Fred D's triathlon training group CLOSED (Page 93)

Hi guys, went out for an easy ride this morning on the waterfront multi-use trail. Pretty good ride. Feeling very tired. Battling low motivation all week.

Fred, thanks for the offer for questions about the upcoming IM - i really can't think of much mostly because i am in 'just keep going mode' when all i want to do is sleep and stay at home from work...

Anyway, there are alot of race-related thoughts going on - here are some of the main topics:

Nutrition - the worry that i haven't got it right - though everything seems to be working.

Run pacing strategy - at this point I have not planned a run/walk strategy. I am a strong runner and mostly have been of the mindset that i would do my best to run between aid stations and walk through those to get my nutrition/hydration.  not sure if I should be thinking of a run/walk strategy or just do as i was planning. I am not going for a specific time so getting through it is the main thing

Transitions - how to plan what i should do in transition. I try to be simple for my races but I am thinking there are a few things that i should take the time to do (normally in a shorter race I do before the swim and hope it lasts) - sunscreen and bodyglide being the main things. Is there anything else?  I also don't really want to change my clothes but is it something that most people do for comfort?

- getting a bike tuneup - i am thinking about taking my bike in for a tune-up. I bought it in 2011 and haven't done much with it.  How close to the race should i do this?

Stupid worries:

- my Garmin battery will die - planning to use it for all three legs but maybe i should just use it for the bike/run? (I have the 310) - will probably change the batteries in my HRM/speed-cadence sensor before the race just to be sure.

- aerohelmet vs regular helmet - i have both.  I do feel like a poser in the aero helmet but why not use it if i have it?  But i worry about weather and other really irrelevant things. 

- tri-shorts vs. bike shorts for the bike leg - as mentioned above i would prefer not to change but this is a really long way to go on the bike.

I am also starting to track the weather at Mont-Tremblant - we are going up next weekend for a training weekend so that will be good.  Seems as though they have cool nights and warm days ...

Masters swimming is kicking my butt. I needed this, big-time. I didn't realize how much I let my swim fitness take a hit simply because I was already a FOP swimmer at triathlons. Two old dudes really put me in my place at practice this morning - especially on our 1200 yard pull set. Ouch.

Kimberly, is your spell check busted? You had a lot of errors is there but I fixed 'em for you. Only semi serious of course, but the only way I get anywhere near that light is to cut out alcohol completely.

You are on the light side of things Neil, sounds like you either A) have no muscle mass (doubtful with your power to weight), B) have the bone structure of a sparrow or C) you are way low on the body fat spectrum. Have you been clinically tested? I do on occasion just because I have access through the university's sports research program. The only time I got anywhere close to that (148lbs @5'-10") I was also under 5% body fat. My performance suffered and I never really felt like I got fully recovered from workouts. I also suffered from 2 rounds of pericarditis which the docs attributed to the increased susceptibility to infection due to low body fat. If you are not suffering any adverse health/performance issues I would not worry about it too much, but those things can sneak up on you. also, you are early 40s, correct? That is the time when we start losing some muscle mass and it is good to insert some off season, tri specific strength training into your regimen. I only started when I was 44 - wish I had of started before I was 40.

Chris: I did not see your original message (this thread moves fast).  People seem to do these anywhere from 95-105%FTP which is quite a big variation and it represents the change in RPE that you are talking about.  95 is obviously much more comfortable and 105 is like a 20 minute all out effort.

I like to do mine at 100% which allows me to get back home from my TT spot...a 30 minute ride .  At 100% it feels like I constantly have to concentrate on pushing..not letting my effort drop.  If you are riding at 105% you will know...thats probably goosedog hard .

As to the run/walk strategy, i would want to have that decided before the race. If you plan on walking, at all, start early (don't wait until you are tired) and actually don't walk the aid stations - run through them grabbing what you need, then walk after you have completely cleared the area. That way you can actually focus on getting your HR in check and YOU are in charge of the duration of the walk interval, not the length of the aid station nor by those walking around you - you want to get away from those folks fast.

Stick to your practiced nutrition plan, and if anything err slightly on the light side. You should go in tapered, rested, and with the tanks topped up. You can make it on less than you have been using in training. Use the repeating alarm on your 310 to remind you to eat/drink on the bike especially.

Unless you are facing some really adverse weather conditions, don't do a costume change in transition. If your clothes syou have trained in tart to bother you during the race there is a good chance that it is actually something else going on, form breakdown, etc. Focus on that and fix it - don't worry about your clothing. If you do not use it from the beginning of the race, turn on your garmin first thing. IM transition is awesome - smile a lot and thank every volunteer you see, but don't get caught up too much in the chit-chat that will be going on.

I do my own wrenching, but I will give the bike a good once over with enough time to get two long rides in before it gets it's final race-ready cleaning.

Change all your batteries 10 days before the race and use them. If something dies during the race, don't worry about it at all - that is just mis-spent energy about something that you can do nothing about. As to whether or not to use your garmin for the entire race, think about what metrics you need during the race for pace management and what you will need post race for analysis. For example, For IM, I don't use anything for the swim (don't see how it is useful during the race) and I have my bike computer set to show only HR and power (lap average) on the primary screen (elevation look-ahead) and HR, cadence, 10sec/30sec/lap power on a secondary screen. distance, speed, etc. are not important (to me) during a long race. I grab my run garmin in T2 and put it on as i head out for the run. For the run I only look at HR, although I will admit that Last year at LP I took a few peeks at the clock screen ion the last 5 miles and did a few calculation in my head...

If you are set up right and your helmet makes you faster, aero all the way. Especially with the newer, tri-specific helmets I think all the chitter-chatter about then being hot and uncomfortable is a bunch of made up hooie. I rode for a number of years in a Legoretta (until I unkowingly cracked it in half last year at LP) and this year have been using a vortice - both were very, very comfortable. Wear it if you got it.

Tri shorts if you plan on spending a good bit of time in the aerobars (and you do!), bike shorts and a change in T2 if you think you will be sitting up a lot. Get your remaining long rides in wearing tri shorts or similar. I use Desoto tri bibs for training all the time - lets you train like a triathlete but look like a roadie I love my 400 shorts on the road bike, but less so on the tri bike. However all my female IM friends SWEAR by the 400s for both - they are cut much lighter in the pad than the men's version, and I think they may have even added pockets to them this year like the men's as well.

have fun in MT - it is great that you can get a little course recon in - that will be invaluable come race day.

Oh, and I think "tired" is normal less than a week after a HIM. I know I would still be feeling pretty flat right now if I were you.

It's always good to have a feel for RPE even you don't train by it.

My last IM, my supposedly watertight HRM strap somehow got salt water in the battery and completely killed it for the rest of the race.

I'm going to agree with Ryan - big diference between 95 & 100%.  I did 3x10min @ 95% last night watching the tour (I know, should have done a 4th) and while I was dripping, the effort level was comfortably hard.  I actually bumped it a bit each set.  If I'd been riding 10+ watts harder I would have certainly felt it more. 

If it feels at all comfortable at 100% - time to retest, you've gotten stronger.

Jens Voigt doesn't complain about what heat and suffering does to him, but heat and suffering constantly complains about getting picked on by Jens Voigt.

Jens Voigt has four heart rate training zones: anger, rage, fury and breakaway.

Domestiques try to see how many bottles they can carry back from the team car. Jens Voigt tries to see how many team cars he can carry back to the peloton.

Thanks for the feedback guys.  My thoughts at the moment are to maybe add a few more calories a day just to level off the weight a bit.  And I'd already decided that once the HIM is done then I'll start picking up the weights again in the off season and see what impact that has.

Like I said, I actually feel really good at the moment in terms of performance.  And health wise, I've always had a pretty strong immune system, and have been good for the past number of months (knocking on wood before I jinx myself).

Fred - Rusty made the same statement about being tested, or in your case seen by a doc.  Any particular issue/concern that would come to mind?  Or is it generally that the weight/BMI really does seem a bit low?