G8r80's training / dieting / cycling / log

sparrow said:
I know we all go in seach of "the perfect bike" but really, when it comes down to it, a bike is only as good as its rider ;) Good luck on your ride tomorrow!
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Truer words were never spoken - it's not about the bike, it's about the engine.

Rode 52 miles with a faster group, covered it in 2:40, at just under 20mph average. Bike performed flawlessly but did not make me noticeably faster, although the wheels do help. More importantly, I was more comfortable and was able to shift quicker and be in the proper gear. Having 20 gears with brake shifters is a big advantage over 14 gears with downtube shifters.

However, this ride was harder than I expected, even with a new bike. I think my de-emphasis on cycling to concentrate on swimming and running (train to your weaknesses) has taken a toll on cycling. Had I not swam this week and biked instead, I would have logged another 100 miles but that would not have helped me as much as the swimming for the March 9 triathlon.
 
g8r80 said:
I think my de-emphasis on cycling to concentrate on swimming and running (train to your weaknesses) has taken a toll on cycling. Had I not swam this week and biked instead, I would have logged another 100 miles but that would not have helped me as much as the swimming for the March 9 triathlon.
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You are already a strong cyclist. There are a lot of people (men), I've noticed, who are really weak swimmers and then haul a$$ on the bike making up more than enough time for their weakness. The swim is the shortest part of the race. If you are a strong cyclist and decent runner you'll do fine no matter how the swim goes.

I think one of the most important things you'll need to do is have a belt full of tools to help you out there in the open water where you CAN'T stop. Even if you're a good swimmer, its a different situation when you're nervous and then find yourself in water you can't see through or touch down in with the shore many many yards away. Some friends here who are decent swimmers still struggle with those variables and have to figure out ways to not only calm themselves down in the panic situation but also to continue to move forward through the panic even when they're really tired and just want to hang onto a wall.

Will you have access to open water in the next month or two to practice?
 
Sparrow, most triathletes I speak to say the same thing; try to get out of the wtaer not too tired and not too far behind and then jam on the road. In fact, in Total Immersion Terry Laughlin goes so far as to say that triathletes who fly in the water are "losers". That's a bit of an overstatement in my opinion.

Fortunately, my first triathlon on March 9 will be in the pool. Yeah, geeky, I know, but a good introduction. My second scheduled sprint is in June in a lake in Illinois. I am hoping I can use a wetsuit for that one.

As for open water swimming, yeah, it is a little creepy for me too. I think what I'm gonna do is wear one of those inflatable vests and keep it uninflated except for emergency. I think that will help me ease into the open water stuff. Also, having a safety boat or kayak nearby will also help.
 
Met with swim coach today who watched me swim 4 lengths and analyzed my swim. Here's what he noticed:

1. My breathing is fine. I'm not coming up too high on the breaths

2. My rotation is a little light. He's gonna work on that some, but doesn't think it's a big problem now. Remedy: Something to think about a little later.

3. Stroke: I do not reach out far enough (although it sure seems to me like I am stretching) and on my follow-through I am not bending my elbow and and Im am pushing out too far from my body. He noticed that I am going all the way back (i.e., thumb to thigh) which is good. Remedy: I will practice stroke while wearing pool buoy so I can concentrate just on stroke.

4. Kick: Is awful and is my major limiting factor. I'm not getting any propulsion and it causes my legs to sink and lose any hydrodynamics. Remedy: Kick drills with board until I build up the musculature and endurance.

Did 375m kicks with kickboard until back hurt and legs were fatigued. I will try to increase that each time. For now, I am gonna keep kicks and strokes as separate drills to focus on each at that time.

Then I went inside:

Bench press: 135x10, 155x6x2
Shrugs: 110x10, 130x10, 140x10
Bicep curl bar: 55x10, 65x10x3
Squats ATG: 95x10, 135x10, 155x10x2
Deadlifts: 225x10, 275x10, 315x10
Stationary bike: 22 minutes

Krodad, on the shrugs, I forgot to mention that I use dumbbells and those weights are per dumbbell, so the actual shrugged weight is 2x. The weights above represent both dumbbells.
 
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In between opening presents, helping the kids set up their presents (guitar amplifier, 10 gal aquarium, digital cameras, etc.), cooking, eating, laughing, cleaning up, and playing Silent Marco Polo with my daughter in the pool yesterday, I did work on my kick and stroke. Kicked 100m with kickboard until my glutes were burning and stroked 200m with my legs supported by a noodle focusing on my stroke. That was easy. If I can learn to keep my legs up without expending too much energy kicking, I will be a good triathlon swimmer. Currently, if I don't kick enough, my legs sink and my arms have to overwork or if I kick, my glutes and hip flexors get tired. I guess I'll just keep working on building up the hip flexors and glutes. Unfortunately, I haven't been successful at the Total Immersion flotation drills yet and my swim coach said he can't float either

Today, I rode 40K (27 miles) on the new bike averaging 18.5 miph with no stops. I haven't felt like my old self for several weeks since I started training to my weaknesses, i.e. swimming and running. I need to bump up my weekly riding miles to 120 so I feel good about my cycling again. At 120 mles / week I feel I am at the top of my cycling game.
 
hmmmm....

many of the competitors at the ironman level call it a running race.

the swim is a wake up, the bike is a fuel up, and the run is the race.

just another spin on the event.
 
FF, during my swimming lesson, we brought up triathlons. Something I hadn't thought about was why the swim is always first, the bike second and the running last. I'm sure you knew this, but that is because if you become too fatigued during the swim, you could drown! If you become too fatigued during the bike, you could fall off and seriously hurt yourself (broken bones, torn cartilage, etc.). But, if you become too fatigued during the running, you fall over and scrape yourself.

I know that triathlons are won or lost on the run, but my initial goals are only to survive the swim, hold my own on the bike and not die during the run:biggrinsanta:.
 
Went back to the gym tonight to work on vanity issues.

Bench press: 135x10, 155x6x5, 165x6, 175x4, 185x3, 195x1, failed at 205.
Dips: Unassisted BW 10x3
Deadlifts: 225x10
Squats: 135x10 ATG (quads were still sore from bike ride and glutes were sore from swim kicking)
Bicep curls: 60x10x3
Dumbbell Shrugs: 70x10, 70x10, 65x10
 
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flyinfree said:
hmmmm....

many of the competitors at the ironman level call it a running race.

the swim is a wake up, the bike is a fuel up, and the run is the race.

just another spin on the event.
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I actually think its the distance of the tri that determines what is most important.

At the oly level I believe the bike is the most important.

If you can decently get through the swim, haul apples on the bike and then maintain an average speed on the run you will be in the top of the field.

Even if you decently get through the swim, suck at the bike and then haul on the run, you'll never make up the time you lost on the bike on your run.

If you suck on the swim and are awesome on the bike and run you'll also be at the top of the pack.

The swim is so short-even at the ironman level-compared to the grandiosity of the rest of the race that you really do need to be a strong biker and decent runner as a triathlete. We swimmers get stiffed.

That said, I think that FF might be right on the ironman level. The bike is VERY long but long enough that it evens the playing field a bit on the average speed. Even if you're a great cyclist you can't go 112 miles super fast. Your average will probably be about 19. Even if you're a sucky cyclist you probably won't go much below 14 mph average. Theres not a huge margin of speed or time lost there. The run though is a full on marathon! If you make it that far, that alone will weed out the rest of the players and it really then does become the running race.

just my .02 only based on my experience:

My first oly I had shin splints and didn't train to run at all. I jammed on the swim, had an 18mph average on 25 miles of hills and then I SUCKED on the run. I think I got over an hour for a 10K. I still got in the top 5.

My second oly I'd not been training as much on my bike due to time factors but I was running more. I jammed on the swim, sucked on the bike (16mph) and then went 51min on the run. I wasn't even in the top TEN on that one. I got passed royally on the bike and couldn't catch them on the run.
 
Sparrow, I had put biking on the backburner while I worked on swimming but my rust has shown up on recent rides. I am gonna get back to 100+ base miles / week whenever possible.

Ran 3.0 - 3.1 miles tonight (not sure of distance) in 27.50 minutes which is 10 seconds better than my previous recent best. Legs didn't hurt but I got a little winded near the end. If I had wanted to go farther, I would have had to back off on the pace some.
 
Swam 1000 meters with pool buoy using arms exclusively and 500 m without buoy. During these efforts, I rotated almost as much on my non-breaths as on my breath strokes. Did had the effect of allowing me to reach farther than normal. Also, I bent my elbows on the pull-through which I think gives me greater propulsion. Also, I rested and glided (as Terry McLaughlin recommends) after each arm extension. This gave me a short rest but also allowed me to use the momentum that I had to my advantage. This is analogous to coasting on a bike on a downhill, which is something I will do when tired. Finally, I counted strokes as was able to get down to 24 or 25 which is a lot better than the 29 or 30 where I was. 20 is my goal.

After dropping the pool buoy, I naturally rode deeper in the water but I did not get nearly as winded as before. I didn't kick nearly as hard as I do when with the kickboard because I don't want to get leg-fatigued from swimming - I'll need that for the bike and run. I just need enough kick to keep my legs up and if I do a slow deep kick it seems to be the best compromise.

All in all, my best swimming performance to date. And it couldn't have come too soon - I was wondering if I would ever be ready for a triathlon.

I have been doing a lot of reading and listening and it is time for acknowledgments:

From Sparrow: rotate the shoulders, pause after reaching out
From Flyinfree: try to mellow out while swimming
From swim coach: reach out as far as possible, elbow high on stroke, thumb first, pull back with elbow bent, thumb on thigh
From Total Immersion: after each stroke, pause after reaching out and glide

Later in the evening, went back to gym and did 30 min on stationary bike (level 12 out of 25), bicep curl: 60# 10x3, 10x3 unassisted dips. Tried to bench press but didn't want to aggravate left shoulder tendinitis issue.
 
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to see a person stick it out, take input, learn, grow, and get better makes this all worth it.

great work g8r80 great work in deed. FANTASTIC!
 
sparrow said:
I actually think its the distance of the tri that determines what is most important.

At the oly level I believe the bike is the most important.

If you can decently get through the swim, haul apples on the bike and then maintain an average speed on the run you will be in the top of the field.

Even if you decently get through the swim, suck at the bike and then haul on the run, you'll never make up the time you lost on the bike on your run.

If you suck on the swim and are awesome on the bike and run you'll also be at the top of the pack.

The swim is so short-even at the ironman level-compared to the grandiosity of the rest of the race that you really do need to be a strong biker and decent runner as a triathlete. We swimmers get stiffed.

That said, I think that FF might be right on the ironman level. The bike is VERY long but long enough that it evens the playing field a bit on the average speed. Even if you're a great cyclist you can't go 112 miles super fast. Your average will probably be about 19. Even if you're a sucky cyclist you probably won't go much below 14 mph average. Theres not a huge margin of speed or time lost there. The run though is a full on marathon! If you make it that far, that alone will weed out the rest of the players and it really then does become the running race.

just my .02 only based on my experience:

My first oly I had shin splints and didn't train to run at all. I jammed on the swim, had an 18mph average on 25 miles of hills and then I SUCKED on the run. I think I got over an hour for a 10K. I still got in the top 5.

My second oly I'd not been training as much on my bike due to time factors but I was running more. I jammed on the swim, sucked on the bike (16mph) and then went 51min on the run. I wasn't even in the top TEN on that one. I got passed royally on the bike and couldn't catch them on the run.
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good lord you make the Ironman sound sooo huge honey! I'm skeeeered again!
 
g8r80 said:
FF, during my swimming lesson, we brought up triathlons. Something I hadn't thought about was why the swim is always first, the bike second and the running last. I'm sure you knew this, but that is because if you become too fatigued during the swim, you could drown! If you become too fatigued during the bike, you could fall off and seriously hurt yourself (broken bones, torn cartilage, etc.). But, if you become too fatigued during the running, you fall over and scrape yourself.

I know that triathlons are won or lost on the run, but my initial goals are only to survive the swim, hold my own on the bike and not die during the run:biggrinsanta:.
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Imagine the change in death rate if the event was reversed? hahahaha

how about those Ultra's where they do the ironman course for two laps! hahahahah maybe in 2010 eh!
 
I got you a 7 day pass for LA Fitness. i am out of pocket until sundown. Skydiving and mountain biking with my kid.

tmorrow we play raquetball i hope, prepare for fun. I will do my very best not to bean you with that lil blue ball. tey do get away from me once in awhile though. jajaja

oh, an dbe careful not to bang your nose into teh back wall, thy are glass and the blood shows big time.

and bring your swimming trunks
 
The family and I are in the Bahamas for a 4-day vacation. No access to any equipment and no time to swim, but ran stairs. Up 3 floors, down 3 floors. Total of 102 floors up. The last time I ran stairs, in August, I had to stop regularly for air and lasted about 50 floors. I didn't stop this time.

Total time: 32 minutes
 
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