It was recovery week for the Vineman team, so we did the Del Dios ride with the Wildflower Olympic team. Goal was about 26 miles on the bike and then follow with a 30-45 minute run. We started out at Solona Beach at Fletcher cove and followed S6 east to Rancho Road. There was a big group of us to start but we soon bunched up into pace groups. The ride was a bit hilly with a nice climb up towards the Lake Hodges dam and it was a pleasant day with just the right amount of breeze to keep the heat off.
Conditioning my body to run after a long ride is still something that I struggle with, even after training a number of seasons for triathlons. It does get easier, but it still takes time for me to get get adjusted mentally and physically. If I am not too tired from the bike, I seem to transition into my run pace after about a mile, but when I get beat up on a ride, my struggle seems to go on for many miles.
I took a number of pictures, but I did not get them uploaded yet due to lack of time.
One thing about triathlons is that sometimes you end up with a sore back after a long training ride or a brick workout. Being tucked in an aero position for a long time really tweaks my back and neck. Follow that with a long run and I am hitting the ice, heat, and Advil. There are days I wake up after an event or a hard training day where I feel like I was run over by a train during the night. No fun, that’s for sure! And it shouldn’t even be that way…
Sometimes the pain is long term caused by an injury or a compressed or inflamed disk. Good stretching technique on the bike or during a run can reduce to eliminate back soreness but prevention is the best. BeingHealthy has some everyday tips on how to prevent back pain allowing you to perform at your best. Maintaining a healthy back should be a fundamental component of any training program and I have strived to incorporate many of these tips into my daily routines. Take heed!
Triathlon training isn’t a weight loss program. Though I tend to track the number of calories burned during a training session, thanks to my Garmin Forerunner 305, it is really more of a gage of the level of effort and fitness for the session. It also helps me to get a better handle on nutrition needs while training so that I don’t bonk.
Many starting out in Triathlons either overestimate or under estimate their nutrition needs. There is much general guidance on what you need during a multi-hour session, but it is important to determine what your body needs. Some longer rides may consume more than 3500 calories — a caloric “pound” — and during the actual half-ironman distance event, I may break 5000 calories or more. So having the proper quantity and quality of nutrition is fundamental to having a successful race. I still have much to learn about proper nutrition so I strive to educate myself whenever possible.
If I am able to take in the right foods, I don’t have to worry about my caloric intake. And in The Weight Loss Hype: Why Counting Calories Never Works, Kathy Freston points out that studies show that most people end up where they originally started when they only diet by counting calories. Instead, a lifestyle change of switching to a low-fat, high fiber diet leads to long term success. However, a very-low-fat diet is not exactly ideal for endurance training but switching to the right balance of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates (such as in a ratio of 20-30-50) in ideal for sustained fuel during an event and to enhance recovery after. And with the right stuff going in, I only have to keep an eye on my burn to ensure that I can carry through a 7 or 8 hour event.
Tonight was spin followed by swim. The Lavaman team has already shipped their bikes to Kona and most fly out tomorrow, so tonight it was just a few of us working up an intense sweat.
Coach Trent pulled out all the stops and threw in some new intervals, which was great as it kind of changed up the routine, but it was bad because the new intervals really worked me hard.
My training profile is interesting and got over 90% of max heart rate towards the end. We started out with a normal spin warm-up where we increase the cadence every 30 seconds or so. Topped out at 135 before we relaxed and spun easy. Then we had ILTs on each leg. Then for a twist, we did a pyramid interval where we had to spin at 110 rpm for 30 sec, then recover for 30 sec, then spin for 45 sec, then recover for 45 sec, then 60 sec, then recover for 60 sec and so on up to 2 minutes at the end. I was getting up in the high HR zone near the end of the interval. We ended the spin with standing intervals. Stand for a few minutes, sit for 15 seconds but keeping the cadence, and so on. Then move to a harder gear while maintaining the cadence and repeat the interval until rubber legs…
1 hr of spin took its toll and I was dragging in the pool. I got a decent workout in, but I am going to have to spend much more time in the water. I am looking forward to the ocean swim on Sunday and maybe the weather will cooperate.
Brett Cornwright posted a great article with some great tips for how to do group rides. These are especially valuable for brand new riders as going on a ride with 30 or more cyclists can be rather daunting, but they are also a great refresher for experienced riders who tend to forget some of these things.
For me, tip 11 is dead on as it is about getting dropped which is often a major concern of new riders. I have been there a few times myself and it can really take a great day into the gutter. But as Brett states, everyone gets dropped sometimes! The key is to settle in a group that is comparable to your own abilities. Don’t try to hang with the ” A”cers if you can’t sustain the pace. It is better to have something left at the end of a ride rather than to burn-out half-way through trying to keep the pace, as Brett points out in tip 14.
So check out more great group riding tips!
Go team!
Your support is needed in helping me reach my goal of helping honoured team-mate Alfred Duron and others by raising donations for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through my efforts to complete the Vineman Ironman 70.3 Triathlon with Team In Training. Please donate to the cause. Anything you can give will make a difference, whether it is as little as $5 or as much as $500. Cancer doesn’t stop because the economy is bad. Alfred and others still ned our help and our commitment.
I still have a long way to completing the half-ironman event. But Alfred has an even longer way to go to win his battle. His is a daily fight — a fight of life or death. With your help a cure might be found.
Tonight is swim at La Jolla HS. But tonight I have to work late on some production changes for my company, so I am not going to go to swim.
I will get back on track on Wednesday with Spin and Swim. Tuesday night I am going to run.
It is reported that Lance Armstrong crashed today near the end of the first stage of the Vuelta Ciclista Castilla y Leon race. He broke his right collarbone when he went down with a group of riders.
Crashing on a bike can be a painful and unnerving experience. You start to second-guess your skills and often your confidence is shaken. I have been fortunate that most of my crashes have been slow speed unable-to-unclip-fast-enough crashes where you fall in what feels like slow motion and you end up with scraped or bruised shoulder, arm, or hip. I did have a crash a few years ago where I was taking a corner and my front tire went flat. I went down pretty hard, cracked my helmet and luckily was not hit by the car that was right behind me. To this day I get a bit twitchy taking corners too fast.
I hope that Lance has a speedy recovery and is back to conquering soon.
A fast moving winter storm just dumped a bunch of rain on San Diego. It seems to have already moved on for the most part, but the swim is cancelled due to the run-off. Bacteria levels often reach unhealthy levels after storms, so the precaution is to not go into the ocean. Only people who will be out there in the next day or two are the hard-core surfers…
Canceling swim has an impact on the Wildflower team since their race is only about 6 weeks away. Those of us on the Vineman team will have plenty of opportunities to spend time in the ocean.
Today’s ride was tough! It started out on the cool side but by noon the sun was out and it was warming up to being almost hot. 40 miles and many hills with more than 2500′ of elevation makes for rubber legs. Rough calculations show calorie burn of more than 4000 but we completed the ride in 3h 10m so the estimated pace is a much slower than I would have liked. Unfortunately my Forerunner 305 is acting up and I can’t seem to pull the actual data off for today’s ride.
I feel a bit wiped out now. My quads and neck are sore, so it is going to be a long recovery day for me.
