The Triathlon thread - Ironman, 70.3, Olympic, Sprint

The Triathlon thread - Ironman, 70.3, Olympic, Sprint

Author
Discussion

Rich_W

12,548 posts

211 months

Sunday 6th July 2014
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lost in espace said:
Anyone else entered the Jensen Button tri at Luton Hoo? There is swim training on Friday!
I did that the first year. 2012. It's too short for my tastes tbh.(300m/11k/2.5K) Was expensive IIRC even by HR standards.

Due to the JB angle it attracted newbie, anti social knobs. Example being, set up in Transition came back to find my neighbour had moved my bike and my gear up the rail so he could be where I had been. In the process changing my gear shifters (so of course onto bike and crunch crunch as it shifted up) and breaking the elastic bands for my shoes. Lots of all the gear/richer than yow types. Nothing terminal but still ttty!

It's a nice idea the BBQ and crap music. But the execution was poor. I don't need/want either of those things and I also dislike being unable to leave when I've finished because the car park is in the middle of the bike course. Which was also roughly a km and a bit over a small hill on long grass from the start area. Not great for my retired father who'd come along.

They have the space to do a proper sprint but they did't. Jenson was floating about, but didn't exactly make effort to talk to people. He an his Mrs had a special marked off transition area. It was huge like 6 normal areas, carpeted just for them. And he dnf'ed the 2nd race.

Waters clear though and given how short the race is, I'd say non wetsuit. And it's deceptively hilly. Not really a need for a tt bike if you can stick to a road bike.

I wouldn't repeat. Sorry to be negative. Maybe this year will have solved all that

VR6T Gar

614 posts

122 months

Sunday 6th July 2014
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My other halves sister just won the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt!

While she was doing that I was in bed nursing a stag do hang over laugh

drgav2005

960 posts

218 months

Sunday 6th July 2014
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944fan said:
Thanks greg and drgav for the tips. I seem to sweat a fair bit even when I am taking it easy so need a lot of fluid. I have bought some bigger 800ml bottles and also a dual chamber aero bottle which holds 1 lt in one chamber and half a litre in the other. Think you can dump a load of packets of gel mixed with water in the small one and feed without coming out of aero.

So with the cardiac drift do I ignore it for now, or try and keep my HR lower earlier on so when it does drift it stays in zone 2?

Has anyone used the Joel Friel book? I am a little confused about how you set out the weekly sessions. It says that the volume and intensity are down to the individual and should be set by yourself. It doesn't really give any idea on how to judge that. Just plenty of warnings that if you over do it you will get injured, ill,and burnout.

Currently I am upto 3hour/50 mile rides and 1hr 45 / 9 mile runs. Do I just add say 10% on both each week during base phases?
My coach has me working pretty much all the time in HR zones, so I'd suggest starting off a little easier and keeping in zone. It's made a massive difference in my fitness (especially for running) and I can chug along quite happily in my zone 2 (up to 149 bpm) without my HR changing too much. Issue I have now is turning my legs over fast enough to bump me into tempo / threshold / VO2 max zones now! The longer you train in your zones the less noticeable your drift will be - but at the end of the day when your body is tired your CV system will have to work a little harder at keeping you going.

The Joe Friel book sounds a bit disappointing - I'd be looking for much more specific advice! I used Don Fink's book for my first IM and would highly recommend it. It has 3 plans; a get you round, intermediate and competitive plans. All are clearly laid out giving precise times and zones for your training. I did the intermediate plan last year and I thought it was very well structured. The 10% increase in time per week is generally considered a good rule of thumb. Just make sure you have (at least) one day off per week as a total rest day. Your body uses this time to adapt to the previous training load and this is where you get your fitness gains.

beer

drgav2005

960 posts

218 months

Sunday 6th July 2014
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baxb said:
Good stuff Gavin, had a mate do IM Austria at the weekend (same mate I did it with last year, was with me when we met picking up bikes Gavin). Undertrained & suffering with the usual calf problems you get after turning 40 so hadn't done anywhere near the volume of run training req'd, but made one small error in prep which was forgetting to bring a water bottle to put on the bike to get you to 1st aid station 20k in. This meant that he was roughly 2 hours into the race before taking on any fluids & you just cannot catch up on that.

So he ended up keeling over 8k into the run with dizziness, pins & needles etc. But there is very little that can't be solved in an IM by a bit of a rest & sit down, so after a while he got up & carried on, taking on as much fluid & eating as much watermelon as possible to drag himself round to the finish. That was IM #8 for him yet still made a schoolboy error.
Hi Brendan - hope you are doing well!

OMG - I bet that was tough, I wouldn't fancy the first 20k without any fluids - especially if the weather was like last year. Much kudos on dragging himself round.

I've got a plan in place to sort out last year's mistakes but no doubt I'll make some new ones this year biggrin

944fan

4,962 posts

184 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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drgav2005 said:
The Joe Friel book sounds a bit disappointing - I'd be looking for much more specific advice!

beer
I chose that book because a most of the generic plans were too generic and didn't meet my requirements.

The Friel book is good for making you recognise what your limiters are and to focus on them. I think its actually just badly edited. You have to flip back and forth between chapters to find the information you need. Could be laid out better.

Mike Random

466 posts

169 months

Wednesday 9th July 2014
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Can anybody suggest some half IM events in March/April ? Work commitments prevent me from doing anything during the summer.

Cheers

Mike


Gatsby

1,311 posts

235 months

Thursday 10th July 2014
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I've been a bit quiet in terms of commenting here (still reading everyone's updates though) and actually participating this year. Had a couple of sportives and run races but no actually tris which has been a real shame. I just couldn't get the dates together frown

However, looking to go to half IM next year so have looked at a couple of events and already marked the dates off in advance!!

I was wondering if anyone can recommend any of the plans on Training Peaks at all or whether it's better to get the Fink book?

Sarkmeister

1,664 posts

217 months

Thursday 10th July 2014
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Mike Random said:
Can anybody suggest some half IM events in March/April ? Work commitments prevent me from doing anything during the summer.

Cheers

Mike
I think you may have to go abroad for a Half Iron so early in the year, as the open water venues will be pretty cold.

Mike Random

466 posts

169 months

Thursday 10th July 2014
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Sarkmeister said:
Mike Random said:
Can anybody suggest some half IM events in March/April ? Work commitments prevent me from doing anything during the summer.

Cheers

Mike
I think you may have to go abroad for a Half Iron so early in the year, as the open water venues will be pretty cold.
More then happy to travel, it is a real pain that work prevents me doing summer events.

Mike

sammyboy

394 posts

208 months

Friday 11th July 2014
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I want to do my first Triathlon soon, sprint or Olympic distance. I'm a good runner and cyclist and would be comfortable at Olympic distance but the swim is where I would need to train so might have to do a sprint this time.

I was thinking the HSBC Triathlon in September run my HR but I am running up Mt Snowden the week before and it seems the HR events are quite expensive according to people on here? Any one got any other races I can look at at the back end of August and in September?

Thanks smile

Rich_W

12,548 posts

211 months

Saturday 12th July 2014
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Never done one of their events but

http://www.f3events.co.uk/general/triathlons

May have something. Where are you in the country?

sammyboy

394 posts

208 months

Monday 14th July 2014
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Rich_W said:
Never done one of their events but

http://www.f3events.co.uk/general/triathlons

May have something. Where are you in the country?
Thanks Rich, I'm based in Essex/ London.

They look really good and what I was looking for.


drgav2005

960 posts

218 months

Monday 14th July 2014
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Mike Random said:
Can anybody suggest some half IM events in March/April ? Work commitments prevent me from doing anything during the summer.

Cheers

Mike
Hi Mike - have a look at The Challenge events ( http://www.challenge-family.com/category/races/ ) - one in the Canary islands in April... or ICAN Malaga (http://www.icantriathlon.com) - couple of pals did this this year and loved it.

Check here for more options: http://trimapper.com/triathlon-calendar/

drgav2005

960 posts

218 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Gatsby said:
I've been a bit quiet in terms of commenting here (still reading everyone's updates though) and actually participating this year. Had a couple of sportives and run races but no actually tris which has been a real shame. I just couldn't get the dates together frown

However, looking to go to half IM next year so have looked at a couple of events and already marked the dates off in advance!!

I was wondering if anyone can recommend any of the plans on Training Peaks at all or whether it's better to get the Fink book?
Hi Gatsby,

I originally started on the 'tri-ripped' plan by Ben Greenfield on TP. It's very detailed but in the end stuck with the Don Fink book for the first IM - following the intermediate plan which was manageable. beer

drgav2005

960 posts

218 months

Monday 14th July 2014
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2 weeks to go - taper baby!

Blog updated: www.drgironman.blogspot.co.uk

Wishing everyone luck with your upcoming training and races!

beer

baxb

421 posts

191 months

Monday 14th July 2014
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Good read Gav, what tubs have been suggested to you ? i've been plagued with punctures this year & need to sort out some clinchers as training wheels, but need (another !) two new tyres this week for long ride on Sunday.

Ta beer

drgav2005

960 posts

218 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
baxb said:
Good read Gav, what tubs have been suggested to you ? i've been plagued with punctures this year & need to sort out some clinchers as training wheels, but need (another !) two new tyres this week for long ride on Sunday.

Ta beer
Cheers Brendan!

I've gone for Veloflex Arenberg tubs (£63 at Wiggle: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/veloflex-arenberg-tubular-... - if they can hold up to the classic cobbles they should cope with our shattered tarmac (hopefully)!!! The missus has Continental Grand Prix 4000 S2 clincher tyres which are supposed to be pretty puncture resilient.

beer

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 14th July 2014
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Tubs? <sucks teeth> Brave man! What are your tub-changing skillz like, and where are you carrying a spare tub?

Interesting to read about the Zipp adjustment. I was getting an ache over the top/front of my deltoids and right down the core of my bicep. I might try elbows out a bit to see whether it relieves it, and if so I'll be on the 90 day waiting list!

Good to hear that it is all coming together though. My hyper sensitivity / hypercondria means I've just had another MRI. Good news all round: (a) I've nipped this one in the bud; (b) I've now cracked the cause (very tight adductors); and (c) my pre-MRI self diagnosis (tendonitis and v minor oedema on the pubic bone) was absolutey bang on right, making me a human MRI machine! WOO HOO!

Next targets this year are road captain of a somewhat green cycle team from work for a Surrey Hills organised century in Oct, and if I can get back running in the next 10-14 days, the Eindhoven marathon the week after.

Good luck Doc - keep those taper mind demons at bay!

baxb

421 posts

191 months

Tuesday 15th July 2014
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Thanks Gav, £126 on tyres eek I'll have a think ! (I've probably spent over £300 in the last 3 years on repairs & new tyres though) Greg, tub changing skillz are much better than tube changing skillz, I did the Swashbuckler last year using my Turbo trainer rear wheel as usual one was being rebuilt & a puncture cost me almost 15 mins of pissing and farting about trying to get the flipping tyre on & off the rim. Tub puncture ? 2-3 mins & i'm sorted. I carry 2 spares on raceday, one in saddlebag & one in jersey pocket.

Gatsby

1,311 posts

235 months

Tuesday 15th July 2014
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drgav2005 said:
Hi Gatsby,

I originally started on the 'tri-ripped' plan by Ben Greenfield on TP. It's very detailed but in the end stuck with the Don Fink book for the first IM - following the intermediate plan which was manageable. beer
Thanks for the advice DrGav, much appreciated!

I'll probably buy the book first then and see how I get along. I can always add a TP plan later if I need to but a manageable plan sounds ideal for me! Did the book also have 70.3 plans in place?