Last year I did 2 races in a complete downpour and did not have trouble with mud in my cleats. I have heard of that happening though. I have never tried tape over the cleats so I can't really give any input about it.

Have your practiced your transition yet? What will the water temp be for your race?

Transition Practice = not enough

Water temp = 62*

No worries, it's not like you have to spend all day doing it. Just set your stuff up and give it a quick run through.

62 - brrr! Make sure you get in and give yourself enough warm up time before the race starts. Get that water in your suit to warm you up, put your face in the water. DO NOT leave this until the last minute. I volunteered at a sprint a couple of weeks ago and we kept trying to tell the first timers to get in the water. They looked at us like we were nuts and didn't listen. Got in, heart rate spiked, enter cold water and now you've lost your breath. Just get in and warm up please!

Got into it a bit with my swim coach last night.  According to the plan, it was supposed to be 30 minutes easy (to recover from hills on the bike on Tuesday) but according to my coach it was supposed to be sprinting all night with fins.    I did an 800m warmup which was fine.  And then 20x100m on 2:00 with fins, alternating all out sprint & just pace swimming.  Made it through but it was hard and then she says, "ok, grab a flutterboard, we're doing 50's on a minute".  Yeah, not according to my plan.  So I hopped out to leave and that didn't go over well.  She wasn't REALLY mad but was obviously disappointed that I was leaving before we were done and said that she coaches people training for IM's and they don't just get out and leave b/c their "plan" says so.  Yikes.  I explained that I'm new to this distance and had already gone way over the plan and had a long run in the morning.  If we'd been doing pulling or even just a long swim set I would've stayed but more kicking sprints would've been brutal.

Now I'm sitting here about to go on my long run and my freaking legs are tired before I even begin.  Argh!  I actually think the coach is going to try to recruit me to do some distance OW swimming with her (she does marathons, etc - holy!) and maybe she got caught up in me "slacking" or something, I don't know.  I don't slack in the pool ever and I told her so.  Bah, sorry.  I'm feeling a bit perturbed by it.  Felt guilty for leaving and now I feel annoyed by my tired legs. OK, off the couch and into my running shoes.

Thanks DV, I actually had a really good run.  I've put off my easy bike all day and now I'm gonna get that done too.  

Pops, I agree with you.  She's a great coach and her workouts are really challenging, which I like, but she's coaching at a triathlon club for heaven's sake.  You'd think she'd 'get' that we can't all go hard for 1.5 hours every single time.  She's coaching about 60 of us so no, she won't alter the workouts.  Which is ok so long as *I* can make minor alterations to fit my plan.  I find it hard b/c I'm a swimmer and I get really jazzed about working hard in the pool but the problem arises when I have to put in the time running, which is my weakness.  I can't afford to not put in solid training time running b/c I'm tired from swimming.  The fact is that my swim's not going to improve too much more (say, 4 minutes tops) but my running has a ton of room for improvement (say ... an hour, LOL!).  Anyway, thanks.  I feel better now that the run's done.  

Glad the run went well Laurie!

I'm laying out transition in my kitchen and beginning the check, double check, triple check, etc... that will continue the remainder of the day!

No buckets, balloons or other non-essentials. I'm trying to keep it nice and clean.

Good for you!! Have a great race!

Good for you!! Have a great race!

I did that particular workout but I also added a LOT more cycling and ran 6 days/week throughout the whole plan.