Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - CLOSED (Page 9)

Longish run then an easy hour on the bike in the garage. More importantly, I cleaned up the nook in the garage where I have my trainer/rollers set up. This includes tool/gear chest....misc. boxes from December bike build and got rid of a bunch of junk I was saving "just in case".  Amazing how much crap you can accumulate.

Also, being the renaissance man that I am I started a pot roast in the crock pot this morning. Smells good but who knows....may taste like some of the old tires I threw away this afternoon.

Watched the movie Boyhood with the wife last night. Cool concept and interesting but I was not overwhelmed. Wondering if I'm missing something or if this is just another indication of my lack of depth.  

HaHa.....crickets......nothing....crickets.

Not good...that is what led me to all the questions about monitoring training stress and ithlete.

First one......went out too hard and bailed about 1:45 in. Second one started easier thinking I would build into it and finish off the last minute with a big push....bailed 2 minutes in. Third one I made it but with power more in line with last 10 min TT. I don't think I was dogging it or just not mentally there. HR was way up at max.....like run max. I think the increase in run volume has just set me back on the bike more than I expected. That's OK. The last 2 years I have not been able to do much running in Jan/Feb due to injury so if I can continue to stay healthy I will be in a better place overall when the season starts in early April.  Frustrating but got to think big picture....at least that is what I keep telling myself. Works better than cursing and calling myself names.   

Sorry for being non-existent this weekend just a million things going on.

I had a good weekend of training with some time on the bike and long run Sunday.  Really starting to get excited about my running improvements.

I will go through the last page and get some comments back to the group.

Hello everyone!

So, the weekend came and went. I am happy to report that I did bike and I did run. That was it but I am happy. 

We have a treadmill and are very lucky to have it though, we had it in the basement which has low ceilings so only i could use it.  Late in the Fall my husband disassembled and moved it out to the garage so that he could presumably use it. We have a really nice set up with a projector and speakers so you can watch whatever netflix, online streaming or movies out there.  Flaw in the plan - no heat out there. Our garage is fully detached building from our house and for the last two months the TM has sat idle.  My running volume is not great at the moment for my own lazy reasons but in part due to freezing temps and the fact that my available running time is either before 7 am or after 8 pm both of which times are difficult to motivate myself to go out in the cold. 

Anyway, long rambling, i finally got in there last night. We have a space heater that can heat the place up a few degrees before heading out - and I wore long sleeves on the TM.  Had a great run.  

It really is a good set up because the noise won't bother anyone ... but i'll just have to go out to the garage and turn on the heater  when i get home and know i want to run out there later. 

Anyone else having 'weenie' reasons not to get training in? (I am Canadian, the cold is not news) 

Oh no! Feel better - good plan to shelf the workouts for now. 

Yesterday's race did not go well.  I'm pretty disappointed about it.  But on a positive note, the stupid run focus is over and I get to swim and bike again!  Knocked out 3000m this morning (pace has dropped off a bit and effort is up....but for being out of the water for nearly two months, it's not really that bad) and will be on the trainer for an easy spin tonight. 

Nice little triathlon you did yesterday. Funny how sometimes a workout that starts as a struggle turns out to be a good session. Happens sometimes for me with bike and run but not so much with the swim. Will definitely use the HRV as one factor and not let it control my training. It will be good to have something more objective to judge fatigue rather than just how I happen to feel.

Sorry to hear that - it's tough to go into races and have expectations and goals not be met. Do you have a good sense of what you're disappointed in/what didn't go well?

So, busy day at work which isn't a bad thing at all.  

We are in that danger zone with daycare - 4 kids from my daughter's room were sent home with a fever and they let us know.  So, we're watching closely. She has a cough that sounds terrible but has no fever. I am going to be ready to work from home or take the day off tomorrow (work from home she seems okay in the am so she can go, and if not just take the day off) - and i am really hoping that my husband and I don't pick up whatever is going around. It seems to lag by about three days and we seem to go down like dominos - one after the other. 

Anyway, I had a tough, good swim last night. My coach was on me to do flip turns and it was good. I was even going in the shallow end which i am usually too weenie to do. I didn't make contact with the wall very often but it's' good to get in the habit.  She had long sets for us last night so i was pretty knackered at the end.

Planning a 40' run on the TM and 30' spin on the bike tonight after the little one goes to sleep. 

It has been an incredibly stressful past 7 days on the work front and likely will be until the end of this week.  Luckily, even with the work stress my workouts have been going well.

Today, I had a 9 mile run with 7.5 at Z3 tempo and all my miles were between 6:45-7:05 and was not torched at the end so feeling good about that.  Ultimately, that is the pace I want to run my 13.1 off the bike so looking really good at this point. 

Jen:  Sorry to hear about your daughter.  The domino affect of sickness has been the story of my life the past 3 years with kids in daycare.

Randy:  I would not beat yourself up to much about the 3x3' TT.  That is a tough workout mentally and physically.  You mentioned a run focus, I find the VO2 stuff to be the most difficult to return from if you are not riding alot of volume and doing higher wattage intervals.

This group has really got hit with the sick bug.  Do not stress to much over missing workouts, due to sickness, at this point.  A couple workouts is not going to make or break your HIM in May/April.  Recover fully and start back slowly.

Yeah that stinks Nicole.  I would not mind hearing your thoughts on what you think went wrong.  Sometimes, its just one of those days where you dont have it.  Other times, the taper or plan leading up.

To this point and also to Marc's.  I try to just get myself out the door and do the Warmup.  If I still feel likely absolute crap then i will pull the plug.  But sometimes on occasions where I think I am tired and this is not going to go well I have my best workouts.

So, if you can, attempt the warmup and go from there.

I put together a race report so you can read through some of my thoughts: http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=528406&posts=1&page=1

I am looking into doing some VO2 testing as kind of a starting point and will have to go back to the drawing board to revamp my training.  It seems that "conventional wisdom" does not provide the stimulus I need to improve.  Consistent running and (relatively) high volume has not translated to improvements for me....nor has tempo work.  So I suspect there will need to be more hard/short intervals in my future to see any improvements.

Really disappointing to have focused on running since September and to get five minutes slower on a HM that should have been faster (flatter course, perfect weather, etc). 

On a positive note, I'm back in the pool and on the bike....my body is certainly not accustomed to it yet!  Swimming muscles are sore....saddle contact area is tender!  I'm just taking it easy for now, but good to be back to doing the things I tend to enjoy more.