jldicarlo's group -- FULL (Page 3)

Heh...the great debate!

Okay...things to look for when picking out shoes/pedals.

Pedals/cleats first...they are easier!
FLOAT: Float is the amount your feet can change "angle" on the pedal.  I kind of think of it like this: Sitting in your chair, put one foot down on the floor on the ball of the foot and elevate the heel like you are standing on your toes...but not too high...just standing up on your toes a teeny bit.  Now, keeping the ball of your foot on the floor, move your heel from side to side.  That's float!  The degrees of angle you can move your heel through is the amount of float a pedal allows.  If you are a normal person with normal knees, you don't really care at all!  If you are a finicky knee person, it can be VERY important!  Speedplays have a LOT of float.  Look cleats (which are essentially the same system as shimano's pedals) can come with two kinds of float--one that allows some float, and one that allows zero float.  There are some knee problems where you would want zero float.  But MOST people need SOME float.  What it allows your knee to do is pedal in a way that is comfortable for your biomechanics.  If you didn't have float you could always be twisting your knee into a position it doesn't like!  Okay, sorry...but I have never heard of Time.  But, the third kind of cleat is SPD or more commonly referred to as "Mountain Bike Pedals".  Same float concept as Looks but not sure if they can do a zero float.

Um, crap.  I gotta get back to work.  More on this topic later....

Cool, thanks.  I think that I had better more seriously map out potential races to see where I'm at.  Hope that things are going a little more smoothly for you! 

Yeah, the best thing you can do is sit down with a calendar and see where the races you "want" to do fall.  Then decide which are most important to you.  And take into consideration travel costs!  I live in the CONUS and each away tri (defined as having to FLY to it) ends up costing me around $1000.  I can only afford one or two of those per season!  Don't forget to plan for possible vacation days and holidays, etc.

Planning is good, but leave yourself open to change too.  Unless there is a particular race you want to run that sells out in a flash, maybe wait to register--especially for late season stuff.  You don't want to force yourself to race if you mentally burn out in Aug or Sep.  Or you might be on a roll and want to do an extra race.  I have the first half of my season pretty firm, but have left the back half very open.  It works for me.

Next topic:
PLATFORM: Well, this might not be called platform, but it's how I think of it.  Different types of pedals have different surface areas.  Typically, larger surface area means the force is more evenly distributed over the foot.  Small pedals like SPD's and Speedplays concentrate the force on your foot in a small area.  This can cause some people pain.  Look's have larger surface area so they distribute the force.

CLIPPING IN: SPD's (and I think speedplays?) are two-sided.  So no matter which way the pedal is turned, you can clip in.  Looks tend to be one-sided.  The pedal HAS to be right side up or you can't clip in.  Honestly, once you are slightly adept at clipping in, this REALLY is NOT a big deal at all.  HOWEVER, most "beginner" clipless types find SPD's the easiest to get into.  Getting out is not a problem (contrary to the popular "I fell over in my clipless" threads).  None of them are harder or easier to clip out of.

SHOES:  So, once you pick your pedals, you pick your shoes.  MOST of the shoes out there work with all kinds of cleats unless you pick some of those "commuter" shoes that have the recessed cleats...they tend to only work with SPD's.  Honestly, your best bet here is just to go to a bike shop and try them on!  Different brands might work better with different width/size feet.  For example, I wear men's shoes because my feet are wide at the front and it gives me more toebox room.  A few tri specific thoughts:

     1.  Less velcro is better.  Transition is all about speed.  One strap is best...no more than two!
     2.  Having one of those little fabric loops on the heel is useful for when you need to hold onto the shoe while trying to put it on while riding (once you get to the "leave the shoes on the bike" stage)

Otherwise, with shoes I would go for comfort!  Your poor little feet want to be comfy for hours on end on the bike!  Too tight can be BAD because it can make your feet fall asleep.  I've worn both Sidi and Shimano...I like both.  A good pair of shoes can last for seasons, so don't worry about spending money.  You just might go through several pairs of cleats.  Same with pedals.  One pair of pedals can last a LONG time.

Okay, fire away if that generated more questions.  That's Jen's take on pedals/shoes...and I've had three sets of pedals and three sets of shoes now.

Heehee...it's called I stand on one leg (sometimes two works too), turn my head to the side and jump up and down.

But that does not work for everybody.  There was a thread somewhere on BT about it where people listed a bunch of suggestions.  Some people swear by these ear drops--I don't know the name but is that the swim-EAR?  I'd at least give the hopping up and down a try...but some people just have weird ear canals and need either plugs or the drops to prevent ear aches.

I personally think EVERYONE should do flip turns.  Open turns give you an extra HUGE breath at the end of every length.  Your swim "flows" much better if you flip and you don't get that extra pause/oxygen.  People say their open turns are just as fast as flip turns and I agree--they definitely can be.  The advantage comes in removing that extra breath--more realistic for continuous swimming.  As for flip turns, you don't need to be SO good at them that you only swim half the length above water.  I don't have that kind of lung capacity--especially at altitude!  I rarely get to or past the "flags" on a flip turn.

Effectively judge time for a 1.5k OWS...Uh...HARD!   There are SO many factors in OWS that can affect the time: the course could be short (most are) or long (less likely), there could be waves (St. Anthony's last year was BRUTAL!), sighting takes time away, you could ziz-zag, wearing a wetsuit or not, etc.  But I don't think I have EVER done a 1500m OWS faster than my pool times.  So my formula is to take my pool time and add a few minutes for my prediction/goal.  From my experience, the benefits of short courses and wetsuits tend to balance out the sighting, zig-zagging, and long courses...so my pool times and OWS times are pretty close.

DVD's...new movies work the best because they hold your interest...but I even like to watch ones I've seen hundreds of times.

Or, set up your trainer sessions to occur during your FAVORITE tv show.  I used to get on my bike during "The Biggest Loser" this fall.

Stick with it...they get easier.  I know I hated the trainer at first and now I'm so used to it that an hour goes by really quickly.  And I'm rarely on for much more than that.... 

Bump bump.

No third page for us!

So, how is 2007 going for everyone so far????

Other than wrecking my car, I'm okay.  I've been able to get in most of my training, miraculously!

Oye, we've dropped to the third page again.

That's awesome!  For some reason, I can't see your logs.  Am I doing something wrong?

As for me, I've gotten through my planned training so far as well, but that was minus any scary experiences!  What about the rest of you all?

Right now, I'm trying to figure out the recovery drink thing.  Someone was discussing it at swimming tonight, and I was wondering if I should look into some chocolate milk on occassion.  Not that I really need an excuse  for chocolate milk, but it would be nice.

Sorry we bumped to page three...I made a last minute decision to skedaddle to CO for the weekend.  I'm back.  But my logs won't be back yet...I'm on a BT break...sorry.

Recovery nutrition doesn't need to necessarily be a drink...many people use drinks (like chocolate milk) because they are easy.  But really, you just need to take in some calories after a workout....soon after!  My coach goes so far as to say that recovery begins BEFORE the workout...i.e. starting on a full tank. 

Well, this groupie had a consistent training month…but I am currently unemployed, so that may drastically change once I get one of those real job things you “grown up” people talk about (I’m already missing the days of TA-ing and research assisting).  Ummmm, I haven’t met any of my short term goals yet, but that’s not really bugging me.  What about the rest of you?  How’s everyone doing?