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I may have some specific route sections for Bonham to get some good bike practice as L_Master mentioned Burnaby mtn, I guess you're in Van/Burnaby or Lower Mainland. Lurking in this thread all year I thought he was in Vic, but maybe that was just a visit. I will leave getting to/from these areas up to your discretion (biking/driving) but personally I just bike there and ride the interesting part, then ride back home. These should all be quite safe and bike friendly.
Iona Beach - by YVR: Depending on where you start from (usually the path behind the new mall), it's 14km out and back. Totally flat, usually windy, wide shoulder for half and then farm road, no intersections, many cyclists. Burnaby Mountain: My usual approach is heading E on union st bike route to the Parkway, then climb up and loop around SFU then head back down and home the same way. Distance is a bit short (as half will be downhill, and the bike route is very stop/start) but the hill climb is tough and great training. Barnett Hwy: Starting from where it leaves Hastings at the foot of the mountain, go all the way til you hit Port Moody then turn around and go back. It's got a wide shoulder on both sides and I think 1 intersection/light but its quite a long route with great views. River Road/Marine Way: I don't like this one as much but is fairly popular with cyclists. River Road (NE Richmond) has a narrow shoulder and feels a bit unsafe with cars passing and there are quite a few big trucks. Marine Way between Queensborough has a wide shoulder but there is a moderate amount of intersections, although spaced pretty far apart. Good for intervals. Fair bit of traffic but I feel safe on the shoulder. Glenlyon Loop: Popular for crits. 2.25 km loop SE of Boundary Road by the river in South Burnaby bounded by N Fraser Way and Glenlyon Parkway. Ride clockwise to stay on the inside. There is a 4 way stop at 1 part but you will be turning right and can ride thru. Watch for the bus. (L_Master specifically mentioned finding a loop with all right turns and this is it as far as I am aware) Marine Drive - UBC: One of the most popular bike spots. Can ride either direction but best is starting from the north, then going W and S as you avoid most of the intersections (almost all are T-shape) by being on the outside. Start where NW Marine diverges off W 4th heading down to the beach, then it's all flat for a while, followed by a moderate climb. Follow NW Marine along the outside of UBC and it changes name to SW Marine as you get a slight downhill section. Best is to stop at the intersection with 41st and either turn around and ride it in reverse or keep going down SW Marine (But there are a lot of lights on the southern portion). This is a great long route (maybe 15km total?) with varied terrain (hill, flat, down) all in one. Stanley Park Drive: The road not the seawall. Another of the more popular rides with roadies. Take the N Lagoon Dr after the hill but before the playground to loop back to the start (a touch under 10k for the loop). 2 lane road one-way only but the outside lane is very wide. I like to ride this at night as it is not at all busy. Evenings and mornings should be fine but I would avoid on weekend days. Deep Cove: I like taking Dollarton off the bridge instead of Seymour Parkway but that is fine too. Not much of a shoulder but lanes are fairly wide and cars know there's cyclists there a lot. Lots of up/down sections but almost no intersections. Since you run I bet you know about the other great things in Deep Cove (I'm talkin' donuts and amazing views for the rest of you) LSCR: Getting there by bike might take it out of you, but its a great "trail". From the end of Lillooet road it's a 14k paved trail Seymour Valley Trailway. A bit hilly but not too steep or too long, unlike the other mountain roads on the north shore. No cars, no intersections, ride through a forest! Richmond Dyke: The gravel dyke that encircles Richmond is great if your bike is up for it. No cars but many people. As long and as far as you want.
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Maybe I should do a bit of an introduction? I'm David 27/M/ 6'0 63kg from Vancouver. Lurked on TL for a while but only made an account recently. I both run and cycle but both casually / just for fun. Been biking fairly regularly for the last 5 years and running somewhat consistently for the last 3 years but I would do jogs and short bike rides for fun prior to that time frame and used to play soccer for a decade.
I ride an older 12-speed steel bike with downtube shifters and roughly split my riding time between commuting (14k each way, ~35 min) and fun rides (usually 30-40k, occasionally up to 60, 1.5-2 hrs most rides). Never raced or trained (in a specific plan like you guys mention) on a bike but I do like exploring new parts of the city and finding great views.
As for running, I joined a local club 2.5 years ago and really ramped up my consistency from there, but not really the mileage. I tend to do 20-30km/wk whenever the mood strikes me to run. I also don't race much but have done a few, almost all being 10k races. Last year my 10k time was 39:12, this year it was 38:05. My run club started up their track workouts this year after not doing it for the last 2 years and it's really helped me improve, even though my total mileage hasn't changed much. We just did a 1 Mile TT last week and I put up 5:27 which I was somewhat happy with but knew I could do better as my condition wasn't great going in to it (just got over a cold, still had a sore back hip from a fall). Next spring I want to do a half-marathon and try to get out on the trails (read: mountain trails) more often as most of my club does a lot of trail races. My goal for the half is under 1:40 which I think I am easily capable of as long a I train longer distances and put in more time.
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Wow, thanks for taking the time to write all that out! I actually live in Surrey, near the US border. It would be a bit of a haul to get to some of these, but I do have family in Burnaby, so I can see myself taking my bike over in the car for a Saturday combination bike ride/Dageraad tour.
Do you mind if I ask what running club you're in? I had some great training buddies back in Edmonton and I've struggled to find people to train with here. There is a club of friendly casual runners I run with on Thursdays, but there's no one there I could do workouts with.
Also, welcome to the thread! I'm glad you decided to jump from lurking to posting. A 1:40 half is well within your grasp if you're running 38:05 off low volume. Have you picked a race?
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On October 17 2018 05:07 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On October 17 2018 01:08 Bonham wrote:On October 16 2018 14:12 L_Master wrote:The bike you have, fortunately, doesn't effect the ability to work out. I'm also not sure what commuter style tires mean. I assume this means wider, I don't know if it means tread or not. Unless you specifically commute on gravel or snow, then changing tyres would greatly benefit the character of your ride. The bike would be somewhere from marginally to significantly faster, likely handle better, and resist flats better. It's not mandatory by any stretch of the imagination, but if any of the above things matter to you, it's worth the consideration. #1 recommendation far and away would be either 25mm or 28mm Continental Gator Hardshell Tyres. Fantastic tyre. Great life, great flat resistance, and given that its meant to be a robust training tire it rolls well and grips well. Given those time parameters (FYI: ideal in my mind would be 1.5-2 hour rides on 3 weekdays, the other two with 30'-60' recovery rides, and then a good 2-4 hour ride on the weekend.) the focus would definitely be on intensity as that's in that "time crunched" 5-9 hours a week window. In your case, short term fitness maintenance would be the main goal I imagine. The big difference between the bike and running is basically the amount and intensity of training you can tolerate. You wont have power/heart rate, so in your case you'll have to go by feel, but you're exceptionally experienced so that isn't a major concern. Simple idea of what you could do: Monday - Easy spin, recovery or low aerobic intensity. Tuesday - 5x3' VO2 intervals. Think 3k intensity, maybe a little harder. If you've got a 3' climb somewhere...that's a pretty good benchmark for comparison. VO2 work, so usual 1:1 recovery. Progress to 8x3', then try to add intensity. No power to use, so you'll have to go by feel or find a decent climb to use as a comparison point. Wednesday - Sweet Spot. This is right below threshold. Somewhere between half marathon and MP. Intense, on the edge, but controlled. Start with 3x10' and build up 2' a week. So 3x12', 3x14', 3x16', 3x18' 3x20', then 1x60'. 2:00 recovery in between. These are best done on either a long climb (if available) or a good loop with uninterrupted roads, or at a worst case scenario a loop with only infrequent, right hand turns. Thursday - Depends on how you feel. Recovery if you're wrecked. If not, 5x3' with 1:00 recovery in between. This should be a little harder than threshold, think perhaps 8k-10k pace. Build to 7x3', then extend the rep length 10s or so per week. Friday - Recovery. Lazy spin. Saturday - 2-4 hour ride, include 3x10' intervals at threshold/10M race pace. Progress interval duration a little each week towards 3x20'. Rest of the the ride should be standard easy/aerobic spinning (equivalent to marathon pace + 60" to 90") Sunday - Anywhere from 0-3 hours. Mostly aerobic or tempo (MP or a smidge easier) riding. Basically, time efficiency with focused intervals. Without power it's hard to focus precisely on going harder, so building duration is a good approach. You'll get way faster on the bike, and keep the vast majority of your running fitness if you do the above. I wasn't at your level, but I ran 18:21 on about 50mpw, got injured, didn't run or exercise much for a year, then got on the bike and trained cycling for 2 years. Got the itch to run. Did a couple of 20 mile weeks with 3 total workouts (3x1k, 2M sprint straight/jog turn, 4x1k) and ran 17:56. Now, your training is really focused and good, and mine wasn't, not to mention your bike volume is reduced compared to your running volume and the opposite was true for me, so it's not like you'll come back and be ready to run 2:31, but you should be able to jump back in close to where you were metabolically. Haha, wow, thanks for the detailed response. I will give this a go and see what happens; maybe I'll learn to love biking. (No promises I'll ride seven hours combined over Saturday and Sunday, though....) 5x3' coming up this afternoon! Not sure on the exact brand/make of the tires, but they have a little bit of tread on them. Not like MB tires or anything but a few grooves for grip and whatnot. They are a bit fatter than skinny road bike tires. If I decide to invest in a dedicated road bike I'll look into those tires you mention (and probably ask you for a bunch more info....) I can already see that picking routes for these workouts will be a bit of a skill to learn. I assume avoiding traffic lights/having to stop is the name of the game here. How much concern should I give to elevation change over my workout routes? My instinct is that going downhill in particular is not helpful since it's tough to keep your heart rate up while doing that. But are there any special concerns about going uphill with these workouts? You've got a cross bike, so I don't know how its geared. Most normal road bikes are geared such that you can do at least 33-35mpg (approx 60 km/hr) pedalling fairly comfortably, and close to 70 km/hr if you really spin. As long as you're not going down very steep downhills, or downhills with corners that require slowing and not pedaling you should be fine. If the downhill isn't crazy long, you should just be able to spin your legs like mad and keep some power down/HR up. No major concerns about going uphill, no. Power is power whether flat, down, or up. Plus climbing is amazing and descending is the bomb so hills are pretty much tha bestest. If you want a constant workbout, avoid those. It would be like planning a 3' VO2 interval, but having a 10s break in the middle. You could probably compensate, but it would definitely disrupt the workout. Any time you want consistent pedaling for an interval you definitely want to avoid stoplights. Those are completely disruptive. Also, as a general rule in my experience, roads with stoplights aren't generally the safest or best roads to ride when they can be avoided. The key to really getting it right in my opinion is to feel your effort. Most people instinctively try to keep the gear turning at the same rate when they hit an uphill, which means they start laying down a ton of power. Most people are also too slow to shift into bigger gears going downhill, or subconsciously want to take it easy. Shift gears very quickly, and pay attention to the force on the pedals. Going over the top of a hill can easy be 3, 4, or 5 shifts in quick succession, often with 1-2s of each other, to keep the power down. MTA: Dang. Your area is kind of a bummer. All the good stuff requires a decent bit of riding to get to. If you were trying to train like a pro it would be perfect, but for what you want you'd need to drive. Your best option that I imagine would be a great weekend ride with intervals, would be to ride from where you usually start your stuff out north to Burnaby mountain, do your reps on Burnaby, and then ride back. If you do want to drive, that's probably money as far as a great spot to do intervals. But I realize driving 10-15 miles on a regular basis, especially across town, will likely be ridiculously onerous. If you're looking to have some nice weekend rides where you can drive and want a nice 2 or 3 hour ride I can give you some good suggestions though. Given where you are you'll just have to figure out what's good using local knowledge, maybe find a nice loop with all right handers that you can use for hard days.
I can get my bike up to about 55 kph on a hill before the highest gear doesn't do much for me. The bike has two rings on the front and seven in the back.
Well, it did until this afternoon--the small ring on the front broke during my second rep in "the sweet spot." Can still ride it for now using just the big ring. Not sure if I should take it in to get fixed (which could take who knows how long) or try to ride it out until my foot comes around. On the upside, my physio had some very helpful suggestions when I saw him on Tuesday and my foot has been making real progress. I may not be on the bike long enough to see real results!
Could you elaborate a bit on avoiding common shifting mistakes? I've been trying to get into higher gears more quickly when a downhill is coming, but I'm sure I'm doing lots of other stuff like a chump. Do I want to maintain a higher cadence when climbing?
Also, what's MTA? How did you figure out all this stuff about riding where I live? Why would my neighbourhood be better for pro training?
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On October 18 2018 12:26 Bonham wrote:Wow, thanks for taking the time to write all that out! I actually live in Surrey, near the US border. It would be a bit of a haul to get to some of these, but I do have family in Burnaby, so I can see myself taking my bike over in the car for a Saturday combination bike ride/Dageraad tour. Do you mind if I ask what running club you're in? I had some great training buddies back in Edmonton and I've struggled to find people to train with here. There is a club of friendly casual runners I run with on Thursdays, but there's no one there I could do workouts with. Also, welcome to the thread! I'm glad you decided to jump from lurking to posting. A 1:40 half is well within your grasp if you're running 38:05 off low volume. Have you picked a race?
Hmm I don't know the South Surrey area very well other than the big sports field complex that I used to play soccer on. That said, there are a lot more flat, quiet roads heading to the east that would be ideal for cycling. Again I don't know anything specific, but if you used like the strava heat maps or stalked any cycling clubs in the area to get routes from that would be a good approach.
I'm part of fraser street run club but that's in the heart of vancouver so probably not too accessible. I know there's a North Burnaby run club that frequents Dageraad but in Surrey/South Surrey I don't know of anything. It would be worth checking out facebook or instagram (or just googling) to try to find a club if its something you want.
As for races, I'm pretty set on doing the BMO half but would like to get one in before that, probably a MEC race. I am a bit wary of signing up for anything in Jan/Feb as you can count on it to be pissing rain all day. Do you have any good suggestions on this front? I'm not too knowledgeable on the road race circuit. One of the real reasons I want to do a half is to be confident in doing trail races as those are almost always longer than 21.1km and we are so spoiled by the awesome trails that I feel a bit guilty for not taking advantage of it.
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On October 18 2018 12:32 Bonham wrote:Show nested quote +On October 17 2018 05:07 L_Master wrote:On October 17 2018 01:08 Bonham wrote:On October 16 2018 14:12 L_Master wrote:The bike you have, fortunately, doesn't effect the ability to work out. I'm also not sure what commuter style tires mean. I assume this means wider, I don't know if it means tread or not. Unless you specifically commute on gravel or snow, then changing tyres would greatly benefit the character of your ride. The bike would be somewhere from marginally to significantly faster, likely handle better, and resist flats better. It's not mandatory by any stretch of the imagination, but if any of the above things matter to you, it's worth the consideration. #1 recommendation far and away would be either 25mm or 28mm Continental Gator Hardshell Tyres. Fantastic tyre. Great life, great flat resistance, and given that its meant to be a robust training tire it rolls well and grips well. Given those time parameters (FYI: ideal in my mind would be 1.5-2 hour rides on 3 weekdays, the other two with 30'-60' recovery rides, and then a good 2-4 hour ride on the weekend.) the focus would definitely be on intensity as that's in that "time crunched" 5-9 hours a week window. In your case, short term fitness maintenance would be the main goal I imagine. The big difference between the bike and running is basically the amount and intensity of training you can tolerate. You wont have power/heart rate, so in your case you'll have to go by feel, but you're exceptionally experienced so that isn't a major concern. Simple idea of what you could do: Monday - Easy spin, recovery or low aerobic intensity. Tuesday - 5x3' VO2 intervals. Think 3k intensity, maybe a little harder. If you've got a 3' climb somewhere...that's a pretty good benchmark for comparison. VO2 work, so usual 1:1 recovery. Progress to 8x3', then try to add intensity. No power to use, so you'll have to go by feel or find a decent climb to use as a comparison point. Wednesday - Sweet Spot. This is right below threshold. Somewhere between half marathon and MP. Intense, on the edge, but controlled. Start with 3x10' and build up 2' a week. So 3x12', 3x14', 3x16', 3x18' 3x20', then 1x60'. 2:00 recovery in between. These are best done on either a long climb (if available) or a good loop with uninterrupted roads, or at a worst case scenario a loop with only infrequent, right hand turns. Thursday - Depends on how you feel. Recovery if you're wrecked. If not, 5x3' with 1:00 recovery in between. This should be a little harder than threshold, think perhaps 8k-10k pace. Build to 7x3', then extend the rep length 10s or so per week. Friday - Recovery. Lazy spin. Saturday - 2-4 hour ride, include 3x10' intervals at threshold/10M race pace. Progress interval duration a little each week towards 3x20'. Rest of the the ride should be standard easy/aerobic spinning (equivalent to marathon pace + 60" to 90") Sunday - Anywhere from 0-3 hours. Mostly aerobic or tempo (MP or a smidge easier) riding. Basically, time efficiency with focused intervals. Without power it's hard to focus precisely on going harder, so building duration is a good approach. You'll get way faster on the bike, and keep the vast majority of your running fitness if you do the above. I wasn't at your level, but I ran 18:21 on about 50mpw, got injured, didn't run or exercise much for a year, then got on the bike and trained cycling for 2 years. Got the itch to run. Did a couple of 20 mile weeks with 3 total workouts (3x1k, 2M sprint straight/jog turn, 4x1k) and ran 17:56. Now, your training is really focused and good, and mine wasn't, not to mention your bike volume is reduced compared to your running volume and the opposite was true for me, so it's not like you'll come back and be ready to run 2:31, but you should be able to jump back in close to where you were metabolically. Haha, wow, thanks for the detailed response. I will give this a go and see what happens; maybe I'll learn to love biking. (No promises I'll ride seven hours combined over Saturday and Sunday, though....) 5x3' coming up this afternoon! Not sure on the exact brand/make of the tires, but they have a little bit of tread on them. Not like MB tires or anything but a few grooves for grip and whatnot. They are a bit fatter than skinny road bike tires. If I decide to invest in a dedicated road bike I'll look into those tires you mention (and probably ask you for a bunch more info....) I can already see that picking routes for these workouts will be a bit of a skill to learn. I assume avoiding traffic lights/having to stop is the name of the game here. How much concern should I give to elevation change over my workout routes? My instinct is that going downhill in particular is not helpful since it's tough to keep your heart rate up while doing that. But are there any special concerns about going uphill with these workouts? You've got a cross bike, so I don't know how its geared. Most normal road bikes are geared such that you can do at least 33-35mpg (approx 60 km/hr) pedalling fairly comfortably, and close to 70 km/hr if you really spin. As long as you're not going down very steep downhills, or downhills with corners that require slowing and not pedaling you should be fine. If the downhill isn't crazy long, you should just be able to spin your legs like mad and keep some power down/HR up. No major concerns about going uphill, no. Power is power whether flat, down, or up. Plus climbing is amazing and descending is the bomb so hills are pretty much tha bestest. If you want a constant workbout, avoid those. It would be like planning a 3' VO2 interval, but having a 10s break in the middle. You could probably compensate, but it would definitely disrupt the workout. Any time you want consistent pedaling for an interval you definitely want to avoid stoplights. Those are completely disruptive. Also, as a general rule in my experience, roads with stoplights aren't generally the safest or best roads to ride when they can be avoided. The key to really getting it right in my opinion is to feel your effort. Most people instinctively try to keep the gear turning at the same rate when they hit an uphill, which means they start laying down a ton of power. Most people are also too slow to shift into bigger gears going downhill, or subconsciously want to take it easy. Shift gears very quickly, and pay attention to the force on the pedals. Going over the top of a hill can easy be 3, 4, or 5 shifts in quick succession, often with 1-2s of each other, to keep the power down. MTA: Dang. Your area is kind of a bummer. All the good stuff requires a decent bit of riding to get to. If you were trying to train like a pro it would be perfect, but for what you want you'd need to drive. Your best option that I imagine would be a great weekend ride with intervals, would be to ride from where you usually start your stuff out north to Burnaby mountain, do your reps on Burnaby, and then ride back. If you do want to drive, that's probably money as far as a great spot to do intervals. But I realize driving 10-15 miles on a regular basis, especially across town, will likely be ridiculously onerous. If you're looking to have some nice weekend rides where you can drive and want a nice 2 or 3 hour ride I can give you some good suggestions though. Given where you are you'll just have to figure out what's good using local knowledge, maybe find a nice loop with all right handers that you can use for hard days. I can get my bike up to about 55 kph on a hill before the highest gear doesn't do much for me. The bike has two rings on the front and seven in the back. Well, it did until this afternoon--the small ring on the front broke during my second rep in "the sweet spot." Can still ride it for now using just the big ring. Not sure if I should take it in to get fixed (which could take who knows how long) or try to ride it out until my foot comes around. On the upside, my physio had some very helpful suggestions when I saw him on Tuesday and my foot has been making real progress. I may not be on the bike long enough to see real results! He just won't be forced to do them at a job to stay afloat.
That's exciting and encouraging! Fingers crossed.
On October 18 2018 12:32 Bonham wrote: Could you elaborate a bit on avoiding common shifting mistakes? I've been trying to get into higher gears more quickly when a downhill is coming, but I'm sure I'm doing lots of other stuff like a chump. Do I want to maintain a higher cadence when climbing?
Also, what's MTA? How did you figure out all this stuff about riding where I live? Why would my neighbourhood be better for pro training?
For the big ring thing above, depends on what you'll be riding. If you do any real climbing you'll be forced to grind a pretty massive gear. Outside of missing out on the best cycling has to offer (climbing ) your bike is totally fine for riding rollers or flats. That's crazy the chainring broke...did it actually crack?
Shifting is really pretty simple. Every rider has an optimal cadence they prefer to ride at. Shift often and frequently to keep your cadence where you want it. One somewhat common mistake is to shift under load, i.e. when pedaling hard. This is hard on the bike, and can easily result in dropping a chain as well. To avoid this, right as you make the shift, easy of the pedal pressure to very light for half a revolution or so until the chain shifts. You'll get much snappier shifts that stress your bike less.
Cadence from climbing shouldn't really change much. Some people like to run a little lower cadence climbing, but that's preferential. Perhaps 80-85 climbing versus 95 or something on the flats. Which reminds me of one more shifting thing...if you want to stand, you need a lower cadence, usually it works to shift up 2-3 gears right before you go out of the saddle, then shift down right before you go back to sitting.
For the routes stuff, strava...with mad skillz of stalking! Not really. But kinda. I just looked at where most of your runs start to get a sense of where in the city you were. Then I set strava to look only at the climbs and looked at a few of those to see what was out (because climbs are usually good rides tbh) there. The other thing I did, was look at some of the guys topping the leaderboards, as these tend to be experienced racers that ride a bit and know the area and roads, and examined some of the routes they like. Strava also has a cool global heatmap feature that can give you an idea where people are riding. If you're decently zoomed out (50-75 miles on the screen?) it gives a good visualization of what's popular if it's fully white: https://www.strava.com/heatmap#10.00/-122.83589/49.20283/hot/all
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On October 17 2018 20:27 tagliatelle wrote: Maybe I should do a bit of an introduction? I'm David 27/M/ 6'0 63kg from Vancouver. Lurked on TL for a while but only made an account recently. I both run and cycle but both casually / just for fun. Been biking fairly regularly for the last 5 years and running somewhat consistently for the last 3 years but I would do jogs and short bike rides for fun prior to that time frame and used to play soccer for a decade.
I ride an older 12-speed steel bike with downtube shifters and roughly split my riding time between commuting (14k each way, ~35 min) and fun rides (usually 30-40k, occasionally up to 60, 1.5-2 hrs most rides). Never raced or trained (in a specific plan like you guys mention) on a bike but I do like exploring new parts of the city and finding great views.
As for running, I joined a local club 2.5 years ago and really ramped up my consistency from there, but not really the mileage. I tend to do 20-30km/wk whenever the mood strikes me to run. I also don't race much but have done a few, almost all being 10k races. Last year my 10k time was 39:12, this year it was 38:05. My run club started up their track workouts this year after not doing it for the last 2 years and it's really helped me improve, even though my total mileage hasn't changed much. We just did a 1 Mile TT last week and I put up 5:27 which I was somewhat happy with but knew I could do better as my condition wasn't great going in to it (just got over a cold, still had a sore back hip from a fall). Next spring I want to do a half-marathon and try to get out on the trails (read: mountain trails) more often as most of my club does a lot of trail races. My goal for the half is under 1:40 which I think I am easily capable of as long a I train longer distances and put in more time.
Nice to "meet" you! As soon as I saw that height/weight combination, especially with the age I figured you'd be decently fast. Not many guys past HS that can hold onto a physique like that. Those are some pretty damn good times given just how low your mileage is. You could definitely shave anywhere between 2'-4' off that 10k with a solid year of training and working up to more traditional running mileage.
Honestly, given your mileage, I have a feeling that cold/injury really hurt your performance. Given the low mileage (usually results in drastically weaker performances as distance increases) I would be expecting 5:10 at a minimum, with a good chance at 4:50-5:00 if you're more anaerobically oriented and have some speed.
As for your half...you can run 1:40 right now. It wouldn't even be hard for you, you'd be a little tired if you don't regularly run over 10M/15km, but you wouldn't be challenged. I would set a B goal of 1:30 and an A goal of 1:25. Those are in line with your ability. 1:20-1:22 would be stretch goal range.
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On October 18 2018 17:23 tagliatelle wrote: I'm part of fraser street run club but that's in the heart of vancouver so probably not too accessible. I know there's a North Burnaby run club that frequents Dageraad but in Surrey/South Surrey I don't know of anything. It would be worth checking out facebook or instagram (or just googling) to try to find a club if its something you want.
As for races, I'm pretty set on doing the BMO half but would like to get one in before that, probably a MEC race. I am a bit wary of signing up for anything in Jan/Feb as you can count on it to be pissing rain all day. Do you have any good suggestions on this front? I'm not too knowledgeable on the road race circuit. One of the real reasons I want to do a half is to be confident in doing trail races as those are almost always longer than 21.1km and we are so spoiled by the awesome trails that I feel a bit guilty for not taking advantage of it.
Ah, I've seen some FRC singlets, I believe. They say "No Jerks Allowed," right?
I'm afraid I'm not much use on winter halfs in the Lower Mainland area. BMO is OK in May but my favorite half course in the area is Scotiabank later in the summer. It's a very fair course that attracts a good field. You do run the risk of warm weather though.
Another runner I've met in my area is doing the "Fall Classic" on November 4. Starts at UBC; there-and-back course going down SW Marine Drive. He speaks highly of it but apparently it's sold out this year.
Then you've got First Half in February, which will probably be wet and cold.
There's a bunch more listed here, though I can't personally vouch for any of them.
If you're amenable to the 10k, the Sun Run is one of the premier road races at the distance in the country. Haven't done it in a few years but the field is always top notch.
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8713 Posts
I'm running the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon on Sunday. Hoping to make my official HM PR a 1:10 (the 1:10 I ran before was the HM split during a 13.4mi relay leg). I think I'm in similar shape but the course will probably be a bit slower and it'll likely be a totally solo effort. I'll report back on how it goes.
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Brb, placing my life savings on a bet for NonY to win this weekend. Good luck man!
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On October 16 2018 14:12 L_Master wrote:
Monday - Easy spin, recovery or low aerobic intensity. Tuesday - 5x3' VO2 intervals. Think 3k intensity, maybe a little harder. If you've got a 3' climb somewhere...that's a pretty good benchmark for comparison. VO2 work, so usual 1:1 recovery. Progress to 8x3', then try to add intensity. No power to use, so you'll have to go by feel or find a decent climb to use as a comparison point. Wednesday - Sweet Spot. This is right below threshold. Somewhere between half marathon and MP. Intense, on the edge, but controlled. Start with 3x10' and build up 2' a week. So 3x12', 3x14', 3x16', 3x18' 3x20', then 1x60'. 2:00 recovery in between. These are best done on either a long climb (if available) or a good loop with uninterrupted roads, or at a worst case scenario a loop with only infrequent, right hand turns. Thursday - Depends on how you feel. Recovery if you're wrecked. If not, 5x3' with 1:00 recovery in between. This should be a little harder than threshold, think perhaps 8k-10k pace. Build to 7x3', then extend the rep length 10s or so per week. Friday - Recovery. Lazy spin. Saturday - 2-4 hour ride, include 3x10' intervals at threshold/10M race pace. Progress interval duration a little each week towards 3x20'. Rest of the the ride should be standard easy/aerobic spinning (equivalent to marathon pace + 60" to 90") Sunday - Anywhere from 0-3 hours. Mostly aerobic or tempo (MP or a smidge easier) riding.
Thanks again for putting this together, L_Master. I've been using it quite a bit. Foot's coming around, but I'm trying to be really conservative with it so I'm on the bike for a little while longer.
Quick training question for you:
It's been pretty rainy and cold here so I've been doing most of my rides on the stationary bike at the gym. These have power meters, I think, though I have no idea how accurate they are. (Is it like treadmills, where the speed can vary widely between models and their condition?)
Today I'm due for some 6x3' VO2, and I'll be on the trainer again. Is there a number of watts I should look to put out for this? Or is trail and error the only way to figure this out? In case weight matters here: I haven't weighed myself in a good while, but I think I'm around 150 pounds.
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On October 31 2018 06:28 Bonham wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2018 14:12 L_Master wrote:
Monday - Easy spin, recovery or low aerobic intensity. Tuesday - 5x3' VO2 intervals. Think 3k intensity, maybe a little harder. If you've got a 3' climb somewhere...that's a pretty good benchmark for comparison. VO2 work, so usual 1:1 recovery. Progress to 8x3', then try to add intensity. No power to use, so you'll have to go by feel or find a decent climb to use as a comparison point. Wednesday - Sweet Spot. This is right below threshold. Somewhere between half marathon and MP. Intense, on the edge, but controlled. Start with 3x10' and build up 2' a week. So 3x12', 3x14', 3x16', 3x18' 3x20', then 1x60'. 2:00 recovery in between. These are best done on either a long climb (if available) or a good loop with uninterrupted roads, or at a worst case scenario a loop with only infrequent, right hand turns. Thursday - Depends on how you feel. Recovery if you're wrecked. If not, 5x3' with 1:00 recovery in between. This should be a little harder than threshold, think perhaps 8k-10k pace. Build to 7x3', then extend the rep length 10s or so per week. Friday - Recovery. Lazy spin. Saturday - 2-4 hour ride, include 3x10' intervals at threshold/10M race pace. Progress interval duration a little each week towards 3x20'. Rest of the the ride should be standard easy/aerobic spinning (equivalent to marathon pace + 60" to 90") Sunday - Anywhere from 0-3 hours. Mostly aerobic or tempo (MP or a smidge easier) riding.
Thanks again for putting this together, L_Master. I've been using it quite a bit. Foot's coming around, but I'm trying to be really conservative with it so I'm on the bike for a little while longer. Quick training question for you: It's been pretty rainy and cold here so I've been doing most of my rides on the stationary bike at the gym. These have power meters, I think, though I have no idea how accurate they are. (Is it like treadmills, where the speed can vary widely between models and their condition?) Today I'm due for some 6x3' VO2, and I'll be on the trainer again. Is there a number of watts I should look to put out for this? Or is trail and error the only way to figure this out? In case weight matters here: I haven't weighed myself in a good while, but I think I'm around 150 pounds.
Weight won't really matter. Bigger guys usually have more power...but we don't know that power. Also, depending on the type of bike yea accuracy generally varies pretty significantly. If you can get the same bike, its usually not too bad. You could do the first one on feel, then use that average number to determine the rest of the intervals for. 3k pace effort, so you're looking for something that's hurting a bit by halfway, and good and painful the last 1' of the rep or so.
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Whats the optimal temperature for cycling? i know its quiet low for runners, but from what i've read cyclists prefer higher temperatures, although ive never seen any specific numbers listed.
Im currently vacationing up north and while i got used to going on long rides, but whenever i go for a sprint effort i feel like my legs are bricks. Any tips?
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On November 04 2018 00:14 SSNYC77 wrote: Whats the optimal temperature for cycling? i know its quiet low for runners, but from what i've read cyclists prefer higher temperatures, although ive never seen any specific numbers listed.
Im currently vacationing up north and while i got used to going on long rides, but whenever i go for a sprint effort i feel like my legs are bricks. Any tips?
Like running it varies a little by duration but for me I'd say low to mid 60s F is perfect. Anything above 70 definitely marginally affects performance. Anything above 80 will start to affect performance. Temperature below 60 can start to be a hindrance for muscle effectiveness for short, sharp events but something like 50 degrees would probably be more optimal for say...a long 2 hour climb.
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8713 Posts
I got the win but not as fast as I wanted. 1:11:48. It was warm and humid and the course has an absurd amount of turns, many of them sharp turns that are constantly slowing you down a second here and there. I'm gonna go hard at a 10k in a few weeks to try to put up a better time.
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On November 07 2018 03:51 NonY wrote: I got the win but not as fast as I wanted. 1:11:48. It was warm and humid and the course has an absurd amount of turns, many of them sharp turns that are constantly slowing you down a second here and there. I'm gonna go hard at a 10k in a few weeks to try to put up a better time.
Still sweet moves, man. Breaking 1:12 in tough conditions on a twisty course is no joke. Have you picked a 10K?
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Quick foot update: I've been super duper cautious coming back. Foot is recovering but I'm weirdly enjoying doing intervals on the stationary bike so I'm not in a huge panic. Saw physio for what is hopefully the last time yesterday. I'm off to Japan for two weeks on Sunday, so the plan is to baby the foot until then and then try some running on the trip if it keeps feeling good. (Hakone is supposed to have some great trails and views of Mt. Fuji.)
I think I have a chance at getting back to training when I return to Canada, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
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On November 07 2018 03:51 NonY wrote: I got the win but not as fast as I wanted. 1:11:48. It was warm and humid and the course has an absurd amount of turns, many of them sharp turns that are constantly slowing you down a second here and there. I'm gonna go hard at a 10k in a few weeks to try to put up a better time.
Warm and Humid and still 1:11 high sounds solid, especially combined with a win. If warm and humid means something 70+ and humid I would definitely think this is good confirmation you have the fitness to go 1:09.
What's the goal in the 10k, sub 31:30? Sub 31?
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8713 Posts
On November 08 2018 04:00 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On November 07 2018 03:51 NonY wrote: I got the win but not as fast as I wanted. 1:11:48. It was warm and humid and the course has an absurd amount of turns, many of them sharp turns that are constantly slowing you down a second here and there. I'm gonna go hard at a 10k in a few weeks to try to put up a better time. Warm and Humid and still 1:11 high sounds solid, especially combined with a win. If warm and humid means something 70+ and humid I would definitely think this is good confirmation you have the fitness to go 1:09. What's the goal in the 10k, sub 31:30? Sub 31? It was 68 at the start and 70 at the finish and 90%+ humidity. I also kinda cruised it in instead of pushing hard until the end. I was running solo and was not really "feeling it" with all the turns frustrating me and the heat that I wasn't used to so I slowed down a good bit in the last few miles. I had this same problem in some previous races so I really need to focus up at the end and suffer to earn the PR.
I think I will probably target around 31:15. If I happen to run a little under 31:00 pace in the first few miles and it doesn't feel crazy, I'll go with it and push for sub-31. 31:00 is apparently equivalent to a mid-1:08 so I'm not sure I want to plan on that just yet. But I do think I'm in sub-70 shape so trying to get under 31:30 is reasonable.
I'm sick right now though and taking a few days off so I hope my fitness doesn't dip.
I'm gonna go for it at a local turkey trot so November 22. There might be one guy to run with. There's a guy that wins every year who cruises a sub-32 but I'm pretty sure he's capable of faster if he has someone to race.
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