Steve-'s Distance Endurance Group - CLOSED (Page 12)

Ryan, way to smoke it!!!

Nice job indeed.

Nice work Ryan...I have done my fair share of TTs. They are not my favorite workout that is for sure. It is so nice to see your hardwork paying off with increased speeds. Nice cadence too.

nice job!!

 it would be even more interesting to see the power numbers but i know you're not using power.

Ryan good for you glad I live down here in Florida. Trainer time must suck but I will pay for it come summer when I am dumping the weight on the bike in water weight (humidity). Been enjoying the mtb time riding the trails. Did 30 on MLK day with my kid she only did about half. Recovery week for marathon trng, next week back to double digits. I enjoy the long runs guess that is why I keep signing up for the pain.

Maybe you should host a Mentor Group training camp? 

You host the facility and I'll effectuate the training.

Florida sounds really nice right about now, after 5 days in a row of torrential downpours. 

Trainer time is okay...catching up on lots of movies, HOWEVER, today, I put on Crank 2 while I did my bike workout and hardly watched it after the first 20 minutes...first because IMHO, it was a really bad movie (and I like the guy from Transporter!)  and second because I was doing a 20 min TT and couldn't even see through the sweat in my eyes! 

Reminder to self: when doing a max effort, turn the fan to the highest setting and blow it in my face, double up the headband, don't try to read subtitles, and concentrate on pedal stroke and a steady hard effort  

I am in the middle of watching the Lost series on Netflix. It makes the time go by pretty fast. Well as fast as a trainer ride can go. I have to believe the trainer is making me a stronger cyclist.

uh, yeah, kinda. 

Kinda...now what kinda support is that???

facetious...er...actually sarcastic support...just like you like it. 

You know me so well...because you know that I   LOVE my trainer rides.

I actually sort of like my trainer rides now that I got a 1upUSA trainer.  They are bearable with music, videos and snacks and a fan.

Definitely not envious of your trainer rides. Did another night run in tshirt and shorts with a reflective vest. Hoping all the beautiful birds dont run me over. I look like a moving target. I think they are just wondering what the heck someone in running at 9 at night. I got a trainer for Christmas set it up and put it in the back of the Commander for those special days when it is cold down here. lol More like for the summer when it is lightning like crazy then I will be killing myself on the trainer. Until then I will keep dodging the birds. Just to rub it in a little more doing an outdoor pool swim tomorrow the pool should be 84 I hope.

Going to be in Clearwater for a week next month.  So I hope to experience some of what you're talking about.

No worries. I plan to retire somewhere tropical, like Costa Rica. I will have my time in the sun too. Anyway...I don't want to get skin cancer from being in the sun too much.

I have a computrainer. I am not sure how I managed with the cyclops now that I am a CT girl.

I have a question on flats.  I took a bike maintenance class last weekend which included learning how to change flats quicker.  There was a discussion about the benefit of using CO2 inflators  versus mini pumps that attach to your bike, this Planet Bike one in particular.   The pump weights 7oz so is obviously heavier, but seems easier to use and you can tell exactly how much air you are putting in.   I would say I am technically challenged so find the pump alternative interesting.  Thoughts from the group?

A general guideline I give folks is C02 for races and a pump for training rides.

However, I prefer C02 so that's all I bring; however I haven't had a flat in at least 10,000-12,000 miles although I have given my C02 and/or used it on others who have flatten in recent past.

That's because you ride on Gatorskins. Every since I changed over to that tire not one flat, not even on the trainer. By this time last year I would have gone through at least two tubes between road flats and trainer flats.

Ha...gotta love that!!

I'm certain that if you built a house out of gatorskin tires it would survive a nuclear blast.

Ok.  Sorry for the delay, I had a little technical glitch uploading a video I wanted u to see to my website but I've figured it out now.

Things you do well are you are not splashing much with your hands or feet...this is good. You don't want to see any splashing with your feet because you're moving air and that doesn't help you go forward.  Another thing you do well is it appears from the surface (better to see underwater) that you are rotating sufficiently and fully extending your arms...this is good.

Here's my comments for things you should work on to increase your efficiency:

1)  Your hips and shoulders are not moving in unison.  You can see this happening best as you swim directly away from the camera.  Think of your body as an airplane fuselage...one rigid piece.  As your hips move, your shoulders move with them. 

2)  You are crawling through the water focusing your attention on using your arms to grab and get you to the other end of the pool.  This is the natural way to think about swimming, but like almost everything with swimming, the correct/efficient way to do it is the complete opposite of what feels natural.  Change your mindset from thinking of clawing/stroking your way to the otherside of the pool and refocus your attention on your hips.  If you want to generate power in your stroke DO NOT think about pulling harder, rather think about rotating your hips and really snapping them from side to side.  The core/hips is where all the power and speed of swimming comes from.  Watch this video of me swimming and see if you notice the difference.  I am not PULLING myself through the water...I am rather focusing on moving my hips from side to side to generate my stroke rate and power.  The fater/more powerful I want my stroke/stroke rate to be, the quicker I rotate my hips from side to side.

3)  It is natural to want to lift your head above the water in order to take a breath...but guess what...you need to do the complete opposite of what is natural in order to become efficient.  YOu need to keep your head down as you breath.  The best way to work on this is right as you begin to breath you should tuck your chin into your chest and keep it there as you rotate to breathe...this will make it easier for you to remember to keep the TOP of your head facing the end of the lane...think of yourself like a pig getting roasted on a fire and your just pivoting on the skewer. Watch this video of Coach Scott and how he turns his head to breathe.  He lifts his head just a little bit BEFORE he breathes (it's natural to do that) but by the time he's breathing, his head is down and he's breathing in the trough of the bow wave created by his head and started at the TOP of his head.  If you lift your head while you're breathing, the bow wave is created at the side of your face and that moves the trough of the bow wave to far back for your mouth to breath into it.

4)  The last thing is what you know already....your hand entry of your right hand is too early.  But if you watch closely, your hand entry of your left hand is too late; bringing air down with your hand (you'd see a bunch of bubbles with your left hand as you stroke if you were to get videotaped under water).  Watch this video of proper hand entry to see the difference.

There are a few other things I see but they are minor and the ones above will make the greatest impact in your speed.



Edited by Steve- 2010-01-22 10:25 AM

Ho Hum...just when I start to feel good about my stroke I watch Steve swim. Such a beautiful stroke.


Edited by TracyV 2010-01-22 11:26 AM