Jeff Y's Group - CLOSED (Page 28)

I think you may be right about the diminishing returns using the suit, but I did do a "practice run" during my OWS last week and averaged 1:20 for a quarter mile.  I wasn't gassed at all...so I was hoping for something around there.  Live and learn, right?

I second this....that's awesome that you are so willing to help.  Some awesome advice in there, very good to know for any race, really.  I sure would have appreciated it if my dad had the experience that you do!  Just remember though Jeff, she's smart, she's your daughter and she'll figure it out.  You're seriously in the running for DOTY2K11.

Answer to your question:  I have no idea.

Indiana???  How close are you to Lake Michigan?

Thanks for the incouragment Dirk, I am gauging my improvements based off last years race and I don't like the lumping of times together either. 

Chiming on on the wet suit discussion; I have time trialed a few times with and without a wet suit and the improvement in time from the suit was somewhat negated by having to take the darn thing off.  I have an excessive turn side to side in my swim and the equalibrium issues I get a few minutes into T1 are hard to deal with when looking down.  I am a little slower without but almost perfer it because I can keep my head up on the horizon.

"Its too bad my mind and spirit has to race this body"  LMAO!

I think it's a subjective system by which the general difficulty of the climb is supposed to be captured by the rating.  I don't think that short steep climbs count even though they can be extremely challenging to ride.

For instance, in the Tour each year the climbs get categorized, but the same climbs are categorized differently from  year to year.  As I understand it, the same climb would be categorized lower (higher number) if it was at the beginning of the race when riders are fresh and categorized higher (lower number) were it at the end of a hard stage. 

This stems from the fact that points in the king of the mountain competition are awarded based on the difficulty of the climb.  The harder the climb, the more points are on the line for that climb.  They even take the condition of the pavement in to account.

Since it seems to be a construct of the race directors in the Tour each year, and presummably all other bike races  that are of a similar format, it baffles me how numbers get assigned to hills in general.  But yet I know that hills get classified.  For instance, if you check out your route at http://mapmyride.com when you are looking at the map of a given route, it will put a icon next to categorized climbs.

The crazy nasty climb I did last weekend that had many people walking their bikes and is legendary among local cyclists....was just a category 5 from what I understand.

I don't know how they're classified but I hear ya.  The area right around my house has lots of hills like you mention.  Short steep ones that burn you out; and the HR is completely opposite the speed.  I love ‘em, and hate ‘em.  I classify those hills by how fast you could go down without pedaling – 35+ are the real hills!

I think that swim paces in sprints are hard to measure/compare.  Some swim distances are way off, and some tris have long run outs which count towards the swim time.  Timberman has the timing mat right as you leave the water so the swim times are fast, but there’s then a 300 yard run to your bike so the T1 times are slow.  I get what you're saying, and if you know the course its fine to compare, I'm just commenting in a general way.

No doubt the wetsuit helps more the worse your swim technique is, particularly if you have balance issues.  The better you swim, it's a marginal, though measurable gain and typically worth it.

This group is putting down some serious racing numbers.  Besides Jonathan’s swim that is.  Just kidding – your swim times are unapproachable for most of us so we’re allowed to poke a bit Jonathan.  And we’ll be racing together at Black Fly so we’ll see if I can catch you on the run, but I’m not counting on it. 

Great improvement Tim, and good luck with the half this weekend. 

Jeff – that was an awesome letter.  There’s some great advice in there for all of us.

Well, I’m racing this weekend though with basically a two week running hiatus and almost no swim training I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m happy to be doing one finally.

I plan to do my first double of the season this weekend.  Saturday is a sprint triathlon and Sunday is an Xterra.  I think I'll try to take Monday as a vacation day so I can sleep in, eat breakfast, then take a nap!

haha....thank you.

That's awesome...which black fly race are you doing? 

Good luck this weekend....you'll need it.  (har har har)

I'm doing the International distance on Saturday only.  But first is Eastman this weekend and that dastardly trail run!

My mood is great after watching the Bruins take the cup back home.  I was 10 when Orr pulled his magic, so it's been a while.  I'm an old hockey guy, that's was my sport.

Fixed that for ya!!

Oh! And you're welcome.  It was really no problem at all.

Edit: Yes and I know the Pens were out early but that's 'cuz it was fixed for the Bruins this year.  They paid off the league and officials! LOL

I have a light workout day scheduled.  I plan on my first OWS later but the bigger deal is that I will be practicing my transitions several times today.

I will go through all of the motions.  I won't actually swim but I will put the wetsuit on and off, ride a mile or so and run around the block.  I plan to go though this at least 3 times and maybe more if time permits.  i just need to go through the motions to get my mind in gear for my race in a little over a week.

I am considering going sock less for the race since everything is short distance.  The bike is my only concern because I have the CHEAPEST "pleather" shoes with plastic as the interior liner.  Yeah! these will be one of the things that need to be replaced as soon as I can come up with the funds.  I look occasionally at the classifieds but haven't found anything yet.  Unless, of course someone would like to sponsor me with their extra/old shoes.  And no Jonathon, your ski sized, flipper feet shoes will not fit my 43-44 size. LOL  You probably wear a 63-64?!?!

Dirk, I'll excuse the Pittsburgh roots, my condolences go out to you.  I actually have an old pair of shoes collecting dust.  They're worn but not really bad.  I've used them, but someone donated a nice pair to me last summer so I don't need the other ones. 

I'll check the size when I get home, certainly not Jonathan life boat version.

(jbg-sneaker.jpg)

Dirk, good tri shoes are important to have.  I have never had issues barefoot in cycling shoes, even cheap ones.  it's a comfort issue only, it's not like you blister and bleed like in bad running shoes.  But that said, good tri shoes are quick to get on and assume barefoot use and you just need to have a pair once you are serious.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Louis-Garneau-Triathlon-Shoes-Carbon-Soles-11-44-/290576591522?pt=US_Men_s_Athletic_Footwear&hash=item43a7b6eaa2

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOUIS-GARNEAU-TRI-SPEED-SHOE-BRAND-NEW-BOX-TRIATHLON-/220797204260?pt=US_Men_s_Athletic_Footwear&var=&hash=item7914c15eac

http://cgi.ebay.com/dhb-Triathlon-bike-shoes-size-45-/140564403890?pt=US_Men_s_Athletic_Footwear&hash=item20ba4a96b2

Jeff, those tri shoes look awesome.  Do you train in those same shoes, or do you have a road pair as well? 

I have road shoes that are very comfortable - though my feet aren't Jonanthan huge they are W-I-D-E.  It was hard to find road shoes which didn't totally cut off circulation due to the width issue.  I'm not sure I could use the shoes you've linked, but I guess I'll maybe go to a store and try some pairs to see how they fit.

48-49!!!!!!!!  I was just about to send you some of my cycling shoes from 7th grade before THAT comment!!

Seriously though, what size shoe do you wear???  I use the bontrager RXL Hilo's.  I bought them because they look fast.  If you're not fast, at least look fast, I always say.

In all seriousness, I really like them.  I have had zero hot spots or pressure points.  I threw them on and went for a 50 mile ride, no problem at all.

http://www.bontrager.com/model/07822

Thanks Warren, good luck this weekend. 

Dirk with your foot speed you wont have enough time to get blisters.  HA HA. 

Jeff I can't wait to hear how you do on a double. 

Happy racing!

I've acquired a variety of shoes over the years.  I don't train in my triathlon cycling shoes.  I suppose it's because they are $200 shoes (I paid $80!) and have a carbon fiber sole and I just want to keep them nice. 

You do need good fitting shoes.  I tend to gamble and just tolerate discomfort on a regular basis.  But my racing shoes are the most comfortable I have.  They are a size larger than I normally wear which is a factor in this.  When I got them I found 2 great advantages to having them big.  One is that my toes have tons of room and never seem to feel cramped for go numb.  The other is that my feet slide in so much easier when I mount my bike and put them on as I ride in a race.

Being closed with 1 big velcro strap and being split all the way down the top of the shoe, they would fit nearly any width foot.  This is specific to my Adidas, but many tri-specific cycling shoes are designed this way.  So your chances are good of being able to fit a tri shoe moreso than a typical cycling shoe.  And if you choose to go a size larger for toe room, that should help with the width too.

Jeff, so after my swim this morning I decided to the workout plan you provided. I did not lift heavy since this was my first time back with weights in sometime. But I got done in about 45mins and I could totally feel it in my legs, lol.

I am not looking forward to the morning, lol.

Thanks all for the shoe advice. And Jeff, I took a look at those shoes and they look pretty decent.  The cheaper pair on ebay would be the best for me (duh!).  I have checked ebay from time to time but not seriously.  It seems like every time I do some other expense comes up and robs my very small tri fund.

Tim, I hope you're right about my speed next weekend.  I'll need it!  The race I am doing is a very competitive and, as I understand, it is a qualifier for the AG nationals in Vermont this year.  If I should qualify (and that is a huge "if"), I will not be going because of the expense.  Well, unless one of you guys sponsor me for that too.

If you qualify, I have a place for you to stay.  My mom lives in South Burlington and I will be up there that weekend for a wedding.  So that's covered.  All you need to do is figure out the plane ticket.....and entry fee....and all the other expensive stuff. :-)

Good luck to everyone this weekend.  Wish I was racing too.  We're leaving for Cooperstown, NY for a wedding in about an hour.  Should be a fun time and an overload on calories as per usual with these things.  One good thing is that there will be two other guys marathon training, so I'll get a good run in tomorrow morning...if I can keep up!

Some of you may have joined their mailing list so this is redundant.  Here is another nice article from the swimsmooth people on open water sighting technique.

http://www.feelforthewater.com/2011/06/how-to-sight-correctly-in-open-water.html

I have my long run coming in just a little bit but it should have been under way now or almost complete.  My oldest daughter had her wisdom teeth removed this morning and I wanted to be there with her when she came out of it.  I have to say it has been quite entertaining to listen to her slurring and mumbling.  Of course I would be a poor, poor father if I didn't post ridiculous looking pics to facebook.  Right now my wife is getting the scrip of Vicodin filled and picking up a couple of  other things and then I will be leaving.

The run will end up being slower than I would like but the temp is supposed to be 82 degrees by the end of the run with 80% humidity.  It won't be killer but I am gonna be blown up after 16 miles.  I can't wait for my marathon training to hill full stride......in the middle of summer.........with 80 degree temps in the early morning.........and high humidity...........and 20 mile long runs..........and muscle soreness...........and...........oh screw it!  I'm reverting to couch potato!