Ran a 10k in June (7 Viewers)

[pmbrown_22]

I woulda had you grab me a bunch if I knew you were coming down in a couple of weeks! - the eastbay site you showed me is dirt cheap but the shipping is more than I would have expected. Small price to pay overall, I suppose.

Perhaps you placed your order already, but I got an E-mail this morning offering free shipping on orders of $50 or more. Use promotion code EMFST555 at checkout.

I used a 20% off code so it was about a wash. Thanks tho! Can't wait to get all of my new stuff.

To add to this. I am a big fan of Eastbay and they usually have really good deals. I am not sure how many of you guys shop at runningwarehouse.com, but there is a code (CP20) that you can use if you click on the Team Discounts up at the top that will give you 15% OR 20% off your order. They usually have pretty low prices anyway and free shipping and returns if you need it.

 

[pmbrown_22]

I tried something nutrition wise and wanted to share with you guys. Yesterday for my long run, I tried some of the new Gatorade stuff they have out for before and after workouts. I know there are some on here that do not perscribe to the G at all, so maybe this is not for you.

I tried the 01 preworkout stuff and it was pretty good tasting. It is supposed to be used to burn up duriung the workout. I did not really notice a difference in the workout, but I did feel that it maybe was like taking a gel before working out.

After the run, I had the 03 stuff and then regular gatorade. The 03 Recover has 16 grams of protein in it which is a pretty considerable amount. I know that Accelerade has protein, but if i am remembering correctly from when i tried it was about 4 grams per serving.

The biggest thing for me was the taste of both the 01 and 03 stuff. I did the berry flavor for both and both were really good. Yes they did have the typical Gatorade sweetness, but i did not think they were that bad. I like Gatorade so it did not bother me all that much. I though the added vitamins at the beginning and the protein at the end of the workout were also beneficial.

 

[gruecd]

To add to this. I am a big fan of Eastbay and they usually have really good deals. I am not sure how many of you guys shop at runningwarehouse.com, but there is a code (CP20) that you can use if you click on the Team Discounts up at the top that will give you 15% OR 20% off your order. They usually have pretty low prices anyway and free shipping and returns if you need it.

I shop at Running Warehouse all the time using the discount code. Also, just in case we weren't clear, Eastbay's "clearance" site, Final-Score.com, has some especially good deals.

 

[pmbrown_22]

To add to this. I am a big fan of Eastbay and they usually have really good deals. I am not sure how many of you guys shop at runningwarehouse.com, but there is a code (CP20) that you can use if you click on the Team Discounts up at the top that will give you 15% OR 20% off your order. They usually have pretty low prices anyway and free shipping and returns if you need it.

I shop at Running Warehouse all the time using the discount code. Also, just in case we weren't clear, Eastbay's "clearance" site, Final-Score.com, has some especially good deals.

did not know about that one. Checking it out now.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Great weekend of racing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IvanK: Congrat's to both you and the Mrs. Great to hear that your hammy hung in there!

BnB: Great tri. You need to get some races more heavily weighted to the bike. With your running times getting better, you are getting to the point that you should be able to crush some of these. Also, be careful tickling the feet of teen girls!

Wraith: You destroyed that 16 miler!!!!!!! AWESOME!

2Young: Love the triple brick idea. I plan on starting my HIM training June 1 = I'll add a few of these to my overall plan!

Darrin: it is likely that you changed your mechanics due to your foot hurting. Major injuries can occur when this happens = be careful. Glad to hear that you are feeling better!

Grue: You were an idiot for running another marathon so soon, but you went into it w/ the right attitude = no expectations. Chalk it up to a good experience and a lesson learned.

Keggers: AWESOME half! That time projects you to a 3:25 marathon!!!! Although in a marathon you might have to take two potty breaks. My bladder typically shuts down when I'm pushing myself. When I race slower than I want, I typically have to go (i.e., when riding or running with slower paced people). Maybe you weren't pushing yourself hard enough!

The_Man: With a hilly course, don't look at your speed to determine your pace. Look at HR. Get a plan for what you want your HR to be at during different parts of your run, and run at a pace to make sure it happens. Perceived effort works in the same manner = keep a constant perceived effort IF your goal is to run the same "pace" throughout a run.

___________________________________________

My mini-update:

We had a BBQ cookoff this weekend, so I spent much of my time consuming massive amounts of various meats and tasty beverages, while not getting a lick of sleep. I returned yesterday morning 100% exhausted, and napped until noon. I hydrated until 2:00 then went outside, knowing that any workout was going to kick my ###. The temperature was a steamy 88 degrees at the start (90 at the finish), so I knew my wife was correct when she told me I was certifiably insane to be running. As I left the driveway, my buddy who I cooked with pulled up next to me on his way to the pool to veg. While it was very tempting, I told him I'd join him IF I lived through the run.

I made it through the first mile w/o too much damage in 8:54 (slow) and my HR up to 160. Mile two was similar but now up to 165. I started to slow the pace a little, but it was too late. Before I went another .5 miles, my HR was up to 172 and rising. I then walked for 100 yards, and then walked back, thinking that I'd slow it down, and just get a total of 5 miles in (was hoping for 6). I needed to stop 2 more times before getting home, as my HR was escalating to 178 without my running even remotely hard. I'm going to need to get a few more of these in over the next two weeks, to acclimate to the warming weather. More importantly, I'll get these runs in at a more sane time in the day = either very early, or late.

A couple things I did learn: 1) Sweat can smell a lot like hops after a "hard" weekend, and 2) after a run in that type of heat, 2 beers and 2 Gatorades will give a tremendous buzz.

 

[Dexter]

I jad a crazy mountain bike weekend. My friend from out of town came to visit so Friday we did Bald mountain and addison oaks 3-4 hours. Saturday we did stoney 3 hours along with the skills course and sunday we did stoney again 2.5 hours.

Thank god I have the day off because I am beat.

 

[gruecd]

We had a BBQ cookoff this weekend, so I spent much of my time consuming massive amounts of various meats and tasty beverages, while not getting a lick of sleep.

Starting to notice a trend here...

 

[pigskinliquors]

We had a BBQ cookoff this weekend, so I spent much of my time consuming massive amounts of various meats and tasty beverages, while not getting a lick of sleep.

Starting to notice a trend here...

lol. This summer is starting too quickly for me. I'm going to have to slow down or I won't make it to June.

 

[2Young2BBald]

2Young: Love the triple brick idea. I plan on starting my HIM training June 1 = I'll add a few of these to my overall plan!

FWIW, the plan alternates between singles and triples for the core 4 weeks of the program. Next should be a 1.5 hour ride, followed by a 6 mile run and then goes to a triple of 20 & 3 Cool part, the plan labels the triples for "elites & pros" and recommends doubles for the age groupers. I am not at all saying I am anywhere near the labels, but it is very encouraging that I could rip off the triple this late in to the plan. Followed it up with a 16+ mile ride again yesterday.

 

[pigskinliquors]

2Young: Love the triple brick idea. I plan on starting my HIM training June 1 = I'll add a few of these to my overall plan!

FWIW, the plan alternates between singles and triples for the core 4 weeks of the program. Next should be a 1.5 hour ride, followed by a 6 mile run and then goes to a triple of 20 & 3 Cool part, the plan labels the triples for "elites & pros" and recommends doubles for the age groupers. I am not at all saying I am anywhere near the labels, but it is very encouraging that I could rip off the triple this late in to the plan. Followed it up with a 16+ mile ride again yesterday.

What plan are you following? I've never used anybody else's plan for a tri, but I've also never successfully made it to the starting line of a HIM either. I'll likely need quite a bit of advice as I start working toward mine (October 17th). The tricky part will be trying to train in 100 degree weather during July-September. I'll be starting to train for it 20 weeks out = I'll have the time, just worried about killing myself through the summer. I am joining a new club (Campus Rec Center) which has three pools (2 outside) and an indoor track = I will be better able to get workouts in. I just can't stand training a treadmill/trainer/inside.

 

[Sand]

Wow - great weekend. Great stuff going on in here.

I wish I had had time this weekend for some more activities. But Disney swallowed them whole. Dawn to dusk every day. Kids had a blast, though.

I am officially on a taper week. Not sure how much running and biking I should do this week, but I need to get something in. I haven't run in days and haven't been on the bike since the big ride last weekend. Life is getting in the way and my first tri of the year is coming up very shortly.

 

[2Young2BBald]

2Young: Love the triple brick idea. I plan on starting my HIM training June 1 = I'll add a few of these to my overall plan!

FWIW, the plan alternates between singles and triples for the core 4 weeks of the program. Next should be a 1.5 hour ride, followed by a 6 mile run and then goes to a triple of 20 & 3 Cool part, the plan labels the triples for "elites & pros" and recommends doubles for the age groupers. I am not at all saying I am anywhere near the labels, but it is very encouraging that I could rip off the triple this late in to the plan. Followed it up with a 16+ mile ride again yesterday.

What plan are you following? I've never used anybody else's plan for a tri, but I've also never successfully made it to the starting line of a HIM either. I'll likely need quite a bit of advice as I start working toward mine (October 17th). The tricky part will be trying to train in 100 degree weather during July-September. I'll be starting to train for it 20 weeks out = I'll have the time, just worried about killing myself through the summer. I am joining a new club (Campus Rec Center) which has three pools (2 outside) and an indoor track = I will be better able to get workouts in. I just can't stand training a treadmill/trainer/inside.

My brother-in-law bought the Triathlon Geek training plan for me. Its an 18-week plan that is slanted towards the bike, which is what I need to work on most. Due to races, I added 4 weeks (basically started early to have short tapers for events). I have not followed it to the letter, as I only have pool access on Mon/Wed, but have completed every activity in the plan, and a bit more. I have tried to be very careful to stick to the "don't skip your long run" mentality, trying to be sure I do the big event for each week's cycle. I have compared my weekly hours and miles to other programs online and would say that the program has kept me honest to the plan and :knockswoods: moderately healthy. While I've kept up at the elite/pro level, something is going to have to give in the next 4 weeks or so as I can't be a dad, work and train at the level needed for each. What I am hoping is that I've set a very good base and can find spots to get in excellent quality workouts to continue building the base, knowing I'll likely not achieve the highest level of speed & endurance that I could if I had more time (but hopefully enough to finish successfully, if this makes sense).

 

[Polish Hammer]

So, I ran the Broad Street Run a few weeks ago and beat my projected time! I was supposed to complete the race (10 miles) at a 10:44 pace, but instead finished roughly a minute/mile faster for a total of 1:38:09. Needless to say I was pretty happy with that. But on to the next step. I'm running mainly for health benefits with some small competitive edge thrown in for fun. I'm going to tackle the Philly Half Marathon in November. But since that is 6 months away, I need to set up some other training goals in the meantime (the truth is I work better with a defined goal/schedule so if I don't do this I won't run enough). Yesterday I purchased the Garmin Forerunner 305 on the Amazon Gold Box deal to help me a little better as well, now I just need a new pair of sneakers.

Anyway, how often should I look for a "race" to keep myself from getting bored? Are 5k's enough or should I look for longer ones in the interim? When should I start the real training for the Half? Any help is appreciated, as always.

 

[The_Man]

So, I ran the Broad Street Run a few weeks ago and beat my projected time! I was supposed to complete the race (10 miles) at a 10:44 pace, but instead finished roughly a minute/mile faster for a total of 1:38:09. Needless to say I was pretty happy with that. But on to the next step. I'm running mainly for health benefits with some small competitive edge thrown in for fun. I'm going to tackle the Philly Half Marathon in November. But since that is 6 months away, I need to set up some other training goals in the meantime (the truth is I work better with a defined goal/schedule so if I don't do this I won't run enough). Yesterday I purchased the Garmin Forerunner 305 on the Amazon Gold Box deal to help me a little better as well, now I just need a new pair of sneakers.Anyway, how often should I look for a "race" to keep myself from getting bored? Are 5k's enough or should I look for longer ones in the interim? When should I start the real training for the Half? Any help is appreciated, as always.

Good job!If the Philly HM is your highest priority, put that on your calendar and then back out a schedule from there. I did the Higdon Intermediate 1 program for my first HM and liked it a lot. I think that is 12 weeks, which would have you starting it in late August. So maybe you'd target a 5 or 10k sometime in mid-August (not a great time of year for racing, right?) and then back out another training plan from that.Having done my first HM in March, I would suggest you target something a little longer than a 5k to train for before you begin the HM training. The increased mileage base you build while training for a 10k (or longer) race will help you once you begin the HM training.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

So, I ran the Broad Street Run a few weeks ago and beat my projected time! I was supposed to complete the race (10 miles) at a 10:44 pace, but instead finished roughly a minute/mile faster for a total of 1:38:09. Needless to say I was pretty happy with that. But on to the next step. I'm running mainly for health benefits with some small competitive edge thrown in for fun. I'm going to tackle the Philly Half Marathon in November. But since that is 6 months away, I need to set up some other training goals in the meantime (the truth is I work better with a defined goal/schedule so if I don't do this I won't run enough). Yesterday I purchased the Garmin Forerunner 305 on the Amazon Gold Box deal to help me a little better as well, now I just need a new pair of sneakers.

Anyway, how often should I look for a "race" to keep myself from getting bored? Are 5k's enough or should I look for longer ones in the interim? When should I start the real training for the Half? Any help is appreciated, as always.

First of all, congratulations on your result. 10 miles is a solid distance and definitely gives you a sense of accomplishment when you finish. Assuming you feel good and your recovery from the 10-miler went well, there's no reason why you couldn't push directly toward the HM. There's definitely no need to wait until November. Heck, a lot of HM training programs max you out at 10 miles, so you're already at the training peak under those programs. This topic has come up before and I'm in the camp that says you really ought to train up to at least the full 13.1 before you race a HM, especially your first, so I don't recommend following one of the 10-mile-max programs, but I only mention it just to put your current level of conditioning into perspective. If you could find a HM that was 4-6 weeks out, you could be ready for that no problem.

If you're going to just stick with the half in November, my recommendation would be to keep doing an easy, relaxed 8-10 miler every week from now until mid-September, and then start adding miles. Something like a 10, 11, 8, 13, 13, 8 (mini-taper), 13.1 (race) progression. But that's just me. Doing a long run each week or every other week will really help maintain the endurance you've developed, and they're fun.

Personally, I don't know if I'm going to run a single 5K this summer. I started running in my late 20s with no background in it whatsoever. I've always been slow and injury-prone, so 5Ks and to a lesser extent 10Ks just don't really fit well with me. The half is my favorite distance by far because it's comparatively easy to train for (relative to the full), but it's still challenging enough to be satisfying. I just did one last weekend, I have another one scheduled for August 8 on my birthday, and then I'm doing the Twin Cities full in October. For me, that's enough to keep me occupied, and it's similar to what I did last summer/fall (same spring half, same August half, and a 15-miler in October). But if you want to stick some 5Ks in there and you enjoy them, go for it. You could do a 5K every other week if you wanted to, depending on what your local racing schedule looks like.

 

[tri-man 47]

Swim dates rock! Fun to hook up with BDW (Buff Daddy Wraith) for a noon swim and then lunch. I'm sure I've totally messed with his mind by throwing out different ideas and drills to add to his swim training ...but looking forward to cheering him on at his race on 6/27!

 

[wraith5]

Swim dates rock! Fun to hook up with BDW (Buff Daddy Wraith) for a noon swim and then lunch. I'm sure I've totally messed with his mind by throwing out different ideas and drills to add to his swim training ...but looking forward to cheering him on at his race on 6/27!

tri-man is good people, a funny guy, and a great coach! We had a very good time swimming and catching up today! Hopefully sometime soon we can do the same for a bike ride (and, of course, lunch!)Turns out I'm a pretty darn good swimmer. Except my kick... and my body roll... and my reach... and my catch... OK it's kind of amazing I'm able to make it across a 25yd pool without assistance. But at least now I know some of the things I have to work on!!

 

[proninja]

Hey guys

I haven't been posting here much lately, but I just haven't been around much. I spent 48 miles on the bike yesterday, 25 today, with some damn good climbing in there. The new job is awesome - the guys I ride with now are strong - weakest rider I work with races cat 2 'cross. Well, weakest aside from me, that is.

I'm commuting on the bike regularly, it's about 9 miles each way. June 26 that goes to about 22 miles each way.

I'm still slow, but I'm getting slightly faster, and I don't always have to drop down to the lowest end of the cassette to get up hills. Slight improvement is SO encouraging.

My lifestyle has totally changed. It's awesome.

 

[The_Man]

I was so fired up to do a fast 6 miles Saturday that I went out way too fast (7:09 first mile) that I should have just called it a day right then. Struggled through 6 at 7:29 pace. ... It seems like almost every run I've had in the past year that is memorably good were ones where I started at a moderate pace, and got faster and stronger throughout. And every memorably bad one is where I've gone out way too fast and died all the way home. You'd think I'd learn the lesson somewhere along the way and apply it to every run.

Saturday I was so fired up that I went out and had a crappy run. Today was a dark and rainy a.m. that actually had me thinking about staying in bed and skipping a run for the first time in more than 6 weeks. So of course I went out and had a great run. I guess the secret is to not get fired up!Five miles at 7:34 pace - was supposed to be a steady run, but I felt so good that I ended up making it a modified tempo run. Started with an 8:03 first mile and got faster with each mile, finished with a 6:58 - I consider anything under 7:00 like breaking the 4-minute mile.I am committing to the reality that I am definitely a tortoise, and that my first mile is going to be the slowest mile I run from now on, no matter what workout or race I'm doing.

 

[tri-man 47]

My lifestyle has totally changed. It's awesome.

Great to hear!Polish Hammer, nice job exceeding your race goal! I'd suggest maybe adding June/July and August/September races (maybe one in each time period) just to stay focused. 5K's would be OK. It's a different kind of race, but mixing it up would be good. For training, my general preference tends to be - practice running more than the race distance. So I'd recommend building up to a 14 or 15 mile run and doing at least a couple of those. But that's me.

pmb - thanks for the update on the new G series. I like the concept, but wondered about it.

 

[pigskinliquors]

The_Man: nice run! There's a lot of good in going out slow, as your muscles get a chance to warm-up.

Proninja: Awesome to hear about your lifestyle change!

TriMan/Wraith: We r ecstatic your date went well!

Hammer: Now that you've made it to 10; a half and even a marathon are more than doable!!

2Young: I'd LOVE a copy of the plan if you are able to forward one.

_______________________________

My Update:

Went out for an ez 6 miler this morning with zero expectations following Sunday's disastrous run. It was only 72 degrees, but the 90%+ humidity made it pretty thick and sweaty. My normal "bar" for a run is 8:00 = all miles below 8:00 are good; others are bad. I've adjusted the bar to 8:30 until I can acclimate. I was able to average under 8:30, but it was too much work to do it. My HR was certainly escalated, and my legs were quite heavy coming in. My miles were:

8:41

8:35

8:32

8:26

8:14

7:58

Hopefully I can get adjusted to the weather prior to starting my HIM training in two weeks. Tonight I'll get in the pool to swim some laps with my daughter. I'm likely going to have zero quality swimming time or cycling time prior to starting my actual training, so I'll need to have a lot of base building time built into the front-end of my training schedule. Yet, in the TX heat, I'll more easily be able to train hard all summer on the bike and in the water = why I'm concentrating on running alone for right now.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Bike Porn!

 

[2Young2BBald]

TriMan/Wraith: We r ecstatic your date went well! 2Young: I'd LOVE a copy of the plan if you are able to forward one.

Check your email!!Oh, and Tri-Man & Wraith are quite the May/December romance, aren't they?

 

[wraith5]

TriMan/Wraith: We r ecstatic your date went well!

2Young: I'd LOVE a copy of the plan if you are able to forward one.

Check your email!!Oh, and Tri-Man & Wraith are quite the May/December romance, aren't they?

green is not your color, GB... BTW, I'd love to be able to check my email too, in case you were wondering.

______________________________________

5x 1000s / 400RI this morning. Goal pace was 6:50s, and my previous best effort was a 6:54 ave back in September...

6:43

6:36

6:37

6:35

6:29

6:36 average

This streak I'm on is awesome and a lot of fun. And it's going to really suck when it comes to an end (which I believe is going to be very, very soon).

 

[tri-man 47]

Bike Porn!

Hard to relate ...until I saw the Vaseline in pic 17. 2Young - actually, most of the swim lanes yesterday were filled with a bunch of senior citizens that apparently get brought to the community center for some exercise. They mostly were just floating around, some with shower caps and glasses still on. . . . . I got a couple of phone numbers.

 

[pigskinliquors]

TriMan/Wraith: We r ecstatic your date went well!

2Young: I'd LOVE a copy of the plan if you are able to forward one.

Check your email!!Oh, and Tri-Man & Wraith are quite the May/December romance, aren't they?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Man that is a TON of information!!!! My Tuesday is officially shot!

 

[The_Man]

Interesting article by the NY Times science writer, who is apparently a Boston qualifier. Says there's no real scientific evidence indicating what kind of warm-up is best, or whether they have any real impact at all.

 

[wraith5]

Interesting article by the NY Times science writer, who is apparently a Boston qualifier. Says there's no real scientific evidence indicating what kind of warm-up is best, or whether they have any real impact at all.

For me, the warm-up is about easing my body into "active" mode and preventing injury. Specifically for running, it seems to be less important for me when I'm doing my long runs (since I'm running relatively slowly, anyway) but critical before I do any speed or tempo work. Typically I'll do some light stretching, then 1/2 mile - 1 mile of easy-paced running with some long strides mixed in to stretch my hips out. My warm-up for biking is pretty minimal, and I don't really do anything before swimming.

 

[2Young2BBald]

green is not your color, GB... BTW, I'd love to be able to check my email too, in case you were wondering.

Tri-Man and I have already had a sleep over (although, gruecd had the first one....)Oh, and, check your email....

 

[wraith5]

green is not your color, GB... BTW, I'd love to be able to check my email too, in case you were wondering.

Tri-Man and I have already had a sleep over (although, gruecd had the first one....)Oh, and, check your email....

 

[culdeus]

Interesting article by the NY Times science writer, who is apparently a Boston qualifier. Says there's no real scientific evidence indicating what kind of warm-up is best, or whether they have any real impact at all.

For me, the warm-up is about easing my body into "active" mode and preventing injury. Specifically for running, it seems to be less important for me when I'm doing my long runs (since I'm running relatively slowly, anyway) but critical before I do any speed or tempo work. Typically I'll do some light stretching, then 1/2 mile - 1 mile of easy-paced running with some long strides mixed in to stretch my hips out. My warm-up for biking is pretty minimal, and I don't really do anything before swimming.

My bike warmup consists of airing up the tires.

 

[gruecd]

Just FYI for tri-man and anyone else who might qualify for Boston 2011, the BAA announced today that online registration will open online at 9 AM ET on Monday, October 18. To put that in perspective, registration for 2010 opened on September 9.

What does that mean?? People qualifying at Chicago on October 10 (or guys like PMB qualifying at Indy on October 16) will be OK, but people running NYCM, Philly, or CIM will have to wait for 2012, since registration will likely close in a day or two. Why?

1) Every marathon is advertising their race as a BQ, so Boston continues to get more and more advertising/visibility.

2) Somewhere around 1,000 runners from Europe didn't make this year's event due to the Icelandic ash cloud. Most of them will probably return and have been given deferred entries.

3) Many qualified runners were caught offguard with how quickly registration filled up last year (mid-November vs. late January the year before) and won't delay registering this year.

4) The inevitable hype of discussions like this one will only add to the frenzy on the first day.

Personally, I will be at my computer at 8 AM CDT to register. Just wondering how long it will take for the site to crash...

 

[wraith5]

Good info gruecd!

How are you feeling?

 

[tri-man 47]

Just FYI for tri-man and anyone else who might qualify for Boston 2011, the BAA announced today that online registration will open online at 9 AM ET on Monday, October 18.

Thanks for the update! I've got it on my calendar.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Bike Porn!

Hard to relate ...until I saw the Vaseline in pic 17. 2Young - actually, most of the swim lanes yesterday were filled with a bunch of senior citizens that apparently get brought to the community center for some exercise. They mostly were just floating around, some with shower caps and glasses still on. . . . . I got a couple of phone numbers.

Ugh, the old lady perfume/hairspray slick had to be disgusting :X . Speaking of :X , anyone catch the photo of the top triathletes in the Triathlete Mag swimsuit edition this month? Christy Wellington's shot in the pic made me throw up in my mouth.

 

[wraith5]

Bike Porn!

Hard to relate ...until I saw the Vaseline in pic 17. 2Young - actually, most of the swim lanes yesterday were filled with a bunch of senior citizens that apparently get brought to the community center for some exercise. They mostly were just floating around, some with shower caps and glasses still on. . . . . I got a couple of phone numbers.

Ugh, the old lady perfume/hairspray slick had to be disgusting :X . Speaking of :X , anyone catch the photo of the top triathletes in the Triathlete Mag swimsuit edition this month? Christy Wellington's shot in the pic made me throw up in my mouth.

luckily the old ladies at that pool seem to leave the perfume for after their soak (The local Bally's, on the other hand, is intollerable). I saw the cover of that magazine, and I don't know who she is, but I couldn't take my eyes off her.

 

[gruecd]

Good info gruecd! How are you feeling?

Not bad at all. Thanks for asking.Last night I walked about four miles total and did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Got up this morning and walked another couple miles before work.Gonna try an easy 4-mile run tomorrow morning, and then I've got my usual post-race massage at 8:00. Looking forward to it. Hurts so good.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Gruecd: Great to hear that you are recovering well. I am going to do all I can to BQ for 2012 in Houston next January = I'll likely have carry-over effects from the overload this year :fingerscrossed:

 

[pmbrown_22]

Well, I must say you guys are putting the pressure on to make it to Boston in the next year or so. I guess I am going to have to work my butt off in order to make it for the next two years so the FFA can take over the race by 2012.

-------

Overall, I am feeling pretty well. Still having a bit of knee and hip pain, but able to get through it ok. Sometimes it feels great others there is a bit of a tweak here and there. I did a tri-man-esque 8 miles in the rain tonight. Felt great to be doing some longer distances as I am slowly ramping my mileage up for this next cycle.

Gruecd, received my book today. I am way behind on my reading and if I can catch up on a few other things I think I might be able to start this weekend on it. I am really anxious to get reading so I can start my planning. I hope it brings me a whole new mindset.

 

[proninja]

One of my co-workers, who'll be my commuting partner in less than a month, is a cool guy who's a few points away from being a cat 1 road racer. We worked on a project together the second half of the day. He's doing a damn good job of talking me into shooting for a road race in a month or so. I have always found racing to be completely unrealistic and intimidating, but apparently the cat 4/5 races are about 40 miles, and the peleton cruises at 17-18mph.

I figure I may just be able to hang on to the back of that in a month. It's starting to sound kind of fun to do a couple of those and a couple crits toward the end of that season, then race as much cross as I can work in around work in the fall. I still haven't quite convinced myself it's possible though - so I'm just going to keep getting as many miles in as I can, and do intervals on my commute.

Also, I wish I'd started riding before I was 30 and fat.

 

[proninja]

Also, since I'm a gear nerd, please allow me some nerding.

My road steed

It's a 2001 litespeed tuscany frame, renolds ouzo pro fork , gruppo is SRAM Red, wheels are all DT Swiss - 240s hubs, 1.1 rims, revolution spokes on front/NDS, comp on DS rear. Nobody cares about the rest of the individual gear I put on it, but I think it's pretty.

I just today bought Force shifters/derailleurs for my cross bike. I like SRAM's gear. A lot. More intuitive, ergonomic, comfortable, adjustable, lighter, and even cheaper than Shimano. About the only thing I prefer about Shimano is it takes a slight bit less effort to shift - but it's not like shifting is really tough with SRAM. What I do prefer about the SRAM shifting is that the lever engages more quickly than anything I've used yet with the exception of Di2, which is a little ridiculously priced. Others say the dura ace crankset is stiffer - I'm not strong enough to tell the difference, and I'm still in a compact anyway.

I just recently got a fit done for that bike. I was having trouble with my hands and feet getting numb (my right hand specifically), and after I hit it hard I'd feel it in the knees. Feeling it in the knees sucks, as does feeling ######ed for an afternoon because your hand hasn't recovered. It turns out I, among other things, had my seatpost too high and my bars too low. I'm actually more flexible than I thought in the hips, but I (this is me embarrassed) lack the core strength necessary to hold myself in a lower position without putting all the weight on my hands, pressing into the bar. Also, I was told to add a footbed to my shoe, and recently moved my cleat back a little bit.

Having the saddle lower, counter to anything I would have guessed intuitively, puts me in a much more powerful position than before. My weight, in addition to being lowered, feels a lot farther back, and I feel that allows me to get a lot more out of my pedal stroke - in addition to pushing down, I'm pushing a lot more forward, engaging earlier in my stroke, and it's easier to finish the pedal stroke when my leg isn't quite as extended. Also, more weight back/low = less weight transferred straight past my weak core to the nerves in my hand.

The next step of the fit (as I understand) is to, while I'm in the trainer, fire up the computer/cameras, and start to adjust things like shims in my shoe to get my knees aligned directly in line with the pedal throughout the pedal stroke. I'm curious if that has as close to as dramatic of an impact as the first half of my fit has. I would HIGHLY recommend looking into a professional bike fit to just about anybody who spends a decent amount of time on it.

 

[proninja]

A question about training. Specifically, about rest.

Thursday/Friday/Sunday are the days I can spend a lot of time in the saddle. Thursday/Friday are my days off, and Sundays I work 12-5, and it's really easy to find a co-worker to ride with on either or both sides of work. Sunday will be a hard ride for me. I'll be commuting when weather/schedule allows - until June 26 it's a shorter commute, but after June 26 the location I work changes, and it's about 22.5 miles each way. It'll be longer, but I'll have a co-worker to meet about halfway there and ride with. I'm pretty much positive that trying to commute every day is just going to set myself up for failure, so I'm shooting for 3 days/week.

Current priorities are to lose weight (I'm 5'10'', 190, and am carrying around at least 20 extra pounds, with which I'll never be fast), get as many miles under my belt as possible, and to focus on higher intensity work. I can't push it hard very long. These two factors make my co-workers wait for me at the top of hills, which is impossibly annoying.

Anyway, on to the question. I didn't ride today. I hit it pretty hard for me the last couple days, and I'm sore. I've heard, however, that instead of a day off you're better off doing a recovery ride - keep your effort and heart rate low, go out for a half hour to an hour, and just spin. I obviously need to recover at some point in time to get stronger - but if my goal is to be stronger for tomorrow, what's my play today? Leave it alone or do a recovery ride?

The plan now is to, after the day off today, just do my commute with intervals tomorrow. Go as hard as I can for 2 minutes, go easy for 5, lather, rinse, repeat until I get to/from work. Not a long day. Go after base miles Thursday, do higher intensity/climbing on friday, take Saturday off, and I'm taking the cross bike to the trails Sunday afternoon, which will be a pretty high intensity.

How do you guys balance high intensity/low duration, low inensity/high duration, and rest?

 

[gruecd]

Well, I must say you guys are putting the pressure on to make it to Boston in the next year or so. I guess I am going to have to work my butt off in order to make it for the next two years so the FFA can take over the race by 2012.

Actually, I'm not planning on running 2012 (doing Houston instead), so you're gonna need to go ahead and qualify at Indy so you can run with tri-man and me next spring. No pressure. ETA: Easy 4-mile recovery run this morning at 8:44 pace. Off to my massage!

 

[Sammy3469]

A question about training. Specifically, about rest. Thursday/Friday/Sunday are the days I can spend a lot of time in the saddle. Thursday/Friday are my days off, and Sundays I work 12-5, and it's really easy to find a co-worker to ride with on either or both sides of work. Sunday will be a hard ride for me. I'll be commuting when weather/schedule allows - until June 26 it's a shorter commute, but after June 26 the location I work changes, and it's about 22.5 miles each way. It'll be longer, but I'll have a co-worker to meet about halfway there and ride with. I'm pretty much positive that trying to commute every day is just going to set myself up for failure, so I'm shooting for 3 days/week. Current priorities are to lose weight (I'm 5'10'', 190, and am carrying around at least 20 extra pounds, with which I'll never be fast), get as many miles under my belt as possible, and to focus on higher intensity work. I can't push it hard very long. These two factors make my co-workers wait for me at the top of hills, which is impossibly annoying. Anyway, on to the question. I didn't ride today. I hit it pretty hard for me the last couple days, and I'm sore. I've heard, however, that instead of a day off you're better off doing a recovery ride - keep your effort and heart rate low, go out for a half hour to an hour, and just spin. I obviously need to recover at some point in time to get stronger - but if my goal is to be stronger for tomorrow, what's my play today? Leave it alone or do a recovery ride? The plan now is to, after the day off today, just do my commute with intervals tomorrow. Go as hard as I can for 2 minutes, go easy for 5, lather, rinse, repeat until I get to/from work. Not a long day. Go after base miles Thursday, do higher intensity/climbing on friday, take Saturday off, and I'm taking the cross bike to the trails Sunday afternoon, which will be a pretty high intensity. How do you guys balance high intensity/low duration, low inensity/high duration, and rest?

I'm sure you'll get many different opinions on this, but once you start biking 44 miles to/from work, you're going to get plenty of "base miles" in. (I'm also not a big proponent of base miles workouts in general, so take everything I say with a grain of salt). Having said that, I'd concentrate more on making one of trips the real workout and the other a just getting there bike trip. For that real workout I'd do longer intervals start with 5 minutes on/5 minutes off (the rest interval should never be longer than the exertion interval). As to the schedule, I'd start by picking which day (Thurs/Friday) you want as your hard long (50+ miles) fun ride that you're doing the weekday rides for. Pick a challenging route with some hills, good scenario, good roads, etc. (I'd generally pick the first day so if you have bad weather you can go the other day). In any case my schedule would look like:Thursday: Real rideFriday: I'd do a short hour to hour and half ride at low exertion. Pick a place to go and enjoy. Sat: Off (But you can through in core work here)Sunday: Ride (either to work and back) or a funner ride if you can get it in, just make sure there is exertion involvedMonday: Ride to work - can be at a slower paceTuesday: Ride to work - again as hard a workout as you can standWeds: OffBesides for the Thursday ride, the Sunday and Tuesday rides should be the hardest rides for the week.Basically you build everything for the week to the most enjoyable ride, but don't ride the day before that ride.FWIW, I know in NYC the cat 5 guys go 24-5mph-ish on the closed Central Park circuit, so unless that 17-8 is on a course with hills, I'd be a little dubious of it. More importantly though unless your totally comfortable riding in a group with guys in front, behind, and to the side of you, I wouldn't think of doing a race. In NYC at least Cat 5 races are ultra-competitive (there's one team that basically assigns roles for each rider like a mini pro-team, but I digress). Hope this helps...obviously there's many ways to go, but just for your sanity, the big thing to remember is to have fun, so pick fun routes that have some type of payoff at the middle if your making a round trip or end if you can get transportation home (in NYC there's good train transit home, so you can basically ride out of the city in a straight line for 100 miles). You'll also end up losing a lot of the extra weight pretty fast riding 200+ miles a week. I mean really fast (you'll probably end up using 1200-1500+ calories a day riding depending on exertion level @ 44 miles per day) so at some point you'll want to alter you're diet. I know you'll want to not eat anything to lose the weight, but anytime you're body is hungry, eat. Biking 44 miles is nothing to sneeze at and you're basically burning close to a whole day's worth of calories anyway.

 

[The_Man]

40-minute tempo run today, and another testament to starting slow to finish fast. Mile splits:

9:51 (warm-up)

8:13

7:23

6:53

8:02 (starting to cool down)

I pushed the duration of the max effort from a planned 10 minutes to a little past 14, just so I could put up (for me) a killer mile time.

Today was also my 30th straight planned workout without a miss and legs are feeling it a bit. Looking forward to a recovery run tomorrow, followed by a day off.

 

[pmbrown_22]

40-minute tempo run today, and another testament to starting slow to finish fast. Mile splits:

9:51 (warm-up)

8:13

7:23

6:53

8:02 (starting to cool down)

I pushed the duration of the max effort from a planned 10 minutes to a little past 14, just so I could put up (for me) a killer mile time.

Today was also my 30th straight planned workout without a miss and legs are feeling it a bit. Looking forward to a recovery run tomorrow, followed by a day off.

Great run. You are putting in some quality workouts lately. Enjoy the day of rest. Well deserved.

And, Gruecd, I accept the pressure. It would be great to run with in the same race as you guys.

 

[wraith5]

proninja do you not sleep?!?

Regarding rest, there's active recovery, and then there are planned rest days. I think both are important. Especially at the mileage level you're talking about, you're going to need a day of "real" rest in there.

 

[wraith5]

40-minute tempo run today, and another testament to starting slow to finish fast. Mile splits:9:51 (warm-up)8:137:236:538:02 (starting to cool down)I pushed the duration of the max effort from a planned 10 minutes to a little past 14, just so I could put up (for me) a killer mile time. Today was also my 30th straight planned workout without a miss and legs are feeling it a bit. Looking forward to a recovery run tomorrow, followed by a day off.

Great job! 6:53 is definitely a killer mile! While I also subscribe to "starting slow" method, in my opinion you should try to use your warm-up mile for that purpose, and try to keep your level of effort on the "tempo" portion a little more balanced. 1:20 is a big difference between first mile and 3rd, which tells me that first mile is a little too slow for this workout. You averaged 7:30s for the three miles, so maybe try hitting 7:40s on your first 2 and see what you have left in the tank for the 3rd. Review & adjust from there.

 

[wraith5]

Since I knew I'd be up watching the Blackhawks, anyway, I decided to do today's bike ride last night on the trainer and turn today into a rest day. I did an hour, and 3-4 minutes of every 10 I jumped two gears and went from a cadence of about 80 to about 95. I don't know if it did any good (and of course now I see Sammy's post about rest intervals being no longer than hard effort) but it felt like I was doing more than just pedaling for an hour.

 

[The_Man]

Great job! 6:53 is definitely a killer mile! While I also subscribe to "starting slow" method, in my opinion you should try to use your warm-up mile for that purpose, and try to keep your level of effort on the "tempo" portion a little more balanced. 1:20 is a big difference between first mile and 3rd, which tells me that first mile is a little too slow for this workout. You averaged 7:30s for the three miles, so maybe try hitting 7:40s on your first 2 and see what you have left in the tank for the 3rd. Review & adjust from there.

Thanks. Though I posted mile times, I really broke the run down into timed segments - 10 minute warm-up, 10 minutes easy run, 5 minutes run, 5 minutes hard run, 10 minutes decelerate (though I extended the hard run a little bit to chase that good mile time). Didn't have time this a.m., but tonight I'll look at what my pace was for each of those segments. Maybe next time I'll do 8 minutes of easy running and then 7 minutes of running to even out the splits a little.Also forgot to mention that I got an endorphin surge so strong it almost knocked me off my feet. At least that's what I think it was -- either that or I was just getting light-headed. But in addition to the slight buzz I got, it also made my legs feel great, almost like I couldn't feel them for a few strides, and then I went on to run that sub-7 mile. So I'm going to chalk it up as a good thing, instead of a warning sign.