Ontherun's Group -Full, off and running :) (Page 2)

Wow, that is a loaded bunch of questions. I will attempt to give you my best oppinions on the subjects at hand. First as for bikes. "Deals" are all realtive. The reason for this is you can get a very good bike on clearance as the new bikes are hitting the showroom floor for 2007. You still need to do your homework though. I have seen a better equiped bike from 2006 be less expensive than a 2005 on the same showrooom floor from the same manufacuturer. Newer bikes have the latest and greatest upgrades. With that being said, I love to buy the older bikes with no miles. I have managed to save over 25% each time I have done that.

I would agree that buying a bike in Bos. would probably not be worth it from what you have said. Get on drainers as much as you can.

As for the races part of the question. The number is up to you and the time you have to put in to make sure you do not get hurt. A sprint is very doable with a reasonable amount of training. Be careful though. Some sprints are longer than others, and it is important to know things like: Open water vs. pool swim, off road or road course, trail or asphalt roads. These little things will help you make sure you are ready for the race.

I personaly did 2 races my first season, one oly and one sprint. Since then I have upped the numbers. I know many of my pears local and on BT who race at least every other week! Mind you they are in very good shape, have been training awhile, and know when to push and when to have fun. I would think you could race the sprint when you get home, but I would think it would be good to be getting on a bike you know at least a little. If you have the time and money to buy a bike before comming to the east coast, you will at least have a bike that fits. I would consider the race a C race though. (A race, all out...B race, good effort, looking to work on a few things....C race, just for fun and to finish).

The bottom line is what do you have the time and finances for. I would personaly think that if you have firm dates at school and will not be delayed in making races, then sign up for them. This way you have your goals and can commit to them. The worst that happens is you surrender $50- $100 on an entry fee and USAT one day lic. Mind you, at least in my area, most races do not sell out until the month of the race, if at all. The exception are the higher profile and very well run races.

As for the LA race,  I would consider looking in the Vegas, Reno area for a tri at the same time as the LA race so you are not forced to travel. Not sure if there is much out there, but you can check. Keep in mind I would venture to say that only about 30% of this seasons races are posted on sites like Active.com. More should be posted. Also if you are having trouble getting the bike time in, consider the sprint in June with running races on the ends. When time is crunched, you can kick back and focus on only one sport for a little while.

 Hope this helped.

Wow where did I go? This is too cool. Ok, first, Helen, sure your BF may join us as long as he will workout

As for the swimming, it is the most technical and least natural of all of the three sports. There are lots of good tips to getting better. My first advice is get your HR down. The best way to do this is slow your stokes down. A way to gauge progress is to count the number of times your right hand enters the water, and try to use less strokes durring the next lap. A good mental tip is to try and leave the hand in front of your head in place until your stoke arm comes around and touches it. This is very hard to do and you may start your next stroke sooner to keep from sinking.

Anouther swim tip I have found helpful is to try and keep your chin down to your chest. The idea here is too get your body inline. Most of us were taught to look forward when swimming. This is no longer a promoted style of swimming. Doing it arches the back and allows the feet to drop.

BTW I also do not kick while swimming. Kicking only acounts for about 20% of your forward thrust, and some people actualy go backwards while kicking. If you are doing laps you can also see if you can borrow a set of leg bouys. They go between your knees and are used in an aid to find proper body position. The big help to those learning to swim again is it takes the legs out of the HR boost. With just your arms working, you should be able to go further without running out of breath.

As for the bike issues without a drainer. I have not done spin classes, but have seen one lead by Karen Smyers, winner of IM Kona about 10 years ago. So I figure if she leads them, they must be cool. What ever it takes to get your legs going in a spinning motion will work. Stationary bikes, your bike on a drainer, or spin classes. They will all work on adding up your leg strength.

I hope I ansured all the questions here. If not feel free to ask further questions.

I will run in about anything except when there is lots of ice, particularly under a layer of thin snow. I have run in 2 inches of snow as a blizard started. Was going into work to plow for about a 30+hour shift and wanted to make sure I did not miss too many workouts. I only missed 2 weeks last year without at least one outside run in Mass. This year has not started quite as well, but major family obligation has set me back a week right now.

Bottom line is do what works for you. The one big benifit of staying outside is when the weather is bad is it gives you a leg up on others come race day. I raced in a downpore last year and loved it. Others just bailed and lost there $$. I had one of my most favorite races ever!!