The Second Wind Group - CLOSED (Page 2)

That was exactly how I felt when I first got mine.  I was scared to death just riding in the street.  I trust my bike skills, just not other drivers.  What I did, since I didn't have a trainer at the time, is I took it out on quiet residential roads that are 25 mph.  The roads were smooth, not many cars, and I just practices going from aero to brakes, slowing and stopping and unclipping my shoes.  After a few times of that I graduated to the real road.  Yipes!  Just make sure you are very familiar with the road so you know where potential problems/troublesome intersections are.  The more prepared you can be, the better!

Also, make sure you take some ID, your phone, and some cash just in case. 

(and yes, we just make one huge thread of questions and comments)

If there is still room I would love to join a Christian group as well.

Name: Steve Hebert

Family: Married 25 years, 4 children last graduating SR in High School

Races: Currently deciding on Sprint on 6/3, have done 8 sprints in last 3 years, none very fast.

Training: Inconsistent somewhat due to 2 shoulder surgeries in 2 years, and lack of discipline.

Weight: Down 45 since Feb 2011.  Still have working to get down 20 more this year and then a little more next year, eventually settling around 170. 

I like the encouragement of Mentor groups and the accountability also.

Hello Lynn and welcome to the group!

Looking forward to reading about your progress as we train for the sprint and olympic races. 

David,

I can understand your concern about the aero position.  Great advice provided by Robin.

I do not have a tri-bike.  I have a Fuji Roubaix 3.0 road bike.  I have added aerobars.  When I first added them I also had som aprehension.  The shifters and brakes are not on the Aerobars so I had to practice and get comfortable lifting out of the aero to apply the brakes or shift gears.  What I did was wait until on was on a straight and flat part of the road.  I would get in a comfortable gear going about 13-14 mph.  I then eased into the aero putting one arm down first and then the next arm.  At first it felt odd being in the position.  This may sound simple, but what I found was that I needed to relax my upper body.  When I did that the tension in my arms and shoulders went away and this allowed me to have great control of the bike.

Now, when I felt comfortable, I kept my left arm in the aero and moved my right arm to hood in order to shift one gear.  Once I did, I moved my arm back.  I then repeated this motion several times, changing gears up and down to get comfortable going in and out of the aero.  I also applied the brake a few times during all of this.

Over time, I found this helped me in being comfortable in the aero. 

This past Saturday I went on my last long ride before my half ironman that is in 2 1/2 weeks on May 5.  I wanted to ride in the aero as much as I could.  I was not able to ride much at all in the aero because it was so windy.  I felt more comfortable in a regular position having better control of the bike.  You will just have to see what the conditions are like each time you go out to determine if you want to try the aero position.

One last thing is that you will find a tremendous boost in your speed while in the aero position.  It is amazing how much of a difference it makes.

Thanks.  That really helps.  I spent some time this weekend and fell more comfortable.  I live (and ride) in a very hilly/curvy area and I think I just won't be in aero too often but look forward to getting some miles in longer/straighter areas well I'll spend more time there until I'm comfortable.

Here's another question: does anyone here ride early in the morning?  I workout around 5am in the morning and its still dark.  My bike is lacking reflectors/lights, etc.  I don't want to spend a ton of money but am wondering what items are "must haves" to make myself visible early in the morning.  Fortunately, traffic is light...but before I venture out too much in the morning I need something.  Any must have items?

Do you feel riding once a week is going to get you ready?  (I'm training for my first Oly so I'm curious).

I'm currently hampered with a muscle injury so running is out for at least a few more days and swimming is my strongest point...I'm kind of going stir crazy looking for something to do.  LOL!

If you've got some room for a not-so-new member, I'd like to join.

NAME: camy / Chris

STORY: I got into triathlon in 2005 (at 34) after starting a couch to 5k running program. Signed up for my second race the day after I completed my first. I've been hooked ever since, but have struggled with training the past few years. Just about all of my biking has been commuting to/from work and I've become a decent swimmer after some swim focused time following some back problems. So, I'm 40 now and have put some decent races in (especially in '08) and am looking to get focused again.

I'm a bit of an oddball as I prefer old(er) bikes and drool over shoes more than bikes. I'm also kinda light on some gear (aero do-dads, wetsuit) and heavy on other (shoes, GPS, HRM, books/theory).

I also pretty much have every workout I've ever done logged here on BT.

FAMILY STATUS: Married 16 years (in June) with a son (12) & daughter (8). 

CURRENT TRAINING: Really just starting tri training for the year. I had a good run focus going on through Feb and made it up to 6x per week, but then fell apart. Swim has been off and on with no real commitment and I have yet to put my feet on the pedals My goal in April is to just get going again.

Ideally, I'd like get up to swimming 3-4x per week, running 4-5x, and biking 2-3x (commuting, when kids sports are over) by the end of May. I don't usually make it to ideal . I don't do much training on the weekend other than running here and there, usually late at night. 

2011 RACES: Three sprints with pretty good results. Swim was strong, run was coming along, and didn't get enough time on the bike. I was supposed to finish the season with an Oly, but bailed on it.

2012 RACES: Two races for sure: First is a sprint in mid-July and the second is the US Toyota Open Olympic in Oct. The sprint is a small town race where we camp for the weekend. The US Open is a big race 15 minutes from my house and I have high hopes for this year.

I will probably add one or two more as well as volunteer for a couple as well.

WEIGHT LOSS: Coming in the lightest I've been since college thanks to a no-sugar vegetarian stint from Feb through last week. I'm currently 10-15 lbs lighter than I raced at last year. 

WHY THIS GROUP: The title "Second Wind" caught my eye since that's really what I need. Stumbling into it as a Christian group is a good fit for me as well. I hope I can contribute with some of my beginning experiences as well as with gear/equipment since I seem to be obsessive over that.

Steven, when I miss a workout I just skip it and move on.  I do not try to make it up later.  The reason being is so I do not alter the rest of my training in regards to the workouts as well as the rest days.  You will be fine if you miss a workout and do not make it up.  With my schedule it happens a lot where I plan to workout and something comes up that causes me to miss it.  I just move on from the point. 

I'm trying to figure out where I need to be progress wise.  I'm eyeing a Oly race on 6/16.  It is a 1K Yd Swim, 28m bike and 7m run.  I am also looking at a Sprint in 8/18 and *possible* at HIM on 9/23. 

I'm not concerned aobut the Sprint or the HIM later in the summer but I'm wondering where I should be in order to be ready for this 6/16 event. I'm only about 7 weeks out.  I've looked at a few "training plans" and tried to back them up to 7 weeks (most of them are at least 12-16 weeks).  Any thoughts on where I should be progress wise and ideas of benchmarks for 6/16 race?  I did do a sprint on 3/31 and have been consistently swimming and running since.  Just curious what you think...I'm wondering if the 6/16 event was too soon to target and if I should look for something in July or early August?

I do some commutes where it's dark when I leave. I'm currently running a 250 Lumens LED flashlight I got at Sam's Club & a cheap headlight in strobe mode on the front with both a Planet Bike Superflash and a Blackburn Mars 3.0 on the rear. I probably spent about $80 on the total setup. If I had to choose ONE rear, it would be the Superflash.

I'm a huge fan of Garmin and currently rockin' the Garmin 910XT. I've had Forerunner 201, 305, 60, and now the 910 over the years. IMHO, the 305 is by far the best bang for the buck of any GPS out there.

I'm running an Oly on 6/3, so i'm in a similar place training wise.  This week, I am swimming once about 1500-2000 yards.  I bike 3x, a 16 mile ride, a 24 mile ride, and spin class at the gym, and I run 4x, 3-3 mile runs in the morning before work and a 6 mile run on the weekend.  By race time, I plan on adding another swim day while steadily increasing my bike rides to about 20 miles and 32 miles, plus some bricks thrown in, and increase my long weekend run to 8 miles and then work on speed.  My goal is to finish well and not embarass myself.  I'd love to finish in 3 hours, but I'm not very fast at any of the 3 disciplines. 

I think the 6/16 event is very possible depending on your goals and your current fitness.  If you are looking to finish, then 2 months should be plenty of time to get ready.  If you are trying to win your age group, i'm not sure there is enough time.  It would also help if you kept your training logs up to date so we can see how you are doing.  Good luck, and i'm sure you'll make the right choice.

Hello,

I am Jason and am wanting to join this group. Fairly new to triathlons. Last year a couple of friends had signed up for a tri in town and I decided to join them. For a while, I've had an interest in triathlons. Grew up playing soccer so a lot of running was a requirement and at the same time got bored with just running. My two friends ended up out of town on business the weekend of the tri so it was just me a about 1000 others. Had been away from workouts for sometime and so aspirations of anything spectacular - just wanted to finish on my own power and nothing else. So I ran the race and finished 2nd to dead last and had a blast. Have run, ridden, and swam a lot since then. Was hoping to be a little more competitive this year. Look forward to getting to know ya'll!

Will include more bio later.

One of the great benefits of the group is the support and encouragement we can give eachother.  If you log your workouts on BT, I would like to ask that we add each other as friends to our profiles.  This way we can look at each others training and provide inspiration.  If you have not noticed it before, next to each entry you add to your training log you will see "Inspire Me".  This is where someone can add some comments regarding your workouts to give you added inspiration.

You can also see in the upper left-hand corner of BT a section called "user information".  Within that is the number of inspires you have.  If someone leaves some inspiration, you will see that designated there.

Have a great day everyone!