Wyld Hair On A Tangent Group -FULL (Page 12)

GorgeousGeorge - 2010-02-06 2:15 PM I posted this on the main board as well.  See what you guys think

I have the option of:

A) Felt B16 (new) - $1840 (includes tax) FYI - the tax rate here is 10% and in some places 10.5%
B) Cervelo P1 (new) - $1840 (includes tax)
C) Keep looking.

Obviously the components on the P1 are better but the B16 is Carbon.  And sexy And to be honest i like the LBS selling the B16 better.

Pros, cons, comments, etc....?

When you think swimming is a kind of science, wait until you start working on what bike to buy. Mind-boggling :-)

There are lot of excellent articles on Slowtwitch.com, as well as various tests:

http://tinyurl.com/cqx3wr

http://tinyurl.com/ycl93ah

The common answer is: take the bike which fits better. At least this is the answer that I got very often. Unfortunately it does not help a lot - except you really can try various sizes and brands.

Have you thought about buying an used bike?

I was really close to buying a Specialized Transition or an Argon 112. Finally the money (that I had already lying around in an envelop) went into the renovation of the bathroom.

Moreover the majorty of Tris that I do are pretty hilly. So there is less advantage for a Tri bike. At least if you are a coward like me!

Take care

YouYou

Hi there,

I don't find the original post anymore - but someone had probles with Plantar Fascitiis.

Have you tried the Strassbourg sock?

http://www.thesock.com/

Take care

YouYou

http://tinyurl.com/yfleyg5

Very, very interesting interview with running coach Bobby McGee. It was part of the “IM Talk” podcast.

The Run Walk protocol is an approach to proactively walk for example 1 minute every ten minute in a marathon, and by doing that improving your overall performance.

I'd love to know what you think about it!

Take care

YouYou

Well, not worthless, but if it's all you do it defeats the purpose.  Sounds like the coach is on the right track, and the pitching analogy is a good one. 

I've just seen so many new swimmers (and if you're doing 2150yds in a workout, you are not a new swimmer) basically never get anywhere because they never take the time to correct form.  They get the idea that swimming is like cycling.  In other words, the longer and farther you go, the better you get.  Really, all they need is to correct major flaws and "miraculously" they can swim a LOT longer, a LOT faster, and spend a LOT less energy.

Its' sort of like picking the right tri coach.  The one who knows you, what you want to accomplish, and has experience in doing the same thing.  I guess in being involved with a lot of extreme beginners, I've figured out what to do with someone who feels like drowning after 50yds.  I know some technical stuff, but if you're a 1:30 - 1:45 min/100yd swimmer and want to get faster, I just don't have enough experience outside of what I did for myself that can help.  Basically at that point, all I can offer is keep the drills and push yourself.  That's really all I did.  Kept the drills and did big sets of 100s or 200s at near max or even at full max effort.

Good PF stuff, Rochelle.  I was pretty pizzed at my run Sunday morning.  Just a mile in and my heel started bothering me.  Coming up on two miles it was definitely hurting.  Now, I don't really know the extent of how bad it was because it got in my head, and I just got angry, flustered, and quit.  That's not like me usually, but everybody gets a bad day every now and then right?

Today was better.  It felt a little tight about a mile in, and there was some minor aching, but I decided to keep at it and see if it subsided.  I started letting my mind wander to other stuff so I wouldn't focus on it, and before you know it, I had finally gotten a run of some substance in.  It's a little tender right now, and the dress shoes aren't helping, but I think a little ice and some more stretching out will get it worked out. 

It's a process, it's a process, it's a process.... not gonna happen over night.

Okay, here is the bike test.  I am giving you 3 options here because each of you live in a different area some with hills some without and some of you are stuck on a trainer right  now. These are in essence the same test applied to the situation that you find your self in.

In general, most people will find their bike max heart  rate is about 10 beats lower than there running max.  There are a lot of theories why, but I believe it is because running uses more major muscle groups in quicker power expenditures and cycling is a smoother power expenditure.  In addition,  impact acts as resistance and has  a large effect on your heart rate.  Because of this, I am sorry to say that  bike tests hurt a lot more than the run tests.  You will be relying on effort level to get your heart rate higher, and for that reason i find the Hill Test is the least painful because you get resistance in the form of gravity.

These tests are stressful.  If there is a possibility that you are not in physical condition to give a 100% effort for 5-6minutes then you should not do these tests.  You should estimate your bike max instead.

The actual tests are only about 6 minutes long. Not including the warm up and recovery. Warm up well  for at least 15 minutes .  During  these  warm up include  3 quick fast sprints of about 45 seconds to get the muscles activated. 

HILL TEST
Find a long  steady and uninterrupted hill.  The hill doesn't have to be steep in fact it is better if it isn't . Ideally you want a hill that will let you spin up it not power up it.

Be sure that your heart rate monitor is recording.  If you are programming your computer you can set alarms and laps but be sure it continues to record data after the effort (no auto stop) as your heart rate may continue to rise for a few seconds after this test. Also, not so important but nice to have is an average of your heart rate for the last 2 minutes of the effort.  This is a 5 minute test. You will increase effort steadily for 4minutes and 15 seconds.  Then you will sprint for 45 seconds.

Check your computer for the highest heart rate during and after the test.

 TIME TRIAL TEST
I've seen people  fall off there bikes  at the end of this test so use caution.

Be sure that your heart rate monitor is recording.  If you are programming your computer you can set alarms and laps but be sure it continues to record data after the effort (no auto stop) as your heart rate might continue to rise for a few seconds after this test. Record the average heart rate for the last 2 minutes if you can, but not required.. This is a 6 minute test of all out effort.

There isn't much I can tell you about  this  test other than you should start in easy gears and work up to your full effort  during the first 45 sec to 1 minute.  Then for the remaining 5 minutes do everything you can to give your full  effort.  At 2 1/2minutes  you should be wanting this  test to be over, but keep at it.  You can stand up through this  test for very short intervals (15sec) but keep the effort up for the entire time.  This  test should start with faster cadence and end with what ever you can give.  Don't worry about cadence on this workout, just give it your all.  At the end of the test, give your self a short moment to recover but try to stay moving afterwards. Be sure to spin out during your recovery home.  I recommend a  sport drink before and after this test.

TRAINER
If you are stuck inside or just don't have a place to go do a test, a trainer works too. This is  basically the same as the hill test but you will increase resistance on the trainer to simulate a hill. 

I've never actually done this test because I will do anything to stay off the trainer.  (including riding my bike in sub 20 degree temps.-my derailleur and my chain froze solid on that ride)  But I have been told that this test is best done with someone there to help out with increasing resistance and cheering you on.

Be sure that your heart rate monitor is recording.  If you are programming your computer you can set alarms and laps but be sure it continues to record data after the effort (no auto stop) as your heart rate will  continue to rise for a few seconds after this test. Also, not so important but nice to have is an average of your heart rate for the last 2 minutes of the effort. This is a 5 minute test. You will increase effort every minute and then sprint for the last 45 seconds. 

Start out in a moderate effort with cadence about 90.  Increase resistance every minute so that at the 3 minutes you are putting out a significantly hard effort. Sprint the last 45 seconds.

Okay, check out your data and record your  highest Heart Rate.  Also, if you have it record what your average HR was for the last 2 minutes of your test.

Try the pull and glide with a pull buoy between your legs.  The buoy will let you forget about your bottom half so you can focus up top.  Basically, you just really exaggerate your... well, pull and glide.  You take a normal stroke but you hold it for a about a second longer.  So, your left arm is out front while your right arm is at the back end of your pull, and you pause there.  This is a good drill for streamlining and rotation work, but you can also focus on keeping that arm up when you take a breath.  It will exaggerate the amount of time you've got to keep it up there, so you should really be able to consciously focus on getting that good initial "grab."

That is a very, very common thing that your noticing.  I do it all the time at the end of sets.  You just get tired and certain parts of your stroke start to fall apart.  Problem is, not a lot of people notice it, so they never really get to work on it. 

They probably look smooth because they've been doing the butter fly for a long, long time.  It's a ridiculously hard stroke to do, but it's also (in my opinion at least) one of the best core work outs around, so that's why I do it. 

First of all, there's the timing of your kicks and pull.  That really just comes with practice, practice, practice and getting stronger.  However, as for feeling like your making huge waves out in front, that might be easier to correct:

If I had to bet, you're probably pushing yourself up out of the water instead of pulling yourself through it.  Your arms may be to straight, going to deep, pushing you up, then you fall into the water making a huge wave.  The best way I can describe it is after you have thrown your hands forward, you basically pull the same way as you would on a free stroke, you just do it with both hands at the same time.  Elbows bent, pulling from the lats, not driving your hand down to the bottom, not swinging out wide either.  It's a funky feeling, but if you practice it a lot, it gets more natural.

It's kinda hard to do, but you can slow the fly down and work on it.  It's really on getting the timing down between dolphin kicks and the "two arm free."  Any up and down movement should be minimal and the result of the kick only.