MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 200)

The coolness sure didn't affect your pace.  1:06!! Pretty darn good.  Your bike was a decent pace to me.  Joe Friel says 18mph is the optimal speed on a bike so anything over that is a bonus.  I'll be thrilled when I can maintain that speed.

I think there is something missing there. If I remember correctly this was part of a broader focus on cadence and power over a fairly flat Iron distance course. I don't think there is an "optimal" bike pace given all the variables. Having said that: I agree that he appears to have paced in perfectly given the really good run split.

DOUG -

Terrific swim, and once again -- I can only dream of 1:31/100.  I could maybe pull it off for one 100, but it would sure exact a toll on the following 100s (or following 25s, for that matter!)

At some point, I think, you'll need to experiment to see if the savings in time at T2, benefitting from toe clips, is worth what you lose by having toe clips, as opposed to clipless pedals.  And then.........

You'll have to experiment to see how fast you can go on the bike and still run mostly-maximally, or, conversely, how much you have to back off on the bike to run your best.  (it sounds the same, but really involves different mindsets and approaches.

I mostly figured this out -- to some decent degree -- a few years ago, but mistakes and glitches can still happen.  One surfaced this past Sunday, as the effects of Saturday's race, combined with a full-bore bike, left me with a run that wasn't quite waht i had hoped for.  But then I have to think about (a) if the fast bike time was greater than (b) the potential of the run, had I expended less on the bike.  I have had lots of instances in which I have contemplated this, and I usually come out to believing that hammering the bike is in my best interests.  As for Sunday, i would've had to back off to the tune of at least three minutes, I would guess, to have a really comfortably solid run on a difficult course.......and ecven then I doubt I could've had a run three minutes better than what I posted.   Hmmmm.

But back to you, I think if you have clipless pedals, or plan to get them, you will find that your new bike speeds are far better than what you saved in T2.  Admittedly, 28s is a phenomenally fast time, and one that I have never approached even on the smallest and most compact transition zones, so ya done good, real good!

Also, there is nothing at all wrong with your run time, and many, many people doing that race would just about kill for a sub-25 (just as I'd about kill for consistent 1:31/100 swim times!).

JEFF -

I'm really pleased for you that you've found a compatible running partner.  This is probably the absolute best time fo it to happen, just as you are doing the Build to DM.  Although I've never-ever had a training partner, reading your brief account of the benefits makes me feel I may have been missing something all along in being perpetually "solo"!

Any 5km runs for you post DM? 

I haven't yet looked  closely at what late December/January has to offer. There is typically several options surrounding the new year

Thanks George. The bike speed is coming along slowly for me. Three years ago I was 14 mph. Last year I was 16 mph. This year is 18 mph. Of course I'd love 25 mph and it is easy to be impatient. Maybe in time we will get there.

Steve,

Thanks for the thoughtful commentary. I have been using an old road bike I've had lying around up until now to save money. I've heard I could drop 2 mph by just buying a carbon fiber bike, but I wasn't close enough to the front of the pack for that to matter much until now. I might have gotten third place in AG with 2 mph faster in that race.

If I wanted to retro fit the old bike with clipless pedals, how much of an ordeal would that be? That might be the more realistic option for me at this point due to money.

DOUG -

Real quick response for now, but retrofiting is definitely worth considering.  I'm not a techie, though, and the best I can say is the needs would be shoes with cleats to accommodate your new pedals, which in turn would require new ranks..which likley involves new rings.  Other than that, easy-peasy!   and I suspect for a good bike guy, it's a very quick process; certainly changing out pedals is done in just about a heartbeat by my bike guy.

Do you have clip-on aerobars?  Good ones can be had fairly inexpensively, and then the only other need is a "fast-forward" seatpost to allow you to get out on the aerobars, within feeling like you're being stretched on a medieval torture rack.

Your bike speed was really good, considering your steed!  And, 2mph is not at all unrealistic, although remember that a lot of strong cycling comes from the engine --- and also the amount of experience behind that engine.  My coach used to say that it takes 5-6 years of fairlty serious work to become a strong cyclist, and my own histroy would support that just about bang-on.

More later.  Gotta head into ottawa, first time in pool since May 18 ---- 89 OWS ago!  It ought to be quite enervating......but i'm oddly looking forward to it.  We'll see; usually i despise my first several times back to a pool after 4+ months of exclusively OWS. 

That's encouraging to see your improvement in just a few years. I have work to do this winter on the bike

Johanne

As long as the thread sizes match this is simply a matter of swapping peds and of course new shoes and cleats. The cleats will come withe the peds. I vote for Speedplays. Then when you do move up to a better bike, simply take the pedals with you

I started clipless in SPD's when they were new and they were great. They were originaly MTB peds, I used them for commuting and touring and even had some really nice road racing spd peds once. I wanted a better corner clearance and a lighter pedal for crits and I switched to speedplay when they were new. They are very easy to learn and do provide a slightly larger contact point, not as fussy to set up regarding cleat position, the "float" is great. And they are not outrageously expensive unless you want to. I think they are ideal for Tris because of the ease to learn and use

Regarding cornering, I use to occasionally drag a pedal on the ground in tight corners-racing in the old SPD peds, never in speedplays

JOHANNE -

GREAT number --- and imperfect palindrome!  That is the one plus one equals 2, so with that modification you have, in essence a 2 and a 0 and a 2 -- a palindrome!!!!!

I think three of my races this year had me 181, 161, and 151.  I have to check the 151 one, though.

Yeah what I especially like about speedplays is that you can clip in from both sides. The plates are ginormous though! Not that I do a lot of walking in my bike shoes. I'll have to look into this, probably won't change until its spring because I only have one pair of shoes right now with the SPD on them and if I were to change pedals I'd either need to change the cleats on my shoes (but then I can't go spinning on those) or get new shoes, and then likely tri-shoes. I hear you on the speedplay not necessarily being super expensive but the Shimano 105 SPD-SL can still be had for half the price of the cheapest Speedplays. 

Cornering right now isn't that much of a problem right now as I am a wuss when it comes to tight cornering  

Do you have tri specific shoes also? If so, how are they when the riding gets a bit colder?

I do have tri shoes-Specialized Tri Fit or some such. They are vented pretty much like my road shoes, though a little more due to a lack of tongue. I cooler weather I would probably go for socks or shoe covers, or even switch to my road shoes.

I got allot of use out of my Spuds, even had some very light weight road shoes for racing that did not feature a recessed cleat

RACE REPORT from Giant Acorn Triathlon weekend:

Um, slowly moving forward...........I think?   I believe I posted once about my numbers, and once about the wild weather shift from Sat to Sun, but that's it.

I will probably do this as one post dedicated to the swims, one to the bikes, one to the runs, one to transitions, one to overall impresssions; I'm not sure.

I'll aim to do the swim one........later............today?  As i spur on that, I can tell you that the saturday oly swim was abad one for me, but I was buoyed to pore over results and see how bad it was across the board.  I did this by comparing times on the same course in the spring race ("Rumpass at Bumpass") there, and also Giant Acorn from last year.  "Rumpass" had 328 people do the swim in sub-30, and G.A. last year had 305.  On Saturday, a mere 59 swam sub-30; that made me feel a LOT better!

More later!

Commercial Break from Race report for Giant Acorn Triathlon weekend

For whomever is interested, race photos are up.

• Go to www.birdseyeview.net
• Click on Event Photos, upper right
• Click on Triathlons
• Scroll down to bottom two, click on big composite photo for each, and that at the bottom of each respective page, use 043 for the International (7 or 8 photos, weraing white) and 058 for the Sprint (2 photos, wearing red). 

FYI, the suit I'm wearing coming out of the water in the Int is a Blue Seventy pointzerothree.  It's not a wetsuit, so is legal for non-wetsuit swims.  It desn't really add, buoyancy, but is just beneficial for being more form-fitting over race clothes; a bit "slicker", too? 

As for that (those?) race report(s?)......................

I found them!

Swim Coaching coming soon this fall BTW

JEFF -

Swim coaching?  Cool beans!

With whom, and where, and for how long, and how often, and, and, and............

First. I have been sort of searching a while now. Hoping for something "local" as in 20 miles or so. There is a tri store and club in Dallas-Playtri, sponsors lots of events, has an endless pool and a number of coaches. I like them, but they are far. The other day they made a FB post about a new coach with extensive swim experience who is also kind of cute, so I contacted her. The plan at the moment is to start with one session with my new friend joining us to get a 2 person discount. She will do some stroke analysis in the endless pool then schedule a follow up in a real pool to give us some things to focus on over the winter. From there I guess it will depend on what needs are identified and what I or we can manage. With two of us, not Playtri members  it is about $85/hr

This coach

Being cute wasn't really a criteria and is purely for my own internal amusement, it does help me pay attention however

JEFF -

"Cute" counts!  "Cute" counts!!

But I'm going to take the high(er) road here and focus on her credentials, which are really impressive.  First thing that caught my eye was her coaching involvement with the SMU tri team ----- and then i made it down to her own accomplishments.  Mercy!!!

The lady is simply a very gifted freestyle machine, and if she can even impart one or two technique tips you, and if you can make them work for you, that'll be well worth the $85/hour.  i don't know how long you can continue to pay that fee, but I'm thinking that 4-6 sessions would be a big boost to your swimming skillset.

And, she's cute!

Forget the higher road: