Welcome to FebOS 2018 Bike Thread Week #1

Patrick Marsh

Welcome to the FebOS 2018!  I will be the bike thread captain for our 14-week training block.  

This is my second year with EN.  Last season, I did IMLP.  It was my first full-distance triathlon.  At the end of October, I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee.  So, I am just getting back on track with training.   Cycling is my focus right now.  My first event of the year is Battenkill, which is a very hilly 75-mile course with dirt road sections.  My A-race for 2019 is HIM Maine 70.3, which is at the end of August.  After that, I will sign up for my next full distance IM for 2019.

Hopefully, everyone by now has downloaded the workouts in TrainerRoad or Zwift.  I will primarily be using Zwift, but will revert to TrainerRoad for those mornings when Zwift bugs out on me.  This weekend, I will be cleaning my bike's drivetrain and making sure I have new playlists.  These workouts hurt, and hopefully music will take my mind off the pain.  

Please respond to this thread and let us know your goals for the year!  I am looking forward to working hard and getting faster.  

Josh Church

Hey FOS Peeps, getting started on the OS this week per my Season Plan, kinda bummed ill be a week ahead of the group but I'll make it work. I can say the week 1 bike workouts are challenging, got me sore already. Im on Zwift and it has been working great so far. 
Anyways, I have Blue Ridge coming in May then IMChoo in Sept. Plenty of time to build!

John Culberson

Solid run this weekend was encouraging, but need to protect my progress. I have good fitness coming into FOS, mostly due to regular swimming while resting a hip injury. I’m ready for a bike focus with a slow, steady return to running. Multiple professional and family variables, but I’ve learned patience since my first long course triathlon in 1982. This is my 7th OS, and my goal is to finish at 3w/kg (again). Buffalo Springs is my home course... and with a new 70.3 in Waco... I’m Texas Proud. Lifetime Austin starts it off on Memorial Day.

Patrick Marsh

@Josh Church - Let us know how the intensity builds for your OS as we all begin our first week.  My Zwift has been buggy, so I plan to use TrainerRoad during the weekdays (when I have no time for error) and will use Zwift for my Saturday rides (when I have more time to trouble-shoot).

@John Culberson - Good luck with the comeback from the hip injury.  I am coming off a knee injury and had a very solid hilly run on Sunday.  

This morning, I did some core work and stretching.  Bracing myself for day-1 tomorrow.

Josh Church

Hang in there guys and gals. Week 1 is tough but it smooths out a little week 2. Things are not easy but I seem to be struggling just a little bit less. I would call week 1 “hump” week. Keep Working!

[Deleted User]

I'll be a week behind the group starting FOS on 2/12, but likely perfect timing for a newbie to EN and OS.  I can see the progress and reactions of others as I move into each week.  Starting 2/12 just worked better for me.  I'm excited to begin to engage.

John Culberson

I hit the Level 3 Bike work pretty hard... but my real focus is to complete an 8mi run/3K swim brick that is shaping up for Saturday. If all goes well, Sunday will be a Team EN Group ABP ride on Zwift. Week 2 will be a “by the book” OS week 2... and I hope to be fully back on the Level 2 Run plan.

Patrick Marsh

@Chris Zahlis - Welcome to the FOS.  This 14-week program will make you much stronger.  

@John Culberson - Good luck with the run/swim on Saturday.  I have yet to do an EN ABP ride on Sunday in Zwift.  I have Zwift set up, however I am not getting consistent connections.  Hoping that it is a Bluetooth issue, because I went out and bought an ANT+ fob that I will set up tonight.  Keeping my fingers crossed that this will resolve my Zwift issues.

This week, I got in both of my bike workouts.  Both were hard.  I found the 2x9x30-second max efforts to be most difficult.  I struggled with the last three 30-second intervals.  Due to travel plans, I did my bike workouts back-to-back on Tuesday/Wednesday.  Also, I had to modify my mid-week run.  On Thursday, I woke to some sharp pain in my heel.  I have only been running for about five weeks since my knee surgery, and I think that my soft tissue (ligaments and tendons) and tight calves are not quite ready for heavy running.  Therefore, I did 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by a slow 30-minute treadmill run at my hotel gym.  Then, in the evening, I got in my first swim for 2018.  It was an outdoor pool, which had great scenery.  This morning, I am back in the office after taking an overnight flight.  I used the gym in my office to do a quick, short run.  

One of my goals for this out season is to just get back to a regular running schedule.  My out season is bike-focused this year, but I plan to run short distances often and at a pace.  So, my running will look more like a run durability block than a get faster block this year.

Tomorrow, the 2.5 hour ride looks like it will be tough.  I will have to find something to watch on Netflix and have lots of nutrition at arms-length.

Good luck with the weekend workouts!

John Culberson

Posting to the bike thread, as we are a small group and it seems appropriate. I’m going to plug Stryd (Running) Power footpod as one of the best $200 I’ve spent in a while. I’ve followed the instructions and just run with it for about 6 weeks... getting used to the power numbers that display directly on my Garmin. This morning, I ran a moderately hilly 8mi race (wind chill <10F at the start). My goal was to avg 250w (does not correlate with bike power), avg 10:00/mi (Zn2), and negative split. Really wanted to see how my R hip felt during and after. I used perceived exertion on the first hill to determine that a 300w cap was appropriate.That REALLY slowed my 196lbs down! Here’s the result:

8.01mi in 1:19:31 (9:48) 254w
Mile1-4: 40:52 (10:13) 244w
Mile5-8: 38:21 (9:35)  265w    The eventual goal would be to run all 8mi at 254w

My hip felt good during and after... and I was at the pool 20min later to swim my 3000m LCM with my buddy (he would not let me off the hook for running 8mi)

3K in 58:34 (Out: 28:51 and Back 29:43) As my run volume increases, I’ll back down on my swimming to concentrate on the FOS Plan. My swim buddy on the other hand is a former D1 500 Freestyler, and he wants to pick up the pace :-O

Going to try and Zwift ABP with the team in the morning... I’ll be hanging back with the 2.5w/kg kids.

Eric Ensminger

I am in for the first time this week.  Hoping the newbie side can catch on the back side of the start!

Patrick Marsh

@John Culberson Nice work on the long run and big swim yesterday.  I have a Stryd as well.  It is sitting on its charger, and you've inspired me to put it bag on my running shoe.  I have been running for about five weeks, and I am trying to ease back into it without overdoing it.  Good luck with the ABP ride today!

@Eric Ensminger - Welcome to the FOS!  We are just starting up, and there are 13 weeks to build your fitness.

This weekend I rode ~52 miles on Zwift.  After some more Bluetooth problems yesterday, I think I have a configuration that will work on Zwift.  Right now, I am using an ANT+ fob with a 3-meter extension cord.  I plug this into a 2017 HP 360 Spectre laptop.  The cord is attached to my laptop stand, and then runs under my bike.  The fob sits below my seatpost.  It will pick up the signal from my Garmin HRM and my Kickr.  Then, I use the Zwift Mobile Link on my iPhone 7.  I use this app so that my phone can adjust my Zwift ride like it is remote control device.  

This setup took about a month of trial and error.  The long and short of it is that my iPhone always wants to hijack the Kickr using its Bluetooth, so Zwift on my laptop couldn't find my Kickr, or would drop the signal.   Last season, I converted everything to Bluetooth, and now I am back to ANT+ ...

In any event, I got through about 1:25 of the Saturday ride, before my iPhone acted up.  After some tinkering, I figured out the protocol described above, and then rode for an hour and five minutes at my targeted Z3 level.  

Today, I woke up with some heel pain again.  I have tight calves, and they pull on my Achilles tendon, which ends up getting inflamed.  I am especially vulnerable to this when I am ramping up my mileage.  Therefore, I decided to ride for an hour on Zwift this morning.  Zwift worked perfectly for the first time since I joined.  

Then, I did a 30 minute brick run in the rain.  The Achilles tendon was nice and warmed up, so the run felt fine.  I was careful to keep it nice and slow.

I hope that everyone had a solid week of training and will enjoy their "rest" day tomorrow.

Dave Tallo

great work, everyone!