Scott and Kelly's Mentor Group- Closed (Page 9)

Jealous...(3260 yds). I am no fan of the swim and seem to be one of those that haven't had the click yet.

To add to this while the TI stroke is long (and the front part of the stroke gets cut off in OWS) TI still advocates early verticla forearm / high elbow pull. The thing to remember is high elbow doesn't have anything to do with the recovery phase of youe stroke (when your arm is out of the water). What high elobw means is that while pulling under the water that your elbow is higher in the water (closer to the surface) than your hand. If your elbow is lower in the water you essentially "slip" through the first part of the pull and end up with a very very short pull.

I have a biking question. For now, I am on a mountain bike. Hope to buy a tri bike in the next few weeks. I also hope to buy a trainer, although my husband hates them and thinks we won't use it, but I know I will.

First question...what do I need to know about building my bike milage (from zero) to 4-5X my running as was previously suggested? That means if I run 20 mi in a week I should be biking 80-100 mi correct? If I split that up into 3-4 rides how should it be spread out? What % of the weekly milage should be the long ride? Can I jump right into higher milage?

Also, if my A race is a 34mi ride followed by a 10 mi run, what should I build my weekly bike milage up to?

Lastly...what do I look for in a trainer? I do live in a beautiful So Cal climate where there really is no excuse not to get outside, but I do not want to ride
alone and hubby travels a bit and his schedule is unpredictable. If I could knock out some of my weekly milage in the early morning in the comfort of my living room I would.

Thanks!

Well-made trainer - you can't go wrong with a Kurt Kinetic in my opinion. Tons of reviews about KK all over BT, very few negative things said. We have 1 and love it so much that we're planning on buying another one used from our tri shop after the winter. (They sell off the ones they use for indoor training each March, so we can get a good deal.)

I should explain - the reason we need another trainer...hubby and I both tri. Right now our bonus room has 1 trainer and 4 bikes. Pain in the behind to switch off each other's bikes all the time. Plus one of my bikes is tiny (650 wheels) so the whole trainer setup has to be reconfigured when I ride that one.

Thanks Kristen.

I found a CycleOps Magneto for $40, 2 years old. From my research it looks like a fluid trainer would be optimum but for 40 bucks, I think we are going to jump on this one. It will be a good test of how much use it gets and to determine if it is worth the investment in a fluid. My hubby is a tri'er as well, so maybe eventually we would want two anyways. Doubt it though.

I bought the $40 Cycleops. Excited to get it set up and log some miles this weekend while hubby is gone.

I dropped in at out local bike store and asked a few questions. The hands down perspective is to get a road bike and add aero bars.

Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

I will vote for the road bike! That's what I had first, it is more versatile, more stable. and so fun. I did my first three seasons on it, including a HIM. You can easily join group rides on it. I only added a tri bike in 2012 for my first IM. And congrats on the trainer!

Just finished an easy hour run tonight. Feels good to be back into consistent training.

X2 for the KK, pricey but worth it!

Hi Scott, Kelly and Group! Thanks for letting me join and apologies for late posting of my Bio - family, work, holidays - yes you all know and clearly are better at managing time then me:-)

'm looking forward to a great 2014 and especially the accountability this group will bring me.

NAME: markhodges1973 (Mark)

STORY:: Hi. I’m Mark, originally form the UK, living in USA for five years. I am a former couch potato. I Thought I lived a fit and healthy lifestyle until I watched an old school mate race Oceanside 70.3 which opened my eyes to what ‘tri-ing’ is all about - chasing my kids around a park and finishing their dinners was not keeping me healthy, nor was the 210lbs on the scales. So as I am an engineer I spent the next two years researching what it was all about – I joined a run club and started a 5k plan. I jumped in the community pool and barely managed 250 yds. I decided to put off the bike until I could at least run first. After two years of ‘research’ I had a 5k, 5M, 10K and HM under my belt and could swim ~800 yds 2x per week. Finally my wife decided the research was over and bought me a 16wk training plan at the local gym – this would prepare me for my first sprint tri in April 2011 and was hooked.

The rest of 2011 I managed to complete 3 more sprints, progressing from MTB to road bike and finished the season with an OW sprint. In 2012 I wanted to increase to Oly distance and more OW with the intention of a HIM in 2014. But I couldn’t wait and signed up for the BT HIM plan and completed my first 70.3 in October – the last ¼ mile was near impossible to run from all my sobbing ?

FAMILY STATUS: Happily married with 2 daughters, 10 and 14. 1 dog, two cats, a Bearded Dragon and gerbil.

CURRENT TRAINING: I haven’t started yet – still researching what races and goals I want to achieve this year ? I will likely start with MAF HR running and want to focus on strength training to minimize injury. This year will be my year-of-the-run as I want to improve run times.

2013 RACES: 2x pool sprint, 1x OW sprint, 2x oly, 1x 70.3 Beach 2 Battleship.

2014 RACES: still trying to define the schedule although the focus will be on short course and improving on last year’s race times. I may even throw in a fall half mary to really see how well the run speed improved.

WEIGHTLOSS: I managed to get from 210 to 175 over three years. Last year I remained at 175 until the HIM training ramped up them I dropped to 164. Holidays have returned me to 170. 2014 goal is to stay sub 170 and remain in my 30’’ jeans ?

Dace - I agree with Scott as I follow his advice already! In the last year I upgraded from a MTB to road bike and cannot justify buying a tri bike from a practical, usage, speed improvement or financial perspective.
Mark.

PS - Regarding the trainer - I use a travel Trac Fluid, cost 100 bucks - no bells or whistles but works perfectly for my training needs.

Edited by markhodges1973 2014-01-10 9:04 AM

Hi All - apologies for being late to the party; below are some comments based on main topic discussed to date;

Metrics:
running I try and keep my HR under 140 for slow runs based on the MAF method and my cadence at 170-190.
Swimming I monitor time per 100’s for the swim sets and SPL for drills.
Riding I try and keep high cadence around 90 and monitor the HR for signs of increased effort.

I have the forerunner 305 with footpod and cadence sensor – does everything I need.

Nutrition:
Like the majority of you fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meets, good fats, no/minimal processed foods. I was advised to go on a pseudo-palaeo diet also cutting out potatoes, rice and corn due to the GM these days – its achievable but needs lots creativity for source of carbs. I would also be interested in good sources of recipes, snacks etc.

I am concerned about the number of you stating string cheese as good snack source – really – are we talking about the same rubbery, bendy cheese like substitute my kids love for school snacks?

Aero dynamics:
Helmet/tri-bike – I like to keep to simple and focus on the engine before I modify the chassis.

I completed a HIM on a road bike, no aero bars and regular scattante helmet in 3:10 – I can reduce that time by training alone.
EDIT: forgot to note, I went on to run my fastest half mary of 1:55 - clearly require a warm up for my running!

What to watch:
I just listen to music but as a Brit, I have to commend many of you for choosing Dr Who and Top Gear

Now i'll try and keep up with regular postings.

Have a great weekend!!

Mark.

Edited by markhodges1973 2014-01-10 3:24 PM

Ooo, I missed the recommendation for Top Gear. What a great thought, love that show!

I just spent my first 30 mins on my new trainer. BORING!

I guess I need to go back and re-read those discussions about what to watch while on the trainer...I watched the news and it just didn't cut it.

The upside is that I got my legs turning for 30 mins :-)

Hubby and I have decided to join some friends in a local So Cal Ragnar in April....super excited. Has anyone here done one? Advice and tips welcome!

Hi Dace - now you know why the trainer becomes the drainer dont forget good ole music for shorter trainer session - i prefer this to videos. with things like pandora, songza and itunes radio there are some great mixes ready to get you going!

btw as you are in socal have you checked out Tri La Vie based out of orange county - its a women only group that trains for local races. they also do running programs where us hubbies can come and join.

Hey Mark...I am actually further south than that :-)

We do have a local tri club that we plan to check out but so far the new year has been pretty jam packed! I am such a novice at biking that I would really like to take advantage of the club's group rides. Of course I need to upgrade off of my MTB LOL!

I will give music a shot an see if that helps, thanks for the suggestion :-)

Welcome to the boredom of the trainer!! It is definitely a good tool to have though for these winter months. Put in 2 hours last night, so thanks for the recommendations for Friday Night Lights. I can now understand the crush on Riggins!

Went out and logged 8 miles at a group run this morning at 7am. Nice light ran and 48 degrees for the run and it felt great. Now that I'm home avoiding chores by perusing BT, it is raining cats and dogs with very gusty winds. Definitely the advantage to dragging my butt out to that group run!

Another week of IM training finished for me, other than the rest day tomorrow!

Heading home from Disney as I type. Finished the HM in 1:44. A PR by 7 minn. A bit disappointed as I hoped to go sub 140 based on recent runs and training since my HIM in Sept. The weather was the likely culprit as it was quite warm and even more humid. Coming from Maine, I do not do that well with humidity. I was trucking along fine until mile 8 but then developed a significant stich in my side which has never happened before. It was wild, my hr was fine but legs were pooped. It was not fun but was pleased that I left it all out there and finished fast.

Awesome job on the PR and keeping it together under the new feelings!! One of my goals this year is to hit a 1:40 so might need some training tips :-) Great job!