Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 83)

I can't stand people calling me Mr. - that's my Grandfathers name! All the polocrosse kids I coach call me John.

Karl - best of luck to your son and have a great time!

Dina - I've struggled with the motivation since I came back from all the traveling I was doing. Wasn't it you who posted about tricking yourself into workouts by promising to stop half way, then almost always finishing the whole thing? That's a neat little trick. I almost always find the most challenging part of any workout is getting from the couch to the door.

Dirk - As much as I'm amused about equestrianism being at the top of the list, I'd actually have put it down a bit because the horse plays such a big part in the competition. As such, it's really the same level as all the other "skill" sports. The guys logic is a heap though - competing in any of these sports at an Olympic level is incredibly hard, so I don't really get his whole "hide in the corner" mentality about the combat sports.

I still think triathlon is WAAAAAAAY up there though.

Side note - Just saw a commercial with Mirinda Carfrae for chocolate milk! Pretty cool!

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Personal training note - I've got back into the swing this week, and I signed up for two more races - a super sprint next weekend and an Olympic distance on August 5th. I NEED to get more biking in - its the toughest thing to fit into my schedule - but having a couple of races on the horizon will definitely help with that!

Quick HR question - I know your HR rises when it's hot out for a given pace, should we adjust our HR zones a little when it's hot out or make sure we're keeping to a lower pace?

J

I do! Usually the week before a race when I'm not doing anything super-strenuous I'll do Bike/Run transitions around the block (bike around the block, dismount, transition, run around the block, transition, mount... etc.)

There's a telling phrase in the end of the article too - "Minimizing energy expenditure during triathlon is a process of eliminating unnecessary movements." Not only is that true in transitions, but also in technique in all three sports. 

Tony - So sorry about that bike.  Great job not wrecking.

Matt - Welcome to aging!  It's really depressing when the girls at checkout start calling you sir.  Oh well, age with dignity I guess.

Dina - No doubt motivation can be tough to recapture.  I have no magic bullet advice other than HTFU and get out there.  Like it is said, the first step is the hardest.  Once you get moving, I find it much easier to keep moving.  I think there's a physics principle in there somewhere.

Dirk - I am notoriously slow in transitions, as you know.  I really do need to spend some time practicing, but for me I think it's actually more just having a sense of urgency during the race.  I really don't have that when I get to transition.

I did my residency in the south, and it was the strangest thing to adjust to all of the kids calling me "Ma'am."  I thought that was a name for old ladies, and I was only 26!

I stick with the zones which means slower...

If you train by perceived exertion, it also goes up in the heat relative to pace.

However, if your perceived exertion isn't affected and a given pace still feels as easy as ever and your HR is elevated, but you'd otherwise never know it....move the pace closer to normal.

Karl best of luck to your son and his team at the world series. Have a safe trip.

Good article.  I don't practice transitions but have done so many triathlons that I have it all down and do very fast transitions now.  But it took a lot of racing to get there. 

There is one thing that I don't do well enough yet and need practice at and that's getting my feet into the shoes while riding.

I don't notice passing people in transition unless they are racked near me, but I think i've touched on it in my race reports.  Something like going in the water 22nd and coming out of the water a few places back from that, then being in 6th at the start of the bike....how in the world??? 

A race I did last season had about 600 competitors.  There was about 100 yards from water to T1 and about 100 yards of running while inside T1, so a total of 200 yards.  Everyone around me was jogging leisurely to T1, I was at nearly full flight and passed around 20 people before reaching my bike.  Part of being able to do that might be related to how comfortable you are running in bare feet.  I think most of the time people tend to jog it out slowly because they are protecting their feet from the pebbles and such.

Good luck practicing people!

Dina I have to admit I feel like this at times but for some reason there is something inside of me that won't allow me to just blow off a workout even when I don't feel like doing. I think part of it is I know I need to do to it to have any chance of finishing the races I am signed up for and the other part of it is seeing how hard everyone here is working. I would feel pretty guilty about skipping workouts because I didn't feel up to doing them and being part of the group keeps me honest and on track with my training. Accountability is a wonderful thing and those things are usually enough to keep me motivated. I think Warren is right, I find that once I get myself moving and start my workout I feel just fine and wind up enjoying the workout as oppossed to feeling like I should have skipped it. I think it's just one of those things you have to push through, it usually winds up being worth it.

Dirk thanks for posting this. Perfect timing for me since my first one is coming up in a few weeks. While I am not worried about making quick transitions so much as making sure I have everything I need for the transition to the bike and then to the run. I also want to make sure I am organized so I don't forget anything. I am sure I will have questions for you guys leading up to this over the next few weeks and it would be a good idea to get some practice in. The last thing I want to do is forget something I feel I would need and I don't want to be totally disorganized either.

The article seems to point to a lot of things to make your transition better and faster but they don't bring up a point that you made Tony.  You said you are more concerned about having everything in transition.  This is something I think I highlighted in my last race (I think).  I believe it was T1 that I stood in there looking at my bike, thinking I was missing something before I headed out for the bike.  I think it was only 2-3 seconds but I remember trying to figure out what I was about to leave behind.  I ended up leaving T1 after committing to getting out of Dodge and on with the race and I had not forgotten anything.

My point: If you practice your transitions it will become less likely that you will forget anything.  After the repetition of a solid amount of training time missing things will be glaringly obvious as you set up your transition area.  

One other point:  As you get your gear ready the night before a race or if it is a destination race, run through your transition mentally.  Eyes closed, exit the swim, into T1 while looking for your landmark for your bike rack, suit off, sunglasses on, helmet on................. Until you have checked and rechecked your gear. 

As Jeff said, after doing so many of triathlons, things become much more second nature and it becomes harder to forget things.

On my own training note:

After a full week of absolutely no training and then diving in head first I have found my legs completely and totally thrashed.  I began to feel the effects of that lack of training on Sunday when I jumped back with a 9 mile run and a 30 mile mod/high intensity ride.  I didn't slow down much and Monday was a total hammerfest on the bike that left my legs sore on Tuesday morning.  I got a solid swim in Tuesday to allow my legs a little rest and thought that would be great but then I ran 13 miles on Wednesday and the thrashing to my legs was felt by mile 6 and at the end I was hammered again.  (The training this week left me having to slow walk down stairs and hold onto the rails too.) I didn't train at all last night because Laiken had a swim meet so that was good. 

My adaptive plan for the coming weeks and more specifically the coming week is to get a similar volume on the bike an run but dial the intensity back substantially.  I don't want to lose any time or, more importantly, volume as I'm only 7 weeks out from my first HIM and I don't want to give up what I have already missed, primarily on the bike.  I will dial back the bike intensity to a easy to moderate level for at least 2 more rides and drop my normal runs from a 7, 7, 3, 13 to something like 5, 3, 7, 13 for a week.

I think there are a few reasons why I am feeling as trashed as I am.

1. I did some math after turning in my time sheets from the storm earlier in the week.  I worked almost 130 hours over 7 days leaving me with an average night's sleep of 5.4 hours.  I probably don't really need to provide any more clarification n this point.
2. Most of the storm I was inside directing line crews, tree crews, contractors, arranging outages, blah, blah, blah..........But on July 5, another storm took down a major source into Ft. Wayne and it was back into the field for me on the hottest day of the whole storm period.  The temp that day was 104 with a heat index of 111 and NO wind of any kind in the right of way we working.  I was sweating so badly that sweat was RUNNING in streams from my hard hat.  I simply could not replace fluids fast enough on that day.  So basically as I began my training again I was in a greatly dehydrated state.  And this, I believe, left me with most of the pain in my legs when I began to train again.
3. Lastly, not training for a week certainly is a vary bad idea.  Normally I would have gotten back into the swing at a slightly slower pace by dialing back volume and intensity by approximately 20%-30% for a week, then beginning the normal training regimen again.  I did what I did because I feel very rushed to get into HIM shape.  By this time frame out  from my HIM I had planned to have my long runs at 15 miles (or very close to that) and my long rides at or near 70 miles and I am a long way from both due to earlier time constraints.

I would not recommend anyone doing what I am doing.  I figure I can get by with it a little bit because my volume has been kind of high for some time.  In the end I think the primary reason for my legs being smashed is the severe dehydration my body was in when beginning this weeks training.

I am curious about others thought versus mine.

I understand how you feel.  That's where I was at basically all of June.  But, once you do get out and do that swim/bike/run, it just feels that much better, feels like that much more of an accomplishment!  Now get at it! 

Dirk, wow!  It's amazing what a week can do.... Recover well!!

I think sometimes we become a little obsessed (okay maybe this is the wrong word, but hopefully you catch my drift ) with making certain numbers, that it causes us to ignore/forget the part where it's better to adapt to the reality of where we're at currently.  Although it's disappointing that you're not where you hoped you would be at this time numbers-wise, it's better to readjust now so it won't be causing problems later, even if it means compromising some speed come race time.  So it's good that you recognize this and have created your adaptive plan.  

I need to say this to myself as well. 

I was going to make a snide comment about tracking your nightly sleep to the tenth of an hour, but I can't pull myself to say anything because that's just such a nasty week for you.  Thanks for taking care of the power for all of us under such conditions.  We were without power for 5 weeks during an ice storm a few years back and you can't really appreciate electricity until you don't have it!

Dirk, I'd say your plan is fine in terms of getting back.  One week off training probably didn't have as much impact as it seems and I'd say the issues you were having were as much a part of details of the week you went through rather than lost fitness.

Get your rest for sure.  Remember that resting/recovering is as big a part of preparation as the training itself.  And be extremely cognizant of anything your body is telling you as you ramp back up.  But I'd say you'll be right back int he saddle as soon as you're truly recovered and caught up on sleep and such.

I actually made a checklist for my half, just so I wouldn't stress about making sure I had everything.  That way I knew I had everything I needed and hadn't forgotten anything.  Also, as I race more (and I haven't done a ton of tris yet), I'm getting more and more minimal with my transition area.  I was "that guy" at my first tri; now I have only the absolute essentials so there's less to screw up and occupy time.

Ah....Is this not your everyday life?  It's been my everyday life for a few years now! 

The ONLY concern with your hard jump back in to training is the potential for injury.  You are a hardy runner and bones and tendons didn't atrophy in 1 week suddenly leaving you unadapted to running stresses.

I think you will be fine...but definitely do that decrease of intensity until the soreness is gone.  And let's pray there are no more horrible storms before your HIM!

Today & tomorrow are a downer day.

Tomorrow is the 31st Donner Tri and I'm unable to participate do to work. I tried everything to get it off, but to no avail. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I knew I wasn't going to be conpetitive, but I know I could do the swim no problem, I could mash the bike portion (I know the course by heart) with the possibility at a chance of a bike record, and the run I know I could finish at an average pace. I was looking at the times from the last 5 years for my AG and I'm confident I could have made the top 5 & possibly the top 10-20 overall.

It's really hard. How do you guys mentally get over something like this? Even my wife has noticed that I've been quieter than normal and my attitude is off. I just feel like this could have been something great. Not much I can do. So, I keep training and there is next year. I still have two more tris, a sprint next month and the 70.3. I will keep my head up and keep going, but right now it isn't easy.

Brenda, doing a local 140.6 seems like a really great way to get a feel for the distance with no pressure.  When I read the first few sentences I thought maybe you were going to try the Full Rev at Cedar Point.  You mention fear of failure but you already know that you can't find out how far you can go until you search for that distance. 

Make sure you let all of us know if you chose to do this race.

BTW, if you do this in 9 weeks are you still thinking about the Rev3 at Cedar Point?

I think your attitude is fine.  I have had to miss a couple of races for various reasons myself and it is definitely disappointing but like you said you can move on and train for the other races you have planned.  Maybe with the added training time between now and the rest of the schedule you'll be able to smash those races too.  Besides, if you feel you would have placed as highly this season at the Donner Tri imagine with another full year of training where you could land in the overall field.

As Brenda said in her last post: "Just keep moving forward."

Agree with Dirk and really your feelings of how you may have placed are just "what ifs". You never know who is going to show up to race against you so there is no reason to even give energy to what might have been as far as AG placement goes. This race didn't work out so look forward to the next.

On a side note, I never look at race results from previous years unless I am looking up my own results because I want make improvements on my own time. I am always my own worst competition .

Get out there and crush your training!!

bswcpa - 2012-07-13 8:41 PM Busy group the last few days and I've just now caught up on reading. You'll be proud of me, Warren because it seems I've done nothing but train the last few days trying to get my miles in for the TdF challenge. I'm also looking at a possible 140.6 in 9 weeks. I don't know if I'm crazy to try, but my friend, Karen, wanted to do an IM this year but can't afford the fee and travel costs so her hubby is designing a home course and she asked if I and another friend wanted to do the 140.6 with her. I've been mulling it over and talked to my hubby who gave his blessing. Karen's hubby (who is also my daughter's track coach) is no stranger to IM events - he still holds the Vineman 140.6 course record of 8:50:43 in 1997 and has raced Kona multiple times. I know the course will be well thought out. I'm not totally committed yet but it sure sounds fun and low-key to be able to get a 140.6 sticker if I can do the distance. The most exciting thing would be having my family be support/aid stations along the way. As I said, I'm still mulling it over because I don't know if I can do it on limited training and I'm fearful I'll fail. I know I've built a great base for 6 years but don't know if it's sufficient to see me through a very long day. It wouldn't be a matter of racing the distance, but rather just doing the distance. Thanks for letting me ramble. I'm exhausted from my long brick today and need sleep so I'll stop. Good luck to racers this weekend! Keep on moving forward, the rest of you.

I think this sounds kind of fun (except for the distance ) with no pressure. I really believe you can do this distance Brenda - no worries about that. Now, do you want to add the hours to do the training?

Good luck with your decision and keep us posted!

Thanks for the pep talks on my lack of motivation.

I'm back on the wagon with a 3100 yd swim yesterday, 2 mile slow, easy, pathetic run and 52 mile bike ride this morning!

Still not real motivated to run just because something always hurts and I'm forever icing something but I'm going to focus on the positives that my back is feeling great, I'm over the hump with that little Achilles issue and my cyst on the other foot is gone so....

Moving Forward .

Thanks & Dirk, thanks too.

It's just my competative nature. I did a lot of my training based on the result times of the top5 of my AG & top 20 (which race every year) overall. My swimming was on on par, but my bike times were right there and/or even better than the others, The run was my questionable area, but I felt my bike would of helped me there (hopefully not a la Cris Lieto) LOL. I know they are all what ifs. Anything can happen. Last year was injury, but this year I knew I could be a contender. I know it sounds rather egotistical, but that is how I am when it comes to competition.

My wife always gets this weird laugh (kind of a scary laugh) whenever I go out and train for a personal best or tell her how (when on a group ride) I kicked a$$ on a certain climb or beat everyone out on a sprint. I'm very reserved and mellow in everyday life and this lifestyle/hobby is more like an outlet for my frustrations, anger, and the doubters around me. She's not use to seeing that side of me I guess, but she understands and supports me.

Anyway, thanks guys/gals, it nice to have this group to talk to. People that don't do this have a hard time understanding.