Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 27)

I use some Walmart special baggy board shorts. They cost me about $4.99 in a sale at the end of last summer. As Jeff said, they slow me down in practice, but I'm not racing anyone in practice. Tri shorts and/or a wetsuit are noticeably faster, but as long as you're working, it doesn't matter what you wear for training.

So.......... you'll probably blow it out of the water and make the rest of us look like we're standing still. Along with Warren, I have a HM in two weeks and I think someone else does as well. I bet you're going to crush all of us!

John

You better post photos, that place looks absolutely amazing. I bet it makes a great place to bike!

This question and the responses actually start holy wars on the main site - kind of like a flip turn thread.  Lots of the great swimmers say it's important to use the streamlined jammers to keep getting that feel of the water and the flow of your body through the water as it will be when you're racing; others says it's great to use the shorts as a parachute like Jeff was saying.

I'm probably the worst person to comment on this topic given the amount of swimming I do, but I just like the speedo jammers so I wear them.  Not much thought went into whether I'd use them or regular shorts.

You all may have seen this, but if you need a new wetsuit xterra vortex for 170 full and 129 sleeveless here.

Karl I agree with what everybody is saying here in regards to the swim wear. I have been using sporti jammers. I'm slow enough as it is I can't imagine swimming with baggy swim trunks but I'll bet that would make for a real good workout.

Thanks for all the answers.  yes I will not do the brief type...  whew that was a relief!!!

The bike I can tell a noticible difference in speed when going down a hill by going to the drop position vs. holding onto the top of the bars, it is like changing gears. This bike fitter discouraged using aero bars on a road bike so no I do not have them.  i will give the new fit more time in the saddle.

Jeff have a safe trip to Vegas and hope you get the opportunity to get some bike rides in there. The scenery looks great and will be looking forward to seeing those photos.

Just don't be the guy at my pool who looks like he's been swimming in the same orange (I suspect they used to be red) jammers his whole life. They leave NOTHING to the imagination!!

As with all equipment, I think if you're FOP and looking for the next few seconds it might be a big deal, but for most of us AGers simply swimming more in whatever you currently use will have a far greater impact on speed and form. I know my training is time limited far more than it is equipment limited.

John

ETA - no attack meant on anyone, least of all Warren or anyone who chooses to swim in Jammers!! Just realized that post could be unintentionally rude!

Matt good luck with your HM this weekend, no doubt you will achieve the goal that you have set for yourself.

haha, no worries at all.  I always tell people I'm from a big Italian family - if we're not yelling at you we don't like you.  I have VERY think skin!

Story time.  Wasn't it Brenda that just posted an embarrassing story?  I will follow suit (there is a pun there as you will see in a minute).

A few years ago at master's swim practice we finished up a good workout and gathered our stuff to leave.  We were chatting, putting back our kick boards and then headed to the locker rooms (men and women respectively).

I get in the shower with my suit on (good practice to wash out the chlorine) and one of the swim team guys points to my suit and says there's a hole.  He's the class clown and always wears a smirk so I didn't believe him at first.  So I skeptically ask "how big"?  he indicates a hole that's obviously too big to be real...can't be as big as my entire butt...

So I reach back to prove him wrong and my hand touches nothing but skin.

The seam running down the back from waist to crotch had split and both sides had pulled back exposing pretty much everything.  Picture you entire hand outstretched.

All I could think about was 'HOW LONG?'.  I was doing FLIP TURNS for heaven's sake!  I walked around the pool deck talking to WOMEN!

I walked down the HALLWAY to the locker room.

MY TOWEL WAS AROUND MY NECK!!

eeks.

I describe it by drawing an analogy.  Ever opened a can of biscuits? 

I now have a backup suit in my bag because I fear that at any moment I could split a suit.  For a few months after that I wore a speedo brief under my jammers as insurance.

No one will fess up to having noticed prior to me reaching the locker room though.  So I hold on to the hope that no one noticed.

I am laughing so hard my eyes are tearing up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think I could ever go back to that pool again!

Oh my gawd, Jeff!!!  Too funny!!!!

You guys have been busy this morning!  I won't be around much over the weekend.  I'm heading over the hill to warmer and drier climes for a yoga teacher class reunion.  I think we are going to be videoing some things to promote the school.  If it gets posted to youtube, I'll be sure to send the link.

I'll be taking my bike so I can ride in some warm weather!  I can't wait!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh jeez!  How can I forget to say that today my little boy is 3 years old! 

ahaha that totally reminds me of a sort of similar situation for me... One evening I was chillaxing away, and then I look down at my calves and they were for real seriously bruised up.  Blue spots all over both calves, and I think even parts of my upper leg.  I was freaking out.  I thought I might have come down with a disease or something!  I was in Switzerland at the time, and I was wondering if I would have to go to the ER.  I start to e-mail people furiously, even sending them pics of my bruised up legs (yeah, I was scared!), asking if they have any doctor friends (I even e-mailed a doctor friend)... welllllll.... a few hours later, I realized it was from knocking over my bike onto myself in a tight confined space!!!  So I had done it myself... I am always bumping into things, things fall on me all the time (apparently), that I had thought nothing of it and forgotten completely about it.  It was slightly embarrassing to go back and be like "umm... actually I gave these bruises to myself..." 

Those stories are too much.  I love thinking about the moment of realization.  And not to burst your bubble Jeff, but I bet someone saw, even if they won't fess up!

I'm offline until Sunday night as we're going away this weekend.  So no training until tomorrow evening, but it promises to be a fun time.  The whole family is going to a weekend camp up north.  Hopefully we'll get some hiking and rock wall climbing in.

Matt - you are going to hammer that race.  Post a time for me to shoot for - I'll challenge you while I still have a prayer of keeping up!

I agree Warren, those stories are pretty good.  I sure am glad I haven't done anything like that because I am much too smart to for anything like that to happen to me.

The rock wall climbing sounds pretty amazing but then I have a fear of heights too.

I am about to kick of another long day.  Swimming comes first and then it's car shopping for the rest of the day I suppose.  I think we are getting close to purchasing a car but we have a few more places to check.  I hate going through all the driving around and talking to salesmen.  Then there's the hashing around of prices.

Oh yeah, Jammers are the way to go for mens swim wear.  That's all I have used since I started training for the sport.  I agree there is drag created with the looser fitted suits but I feel like when you are just starting out the tighter fit will help you feel your way through the water a little better.  If you want to add drag later, once you feel your form is better, you can use the loose fit or an actual drag suit.

Matt, enjoy ur HM.  Let us know how it comes out!

Jo, keep us posted on ur IM training. 

Jeff...lol!!!!!

Just finished a 45 minute ride and 25 minute run. 

karl

Jeff-that's a classic story-isn't life fun! I wore my jammers inside/out once - didn't figure it out until about half thru the swim - not nearly as good as your story.

Carmel Half Marathon today: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/races-edit.as... report:

overall 1:42:4 about 1:20 better than my HM race 3 weeks ago - I'll be happy once its under 1:40 (need a goal)

its a good race - good route - good support - weather much better now that its in April. Come to Indiana! (no, they are just now planting the corn...)

Matt - Have a great race. I know you are going to do fantastic!

Jeff - That story is so funny. Probably even more so because I have fears of the same thing possibly happening to me. I swim in jammers also.

Bobby - Keep doing those easy runs. The speed will come just like the others have said. I was about a 27 min 5k runner mid last year and now I'm down to 24 mins. I don't have another 5k on my schedule until December but I know with all the miles (easy miles) I'm planning to put in I'm going to crush that 24 minute time.

Dina - I hope your ankle doesn't act up on you for Sunday. Have a great race!

Dirk - Good luck on the car shopping. That's usually not much fun.

-----

I had to push through some slight knee pain on this morning's run. I've had a little pain in the left knee on all three runs since the Tri last Sunday. I was planning and hour run today, but my knee hurt enough that I stopped after 40 minutes. The pain really came on after my cool down walk. I iced it and took ibuprofen right after. The pain stuck around but I had a planned bike ride with my wife while our girls visited with my mom and there was no way I was missing that. It seems like the bike ride was a good idea because after an hour of easy riding the pain is gone.

Now off to the Wiskeytown Environmental School open house. I'll be a camp counselor out there for a week (5 days) in May with my older daughter's 5th grade class. Have a great rest of the day all.

Samantha, Dina, and Jeff, I loved all of the funny stories. Thanks for helping improve my mood ? Jeff, I think I agree with whoever said that someone probably saw it and just didn’t want to be the one to tell you. Lol. Too funny.

Matt and Dina, good luck in your races! You guys will do great. I have no doubt. Good luck to anyone else who is racing who I missed.

Paul, really nice race and good time too. I think you’ll break 1:40 in your next HM. One of these days I’ll make my way down to Carmel/Indy to race with you. You’ll have to let me know which races you recommend.

Dirk, I hope the car shopping goes well. It’s almost over. I wish I had known. Ryan and I were practically giving away a car a few months ago. We sold it… with his wedding ring in it. We didn’t know where it was, and I was about to buy Ryan a new one when the guy called and said he found it. Lucky for us he was nice and returned it.

Vero, I hope the knees are feeling ok. I can really sympathize right now.

My training has been very light this week in attempt to get my knee feeling better. I took 3 days off completely (Sun-Tues). Wednesday I ran for only 5 min, Thursday I ran 1 mile, Friday I ran 2 miles, and today I ran 3.6 miles. All have been at a slow pace with no strides mixed in. The usual pattern is that the first minute hurts pretty badly and I am kind of limping along. After that, my leg settles in pretty well and although it’s a nuisance I don’t feel like it’s really painful. It seems to get better with more running. My big race in Hawaii is 2 weeks from today. I feel like I have lost some fitness over the last couple of weeks and want to make sure I am in decent shape for the big day. I was thinking of trying out a 5 mile run tomorrow. Good idea or bad idea? How should I proceed from here? I am planning to go all out in this race (Dina style), and if I have to take time off afterwards so be it.

On a personal note, my baby starting crawling yesterday. It’s gonna be crazy around here!