Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 88)

That's a fantastic effort! Congrats on a terrific day! YOU'RE A HALF IRONMAN :-) You go girl!!!

Woot!!Woot!! Congrats Trigal - way to go lady!!!! So glad it went well for you and I am encouraged about your words regarding the plan.

Only 6 weeks until my HIM in Calgary. Getting excited and hope it goes as well as yours.

Great work 

TriGal- Congrats on your HIM and great job! Glad to hear the plan worked for you. I'm going into my 4th week (Week 17) and I'm starting to get totally intimidated when I think about the 13.1 mile run. Good job on pushing yourself to run!

I did a sprint tri this Saturday in St. George, UT. Great bike course. Very flat with a few rolling hills (although I swear the whole course was downhill). I was able to average 22mph on the bike (15.4 miles in 41 mins) which I was thrilled with. I'm used to climbing a lot, so I usually average 14-15 mph on my training rides. I was cool to have such a fast course. This tri was going to be it until an Oly in Sept (here in Vegas), but I'm trying to talk my husband into letting me do another sprint tri in CA in July. So we'll see...

NO! But I can't wait to volunteer and cheer our friends.

Congratz on your race! I agree with you that mental strength is a huge part of the race. You did a great job!   So ..... whats next??

trigal38 - Great job!!!  woot woot !  I looked at the race results.  Nice swim time!!!  I'm looking forward to reading your race report. 

Thanks everyone! Next for me, let my foot rest and heal completely. Then some time to just do whatever I feel like with swim/bike/run. I've been following a plan since December when I started the Winter Maintenance plan to get ready for the HIM plan. I'd like to do one more sprint and an Oly before the season is over.

My race report is up but I can't get the link to work. I'm warning you it is really long and boring!!!!!!!!

Awesome job!  Congratulations!  Good to know there is still hope for us run-challenged folks.  BTW, you can fix your total time on your race report, I think you were well under 8 hrs, 30 min.

Two days in a row now I've finished my bike ride about ten minutes before the afternoon downpoor!!!

Yesterday it was laying in bed procrastinating before the wife motivated me - go wife!

Today it was relaxing after a busy and stressful morning trying to buy a house that had me under a spell. I knew rain was in the forecast so I said, "DO IT!" ... and I did!

Such sweet satisfaction when a plan works out :-)

I'm in my bike focus week after rearranging stuff for my most recent Oly.

A question for the successful racers/trainers: My legs are feeling more heavy lately on the bike. My speed is still there, and my RPE isn't too much out of whack, but I just get the sense that they're more tired than a few weeks ago. I've not been training too much more, but I have lost an additional 4 lbs over those two weeks (from 165 to 161).

What should I do? Should I eat more and gain some weight back ... i.e. am I losing muscle weight? Do legs just go through cycles of feeling better sometimes and tired other times? I just had a recovery week, so they should be fresh! Any other thoughts about why the legs feel weighted despite the fact that training results haven't changed.

Gracias!

There was a point during my heavy training when I dropped from 4 lbs (156 to 152) and saw my body fat drop into the low 8% range.  I felt just wiped out and lost motivation and energy.  I wound up going to see a nutritionist (and triathlete) who gave me a target caloric intake of between 3400 - 3500 calories with specific instructions to up my fat intake. Once I put back on the weight, I felt much more energized.  I also found that taking branch chain amino acids really helped my legs recover more quickly from hard workouts.

I never really lost a significant amount of weight but I ate like a pig all the time. I would agree with Joe about recovery though. I don't know anything about branch chain amino acids but I was vigilant about my recovery routine. I took an ice bath after every long bike or run and a healthy meal within 30 minutes. For the longest workouts I drank Hammer Recoverite (I had some free samples) and ate a meal. I planned the long workouts on days when I could be sure to have enough time for my recovery routine. I would love a visit with a nutritionist though! That's a great idea. 

Otherwise it could also be that all the workouts from the last few weeks have caught up to you and you are just a little fatigued. I did not feel 100% for every workout. I had a massage at one point (I think when the long rides went up to 2.5 hours or so). The massage therapist said she had never spent the entire massage time only working someones legs. Made me laugh but the massage really helped a lot.

Also, are you getting enough sleep? 

Thanks for the thoughts Joe and Trigal! I probably need to eat more and gain some of that weight back. Too few calories equals lost weight, and likely less energy.

FWIW - I just finished my ride ... not sure why I got up and went so early (6:30 is early for me to be going on a ride). As I sit here typing I just started hearing thunder in the distance. That's three days in a row baby - woot woot!

Steve - July 31st is up and coming! Some serious training these next few weeks should proove invaluable to your success on race day. Challenge yourself everytime out. No wasted training! You'll do awesome! I'm two weeks behind you and beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then I look at the upcoming brick sessions and think - Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

Just coming back - I and the entire famdamily has been WICKED sick for over a week now.  Yes, you read that right But I DO NOT ADVISE this!    I had been injured and was doing the BarryP plan (and will stick with it once I'm able to train again - maybe first run today after doctor comes by (LOVE housecalls!)  so my distance was limited.  I was SHOCKED how well I did my 1/2 marathon at the end though and I'm sure it had to do with the 4-hour run weeks I put in prior but still, I will NOT repeat that "training" before my IM.  My IM has a 5-1/2 hour average marathon time so I'm going to work up to a 4-5 hour run but still, ala BarryP. 

Now I see I have a LOT of catching up to do. 

I know exactly how you feel.  I knew I could finish (though the 22 km at the end was a question - would I get through it uninjured or unaffected by heatstroke (it was 38C for my HIM - (just over 100F)) but I wanted to take my age group.  Pretty lofty goals as it was my 2nd triatlon ever but I'm 50 years old and I thought I would have a chance.  so I totally "get" your desire to race it.  Go for it!

YAY!!!  Enjoy the high and try not to get sick!    I'm a slow runner also and I planned walks into my HIM and saw a LOT of people dying on the last loop (2 loop run) - the carnage was bad.  Looking forward to reading your race report and congratulations!

lavelasco1015 - 2011-06-21 12:30 PM Hello everyone! My name is Leslie and this is the first time I am in this forum. I have only been a triathlete for 1 year,and I have completed only 2 triathlons, a half marathon, 2 duathlons, and 2 10ks. I am about to do another sprint triathlon next month. I just signed up for Ironman Texas 70.3 for April 2012. yes I know its a little early, but they had it at a discount rate . I will go head on training for this after the San Antonio RNR half marathon on November 13 which gives me 20 weeks of training for the HIM.  We do have a triathlon team here locally, but i can't afford it so someone gave me a suggestion to look around for a HIM training program. I did find a HIM training program, and I saw the first couple weeks of it, and it seemed reasonable with my busy schedule this fall since I am a teacher. I would like some input on people who have used this training plan, and what their experiences are training and competing by using the program.

I used the program but threw away the running and used BarryP's 1:2:3 plan and padded the cycling quite a bit - it is all in my logs.  I also was not able to swim nearly as much as I wanted due to bad weather.  This was my 2nd ever triathlon (Sprint in March), I am 50yo and won my AG in my HIM (6:22) in very hot (38C) conditions so I'd say it worked but I would TOTALLY pad the cycling.  I came off the bike fresh as a daisy with a 30kph average (3:01 for 90km).  I believe in the program so much I'm using the IM program for my November IM. 

lavelasco1015 - 2011-06-21 1:30 PM Hello everyone! My name is Leslie and this is the first time I am in this forum. I have only been a triathlete for 1 year,and I have completed only 2 triathlons, a half marathon, 2 duathlons, and 2 10ks. I am about to do another sprint triathlon next month. I just signed up for Ironman Texas 70.3 for April 2012. yes I know its a little early, but they had it at a discount rate . I will go head on training for this after the San Antonio RNR half marathon on November 13 which gives me 20 weeks of training for the HIM.  We do have a triathlon team here locally, but i can't afford it so someone gave me a suggestion to look around for a HIM training program. I did find a HIM training program, and I saw the first couple weeks of it, and it seemed reasonable with my busy schedule this fall since I am a teacher. I would like some input on people who have used this training plan, and what their experiences are training and competing by using the program.

Welcome, Lesile.  I would encourage you to read some of the prior posts to see the evolution in the thoughts of those of us who used the plan to complete a 70.3.  I did my first 70.3 about 2.5 weeks ago and followed this plan religiously.  The HIM was my fourth overall triathlon so do not fret about a lack of experience.  The plan is solid and, if followed, will easily take you to the finish line.  The plan is not perfectly suited for every situation and every person, but if you follow it, you will learn a lot about training for longer distances and the cycle of building a base, recovery, peaking and taper. About half way through the plan things really start to fall into place and you begin to recognize where extra effort may be required and where certain workouts can slide.

And by all mean, asks questions!