drewb8's group - FULL (Page 5)

For a more technical question, how the hell do I get into my shoes during T1? I get the whole rubberband them to the cranks to keep 'em upright, but after the first stroke they'll break; once you take your foot off, the shoe flips over, a fact my neighbor can attest to. I tried to leave the house like this the other day, with limited success...

I thought about taping the tongue so the opening was maximal, but I haven't tried it yet.

I can only tell you what I do - My bike shoes don't have tongues but I'm not sure if most do or not.

So what you do is kind of a running mount where you sit on your seat before you put your feet on the pedals and break the rubber bands. Definatly practice this because if you miss it can be, erm, painful to say the least. Then you pedal for a bit with your feet on top of your shoes to get up to speed. Once you are up to speed and at a place where you can coast for a few seconds you put each foot into the shoe. My shoes have a loop on the heel so you can reach down and hold onto that to keep the shoe from flipping over while you are putting it on.

This is kind of an advanced move though so for your 1st race you'll have enough other things to worry about so you might want to just put on your shoes at your transition spot and run in them to the mount line. Alot of people do this and the time cost is pretty small.

Then as you are approaching t2 you do the reverse - slip your feet out of your shoes a bit before the dismount line and keep them on top of your shoes. Then at the line just throw a leg over and do the cool running dismount thing. This is a bit easier than mounting and getting going.

Edited by drewb8 2007-02-28 10:14 AM

This makes me wonder if I should change my approach to the whole shoe debacle. I was just going to wear the same shoes for the bike and the run. I deliberatly bought very light, comfortable, and narrow shoes so that I can bike easily in them. I'm having a toe cage put on my pedals for now until next season when I invest in a kick red bike bike complete with clip pedals. Anyway, will this work? Am I going about this all wrong?

Also, I'd like to discuss the TI approach to swimming. As you know, swimming comes easily to me. I've been a competetive swimmer my whole life. However, after doing some research and seeing some videos of the TI way of swimming...I'm starting to think I might suck more then I think I do. I am by no means graceful when I swim...I mainly just power through the water. This isn't to say my form stinks though. I have spent years working on my form and am fairly proud of what I have accomplished with my petite frame. Anyhow, I'm just curious if re-working my stroke using the TI method will have any impact on me. Do you have any input or advice on this? Should I even bother trying to fix something that isn't really broken? Is TI considered the standard these days? I think I'm going to at least try it for a week and see how I adapt if at all.

Thanks for all the help! If it looks like I've been slacking, it's because I have I developed sinusitus..again. And because I waited to go to the dr's, it's been a week of absolute hell. However, I'm on meds now and hopefully will be back in the gym this weekend. Also, my tailbone issue seems to be a non-issue. I went to the dr's today and whatever I had has gone away. No cyst or build-up. It seems it's just inflamation from all the sudden exercising and abuse. Also, my dr ended up being a pretty hardcore triathlete himself. While having my red bike flapping in the wind was quite embarrasing, at least I felt somewhat relaxed being able to rap transitions and running technique, lol.

First of all, I think you said you already have gone to a dedicated running store and gotten analyzed and got a pair of running shoes. if you haven't I would definatly recommend doing this so you can get fit for the right shoes for your feet. They will probably have you run on a treadmill and then recommend shoes based on whether you are over pronating, under pronating or just right. If you don't need a pair of biking shoes (that is, if you aren't using clipless pedals) then I would just bike and run in your running shoes. It won't make any difference at all on the bike and unless you are wearing steel toes work boots you shouldn't have a problem with the toe cages. One last note - your running shoes are for running. Thats the only time you should wear them. They aren't for walking in around all day.

As far as TI goes thats a tricky question. My thoughts on TI are that it's great for beginners - it's what I used when I first started out - because it gets you going in a nice, stepped fashion and it also emphasizes some important aspects of good form, especially balance. For more experienced swimmers, from what I've heard, there are aspects of it that are useful, and some parts of the technique that you might not do exactly as TI teaches it. Many people who have been swimming for a while incorporate some aspects of TI into their form but don't go thru the whole program.

In swimming the most important thing is efficiency. Water is a pretty dense medium so the less resistence you have going thru it the faster you will go and the less energy you will expend - both important goals for triathlon. TI emphasizes moving thru water with as little resistence as possible, mainly thru proper balance. Since you are already an experienced swimmer what I might recommend is to incorporate some on the drills that focus on balance (such as kicking on your side or the 6-kick switch) and see how they feel, but if you already have good form I wouldn't do a complete overhaul or anything. Like you said, if it aint broke, don't fix it.

Hopefully the meds kick in and you will be back out there soon. Happy training!

Kind of quiet lately. Good and bad I guess. if you haven't seen it already here as an article about "all out, all the time" training.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=...

Ok, so I did get the dedicated running shoe which I will wear for the bike and run both. I was very specific on what kind of shoe I wanted. Very thin profile, very lightweight, etc. I guess I was just confused with your guys talk about putting the rubberband around the shoe and whatnot. I didn't know if that pertained to me and what my plans for raceday footwear are concerned.

Anyways, I back baby, and I'm feeling great!!! I had a fantastic run and bike last night and did some badass sit-ups. Tonight I hit the pool and am going to try and incorporate some TI technique's into my stroke.

On a really good note, I started my BT training program this week. It feels good to make the transition from my conditioning to my actual program now. I'm getting pretty psyched. I may do an Olympic tri in August and may also do a biathlon in May. Its a nice mile swim followed by a 4 mile run. Also I have a few 5k's lined up this spring as well.

Hope everyone is doing well. I think we're getting our "onion" snow today and this weekend it's going to warm up to 55!!! Woohoo, outdoor running and biking

I didn't mean to cause any confusion, I had just tried the whole "mount the bike with shoes already attached" thing, with limited success. I went shopping/looking at our LBS/tri supplier and learned 2 things I didn't know about tri shoes: They don't have tongues, and the straps are opposite what I thought they'd be; that'd come in handy since during my foray into mounting "attached" my left strap got sucked in between the tire and the chainstay, melting the logo off. But tri shoes have velcro straps that look like they belong on the other shoe, so the dangling strap is outside, not inside like my road shoe.

Yeah, when an actual plan starts, that's a good feeling! I think I'm 4 weeks into mine, even though I've only done 2 weeks worth of the workouts since I miscounted how many weeks til my first race, so my start day was off. But it definitely feels more "official".

Hey Drew -

I'm trying to imagine the post-race experience in a foresightful kind of way, and was wondering what running a tri, or even a sprint does to your body.. what kind of recovery time do we need to plan on? My sprint in July isn't so much a concern - but I just found out Green Bay has a race June 10th that I was thinking of adding (I don't think it's a sprint, but not sure), but would need to be functional at work the next day.. nothing crazy, just would like to be able to feed and dress myself.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

You might be a little sore and maybe you'll go to bed a tad earlier but yes, you'll be fully functional the next day. The only adjustment you might make is to take a day or a few off from running, but for a sprint that might not be necessary, just a "reward".

Hey Drew, I need some advice about time trials. I'd like to set my first one up this weekend. I'd like to try and do my swim and run. What advice can you give me in doing these? Can they be done in the same day? If yes, then can or should they be done relatively close together? I'd like to do my swim in the pool...then quickly change and get out to the park and get my run in. So there would be about a 20 min time gap in between. Also, when I do my time trials, should I focus on keeping my heartrate around a zone 2? Or should I push myself into competition mode? Should I try and keep the variables as close to race conditions as possible? OR just be sure to maintain the same standards and variables throught my future TT's? Does this make sense?

Also, GREAT news. I get my bike this weekend!! WOOHOOO. And since my boyfriend didn't bring me back a present from his recent trip to vegas, I have guilted him in to buying me a bike outfit..haha. Also, it's nice as pie outside, so I am finally back outdoors running and it feels great. And one last thing. I have changed my workouts to be closer to that of the olympic distance training. I figure I'm going to be taking part in an olympic tri in august, so building a larger base now can't hurt my sprint performance.

So anyways, hope everyone is well and enjoying the longer daylight and warmer temps!!!

Um, yeah. Me too!

I won't go much further (so I don't look too stupid) than to say I think a legit time trial should be just that, a trial, and the max effort you can maintain for THAT time. I do the "stay in Z2" runs also, and I'm definitely curious how far I can go in a set amount of time @ Z2, but I think that may be different. But I guess technically that is a time trial also. Hmmm. I think a legit time trial effort would be one that you couldn't repeat the next day.

Ok, I assume you are wanting to do these so you can determine your LT, so here is the protocol for that.

Ideally you want to do these on different days, you want to start them feeling fairly fresh so you know that the effort you are giving is your best effort and isn't being affected by anything else. You want to do these under as ideal conditions as you can - flat, don't have to stop, etc. - although that might not always be possible.

The effort should be at race pace, so for the run test this would be your 5k race pace, in other words, the fastest pace you can maintain over 5k (or in this case 30 minutes). For the run you want to go at the fastest pace you can maintain for 30 minutes. After 10 minutes you start you HRM (heart rate monitor) and use the average HR for the last 20 minutes and this should give you a close approximation of your LT (or top of z3). Its a pretty common mistake, especially the first one or two of these you do to go out too hard in the beginning, but you want to try & avoid this so if anything you can go harder at the end. You want to end the 30 minutes feeling like you gave it all you had but you want to pace yourself so you reach that point at 30 minutes, not at 27. For the bike you do the same thing, try & find a place where there aren't any hills and you don't have to stop to cross streets if possible. Many people do this over a 10 mile course instead of the 30 minutes but it comes out pretty much the same.

For the swim you will swim 1000m as fast as you can. Again, you want to go at the best pace you can maintain over the 1000m. Then you take that time and divide it by 10 to get your avg time for 100m and this is called your T-pace. For swimming you use your T-pace to gauge your workout efforts since its impracticle to use your HRM in the pool.

If you are trainig for an Oly you might as well be basing you training on that now, so good idea in switching plans. Hope that answers your questions, if not keep firing away. happy training!

Hey folks!

So I thought it might be a good idea to do a little progress report about how things are going so far. It's been about 2 1/2 months since New Years and there's another 2 1/2 or 3 months to go before race season gets into full swing. Now that the weather and daylight is improving it should be easier to stay motivated. So here goes:

Swim
This has always been my weak sport and I still don't enjoy it very much. I've improved my T-pace by about 5 seconds but that's probably because the 1st test was done at the start of training when I didn't have much distance under my belt. I think I've been able to improve my form a little bit at least because I've improved my fastest 100m time, but I still struggle with maintaining a good pace. Still lots of room for improvement.

Bike
I'm very happy to be off the trainer and riding outside. While on the trainer I was able to move up a gear - what was my z3 gear before became my z2 gear now so I'm hopeful that will translate off the trainer too and into real life riding. I definatly feel stronger on the bike and I'm looking forward to seeing how that translates to outside riding and getting some longer rides in.

Run
I have seen a big improvement here. After 2 years I finally have a decent base built up so my coach has sprinkled i some harder efforts (I used to kind of dog these when I did them on my own, but I didn't do much of it since I didn't have the necessary base built up before) which has started to pay off. My easy-can-do-this-forever pace now is around a 10/mile which is better than when I ended last season and my best pace so far is about 30"/mile faster than my best 5k time (although this time was in a tri so it's a little slower than my run-alone time would have been). It took a while to have the base built up to where I could start doing speed work but it is nice to have that finally paying off.

Injuries/Sick
I don't get sick very often (knock on wood) so luckily this hasn't been a problem. I had some issues with my left achilles about a month ago so I skipped a couple of runs which seemed to help it feel better. Other than that just the normal assortment of little aches & pains, but nothing too major (knock on wood again).

Misc/Overall
One of the risks with adding in harder efforts is in getting overcooked. I've tried to make sure I've gotten enough rest but there have been a few times when I found I needed to back off a little or skip a workout or two because I wasn't well rested enough and it was affecting the quality of my workouts. I've added in strength sessions this year for the 1st time which I think is partly responsible for my improvements especially on the bike. I would say I've only been so-so as far as nutrition goes. Sometimes when I end my workouts really late my stomach isn't up for taking in all the calories I need to before bed and my workouts later on suffer a bit. I've tried to add in more fruits and veggies but have only been successful in spurts. Overall though I'm really happy with where I'm at, especially for so early in the season. Last year I felt like I had close to the bare minimum base I needed for the HIM and this year hopefully my work from last year will carry over and I can do more than just survive it.

Edited by drewb8 2007-03-19 10:10 AM

By the way - Zach opened up his race season last weekend with a duathlon - make sure you check out his race report and give a shout out!

My swim is coming along I guess. I think what I need to work on most is slowing down enough to work on form without having it break down. And doing more fitness level work, the 1.5x your fastest 100 pace level, and really work on low-rest, low-intensity, but lengthy repeats. Breathing always seems to be a little bit of an issue; I take Gas-X right after I get out of the pool to head off any, uh, airborne evidence that I went swimming, because I gulp air something awful. So I'm trying to work on that. It gets worse the faster I try to go.

The bike needs a lot of work. I need to do some pedal technique drills. Getting used to being steeper will come with time. I also need to spend more time in the aerobars and practice getting bottles. I think the bike could definitely be the better of the 3, but not at my current volume of riding. Drew, everyone says ride lots, and while that conveys the general idea, it is vague enough to need clarification. Should it be approached the same as the run, doing long lower effort days and sprinkle that with short days of big-ring or hills, etc?

I feel decent about my running. I'm prolly going to forego much more tempo/speed stuff, on your astute advice. My Z2 pace is nearing what I want to finish my half mary in, so just continuing to build on the distance I can maintain that over will be the better use of my time.

Ok, here we go....

SWIM - I've always been a strong swimmer, but have humbled myself and let someone critique my stroke. I have now incorporated some TI drills and such into my workout and my overall stroke. Last night I can honestly say is the strongest I've felt in the water in my entire life. I felt like I was gliding through the water but extremely powerful. I'm very happy that the change has worked out well for me. I just wish the swim leg of the tri was longer!

BIKE - Well, I've been on the trainer long enough! I literally JUST picked up my bike. It's an old, very old, bianchi but it runs as smooth as a new one. I got it tuned up, new tires, new soft tape on the bars, and toe cages. Let me just say that the fitting was an experience. I did not realize how uncomfortable the correct fit is! It's also a tad scary. While I'm in the saddle, my feet don't touch the ground. I have to tip over to touch! Well, sobeit, I'll adjust. I'm looking forward to getting some nice long rides under my belt. I definetly need major practice on my bike. I have a nice base, I just need to learn how to ride properly on the open road. I'm scared, but excited!

RUN - This has been my most exciting improvement thus far. I ran a good 3 miles the other night mainting a HR of around 155-160. Which is right where it needs to be. I could have ran forever, but my trainign for the day was only 30 min. Last night I was demoted back to the treadmill due to swampy run path. And cuz everyone was at the gym when I was, I only had 20 min on the dreadmill. I hated it, but I did it w/ ease. This is a long way from the girl who could barely run a mile without cramping and having to stop!

MISC - While I haven't dropped the weight as fast as I had wanted, I have no one to blame but myself. I seem to have at least 3 days a week that I define as "special occasions" and let myself cheat on my diet. I need to be more rigid as to what I can have and when. I have lost about 10, but I still have 10 more to go. I have been successful at quitting smoking as well. I haven't smoked regularly since the end of January. I've had a few here and there when the stress demands it. But otherwise, I just don't want one at all!! So many postive things are happening and I just can't wait to see what happens next!

Yeah, you can treat the bike pretty much like the run although you can add in a touch more tempo work than you would for running. I think the general rule for tempo is something like<25% of the time for running, a little more for cycling and up to 50% of the time for swimming since it is no impact and easier to recover from.

Everything has improved for me, mostly because I was starting out from nothing and have gone to something! I've found out I'm not as good at swimming as I originally thought, better at running than I thought I would be, and still neutral about the bike. Here goes -

Swim
Generally I feel like this improves everytime I get in the water. Mostly technique stuff going on right now. Even though I feel good about it, and really like to swim, it'll still probably be my weakest leg of the race. But who knows. Breathing every third stoke is fan-freakin-tastic.

Bike
I generally don't like the bike. Regardless of which program I do at the Y, I am so uber bored twenty mintues into it, it's all I can do to stay on. Not to mention the uprights are pretty uncomfortable, and the recumbents aren't exactly mimicing a race. I kinda picked out a bike but haven't bought it. I got fitted when I did, and really like being on the aero bars more so than riding the hoods, but haven't bitten the bullet and bought it. I can't get excited about spending so much $$ on a piece of equipment I don't really want to use! But I could easily ride to work now, which is pretty appealing..

Run
I still can't believe I can run. And over two miles at a time! It's ridiculous, seriously. I really like running when my shins don't hurt, and of course, want to stop and never run again when they do. Hopefully by paying more attention to my form and less to my pace that'll subside. I'm a little concerned it'll just be a reocurring thing once I get into longer distances. I don't want to have to walk during a race because of it.

Misc
Overall, I'm really glad my friend convinced me to run a tri with her...(even though when I told her I would I didn't know what the three events were!).. it's been fun to start lifting weights again (used to in undergrad). The only negative thing with everything is an old rotator cuff injury has resurfaced. I'm guessing it's from a combination of swimming and the shoulder press machine. I've since cut that out, and try to pay attention to my right shoulder a little more than my left when in the water.

It seems like everyone is just plugging away which is great, keep it up!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=...

In case you guys didn't see this article on the front page it's worth checking out.

Edited by drewb8 2007-04-10 3:23 PM

Drew,

Signed up for a half-mary on May 6. My main concern is what do you recommend for nutrition, if any, during the race. Will the water and gatorade they provide give me enough calories to make it threw the whole race or should I plan on taking some gels with me?

Thanks,

Jeff

Its pretty much personal preference. In the race I did a couple of weeks ago some people just used what was on the course, I saw some people with fuel belts, one guy I know carried his own bottle of gatorade, and some used gels. I had a couple of gels and washed them down with water on the course and otherwise just got water & gatorade on the course.

But the main thing to remember is to experiment ahead of time to see what works. Try out different products (or nothing) during your long training runs to see what works for you. Everyone is different. You'll hear this again and again: Nothing New On Race Day! That isn't the time to find out that your stomach can't handle something. If you pushed me though, I would probably say take a gel or two. worst thing that happens is that they take a 13 mile trip.

Hey everyone, hope all is well!

Quick little update....I've been getting MUCH better at keeping up with my training. Not as many days off as I used to allow myself. This past week I got in my longest rub yet and also longest bike too! I also picked myself up an aerobar for my bike and used it saturday. It felt great to use it and kinda made me feel a tad more legit. The guy I bought them from gave me some great advice on interval training and so I am going to work that into my schedule at least once a week.

I also joined a tri club here in philly. They do group rides and such and I think it would be a great way for me too stay connected with the sport and find training buddies as well.

Also, since I hate running, I have decided to really push myself and train for the philly marathon this november. I figure my last tri will be aorund sept, so that will give me 2 1/2 months to train just for the marathon. I want to do it just cuz I know it will challenge me to do something I never thought possible.

Ok, so I hope everyone's training is coming along good. I'm getting pretty excited, I just want june to be here already!!!

Hope everyone is doing well. It's been pretty quiet here which is good.

I know a few of you said you were going to be folling trainnig plans from this site & I just thought I'd check & see what you think of them, how you are doing at following them. All that good stuff. Happy training!

I'm definitely not back completely, but I did survive my half-mary this weekend. I am paying for it though!! There were some little kids walking by as I was lying down on the sidewalk, trying to collect my bearings, and one of 'em asked his mommy if that man was ok...