Hmm. Thursday long run monkey wrench. The mrs.'s small "procedure" this morning is turning out to be more involved than was expected. Nothing to be alarmed about. Just longer with longer recovery time. I brought my run gear tot he hospital but it doesn't feel right to go run till everyone is home safe. If I can get kid coverage in the afternoon I will run then. For now, even this OCD poster boy will be putting his schedule on hold.
@ Jimmy, glad you shared that......in my opinion, definitely the right choice, no question.........Maybe even push to another day given the current family priority.....
Chris- I can't hit the same power numbers on the trainer that I hit outside. But I have seen those indoor numbers improve over the past month. And it is easy to see from training peaks that I am putting in an extra 10% or so worth of work slimy by never coasting or stopping during a trainer ride. My hunch is that calibrating my power meter on the trainer changes things vs calibrating it outside. After some weeks on the the trainer, I know what I am looking for on my 2x15's and VO2 intervals because I know what I did last week so I just ask myself for a little more. I'm looking forward to our first local 40k TT of the season which is next month.
Chris...x2 on what Jimmy said and SS posted. I have the exact same experience/perception. I hate the trainer and just cannot produce the same sustained power on it that I can outside. I haven't read the links SS posted, but I can at least tell you that you are not alone! I just try to remember that pain = gain. As Jimmy said, as long as I can do a little more each week/test, I know I'm making real progress.
On the other hand, it is nice to transition outside in the spring and get a "free" 10-20W (even thought it's all artificial and subjective). Mentally it feels good!
@Chris, like plenty of others, you're not alone. The road is forgiving to less-than-perfect pedaling. The trainer, however, like Ironman and my wife, is relentless and unforgiving. When I stop pedaling for 5 seconds on a flat, the net effect is probably nil (inertia backs me up and allows me to pick back up the same pace with the same effort). Stop pedaling on the trainer for 5 seconds, I get whacked and have to crank from a dead stop. Similar effect if you let up for even a half second. When I'm on the road and I feel my form is getting bad (pushing down, little pull), I may see 21mph at 230W. When I correct it by focusing on a smooth, full pedal stroke, I now see the same 21mph, but watts drop to 210 because I'm no longer pushing. If I try to bring that smooth stroke up to the 230W I was just hitting, the mph go up and the effort becomes too difficult. Obviously, for the same 21mph, the smooth 210 gives me a lower TSS = better run. The unforgiving trainer pretty much requires me to go with the smooth 210W indoors even though I could date its uglier 230W sister on the road. I currently ride about 12W lower on the trainer (down from 20), which means there's still plenty of room for improvement. The above are just my personal observations and should not be confused with science.
Good thoughts/feedback on trainer vs. road watts. I typically see about a 5% - 6% higher wattage output outside vs. my CycleOps fluid trainer all other things equal.
Jeez....I'm feelin disconnected here...gotta catch up....NOS completed successfully pretty happy with my FTP 225 going into race prep compared to 200 last year...
My run is stronger...but not sure that my Vdot is higher...durability is for sure....
I haven't started the IMTX race prep yet....I am playing runner & doing Myrtle Beach Half Marathon next weekend (3/15)...then a Swim Camp set ...before diving into the actual race prep.............
My biggest concern at the moment is getting sufficient outdoor bike volume in March/April...this winter is killing me.....trying to see if I can do a drive south for a BBW in early April...
Trainer vs. Road ..... X2 what everyone.... Its no doubt harder due to ZERO breaks .... But in the end TSS, KJ , IF, NP is all measured and your PM doesnt care. ....it is what it is either indoors or outdoors.... IMTX is flat a fast with ZERO coasting.... Long trainer rides or long outdoor flat rides are the way to go for this course.... If your training on hills you will get too many breaks!
Speaking of the trainer.... did a very hard 4 x 8' @ 105% ride today , just about had enough after the 3rd interval and switched to slope mode for the 4th, started out much slower , recovered some and then felt guilty and pushed it into the finish..... later on I did another 30min ride at IF .50 for recovery...
Tim...can you look at your Garmin file from 2013 IMTX and tell me how much climbing is on the course? The elevations on IM.com website is often off a lot.
For all practical purposes its FLAT.... Yes some rollers but never needed my small ring.... Its net up hill first half usually with a tail wind and net down hill the second half into a head wind.... Note the Temp graph!
@ Tim...Yes....it will be hot and just get hotter! Garmin always gives higher temps than ambient, though....it wasn't 102 when you finished (probably felt like it though!).
As has been my (brief) experience, the IM.com profiles greatly understate the actual climbing. IM.com states 1601ft of climbing vs. 2589 from your race file. Austin 70.3 was even more of a discrepancy, relatively speaking.
All that said, as you highlighted, it is essentially flat....2600ft over 112 miles is flat for all intents and purposes. Thanks for sharing....I have a nice stretch of road in mind for my RRs and long rides now!
I hear it's a nice bike course overall. I guess the road surfaces are OK for most of it? Amazing what some course chip-seal will do to your body over time.
@Jeff L.... Yes road surfaces were very good.... Chipseal for about 15 miles max right around miles 65-80 I think give or take 5miles..... right about when ya had enough it goes to glass and its such a relief..... great course....
@ Mike....This is what I see on Friday for Week 6 of 20.....are you in the swim camp?
Friday
60 min
WU: 400
MS1: 3 x 100 (20") Descend to T-pace minus 3". 3 x 100 (20") Descend to T-pace minus 3" pace. 3 x 100(30") Descend to T-pace minus "5 pace. 3 x 100(30") Descend to T-pace minus 5". Set Total: 1200.
MS2: 2 x 400 (30") @ T-pace minus 3 to 5". Set Total: 800.
MS3: 10 x 25(30") Sprint, with good form. Set Total: 250
Finally contracted a URI this winter...most of my kids and coworkers have had something in the past month, but I had managed to avoid it. Started last night with runny nose and body aches, today a cough has been added. Bailed on the 1hr swim and 50min strides run. Hope to bounce back for long ride and run this weekend though. Trying to get some extra sleep and hydrate well. I hate being sick...missing two days of workouts in a row makes me feel lazy and like I'm losing fitness instantly....even though my brain tells me that is not the case.
So glad today isn't May 17. Like Jeff, I woke up with a URI (sore throat, mild fever). Worse, woke up with a stiff/sore knee (the surgically-repaired one, so I pay attention anytime it speaks). When I started riding, Garmin wouldn't pair with PM. After 15 minutes of failed troubleshooting and begging, I rode by feel. At Mile 40, flat tire. The rear wheel, of course. Now at home with ice, new battery in Quarq (that was the problem), new tires ordered, critical new items added to IM checklist. Now with my NRR (Nightmare Race Rehearsal) done, should be smooth sailing from here.
Felt ok today, so went ahead and did my 2.5hr ride. Beautiful afternoon here in south Texas, so I risked a coughing fit or worsening the URI...just couldn't pass up the opportunity. Turned out great. Coughed only twice! Started easy, but after 45mins felt fine, so pushed hard the rest of the way. Even extended it to 2h50min b/c I felt like it! Tomorrow the long-ish run and Monday's swim (too much on the plate for a swim Monday....gotta bank some SAU's!).
After much chatting with my wifey I have decided to pull myself out of IMTX. I am just not feeling the desire to put in the time to get to the finish line. I thought I could will my way through training but, in short, I just don't want to do it. So . . . . . I am out.
I wish you all the best of luck and will be cheering you from afar on race day.
@Stark...NOOOO! I was so loving the mojo and humor you brought to the group and was looking forward to meeting you. But on that note, I totally understand your decision. It must have been hard and you obviously did not take the race or decision lightly. Wishing you all the best on your future endeavours!!!!!!!! Thanks for all the suport!
I was supposed to do a 3.5 hour ride yesterday, but I ended up only doing about 1:15. The ride included Z4 intervals (10', 12', & 8') that I did complete, but I didn't do the Z3 work nor the time. I would like to say I had an excuse, but I just wasn't feeling it. It was about 40 degrees and gloomy looking, but tolerable. I just couldn't make myself do it! Oddly later in the day I felt like I had riden 3.5 hard. I wonder if that lack of desire was my body telling me "no" or just my laziness making me think that. I've still got a 2.5 hr ride yet to do today that I feel pretty good about it, so we'll see.
@Stark - won't be able to recover from losing you in terms of the mojo/experience loss but definitely understand and congratulate you on making the hard choice given the reality of your situation.
@ Chris - Good luck out there today.........hope things go better.
Wow, a real rocky 3 or 4 days. Wife came out of surgery fine. recovering slower than she would like. As soon as I got her home thursday night, I got sick. I think that it was something that I ate at the hospital. So I had to get help with the kids and the mrs cuz I was useless for about 48 hrs. Got in a good ride today and had hoped to run but with Terri still being down and the kids needing me I don't think it is going to happen. No big deal. Will do what I can. Has to take a back seat right now. I haven't run since tuesday so I will late my schedule for next week and instead of running tues/thurs/sat I will run monday wed fri sun. Bike tues sat sun swim tues thurs. or that is at least the plan anyway. lets get all of these interruptions out of the way now please.
@Jimmy ... Take care of yourself and the family.... Then get back to training!
IMTX vs IMFL pavement..... as you know IMFL is very smooth except had that one bad section on the first out and back (10miles) of those perpendicular expansion joint type bumps .... vs IMTX which is also very smooth for most of it and only has about 15 miles of bad chipseal from around mile 60-65 to 75-80 if I remember correctly..... The course has a bit more rollers but with no out and back sections to slow you down it can be as fast as IMFL or within 5minutes anyway.
Comments
@ Chris, couple of articles regarding why the trainer is so hard:
http://myworldfromabicycle.blogspot...r-you.html
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/ra...94754.html
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum....t=10742016
That ride you just did, while very tough, is driving some hard core fitness and pays big dividends come spring......keep leading...
I brought my run gear tot he hospital but it doesn't feel right to go run till everyone is home safe. If I can get kid coverage in the afternoon I will run then. For now, even this OCD poster boy will be putting his schedule on hold.
My hunch is that calibrating my power meter on the trainer changes things vs calibrating it outside. After some weeks on the the trainer, I know what I am looking for on my 2x15's and VO2 intervals because I know what I did last week so I just ask myself for a little more.
I'm looking forward to our first local 40k TT of the season which is next month.
Chris...x2 on what Jimmy said and SS posted. I have the exact same experience/perception. I hate the trainer and just cannot produce the same sustained power on it that I can outside. I haven't read the links SS posted, but I can at least tell you that you are not alone! I just try to remember that pain = gain. As Jimmy said, as long as I can do a little more each week/test, I know I'm making real progress.
On the other hand, it is nice to transition outside in the spring and get a "free" 10-20W (even thought it's all artificial and subjective). Mentally it feels good!
Good thoughts/feedback on trainer vs. road watts. I typically see about a 5% - 6% higher wattage output outside vs. my CycleOps fluid trainer all other things equal.
Last night's Z2/Z3 TM run: http://www.strava.com/activities/111433464
Today's TM run: http://www.strava.com/activities/111586683
Legs are ready for some rest!
SS
Jeez....I'm feelin disconnected here...gotta catch up....NOS completed successfully pretty happy with my FTP 225 going into race prep compared to 200 last year...
My run is stronger...but not sure that my Vdot is higher...durability is for sure....
I haven't started the IMTX race prep yet....I am playing runner & doing Myrtle Beach Half Marathon next weekend (3/15)...then a Swim Camp set ...before diving into the actual race prep.............
My biggest concern at the moment is getting sufficient outdoor bike volume in March/April...this winter is killing me.....trying to see if I can do a drive south for a BBW in early April...
Cheers all!
Speaking of the trainer.... did a very hard 4 x 8' @ 105% ride today , just about had enough after the 3rd interval and switched to slope mode for the 4th, started out much slower , recovered some and then felt guilty and pushed it into the finish..... later on I did another 30min ride at IF .50 for recovery...
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/441348474#
Tim...can you look at your Garmin file from 2013 IMTX and tell me how much climbing is on the course? The elevations on IM.com website is often off a lot.
Thanks.
IMTX showed 2589' vs IMFL 1129'
The flattest road I can find in NH to train on shows 2900' for a 112 mile ride.
For all practical purposes its FLAT.... Yes some rollers but never needed my small ring.... Its net up hill first half usually with a tail wind and net down hill the second half into a head wind.... Note the Temp graph!
@ Tim...Yes....it will be hot and just get hotter! Garmin always gives higher temps than ambient, though....it wasn't 102 when you finished (probably felt like it though!).
As has been my (brief) experience, the IM.com profiles greatly understate the actual climbing. IM.com states 1601ft of climbing vs. 2589 from your race file. Austin 70.3 was even more of a discrepancy, relatively speaking.
All that said, as you highlighted, it is essentially flat....2600ft over 112 miles is flat for all intents and purposes. Thanks for sharing....I have a nice stretch of road in mind for my RRs and long rides now!
I hear it's a nice bike course overall. I guess the road surfaces are OK for most of it? Amazing what some course chip-seal will do to your body over time.
Thanks Tim.
@ Mike....This is what I see on Friday for Week 6 of 20.....are you in the swim camp?
MS1: 3 x 100 (20") Descend to T-pace minus 3". 3 x 100 (20") Descend to T-pace minus 3" pace. 3 x 100(30") Descend to T-pace minus "5 pace. 3 x 100(30") Descend to T-pace minus 5". Set Total: 1200.
MS2: 2 x 400 (30") @ T-pace minus 3 to 5". Set Total: 800.
MS3: 10 x 25(30") Sprint, with good form. Set Total: 250
CD: 100 easy.
Total: ~2800
Finally contracted a URI this winter...most of my kids and coworkers have had something in the past month, but I had managed to avoid it. Started last night with runny nose and body aches, today a cough has been added. Bailed on the 1hr swim and 50min strides run. Hope to bounce back for long ride and run this weekend though. Trying to get some extra sleep and hydrate well. I hate being sick...missing two days of workouts in a row makes me feel lazy and like I'm losing fitness instantly....even though my brain tells me that is not the case.
@ Mike and Jeff - rough morning for you guys battling URI........sending healing mojo your way.....get well soon guys!
@Mike - impressed with how you just kept fighting through the obstacles this morning.......!!
Yesterday's Aqua / Run:
http://www.strava.com/activities/111808636
http://www.strava.com/activities/111807614
Today's Long Trainer ride:
http://www.strava.com/activities/111969310
Good luck this weekend all!
@ Mike and Jeff - rough morning for you guys battling URI........sending healing mojo your way.....get well soon guys!
@Mike - impressed with how you just kept fighting through the obstacles this morning.......!!
Yesterday's Aqua / Run:
http://www.strava.com/activities/111808636
http://www.strava.com/activities/111807614
Today's Long Trainer ride:
http://www.strava.com/activities/111969310
Good luck this weekend all!
Felt ok today, so went ahead and did my 2.5hr ride. Beautiful afternoon here in south Texas, so I risked a coughing fit or worsening the URI...just couldn't pass up the opportunity. Turned out great. Coughed only twice! Started easy, but after 45mins felt fine, so pushed hard the rest of the way. Even extended it to 2h50min b/c I felt like it! Tomorrow the long-ish run and Monday's swim (too much on the plate for a swim Monday....gotta bank some SAU's!).
Hi Folks:
After much chatting with my wifey I have decided to pull myself out of IMTX. I am just not feeling the desire to put in the time to get to the finish line. I thought I could will my way through training but, in short, I just don't want to do it. So . . . . . I am out.
I wish you all the best of luck and will be cheering you from afar on race day.
Later,
Stark
Happy training,
Chris
@Stark - won't be able to recover from losing you in terms of the mojo/experience loss but definitely understand and congratulate you on making the hard choice given the reality of your situation.
@ Chris - Good luck out there today.........hope things go better.
My Sun morning ABP ride: http://www.strava.com/activities/112215119
Wow, a real rocky 3 or 4 days. Wife came out of surgery fine. recovering slower than she would like. As soon as I got her home thursday night, I got sick. I think that it was something that I ate at the hospital. So I had to get help with the kids and the mrs cuz I was useless for about 48 hrs.
Got in a good ride today and had hoped to run but with Terri still being down and the kids needing me I don't think it is going to happen. No big deal. Will do what I can. Has to take a back seat right now.
I haven't run since tuesday so I will late my schedule for next week and instead of running tues/thurs/sat I will run monday wed fri sun. Bike tues sat sun swim tues thurs.
or that is at least the plan anyway. lets get all of these interruptions out of the way now please.
IMTX vs IMFL pavement..... as you know IMFL is very smooth except had that one bad section on the first out and back (10miles) of those perpendicular expansion joint type bumps .... vs IMTX which is also very smooth for most of it and only has about 15 miles of bad chipseal from around mile 60-65 to 75-80 if I remember correctly..... The course has a bit more rollers but with no out and back sections to slow you down it can be as fast as IMFL or within 5minutes anyway.