jsiegs and slornow's Train Hard and Have Fun group - CLOSED for Training (Page 15)

Nicole-1.5km is a little more than 1640yds.  I'm not too sure about what your 2nd month should look like.  How much time do you have before the race? Are you comfortable swimming 300yds continuously? (not sure I spelled that right). If you can swim 3x600, I would say go for it.  You just want to make sure you have enough time to build up before the race. 
Sorry I'm not more help.  Maybe someone else will have an actual answer for you

Christy

I will be racing this weekend in a local sprint put on by the University I am attending. I am hoping to take home my first overall victory. I placed 3rd overall last year and think with the improvements I have made this year that I have a fairly decent shot at taking it. 

In other news, I was asked to conduct a transition clinic a few weeks ago for university students that might be interested in trying their first triathlon this weekend. The clinic was tonight and went really well. I am no expert and have only been doing triathlons for two years but it was really cool sharing the small amount that I do know and answering peoples questions about first time racing. 

Best of luck to everyone racing this weekend.

@Nick- nice job with your race! 

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!  Can't wait to read all the race reports. 

I have a weekend of dress rehersals and ballet recitals.  I would rather be racing

Christy

Somewhere between last Sunday and this moment I have lost my mojo. Spin on Tuesday felt weak. I didn't do a swim, as planned on Wed (but I did run in the a.m.). I skipped spin yesterday. Today I went to my tri class and could not get in to it, at all. the spin felt weak again, the run... pft.. I walked. The swim... well I did about a 300 and hung out at the wall chit chatting about the Texas Ironman, which is next weekend.

My legs are on FIRE. It's not my shins, it's the area in between my calves and shins, on the inside. Is there a technical muscle name for that, or is it still your calve?!

I am exhausted. I can't get my diet on track this week.

I sound like such a baby, but I needed to vent!

Anyway... if you find my mojo, please return it... ASAP!!

This happens to me.  I assume it happens to everyone.  I have a few good weeks where my main focus is training.  Then I have a week where I'm just burnt out.   It happens to be this week too. Maybe your mojos are hanging out together.  I've been looking for excuses not to train.  Just know that in a couple of days you'll be back to training hard and enjoying it.  I think diet has a lot to do with it.  I haven't been eating right this week.  It makes me feel gross and slow, which in turn makes it hard to train. 

Good luck!

@Christy and Randy - Race is July 16. Swimming is definitely my weakest area, so I will be sure to check out the workouts. My BT plan only has recommended times, not distances, so this information is very helpful. I am going to start incorporating longer distances in my swims starting this weekend. I'm comfortable with 300 yds. Think I can push up to a continuous 600 in the next 2 weeks, and will aim for 2500 yd. workouts using tripower.

Once my 10-miler is over (May 28), I am going to focus less on running and a lot more on swimming. My plan is to hit the swimming hard in June to get ready for July.

Thanks!

Hi guys. Sorry I haven't been posting at all these last two weeks. Been really busy with medical exams and haven't been reading the forum. Where are we up to with discussions? What are we talking about?

James

I have use both spd mountain bike pedals and look keo pedals on my two road bikes.

Without commenting on price of weight this is my take on them:

The spd's are easy to clip into because you can clip in on both sides of the pedal and iso I use this to commute to hospital as there is alot of stopping. The spd's aren't as solid as the keo pedals. I use keo pedals on my racing bike. They are much more solid and you feel really connected to the bike and get great purchase especially when you stand up on hills. The downside is you can only clip in on one side of the pedal.

I couldn't imagine not clipping into my road bike. It is so easy t there is no wasted movement of the shoe and never do I get foot pain.

I am sure people use other pedals as well but that's my experience so far!

James

7th out of 40!!  That's great!

I have Shimano spd's on my road bike.  I like that you can clip in on either side.  I just got a tri bike and I have Shimano 105's on that. I like that they are wider and I feel like i have more  of a platform to push on. My feet don't fall asleep as much riding them either.  Not sure if that's the pedals or the new shoes.  I am still getting use to not being able to clip in on both sides.  It has made for some scary situations. 

Christy

I just realized you asked about shoes.  Oops.  Here are my shoes.

http://gearwestbike.com/product/bontrager-rxl-hilo-wsd-shoes-62460-1.htm

Congrats Randy! Can't wait to hear about it!!

Hope everyone is having a  great weekend - I'm taking some time for myself, getting caught up on house cleaning, laundry and now on to more birthday stuff for my baby. One month until she's ONE. Time went way too fast

I'm still using cage pedals. The clip-in shoes kind of freak me out and seem like an unnecessary expense. Are they really that much better? Why?

I had a terrible run today, and a bad week in general. Been under the weather with allergies and for some reason am just feeling discouraged lately... It's a really busy, stressful month and I'm struggling to make time for my training while fitting everything else in. The Soldier Field 10-miler is in about 2 weeks, so I'm hoping that race provides me with the motivation I need to get through June and July.

Randy - 7th out of 40!? Awesome! Congrats, can't wait to hear more about it.

I think they are better because you're more connected to your bike.  So, it's easier to push and pull.  You also don't have to worry about your feet slipping out of the cages.  I'm not saying you should go out and get them, just giving you some pros of them.

Christy

This weekend, and pretty much all of last week, is lost for me.  I just had no time to get my workouts it.  I'm really upset about it, but there is nothing I can do.  My gym hours on the weekend aren't great and I'm basiclly a single mom this weekend so, i don't have many options.  I shouldn't complain.  But I get so cranky when I don't workout.  I need some kind of outlet. Plus my HIM is in 6 weeks.  I'm getting nervous and I worry I won't be ready.

Since I can't do much else, I think I'm going to spend some time practicing changing my bike tube and getting in and out of my wetsuit.

Christy

@Randy- awesome race! Way to not let the mechanical issue ruin your day and finish it out strong. For shooting for a 50 min 10K 46 min is outstanding. Hope you recover nicely.

@Nicole and Deb- X2 what Christy said about a more efficient pedal stroke. You lose quite a bit with cages. It might seem intimidating at first to get used to clip in pedals but it really isn't that bad. The first time I wore mine I fell over at a stop sign because I forgot to unclip, that is the only issue I have ever had in 2 1/2 years with clip in pedals. I will never go back! Transitions are so much better as well with clip ins. I have used Crankbrothers pedals because I got a super sweet deal like $30 online. I have had 0 issues with them since I bought them. I ride Specialized Sport Road shoes, which aren't amazing but once again you can't argue with cheap when your a poor college student

For my workout today I did a 40 mile ride with lots of climbing and practiced my transition to the run coming right off the bike. I ran a 6:30 first mile and then walked back home for a cool down. Felt great and I am feeling super excited for my race tomorrow. Good luck to everyone with training.

Congrats on the triathlon! Your cycling speed was fantastic and even more impressive considering the 2-3 min stop.

I have read a few posts with people getting down about missing/doing less training in a week? When this happens to me I just make sure the training sessions I do make are high intensity and often my body thanks me for giving it a rest and next session I just feel stronger...

Talking about pedals agaib, I read an article on chainreaction.com that said "Toe clips & straps are still the norm for nearly all bikes between $350 and $1000. They're very inexpensive and don't require the use of a special shoe. But when used with conventional shoes, they tend to focus pedal forces onto a small part of the bottom of your foot, creating fatigue & pain on longer rides as your foot tries to bend itself around the pedal. Also, if the straps are not loosened as you come to a stop... Of course, you can always leave the straps loose, but then your feet don't stay in place without conscious effort to keep them on the pedals. And if you've tightened them down, you need to reach down and loosen them prior to stopping (a somewhat risky operation)."

James