Southwestmba/Andy's excellent adventure group-Full (Page 2)

Hi Andy,

Is there still room for one more in your group?

I'm a newbie, 41 and have signed up for the Olympic Rev3 in June.  I attended a Multi sport conference in Boston MA about a month ago and loved it. ? ?I would love the advice of someone who's been were I am now.

Thanks,

Susan

I rode my bike for 17 miles and then ran 5k this morning.  I went to the place were my event is going to be with 5 other people doing the event.  It was really enjoyable.  Nice cool morning.

I have a couple of biking questions:

Is there any reason to stay seated while youre going up a hill or is it better to stand up to peddle harder?

I dont have aero bars, just an older bike.  At what speed is it best to "get low" and hold the bottom part of the curved handle bars. 

Tuna,

You should probably get some clip on aero bars. They can be had for under $100, and they make a big form difference (I actually prefer the riding position on them). Did 30 miles this morning on the bike, and they were a big help.

Andy,

I agree with your idea of doing a run-swim brick. It's amazing how much difference technique makes, as IMO the swim portion is really just about conserving energy (you won't win or lose in the first 10% of the race). Focusing on form and conserving energy and not so much speed will probably be the best. My question would be on pool vs open water training. Is it about an even trade (ie. 1 mile in the pool=1 mile in open water)? Or is open water a lot more difficult because you have no walls or lines?

I want in!  (If there's room!)

Name: IronDiva/Erika.  I'm 29 and live in Sunnyside (Queens), NY.

Story: This is my third tri season.  I grew up in Santa Rosa, CA, watching my mom swim on Vineman relay teams every year.  I trained myself for my first half-marathon in 2008, and after establishing that confidence in running decided to race my first tri in 2009.  It was the NYC tri and it got me totally hooked.  I raced 4 oly's that season, then moved to HIM distance in 2010.  I did Barb's Race (all-womens HIM on the Vineman course) and Toughman last season, and am now addicted to HIM distance.  I think it provides just enough of a challenge while not requiring the immense training hours I'd need to put in for full IM distance.  (Although...maybe someday!)  I work a day job in NYC, and am also an opera singer who gigs around the area when I have the chance.  Hence my log-in name.  Between 9-to-5ing and auditioning/performing/all other musical activities, it's really tough for me to squeeze in training, so this group being led by a self-coached athlete who finds time to get the training done for long course races really appealed to me!

Family Status: Single

Training Status: I was originally planning for Rev3 Quassy, but then did an indoor tri this winter which scored me a slot for Escape from Alcatraz!!!  So I'll be going home in June for that race.  My major HIM will be Timberman in VT, and I hope to fit at least one, ideally two, more in (Tinman?  Syracuse?  RI?  Toughman again?) before October.  Final planning is on hold pending potential singing gigs.  And lots of running races and open water races in between (doing NY Road Runner 9+1 program to get a marathon spot for 2012).

Weight loss: I'm pretty happy with my weight but, like most women, wouldn't be opposed to losing a few pounds.  

My main hope in joining this group is making my workouts more effective in small amounts of time (especially on the bike), and keeping motivated and honest in logging my training!  My PR for HIM is 6:19 from last year, would love to go under 6 this season.  I also bought a big-girl tri bike this year (was racing on a road bike my first 2 seasons) so am excited to see how that changes my races.

Good read, hip! We all make mistakes, but not all of us learn from them. You did some good things the past few years, keep it up!

My wife bought me Joe Friel's "Your First Triathlon" as well as "The Triathlete's Training Bible"; I don't recall telling my wife about these books, but of all the books out there, these would be the ones I would of purchased! The Lord works in mysterious ways. I find "Your First Triathlon" very encouraging, taking some of the mystery of what to expect in my first tri out of the equation, and of course anxiety about the unknown. It's funny, I haven't even leafed through the Bible yet, I don't feel worthy! I'm still learning from the first book...well, good luck with things!

Hi Phaethon!  Swimming is my strength in tri (but please note I am NOT a coach so take my advice with a grain of salt), so I'm going to very humbly provide my opinions.  

I'd say, just like running or cycling, it's good to mix up the workouts.  Sometimes do longer efforts, sometimes do intervals.  I am very comfortable in the water and finishing a distance swim is not something I worry about, so I'd say I do 1500+ nonstop in the pool maybe once every 2 months, just to compare times.  But if it's going to make you more comfortable knowing you can swim without stopping, maybe do that more often!

Something I really like doing in the pool when it's a "longer" set day (like 400 repeats or something) is pick up the pace every 4th length.  It breaks up the monotony, helps me keep count, AND teaches me to sprint then actively recover (as opposed to stopping at the wall).  So here are just a couple ideas for 1200-yd workouts to avoid boredom!

200yd warm-up (50 swim/50 kick/50 pull/50 swim), 400 swim (sprint every 4th 25), 400 swim (50 easy/50 hard), 100 sprint for time, 100 verrry slow cool down.

200yrd warm-up (same as above), 4x50 "pick-ups" (start slow and build to a sprint by last 10 yds or so), 100 easy, 10x50 repeats at your first 50s time plus 15 seconds, 200 pull cool down.

300yd warm-up (kick every 4th length), 800 non-stop "LoCo" (25 easy/25 hard, 50 easy/50 hard, 75 easy/75 hard, 100 easy/100 hard, 75 easy/75 hard, 50 easy/50 hard, 25 easy/25 hard), 100 pull cool down.

...I could go on, but I'm just sort of making these up as I type.  You'd probably need to modify a bit, to build in more laps for the TI drills.  I'm pretty sure he also doesn't advocate kicking/pulling as part of the workout, although I'm not super familiar with his technique, so maybe you'd modify that as well.  But I hope maybe I inspired some creativity in the pool for you!

e

I have more questions!

I plan on being regular with my events, how many should I do a year? How much time should I take off after an event? How many sprints should I do before I graduate to...Olys, is it? Whatever distance is next! Thanks in advance...

Andy, I appreciate the biking instruction.   Im going to start dropping into a lower gear on hills and see how that works. 

I have had a problem in the past with a pinched nerve in my elbow that made the inside of my lower arm go numb, so I dont think Ill get the aero bars.   My left arm will not go completely straight, so I cant  lock my elbows.  As long as things are feeling okay with the elbow Im going to stay as is for now.  I have wondered if the bars would remove stress from my elbow.  If I ever buy a newer bike I may try them. 

I have swam some open water swims in the lake just for fun.  When your goggles get fogged and you are swimming towards the sun it is hard to see.  I read somewhere that washing your goggles with dishwashing soap was an effective way to prevent fogging.  It does work.  I swam in the lake over Easter and washing them before hand and it made a big difference.  Tuna

Hey - got room for another? Newbie to triathlons... I've got a sprint on July 10th, a 150 mile ride later that month, and then another sprint in mid August. Been biking during the summers the last couple years - was losing weight and enjoyed being outdoors instead of in my basement with P90x! I swam like a fish as a kid - grew up on a lake... thought that would be my strong suit (until I hit the pool a few weeks back!). And my young English setter likes to run so much, I started going on short jogs with him... and then the jogs got a bit longer.

And after realizing I was good at swimming (at one point in my life), enjoyed biking, and could run... well - a triathlon seemed like a good idea to keep myself focused & engaged in physical activity. I've been "training" for the last month and feel like I'm coming along well. I really enjoy researching and learning via reading... and damn - there's a lot to read on triathlons, and each individual sport!!!

Ben.