Newbz' group is FULL (Page 9)

Nice race James!  Congrats.

James - WOW!  You ROCKED that race!  Way to go!!!

Nice race.  I am taking lessons from you on this stuff and going to challenge myself pretty hard come the Mini Indy half marathon this May.  It first starts by the HR check I am going to do as soon as I can get some time to do it.  (Today and tomorrow suck for anything other than family and one other commitment.)  You are inspiring me to work harder at some higher HR's during some races.  I am also going to try to get a couple of other shorter races in to help strategically plan others.

Congratulations on a fine race and keep up the good work.

Edited by DirkP 2010-01-11 8:54 PM

I had it in me to complete the workouts because I decreased the intensity for a recovery week, except for the bike workout.  The bike workout was probably at a higher intensity than it should have been because I am just now able (time constraints) to apply some of the tempo/threshold work you had explained earlier.  The workouts on their own would have been easy but done collectively they were much harder.

All said, I think I was okay afterward because I was just whipped.  More like.........WHIPPED!!!  The bad part is this week is shaping up to be worse than last week.  One daughter had 1 swim meet tonight, one Thursday night and a long one (conf. championship) Saturday.  My other daughter has an early Saturday morning basketball game and I have band practice tomorrow night.  I don't think I am going to be able to push as hard as the schedule is saying I am supposed too.

Currently I am in week 18 of a 20 week Oly plan with no race planned until April so I think I should be okay to get some hard stuff in in the time I have.  Any recommendations? 

what do the weekly totals of a normal week on that plan look like? jsut a total of each (s/b/r).

Assuming you are coming to the end of the oly plan and will have more time down the road i would honestly look at trying a HIM plan and backing off the longer stuff a bit.

Or, repeat another olympic plan but go into it knowing what you can add/change this time around.

let me know what your time will look like once it starts getting warmer, and how much you are doing right now and i'll see what i can help with.

on a side note one of the women i coach is also doing the half mary in indy!

Hey ya'll,

Just wanted to check in and say hello...you guys all sound like you are doing awesome this winter staying motivated and getting ready for the spring.  I AM SO JEALOUS!!! lol...I am still recovering from rotator cuff surgery about 3 and a half weeks ago...and I am itching to get back in training mode. My first race in on my birthday, march 6th, in Athens, TX, and I will doggy-paddle the swimming part if I have to, in order to race!

My physical therapist says I should be able to get back on the bike in a week or two, and swimming should be OK by the end of this month. I am going to try and run again this weekend, but I went for a run last week, and my shoulder started getting REALLY sharp pains directly in the area where I had the scope done...so, I opted to set the treadmill on a steep incline and walk for about 40 minutes instead...I have heard walking steep inclines produces similar effects to running, physiologically. If anything, it provided me with much needed outlet for my exercise-deficiency lately.

Alright, I will continue reading all of your posts and enjoying the great news I have been hearing from all of your winter training tribulations. Some of you have even been having great races this winter, so I am excited to be a part of such a wonderfully talented and motivated club. I look forward to posting again soon.

CD

Hello everyone. Just wanted to check in with everyone and update my training. I am starting week 3 of a HIM plan  and feel good. I have only been getting in 1 swim a week instead of the 3, due to our "cold snap" here in Florida. I only have access to 1 indoor pool and their schedule is not very good with mine. I feel ok with the swim so I know I'll catch up when we warm up this week.

I picked up training with a group this past weekend that I trained with a couple months ago. The couple that coordinates the weekend workouts are great athletes (he is a Kona qualifier and she is an ultra marathoner and a great runner) and they definitely push me to my limits. The volume they have me do on the weekend is greater than my plan calls for but as long as I can complete the workouts and recover I will continue to train with them and adjust my plan volumes throughout the week. I don't want to miss the opportunity to train with such great athletes. I just have to be careful not to increase things too much and end up injured.

I hope everyone is on track with their goals and has a great week.

I'm in the 4th week of the HIM plan. 

I've been doing a little more running and biking than is called for since I had already built up and didn't want to back down much for the plan.  The long swim days are a lot.  I can do the distance; just need to increase speed.

I met a couple of people trying to form a Tri group in my area.  We are meeting tomorrow evening.  I'll go, but I must admit that I lack the confidence to participate with a group.  With only four sprints, I guess I feel more like a "wannabe" than like a triathlete.  I haven't paid my dues yet and I'm not up to speed for group rides; but we'll see how it goes.

Hey all, sounds like lots of progress is being made here.  Good stuff.

I've got a low-grade sinus infection which is making me feel lethargic, especially in the morning and near bed time. 

Anybody have any advice regarding working out with this?  Should I cut back/stop, or just stick with it?  I'd like to keep training, but I don't want to prolong this thing.  Thanks!

Hey guys - Thanks to all for the positive words!

CD -

My Dad lives in Jacksonville, TX - not far from Athens. Have you ever done the Beauty and the Beast ride in Tyler. I have been wanting to do that for years!


Craig -

I read your review of the wheelbuilder wheel cover on your blog. Have you been able to ride with it outdoors yet? Do you have any baselines to see if / how much your TT's improve. I have been thinking about getting a wheel cover for a while.

Wiky -

"They" say that if you are not running a fever than some training is okay - but - for me, if I feel down and out then the last thing that i want to do is train hard. Maybe just some spinning to keep the cobwebs out.

Microspawn-
I haven't had a chance to ride outside yet but plan to in the next week or two depending on our weather and my schedule. I've really heard nothing but good about them (except maybe from some people who have spent $1K on a disc and swear it's not as good as their disc) so I am anxious to get a good ride with the cover. I'll do some TT's and compare to some previous times. I'll definitely keep you posted.

general rule (this is from a Dr and echoed by my athletes i know) if its above the neck keep training as you feel like, below let it rest.

runs often clear out sinus stuff pretty well, but take it by how you feel and dont force it.

disk covers for hte most part are = to a disk in terms of speed gains (assuming you put it on right).

over a standard box rim its someting like 1min or so over 40k that you'll gain, or .3-.7mph

Thanks for the particulars. I figured for $100 I could give the cover a try since I'm still smoothing over the bike purchase (2 months later) with the wife and I won't be dropping the money for a disc (or anything else) for a while.

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if you have the cover and a good wheel/tire to put it on there is really no need for a disk as well/in place of it.

a GOOD tire will go a long way in helping that go fast too.

How much different is the handling and speed of using a more narrow tire on the front? I have only used the 700 X 23 size and wonder if it is better to go with a more narrow front and keep the 700 X 23 on the rear. I should probably know the answer to this but have never really thought much about it. What is a GOOD tire to use? I have always used a more inexpensive tire as I am just now getting to a point where it may make a difference in my bike times.

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what wheel(s) are you using?

i would not go under 20mm tires right now and a lot of good ones only come in 23 o 21 (some brands only come in one or the other).


assuming you are using clincher wheels, if you need to train and race on the tires and glass is not a big issue, i would look at something in the michilen pro race lineup (the pro race 2s should be a lot cheaper now that the 3s are out, and come in 4-6 diff colors.). good flat protection and one of the fastest tires out there.
if you can find the 3s at a good price it doesn't get much better than this.

another good training and racing tire is the vittoria rubino pro slick.

for racing only i would look at the zipp tangent, the vittoria corsa cx (my fav for tubular tires).

My wheels are Easton Circuit clinchers. I will look into the michelin pro's you talked about. I live in Florida and everyone always complains about the glass, but I have only had one flat in the last year (I know by writing that, I just guaranteed myself one). Thanks for the input.

you should have no problems with them.

i trained on them for two years in ohio (cracks, chipseal roads, gravel) and only have 1 flat in roughly 450hr of riding time.

The time for each in week 18 would work out to be something like:
Swim - 2 hrs
Bike - 3.75 hrs
Run - 2 hrs

On a normal week this would work out okay with the commitments I have, but this week is retarded beyond normal. 

I wonder why you think I should move toward a HIM plan?  I would love to do a HIM but I am not sure about the time commitment just yet. 

Part of the time problem is my work schedule.  My work day starts at 6 AM and ends about 4:30-ish on a 4 day schedule.  The pool does not open until 5 AM (normal get up time) and I couldn't get a good swim in that early and get to work on time.  The swim I think is about the only thing I could do "right out of bed."  Friday's and Saturday's are not uncommon for double workouts so that's not a big deal.

My time should open up in about two months or so because my girls won't be involved in their sports then.  Unless my youngest decides to play soccer this year.  I also coach elementary school wrestling for about 6-8 weeks beginning mid-February.  The wrestling shouldn't interfere tremendously because my work schedule won't allow the time off much during the practice hours.

I am wondering what you're thinking or suggesting?  I am def open to ideas so throw 'em out there.

Just thought of this, I could roll some workouts around to some Sunday's but I am the sole drummer in our band.  This commitment will be foremost.  If I did do workouts on Sunday most of them would have to be fairly short bike/runs early or go back to back later (the pool is closed on Sunday's).




Edited by DirkP 2010-01-12 8:25 PM

Holy cow!  I hadn't thought anything about using a more narrow tire.  How much time would I drop if I switched from a 700x 23 to a 700x 20 tubular?  I know I am going to need new tires before I hit the road after winter and I guess I should look at these things now so I am prepared to buy the best thing.

Should I have training tires and race tires?  If so I'll have to wait a while because the budget isn't going to allow for a buch of stuff until I get some storm season overtime at work.

I am seeing just how ignorant I am regarding all the stuff I could use.  Sucks to be a newbie!

i'll get back about the training plan,

on the tire front, wider tires (in the 21-23mm range) are often faster on the rolling resitance front, while a slightly thinner one might offer a bit more in the aerodynamics front.
that said pairing to the wheel is more important overall.

most any good tire in the 20-23mm range will be good.
personall i tried a set of 19mm and thought they were a bit sketchy around sharp turns. my race tires now i think are 21mm.

if you only have one set of wheels having a race and training tire does not make sense, and you would be much better off with jsut one set.

Dirk - this is from the front page - you might have seen it already - funny stuff -

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5749137/

That being said, I do have a set of race wheels and I only use them during racing - therefore I have race tires. For training, I use cheap durable tires on the stock rims. My race wheels are HED-3's with continental gp 4000s tires. I have done time trials with and with out the wheels and the difference is very small. There are so many variables that some of my time trials are faster with them and some are not. I was frustrated because right after I got the wheels I did a 11.85 mile time trial and I was about 30 seconds slower than my best - YES - this was not apples to apples but it was discouraging.

On race day, the HED 3's make me feel faster. Make me race harder.

ROFL - I almost spit my tea on my monitor!  That was a video of my training partner!  LOL

We bought our first road bikes not but 3 months ago.  He road his with flat pedals to start with while I had clips.  When he finally got clips, he kept tapping his odometer and saying, "my odometer is not working; what does yours say?" 

He was SO convinced that those clips were going to miraculously make him faster that he honestly thought his odometer was not working right!  He's been out to buy every gadget imaginable and is already looking at Tri bikes and $$$$ race wheels.  I keep telling him to quit spending money and work on the engine!

But this does bring a question mind.  I recently heard about road bikes w/ aerobars & switchable seat post vs. tri bike.

I never thought about changing the seat post.  What is the difference and is this something I should look into to make my road bike more Tri specific?

I have seen that already.  Pretty funny stuff!  I have actually watched it several times.

Now, excuse the rant that is coming, my fatherly protective instincts need to vent right now and this is the safest place to do it where my family won't see it.  I hope.

No training today because I had to run my wife to the body shop to pick up her car then home to get ready for band practice.
 Easy so far, not much to talk about huh?  Well here goes.  My daughter's high school had a premeditated stabbing/slashing that was announced on facebook (obscurely) for 1 day prior.  It seems some retard brought several large knives to school today with the plan to cut someone's throat.  He attempted this at lunch time and successfully cut one of the victims jugular arteries.  A chase involving students and faculty ensued with the perp being caught and hauled to juvy.  In my opinion he should be hauled to the gallows!  To much premeditation for me to have much leniency!  Now my daughter wasn't in the lunch room when this occurred and wasn't really even close to the incident but she has a class with him and saw him less than 20 minutes prior to it happening.  As a father I can't help thinking about what I would like to do to this kid for taking a knife to school with the intention of killing someone.  My instinct to protect my children is taking a deeper hold right now and I want to take it out on someone.  My daughter will be fine emotionally but it will also (already has) have an effect on her for a long time.  All the other things I want to say I will not or cannot because I words are not there.  Just extremely angry right now.  Many words are welling up inside me that i don't utter as well as other emotions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Edited by DirkP 2010-01-13 5:43 PM