Ken D's Group - Shut (Page 11)

Another week begins, and the weather forecast is for warm but very rainy weather all week.  We are having unseasonably warm weather here (52F/11C), lot's of people were wearing their shorts for our recovery run yesterday morning.  Luckily it was dry yesterday, but the rain started this morning and will apparently continue through the week.  I do think that I prefer warm & wet over dry and frosty, what about you?

 Definitely warm and wet.  I can run in warm and wet.  But the cold and dry stuff kills me.  I'm a wimp 'cause it's never just cold; it's always cold and windy.

I didn't do the run on Saturday. 

The club swim on Sunday was a blast with the open water start drills.

15 of us, clumped up, treading water and then all out sprint.  One drill, the coach told us to push someone under.  One was grab someone's ankle.  Another was swim over someone.  No one freaked out.

That's some serious but cool OWS training there Ken.  Wish I had something like that. 

As for the weather, i much prefer the warm.  Supposed to be in the 50s here all week so should be plenty of days of good training weather but the rain is coming by Thur.  Gonna start off today with a run and then plan out the rest of the week.

So my Wife and Parents gave me a bike for Christmas anyone have an opinion on the 2010 Scott i think it is an S40 speedster not sure i have not done enough research to know if its any good or not? Plus the wife wants to do a mini sprint all in doors at the end of Feb. doesn't sound hard but not sure if i can swim 300 yards.

That's crazy does that stuff really happen i would flip if someone bumped into me.

It's a good bike.  Good aluminum frame.  Sora/Tiagra components - some say don't go lower than 105, but Sora/Tiagra work.  27 speed means plenty of gears for hills.  This bike will NOT be your limiting factor for a while.

Indoor mini-sprint sounds fun.  And a pool swim tri is a great way to start.  If you get tired, you can stop at the wall and catch your breath.

I've stopped whenever I touched someone in every open water swim I've done.  This is good training in a controlled environment to just go.

In an open water swim, someone will bump into you.  No lane lines to sight, people swimming diagonally to you, it makes for a jumbled up mess the first 100-200 yds.

Yep, gonna happen!  Just part of an open water swim.  I had some guy swimming behind me grabbing my feet repeatedly.  He either was not really paying attention or just did not care.

I have the 2009 version of this bike, it's a decent starter bike, handles well.  I may be switching over to my husbands Cannondale 613 if I can get a good fit(the frame is on the edge of being to big for me), but I think my Scott is plenty good to see me through until my equipment becomes the main factor for gaining speed and not my overall biking skill.

I think you will enjoy the bike.

John, sounds like a good starter bike.  Should at least get you through your first year then you can re-evaluate your triathlon priorities.  You can always upgrade the components later on if you choose while keeping the frame. 

And I would jump at doing the indoor tri.  Great way to get your feet wet (pun intended) and get a feel for what to expect.  Plus like Ken said, the nice thing about being in a pool is you can always stop to rest and don't have people bumping you. 

OWS can get rough.  I've been kicked in the face, ran into from all sides, feet grabbed, etc.  It took me a while to get used to all that.  I think each race something new happens and then you just learn from it.  I now try to start either on the outside or inside of the swim group.  It creates a little longer swimming distance but I can avoid some of the crowds. 

I like the one leg drills...need to do more of them.

Intervals - After a warmup, alternate 1min hard/1min easy for as long as you'd like.  I like to keep my back gear the same the entire time (usually 4th or 5th gear on a 20 gear bike) and then just go from my small front ring (easy set) to the big front ring (hard set).  Try to keep a high cadence and really push yourself for the 1min as you'll have 1min of easy recovery. 

I really have been training and will update my log as soon as I post this. I am doing the couch to 5K but ran into problems with my shins hurting. I think this had to do with my shoes and being so overweight. The last couple of times, with new shoes and paying attention to how my feet were hitting the floor, I have done much better. I am running every other lap on a 9 lap per mile course.

Anyway, I also wanted to get a tri bike. My question is, where can I find out which bike would work for me? How do I know what is a good bike? Can you be fat and still get a tri bike? I don't need top of the line but I want a bike to last me a while. I will do several sprints this year with goal of Olympic distance in 2011.

Any thoughts on any of this would b appreciated!

Shauna

Big question.  And a much debated question.  Tri bike vs road bike.

This is what I did:
1.  Took measurements of myself and inputted them into the fit measurement tool at CompetitiveCyclist.com  Link
2.  Used these numbers to look for used bikes on Craigslist.  I looked for both tri and road bikes.  There were more used road bikes out there.
3.  Bought used road bike from CL.  Bought clip-on aero bars & fast-forward seat post and installed. 
4.  Tweaked the fit. 
5.  Over a year later, paid for a fit.

I recommend a road bike first.  Add aero bars if you like.  A road bike is more versatile.  I also recommend buying used first.  Especially in the winter, there are a lot of used bikes out there. 
Depending on how much you want to work on your own bike, depends on the age limit.

If you don't want to work on your own bike at all, go to the local bike shop and look there.  A lot of times you can find a "new old stock" bike (example a 2007 bike that never sold) for a drastically reduced price.  My LBS has a used bike section with bikes they've checked out.

What is a good bike?
- it fits you
- affordable

After that, there's all kinds of options.  Frame material (steel, aluminum, titanium, carbon, etc), components, wheels.  Ride a few at the store and see what is comfortable.  And what you're comfortable paying for.  I have problems paying $4000 for a bike.  Others don't.

I see no reason to drain your life savings to buy your first bike.

I'm sure the others will chime in.

Oh, and I'm still riding my CraigsList bike with aerobars.  I paid $300 for it.  I still lust after a tricked out tri-bike but the bike I'm riding now does NOT limit my performance.

Good work on the running, hopefully the shins will stop hurting soon, icing after runs for about 10 minutes is a good idea if you are able.  If the problem persists do go see your doctor and have it checked out, to make sure it is nothing more than shin splints. 

I think Ken offered up some great recommendations for the bike.  Go visit your LBS and take a few out on test rides, you'll quickly see that you will prefer one bike over an other.  Once you know what kind of bike you prefer and know the size you need, and what that bike retails for, you can hit craigslist knowing what you are looking for.  I'm not one to do a lot of research (I luckily have a husband that does), so I wouldn't know one component over the other, but when buying used you might want to ensure that someone hasn't switched out good components for ones that aren't as good.  You can definately get more bang for your buck buying used, but buyer beware when purchasing used as well.

Ditto exactly what Ken said.  My first was a road bike.  Measured myself, decided my budget, then found the best bike I could for my price range...which ended up being a great year end closeout deal.  I don't regret that purchase at all.  I have since upgraded and changed out parts on the bike and will be riding it for years. 

I would definitely suggest going to your Local Bike Shop (LBS) and get measured and test ride a few bikes.  You should quickly be able to tell which ones feel better to you and get an idea on prices so you can compare that to what you find elsewhere. 

If you find a bike online or somewhere else, ask us some specifics about it and we can tell you if it is a good deal or not.  Ask away!

Here's a good little article:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/beginner/week4.html



Edited by chichitao 2010-01-12 3:01 PM

Are y'all ready for an assignment?  Yes?  Good.

Between now and Friday, inspire at least 3 seperate people. 

You don't have to know them to inspire them.  Just look at their log and comment on it.  Hopefully in an encouraging manner.

And report back when you've done it.

Everyone working hard today?  Or out training?

Busy working here.  Hoping for a good 4-5 mile run tonight.  Definitely running, just distance is questionable.  My husband is now working late 3 nights a week so just me and the kids.  Will put the younger one to bed and then head to the basement with the 3 year old. 

Was doing a nutritional coaching workshop today, so that I could provide better support to my bootcamp participants.  Will be doing several over the next little while on various subjects. Still thinking about going further into the fitness training and getting my weight training and personal trainer certifications, maybe...it's a big time commitment. 

  Sounds like a great workshop!  That is great you are able to do stuff like that to offer more to your bootcamp people.  I would love to eventually do more in the fitness training. 

got my inspires in!  

Let's talk about clothes.

What have you found for biking, running, swimming & tri-ing?

Same here and I even went out of my comfort zone and inspired some other woman.  SHe probably thinks I am nuts!