[UCSBrian]

Hey all, the goal to get lean has started. I am by no means (in my mind) out of shape, i just desire to get more lean muscle, and cut. So i have begun a regiment of cardio and weight lifting in combination with dietary changes, and i would like to run some of these by you.

Exercise, i have been doing cardio every day for the past week or two, about 45 minutes on a stationary bike, the first 30 minutes i keep my heart rate up at about 150-160. Then for the last 15 minutes, i do intervals one minute on sprint, one minute off rest. Sound good? Then on alternating days i do either leg and ab weights, or upper body weights. Then ooccasionally i go for runs in the evening. I ran for about an hour today, should i try to go high intensity? or should i maintain a pace that i can hold and keep my heart rate up?

Diet, I have tried to cut out a substantial amount of carbohdyrates, and crap out of my diet, i gave up soda, and candy, and all that sugary nonsense. Carbs have been a problem though so i have simply tried to keep them down, I eat a sandwich on wheat bread for lunch, then maybe a protein bar as a snack, with some dinner with some meat, and salad, maybe a small side of rice. Sound ok? In order to replace the sweets, i have taken to blending up fruit. I am under the assumption that the sugars in fruit arent going to hinder my goals, as say a kit kat would.

Thank you for your advice and critique. I have entered into a sprint triathlon in ten weeks and dont want to be embarrased. Its a quarter mile swim, nine mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. As of last week i ran a 7:20 mile, and hope to have my single mile time under 7.

Does anyone have any other good recomendations of things i should do?

Thanks for listening to my long post.

brian

 

[Serial Midget]

My advice for the sprint is to do your runs short and fast, IE not for an hour. Endurance training isn't always helpful for short sprints. If you are at 7:20 now you can be at 6:50 within 6 weeks by having 4 running sessions each week. Train for your distance plus a bit more for comfort.

I'll try to post what I would do to train for your event - no has all the answers that will be right for you but you can combine what works best and fits with your style and goals.

You should post your age and general fitness level - include your road bike experience, your should be able to do 9 miles in about 24 minutes.

 

[UCSBrian]

Yeah, the main purpose for me of running the long times is not to try to build strength necessarily but to try to cut the unnecessary fat off my body. I plan on starting high intensity running soon.

As far as age and what not. I'm 23 years old. Overall i feel my fitness level is pretty good. I try hard to stay active. I just want to focus more on getting into better shape. I really have no road bike experience. I am mainly a mountain rider doing this on a whim. For bike i plan on basically using a hardtail xc bike i have with slicks on it.

Thanks for any advice you can offer. I think i can get a time lower than 7:20 this weekend, as i feel i was not pushing myself as hard as i should have for the 2 and 3rd laps. I will post up later what happens next time.

I have a running loop i do that is 2.5 -3 miles but is all hilly. Would you feel it would be more beneficial to run these hills, or to find a level area where i can better gauge my pace?

brian

 

[Serial Midget]

Hills are good but you should do all your speed work on a track, your goal is speed over a short distance - in running this is pretty easy when you are young. For biking - you can do your first on a rigid hard tail - try to turn up a set of Schawlbe Fast Freds - you can max them past 70 and be able to move close to 20MPG, I do it all the time on mine. Still, I think the hardtail will cost you abput minutes over the distance.

The numbers are out on my laptop so I will post advice from my experience which is limited multi-sport endurance, typically run, bike, run. I'm not big on swimming and pretty much suck at it. I do know that open water swimming is different from pool swimming.

EDIT: I'll post from my other computer tomorrow... it has working number keys.

 

[UCSBrian]

yeah, i figure the running i can get to where i need to be. The swimming is the part that has me a bit nervous. I imagine ill be ok though, i'am comfortable in the open water with the surfing, i just need to train for the swim.

I forget who makes the slicks i have but i think it may be kenda? 1.4 or something like that and they take some high pressure. Maybe ill try to scare up a road bike from a buddy.

Thanks
brian

 

[Serial Midget]

Originally posted by UCSBrian
yeah, i figure the running i can get to where i need to be. The swimming is the part that has me a bit nervous. I imagine ill be ok though, i'am comfortable in the open water with the surfing, i just need to train for the swim.

I forget who makes the slicks i have but i think it may be kenda? 1.4 or something like that and they take some high pressure. Maybe ill try to scare up a road bike from a buddy.

Thanks
brian

schwalbe fast fred slicks are silly light... low rotational weight. If yoy hope to place and are planning to actually race, rather than participate, I would see about a road bike.

 

[UCSBrian]

oh well i've been lookin for a road bike for a while anyway. How do the transitions between stages in these events work? Do you leave a pair of shoes at each interchange? Ie switching from swimming to clippless to runnign shoes?

brian

 

[UCSBrian]

Also, what i bought a scale recently to try to see whats happening. I dont know how much weight im going to lose, but it has one of those body fat mass measuring things built in. What sort of accuracy does that measurment have? I though generally that had to be done in a tank and what not?

brian

 

[UCSBrian]

Well, i was right and i didnt run nearly as hard as i could have last week, probably because i rode stationary bikes the night before. Ran a 6:46 this morning.

brian