To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[DopeyBadger]

So I finally got my reward for coming in 4th at the Bratfest 5k - free entry into a future race. But now I have to decide which to do and to balance it with my schedule. I would probably not actually race any of these but rather use it as a supported training run, maybe?

8/31/19 - HM or M



This one falls on a 4:15 hr bike + 40 min run day. I could consider swapping with the 130 min run day. Just run 4 miles prior to the race and then do the HM at LR pace. Or do the marathon at long run pace and bail at mile 17.

10/20/19 - 10k or HM



Funny enough, this was the original HM "A" race on the schedule. But now it falls on an 80 min LR day. So run the HM at LR pace and add an extra 2.7 miles to the scheduled day (about an extra 20 ish min from scheduled).

May 2020 - 5k or 10k

Or save the entry for BratFest 2020.

I'm leaning towards one of the HMs or M just from a cost perspective though. The 10/20/19 one would disrupt the training the least since I'd just be adding on 2.7 miles. What do you think?

 

[TheHamm]

Is there a fudge factor for 'fun' of the different races? If all are equally fun, flat, and fair weathered, I would go for least disruptive to the current complex plan and do the 10/20 race because I disruption of a good plan is more frustrating than the value of a 'free race' I would not have chosen.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Is there a fudge factor for 'fun' of the different races? If all are equally fun, flat, and fair weathered, I would go for least disruptive to the current complex plan and do the 10/20 race because I disruption of a good plan is more frustrating than the value of a 'free race' I would not have chosen.

One's themed for a Craft Beer Festival (but I don't drink) and the other after Halloween. I'll probably end up signing up for the October race since it's the least disruptive of the two. Then just decide on race day how to handle it.

 

[Bree]

I'd go with the 10/20 race or something next year if you want to race it and not have it be a training run.

 

[jennamfeo]

I definitely wouldn't bail at mile 17 of a free Marathon -- gotta get that medal. But would absolutely lean towards something that fits better with your training schedule. So 10/20 HM gets my vote.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Definitely 10/20 HM.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'd go with the 10/20 race or something next year if you want to race it and not have it be a training run.

I definitely wouldn't bail at mile 17 of a free Marathon -- gotta get that medal. But would absolutely lean towards something that fits better with your training schedule. So 10/20 HM gets my vote.

Definitely 10/20 HM.

Seems like we have a consensus towards the 10/20 HM. Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm a little late to the game, but add me to the 10/20 camp. An extra 20 minutes isn't too much of a disruption of the schedule.
Also ... if it's Halloween themed, then you can wear a costume for extra fun!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Also ... if it's Halloween themed, then you can wear a costume for extra fun!

We'll see if I take it that far.

 

[DopeyBadger]

28 Weeks to Go! (28 Weeks Later) + Cycling + 80 Day Obsession - none



6/24/19 - M - OFF
6/25/19 - T - Pettit (60 min; 40 TSS)
6/26/19 - W - Pettit (60 min; 40 TSS)
6/27/19 - R - Glassy-3 (60 min; 63 TSS)
6/28/19 - F - Pettit (60 min; 40 TSS)
6/29/19 - Sa - Glassy-2 (90 min; 68 TSS)
6/30/19 - Su - Pettit (60 min; 40 TSS)

Total Run Miles - 0 miles
Total Run Time - 0 hours
Total Run TSS - 0 TSS

Total Biking Time - 6:30 hours
Total Biking TSS - 291 TSS

Total 80DO Time - 0 hours
Total 80DO TSS - 0 TSS

Total Training Time - 6:30 hours
Total TSS - 291 TSS

Monday

Off day.

Tuesday

19 days since the last cycling session. The goal was to lead into the 28 week TrainerRoad training plan with a relatively easy week of cycling. So everything was kept under FTP and the duration was relatively light on a daily basis. The other goal for the week was to try and increase my cadence on my bike rides more consistently. In the last training cycle I was usually around 80-85 rpm as an average. This time around I want to do better trying to force the issue at 90-95 rpm.

Cycling: Pettit is an hour of aerobic Endurance work spent between 60-70% FTP. Cadence was 90 rpm.

Wednesday

Felt really stiff throughout the day. Decided skipping out on pre and post stretches wasn't a great idea. So I'll be sure to do pre and post before every cycling ride.

Cycling: Pettit is an hour of aerobic Endurance work spent between 60-70% FTP. Cadence was 91 rpm.

Thursday

Felt better this day after doing the stretches the day prior.

Cycling: Glassy -3 is 3x15-minute intervals between 75-90% FTP with 2-minute recoveries between them. Cadence was 91 rpm.

Friday

Cycling: Pettit is an hour of aerobic Endurance work spent between 60-70% FTP. Cadence was 91 rpm.

Saturday

Cycling: Glassy -2 is 4x15-minute intervals between 65-80% FTP with 5-minute recoveries between them. Cadence was 92 rpm.

Sunday

Cycling: Pettit is an hour of aerobic Endurance work spent between 60-70% FTP. Cadence was 93 rpm.

Overall the week was successful. I'm still on the fence as to whether the glute is 100%. I can't tell whether it's mental or not. But I'll know once I try running again next Wednesday. It will have been 25 days since the last time I ran which seems like a decent amount of time. I do have a PT appointment scheduled for July 10th (that was the soonest I could get anyways) and will do it or not based on how the first few runs go.

ETA: Forgot to add that I got myself some new bibs. Since I'll be training for a long time in the saddle, I decided to invest in some nice bib shorts.

I started with these in January 2019 for $28 per pair.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079FM844N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


They were nicer than biking in running shorts. But they didn't last very long. I'm not quite sure they were meant for the amount of cycling I was doing. They both developed a hole. Partially the shorts, but partially it allowed me to find a defect in my bike that was cutting into my leg. A quick fix with some think painter tape and a tech shirt over the bike seat has solved that problem. But the shorts were still just ok.

In February 2019, I got these for $100.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HOUWSOY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Huge difference between these and the Sponeed ones. They were Pearl Izumi Elite Escape bib shorts. I had no idea what that meant when I bought them. The price just seemed reasonable to me. I loved them for every ride. The only drawbacks was I became a wet mess during the really long rides and the cushion didn't feel all that great on the 3.5 hr ride. So I was in the market for something new by the time the new training plan started.

So recently, I purchased a new Pearl Izumi bib shorts that arrived on Friday.



It was the Pearl Izumi 2019 Pro bib. I saw them on sale on REI for $140 instead of $200. As long as I was willing to wear the paisley blue. Doesn't matter to me. So the jump from the Sponeed to the Pearl Izumi Elite Escape was huge. And the jump from the Elite Escape to the 2019 version of the PRO was just as big. These are amazingly soft and smooth. I haven't ridden terribly long in them yet, but can already tell they were worth the extra $50 (after shipping). Always excited to try new products. The advantage I've found for the bibs over the normal cycling shorts is the lack of wasitband. My stomach/waist is the largest area on my torso. So having the waistband did into me as I leaned over was annoying. But these bib shorts place little pressure on my waist because they're held up by the straps.

The other thing I forgot to mention was that I hadn't stepped on the scale during my time off. So I was a little nervous as to how far I'd fallen back. I did eat 10,000 calories of trail mix in the span of 3.5 days (can't have Costco Trail Mix in the house...). Thankfully I only went from 171 to 173.5. I can live with that after no calorie counting and no exercise. Back on the system now though that training has restarted.

 

[Professor_Cookie]

I remember there being talk somewhere of weather full strength electrolyte solutions would freeze. Here are bottles of full strength EFS. Frozen solid. I don’t remember what thread it was, but seemed like info you and others might be able to use. I have been freezing water in them for my pack on long runs since access to safe water is non-existent up in the mountains.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I remember there being talk somewhere of weather full strength electrolyte solutions would freeze. Here are bottles of full strength EFS. Frozen solid. I don’t remember what thread it was, but seemed like info you and others might be able to use. I have been freezing water in them for my pack on long runs since access to safe water is non-existent up in the mountains. View attachment 413084

Nice! How long did it stay frozen/cold on a hot day? I tried a Tailwind at 4 scoops:4 oz water (303 mg Sodium and 88mg Potassium per oz) and it also froze. It stayed "cold" for about 20-25 min in a non-insulated hand-held nathan 8oz bottle. Big difference is this hyper solution has to have other water with it (so not useful on a run where you don't have access to other water sources like I do).

 

[Professor_Cookie]

Nice! How long did it stay frozen/cold on a hot day? I tried a Tailwind at 4 scoops:4 oz water (303 mg Sodium and 88mg Potassium per oz) and it also froze. It stayed "cold" for about 20-25 min in a non-insulated hand-held nathan 8oz bottle. Big difference is this hyper solution has to have other water with it (so not useful on a run where you don't have access to other water sources like I do).

I’ll find out on Tuesday. Theses are the bottles that go in the front pouches(shoulder straps) on my running backpack. I’ve done them with water and they stayed frozen enough for two hours, but by hour 4.5 were pretty warm on an 80+ degree day.

 

[canglim52]

https://www.outsideonline.com/2098556/surprising-benefits-training-heat
Interesting read!

 

[Professor_Cookie]

So, they made it about 8 miles or 2 hours before full thaw. But that was against my chest in the shoulder straps. It was 54 at the start and 83 when I finished. A lot of running in cooler pine forest and at a higher altitude than usual.

 

[DopeyBadger]

EEK! "Won" (have a feeling lots of people won this contest) early access to the new Nike Vaporfly Next% through Fleet Feet for less than full price. They'll be here on Thursday!

 

[DopeyBadger]

https://www.outsideonline.com/2098556/surprising-benefits-training-heat
Interesting read!

I remember reading that article when I was prepping for a hot summer race. Solid.

So, they made it about 8 miles or 2 hours before full thaw. But that was against my chest in the shoulder straps. It was 54 at the start and 83 when I finished. A lot of running in cooler pine forest and at a higher altitude than usual.

Nice, that's a decent amount of time!

 

[dis_or_dat]

EEK! "Won" (have a feeling lots of people won this contest) early access to the new Nike Vaporfly Next% through Fleet Feet for less than full price. They'll be here on Thursday!

Congrats! Heard they're suppose to be awesome. I only have 38 miles on my 4%, so I'll stick with them for now. Trying to break in my last pair of Nimbus 18's today and that was painful. The 4%'s were great right out of the box.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Congrats! Heard they're suppose to be awesome. I only have 38 miles on my 4%, so I'll stick with them for now. Trying to break in my last pair of Nimbus 18's today and that was painful. The 4%'s were great right out of the box.

I'm excited about them. I'll try them on one run, and then they'll be a race day only shoe from there.

 

[DopeyBadger]

27 Weeks to Go! (27 Dresses) + TrainerRoad High Volume Full Triathlon Plan Week 1/28 + 80 Day Obsession - Phase 1/Week 1

7/1/19 - M - OFF
7/2/19 - T - 80DO-AAA + Ramp Test (25 min; 32 TSS)
7/3/19 - W - 45 min Easy Run
7/4/19 - R - Cumberland (75 min; 78 TSS) + 20 min Brick Run
7/5/19 - F - 80DO-Total Body Core + Ericsson (60 min; 64 TSS)
7/6/19 - Sa - Big Mountain (180 min; 142 TSS) + 30 min Evening Run
7/7/19 - Su - 90 min Easy Run + 80DO-Cardio Flow

Total Run Miles - 20.9 miles
Total Run Time - 3:07 hours
Total Run TSS - 199 TSS

Total Biking Time - 5:39 hours
Total Biking TSS - 316 TSS

Total 80DO Time - 2:15 hours
Total 80DO TSS - 21 TSS

Total Training Time - 11:02 hours
Total TSS - 536 TSS

Monday

Off day.

Tuesday

And we're off! Time to be the bride and not the brides-mate!

80DO-AAA in 2 sets of 15 from start to end

1 - Upright Row, Bent over Fly, Frog Sliders, Glute Bridge w/Loop
2 - Push-up, Skull Crusher, Weighted ab sit-up, Quad Ped Heel Press
3 - Bent Over Row, Hammer Curl, Knee Tuck, Fire Hydrant

Cycling: The Ramp Test is an assessment workout that uses gradual increases in Target Power to push you as hard as possible over the course of a fairly short but demanding, continuous effort. 97 rpm average (always aim to keep this super high for a ramp test as I've found it the easiest).



Happy with the results overall. My FTP was 240 at the mid-point of the tail end of the training. So to be roughly the same after taking the break is fine by me!

Wednesday

Morning: Off

Evening Run:
Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 9mph to 9mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 82°F + 71°F; FL - 86°F
End: Temp+Dew = 81°F + 71°F; FL - 86°F

First run back. I'd say it was a success. The glute issues are not near the problem they were. But I'd hesitate to say it's completely gone. But pretty much better than any day after May 17th. Overall it was 4.8 miles in 46 min (9:35 min/mile) at 139 HR.

Thursday

4th of July! We wanted to go see Toy Story 4 (steph and G) and Spider-man (me) at 8am. So I was up at 4am to get the workout done in time.

Cycling: Cumberland is a 60-minute sustained segment between 80-85% FTP (roughly Ironman bike leg pace) nestled inside of a 75-minute long workout. 92 RPM. Happy to hold this pace consistently for 60 min without issue. Felt relatively strong throughout.

Brick Run (occurred immediately after cycling):
Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 0mph to 2mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 68°F + 68°F; FL - 69°F
End: Temp+Dew = 68°F + 68°F; FL - 69°F

Got out the door within 7 min of the bike ride ending. The run felt smooth. I kind of like coming directly off the bike to a run. 2.3 miles in 20 min (8:35 min/mile) at 142 HR.

Friday

80DO-Total Body Core in 2 sets of 15 from start to end

Shoulders: Squat Rotating Press, Lateral Bear Crawl with RL, Spider Loops with RL
Back: Bent over Row, One Hand Renegade Row with RL, Boat Pose Lat Pull with RL
Chest: Push-up Leg lift with RL, Chest Fly with Leg Lift with RL, Side V Loop Kicks with RL
Biceps: Staggered Stance Bicep Curl, C-Curve Crunch w/ weights at 90d, Side Knee Plank Pull with RL
Triceps: Tricep Kickbacks, Single-Arm Extension Loop, Tricep push up

Cycling: Ericsson is 4x8-minute spin-up intervals between 88-94% FTP where riders begin with a slightly quicker-than-usual spin for the first 4 minutes, increase their pedal speed for the following 3 minutes, and then spin all-out for the final minute. The rest between intervals is 4 minutes and the workout kicks off with 3x2-minute rounds of Isolated Leg Training (ILT) where riders can train each leg's spin individually. 94 RPM. No trouble. Felt like I handled this well.

Saturday

Cycling: Big Mountain is 3 hours of Aerobic Endurance riding spent between 65-75% FTP. 91 RPM (not bad for 3 hours of continuous riding). I had to stand up on the bike (and stop spinning) twice to get some blood flow back in my rear. Was definitely feeling the effects of sitting on the bike for such a long time. Estimated 48.8 miles per the trainer. Second longest ride to date, so I'm happy about it.

Evening Run:
Conditions - Mostly Cloudy, Wind 10mph to 10mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 77°F + 62°F; FL - 77°F
End: Temp+Dew = 77°F + 62°F; FL - 77°F

Wasn't as stiff/sore as I expected. But the glute was a bit more angry about this run than the other two earlier in the week. Although still better than anything previously. 3.5 miles in 31 min (8:54 min/mile) at 138 HR.

Not the largest training day ever, but it's on the upper end for sure.

Sunday

Morning Run:
Conditions - Clear, Wind 5mph to 5mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 58°F + 52°F; FL - 58°F
End: Temp+Dew = 60°F + 54°F; FL - 58°F

Decided to continue to take this nice and easy with no focus on HR or pace. Just whatever felt easy. Wasn't sure what the legs had left after the 3 hrs bike + 30 min run yesterday. Ended up with 10.3 miles in 90 min (8:45 min/mile) at 136 HR. Nice to see the splits start slow and finish fast. GAP showed me consistently getting stronger throughout the run.

80DO-Cardio Flow sort of like stretching. Nice end to the week!