IronmanNYC Member

Yes, many people swear by them. I personally know some people who have run Ironman marathons in them. On the other hand, my physical therapist told me he loves them because they keep increasing his business as people get injured by them. In any case, gotta ease into them.

I'm in...but will be starting next week.

Just as a correction, your max HR is your max HR, regardless of fitness. As your fitness level improves, your resting HR is the one that changes. But I completely agree that the correlation between subjective level of exertion and HR changes the fitter you are. Simply walking up stairs may have sent an out of shape…

On occasion I get "excercise induced optical migraines" which occur right after exercising. Doesn't sound like that's what you have though. But, migraines are so complicated so doesn't surprise me if exercise increases migraine risk at any time. As an aside, my daughter gets migraines and we finally figured out it was due…

I'm coming back from an Achilles injury so I'm basically starting from scratch, hopefully within the next week or two. Pretty new to MFP, so anyone can feel free to add me.

Max HR Formulas are just generalizations. It's just as likely you'll have a higher or lower Max rate. As Joe said, hill repeats where you end up entirely gassed is a good way to test. I thought I had mine figured out doing that, but went a few beats higher at the end of a 5k race where I was sprinting in. But your 200/205…

My bit of advice for a noob is to learn proper form for swimming!! Take a class; have a coach look at your form and correct things. Then start building distance.

Became a triathlete because I needed cross-training due to injuries from running. It's an addicting sport. Enjoy it!!! Thanks for providing the link. I'll check that out.

Look up Dr. Metzl's Iron Strength workout on Runners World website. Doesn't seem like much, but it's a good solid workout. Only needs some dumbbells. I'd take at least a day in between. Those days you can do your regular workout, but I'd suggest adding in a few harder intervals instead of simply a steady state HR at 125.…

I find it tough too. It does help if I get up earlier and actually do some stuff first before heading to the workout. And I start my workouts really slow. If I'm meeting friends for a run, i might do a little bit on my own to warm up. But, in any case, I've had many workouts where my body simply never really wakes up.…

To be honest, a 15mile ride on 6-10mile training rides doesn't seem like much of a challenge. That probably wouldn't be much longer time-wise than your spinning class. I'd say go for the 30 mile ride. That would equate more like your half-marathon time, so you'd have endurance to do it. Cycling is actually good…

Well, I've experienced similar things as you. Lots of mileage - running and biking - and good variation of intensity. But not losing weight. So I've been researching things and analyzing my everyday diet and realizing I've been consuming way too much carbohydrate. Have just started to modify my diet so I can't give you…

I just read through this...sounds like you're on the right track. One thing I was going to mention...you said "runners need carbs for fuel." And that makes me think...How much fuel do you take in for your runs? A lot of times we don't even realize how much that adds up. And if we keep fueling, then our body gets used to…

It's not an either/or answer. Do both. Vary up your routine during the week. You can keep your 20-25minute run. The next run, do your faster-pace intervals. And that's not an all-out sprint...that would just lead to injury. Just enough so you're breathing a little harder. And be sure to include 5-10minutes easy as a warm…