kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2013 (Year 3!) - CLOSED (Page 96)

Just pulled together the shopping list for the 1/4 Marathon Next Saturday (sold out at 600 runners).  Thought some of you might find it interesting:

Costco
 
Stuff that can be bought before hand
 
6 cases of water (36 gallons)
500 small bottles of water
1500 8 oz PAPER cups (9 oz cups are fine too)
Peanut butter
Nutella
Several bags of Easter candy
Napkins
Large black garbadge bags
Brownie Mix
Tubs of cookie dough (if they have it)
Silver tin pans
 
 
Stuff that needs to be purchased on Thursday / Friday (3/29-3/30)
 
Bananas (2 cases)
Oranges (approximately 100)
Bagels (12 dozen)
Grapes / other fruit that looks good
 
Grocery Store (need by Saturday afternoon 3/24)
 
3 Large boxes of Rice Krispies
9 bags of Marshmallows
Cake mix (total of 8 boxes)
Frosting (total of 8 cans)
Assorted gluten free mixes
Cupcake papers (approxmiatly 300 total)
Flour (King Arthur)
Butter (4lbs)
Eggs (3 dozen)
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Vanilla
Chocolate Chips
Peanutbutter Chips
Raisins
M&Ms (large bag)
Bar mixes (assorted)
Muffin / Bread mixes (assorted)
 
Other Supplies
 
Name tages for gear bags
Raffle prizes
Sonic Cookies (from Sugar Lane)
Posterboard for Registration signs
Foam board to post registrations lists on
Toilet paper

I do most of the baking myself (although my mother and my friend Emily help out).  We take in about $25,000 in race registrations and are able to make a $6,000 - $7,000 donation to the Blazeman Foundation after costs.  Big costs are timing, shuttle buses to and from the parking areas, technical shirts, finisher medals, awards, port-a-lets and food. 

Its a little crazy, the races I direct have total budgets of almost $100,000 / year, which is a little ridiculous when you think about it. 

Wow.  I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but I hope you're keeping good records and receipts for everything.  I assume some sort of corporate entity is doing this, so all that cash isn't flowing through your personal accounts.  That would terrify me.

So I had an eye-opening experience yesterday when I did my first combination bike-run workout.  I planned a hilly-but-not-mountainous 90 minute ride, with a 30 minute run afterwards.  

The bike went really well.  I went out medium hard like I usually do, and was feeling strong.  It was a beautiful, sunny day here yesterday and there wasn't much traffic out, so I pushed even a little harder towards the end.   

Then came the run.  I had read about how hard it is to run after riding, but hadn't really anticipated just how difficult it would be.  I had plenty of energy, but couldn't seem to get in any running rhythm at all, and felt like I was barely moving.  Part of that may be perception after having moved so much faster on the bike, but I think I was moving slower than I usually do.  

I made it through, but it was really hard.  I didn't start to feel even moderately normal about my stride until about 25 minutes in.  When it was over, I felt more tired after my 2-hour workout than I usually feel after a 5-hour bike-only workout.  I guess that as a rookie runner I'm not very efficient at that part so I end up wasting a lot of energy there, and that that will improve with practice, but I was still surprised at how wiped out I felt when I finished.  

Lessons learned:

(1) Gotta pace myself better.  This will be even more true when I add the swim.  On this, is there a standard formula people use to figure out the pacing?  For instance, something like "to make it to the end of a tri, go 2/3 as hard in each individual event as you'd go if that event were done by itself"?  

(2) The timing and amounts of nutrition/hydration is important.  I had a gel with a big slug of water near the end of the bike.  Big mistake.  That water sloshed around inside me the whole run and probably slowed me down even more.  

(3) I need to practice going from the bike to the run more so I'm not so hobbled by it.  I have resolved to do a moderate 1-2 mile run after all my long bike rides until I can get more used to this transition, so hopefully that'll help.  On this point, is the swim-to-bike transition just as hard?  

Sorry for the long post, but this has really set me thinking.  I'd appreciate any perspectives you can share.     

I can only speak to my own experience, obviously, but I didn't find the swim-to-bike transition difficult at all.  I think getting out of the water and running to the transition area was a little wobbly, but actually swimming then biking?  no, but biking to running?  yes as you stated in your post.

I think you'll find that the more you do the bike to run transition, the easier it will feel.  I kinda like it now but had an extremely difficult time in the beginning.  Swim to bike transition isn't as difficult.  I'm uncomfortable being cold, so I don't like the first couple of miles on the bike when I'm soaking wet (probably why I like 90+ temps outside for racing).  Just keep practicing.  Don't make those runs too long right now and focus on your form.  Everything will fall into place if you keep doing it.  

As for pacing.....what type of event are we talking about?  If you're doing a sprint tri, then there isn't really any pacing.  Go as hard as you can without blowing up.  For olympic, HIM, IM, pacing comes into play.  I train by HR, so my coach has me sticking in certain zones on the bike so I can put up decent run times.  Do you train by HR or RPE or power?  Also, you'll need to take in some calories for an olympic distance race as well.  For olympics last season I did 1 bottle sports drink on bike + 1 gel, and then I had 1 gel on the run and sports drink or water at aid stations.  For my HIM I had 2 bottles of sports drink on + 4 gels diluted in another bottle on bike, and then I had 4 gels diluted in a bottle + sports drink and cola at aid stations on run.  I have never had muscle cramping or anything of that nature during a race.  I had some bloating last season, but I attribute it to my Celiac disease vs. nutritional choices. As far as fueling profiles go, my HIM was extremely successful.  I literally had 0 GI/cramping/bloating/etc. issues.            

I'm finally feeling human again.  This virus was ugly, and it got my husband this weekend as well.  Sore muscles and joints, freezing cold, stiff neck, ear pain, headaches, etc.  Really bizarre.  It seemed to miss the kids, which is wonderful.  It was tough caring for them when both of us were down.  

3700 in the pool this morning with lots of paddle work.  Good times.  Recovery run and core work this afternoon.  

You will get used to the bricks the more you do them. I felt similar except I had to slow myself down. I didn't feel like I was going as fast but my HR and watch were telling me different.

2050 in the pool today which was nice relief after my 5k yesterday. I came in 3rd in my AG, missed first in my AG by less than a minute! 1hr on the bike later today hopefully.

The snow this morning was not fun getting to the pool! Visibility sucked! Hope everyone has a blessed day and Jen glad to see your family is coming out of all the viruses that have hit you guys.

It goes through Hartford Track Club (which is a Connecticut corporation with 501(c)(3) status).

A few thoughts.

First as Jen said, pacing is dependant on the distance.  You should race at your "best sustainable pace," which is different for different distances.  For a sprint best sustainable pace is all out for the entire thing (similar to a 5K).  For an olympic, its right at lactate threshold (think 10K / Half Marathon type pacing).  For a HM is an aerobic tempo-ish pace (above what is commonly referred to as Z2 on a 5 zone scale or Z1 on a 4 zone scale).  An IM is all aerobic.  The trick with that is having the endurance and durability to maintain aerobic pace (and continue stimulating the HR) for the duration of the event. 

Second, its not just the timing and amounts of nutrition.  I think what happened to you with the sloshy stomach is two fold.  First you drank water.  The osmolity of water is very different from the osmolity of the body, so when you drink plain water the body has a hard time absorbing it.  The absorbsion issue is made worse when training (especially when training at a high intensity) the body diverts blood from the GI system to the legs and cardio vascular system.  Its hard for the GI system to absorb anything when there is no/little blood flowing to it.  This is were pacing comes in (especially in longer events).  Pacing is important so that you are able to run to your full potential but its also important because pushing too hard on the bike makes it difficult to absorb the fluids/electrolytes/calories you need, which then leads to GI and hydration issues on the run. 

I find the best way to start learing bike to run transitions is to start with really easy runs off of short or middle distance aerobic bikes.  This is also where cadence is important.  Maintaining a high cadence on the bike is goinn to help you run for two resaons -- 1) with high cadence power on the bike come from your aerobic system, which helps save your legs; and (2) high cadence on the bike mirrors the cadence on run so your legs don't have to "change speeds." 

I do bricks a lot to the point where I don't like to run if I don't at least do the trainer for 15-20 minutes or as an alternative swim for 20 minutes. I just feel so much looser. One of the things I like to do with my bricks is vary the intensity on both sides but I'm never going hard on both. So I'm might do any of the following as examples.

60 minute Zone 1 Ride, 60-80 minute zone 2 run

90 minutes intervals bike, 30-60 minutes zone 1 run

75 minutes zone 1 ride, 1 hour zone 1 run

45 minute zone 1 ride, 2 miles zone 1 + 4 miles tempo + 1 mile zone 1

Those are just a few examples.

What I find by doing these is my legs have gotten accustomed to getting off the bike at different levels of fatigue. By doing this my body naturally finds the right pace more often than not. My two HIM's last year it paid off. I got off the bike the first race and fell naturally into an 8:35 pace because I hadn't push hard through out the bike because my back was cramping for an awful swim that was very rough. Conversely HIM #2 I fell into a 9/mile pace because I had pushed the bike really hard and my legs were much more fatigued.

Glad you are feeling better! That is awful when the parents are down and kids run the household!!

Thanks for this explanation!!

Low cadence Z2 intervals on the trainer this morning.  These are always difficult for me, so I wonder if I'm strength limited?  I really have to focus to keep my HR in Z2 and not let it drift down.  Scott (everlong) and Kelly inspired me to be more consistent with my core work.  I'm going to set a goal of 3 x 15 minutes each week this season.  Surely with all the hours I spend doing cardio stuff, I can do 15 minutes here and there; right???  

Off to buy stuff for easter basket and egg hunt.  3 kids woke up with colds this morning, and 1 woke up with a sore throat, so I'm not sure we'll be traveling to my parents' house this weekend after all.  We'll have to play it by ear.  

btw....3 of my kids have tested negative for Celiac disease  I have to take the oldest to get tested next week.  Fingers crossed he is just as lucky as his siblings.  

Good news about the kids Jen! I get to do low cadence intervals as well this week for the first time for me anyway. I took from Scott as well to just do them when your watching TV or even at my office but now I am sharing an office so they may think I am weird haha!

1:20 z1/z2 run done today. I almost turned around and went home because I just wasn't feeling it. I stuck through though and felt pretty good by the end.

More awesome than any workout.

Glad you're all doing more core work. It does pay.

30 minute recovery ride on the trainer, 2200 in the pool, 2 mile recovery run and 20 minutes of core work in the books.

Thank you!    

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback.  It is really helpful.  In thinking about it, one of the things Scott mentioned was really true for me also - as difficult as the run was after my bike, it was great not to have to warm up.  I think that just doing this more frequently will help me figure out how to parcel out the effort. 

The events I'm going to do this year are all Olympic distance, so I'll work on staying at LT or thereabouts.  (Truth be told, I haven't calculated my LT for a few years, so I may need to re-calculate it in order for all of this to work properly.)  I train by HR, but it has always been displayed on my bike computer, so I don't have the ability right now to check it on the run.  I'll have to figure out a way to address that. 

I'll also give some thought to how to manage nutrition.  I have had good luck with e-Gel plus water on the bike; maybe I'll need to give some thought to switching to something else, or using their sports drink also.

In any event, thanks again, everyone.   

For an olympic I would go with e-Gel mixed with water (so the elctrolytes are dibursed in the fluid) or the e-Gel sports drink.  You don't need a ton of calories for an Olympic but you want to make sure you absorb what you take in.

If you're doing an olympic and you ride your best sustainable effort for the bike, the average HR on the bike is a fairly good stand in for LT.