Kenj - triathletes in training CLOSED (Page 8)

Thanks Peter!  I appreciate the help!  I also did it in a chart (I had an extended conference call this afternoong)! 

Do me a favor and double check my links for me on your own page.  Thanks!

Thanks DJ!

Wow, your critters sure do have you busy today!

Shop around and you should be able to find some deals.  Click on the sponsors link here too Lynda. 

Nice work on the runs Nole!

Nice work this weekend Wesley!

I see you are signed up for the half in Florida on 5/20.  They moved that to my wife's hometown (Haines City) and my in-laws are trying to convince me to come do it and I probably will if my shoulder continues to improve.  I am guessing that the swim will not be wetsuit legal.  I am told that Lance Armstrong is also doing that race.

I have a new bike trainer!!!!!!! The old one (in my opinion) finally kicked the bucket.  Hubby had been jerry rigging it using quarters and washers for the last week or so. Took advantage of him being out of town to buy the Cyclops Fluid trainer 2 and it is soooo quiet! I still hope to get outside this week, but if not I am looking forward to being able to watch tv at a "reasonable" volume.  super excited!!!! now I just need a new bike!

Yeah!!! Way to go Robin!!!! Maybe next time hubby is out of town you can score a new bike!

I have the same thing at times. If my legs are sore, dead, or hurting...and I do a bike ride, all the soreness goes away (that's just spinning easily, nothing hard like hard hills or mashing up the hills, which is difficult to avoid when you live here!).

I know the feeling about driving far for training.  The majority of the Tri courses in Vegas is about 30-45 minutes drive. Most of the bike that I do is 20-30 + min drive.   Most of my friends are damn lucky that they can easily bike to the meeting place, and I can't. :-(  Run for short distances outside my house, anything longer than 2-3 miles, I go to the park 15-20 min away.  Swim...5 min drive. and I hate swimming. *le sigh*

Best of luck on your training for your HIM!! Keep up the great work!!

WHOO HOOT! :-) Yay for new toys!

Well, either I must be nuts or I *am* nuts.

A friend of mine got into a bad MTB accident and she had to give up two triathlons that is coming up. Xterra Triathlon and RAGE Olympic triathlon. She decided to give me her bib for the RAGE Triathlon on the terms that she gets the T-shirt. Plus I'll be able to do this for free.  The only thing I asked her to do is to bump it down to Sprint. I'm in no shape for a Olympic at this point, heck, I am not in 100% shape to do a Sprint either. This Sprint and IronGirl is two weeks apart.  I feel really comfortable with the bike and mostly comfortable with the run. I will do a couple bricks for my next few bike rides to get my legs going. First one is tomorrow. 

I do not have any time goals. I will use RAGE as a precursor for Irongirl. RAGE I probably will work on just pacing myself a little bit without feeling the need to go all out.  IronGirl I want to go out more.  I have done the course many times, so I am familiar with the terrain.  

I also got aerobars for free (Carbon T2+ Totally adjustable in all different directions). I am a little worried that it's not going to work for me because so far it looks like I'm too stretched out. Feels like I need a zero offset seatpost. :-( Damn you short arms!

Good luck on the races DJ.  I'm sure you'll do fine.

Ken - Lance is scheduled to race the half in Florida.  I definately think a wetsuit will be out of the question in Florida on May 20, especially with how hot it has been down south already.  My girls have been swimming in our pool for almost 3 weeks now.  Still a little cool for me but a 10 and 6 year old have handled it just fine.  Do you have any scoop on the course?  It looks flat but I was wondering about the road conditions.  I sure hope the roads are flat and smooth.  Most of my training is on chip and seal and some good smooth roads would certainly help the speed.

And a little smack down for Carla. (Not really smack down but anyway)  I swam 2500 tonight and it felt real good.  I have an oly in about 3 weeks and hopefully all the swim work will finally show up.

Our furry family members really keep us on our toes don't they ?!

I did Irongirl Las Vegas a few years ago. It was a fun race. Didn't expect the rocky, trail type run but it was fine. I was very glad that the mention of rattlesnakes was after the race!!!  Is it still being held at the hotel in Henderson?

Ditto!  Enjoy it.

Did you do it three years ago? If so, that was my first race (Avatar is the finish photo).  Yes the Furry animals kept me on my toes...blew all my graduation money to pay for the dental/bloodworks/splinter removal. Oy vey.  I was hoping to use the money for a new MTB. I guess I'll have to save up a little more...*sad panda*

Yup, it's still hosted at Lowes, now Westin.   However, this year is the first year they changed the run course to asphalt. I guess they have heard a lot of women complaining about the run course. It's not exactly safe to run because it's really a trail/Xterra type of run, not triathlon "run".  So I'm really glad they decided to change it.

Awesome!  It is a nice upgrade for you!

You'll do fine DJ!  Enjoy the race!

Aero bars for a road bike can be a little difficult to get adjusted right.

They bill the course as flat and compared to most races it is, but there are some rollers on both the bike and run so it isn't all flat.  The road is fairly smooth in town, I am not sure it is all that smooth once you get out in the country but I am not familiar with all the bike course. 

Shoulder is feeling pretty good the last day or so.  Maybe we will get to meet there!

Another hour on the trainer for me this morning, and I will get a run in today! 

Anything we want to talk about?

So, I'm curious, what do you think of doubles? I never workout in the evenings so as volume increases, i am bound to have long bricks, reverse bricks, etc. I dont think its a big deal on swim days, except that i'm time crunched with driving to pools. But how do you deal with your run/bike doubles? Do you feel like one or both of the workouts suffer too much?

That is a good topic Peter!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share, but I do have a bit of advice.  First off, the shorter the race the simpler you need to keep it.  For a sprint, I have my sunglasses in the helmet on the aerobars and bike shoes on the front of a towel next to the front wheel.  Race belt with the number on is also hanging on the aero bars.  On the towel I place my running shoes and a visor or hat.  I use the Yankz speed laces, but even if you just use regular shoe laces just make sure your shoes are wide open and ready to slip your feet in a hurry. 

For olys and sprints I don't wear socks so I don't have to deal with those.  But even for the halfs and full distance I usually go without socks on the bike and wait until T2 to put socks on. 

I can't over emphasize enough that the more stuff you have in transition the slower you will go.  Keep it as simple as possible.

As far as flow, I try to have my wetsuit off to my waist before I get to my bike.  Finish taking it off at the bike and toss it behind the towel.  Put the shoes and helmet on and start the run towards bike exit.  I'll put the glasses on as I am running.  I still haven't mastered clipping the shoes in the bike ahead of time and putting them on while riding.  I will take them off while still on the bike on the way back into transition though which saves a little time in T2.  For T2 I will rack the bike, slip the shoes on and yank em tight.  Put on the visor or hat while heading out of transition.

The other advice I will give you is to practice.  You will or have seen a lot of conversations on the pro's and con's of brick runs.  We can discuss that at another time too, but one of the side benefits of bricks is you can practice your T2 transitions. 

I will also see if I can find a link to an article on transitions here on BT.  It was pretty good if I remember right.  Let me know if I missed anything as it has been a few months since I had to do a transition!

Another good topic  Bill!

I am not a huge fan of evening workouts, but for some of the HIM training and a lot of the IM training, I am forced to live with them a couple of days a week.  Our office did put in a fitness room about a year ago or so which helps as I can do treadmill runs at lunch time which saves me from doing them after work. 

I do some of what you are talking about though not always put together as a brick.  If for instance I have a swim scheduled I will park at either the Y or the lake early, usually about 5am and run though the streets of our small city.  Even though it is dark it is still lit well enough with the street lights and there is very little traffic, plus I can run on the side walks.  I can then be swimming by 6 or a little after and still get a good swim in and be to work by 8 or 8:15.

As far as the run/bike doubles I do some weekend bricks where I will do a short run off the long bike.  I will also do some of what I call basement bricks, where I will do an hour on the bike trainer and hop off and on the treadmill.  As far as quality goes, you need to look at the purpose of the particular training day.  If the bike or run has higher intensity training, you shouldn't do it without some recovery.  For instance, if I have intervals for the run scheduled, I would either do that before biking or swimming or save that for a lunch time treadmill run. 

What do the rest of you guys think?