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Base Training BRICKs

guest — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:08:34 GMT

Hi,

I've got a fun year planned with (B)Escape from Alcatraz in June, (a)Half Vineman in July, transition, (b) Santa Cruz Oly in September, (A) IM Arizona in November.

My annual plan is about 500 hours.

I had a great experience today -- a super Brick on a great sunny day 50.5 Bike, 10.7 Run -- 5:07 total time - with a 4:30 transition.

To me it felt good, low stress not to hard, aerobic except for some hills here and there.

I practiced nutrition -- Perpeteum, and Clif Shots on the Bike -- Gels and and water on the run.

This is something I might do one during each "Base" extending it a little longer (I'm in Base 2 now on my calendar).

But a lot of what I read is telling me the run is too long. But to me it feels like pretty honest training.

Just looking for some feedback/discussion from folks is a 50/10 Brick too aggressive on the run?

I suppose rate of recovery has a lot to do with it,..

What are other folks doing?

Thanks,

Josh

Re: Is 15 weeks enough to train for a 1/2 Ironman?

guest — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:59:34 GMT

i'm a rookie too. I'm 38 and a father - so time challenged, but had regained solid fitness in 2009.

Just did my first Half IM last weekend - had a couple of friends doing it so I made the jump. I had done my first Olympic in Nov.

Race day I was sick and it was super windy - it took me an hour longer than I planned. My training gave me confidence. My fitness let me push my body, and mental toughness kept me from quitting,

My start point was regularly swimming twice a week, and running 3-4 times week around 20 miles. I was biking some - commuting, and taking occasional short rides on my road bike 10-20 miles.

Biking was and is my weakest sport. I can hold sub 8 for 10K or longer.

I ran my first Half Marathon on Feb 7, 2010 - at 8:19 pace - but i had pulled a hammy first week of jan so that was a little slower than i had hoped,

Still I was over 10 at the Half IM

I also used Joe Friel's book - I had 9 weeks.

6 days a week - always took monday off. bike-run T/Th - swim/weights W, yoga friday, swim/long i bike Sat, long bike sunday.

tuesday i concentrated on a longer bike with speed work in the run, and thursday i did a shorter bike with speed work, and longer run a little slower.

i used a trainer for these rides b/c i started in the 5AM hour-- prior to work. but the runs were outside usually.

i threw in some elliptical if i was too beat up for the tuesday run, and some occasional barefoot treadmill too.

yoga was awesome for coordinated strength, balance and flexibility.

my longest swim was 2K in 45 minutes, longest bike was 46M ( too short ), longest run 14.5 ( about right)

I went for negative splits on all long runs -- throwing down 7:20s for the last 2-3 miles usually.

i wish i ran after every long bike. my schedule did not permit it...

you've got to see how you run glycogen depleted.

Base 1 - peak at 10 hours cardio, Base 2 peak at 12.5 hours cardio.

Week 4/8 were recovery weeks, cut volume by 40% -- let your body rest and recover before moving forward.

train with the fuel you will use during the race. never let yourself be hungry or thirsty just maintain intake.

eat carbs and protein and stretch within 1 hour of all workouts.

if you're starting from "endurance" fit, 15 weeks will be great!

Write out your training plan and log it - you'll be ready.

Good Luck.

Re: 70.3 with a Head Cold anyone?

guest — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:34:38 GMT

slowly on the mend... i took it very easy this week. 1 swim, 1 run, some walking, kids soccer practice -- i think i'll get a few hours in this weekend.

the head cold got a lot worse in the days after the race but seem so to be fading. it's a solid 2 weeker with no antibiotics. kids seem to be fine. and mom is a few days ahead of me.

we're doing a potty training party for my daughter this weekend -- now that is an event that requires training

i'm looking forward for to full health and resuming training for the oly's in june!

Re: 70.3 with a Head Cold anyone?

guest — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 04:49:50 GMT

Thanks for your comments. Sara I read yours before the race (while I was congested and not sleeping).

It reminded me to use a Netipot with saline that we had travelled with. It cleared me up just enough to get some sleep.

Sunday I got up a little early and steamed up the shower which helped clear my head.

My friend then told me that if this was a hot day that would have been a really bad idea because I would sweat more.

As fate would have it -- heat would not be a problem. I probably would skip this in retrospect since the swim is first...

I took some naproxen to help keep sinus swelling down all day. And I figured it couldn't hurt for the race anyway.

Saline nasal spray would have helped, but I couldn't get it in time.

The race...Well I guess I know why it was called the Windman.

Los Banos is like wind tunnel. The temperature never got about the low 50's, and there was wind advisory and a storm rolling in.

The wind was a steady 15-30 with even larger gusts. Occasional drops of rain but thankfully I beat the downpour.

The swim went well and helped clear my head, but the bike ride in the wind was hard - regardless of the cold. I just stayed zone 2 all the way and monitored my calories - about 250-300.

It took over 4 hours. The wind held me to 9-12mph heading South. I might as well have been climbing a hill. By the middle I felt like a little kid with a runny nose and windburn.

I kept reminding myself everyone was dealing with the same weather. Only the cold was my extra special bonus today.

I also had bike difficulty - my cadence sensor got knocked over a little bit when I had to glide through some water leaving the reservoir. This is an interesting course. You actually have to take your shoes out of the clips and hoist up your feet and hold the wheel steady and cruise through about 8-10 inches of water for about 50 feet getting out and back in to the reservoir area. Anyway, my cadence sensor stopped working after that and I noticed climbing the first hill after transition. But instead of stopping and checking it I kept going. Rookie move - it turned out my cadence sensor was shifted and brushing against the left crank for the next 50 some odd miles. I figured that out during the post-race bike inspection at home. Better than a flat tire though ;-)

The bike course was desolate, mostly farms and farm animals and an occasional guy with stopwatch that I would yell my number to as I passed. If the weather was better and I was at full health I would have really liked that.

But on loop #1 at 10 mph into the wind I was wondering what the heck I was doing with a runny nose soaking wet looking at farm animals all alone in the central valley.

But when I got to the return leg of loop 1 with the wind at my back and slight downhill grade I got up to about 23 and I realized I would be able to do this.

By loop 3 I entertained myself by assuming the cows were laughing at me, wondering if I was lost.

As I made the turn to head back the three miles to the reservoir after the loops, I was worried that breathing to hard would irritate my chest so I was very conscious of staying in a low gear and keeping my breathing easy.

I almost tricked myself into quitting. But I remembered my friend and coach had asked me what I would do when I came back from the bike spent. I responded with my best inspirational stuff -- I thought about what I wrote.

When I got back to T2 my wife and children were there ;-) and that recharged me. I took a slower transition, had a gel and guzzled about 8 oz of water.

And I set out on the slow zone 3, 13.1 trail run through the hills in the wind.

I ran with my windbreaker -- which was also a rookie move - I can't believe I did that. I tied it to my waste within a mile.

The run consisted of 2 short loops and 2 long loops. So I finally got to see some of the competitors that I had not seen since the swim.

I had two friends in the race. I got see them both while we were doing the run loops; that helped alot.

I ran slower than normal with water in my hand which I sipped to keep my throat moist.

All the Oly's and sprinters were gone. There were my friends and our families waiting and cheering when I finished. Only two other bikes remained.

And on the way drive out we saw the last bike still coming in!

There were 20 people who signed up for this half course. I don't know how many competed or finished.

So I solidly fall in the camp of yes you can go 70.3 with a head cold.

I concentrated on going steady, not quitting, not letting my mind trick me into quitting because I was too sick. I reminded myself pushing too hard would have made me feel worse.

I finished in 6:56 -- about an hour slower than I hoped but I finished. And I was happy with my 34 minute swim.

My cold is probably not much worse today than it would be otherwise either. The kids are better of-course.

And I was able to cover car clean up and kiddie bedtime last night while mom inhaled peppermint infused steam.

I cleaned the kitchen got to work on time today.

I sat down at my desk and had a cup of theraflu and went about my day....

Thanks,

Josh

70.3 with a Head Cold anyone?

guest — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:09:42 GMT

I signed up for my first Half Ironman and completed a challenging training program. I felt fast, lean and confident like an endurance machine looking forward to a two week taper of 7 and 3 hours.

And of-course 5 days before the race my beautiful 2 yr old daughter brings home a cold - which wallops pregnant mommy, big brother and wannabe Iron dad...

Now I'm stuck caring for the whole house and can barely rest. About all I can do is drink tons of fluids and eat endless fruits and vegetables.

Bottom line is I really really want to race on Sunday, and I would have to take a turn for the worse to not.

Doc thinks it's ok - given my general good health. But I thought it might be nice to get advice from someone who has been through a 70.3 mile event.

Any advice in terms of fluid intake, monitoring heart rate, adjusting race plans?

Thanks,

Josh

Re: Inside Ankle Soreness - What could it be?

guest — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:04:47 GMT

It turned out to be the cushiony socks. Weird. I don't have the problem with thin socks.

Re: Inside Ankle Soreness - What could it be?

guest — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:29:00 GMT

Thank you for responding. I've got about 100 miles on the Asics and was thinking of trying a neutral or cushion shoe next time. But now I am thinking of trying the the old shoes again just to close that loop. I did get new "cushiony" running socks when I got my new shoes.

Prior to that I ran with laughable tube socks... So I guess I should

try a few consecutive runs with the old thin tube socks to see if that has something to do with it.

I run primarily on paved trail. I have several routes all start with uncambered but hilly sidewalks to get me into golden gate park. Once in Golden Gate Park it is either paved or non-paved trail The non-paved is a variable surface mostly dirt with sandy and rocky patches.

Unpaved surface is more available to me on longer runs so I tend to use it more often now. Commonly I loop Stowe Lake on a paved trail going clockwise, I could try the other way...

Inside Ankle Soreness - What could it be?

guest — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:48:26 GMT

Hi,

I'm new to running in 09. I started in January just as a way to get in shape and slowly added about 1 mile or so every couple of months. I've been very slow to build over the year and never really had any

issue. My left knee ACL is shot so I've taken it slow. In July my knee bothered me on a 7.5 mile run. I went to get new shoes and they showed me how worn out my shoes were. I got new shoes and switched from the Brooks Adrenaline GTS to the Asics GT2140; the shoes felt better in the store. My knee feels great, but I noticed ever since I got the new shoes that I feel some ankle soreness. I notice even after a few days off. Particularly if I've knocked out some good distance or several days in a row. The pain/soreness start on the inside of my left ankle on top, and I can feel the soreness extending up about 4 inches on the inside of my leg if I massage up along the bone. The pain is not sharp and doesn't prevent me from running. It doesn't bother me very much on the run. But sometimes I notice

2 days later even after a rest day so I give it a break - swim, bike, elliptical or

rest.

I've also added about 2 miles to my long runs since then. I used to loop GGP on Sunday morning, now I've added in the Panhandle. I'm running about 10-20 miles a week, but weeks that I run 10 I'm on the elliptical for the other 10.

Has anyone out there had any issues like this? Any advice? I'm hoping this is me on the wrong shoes, and not me pounding my bones into submission...

Thanks,

Josh

Re: Walt Stack 10K Reviews

guest — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:01:48 GMT

This was my first race. I thought it was great. Decent size group and it seemed like a fun/supportive group. The course was easy if not a little crowded -- you have to share crissy field with everyone else. The kids race after was fun - my three year old got to run the 1/2 mile afterwards (with mom) which was a treat. So two first races in the family! I will definitely run in dserunners events in the future. Good intro race for me and I just learned the difference between race pace and my training runs. 10K seems like a really good distance for fitness training.

I have no idea how to rate this compared to other races since it was my first.