Full Vineman 2014 Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 8)

Originally posted by Happyinmarin This weekend I have my first half distance event in Folsom, CA. To say that I am starting to get nervous is an understatement. The high on Sunday, the day of the race is expected to be 102. Fortunately, my only goal is to finish, but I have my doubts. The course and temperature are very similar to what Vineman will be like in July, which is why I choose this race. I did the sprint distance in Folsom last year, and thought it was a great event. I had a good run on Sunday (9 miles), but today my legs still feel weak and sore, which is concerning. I guess at this point, either the fitness is there, or it isn't. I know once the race starts, all my doubts will go away, and I will get into the mood of the race, but I wish I had another month at this point and time!

Originally posted by TTom

My training partner had to cancel our joint long ride yesterday so I made a last minute decision to drive up and ride the course. Decided I'd park up by the high school (T2 and finish line) and ride the back loop of the course (mostly) twice, then the run the first part of the run course including the first hills. Ride called for 5.5 hours at HR z1-z2 followed by a 30 minute transition run at z2. Since this is IM level effort for me, I was excited to be able to take it to the venue, and got a lot out of it. There were two clear takeaways on the ride for me. The first, although obvious, really hit home. The last half of this course takes a lot more out of you than the first half. I finished the first half feeling strong and ready to keep on going with my HR still staying in z1 at a planned average pace of 18.5mph. About a third of the way into the second half, I started to feel the miles. Nothing definite, it just got harder. HR started to drift up and hills that were easy the first time around required a gear or two easier to get up. Chalk hill on the first lap was just a grinder, on the second loop it was a definite challenge. (Note: I think I'm going to change out my cassette from ann 12-25 to a 12-28 because of this experience). Ended the ride solidly in z2, so met the ride HR goal, but average speed had dropped to 18.1mph. Which leads to the second takeaway for me regarding this course. Shift early and shift often. On this course, the flat sections are the exception, not the rule. When I looked at the data after the race, I saw that I started at an elevation of about 100ft and the max elevation was only 460ft. So what's the big deal you may ask? Total elevation gain over the ride was about 4000ft, which means that you are constantly going up or down a hill. They aren't big hills, but there are a lot of them. Some are steeper/longer than they first appear, and I found that I was late in shifting when I started to tire, and that resulted in a higher effort. So I adopted the mantra, shift early and shift often, and life got a little bit easier. If it is at all possible for you to do your long rides in rolling hills, I'd HIGHLY recommend it. Finished the ride in 5:42 at 103 miles and an average speed of 18.1mph - a little slower than I had hoped, but I was not wiped out which was the goal.Put the bike on the car and headed out for the run. Started about 1/2 way down Reiman and headed toward Starr at 1:30 pm and found that there was a good deal of shade at that time of day. When I rode the run course, it seemed that it was relatively flat except for the noticeable hills, but running it I found that once you get on Starr road, everything is an incline of some sort. My plan for the race was to run the first couple of miles at nothing faster than a 9:00 pace to keep HR down, but that will be a challenge here as the gentle downhills are enough that with no apparent added effort you can easily knock 30 seconds off that pace. But those downhills are offset by gentle uphills, so hoping they are going to balance out. The first couple of hills on the course look big when you are approaching them, but a short stride and high cadence got me up OK. Like the bike course, however, the 3rd time around going up those hills I expect will be a much different story!A final note. On the bike course the big deal is Chalk Hill. If you haven't ridden the course, you may look toward it with anxiety or with anticipation, but the way the course flows you never really know when you are at Chalk hill until you are a quarter of the way up it. There's a sign that says "Chalk Hill", but that, I think, refers to the wine region, and it is well before the hill. There are numerous hills you come upon that twist out of sight and you think, "Here it is!", but it's not. On the ride I finally found a marker to let me know when I'd reached it. Right at the base of the hill is a "Speed Limit 35 mph" sign. Prior to that you'll see 45mph, 30 mph, etc., but once into the hilly section the 35mph sign at the base of the hill was the first 35mph sign I saw. And sorry for the lack of paragraph breaks, I'm doing this on my iPad and cannot figure out how to get them to work!

Originally posted by TTom

Kate, just did an 85 mile ride with 3200 feet of climb followed by a 3 mile run in 90 degree heat. My hat is off to you for your 100+ last weekend! For me it was a good lesson with an unexpected twist. First lesson was that 5 hours is much harder than 4 hours, and when you add in heat, that goes up a lot. Hydration and nutrition worked out great (1 bottle of 3-hour Infinit concentrate, 1 king-side Payday, 60 oz water). Was able to average about 19 mph on the non-hilly section of the ride, but the hills dropped the average down to 17.1. Not terribly unhappy with it as the hills were much more challenging than what will be at Vineman, but they did take the wind out of my sails a bit for the final 10-15 miles. The unexpected twist was the development of a hotspot on my right foot. Wow, I'd never had anything like that before. It is not a blister, but rather a nerve issue from the metatarsals being forced together. Feels like your foot is on fire! Tried wiggling the toes around but could not get relief. Ended up stopping and walking around literally for 1 minute and all was fine. Hope this is not a beginning of a new trend . . .

Originally posted by ritakandel



Just read this. I had the same foot issue today on my left foot. Sounds exactly the same. My foot/toes felt like they were on fire when I wiggled or moved them. It also felt like a nerve issue. It took mine about 10-15 minutes to go away. Wild. I also found that as long as I kept my foot/toes solid in my shoe without letting them move the pain or heat wasn't as intense while I was riding.

Originally posted by TTom

Hotspots seem to be hitting us all at once. As I said in an earlier post, I had iit on my 85 mile ride a few weeks ago and it was a 10 out of 10 on the pain scale. Later read a description that said that the pain of hotspots could be likened to a blowtorch being applied to the bottom of your foot - an apt description as far as I'm concerned.

Got off the bike and walked for a minute and it went away, but I knew I had to find out what to do to prevent it. Did my internet research and then bought inserts for my shoes and a new pair of thin cycling socks. Went to Mike's Bikes where they sell Specialized inserts that are designed to address this issue. They measured my foot with a pressure pad and discovered I had high arches. Got the appropriate inserts which also have a metatarsal pad which helps spread the bones in the front of the foot, and my understanding is that the cause of the pain is the metatarsals being forced together, so sounded pretty good to me. The insert along with the thinner bike socks seem to have done the trick as I had NO issue with the hotspots during my 100 miler last Wednesday. I was going to also move my cleats back 3-4 mm but decided to not change too many things at once, and it looks like I may not need to do that after all, but have that option still open

The inserts were all of $30, and well worth it!

Originally posted by ritakandel]  Question for you guys? How many weeks of tapering are you doing? It looks like I am behind the curve for mileage on the bike. My longest distance planned is 90 miles or 6 hours (which ever comes first), but that is scheduled 3 weeks out, followed by an 80, and then a 50 the week before the race. Does that seem OK or do you think I should adjust it? I did Oly tri's the past two weekends so I didn't have any long rides in the last 3 weeks. Anyway, enough for now, Have a great 100 tomorrow Kate!

Originally posted by TTom

Rita, my plan has my peak week as June 29, then an easier but not what I'd call taper week following.  Looks like the week of 7/13 starts the taper.  Here's what it looks like overall:

This translates into a 6 hour (108 mile) long ride the week of 6/29, 4 hour (72 mile) week of 7/6, and 2 hour (36 mile) ride week of 7/13.

Some of the best advice I've gotten for both marathons and tri is to trust your plan.  If you feel like the plan is working for you, I wouldn't change anything.  I'd be hesitant to go longer than 6 hours as every extra mile at that point is adding stress to your tired body, and you want to stay healthy. 

I hope the inserts do the job for you, but if not, you may want to take a look at a small (3-4mm) adjustment to your cleats, moving them to the rear of your shoe.  If you have had your bike fitted in the past 6 months or so, I'd take it in to the fitter and have him make the adjustment as he likely has encountered this before.