Dominion's Sprint/Oly Focus Group - OPEN (Page 12)

Originally posted by Jakester5724 Ordered my first road bike and it should be coming in tomorrow. As somebody who has never ridden a road bike before does anybody have any tips on riding and posture? Used to medium sized MTB's that keep me riding pretty upright. Also, my swimming has seemed a little lousy recently. Don't know if it's because I haven't been swimming enough, if my form is wrong, if I'm not pacing myself properly but it seems I have to come up for a second or two nearly every 50... Any tips from strong swimmers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

Just curious, when you say "come up for a second or two nearly every 50" do you mean you are stopping to rest or do you mean you literally "come up" as in you are only breathing once or twice every 50?  You should be exhaling into the water and not holding your breath.

Post a picture of your bike when you get it.  Posture will depend on the fit of your bike and your flexibility, but may take a little getting used to if all you have ridden is a mtb bike.

Originally posted by rjchilds8 I had toyed with the idea of wearing my sleeveless tri jersey for my entire race and not bothering to change tops at any point. I figured I'd put the jersey on and try swimming in it to see if it restricted my movement at all. It didn't, but the surprise that I got was that it seemed like the jersey was so tight that it restricted my chest movement making it harder to breathe. All of a sudden, it seemed like a struggle to keep my breath through a 200m warm up! I was shocked! After a few warm ups, I felt comfortable enough to try a full 600m. About 200m into it, they had to close the pool for 30 minutes because of lightning. Yikes! Anyway, I thought maybe I'd just do my tri swim without a top on. But as I started thinking about it, I thought maybe I'd continue doing my pool sessions with the top on, figuring that it would strengthen my lungs. I thought I'd feel like the swim was a lot easier on race day if I was breathing without interference if I trained with some my breathing somewhat restricted. What do you think of that concept? Am I crazy? Would there be any benefit to my swim fitness by training that way and then removing the restriction on race day? I'm curious to hear opinions. It may be a moot point since I was able to fairly comfortably do 1000m tonight with the jersey on, but it was something I was considering. Please share your thoughts.

Randy,  

It seems like you may have already adapted to swimming in the jersey.  I would not recommend swimming in anything that truly restricts your chest movement or breathing. Restricting your chest movement won't strengthen your lung capacity, so I see no real swim benefit for race day.  I imagine the jersey just felt restrictive in comparison to what you were used to.  If you are already swimming comfortably with it on, then you have changed that perception and should be good to go.  Practice with it a little more if you need to, but wear it on race day and save that time and hassle of trying to put on a tight jersey over soaking wet skin in T1.  

Originally posted by Jakester5724 Hey dominion, when I said come up every 50 I meant stop for a second or two to get a good breath. I used to do swim team so I'm very used to swimming longer distances and I always breath regularly (~4-6 strokes usually for me with a fairly relaxed pace) but I find myself still winded after swimming. Could it just be I've kid of deconditioned my body from swimming since I haven't been giving it much focus? And any ways to improve my lung capacity again? Great lungs when I run and I'm very familiar with the idea of keeping my breaths paced and on cadence in any of the three disciplines. Just don't understand :/ Also, bike isn't the best but I figured I'd save the money on my first bike so room left in budget for tri suit and other equipment ad that way I feel like I'm able to drop more on a nicer bike if I get more into the sport. Don't see a place to add picture either..? Would love to show it off and I will when I figure out how to

Jake,

sorry to take so long to respond (I have been on vacation a few days and the beach house didn't have wifi).

Your swimming endurance should come back pretty quickly.  Nothing particular to do to improve lung capacity but swim and swim some more.   if you have a background in swimming and know how to breath properly, you should see improvements in a short time frame.  

Having a starter bike and investing in a better one later if you stick with the sport is a good idea.  It is what I did and what a lot of others do as well.  

To post an attachment/picture just click the "Attach a file after posting" box below.  Then submit your post and it will ask you to then attach your file.

As you race more, I would encourage you to try different tapers to see what works best for you.  That being said, I don't feel you will need 3 full days of rest.  I don't know anyone that takes three full days of nothing but rest, even for longer races.  

Mon-Wed I would do normal workouts but start cutting volume to 75% of norm and easing up on any run intensity.  (all runs at an easy to moderate intensity/pace this week) I would go easy on Thursday in all 3 sports if you have the time.  Short run, maybe 2 miles at easy pace.  Short bike (12 to 15 miles) at an easy/moderate pace, try to avoid hills.  Friday would be a complete rest day.  Saturday I might get in another easy swim and a short bike (like 5 to 7 miles very easy).  This should leave you rested but not rusty.

So 2nd in the AG! Strong!

I've had a few swims shortened, but not a complete cancellation or change to a Du.  I'm sure it is coming though.  Nice job of adapting and dealing with the weather.