Dominion's Sprint/Oly Focus Group - OPEN (Page 8)

Originally posted by AdolfoO Hi Chris, My name is Adolfo, I just joined BT and am a newbie on Triathlon. From Guadalajara, Mexico where Triathlon is beginning to grow. Slowly but we are getting more races near by every year. Just survived my first sprint and training to do another one in August. My goal is to do an Olympic and become better at it year after year. Can I join your group? Adolfo

Originally posted by Dominion

Good luck Nate.  What's the name of the race?

Originally posted by rjchilds8 Just wondering if I'm wasting my time with the hills I use for some of my workouts. The course for my event has one steep section that has an average grade of about 5% that is roughly 0.8 mile long. Unfortunately, the only hills I have within easy range of my house are very steep. They are both in the 9% grade range, with sections that reach nearly 12% grade! I am I doing myself a disservice by trying to tackle such steep hills? There's just no way I can make it to the top without stopping. I typically do the steeper one first, which is 0.75 miles long. If I started with the shorter one (~0.33 miles long), I might be able to do it without stopping. But I sometimes feel like it isn't good training for my event. What are your opinions? Am I better off finding something that more closely resembles my event that I can actually do without stopping? Or am I getting a good benefit from these steeper hills even if I can't make it to the top without stopping? I only have about 6 weeks until my event and I don't want to waste what precious little free time I have to train.

Originally posted by Dominion

Ideally you want to train at or above what the conditions will be for the race you are training for.  Of course that is not always possible in instances of what grade or how long a hill is.  Just to be clear, are we talking about cycling up these hills and having to stop or are we talking about running?  

My opinion is that hill climbing is never a waste of time.  That being said, however I can understand  the frustration of not being able to make the top without stopping.  Maybe look around and try to find some less steep area to train in.  Even if it is more of an inconvenience to get to, it would only be for the next 5  weeks or so.  (I wouldn't do any hills race week as you taper).  Of course if you keep assaulting the 9% you should be getting stronger and hopefully closer to being able to handle them.  This will make a 5% grade on race day seem both physically and psychologically easier.  

So to sum up, It is my opinion that you are not wasting your time but maybe find some less steep hills to train on for a few weeks and then come back to the 9% and see how much stronger you are.  Others may disagree, I would be interested in hearing other opinions.

 

Originally posted by rjchilds8
Just wondering if I'm wasting my time with the hills I use for some of my workouts.

Originally posted by burner2



Back in April, one of the many triathlon websites I regularly read advised alternating hill routes and flat routes. (I wish I could find the article, but apparently, I didn't bookmark it.) Even though all of the triathlons I'm competing in this year are flat, I've been following this advice because (IMHO) it's been building my endurance and strength, which to me are as important as increasing speed. When I first started, there were lots of hills I couldn't ride up (I live on a mountain), but now, I can pretty much ride up anything, including the greater than 10% grade hill near my house, although I'm pretty slow.

So, I would definitely continue riding up the hills, but not necessarily every time you ride.

Originally posted by rjchilds8 I had been doing the same thing, alternating rides between those that were flat and more for distance and those that incorporated hills. My question isn't so much whether or not I should be doing hill work. I was really more interested in whether or not it was a waste to try to do such steep hills. If I'm only able to ride for a couple tenths of a mile because the hill is so steep, then should I stop doing it? So far the answer I've received is that I should keep going after the steep hills even if I am not able to go that far.

Originally posted by BF JEFF

HEY - Sprint (almost) Tri tonight. They called it a Mock because it was really meant to be about fun and practice. Whoo - did I learn.

1st Swim went badly. I thought I was last out of the water, but according to the results there were a couple swim times slower than mine. Goggles were not fitting well from the start. Breathing and stroke were way off for first 100 yrds or more. I stopped a couple times to re-adjust and it wasnt enough. I did decent enough sighting to the last buoy on the way out- I also had a line of swimmers to follow! On the route back, the sun was in my eyes (brought the non-tinted goggles) and couldnt see anything. There was one kayak that I kept trying to stay on the right side of, but I was so damn far off. I ended up telling her that I couldnt see anything. Finally found the last buoy and almost did a 45* turn to get to it.

Swim 27:18 (their time) 28:06 Garmin Distance, not 100% sure. One person said 800yd. - probably right. I might have added 100yd in my poor driving skills. Smile Im going to buy and try goggles before next race.

T1 not too bad. This was a big learning area. I ended up forgetting my sunglasses, and played around with vest more than I wanted. Stuck my bike gloves in my pocket thinking I could put them on during the ride, but I wasnt that talented. Garmin Time 3:24, including a walk up the hill to Transition area from the lake.

Bike went well - 14.8 miles (total 1:31:82) 58:13 MapMyRide. I was with one older guy in T1, and wanted to make up some lost time. I passed him in first 1/2 mile. Later found out that he got lost and took a ride back to the run. (where I passed him again) Avg 15.1mph.

T2 wasnt too bad. I dont have clipless pedals / shoes, so I just needed to rack my bike and run. Yeah. The damn bike rack fell apart when I put my bike on it. I held it up, other people took the bikes off. Then I took off. Somehow time shows up as 0:37 - Oh and I took that vest off.

Run was okay. Legs cramping and tired at the start. Got to turn around feeling good after having picked off 4 runners / walkers. Then I pushed a little and knocked off 2 more. Total run was about 21 minutes? Turns out, it was only about 2.3 miles. Oh well. Avg 8:20 - 8:30.

Total Time: 1:52:41 (theirs) 1:52:42 (Garmin) Out of 30. I came in 25th.

I need to really get more comfortable with my swims. The bike ride came easy. I liked having my phone on the handlebars so I could see the speed at times and the map. At the start of the race, the RD asks who doesnt know the route, 6 hands go up. Then he says, "well, there are no signs or markings and no volunteers at the turns." Okay! He mentioned a STOP sign which I never found, and he mentioned the names of the 2 roads to turn Right on. It was a pretty simple route. I have ridden parts with the TRI club, the phone really helped me make the 1 big turn that I needed to make sure I took.

Everyone brought a side dish. The cost was $15 and they gave me a swimcap. They cooked burgers and chicken and there were tons of sides. Great atmosphere. Some brought their families. I waited at the finish for the final runner. He was walking the whole route but he would jog a little when he saw me. He came in just under 2:20.

Originally posted by Dominion

Yes, I'm using a road bike. I'm not tech savvy enough to say whether or not it is adequately geared, but it has 21 different settings for the gears (3 on the big gear and 7 on the small one). When going after these steep hills, I have to drop all the way down to the lowest setting on the big gear and have generally been using the 3rd gear on the small one. I'll see what I can do about posting a picture. Maybe I can run out quickly at lunch and get a shot of it. I can tell you it's very steep. I wouldn't want to run up it either! :-)

I have been using two hills for practice. The one I've been talking about the most has about 315 of elevation gain in roughly 0.64 miles in the steepest section. The other one gains 162 feel in roughly 0.33 miles. According to an online calculator I found, that equals roughly a 9.3% grade for both hills. I've checked small sections of the big one and there are places where it tops out around a 12% grade. I'll see what I can do to post a picture so you can visualize it.

I'll have to start scouting around for something relatively close to home that comes closer to what I'll face on race day.

Originally posted by nrpoulin Well I now own a tri bike. I decided to go with the QR kilo. They had me try a cervelo p2 and a Qr cd01. I felt like the p2 was too stiff and a little less stable. KILO felt more substantial, and smoother. Less twitchy. CD01 was in between. Not sure if I will ride this or the loner road bike tomorrow. Can't get the computer to work