jsiegs and slornow's Train Hard and Have Fun group - CLOSED for Training (Page 9)

That should say Hammer, not Hamme.  Oops.  Hammer is the maker of Heed and Perpetuem.  They are sports drinks.  Perpetuem is used for longer training and races.  At least that's what the package says.  Right now I'm trying out different things, trying to find out what works best.

Great job, Matt!

Anyone heard of Natural Running? I am reading it now and thinking about the new Newton shoes. My running seems to be my real weak point right now and it's very frustrating!

Jumping in on the weight training thread here.

Having been active in the weight group for the past 14 years I can say that I'm a well rounded person. I personally perfer to use free weights, low weight high reps.

About six months ago I was having a lot of problems with shin splits. It got so bad that I would actually hit the ground running and not be able to get back up. Not a good thing considering that I run in a park that has no vehicle access to the running trails. When I saw a sports medicine doctor he comented on how as a runner how flexable I was and how well develped my muscles were over my entire body. After talking with him he told me that my years in the weight room saved me from serious injury.

Now I'm not saying that you HAVE to use free weights the way I do, it's just what works for me. The point is that as people who do a lot of cardio it is in our best intrest to find time to be in the weight room several times a week.

Today was my first time doing a road bike to running transition. Before I had rode on the stationay expercise bike in the gym then jumed on the treadmill and ran without a problem. Today was much different.

After a six mile ride with rests between I was feeling alright. I headed out to my run and was soon very frustrated. I just could not seem to get a good cadance going with my feet. Have you every seen people 'running' to get somewhere where it is more like a speed walk but in running form? That is what I was doing. The farther I ran the more frustrated I got. To make matters worse no matter how hard I tried to get a longer  and more fluent stride the shorter my stride got. By the time I got to my 3/4 mile mark I had shin splints like no other and had to limp the rest of the way back to my car.

What's going on here? How can I do so well in the gym but so so poorly on the road? This is frustrating as all get. I have my first sprint Tri in July and after today I am severly discouraged feelign that I will never make it out of the T2 area.

Any help or suggestions?

Beth

@Deb- Check out Matt Dixon's running drills videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2L-w5fa2OM, thats just the intro but the connected videos that go along with it from Fitness Anywhere are great. I would focus more on correct form before going to a neutral shoe like Newtons or the big fad in running right now 'Vibram 5 Finger shoes'. The drills that Matt Dixon shows I will use pretty much every day before I go run as my warm up and sometimes will do them after a run as well. Video #1 on body position and arm carry have been the most important things for me to focus on and I have felt my cadence and foot strike position really improve in the past couple months.

It is hard to go from the bike to run.  Your legs feel heavy and it's hard to get into a goove. I think this is why bike/runs are called bricks.  That's how your legs feel when you try to run.   Just keep doing it. You have plenty of time.  I'm not sure about the shin splints.  That doesn't seem normal, at least in my experience.  If you do have shin splints, ignore my advice above, and stop running.  If your shins are just hurting a little, keep practicing.

Best of luck!
Christy

Firstly, don't worry, you're definitely not alone in what happened to you.  4 years in and it still happens to me when I don't execute my bike correctly.

I'm gonna throw out a guess here, but that's all it is, a guess.  I doubt you were working as hard on the stationary bike as you were on the road bike.  That's just a function of the inside vs outside differences.  Your RPE feels higher inside, so you can be working less but feel like your working the same.  I know this sounds counterintuitive, but it really is "harder" to work at the same level inside, due to the heat loading and mental aspects (yes, being bored inside can really affect motivation, while having fun, going fast can really boost it).  In the world of Power, where a watt is a watt no matter where you are, people generally put out somewhere around 5% fewer watts indoors when they test themselves.

Now, I'm guessing your intensity level (even if it didn't feel it) was higher outside.  Therefor, your run suffered because your body wasn't ready for that level of effort before running.  The answer?  You probably guessed it - ride a LOT more!  The fresher you can come off the bike, the better your run will be.  Obviously, I could be wrong here (perhaps your effort on the stationary was really hard), but if you keep using the stationary, make an effort to go a little harder.  Some good "tricks" to do this inside are to dive into some intervals - the hard work, rest, hard work, rest, etc.  The shorter sections help break up the monotiny of steady riding (save that for outside).

I haven't read the book but the barefoot running craze is really interesting (to the point that I bought some Vibrams on a whim).  It certainly makes sense to me, run the way our bodies evolved to run.  But on the other hand, if it ain't broke, don't fix it (for me at least).  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to ease into it slowly enough to start using the Vibrams running (they're still comfortable to wear otherwise). 

Just don't expect the barefoot experience to make you faster in itself - the purpose/gains seem to be mostly from injury prevention (although, if you can run more without injury...you may just get a little faster).

OK - I know we've got some topics on the table to discuss.  The one's I'm remembering are

- Tri gear - clothing, aero "stuff" and other gear

- HR training

I'm going to post some stuff I found about exercise physiology and HR training to start that discussion and if you have questions or want to add please do. 

I'm not sure where to start with the gear discussion, so please just fire away with some questions and hopefully as a group we can all give some good answers/advice.

I really like this article : http://physfarm.com/new/?page_id=511

It discusses the idea of "threshold" which is central to all HR, power, RPE or pace training and using zones.  The concept of  "critical power" (which can also be pace or HR) is actually what most people mean when they talk about Lactate Threshold (e.g. when you do a LT field test with a HR monitor to determine your training zones).

For additional background: http://www.physfarm.com/inside/articles_planetx.html, check out any of these articles, but

Exercise Physiology for Beginners and

Training Zones and Specificity are really good for getting into training with a device that measures intensity (e.g. HR, gps watch for pace, powermeter etc).

Very good overview Randy.  I'll add a little with the resistance trainers.  There are a couple types, which vary in price, "feel" and noise.  Fan and Magnetic are cheapest and tend to be louder.  They don't "feel" quite like riding on a road as the resistance curve as you speed up doesn't match up (so you'll find yourself riding 15 mph instead of 20 mph).  Not a big deal really.  Fluid trainers have a curve that more closely mimics riding on the road and the effects of wind. (so low resistance change going from 5-10 mph but very large going from 20-25).  They still won't perfectly match the road, but that's ok.  They are also a little quieter.  I'll admit when I bought my new fluid trainer to replace my mag, I was hoping for a lot bigger difference that I actually got.  Expect to blast the TV (unless it's very close) with either (especially with fans too).  I got a pair of wireless headphones which are awesome.  I can hear the TV and normal volumens without bothering everyone around me.  Trainer tires are nice, but not necessary.  Most people use old tires on the trainer because the trainer will burn through a tire much quicker than the road. 

With a computrainer or tacx system, the bike trainer has a motor built in which can provide variable resistance.  So if you program a course, it will get harder when you go uphill and easier when you go down.  You can also use another mode where the trainer is set at a certain wattage, say 200 watts.  So no the resistance will always be 200 W no matter how fast you pedal (it will be less resistance when you pedal faster and more when you pedal slower).  I think people like this because if you need to do 10 min at 200 watts, you just set it in this mode and don't have to worry about monitoring your power.  They can be really fun because you can program real courses in there.  I did an Alp d'Huez hill climb on one at a shop that carries them, it was pretty cool!  That can be a HUGE motivational tool since riding inside on a trainer really, really sucks.

In general, setting your bike up on a trainer or rollers is (can be) a better workout than spin classes because you are working on your bike (i.e. the exact position and exact muscles you'll be racing with) and doing your work out.  I did a lot of spin classes when I started (until my coach told me I couldn't and gave me workouts to do on a trainer instead).  I got a lot faster too.  While not optimal, it will still give you a very good workout, especially if you can set up the bike to a close position as your road bike.  Also, despite the instructor yelling at you, you don't have to follow their workout all the time.  When they did stuff I didn't think was good for me, I did something else on my own.  They gear those classes towards fitness more than bike racing, so some stuff doesn't carry over.  But if you're more motivated and are able to give more effort in a spin class than on your trainer, they could be a better training tool.  It's all up to you and how you plan use use them.

I used to loathe the trainer.  It's  sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boring. And Hard. And Hot. and did I mention boring?  But as with all things, you get used to it.  Movies and TV help a lot.  Following a workout video (like Spinnervals or Sufferfest) also help a lot.  Now though, I really like the trainer and will continue to use it all summer.  It's nice because I can't bike from my front door (I live in the city) so it saves a lot of travel time.  You never have to worry about weather or daylight.  But the real reason I'll keep using it is that there are some workouts I do that I want to do uninterrupted (so no hills, stop signs, lights, etc).  You can't beat it for getting a workout of intervals in exactly as prescribed in your plan.  This is something that I've come to appreciate since I bought a powermeter.  I'm willing to bet Randy will agree with me here.

I did a really good bike yesterday.  I was a little frustrated from being off training so much and let loose a bit with some intervals.

I just tried another easy run today at lunch again and the vertigo is back badly again.  I need a follow up with the ENT I guess.

I'm just checking in for some motivation.  Spent most of the day at a funeral and reception for a friend's father.  It has been an emotional day.  I'd really like to climb in bed with a bottle of wine, but i'm going to force myself to get a ride in.  Then have a bottle of wine.

@Joe-I'm sorry about you're still having problems running. 

I'll chime in on trainers after i spend 90 mins on mine