Time To Get Fit - 2024

Climber said:
Outstanding job, Mike!

What did you do for recovery after your very active day? I know that many people kind of forget their training regimen on the day of competition, but you would have broken down a ton of cells throughout the day, all the more reason to provide protein and other building materials for recovery.
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I hit the hotel pool, took a hot shower and enjoyed some of the very appropriate schwag! We also hit this spot, aka the best not exactly Mexican burrito on earth. https://www.senorsisig.com/menu
 
I think the general approach to training for tris is to focus on the longest leg. After all, a 10% gain on 1hr25min is a lot more time than on 32min. Then after that, you focus on your weakest leg I think. So order of importance for training is run, transitions, swim, and bike.

Ya, transitions! How the hell do the pros go so fast there? Fancy equipment?
 
stangmx13 said:
I think the general approach to training for tris is to focus on the longest leg. After all, a 10% gain on 1hr25min is a lot more time than on 32min. Then after that, you focus on your weakest leg I think. So order of importance for training is run, transitions, swim, and bike.

Ya, transitions! How the hell do the pros go so fast there? Fancy equipment?
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Yup. That makes perfect sense.

The pros are so stupid fast at transition because of a mix of equipment and technique. The escape T1 time is a little different than some because the swim exit is pretty far away from the bike start. The run in between is considered part of the transition so being faster on that run would cut down my T1 time quite a bit. The pro's, and serious age groupers all wear a "tri suite" aka a spandex onesie under their wetsuit. At T1 they strip their wetsuit off, put on a helmet, put on cycling shoes, sometimes without sox sometimes with, and GO! I'm a little hung up on running in spandex onesie. I'll just own it :laughing It might be pure self consciousness and I might just be rationalizing but, I really prefer to run in running shorts, a cotton t and a hat. For whatever reason I don't mind full spandex ON A BIKE but running that way feels weird. So, I swim with my cycling shorts on under my wetsuit. I strip off my wetsuit, toss on my cycling jersey, put my shoes on and grab my bike. Fun fact, I still ride on platforms. I think I will need a proper bike fit to go clipless without pain. I also find cycling shoes MUCH to pointy and narrow for my feet. I switched to Altra's which have huge toe box and no drop. That has been soo much better for me.

Anyway, watching the Pro's in T2 is a sight. They take off there cycling shoes before they dismount but keep them clipped into the pedals. They do a flying dismount right at the line, run barefoot to rack their bike, take off their helmet, put on their running shoes and then just go. I do an outfit change. :laughing I have a sweet snuggie I throw on to hide my change into shorts, I can do that without taking off my shoes, put on my race belt, shirt and hat and then go. It definitely costs me a few minutes to do it that way. Maybe someday I'll get over the imposter syndrome and don a trisuite with clip ons. I think the biggest improvement I could make would be running 8:30-9:00 minute miles for the duration of the event. I'll probably need some real coaching to get there. Santa Cruz has a tri club that I have wanted to join but their meet times never quite fit with my parenting schedule. It's all a juggling act but this winters training will as run focused as I can stand. Unless I say fuck it all and just start lifting for aesthetics again, I think it might actually be easier. :laughing
 
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When you called out getting passed by everyone on the run, I figured you'd already be thinking of a plan to improve that leg. Sub 9:00 would be a huge chunk of time saved. Save another 5min in transition and you'd probably end up with a really competitive finishing time. Maybe just shorts over the tri-onsie :laughing

Check out Lake Cycling shoes. Or at least, check out their size chart to see their sizes in millimeters so that you can determine if you need wide shoes. Lake's regular widths are a little wider than most and their wide is really wide. There isn't that much time in riding clipless. But your feet and toes would definitely be less tired at the end of a "long" effort in stiff cycling shoes that are clipped in. So maybe the time is saved in the run. Shimano also sells most of their good shoes in a Wide.

Sizing Chart

We match the fit to the function of every shoe we make. The footwear comfort & performance needs of cyclists are not only dependent upon the type of riding they will do, but also their gender & how hard they ride.
www.lakecycling.com www.lakecycling.com
 
Mike95060 said:
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Welp, here it is. I'm honestly not sure what to think. I'm happy about some things and a little "meh" about others. The big swim improvement is really a result of a much shorter course this year. We had ripping current but, unlike last year, a lot of folks undershot the landing zone and ended up running to the swim exit. I found myself short about 500 yards short of the swim exit. It felt like cheating to get out so early and run to the exit, but I was only in about 3 ft of water at that point. I sorta split the difference and swam to some deeper water, did another 300 yards or so and then hopped out. You can see my pace spike up at the end that reflects my confusion.

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I swam with booties this year. That was a major help with the 800 meter or so run to transition 1. I'm a confirmed tenderfoot and cold feet on asphalt just kills me. My transition 1 time was a bit better this year i think because of the booties.

I always feel strongest on the bike. The stretch goal was under an hour. I missed that by about 6 minutes and 32 seconds. The ride felt "properly uncomfortable" aka, I was pushing. I think my heart rate reflects that pretty well. Strava says my average power was 187 watts for the ride. I'm pretty sure that's the biggest number I have seen. Cool! My bike set up was pretty uncommon for the event. I ran a 1x up front with a 38 tooth oval wolf tooth chain ring and an 11/32 cassette. I did use the 32 tooth granny on the steepest climbs. I'm on the fence weather or not a 34 tooth would let me spin more and climb a little faster. I was absolutely spun out on the descents. I don't think its significant though. Strava says my top speed was 43.2 mph and there is no way I was pedaling for that. I was in a full tuck and trying to recover my heart rate. I don't think I'm quite fit, or even skilled enough, to push much more on the down hill's. I did get into the 11 tooth for the flatter sections but never could quite spin it out there. I do think a 2X up front would be better for this event but, on this bike I'm pretty committed to a 1x. This is the same Blacksheep Ti bike I used for Rock Cobbler. It's my swiss army bike lol. If I wanted to stick with a 1x for this event I might do a 40 tooth up front with an 11/34 Cassette. View attachment 562349

And then the run! As much as I want to brag about not being passed on the bike, EVERYONE passed me back on the run. :laughing View attachment 562352

The Run course of this event is an adventure. Up, down, sandy, steps, a tunnel, athlete traffic, all the things. A single digit pace for the entire event is my goal. I didn't get there this year. I felt a bit cooked off the bike. It didn't help I forgot to fuel in transition 2. They don't allow gels on the coarse. They don't want to deal with the garbage and I don't blame them. I had 2 gels in T1 before the bike and wanted to take 2 more before the Run. I totally spaced and took none. Run fueling consisted of water and "Prime" for electrolytes. I don't like PRIME and have no idea what is in it. It's a sponsor of the event so, its that or water. I really wanted a coke :laughing

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So, all in all I'm not disappointed, but maybe feeling a little unsatisfied I didn't improve as much over last year as I would have hoped. The field at this event really impresses me. It's crazy how fast some people are. Anyone who can do this in under 3 hours has my utter respect. I think that will be my goal if I get picked for this again. I may have to come to terms about "competing" in a trisuit to reach that goal. :laughing It's a weird space to feel a little unsatisfied about a result and at the same time be stoked on participating and getting to enjoy all the best vibes. I think this is a special event and I am grateful to participate. Thanks for all the support guys. This is by far my favorite corner of our little online town square.

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Right on! good stuff
 
Way to go get it done Mike. Are you seeing what our 45-49 y/o friends are doing now? Nothing like what you just did....Legit, brother. Wall done and thanks for the inspiration. Keep sticking it to the kids when you can.
 
Holeshot said:
L-E-G-I-T on your Malibu hills run. JFC, no thanks on that for me. Gritty AF...congrats to you too!
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(y)

IIRC youre in that age group as well and i dont think youre jockeying a 600 anymore correct me if im wrong. Whats keeping your adrenaline at high capacity or a subsitute to keep mind and body strong?
 
And so... I was right. Got back on my anti-inflammatory diet (basically, no treats) and BAM! All aches and pains went away. Has to be some type of arthritis. Wrestled, grappled, fought and rolled around with sweaty, scary people from 11am-3pm on Saturday without issue. I guess this is my life now. I used to give myself Sunday for treats and didn't feel it horribly, but I'm gonna stay tight for another week, and see how next Sunday feels.
 
Back to the top with this thread!

The last week of my training block was a doozy. My Tuesday intervals were 3x20min and I did more power on all 3 than the previous weeks. During the Thursday MTB race, I cut a little more time to the leaders by riding better. Power was down a tiny bit, but I was fucking tired so I expected that. Then by my last 2 rides of the block on Sat/Sun, I was dead. They were supposed to be 4-5hrs of easy endurance each, but I managed to only do 4hrs on Sat and 3hrs on Sun before calling it quits. The coach says this was expected for the very end of a block, so it's all good.

My rest week was more enjoyable. The SO timed everything perfectly by planning a bikepacking trip to Catalina Island. We rode Thurs afternoon thru Sat morning. Thurs started with a 6mi 1600ft dirt climbing right from the start and totaled 23mi & 3300ft. Fri was 23mi & 2200ft before lunch and 17mi & 3200ft after lunch. And Sat was 17mi and 1700ft. All-in-all, we did about 80miles and 10000ft of climbing. There seems to not be a single flat bit of road or trail on Catalina Island. The 14%+ dirt climbs were FUN, and it didn't help that my bike weighed 45lbs with all the packs. But the pace was slow, so all that did actually fit into my rest week.

Campsite #1
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Campsite visitor. His name is George apparently.
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Random stop on Day 2
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Chilling before taking the ferry back
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I usually manage one great riding pic of the SO per trip
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The training plan is now going to be a VO2Max block starting tomorrow. It'll be a shorter 3 week block, meaning it'll probably hurt more. Then I'll be driving north for the Tahoe Trail 100K MTB race. I still have tons of prep to do before starting my race trip. My AirBnb's are booked, but most everything else still needs effort. The planning is make me more nervous than the training or race :LOL:
 
Not my fitness but my wife is an ultra runner. She’s worked her way up to a few 50k races this past year. On Sunday she ran the Broken Arrow 22k…basically a 14mi loop from the base of Palisades Resort to the top and back down to the base. I love going to her races and seeing her finish. I’m always so amazed at what she can do. It gets me pumped up to want to try a race with her. As far as my fitness is concerned I lift weights 5 days a week and run two days with her. Our runs are short for her but 5 miles each run is good for me. One thing that has shocked me is running hasn’t bothered my knees at all. 5 knee surgeries that included both ACLs is a result of a life of soccer (was lucky to play for my college and in some really competitive adult leagues in New Mexico and here in California). Anyway one of these days I will up my training and give one of the shorter trail races around Auburn a go to see if it’s something I want to do more of.
 
Ridley said:
Not my fitness but my wife is an ultra runner. She’s worked her way up to a few 50k races this past year. On Sunday she ran the Broken Arrow 22k…basically a 14mi loop from the base of Palisades Resort to the top and back down to the base. I love going to her races and seeing her finish. I’m always so amazed at what she can do. It gets me pumped up to want to try a race with her. As far as my fitness is concerned I lift weights 5 days a week and run two days with her. Our runs are short for her but 5 miles each run is good for me. One thing that has shocked me is running hasn’t bothered my knees at all. 5 knee surgeries that included both ACLs is a result of a life of soccer (was lucky to play for my college and in some really competitive adult leagues in New Mexico and here in California). Anyway one of these days I will up my training and give one of the shorter trail races around Auburn a go to see if it’s something I want to do more of.
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Do you think the lifting is helping your knees stay healthy?
 
stangmx13 said:
Do you think the lifting is helping your knees stay healthy?
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Absolutely it helps. What’s interesting is after my last surgery (2019) the Dr said I should restrict running to a treadmill because it lessens impact. At that time I had resigned myself to not running period because I was done chasing a ball around a field, and had no interest in running for the sake of running. Well, here we are, I’m running, not chasing a ball, and am actually enjoying it.
 
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