TT Cross Training Thread

“I need a workout. I feel foggy.”

“Swam 17 laps today. One beyond a 1/2 mile just in case I was mis-counting.



I will say . . . .without having run or biked first, the swimming went more easily. I am slow, that's for sure, but definetly felt like I could have kept going.


I alternated two laps of freestyle and 2 of breast stroke”

“My BF bought me swim goggles in hopes I'll eventually do a triathalon with him. I am really not interested in swimming, unless its jumping into his parent's pool on a warm day. That I'm cool with. Swimming laps or in a triathalon, no thanks.”

“you should at least just wear the goggles around, since he was so thoughtful to get them for you, Smiley.
;-D

i would love to swim on a regular basis, but the gyms with pools around here cost a million dollars to join. but maybe i'll join one when winter comes and i can't do as much outside stuff.”

“I did wear them once, and then they fogged up and I couldn't see anything.

But that's the other thing - where the heck am I gonna do this swim training? His parent's pool is pretty darn small and neither of us are members of a gym. Boys never think ahead.....”

“Don't ya hate when you lose count doing laps?

then you have to do a Penalty Lap and never know for sure if you did the right number of laps or one over the right number of laps!

Sheesh, I hate that!”

“I start off with the best of intentions Bobo .. .but then somewhere around lap 12 my mind wandered and I wasn't quite sure.


If I was actually trying to do 32 laps .. ..or more . .I would be really hopeless.”

“LOL!! details, details, Smiley!”

“Smiley - I think high schools often have open swim times. It seems I've seen that at South Lyon. Check at Novi H.S.?”

“My daughter insists on wearing goggles when she's at the pool. She also takes the sun easily, like me. You know where this is going, right?


Yes. The dreaded raccoon-eyes look. Poor kid.”

“No,no, lyra, no details. I was doing the dishes, I think, when they fogged up. Besides, how could those goggles could be sexy in any way? ;)


Dhutch, yeah, we could do that I suppose. I'm just trying to find a way out of it. :)”

“that is not what i meant, you freakin' perv! i meant that where in the world you're going to swim is a minor detail in the world of the BF. LOL!”

“SG, ya never know. Try just wearing them around your neck sometime, see how he responds.”

“oh, sorry! i get it now!

bitpusher, uh, no. not happening. :)”

“Oh come on. It'll at least be good for a laugh.”

“Now I know what I am in training for. I'm gonna do a century ride in the Ride for the Roses for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I have till 10/17 to get ready.”

“Cool, Pathman!”

“Excellent! Its good to have goals!”

“We did a "long" run last night...at least 40 minutes worth. Was a steady, but slow, pace, and man, am I feeling it this morning! Not sure the distance, but it had to be close to 4 miles. I was proud I kept up that pace the entire time, and even had enough gas to sprint at the end. Maybe that's whats hurting me this morning!”

“I've been too busy to get out all week. :( I've got to to start getting out in the morning instead of TT'ing, crinking coffee and watching news. I hate working out in the morning, though.”

“Ugh.


Did a great flatish ride last night. The flatest flatish ride I have been on.


It was 45.5 miles. I am not sure of ride time. Average speed was around 18 mph.


I was wiped out. My friend doesn't ride as frequently as me, but puts in as many miles because when he does ride he goes out long.

He was still good after 30 miles, and I was beginning to fade.

After 35 miles I was done and he was maintaining a killer pace on some flats .. . he was cranking 22-25 mph (which for me, at that point, was deadly).

I had a hard time keeping his wheel, finally lost it, which just made my job harder because I wasn't drafting.


The last 7 miles was ery very very long for me. My quads are feeling it today.




So.


I swam yesterday 1/2 mile and biked 45.5


However, my running, my swimming and my biking lacks . .. intensity.

I need to push myself harder (e.g. interval training), and go longer If I am going to be able to keep up.”

“I've gotta get out tomorrow. I've been too busy at work. I have to go in for a little while tomorrow, I think I'll bike in. Got a 27 mile loop mapped out.”

“Any of you monitor your heartrate?”

“I loaned my heart rate monitor to Sass. It's never been used. Someday when I have more time to pore over the literature and take those moments each workout to set and review maybe I'll use it. But for now I use my built in computer system to monitor my exertion level. I'm sure it's not as accurate but as long as I'm making progress....”

“I rode 31 miles yesterday, 11 to work, 20 home with a 14 mile 1% grade. I really died in the heat. The high yesterday was 95, but my cyclometer read up to 113 in the sun. I only averaged 12mph, need to get to 15.”

“I've always based my pace on perceived exertion, which is supposed to translate pretty well to %MHR for the amateur.”

“I just found this article, pretty much what I use, using the perceived exertion to determine what zone I am in.

Cycling article about training zones”

“Ran yesterday. 35 minutes. It was 88 degrees and humid, so I tried to keep it slowish.

I kept my hrt rate under 150 bpm except going up hills, and ran in the deep shade.


The route I follow is along the CT River, so it is a little cooler along the water, and gets a lot of shade from the trees.

The ramps up the bridges,a nd over the dike are my hills .. .and they are of course completed exposed to the sun, so my hrt rate popped up to 165.

On the last leg, up a ramp over the dike, back down, and then up the handicapped ramp onto the bridge and back across the river is all in the sun and a lot (relatively) uphill, so for the last 7 minutes it was pegged at the 165 mark.


Once I heat up on a hot day I can't coool back down unless I stop and walk . ..i bonk pretty quickly.



Today is swimmming.


Tomorrow morning I will ride. Tomorrow afternoon lift.”

“Define "bonk" please!”

“Bonk is like "boink" but without the "i" . .


No .. .it isn't like that at all.


Bonking is an actually physical event. As opposed to a mental event.


It is a breakdown of your energy supply so that you can no longer move.


Your legs turn to lead, you're dizzy, you cramp, you can't go another step.


It is not a mental ("i've hit the wall"), or a lack of training ("I ache, I'm sore, I'm out of breath), it is a pysical thing.


I associate it with not being fueled properly: not hydrating properly on any day, but especially a hot day. On hot day, if you are going to be out for more than 30 minutes using a performance drink product (e.g Gatorade)can stave off bonking. Eating correctly.

For instance. A salad for lunch washed down by a few sips of ice tea could lead to bonking in a hard spin class or run an hour or two afterwards.


Eating a proper amount of carbohydrates (fuel) and hydrating appropriately for the conditions abd activley can stave off bonking. Hydrating and eating during longer endurance activities is a MUST to stave off bonking. If you are out for more than an hour or so it is critical to keep a steady supply of fuel coming. MOre than just simple water. There is a real need for carbs with perhaps a little protein. EG GU, Clif Bar, Gatorade etc.


Don't go off the deep end and wash down 5 GU packs with a quart of gatorade or you will crash .


This does not mean eating a burger and french fries before every run.


Lance armstrong bonked last year on a mountain stage. He was chronically dehydrated. NO matter how much he drank he could get enough fluid into his tissues. And then he passed by a food pick up without grabbing a food bag. He went into the last climb of the day and almost lost the enture tour. When the road went up, he just stopped moving. Ullrich and the others took significant time out of him. He almost fell right off the bike but managed to will himself through it.

I think of bonking as being what happens when you use up all of your available fuel, which doesn't happen for at least an hour of hard exercise, so for most of us, it will never be an issue. Tired legs, out of breath . . .THOSE are my issues!!!!”

“Folks on the low-carb diets are especially prone to bonking.”

“I've added carbs back to my diet. All whole grain, no sugar though.

Nice predawn ride, 2 hours at zone 2.

Peloton Project”

“Pathman, why didn't you tell us about this earlier?! We just mailed a check to the same organization two days ago! I wish it coulda been through you. Will you still be accepting donations next month?”

“There was a thread on it from last week, Sass. Bummer!”

“oh, I was up north with no computer. =(”

“So yeah, back to bonking, I don't think I've ever truly experienced that. Well, maybe once when I was on the low-carb diet and tried to exercise. It sucked - I could barely do anything.”

“Thanks for the interest! Deadline for 2004 is 8/27. :(

I got a late start, but still wanted to do it. If you can help, great, if not, I appreciate you consindering it

Peloton Project

BTW, are the people you know going to Austin for the Ride Weekend?”

“Yah SG .. Under normal circumstances it might take you an hour to bonk .. .

but if you were tired, it was really hot, you were on a low carb diet etc etc that could certainly do it!”

“I did it.

Swam one mile. 32 laps in a 25 meter pool.

Took me the better part of an hour (maybe 45 minutes).

Alternated 2 laps of crawl and 2 of breastroke. Somewhere in the middle I mixed in 2 sets of 4 straight laps of crawl to speed things up.

Am not trying for speed though . . just trying to put some time in swimming . . .build up endurance.


I am not sure about he endurance thing though . . . .I don't knw how to do flip turns so I get a brief hang on the side before pushing off at every turn. Also, at least every third length I have to empty my goggles.

A lot of resting .. .certainly not an open water swim!!”

“I bonked in the heat the other day. The air temp was 95, my cyclometer said 113 at one point. 14 mile 1-2% grade. At that point I found a shady little park with a water fountain, drank, soaked my neck, legs and arms, cooled off before I went farther.”

“I don't know anyone but you doing the ride, we just donated to Lance Armstrong's foundation. I'm really sorry I missed your announcement.”

“Sass-Catch ya' next year. I'll be getting an earlier start now that I know more about it.


I bought Chris Carmicheal's (The guy who coaches Lance)training book "The Ultimate Ride". It says it can be used by all levels of cyclists, but there is some very advanced stuff in there! There is a free trial membership to CTS, a company he started to bring his methods to the masses. "4.95 registration fee" and you have to actively cancel. LOL. I thought it would be worth it given I have 2 1/2 months to get ready. One motto is "less pain, more gain". It focuses on building aerobic fitness as a foundation and limiting but focusing your training.

In a discussion board, somebody suggested Total Trainer as a functional training log, although focused on triathalon.

You adventure racing people may want to look a Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon. Bike, Run, Ski, Snowshoe. They have a team category too, "TT Trail Nuts"?”

“odd, the URL looks right.

Mt. Quad”

“Walked outside with my rollerblades last night, but changed my mind and got my running shoes instead. 30 min run at a nice pace (probably just over a 10 minute mile - but just having a steady pace is a good thing for me!). Ran by myself for a change. I enjoyed it.”

“rode this morning.

1:20 24 miles. Avg speed 16.

Felt okay on the ride in spite of a lousy night's sleep.




Will lift and stretch at the gym today”

“I was supposed to do a baseline field test (Max hr, ave hr, time for three miles, two trials) but got chased off the road by lightening after the first one. Found a good uninterupted three mile stretch of road, 800 ft climb in three miles. The only problem was that I was the tallest thing for miles on the high desert plain, and sitting on an aluminum lightening rod.
It started pooring just as I got to the car. As hard as I pushed, couldn't get my HR above 158.”

“I ran 33 minutes yesterday (usual route +/- 3.75 miles)

Was supposed to ride this morning but didn't . . .lack of sleep.”

“same story here lee. Gonna get a good ride in tomorrow. I'll ride around town, hit all the bike shops to drop off LAF flyers, pass out flyers to people on the bike trails.

Peloton Project”

“Ha ha y'all I have a bad case of "food poisioning" today and amazing enough, ended up at my parent's house for a mini vacation. G and I are headed out for a nice run as soon as the zucchini bread is done, I have to take it out of the oven. I love playing hookey....”

“well dayum, that's a crazy coincidence, smiley! sounds like a fun weekend. :-)

Pathman, you are a man on a mission!”