amschrod's mentor group - FULL (Page 8)

Paula:

Happy training and welcome!

Edited by DannyK 2010-05-01 2:39 PM

I have a question about stationary bikes/spinning. I know there's a diffrence between that and actually biking on the road. I currently have a mountain bike but it is not in any condition to ride. I would love to buy a new bike but cannot afford to right now (can't wait till I can get one). What, if any, is the best way to train on a stationary bike?

Welcome Paula!

I loved doing Jorge's intervals training this winter.  BRUTAL.  I used a trainer and my bike, but the concepts would still apply.  Here's the link to the thread where he explains it.

I want to say a big welcome to Paula as well.  Post often.

Well,  I did the check in today and the transition class.  It was ok but nothing I have not already heard here on BT.  The race numbers were assigned by the swim time submitted when you registered.  I had sent in a time of 4 mins for the 250 m pool swim.  I tried to get them to change that to 4:30 since I don't think I will hit the 4 min goal.  Anyway,  out of 150 registered triathletes I am NUMBER 13!!!  I know my time is not that fast!  The lady said some people put their time down as 30 minutes for the short swim.  She said if I wanted to let others go ahead of me tomorrow I could.  I will talk to those behind me and ask how fast they will really swim it and might drop back in the line so I don't hold them up. 

I walked the loop that we will run.  It has a gradual climb and a long steep descent on the other side of the field.  The downhill will be fast but I know I will suffer from shin splints on that part but I need to take advantage of any downhills I have.  The bike has a few hills that I will struggle with but several good downhills to regain the speed.  The worst is after about a 1/2 mile downhill right before the finish.  I will lose all that speed so I can make a sharp left turn into the parking lot, then a steep climb with speed bumps and three sharp turns back into the transition area.  It will be a slow finish at the dismount line. 

Anyway, less than 10 hours to race time so heading to the room for some sleep.  Lucky #13.  I will post tomorrow the rest of the story.  Thanks again for all the tips and encouragement. 

Finished my frist tri and am happy to say I did it.  Not real pleased with the times but now I have a starting point to judge future events.  Which is good because I have another sprint in two weeks.  I will run tomorrow.  That seems to be the area that has the room for the most improvement.  I will complete a race report as soon as the official times are posted.  I believe my time was 1:03:17, which was 47 out of over 150. 

I did get geezered, chicked, and teenie bobed on the run so will work on that.  Regardless of the time and the super sprint distance I guess I can now call myself a triathlete!

Congratulations Triathlete Calvin!!  I will be there June 27 (1st Sprint Race) looking forward to seeing your race report.   You are determined with a 2nd race already planned in 2 wks.  Way to go!

Edited by scott1223 2010-05-02 2:18 PM

Congrats Calvin, top 1/3 is an amazing effort.

It's good to look to improve, but don't even start with that "regardless of super sprint distance", a tri is a tri, and you are now a triathlete!   Congrats again!

Congratulations!  Anxious for the details.

Congrats!!!  You will always remember your first tri- it only gets better with experience.  Dont worry about the run, that is the easiest thing to train for ( in my opinion).  I ran a 5k once and  could hear a runner coming from behind for quite a while, loud breathing, loud foot strikes etc.... When he passed me the back of his shirt read " You have just been passed by Grandpa Dave".  I have never been more motivated to run faster in my life!  No offense to Grandpa but I wasnt ready to loose to a 74 year old man with tight hamstrings, horrible formand emphasema!  I did catch him for my own personal moral victory.  Lessons learned 1. Never underestimate anyone 2.  Train harder so you arent in those situations. 3.  its amazing what will motivate you!
 
 Thanks for the well wishes and welcome everyone.   I am officially excited about training and racing again.  Feels good to be back on BT!

Paula

Congratulations triathlete!!!!! Sounds like you did a great job, and you are going to do even better the next time. I am really looking forward to hearing all the details.

Anthony

Race report is finished.  Collins Hill Super Sprint 

Fantastic Job Calvin. Congratulations, you are a triathelete. Your race report was great. Lots of things for me to focus on.

Well Done!

If you love it that much, you should. I bet there are alot of athletes willing to pay to improve their game. But I'm an entrepreneur at heart. It is complicated. I think I'm going to have to get into a groove and monitor what works for me.

Calvin, thanks for taking the time to put together such a detailed race report. It was a great read. Congratulations on your first race this year.  It's pretty cool that your son tagged along for support.

I agree with Warren that Jorge's Winter plan is very good, and helps to keep things fresh when you have to train indoors. Also see if you can find a spin class that you like. I've never done one, but when I see one at the Y it looks like fun. One thing with spin classes, though, is that they might have you standing more than you really need to for your bike training.

Anthony

Yes, thanks for writing such a good report. I enjoyed reading it, and I think it's very helpful to newer triathletes to hear how a race went from another new triathlete.

Anthony

Hey folks! Sorry I wasn't around too much the last few days, but I have been checking into your logs. You should be proud of yourselves, because you are doing some good training. It's fun to see, and you are doing great and even keeping my motivation level very high. Keep up the good work!!

On Sunday, my wife and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary, so I took the day off, but a sort of funny training related thing happened. We were driving to a little restaurant that I had seen on one of my rides, so I told my wife that we were taking one of my routes, and about 5 miles from home she says, "You mean you rode your bike here, this is far!" I explained to her that 5 miles was really just the start of the ride. Then we were going up a pretty good hill, about 500 feet of climbing in a mile, and I told her how it was a challenging climb, and she said, "Well I guess it's a little long, but it doesn't seem that steep or hard." I have got to get that girl on a bike!!!

I got a question about bricks, and how your legs feel when running after a ride from Bill, and I thought it was a good topic for the whole group, so I will post about it a little later today when I have some more time.

Anthony

So, let's talk about bricks. First of all the basic definition of a brick is training in one discipline and then immediately training in another with less than 10 minutes in between to simulate race conditions By far the most common type of brick is bike to run since that is the most difficult one, but swim to bike is also done, plus you can do run to bike if you are training for a du.

Swim to bike. I have never actually done this in training because  I find that when I get on the bike in a race that I am in a good groove immediately as opposed to a training ride where it normally takes me 5 miles or so to feel really good. I think it's because of a combination of pre race warm up, race day adrenaline, and the wetsuit keeping the legs warm.

The only issue that I have ever had with swim to bike is dizziness, and I'm not the only one. Some people think it is just a matter of going from a horizontal position to vertical, but I don't think that's it for me. My first couple of races I was very dizzy in T1 to the point of nearly falling over trying to get my wetsuit off and putting my shoes on. Then I heard about using earplugs during the swim. Apparently the cold water in your ears can affect your inner ear, causing equilibrium problems. I started using earplugs, and since then I have never had any dizziness at all.

While I don't do swim to bike bricks, I think if you want to try them that would be great if only as a confidence builder.

Bike to run. Here is the tough one. Real problems running are very common, especially with new triathletes, and the biggest reason is calf cramping. I used to have this problem but it has gotten better, and I personally think it is mostly due to overall bike fitness. I have several years and thousands of miles riding, but you all don't have that option before your next race, so, what to do? 

First, you have to take it a little easier on the bike, especially the last few minutes. Spin at a higher cadence while actually slowing down a little, so that you are not putting a lot of effort into pedaling. Coast a little, but if you can, keep your legs moving a little while you are coasting. Stand and stretch out your back, legs, and especially your calves.

Now it is time to run. Since this is a brick, your legs will feel like bricks. The weird thing is that you probably will be running faster than you think you are, so try to make a conscious effort to take it easy. Better to run a little slower than to cramp up completely and not be able to run at all.  Also do NOT over stride! In fact, I like to shorten my stride, but increase my turnover a little. Run smoothly, and do not bounce up and down at all. You want to be smooth and easy, with your feet hardly making any noise at all, like they are just kissing the ground. Incidentally, over striding and too much up and down movement are both generally bad running form, and can lead to injury.

The good news is that the first half mile is the hardest. By then your legs should feel pretty good. You may be tired so you can't run very fast, but you should not have to worry about cramping up.

I hope that I have been of some help and have made a little sense. I also hope I haven't made anyone nervous Believe me, if I can run a half mary after a 56 mile bike, you all will be able to do great in your brick training and races.

Anthony

Anthony's right about the cramping- its the worst feeling but can be avoided.  I had some calf cramps while on the bike in my first tri.   Bike fitness was part of my issue- i hadn't spent much time on the bike up to then.  A big thing for me was not hydrating enough either.  I made sure on my next tri to take some water in while on the bike and it made a huge difference!
P

From what I've heard this story has been low on the big news of the week (oil spill, etc.) Thought I'd share some pics that are causing a temporary delay in my training.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html?camp=localsearchn:twit:bigpic

I second the cramp talk with running after.  Bike fitness is key to running well.  I also think bricks help with the sensation, but be aware that brick runs aren't always good quality runs.  I had good luck just adding very short (1 mile) but hard runs after bike rides, particularly the long ones.

It's easy to forget to drink  on the bike during a race, and that can lead to difficulty especially on hot days or longer races. Calvin mentioned in his race report that he didn't drink at all because he is uncomfortable grabbing his water bottle, so he will use an aerobottle next time. I only use my aerobottle in Olympic and longer races, and not in sprints or even long training rides. I'm kinda uncoordinated and I also have a little trouble drinking from a regular bottle, so I found a little trick. Camelback makes bottles with a straw that goes to the bottom of the bottle so that you don't have to tilt your head and the bottle back, plus they have a soft rubber bite valve so you don't have to pull the bottle open with your teeth. Makes drinking much easier for me.

Anthony

I have been following that story and it looks pretty bad there. Hope you and your family are doing OK.

Anthony

Edited by amschrod 2010-05-06 12:32 PM