Posts Tagged ironman
One way to start the new year
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Goals, Ironman Training, Training Ruminations on January 31, 2010
January is over, and the stats are in: it was one hell of a month to start the ironman year. Just finished my first build period, well, the hard part of it at least with a recovery week to come. One build period left, then peak, then race time!
Overall, I got in 50 hours of training, ~500 miles on the bike, ~100 miles running, and nearly 6 hours in the pool (yes, slacking here). 4 total hours of pilates, and a lot of foam rolling. It was a great start to what I expect to be an awesome year of training and pushing my body to new levels. A few keys to success after an enduring month:
- Balance, balance, balance – training is a hobby, not a profession. If i miss a workout, so be it. I must remain dedicated, but not at the cost of the true values in life
- Recovery weeks – yes, three weeks in a row is tough, but that fourth week makes it worthwhile. As the saying goes, make the hard workouts hard and the easy ones easy. Must stick to this
- The indoor trainer will be key to improving my cycling skills. Yes, the long base workouts help, but hills and intervals will be my path to success
- Swimming sucks – it’s more enjoyable when you mix up the workouts, but I’d rather be running
- I miss running – 3 days a week and a 100 miles is a lot in a month, but I miss the days of the real long weekend runs and 3-4 days in a row during the week. Next year I guess
- It will be tough to keep up this workload when I start traveling for work. Bring the shoes and get some runs in. Don’t get down on travel as it’s critical to success in a global company
- I think my heart rate monitor is broken – it’s giving me reads of over 200 for an entire workout. I feel lost without it and I must get a new one
In case you’re interested, here are the stats:
Surf City next weekend, Palm Springs Century next…will be an awesome few weeks!
Weekly Summary: End of the Base
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Trail Running, Training Ruminations on January 10, 2010
It was so nice to have a “chill week” after I’ve been “slapping the bass, man” (see video below from I Love You Man) for the past few weeks. The base period has ended, and although I feel like I could of done more to improve that base, I like that I improved my speed, my technique, and even extended my cycling base. I have some concerns regarding my running distance with my new form, but overall, I’m pleased. I mapped out my schedule through mid-April today, and it’s going to be a hard few weeks.
In this recovery week, I did 7:45 of working out, with most of that going to cycling. Here’s the summary:
Four hours on the bike, 2 hours running, and not nearly enough time in the pool (with an hour of pilates). It was definitely a chill week, and one I needed for recovery and as prep for the hard three weeks coming up. The only thing to note in this week despite the ease was the trail race. This was my first experience running trails, and I’m not talking those 5 foot wide trails that are clear of rocks, trees and brush. These trails were single file, layered with ups/downs/rocks/brush/little mud/trees/etc. For the most part, very clean trails. But I have no clue how to run down a steep trail head with slants to the right and left and a small flat space down the middle with room to run foot over foot.
The experience was very difficult. I learned a few things:
- I need to learn to run downhill, in general, and especially on tight trails
- I need to move up in races. I’m getting faster, and I was held up the first 3 miles with slower runners. Not a big deal, but I would of enjoyed it more being upfront.
- Trail runners are SO FRIENDLY! What an awesome atmosphere
- As beautiful as the area was, it’s so hard to take in the views because I was so focused on not eating shit on the trail. Most of my focus was on the rocks two feet ahead. I want to learn to be able to trust my instincts and just run.
- The host, Baz, is hilarious. So chill! I’d love to do his races again.
On that note, my upcoming week is the start of the build period. I plan on working out close to 12 hours a week for each of the next three weeks, which ends with a mellow week (that includes the surf city half marathon). Then I start the build period again, with the Tour De Palm Springs, a 100 mile ride in palm springs. I’m only 10-11 weeks from the Oceanside 70.3, and I can’t believe how that’s creeped up on me!
My schedule for the week (3 hours running, 6.5 hours on the bike, 2 hours swimming, 1 hour pilates):
- Mon: 1 Hour Run, 1 Hour Pilates (track work: run, interval, short, high intensity)
- Tues: 1 hour bike (short intervals)
- Wed: 1 hour run, 45 min swim (zone 1 run with an iwillnotbonk finish, evening swim)
- Thurs: 1 hour bike, 30 min swim (longer intervals on bike)
- Fri: REST
- Sat: 4.5 hour bike (endurance ride)
- Sun: 45 min swim, 1 hour run (short interval swim, tempo run)
If you want to check out my schedule in general, here it is:
I love you, man: Slapping the bass!
Sanity in Becoming Ironadam: Video Games
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Life, Video Games on December 20, 2009
Training, working, life, family, pets – they all take up MOST of a fully employed triathletes time. In addition to thinking of my family and pets as fun time, I also need an escape from reality for my personal “me” time. That escape is video games.
And I’m not talking Wii video games. I own a PS3, 360, and Wii. Fortunately, I have a Mac, so I don’t get caught up in the PC game hype, and I consider myself lucky. I know, I know. It sounds foolish or crazy to own all three systems, but it allows me to have a system for both TVs in case others want to use a particular TV somewhere. Plus, there are a lot of exclusives to both systems that make a dual system worthwhile.
And let’s be real: I spent $3k per bike on two bikes, $1k on tri equipment I most likely don’t really need. For $1k, I could have all three systems and a new game for each. And that’s why I love video games. For dollar for dollar entertainment, there isn’t a better value. Plus, video games have really stepped it up with the next gen consoles. My girlfriend can attest – it’s really like being part of a movie. The games have actors, acting voices, storylines, often perfectly unravel a story into actual gameplay, and even have alternate endings based on decisions you make in the games.
Yes, I’m hooked. My “me” time is spent playing video games, and I will probably do this with my son when I’m 50. I’m into all genres, and I often get games just to appreciate the graphics and story lines, even if I don’t finish them.
With that introduction, I want to roll off my most anticipated games for 2010. There are so many good ones coming out, and it will take a lot of will power to resist buying all of these at once. I already have 5-6 games sitting on my shelves that I haven’t played that I could get for 50% less than I paid, but I’ll get to them, I promise.The basis for this is a PS3 magazine, so I may be missing some 360 exclusives (Crackdown included below). Check out IGN for more details on any of these games.
Shooters
- Mag – Huge multiplayer with huge strategy of trying to defend or attack
- Lost Planet 2 – giant monster/dinosaur things. Yup, that’s all I need
- Singularity – changing items right in front of you +/- 60 years. Yup, control of time. Another thing that is all I need.
- Max Payne 3 – slow motion shooting. So fun! matrix style
- Bioshock 2 – first one was one of the best games I’ve ever played. Great story, cool graphics. Underwater cities with a bunch of psychopaths. I’m in!
Action
- Crackdown 2 – if you ever played the original, you’d know why. Favorite 360 game to date
- God of War III – sequel to the best game series. It looks amazing
- Enslaved – only because it was by the people who did Heavenly Sword, which was an incredible early PS3 game
- Bayonnetta – already pre-ordered. Devil May Cry makers take action to another level. Witch with guns in shoes wearing a tight outfit. Sold!
- Dante’s Inferno – God of War’esque with dead things in hell. Sold!
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – finally, a Castlevania game to look forward to. One of my favorites on the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Shadow of Collossus’esque!
Adventure
- Heavy Rain – I love storylines, and this one is all about the storyline! Drama, detective work, serial killer – it’s gonna be INCREDIBLE! 4-5 years in the making
- Last Guardian – Next up in the ICO series (Shadow of Collosus). I’m a sucker for emotional video games! I hate when animals die, but I’m down
- Just Cause 2 – grapple gun and creative kills. Sold!
- Red Dead Redemption – open world in wild wild west from creators of Grand Theft Auto. I think I’m in here too.
- I Am Alive – giant earthquake destroys city and u are left to survive and water is the biggest commodity. SOLD!
RPG / Sports
Not a huge RPG fan, so it will have to be incredible to sell me. White Knight Chronicles may do the trick. For sports, since I bought the sports games this year, I’ll skip next year. Not enough improvement year to year to get me to purchase. Debating on FIFA 2010, and since I haven’t had Tiger Woods golf since last year, maybe next year’s. Split second does look like a game that is worth getting. A fun arcade style racing game like burnout.
Oh!!! And how could I forget ModNation Racers. Simple game like Little Big Planet, but you can design your own race tracks and share online. Seems like an advanced Mario Kart. I can’t wait for this one.
Maybes
- Army of Two: The 40th day – If the co-op is really that good, I’ll get it
- Aliens vs. Predators – I was hooked on predators when Arnold did the original. I’m always willing to try anything in the series since.
- Inversion – anti-gravity gun. That would be fun to use
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – will take a lot of good reviews to get me over the edge on this one. Too many other good games
- Darksiders – Cuz they say it’s gonna be bad ass. I’m doubtful
- Dark Void – they say the flying and killing is a fun combo. We’ll see
- Dead Rising 2 – only if it’s less dull than the original. But creatively killing zombies. Usually a sell for me!
Week 4: Hours are building
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Training Ruminations on November 29, 2009
Week 4 is over, and I’m exhausted. I was supposed to do 14.5 hours, and I got in 13.5. I wish I could do that extra hour, but my body was just too tired. It’s tough going from working out about 6-8 hours a week to a big jump up. My running mileage is down a bit, but I’m way up on bike mileage and swimming time. Here’s my weekly summary:
This is how I got there
Running: This week was a good running week except when you consider the calf/knee pain I feel from my blisters. I’ve never had blisters before, and I’ve had five that I had to pop this week. Although they felt fine after popping, I think I was sub consciously altering my stride and running more on the outside of my foot (blisters on big toe and inside part of forefoot). On my 12 mile run this weekend, I could barely walk when finished and the pain really comes when i angle my foot in (think duck feet). I’m hoping to stay off my feet for a bit. My shorter runs were ok, and I did a 5k turkey trot at my girlfriend’s pace in my vibrams. That was a lot of fun! She did awesome in the race too – hopefully I can get her to do more 
Swimming: Two long swim workouts and starting to get the body rotation down. I really focused on clearing the hips as my hand pulled water away, and I also focused on angling my arm pulling the water back (more right angle) than straight arm. It was much easier to balance this way. I did a great drill – a variation of the catch up drill. I’d do this with and without swim paddles – as you pull your hand back, rotate the body completely out of the way and stay on your side for an extra second. Then stroke your hand forward to catch up to your other hand. Make sure you regain balance here and your hips don’t sink. Repeat with either the same hand (for one handed drills) or the other hand. Great for integrating drills into a real stroke. Another variation via @sandiegopj is instead of leaving your dead arm at front, leave it at your side. I didn’t try this but will do it this week.
Cycling: I’m over the 100 mile barrier. In a week that is. I’m still struggling to get my mileage up, but my endurance for 50 miles is pretty good, even on tired legs. When people pass me, I’m able to keep up and even outlast them, which is a good feeling and a big step up from a few months ago where I stood no chance. Although I have a vacation coming up, I hope to start getting these weekend rides to 60-75 miles and get 150-200 miles on the week. My biking legs are getting better and my pedaling more efficient, but I have a long way to go. I used my trainer for the first time this week and the one legged isolation drills really helped. I’m jerky on those, so I know I can get more out of my pedaling. I also need to continue to work on my balance.
Other: Another week of Pilates with Leah Stewart (that’s the other listed above). Great work and my biggest weakness in flexibility is my calf. I would of never guessed. And my upper calf. So I’ll be working on stretching and strengthening those over the next few months. I also continued to do some running drills, which I wrote about here this week.
That’s it for Week 4. This week I’m going to take it easy and do about 10 hours. I’m scheduled for 16 and I think I’m going to do some re-arranging. My body needs some rest and I’m going to focus on that instead of pushing myself and risking injury. I may even take the next few days off from running given the pain in my calf.
Here are my ruminations this week:
- One thing I’ve learned riding – probably 10% of people stop at stop signs. Everyone rolling stops. What the hell? STOP BEHIND THE LINE! Guess what’s in front of that line 80% of the time – that’s right, a BIKE LANE!
- I’m getting a new puppy in two weeks. YAY! A running partner. Here she is – she’s a beautiful Shiba Inu named Kaila (pronounced kI-La)
- My calf hurts, bad.
- Blisters really suck, but I must admit, I love popping them and watching the fluid drain.
- Since we have so many clothes for biking, why not make clothes for biking on a trainer that are so cool we don’t sweat EVERYWHERE.
- Why does some italian food not settle well and others do? This morning was painful before my ride, but other times, no issues and lots of energy. Maybe home made is better?
- I’m learning to ride/run without an ipod. I must admit, it is peaceful and I enjoy the time getting to know my own body.
- Isn’t it easier riding when you’re chasing someone? When someone is ahead, it’s so much easier to pace and push yourself.
- Should people ask for permission to draft off you if you’re riding solo? I kinda hate it when people get right up on me
- I think my cats are starting to like each other, well like each other 50% of the time. I wonder how Kaila will screw this up
- I want to be a coach – that would be awesome!
- VACATION in one week – WOOOO
Becoming ironadam
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training on November 23, 2009
So today is the day that I signed up for my first Ironman! Ironman Arizona, November 21, 2010. I keep thinking how crazy it is to do an Ironman. I did a 47 mile ride this weekend after what I thought was a long Saturday workout (2:45 – 1:15 in the pool, 1:30 running), and I got real dizzy towards the end. It was definitely an issue of improper fueling (not for my bike, but my body), but now I think, I must do a marathon after a ride that is over double that length. Oh, and I have to swim 2.4 miles before that ride. CRAZY! I have a long way to go and a year to do it.
I am so excited though. It’s my goal to test the limits of my mind (the body is a given, but this is really a mental challenge). I want to do something that doesn’t seem achievable, practice and train, develop a process, and enjoy the journey. The end is just an end. This is about the journey and making sure I can continue to find balance in life while training for one of the greatest endurance challenges on earth. I don’t want to just finish Ironman Arizona. I want to win it.
JUST KIDDING! Seriously, I want to set a good time goal, maybe 12 hours, and do my best to get it done. I now have to set my training schedule for 2010 and make some adjustments, so stay tuned!
Week 3: Entering my base training
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Training Ruminations on November 22, 2009
I’ve now entered the base period of training. I’ve divided my base period into three separate periods of four weeks in length (each). Each base period will ramp the hours through the four week period. For example, base 1 training looks like this:
Week 1: 12 hours
Week 2: 14.5 hours
Week 3: 16 hours
Week 4: 8.5 hours
The goal of the base period is to build on endurance and work on technique. The build period, which follows the base (who thought of “slappin the bass” from I Love You, Man there) is to start improving speed and endure more race simulation to prepare for your event.
So this week was the ramp up. As I mentioned last week, I haven’t done more than 9.5 hours of training ever. EVER! I did 7.5 and 8.5 the last two weeks when I was supposed to do 10. Just think about 10 hours – it’s a LOT! One hour everyday during the week and 2.5 hours each day on the weekend. I always thought I worked out that much, but when I actually tracked it, I quickly realized how little I do. So to get up to 12 hours took a toll on my body, but I did get nearly there. 11 hours, 48 minutes. Here’s a summary:
This is how I got there
Running: I finally hit the road to do some serious forefoot running. I’ve been doing a lot of barefoot runs in my vibrams, and this week, I started to add the mileage. My proprioceptive cues were: lean forward, imagine a wall 2 inches in front of my face that my knees can’t hit, and slam my foot into the pavement. I felt like I had a very successful week doing this, and I got in 29 miles in 3:43. Pretty good pacing. I do feel a lot of calf pain still, but it’s getting better.
Swimming: I did one long swim workout. That’s it. I had a lot of trouble talking myself into doing early morning swims because it’s so COLD! But I made the most of my one workout. I’m very focused on balance in the water and I’m doing a number of drills to improve my kick and prevent my hips from sinking, known as dragging in swimming lingo. My drills this week were: 200M open, 200M kick with kickboard, 2 x 200M kicking with belly button facing wall – each side, 200M turning in the water, 2 x 200M on side with catch up stroke – 3 count,2 x 200 with paddles (including one handed), underwater freestyle, cooldown 200M. PS Ignore the mileage up there. When the Garmin 310xt is underwater, it sucks. That watch really is the same as the 305 with a few minor modifications and a re-design
Cycling: I’m finally ramping up the cycling miles. I did three rides this week (with the ride to/from work counting as 2 above). I can feel my force increasing. I’ve been doing a lot of hills, and i’m focusing on pushing the pedal not down but forward and down (think 45 degree angle) going up the hills, as well as picking up my heels at the bottom of the stroke on straight aways. I’m finding that I’m generating more power (feeling, not measuring this). I’m still having some issues getting into aero position, and I’m going to spend some time on the trainer to do this.
Other: This week I started Pilates with Leah Stewart (that’s the other listed above). I’m really excited to do this work. My goal is to improve my flexibility, reduce hip movement and transfer more movement to my core, and improve my mediation ability. I plan on doing this once a week, and this week was a good intro to working on my movement. I also did a little bit of strength training, but I’m going to stop doing this and focus more on strength drills and flexibility. I’ll be posting more about the routines I plan to follow each week!
That’s it for Week 3. This week is going to have a lot of biking, a 5k turkey trot, hopefully a little bit more swimming, a pilates class, and a whole lotta turkey. YUMMM!
Here are my ruminations this week:
- I wonder if I use my toilet paper now that I’m a triathlete
- Why don’t bikers wear reflective gear at night. I think they’re trying to get hit. So stupid. Do they realize that people walking and bike riding can’t see them either
- Cars – so you know, when we’re biking on the road, we also have “car classification”. I can’t believe how many people get annoyed when we’re cornering the right side taking up 10% of a lane. I had two people go around and quickly swerve to the right this weekend as if to show me who’s boss. Hello idiots. If you hit me, I will get really injured. I don’t have a giant metal box protecting me.
- I stepped on a rock on Saturday and hurt my calf. I couldn’t help but think that a stupid rock could potentially knock off time in my training schedule. Damn you rock! I’ll find you. I will find you
- Imagine if training was a job. And helping others improve their training was part of it. How cool would that be? Too bad this sport is ridiculously expensive so income matters. Supplemental income?
- In the morning, its cold.
- We pay $500 to do 140.6 miles in 8-17 hours. Are we stupid? Why don’t we start a business asking people to do incredibly mental and physically challenging things, and then ask them to pay a lot to do it. Genius
- I have an idea for a website. Why not have a product review site for triathletes that compiles blog info of all the people doing product reviews as well as the comments to those reviews. But it product reviews would have to be standardized. Then you would have your preferences, so you can tell whether someone reviewing a product likes similar things. In addition, there is an option to sell used equipment on there, or potentially barter. I know i know, there’s craigs list, trifuel, etc.. But remember, it’s all about design!
- I want a dog. And I want him to run with me. If he’s fast enough, I want him to run by my bike too.
- Umm, pilates is hard.
- My hips make pilates hard
- My activities make my hips inflexible
- Hmmm – if I stop doing all activites, will pilates be easier?
- I hate Ladell Betts – he screwed in fantasy this week. I hope Clinton Portis comes back soon so I’m not tempted to start him when I forget about his pathetic performance today
Training Ruminations: Week 1
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Training Ruminations on November 8, 2009
I have a lot of thoughts that go through my head while I’m training and while I’m at work thinking about training. I figured instead of blogging about each of these, I’ll gather them in a weekly ruminations post where I can summarize my thoughts, what worked, what didn’t, and what I did.
This was my first week of training for my half ironman in March. My focus for this training season is to improve the limiters, and I’ve listed those at the end of this post. In order to this, I plan on setting up my races so I can spend much more time biking than running, and my training this week was a good example of this. I broke out my training into the typical joe friel training programs – preparation, base, build, peak, race, transition. I didn’t get much transition time after this past marathon because I want to get some good weight lifting in the prep/base period. This week was prep week. Next week is also prep before I enter Base 1.
This week, my stats were:
This leaves out the two hours or so I spent working in the weight room and on my core. I’m finding it tough to balance my time with the class I’m auditing at UCI, a busier work schedule, and normal life. And this is just the prep period…
Overall, a pretty good week, although I want to spend more time in the pool. It was hard getting back into training this week. My legs were still tired from the marathon, biking was really difficult since I had three weeks off from it. Swimming was ok , but shoulders felt even more inflexible. Running was more of a technique week, hence the speed. I did a lot of walking/slow jogging to get used to barefoot running (but i cheat and wear Vibrams). But as the week wore on, I started to feel stronger, and I guess that’s why this is the prep period.
Here are my ruminations for the week:
- Amazed at how sport/form specific fitness is. I’m working on my form for running, trying to switch from a heel strike to a midfoot/forefoot strike, and my heart rate is higher, my body is sore, and it’s just harder to run. I ran a marathon two weeks ago and 8 miles felt like hell yesterday.
- Three weeks off from biking and it’s like I never rode a bike. Three rides later, it’s like I’ve been riding for a year. Fitness can leave you quickly, but it can come back just as quick
- Breathing from my left side swimming is easy. My form is pretty solid, and I can move pretty quick.
- Breathing from my right side is like I am 5 years old and was thrown in the pool and told to figure it out. Seriously? It’s the same body right?
- Balance on my bike is pretty pathetic. I can’t ride without hands. I even have trouble riding with my right hand on, left off (no problem with left on, right off). Yeah, how did that happen?
- Proprioceptive cues RULE! That’s the technical term for mental thoughts that you use to work on your technique. This week, I ran light – I didn’t want to hear my feet, and I pedaled trying to scrape mud off my foot and drive my foot down and forward. I even tried lifting my feet on the back stroke, and I plan to do more of these on the bike. If you read brain training for runners, you’ll find 12 cues that he trains his runners with. I’ll use 2 per week, alternating miles with each thought. I’ll blog about it as I go.
- I’m not flexible
- Foam rollers freakin HURT! I never knew a ball of foam could make me cry.
- I got a kinetic road machine – I set it up, now I just need to use it
- Debating getting an iBike power meter
- Rode without an iPod and ran without an iPod for a majority of my miles this week. Surprised at how peaceful it was to simply listen to my body!
This week, my training will be cut short by a weekend trip to San Francisco. I hope to get one long run in there and maybe some weights, but I’ll miss out on my long ride. I may try to do it on Wednesday early AM before work and just work later that evening. We’ll see what the week brings. I’m also starting a weekly pilates routine with Leah Stewart (friend of Adrienne’s) – private sessions with Adrienne. I’m really looking forward to this as she’s a great instructor and very knowledgeable.
If you have any comments/feedback, I’d love to hear from you. Happy training everyone! I hope the offseason is treating you well!
Goal recap (reminder so I remain focused – will post each week):
- Generate more force on the bike
- Maintain force for longer periods of time on the bike
- Improve balance in the water – “get more slippery”
- Run on the midfoot-forefoot so I can avoid leg pain in late miles of a marathon
Pedaling – yes, even that has science to it
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Cycling, Ironman Training, Training Tips on November 6, 2009
Physics does fall into the realm of science, right? For those of you who take cycling seriously, I don’t have to convince you that there is a lot you can do with your pedaling to improve your force, and therefore, speed. For those who do not cycle, I think you’d be surprised how much physics there is in pedaling. One of my themes for this winter is to get faster on the bike (along with endure the swim and run on the forefoot), and so I want to study the pieces to the biking puzzle. No better place to start with the simple motion we learned when we were three years old.
I came across this website, and they have this great article on pedaling. I knew there was something to pedaling – something more then getting into a fairly uncomfortable seat, bending in a strange position for several hours, and just pushing DOWN as hard as I can on these tiny little pedals. Well, striking down is exactly where I was doing wrong.
The article’s main point is that the additional leverage you get by striking forward and down (think 45 degree angle) is MUCH more powerful than striking down. It sounds confusing, but check out the diagrams in the article. Read it over a few times because I definitely had to study the diagrams to get a better understanding of what the author meant with additional distance / force from more leverage. You have a longer length to push when you use your pedals this way, which gives you more time to generate power. That’s why longer crank shafts give you more leverage and can generate more power.
The other key takeaway from the article was the pull up in the back half of the pedal (the part where you’re clipped in and the force of the pedal pulls your leg up – yeah, that’s NOT how it’s supposed to work). The article says your leg weighs about 15 pounds, and if you’re not pulling your leg up, then your other leg has to compensate for that on the push forward/down, meaning you have to overcome 15 pounds just to get to the zero power threshold. If you’ve heard of trying to make your leg feel weightless, this is what the article is talking about. You should at a minimum be pulling up your leg so that your other leg doesn’t have to work for that.
In addition, the area from 2 o clock to 7 o clock is a key area of power output. Here, the leg should almost be straight, and the feeling should be like wiping dirt/gum off the bottom of your shoe. Surprisingly, this swipe of the foot will account for about 25% of your power output. Crazy huh?
To summarize, here’s how your power breaks down:
- 65% on the downward push
- 25% on the swipe from the bottom to the beginning of the backswing
- 10% of the pull up (and mostly just to offset the weight of a free leg)
So how do you work on this? This is what I’m going to do
- One legged drills on an indoor trainer – get the feelings/leg positions right. The feeling should be smooth without jerkiness
- One legged drills while riding, but leave the other foot clipped in and just make it feel limp. In this position, don’t get jerky – it’s so easy to do
- Simulate the feeling in 2-3 mile intervals with both feet. In one interval, focus on the downward push with both feet. In another interval, focus on the scraping off gum feeling. In another interval, pull your leg up. The key is putting these all together, which is where the one legged riding comes in
If you know of any other good cycling articles, pass them on! I hope this one helps you get faster on the bike.
Weight training – good or bad?
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Weight Training on September 22, 2009
I began weight training yesterday. I have a triathlon in three weeks and a marathon in five weeks. Timing isn’t great, but I don’t view these races as end games but means to the end, so I’d rather not put off weight training any longer. I am focused purely on strength maintenance during this period of training. Since I haven’t weight trained other than push ups, pull ups and sit ups for a few years, I guess it’s not really maintenance. However, I’m focusing on training that will strengthen/lengthen those small muscles without causing too much fatigue or soreness.
The question I ponder is whether this is good training for the fully employed triathlete. Although I didn’t want to spend too much time in the weight room, 3 sets of 20 of 6-7 exercises takes at least 30 minutes, with 1 minute of stretching between sets and you’re looking at 45 minutes. Not a lot of time, but a lot of time when you work 45 hours a week and need to train for three sports. So I’ve resorted to combining this workout like a brick, after a run, a swim, or a ride.
I feel good doing this, but also more fatigued. It definitely slowed my run a bit today. I lifted/stretched for 45 minutes yesterday morning (with an evening swim) and 30 minutes today after a 5 mile run. Here’s what I’m doing:
- Leg press – low weight, high reps – feet narrow and pointing forward to simulate a bike
- Standing lat pulldown – stand up, take the bar, elbows / knees slightly bent, pull down – low weight, high reps
- Squats – very low weight with dumbbells – feet narrow and pointing forward to simulate a bike
- Push ups – 3 sets of 20, slow to be exact with plyometrics offsetting sets (clap push ups)
- Sit ups – twists with a medicine ball (offset with overhead catch and throws)
- To add into the mix: standing row, step up, knee extension
- Stretches: triangle, quad pull, shoulder extension, shoulder pull, sitting knees, specific hip / IT band stretches
I’m doing some other drills geared to helping my running form, but the exercises above (non core) are almost exclusively for swimming and biking, which of course will improve running based on entering the third sport with more energy. I think incorporating 15 minutes or so of yoga 3-4 nights per week is also helpful! As you can see, spare time is vanishing!
Do you do any weight training for triathlons / running? Please share any exercises you find helpful!
Days are better when I ride 2 wheels to work
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Cycling on September 15, 2009
I don’t know what it is about hopping on my bike and taking it to work, but it makes everything better (can you hear the song). I seem to be more productive during the day, I’m excited to get to work and leave for the ride home, I’m happier (maybe it’s the people who smile and say hello on the bike path – not much of that on the road rage filled southern california freeways) and I love how it makes my office feel like a dorm room (see pics). The best part of riding to work is that it takes slightly longer than driving but I get a good workout in, and I can combine it with a pre-work swim or a post-work run to fulfill a mid-week brick workout. It’s a great time saver for the the employed triathlete.
I think riding to work is almost required for the amount of training I need to complete for the ironman. It’s 17 miles round trip, and I usually have a computer bag on my back with clothes (sometimes I leave the computer at work), but it definitely makes me heavier and the ride harder. And strangely enough, both ways seem to be into the wind (if you know why the hell this is possible, please explain to me).
There are some general guidelines I’ve learned though when it comes to riding to work:
- The weather and season are obviously important for this. It’s tough to ride in the summer unless you shower at work, and daylight savings makes riding in the winters tough unless you leave early or don’t mind riding in the dark.
- It also takes careful planning. You really have to plan your lunches with someone else or bring food. And you can’t plan to meet someone after work.
- Leave clothes / clean up accessories (soap, hair gel, tooth brush, eye glass cleaner, chap stick) at work . I always leave shoes at work and make sure clothes in my bag match the shoes. I sometimes even drop clothes off the day before if I think ahead.
- Don’t forget the badge to your building. Nothing worse then getting to work at 7AM before most people are there to have to miss your meeting and wait for someone to show up
If you’ve learned anything yourself about biking to work – tips, tricks, handy equipment – please let me know.
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