JustMike's Group - FULL (Page 6)

That is so true.  I just did my first club TT of the year, and aside from improving my fitness I found several areas I can work on in regards to bike strategy and tactics.  There is so much to learn...

What does everyone normally eat for breakfast?

For me, it's normally plain oats microwaved with Whey powder at 5am , which comes out to around 350 calories.  I follow that up with a snack around 8am. 

This article seems to advocate that we eat a little bit more.  What do you think?  What do you eat in the AM?

My eating habbits have been really bad lately.  Not so much that I have been eating bad food, but more so that I haven't been timing my meals well.  I would skip a meal, then eat a bigger meal later.  Same amount of calories...but not as good metabolically.

Lately for breakfast I have been eating a P&J sandwich...or sometimes an egg omlet/ham sandwich...I love sandwiches...

But I also discovered a way to make a good shake.  One scoop chocolate protein powder, one apple banana, 8 oz milk, a little bit of peanut butter, and some ice.  Comes out to roughly 400-450 calories...and it's GOOOD.

I also fell in love with cereal again...cheerios multi grain is my favorite.  I can't stand the sweet sugary stuff.

Hey Guys. I haven't checked in here in a while. Looks like everyone is on track with their training and doing well!

Jason - Congrats on your tri!!!! Great job!

Mike - I like the article on breakfast you posted and totally agree with it. If I don't have a good (or at least decent) breakfast I'm usually totally shot, nutrition wise, for the rest of the day. It seems as though 1 poor nutrition choice just leads to another through out the day.....it's silly, I know. On the mornings I workout I will have a protien shake either during or right after my workout which is any where between 6-7am, then breakfast around 8:30 am. Breakfast usually consists of 2 hard boiled eggs, 2 slices of turkey bacon (or 1/2 cup of oatmeal w/ 1 cup of light soy milk & 1 banana) & a sugar free red bull.

Up until last night I was thinking "As long as I work out, I can eat anything I want...."  Well last night I came to a realization when some kid called me fat. lol.  Im 6' and weigh around 180(165 about 5 months ago), Im not nore have ever been chunky.  My boss calls me "streamlined".  So here's what happened.
I'm not trying to start a religious debate here. 
So, Im playing the role of Christ in my Churches Easter drama they have every year.  Last night we're practicing, and at one point, I go from "the tomb" to another area of the set very quickly behind the sceens.  Several younger kids saw this and I hear them say:
Kid 1. "Wow, howd he get over there that fast?"
Kid 2. "He's Jesus, duh!"
Kid 3. "No way!  The real Jesus wasn't fat!"
Thanks Kid!
Ok........  so yeah, I think Im gonna start watching what I eat now. 

I believe your BMI is lower than mine.  I'm 5'6" and about 164.  If a kid called me fat, I would squash him...JK.

Hey Mike...question for you.

I know you mentioned earlier that a power meter is one of the best investments you have made.  If you were in my shoes...I have a Specialized Allez Elite road bike with 105 components and aero bars...would you think I would see more gains by getting a power meter on my road bike...or going to a tri bike like a cervelo P2C or Felt B14?  The P1 (which I know you have) also seems like a great value.

Eventually I would like to have both...but since I can't afford both now (actually I could...but I just can't get myself to spend nearly 4k in one shot), which do you think would offer better performance.

Keep in mind I have only been cycling for about 6 months now...so I feel I have plenty of room to grow.  I'm kind of leaning towards the power tap, but I think if I get one, I will also want to get a garmin 310xt so I can get all my data in one place.

Wow...seems like it's windy everywhere.  It's been windy all week here, and I know Mike mentioned it was windy in his area as well.

Hmm, well thats a tough call.  With the bike, you will likely get a few mph faster without improving your "engine" but with the power meter you will get faster (probably more fast than just by gear changes) by improving yourself.  I think it likely depends on what your goals are for the season, but looking at the bigger picture, I think that the power meter might be the better choice in the long term, but maybe not the most performance enhancing in the first few months?  Here is why I like the power meter:

1.  You can train consistantly and take wind out of the equation.  If you want to train at 190Ws, you ride at 190W watts.  If that is only 12 mph because you're riding into a 30 mph wind that's ok.  You maintain the right intensity no matter what.

2.  The PT is a great pacing tool as well.  Once you know your FTP you can appropriately pace yourself for races and can avoid going out too hard and falling apart at the end.  Likewise you can deploy some tactics in your races.  If you know that you are going to have the wind at your back for the second half of a race you can go slightly anarobic on the first half.

3.  Training at the right intensity creates the most fitness changes for the least amount of time, and thats really what we're trying to do!

I'm not sure that I would recommend the 310xt as your only power computer.  It does work ok, but it is missing some features.  I kind of wish I had a little yellow computer from powertap as well honestly.  The 310xt doesn't have a 5 second average power, which would be really really nice to have.  Sometimes the 310xt on your wrist can be really hard to read as well.  It might work better with a quick release, i'm not sure though. 

A P2C is pretty sweet though, and fun to ride.  I do like my P1.  My fiance has a B-12 and it's an amazingly high quality ride as well.  I wish I had one.  FWIW, my plans are to get a P2 or P3 frame this winter and slowly build my dream bike before I go for a full iron race next year.   Here is a recent pic of my P1. 

Swimming sucks!  I went to the pool today and did 50m with the kickboard, then tried freestyle.  I made it about 3/4 of the way before I felt like I couldn't breathe.  I rested and then attempted another 50, but didn't make it.

I ended up doing 3 lengths freestyle and 2 lengths kickboard.  The last length I tried to concentrate on inhaling.  I felt like I was not doing anything but opening my mouth when I took a breath. 

My tri is in June and is only a 200yd swim, so I know I can at least back, breast, or side stroke the race, but I want to be able to freestyle the whole race.

Any advice?

 How often are you swimming?  Just like more running helps running, and more time in the saddle helps biking, more time in the pool helps.  Just relax and take your time.

If you can only go one length of the pool, just keep doing that...take a 10 second break, then go back.  Keep doing that over and over.  To be brutally honest...you aren't going to see much progress only swimming 125 meters.  You probably need to be spending at least 45 minutes in the pool at least 2-3 times a week if you want to see results.

We have all been where you are at...it took me a couple of months before I could swim 50 yards continuous without feeling like dying...but I kept at it, and one day it clicked.  I have progressed from swimming 50 yds about 3 months ago, to 200 yds about 2 months ago, and now I'm going 2000 meters in the OW no problem.  I don't consider myself an acceptional athlete, so I have total confidence you can do this too...you just need to be patient and keep working at it.

Thanks Mike...and nice wheelset btw.  Did you have to get a new rear wheel...I hear the shimano wheels the P1 comes with are not able to handle custome built disc covers.

I'm going to get refit for my aero bars this weekend...at a tri shop that sells cervelo's and felts...I think I'll purposely leave my credit card at home...LOL

I know it's frustrating, but like Jason said, keep at it.  The more you do it the better you will get.  It took me a while before I could comfortably swim one length of the pool.  There is nothing wrong with taking a breather at the end of each length.  The way I built up my swim endurance was by using a ladder approach.  I would start with 25 yards (one length) and rest, then do 50 & rest, then 75 & rest, and so on until I couldn't do any more.  Then go back down the ladder.  So, say 75 yards was my max that day.  I would do 25, 50, 75, 75, 50, 25 with a rest in between each set.  This also took the monotony out of just swiming back & forth. 

Try to get in the pool 3 days a week if you can.  Are you doing swim drills?  Your drills & consistancy are what's going to help you improve.  I like to use my swim drills as my warm up to every training session I do.  I pick 4 different drills and do each one 50 yards (or 4x50 yards) with a rest in between each set.

Keep at it & that 200 yd swim will be a breeze!

Today was a better day.  Still frustrating, but kind of eye opening.

I swam for 45 minutes.  I did a 50yd warmup with the kickboard, and 50 yd backstroke/sidestroke warmup. 

Then I did 3 50yd frees.  I tried to concentrate more on my breathing and making sure that I actually inhaled instead of just opening my mouth and hoping the air would fill my lungs.  On all 3 50s, I felt real good the first 25yds, but then something would happen, like I would try to breath every other stroke and then I would rush to get to the next breath and screw up my rhythm.

I rested 30 seconds between lengths.  At the end of the first 2 lengths, I was very light headed, but not so much after the 3rd.

I know I still have a long way to go, but today felt better than yesterday.

I have my first tri of the season on Saturday. It is my second race overall. It is only a sprint, and I am actually doing it because a friend is doing it and it will be a good warmup for the next weekend when I have my first Olympic distance race. Hopefully training will pay off even though I have been seriously slacking the last 3 weeks.

I just got back from the pool, and todays workout was great.  Since the last time I swam, I watched some of the total immersion videos on youtube. 

I found the most helpful was the vidoes of Terry Laughlin speaking and showing videos.  I don't have the perfect stroke, but what I did get out of it was to relax.

Todays workout was a 50m kickboard warm up, then 100m (2x50) freestyle with about 20 seconds rest, and then I was able to do 150m continuous freestyle.  I then ended with 2x50m - 20 seconds rest.

What I noticed was that I wasn't nearly as tired between lengths as I had been.  I used the TI stroke with little to no kicking.  Obviously the kicking is what wears me out and before I was very tense in the water, but today I discovered that when I relaxed in the water, I didn't feel like I needed to breathe every stroke (on my dominant side).  I still only breathe on my left, but I was able to go 3 or 5 strokes without panicking.

I still have a lot of work to do...keeping my legs together and keeping my right hand from falling when I breath, but I am a lot more confident in my swim than before.