Bill's House of Pain-No Vacancy (Page 15)

He must agree Gus. Several times this weekend he ripped his diaper off and ran around the house naked. 18 months old and already he's streaking...

Thanks Steve! I think I'm close to over this stuff.

Practice is essential with the shoes mounted. Just make sure you get up to speed a bit before you start trying to get your feet in. It's easier when you have momentum. I have been practicing that as well. I apply Body Glide to the heel cup of the shoe and that seems to help quite a bit.

As for tri tops, you're going to save a ton of time in transition not having to mess with a shirt. I have 5 or 6 tri tops all from different companies, and my personal favorite it the Zoot top.

Yankz speedlaces are the only brand I've used. I'm sure there are other brands that work just fine but I love Yankz.

If you don't want a chamois I'd say you're probably limited to jammers. The chamois in my Oomph! trishorts dries very quicky, and I like the amount of compression I get on the quad panels as opposed to my jammers. I have DeSoto tri shorts as well. They may dry a little faster even, but they fit a little more loose than my Oomph shorts on the quads. Trial and error there I suppose, just like the tri tops. But you can't go wrong with most of the top brands.

You could just rock it old school and race in a speedo. I've been threatening to thinking about doing that myself at some point. My daughter might not claim me though...

Bill - do you have a model name for the zoot top?  lots of choices out there.
and just to double confirm, you swim in it without a wetsuit?
thanks,
steve

This is the 2009 version (bought mine in 2006):

http://www.zootsports.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_9&products_id=4168

I swim in it with or without a wetsuit. Trying to put on a tritop when you're wet has got to be difficult. I've never tried it, but I've heard stories.

I have one top from Hammer Nutrition (the top itself is manufactured by Voler) that I'll never race in again. It rubbed the inside of my upper arms raw on the swim. By the time I got to the run I was holding my arms out to the side. I looked like an ostrich. A bloody, angry, ostrich. Not cool.

No problems with Zoot. If I buy another top any time soon it will be from Zoot.

Does anyone know if body glide is  waterproof? Liek if I were to put it on before the swim to help with that underarm chaffing during the bike and run. Do you think it would help?

...bloody, angry ostrich...lol that is too funny

This user's post has been ignored.

Edited by JeepFleeb 2009-05-18 9:23 PM

It's funny now.

It does help. It's water resistant, sort of a balance between how much you use and how long you're in the water.

Alright, next question for discussion:
Which division/category to race a sprint in?
I'm 36y/o 205lbs
Options are:
Clydesdale in the 200-224lb under 39 division
or
age group.

It's the publix family fun weekend series, and i don't have a feel for which division is the "cool" division for me.
steve

It's really up to you.

If it's the same across the board (states) the 35-39 age group is usually really competitive. So if you want or need that extra push/ people to chase the age group category may be good. Then there are some competitive clydesdales as well... I don't know everybody is faster than me

I have a question about a sprint distance tri as well...

My goal this year is to complete one sprint tri, if more happen awesome, but I want one! next season I am thinking a few sprints and an Olympic.

I have been doing a fair amount of training, but am on no set plan. I am waiting on my upcoming course schedule to plan a good weekend that isn't before a major test/evaluation. The course runs from June 15th til start of NOV.

no after all that pre-ramble my question, is it a good idea to just start a training plan now not knowing when my race will be, or continue on with reg. training and try to augment some sort of plan when I get a date hammered down, and how short of a time frame would I be looking at.

I realize that for a sprint, I would probably be alright now and be able to cross the line, however I would like to train properly and be happy with my results... not just stumbled across the finish line.

Any thoughts?

I would strongly encourage you to enter the very next sprint you can make it to.  Go in with the attitude of just enjoying it and finishing.  Forget about times.

You will literally quadruple the value of every training session after that.

It will show you your strengths and weaknesses, provide motivation when training, and give you a "big" picture of what is going on in a race.  Right now, training has tunnelvision for you.

You may notice that i am very in favor of you doing a sprint RIGHT NOW.

steve

Lot's of threads on BT on this topic over the years and there's no consensus opinion really. Some of them get pretty deep in terms of content. I remember one thread or post where someone argued that BMI would be better to determine Clyde/Athena status since a guy who is 5'5" and 205 and a guy who is 6'5" and 205 lbs are both clydes. I think that's a little over the top.

It's just one of those things where there are pros and cons and you have to weigh them out for yourself. The last race I did as a clyde I got hardware and my daughter thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now I'm trying to get back on the podium in M35-39. This is a little more difficult.

Generally plans have a specific race for which the plan is structured so you are in peak condition when the race arrives. However the other important thing a plan does is it helps to ensure you account for recovery and you don't build volume and intensity too quickly.

Structure is good. Even if you don't have a race on the calendar you could work through a 12 week sprint plan, or a 20 week OLY plan and go from there.

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the MIA but I've been BURIED at work and work related travel. I just got caught up on a few pages of posts that I've missed. Great information. Anyway, I'd like to update everyone on my training, provide some thoughts from a newbie and ask some questions that have come up along the way.

So as you guys already know, I'm shooting to do the Harbor Lights Sprint (Waukegan, IL) on July 19th. I just started week 5 of my training plan and feel fantastic. Haven't missed a workout and see definite improvement. Here are some thoughts and questions by sport:

Swimming
This past week at class was the first time I felt really comfortable in the water with form, breathing, and kicking. My instructor said "I could definetly tell you've been praticing the drills and workouts I've given you". My workout plan calls for 2 swims a week but I've taken one of my days off to swim an extra day. It's easy for me since I go to the park district pool literally 2 blocks away from home so there is no excuse. It's just too easy. I'm still worried about endurance though. So far, I can swim about 3 laps (25 meter) non-stop but need to get to 15 to equal the distance of the race. Ideally, I'd like to do more then that in the pool to overcompensate for the open water.

Regarding the wetsuit, I plan to get one about 1 month before the race. I've seen several used ones on Craigslist at a great price. Any thoughts on buying a used wetsuit?

Biking
As the weather warms up in Chicago I'm really enjoying riding outside. I just purchased my first pair of clipless pedals and shoes. Wow, what a difference they make. I did however bite the asphalt the first time I clipped in just like the bike shop guys said I would. But a little adjusting and practice and I'm riding in them no problem now.

My plan currently has me riding 3 days a week. I'm wondering what you guys think if I ride 2 days a week indoors at the gym on a stationary bike and the long ride on Sundays outside. The reason is for me to get a good ride outside I have to either ride/drive to the lakefront or to the forest preserve which is a major undertaking before work.

Running
I'm starting to see why people fall in love with running. It gives me a high that nothing in college ever did. If you recall, I did my first 5K ever a few weeks ago at a time of 28:40. Well, that's my old PB. Last week I ran a 5K in 27:20. I'm running twice a week. Once a week I try to run a 5K as fast as I can and the other time I go for distance, increasing 1/2 mile a week. I'm at 5 1/2miles currently. The longest I've ever ran. My sister-in-law is egging me on to run a half marathon but I don't want to disrupt my tri training with that kind of distance running.

Strenth Training/Stretching/Overall Fitness
I've been weight lifting twice a week accoridng to Joe Friel's reccomended number of sets and reps. It's hard for me not to go for that max rep.

I've been stretching not only before and after workouts but almost every night before bed. What are the groups' thoughts on incorporating Yoga into my routine?

Like I mentioned above, overall, I feel awesome! I'm down to 192. Only 7 more pounds until I reach my goal weight. As a reminder, when i first joined the group, I was at 201.

Have a great training week and as always I'm thankful for all the advice I get here. I incorporate every last bit of it.

Chicago Joe

Alright time to pick out a plan and a race.

Good job on dropping the LB's!!! Joe

Also...Yoga is great, I found it amazing for all aspects of heatlh

Joe-
Have you tried slowing WAY down for your swimming laps.  I'm still always amazed by how fast i can go while feeling like i'm just barely swimming.  It's all about form/smoothly sliding through the water.

Conversely, are you breathing every left or right stroke?  It's what I had to do at the beginning until my form/fitness caught up with me.

Thanks for the advice. I am indeed breathing every right stroke. I'm going to try the slowing things way down technique.

I've also found the four videos of coughlin very helpful:
Natalie Coughlin's Body Position Basics | Active.com

steve

Best thing you can do now is get something on the radar... a 5K, sprint, century ride, etc. That way you can still have focused training, capitalize on your aerobic base, and then ultimately transition to training for the next big thing whatever that may be.

So I guess for sprint distance, since I am not really aiming for the podium, it is alright to not plan extensively for the race ensuring your plan matches your race dates.

Now which plan to pick??

Re: Justinfss "which plan to pick"
Man, it doesn't matter much.
Go read a few, and you'll see that it simply breaks down to:
swimming a couple of times a week for X minutes,
Bike a couple of times for X minutes,
run a couple of times for X minutes.

Some plans are focussed for more swim or bike or run based on your strength/weaknesses.

I'd suggest read em up, then make up your own based on YOUR schedule.  It helps to keep it simple, ie;
monday run
tuesday swim
wednesday off
thursday bike
friday swim
sat run
sun bike

and just keep track of time on bt.com!

see my blog for a simple example.