glevinso Member

Completing a marathon is certainly a good fitness base to start from. In terms of total time spent at the event, a half-ironman is a longer event than a marathon. However I personally find it to be "easier" to complete vs a full marathon due to the run component. For what it's worth I think an open full marathon is a…

Can you rephrase that in actual English? And nice necro thread...

I just don't like swimming *that* much to do it for that long. I would personally prefer to lengthen the bike :)

It's not that it won't cause the same level of fatigue. It is a different kind of fatigue. Running is going to generate a different type of body stress than just swimming and biking. If you want to see what an equivalent calorie burn for a day would be I guess we can try to compare that. I just went back and looked at my…

Are you referring to the Steelman swim in Lake Nockamixon? If so... Hi Neighbor! I live not far from there and have done the Steelman triathlon (olympic) for the past 6 years. I don't think you are going to be able to replicate the fatigue aspect of an Ironman without the run. It really is the run that breaks everyone down.

Trying to understand what you are asking here? If you have some specific questions about racing an Ironman I can try to help. But other than that I have no idea what this all is. As far as energy expenditure, it is nearly impossible to quantify the energy expenditure for each leg to any useful degree. As least as far as…

Pretty much this. It really depends on the goal of the workout. If it is a specific set of timed intervals then I go for time. If the workout is specified as some sortof endurance run, I will usually go for distance.

Seems ridiculous to base "reasonable shape" on a weight lifting thing. Sure it can be a good indicator of some sort of fitness, but it really depends on what you are doing/training. I certainly can't bench press or dead lift that much. A 2-minute plank is laughably easy in comparison. However, I am an endurance athlete. I…

HRMs are not "useless" but they are only kinda sorta useful for calorie counting. It's like using a flathead screwdriver to turn a Philips screw. You can do it, but it isn't really what it was designed for. HRMs are for figuring out pacing/training zones and realtime performance monitoring. A side benefit is that you can…

This is absolutely not true in any way.

Did you check to see if the cadence sensor has a battery in it? I am not familiar with the magnetless ones, but on my GSC-10 when the pedal passes the sensor there is a little LED that flashes. If yours has something like that check to see if the sensor is working.

I always carry a spare with an 80mm stem, but also have an extender just in case.

There is zero point to paying extra money for a P3, and then running Gatorskins.

My kit has a single pocket in the back of the shorts, and a couple of very small pockets on the legs. The top has nothing though. For an Oly I keep a gel in that back pocket in case I need it, but usually I save it for T2. For long races, I use the weird mini pocket on my leg to keep a tube of Base Salt. Repair kit inside…

As for an aero bento setup - this works really well and can hold a LOT of calories: http://darkspeedworks.com/sp480.htm

There are saddle bags that are much more aero than what you pictured, but if having the extra bottle is important to you that will work. Also on that FC35, take the bottle itself off, and mount the bracket "upside down" under your bars, then reinstall the bottle. It will sit lower between your bars and stick up into the…

You are way over-thinking your needs for Oly distance racing. One bottle should be plenty. I have an FC25 and it works well. My bike has cages on the downtube and seat tube. For Oly racing I not only don't carry bottles in them, I take those cages completely off. Saves a few grams of drag. The FC is actually more aero than…

I know... I hate doing it but it is one of those things that bothers me. I had no advice to give that wasn't already given, but this was like looking at a frog and calling it a whale because they both live in water.

You don't bother to read anything anyone ever writes back to you with any actual understanding do you? This is consistent of all of the posts I see from you on this forum.

I am going to be pedantic here but I have to correct your terminology. You are doing a triathlon. A sprint-distance triathlon to be specific. A marathon is a specific-distance running race of 26.2 miles (42.2km).

Ben Greenfield is as much a quack as Mercola...

No. You have it entirely wrong. Seriously. 1) Stress relief? OK Maybe, but that is subjective. 2) Muscle relaxing? Yes, this happens. 3) Toxins? Lol... no. You do not "sweat" your "toxins" out. Get that nonsense out of your head 4) Increased cardiovascular health? Sortof... There are studies that show that spending time in…

Depends on what the time is, doesn't it? Going from 31 to 28? Right. No need for any speed work or 30+ mile weeks. Want to get <20? You are now talking about 30+ mpw and obvious attention to speed intervals. For what it's worth I don't consider "tempo runs" to be "speed work". Until you become experienced, a tempo run is…

Because it doesn't do anything to help keep your heart rate elevated, it doesn't help you keep "form" while not going anywhere, and you look foolish to everyone else ;) To the OP - Unless you are the world record holder, there will always be someone faster than you. There is likely going to always be someone slower than…

This. Time trialing is really the best way to work out your performance zones. Whether or not that is a formal lactate threshold test, or an actual TT, the result will be a real-world performance metric to base your training paces/power/zones. The VO2Max test is also a way to figure it out but it is not as useful for the…

This. But even in the pro athlete case it isn't a terribly useful metric to have. Maybe for sprinters. But endurance athletes care more about their lactate thresholds than VO2Max.

With a <32 minute 5k under your belt now, I am fairly confident you will be able to accomplish both goals on this volume. If you manage the <1:00 10k, then on that level of fitness a 27-28 minute 5k wouldn't be unreasonable.

Not as much as simply running more. Thing is to go from 31:xx for a 5K to, say 25:xx, the answer is to just run more miles. You will natrually get faster. You don't (seriously literally don't) need to do anything specific to "get faster" other than run more miles. Running intervals, or tempos, or whatever, is not going to…

I'll add my voice to the 30ish mpw chorus before trying any specific speed work. That's not to say a little tempo running now and then isn't a bad thing, but unless you are putting in a reasonable volume you aren't going to know what your tempo pace is. If you are talking actual speed work, like 200m and 400m repeats like…

So when I am targeting a half as an A-race I do a lot of LT work on the bike, and my long rides are done at high-endurance. My weekday rides would have 20 minute intervals as close to LT as I can hold it. Also a bunch of 3 minute-ish intervals at SuperLT. Run training is similar in that my mid-week runs might not be longer…