The Other Way - Training by Feeling and Racing to Train - OPEN (Page 9)

Hi all,

I made it back from Mexico. Had a really fun Ironman. Did my best ever on the swim at 1:29. Looks like the winter pool workouts was worth it. The ocean was interesting. First time I have swam in salt water. It was okay but not very tasty.

The bike started well and I was moving up lots of places. About 2/3 of the way started to feel tired. I was relying on the provide food and it was bananas, some nature bars, and this gel that was next to impossible to open. I didn't eat nearly enough and knew that I was losing energy. I finished the bike in 6:15.

The marathon was difficult because I was out of energy. It was also a really hot day with intense sun and I had gotten fried on the bike. I lumbered around the course. I had to walk a lot. 5:09 later I was finished. My total time was 13:04 which beat my last Ironman so I was happy about that. Overall it was a great race and was the perfect jumpstart to my season.

I'll take a look at all of the logs in the next few days and give some feedback.

Sincerely,

Paul

Good job Paul. Glad your day was successful.
I have great respect for anyone who can complete an ironman.
Maybe one day I'll take a shot. Thinking about starting off with a 70.3 in 2015 and see how that goes first.

Great job Paul
Anything you would have done differently in training or during the race?

.

For me
I did 12.5 miles on the bike
Went right into the run after a quick calf stretch.
Planned to run 5 min
Felt so good I did 25 min 2.55 miles!
One hour ten min total

Hi all,

I know it has been two weeks since I last checked in but it will be good to see how everyone is doing. Race season is right around the corner for a lot of you and I hope that is getting people excited.

Neil- I like that you are getting lots of short bricks in. It is great for your legs to get used to that transition feeling. It looks like from your notes that you are mixing in a lot of interval efforts. I feel like it is paying off as I watch your run times get quicker and quicker. That probably is the greatest discovery that I have made in training, the interval. Going out for an hour at the same speed it great to build base but to get that speed having a good set or two of intervals seems to make a huge difference. I think that is one of the things that I personally will focus on more. It seems like you have not had any reoccurrence of the calf tightness? Keep up the good work.

Travis- As usual your eclectic training log makes me laugh. Divine breathing and pickle ball both sound fantastic. 2 seconds faster on your 5k race is great. So lucky to have a weekly race to do. I saw from your comments that you want to do a lot more biking. I think that is what suffers the most in winter. You can run (or hike or walk) and keep your base strong and pools lend themselves to winter training but it is really hard to keep the biking base. The trainer helps but there is nothing like riding outside. Hopefully you can have a good streak of rides this week. Just saw your blog and read the first entry in it. Really cool.

Bill- Glad to hear you get to take off the studded tires. Spring must be coming to Michigan. Consistency is your key. I have noticed that your bar graphs are getting bigger over the last three weeks. Getting more distances in. That is great. This is the time to start increasing your base slowly and steadily. Great to get a PR on your run. Spring is such a fantastic time of year. As the weather gets warmer and you start shaking off the winter rust it is fun to watch your fitness increase. I hope you get some good MTB rides in this weekend.

Jennifer- The march totals are really impressive, socially the swim! It seems like you are starting to target your weakness the run. I noticed on your Thursday brick your run was one of the fastest in your weekly workouts. Surprising but a great sign if you can go from the bike to the run without a let down in your performance. This will be the theme of the week but try and mix up some intervals in your run. A great fun way to do this is just pick objects on your running route. Light post or telephone poles work well. Just make yourself go extra fast for two posts, then take it easy and do this 5 or 6 times. I think that the variation in speed will help improve your overall run. Liked your post about the good and bad workout days. All of us go through such times where we hit some type of wall. The great things about sport is that with effort 90% of the time comes improvement.

Molly- Welcome to the group. You have picked a crazy triathlon to be your first. I would love to do a triathlon in the reverse order. I just checked your race results and big congratulations you beat your 2 hour goal by an 48 seconds. Now that you have done your first triathlon think back on the experience. I find that visualising the race is a great way to make mental notes and prepare for the next one. The hidden secret in triathlons to is the logistics. Making sure that everything is in the right place and you aren't fumbling around becomes a part of the challenge. Then think about each leg and rate yourself on your effort and think about ways to improve. Honestly I miss those first few races when it was all so new and exciting. Hope you had a blast.

Cassandra- Great job on the Monday brick. Maybe for you the bike ride might help your legs warm up so that when you start your race walking it is actually better on your legs since they aren't starting cold. Don't be discouraged by the swim. It is such a technique driven that if you are tired or not focused mentally it is easy to stay slow on it. While the bike and run you can just turn off your mind and gut it out, the swim seems to be the most mentally challenging discipline. I found that a lot of times in the pool I would just totally concentrate on my technique and not even worry about my speed. It is important to burn the correct motion into your muscle memory. Only then should you start trying to go faster, but always with good form.

Paul- You look like you have been getting a lot of value from the swimming coach. To all of us who struggle swimming it is an invaluable training tool, a good swim coach. I just peaked at your results and great job also going sub 2 hours! You seemed to have a very even race in that there was no obvious weakness in any one area. I did laugh at your post about the first brick you did. I hope that little bit of training prepared your legs for the race. This early season race is a great benchmark. Hopefully now you can continue to train and each subsequent race will be better.

Le'Ann- In many ways being an experienced athlete is a mixed blessing. You know and understand the events but you always have your former self to compare to and that can be frustrating when the old you is so much better than the current you. You can definitely see that your run times are consistently around the 5:40min/km mark. I might once again tout my theme of the week of intervals. Does your run training have any of these built in? Maybe on a day that you only have 30 minutes for a run make it a run work out where you really push yourself 2 minutes at your race pace, then a 3 minute rest. I find that on my long training runs I get lulled into my comfortable pace and it seems hard to make any headway. Hopefully your pedals get to you soon. They are a pretty important piece of the bike.

Chris- The countdown is on until your first race next weekend I think. I really like your bricks where you do your bike and then go for a one mile really intense run. A great way to train your legs. Your bike is looking good. You are doing race+ distances at a great pace. Hopefully you feel ready. Early season races always seem such a mixed bag. From your blog you did a lot of races last season and I bet that it going to really boost this race season. Now in my third year of triathlons I find that my body is just ready for them. You also get big kudos for doing a ridiculous 8 miles of swimming in March. Great effort. I look forward to reading your blog on the race.

Tania- Hello and you are welcome to join the group. If you want to join my only request is that you allow me to look in on your training log. Hope your recovery is going well. Enjoy Spain.

Myself- Did an easy run and bike this week on Friday and Saturday. My first post ironman workouts. I felt pretty good on both and seems like I have recovered well from the event. I have a duathlon in the Netherlands this weekend it is 15km run- 60km bike- 7.5 km run. I am looking forward to it. It definitely is a race to train event for me. I really appreciate all of the posts that I read on this thread. As I was doing the Ironman I would often think about this group and the connection to all of you is great. It gives me that feeling of being on a team. I like that we are all together trying to balance work, family, friends, but have this common goal of having fun and racing. It definitely motivated me a few times not to let the team down, so I thank you for all of your spiritual energy.

Have a good week,

Sincerely,

Paul

Paul,
Thanks for the encouragement! I am mixing speeds up a bit!
And I am totally feeling the benefits!

I felt so good today I went for a quick swim. My form was great and think I am peaking at a really good time!

7 days!

Paul,
I really look forward to your posts each week and value your feedback!! Thank you so much for taking time to do it!!
This week and next are scheduled to be "run heavy" for me, so I will work on some intervals then. Maybe throw in some short fartleks?
Congrats on your race and I look forward to hearing more details.
Jennifer

Well good morning everyone. Happy Monday

Well congrats Paul on a 13 hour IM...that rocks - you alone knows what that must feel like, do you have the IM tatoo? How many IM races haVE you done?

Yes indeed I did get togo for mtb trail ride sunday afternoon...lets just say the red trail kicked my butt! I loved it, and want more punishment!
Ice and snow deep in the forest, I was alittle surprised at that, muddy, puddles, - I was a mess when I pulled off the trail...oh good times indeed.

Then took those studded tires off and put the road ones on....this morning I could tell my legs where tired, but I wasn't slowing down when coasting around

so time improved. - small leak needs attention. darn it.

Salad for dinner tonight.

Goal for this week - get in the pool...and go (mtbing again on the trails):>)

Hope everyone has a super training day.
pb

I had so much fun at my first tri!!!! I definitely took y'all's advice about taking the time to enjoy it and pay attention and thank volunteers. I spent a mile or so of the 5k run (first event since this was reverse) alongside another first time triathlete. We were both pacing ourselves by chatting, agreeing we didn't want to wear ourselves out too badly before the bike. I had an AMAZING cheering squad of my mom, husband, a couple friends and their two-year-old. Races are super exciting to toddlers! The police officers out along the route did a great job of directing traffic which was good because none of the roads were closed and there were a lot of cars headed to & from church while we were out on the bike. I had my cell phone in the back pocket of my tri top just in case something happened while I was out in the middle of nowhere, but then I forgot to take it out for the swim - woops! My phone made it a whole lap in the pool with me before I figured out where all the extra drag was coming from.

I felt pretty good yesterday afternoon, still feeling good this morning! I will definitely push harder on the next one -- yes I'm already looking for the next one! Although now this feels like normal order to me, I'm not sure how it will go having swim first for me. I am definitely considering going back to a swim coach as it is far and away my worst sport. I'm taking it easy today, but I'll hit up the gym tomorrow morning, including swimming.

Do y'all mountain bike at all? How do you feel like it compares/helps with your tri biking? There are lot of mountain bike groups around here but I've never tried it before. Seems kinda scary/intense!

It looks like y'all had great workouts over the weekend too. Thanks for the welcome, Paul, and congrats on your new Ironman record! I know somebody else had a race this weekend, but I can't remember who...I hope you had as much fun as I did. I'll get my April training logs up to date so I can be part of the totals party at the end of this month Happy Monday!

Paul, thanx so much 4 checking in. And yes, my winter riding has been short little commuter rides 2 the store, radio station, etc. Our trails are now open 4 Mt biking, trail running, etc. I have just had a difficult time FINDING time 2 ride. Yard projects, home projects, & walking 3 dogs allows me time 2 cook, clean, & maybe watch some baseball while doing all this. Also, thanx 4 checking out my blog. I will be posting photos from my front yard. I am removing the last of the grass out front. SCORE!!! I did have an awesome trail run on Friday. Shadow Boy & I hiked up Tabaguche & then ran all of Ravens Trail. The best part, I felt Gr8 on Saturday.

I also look 4ward 2 reading some race update from some of you. All of you are doing well & quite in inspiration 2 me & the Boy Dog.

Talk w/ya soon
Cheers

P.S. Big Hugs

Gr8 Job!!!! Good on you for simply enjoying the atmosphere!! This is how it all starts. And I feel the its Triathlons that help w/Mt Biking. I say this because the gearing is so different from road riding. Mt biking is difficult if you can't find you cardiovascular system. I say, " Tackle Mt Biking!!" Find a group that wants 2 enjoy the trails not ride 4 time. And if you come upon an obstacle that makes you feel uneasy, just dismount, walk around it, & ride the rest of the trail. ITS THAT EASY!

Again, Congrats on the Tri & let us know when the next event is.

Well yes I do alot of mtbing, and i love it. I always try to get new people into it - who doesn't want to ride there bike in the woods? through a steam, over logs, hit a few little jumps and bunny hop over some roots and rocks...

I say find a cheep starter mtb, and start hitting some trails, In Michigan at least the mtb clubs, groups are somewhat organized - you can always count on a weekly ride with a few different speed groups. You'll find them on line after searching alittle.

The fast kids take off in the 1st group, and so forth, If you meet a local club, they will be more then happy to introduce you to the local trail system, at your pace. I made a few friends but , schedules didn't work out for me to keep meeting up with them, I usally ride alone and still have a blast at my pace!

Yes I think it does build indurance for tri racing, but lets just say you will really hit the red line again and again and again. In road bike riding for me at least it is about just staying below that red line for a extended period of time. Any biking is good biking.

last year I did my 1st xterra race - which is a off road tri -Swimming, mtb, and trail running - I see myself being pulled in this direction - but not as many local races - I believe in the next few years we'll see more of these events..I hope

Now hurry and check craigslist for a cheep mtb to buy....hurry!
hope this helps
pb

Morning everyone

Tired when i awoke this morning, body hurt, felt like a old man....
Papers came early, pounded some coffee - and soooooo glad i worked it out!

Today I went as far as I can on the route...17ish miles bike 3.5 running.
98min bike - which is funny as it took this long just a month ago w/ the snow - hafe the distance.
52min running - starting to push - always to little to late, going to dig out timer and start pushing for a few mins then recover for a few, then push...

Seems like if I try running faster things start to hurt, knee one day, foot the next, but new shoes will be purchased this week...as you might guess my shoes really take a beating - every morning when done they where wet for months...I do have a sweet shoe dryer - which is a god send..everyday they went from wet wet wet to crispy dry...well this takes a toll on shoes...

QUESTION - I'm not clipped into my bike - but I could clip in to road bike...how much better is it to be clipped in? 10% faster?

btl salads for tonight - yummy

hope everyone has a super training day
pb

PB
Rolled up newspaper in your shoes wicks the water out fairly quickly - use 1 pair day one and another pair day 2

Yes that is what I used to do until my family complained about the newspapers in the trash smelling like feet, lol - so for christmas everyone pitched in for the shoe dryer....hands down my best x-mas gift ever.

I can't imagine not clipping into my pedals even for casual riding. It feels strange not having the full range of motion in the pedal stroke. I would guess to that it is much greater than 10% the allowable effort produced. You can get so much more power from clips.

Something to think about...I really gave the clip in thing a good try when I first got into Mtb...either my skills were not there or the trail was to advanced for me...I tried for 2 years, and gave up. almost EVERYONe i see on the trails are clipped in....
Also gave it a go with the road bike - but less then a summer really...
I think I got lazy, plus the paper route kinda consumed me and biking...so no need for clips there.

Something to think about...I really gave the clip in thing a good try when I first got into Mtb...either my skills were not there or the trail was to advanced for me...I tried for 2 years, and gave up. almost EVERYONe i see on the trails are clipped in....
Also gave it a go with the road bike - but less then a summer really...
I think I got lazy, plus the paper route kinda consumed me and biking...so no need for clips there.

I totally agree, dig the clip in feel, HOWEVER, more & more, here in GJ,Co, I see less mt bikers clipped in. Sure, our single track is quite technical. Maybe that factors in???? Road Riding…… Thats a clip in 4 sure…… More hammies & less quads = Full Range Of Power

My egg beater pedals are super easy 2 click out of. My mt bike has shimano pedals & I set them up very loose when I started out. Once I became a we bit more confident, I cranked down on the set screw. A training trick, while clipped in, find a ramp w/a hand rail. Stand on your pedals w/your front wheel heading up the ramp & focus on staying put. The hand rail while eliminate fear of falling over. The uphill will give you that pedal feel under your foot. Plus, it helps make you feel RAD. HHHHHEEEEeeeeeeee

Or, if you are not a fan of clip in pedals, ride w/o & enjoy!!!!!!

Free your feet & your bike will follow

Cheers

Just throwing out another opinion on the clipless... I do not use clipless. I'm simply not a fan.

Consider reading Grant Peterson's book Just Ride. Here's an excerpt from the book: http://www.cyclorama.net/viewArticle.php?id=376
Petersen raced for six years, then worked at Bridgestone, Japan’s largest bike maker, as a designer and marketer. When the company closed its American office, he opened his own shop, Rivendell Bicycle Works.

Last workout before my race
6 miles on the bike rental to get a feel for it - it's a nice bike Fuji 2.3 - way better than what I ride!
Then off the bike and into the run for five minutes -

After that a few jump and get my feet into the toe clips for practice.

Tomorrow is an off day - off off!

I had a great ending to what started out as a pretty crappy week. Three conferences in four weeks just wore me out! Especially since the last one involved getting up at 3 a.m. to catch the airport shuttle after partying until midnight the night before. I had no energy at the beginning of the week and could barely drag myself out of bed, but the conferences are over now, so I get a breather for a while.

I started practicing my swimming technique more, rather than speed, and also counting laps instead of guestimating, and I discovered I have increased my speed about 20 percent. I have seven more weeks until my first tri, and I think by then I can meet my goal of 880 yards in 30 minutes. (I did 760 yards in 30 minutes this week.) My bike speed still seems to be about 10mph, no matter what I do. I want to increase that to 15mph. I'm trying to find a cheap street bike as all I have are mountain bikes. However, although I have no increased my riding speed at all, I have become stronger and can now ride up hills that I previously have walked my bike up. That's really huge for me because it means my knees are getting stronger!

I joined a gym at the beginning of the month and have discovered that the dreadmill is a great way to pace myself and also easier on my knees. I think I'm going to start using that more, perhaps in the evenings after I swim.

Week totals:

Bike: 37.2 miles (including six on the stationary bike)
Swim: 2040 yards
Walk/run: 5.65 miles (including 1.25 miles on the dreadmill)

Thank you, everyone, for your posts this week. They helped keep me motivated!

2014 Tri season got off to an excellent start for me today. I took 2nd in my AG and shaved almost 9 minutes off my time from last year. I'll have a full race report up in the next 24 hours. Hope everyone had a great weekend!





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omg your bike is so cool!

I'm having trouble reading posts - but I wanted to let you all know I finished! I finished running!
1:35:06
I had a panic attack in the water!
Had to backstroke after the buoy turn! Took me 5 min in transition - mostly just to calm myself down!
Then did very well on the bike and followed w a strong run

12 min swim
43 min bike (I felt faster)
31:30 run
Plus 5 in 1st transition and 1 in transition 2
I'm already looking for my next race!