Matt Gilmartin's Group- CLOSED~ we're swimming! (Page 34)

I'm looking into getting shoes/clipless pedals after my IT band heals.  Does anyone have a recommendation of one shoe and/or pedal vs. another?

I have the exact same question. I'm really planning on kicking it into high gear with the swimming and biking after my half-marathon on Saturday.  Suggestions for pedals and shoes to start out with would be greatly appreciated.  Mariah mentioned pedals that are 1/2 and 1/2 for her daughter---I'm wondering if that would be a good strategy for me as well.  Sending lots of IT band healing vibes your way, GatorRunner!

I'm glad you asked, Aaron!  My recommendation on pedals to everyone is always Speedplay.  I have Zero's after riding for years on SPD's, and they are remarkable.  They also make one called "Light Action" which works well for women.  I find the amount of float to great since I have a really horrible right knee that gives me fits.  The only downside I find to Speedplay's is that the cleats tend to wear out quickly.  I have to replace mine every year, whereas the SPD's are the most durable cleat on Earth.

SPD's (Shimano Pedaling Dynamics) are decent, too. I'd consider them more of an entry-level type of pedal, and I think most folks in this group would be better suited to Speedplay or SPD2.  The one big advantage to SPD- almost all spinners are SPD compatible, so if you spin a lot you don't need to buy a second pair of shoes.

SPD2's are the next evolution of SPD (duh!) and have a huge following.  They also work well with spinners.  Google them.

Look pedals have a cult following and I have heard are the easiest to get in and out of.  I've never used them so I can't say.

Bottom line- I recommend Speedplay, but I would urge each and every one of you to go into the LBS and try them out.  See what works best for you, and roll with them!

Here's a link to Speedplay's website.  The Zero's are the de facto standard:

http://www.speedplay.com/

As far as shoes, I am a huge fan of Louis Garneau tri shoes.

http://www.louisgarneau.com/us-en/products/305572/Triathlon

I would HIGHLY recommend all of you get tri shoes instead of regular road shoes.  They're designed to be pulled on and fastened in seconds.  Regular road shoes are ill-equipped for triathlon transitions.

I need to do some work now- I'll write more later!  Thanks for the questions, all

And while we're on the topic of gear, any suggestions for a first wetsuit?  My first sprint will include a swim in the Chesapeake Bay which I'm told is very cold in May.  For my sprint in Delaware in June, I'm told that it's a mix of wetsuits and swimsuits (lake swim).  For the wetsuit, do you recommend long sleeves or not?  (I've heard that the long sleeves can feel pretty restrictive when you're swimming but that they keep you warmer). 

Robin

Robin,

Xterra gives you the most bang for the buck on cost and features.  The Vortex 3 is less than $200 for the full suit, the sleeveless is like $150.  The TYR Hurricane is an amazing suit, but it'll cost you a little more.

For you- I'd highly recommend the full sleeve suit.  You'll stay warm and get a little extra buoyancy~ don't worry about feeling restricted.  I have a full suit and a sleeveless, but if I had to keep only one I'd probably keep the full.  Staying warm is more important than anything else.

Both my husband and I have Speedplay. I LOVE them (of course, they are the ones I started out with and have nothing to compare them too). My son has LOOK Keo Easy. We picked them for him since a) they were on sale and b) the LBS guy told us that they were good for beginners. We bought the 1/2 platform, 1/2 clip pedal for my daughter because she is still quite small and I'm not sure I am ready for her to be clipped in outside, however, she wanted to be clipped in while on the trainer since everyone else is (and what young girl doesn't want to be like everyone else)! 

Regarding shoes - I tried on ALL the shoes that the shop had and found the pair that fit me the best. Ironically, it was the cheapest pair they had (about $90 - Serfas brand, I think). They are not tri shoes and I can see where the ratchet would be problematic mounting without shoes and then putting them on as you're on your way or what have you, but I'm not to that level yet, so I still put my shoes on in transition and walk to the mount line. My husband has a pair of Shimano R087 shoes - again, not tri shoes, but he's in the same boat as I am. 

My children, on the other hand, have tri shoes. My daughter has a pair of Exustar shoes bought off of Nashbar.com ($30). They were cheap (my criteria since she will quickly out grow them) and pink (her criteria because she's a girly-girl). My son, well, he ended up with the best deal...I bought his off of Bonktown.com because they were $19.99, HOWEVER, they retail for $350!! They are very nice Shimano TR70. They are carbon fiber and heat moldable, as in the entire shoe molds to your foot, not just the insole! He really lucked out. We haven't taken them to be molded yet as he states they are very comfortable just like they are. I'll admit - I'm somewhat jealous over his shoes!!

On the topic of wetsuits, my husband and I both have XTerra suits. I believe we have the Vortex 4. I bought full sleeve and he bought sleeveless. I went with full sleeve since I am prone to being cold. They are restrictive to a point, but not uncomfortably so and it just takes practice swimming in one. My daughter has a Blue Seventy and my son is wearing an Aqua Sphere Rage - only because these are the only suits we could find in their sizes. I think that one day I would like to get a DeSoto 2-piece, not because I NEED one, but I think I would like the option of swimming with full sleeves or sleeveless. 

As you can see, I have a tendency to purchase items that I can get on sale. When buying tri gear for 4 people, it's not cheap, which is why we have so many different brands. I will say, however, that despite the cost - we are having a BLAST!

So for the record- and I'm sure I'll get flamed- I loathe Lance Armstrong.  I think he's a doper and a cheat, and I personally think he probably got cancer in the first place due to systemic doping.  He's got a reputation as a total jerk, too.   I know he "never" got busted and tested clean, but don't forget that Barry Bonds tested clean too.  I still think he's a jerk, regardless of the fact that he raises money for cancer research now.

HOWEVER, he's doing triathlon now.  Here's a pretty good article on his impact on the sport:

http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/How-Will-Lance-Armstrong-Impact-Triathlon.htm

I'm curious what you all think.

I don't know - not the biggest Lance fan out there either.  It's a popular name and if that gets a person or two off the couch and in to a more active lifestyle, then it's a win in my book. 

I'm having something of a scheduling conflict.  I would like to get a few Olympic distance races in this year.  My first shot would be May 20th and I'm not so sure I want to start off my season swimming a mile with water temps potentially in the high 60's/low 70's.  Do I just need to HTFU and do it?  Because the sprint race it looking mighty tempting right now. 

My goal is to work myself towards Hy-Vee in September.  I'd like to have an Olympic distance race in the books to learn from.  As I'm planning out my race schedule for the year I have a few scenarios.  Which one seems the most realistic knowing Hy-Vee is my A race?

#1  Aug 5 - Sprint             #2  Aug 5 - Sprint         #3 - Aug 5 - No Race
       Aug 12 - Sprint                 Aug 12 - no race           Aug 12 - No race
       Aug 19 - Olympic              Aug 19 - Olympic           Aug 19 - Olympic
       Aug 26 - taper                 Aug 26 - taper               Aug 26 - taper
       Sep 2 - Hy-Vee                Sep 2 - Hy-Vee              Sep 2 - Hy-Vee

#1  Aug 5 - Sprint             #2  Aug 5 - Sprint         #3 - Aug 5 - No Race
       Aug 12 - Sprint                 Aug 12 - no race           Aug 12 - No race
       Aug 19 - Olympic              Aug 19 - Olympic           Aug 19 - Olympic
       Aug 26 - taper                 Aug 26 - taper               Aug 26 - taper
       Sep 2 - Hy-Vee                Sep 2 - Hy-Vee              Sep 2 - Hy-Vee

IMO it all depends on just how much recovery you need personally, and how prepared you feel for the season.  I'm the kind of person who recovers fairly quickly from races, but if I have a big race coming up I won't race within 4 weeks of it.  I prefer not to race near A races because risk of injury increases as exertion increases. 

Example: My wife wanted to do a Marathon Relay with our friends about 2 weeks before our half marathon.  I relented and said okay, that's when my ITBS started.  Would it have started during the half?  Probably not, because exertion level (speed) would have been less.  I uncharacteristically risked it and injured myself.

If the Hy-Vee is truely your A race for the year, I wouldn't race on the 19th or 26th, but maybe on the 5th to get the competitive juices flowing and to evaluate a performance.

#1  Aug 5 - Sprint             #2  Aug 5 - Sprint         #3 - Aug 5 - No Race
       Aug 12 - Sprint                 Aug 12 - no race           Aug 12 - No race
       Aug 19 - Olympic              Aug 19 - Olympic           Aug 19 - Olympic
       Aug 26 - taper                 Aug 26 - taper               Aug 26 - taper
       Sep 2 - Hy-Vee                Sep 2 - Hy-Vee              Sep 2 - Hy-Vee

Christian,

Personally I think your Aug 19th Olympic is a little too close to your "A" race.  I'm assuming since you are training and paying money for the entry that you're going to go "all out" on 8/19.  Do you think you're going to have enough time to recover for Hy-Vee?  Personally I'd say don't do anything for a month beforehand, but then again, you're a damn good athlete and you might recover faster than me.

Joe Friel's "Triathlete's Training Bible" has a whole chapter dedicated to race scheduling.  I'd definitely check it out- it's a great resource.

Followed by the Chicago Marathon, of course!

I'm trying to be patient, but it's getting hard! My bike was supposed to be ready Thursday. Then I was told it would be ready today. I guess "today" means "sometime before we open the store tomorrow", because now I'm being told that he (the bike guy) will be staying late tonight to get the bike done...

I should be more understanding - I mean, the guy is doing 4 bike fits tomorrow and did 3 today (each one 2.5-3 hours long). He usually does the fit before selling the bike, but since they had the expo and he knew he would be selling bikes at a discount, he said that he would not feel right about people buying something that he did not know 100% would fit as perfectly as he could make it, so he is doing these fits free of charge (a $250 value). I really should be patient...

Maybe I'll order him lunch (sub sandwich or pizza?) and have it delivered to the store tomorrow. I did ask him if I could come in one day and just work with him so I could understand the mechanics of bikes and he said anytime! I would LOVE to be able to work on my own bike!

Mariah, haha- I totally know where you are coming from.  Trust me, a good fit makes all the difference though!  

The question I have is- are you going to ride outside?  You don't want to Christen that beauty on a trainer, right?

I appreciate the advice.  Unfortunately, I don't recover from races incredibly well, but maybe this season might be different.  I would like to to Chicago - I never got to do it when I lived there and I've always wanted my bike on LSD. 

Had to decide on a marathon this year and decided on Des Moines, gives me a few more weeks to prepare than if I did Chicago.  Some day though...

 Trying to post a picture...

Thanks - will have to check it out.

Funny story about bring home the bike...So I get her loaded onto the bike rack on the back of my car and notice that only the two straps for the top tube will fit. There is one other strap that doesn't fit since the seat tube is so much bigger around than my Orbea Road bike, so I just pull the strap off since I don't want it flapping around. I have 2 velcro strips that I use to wrap around the wheels to keep them from spinning, so I do that and then check to make sure that the bike feels perry secure using the two straps at the top, which it does. I take off and am only driving about 20 mph since I have to go through a little town to get to the main road. Once I get to the main road, the speed limit picks up and is now 45 mph. I look in my rearview mirror and see that my bike is COMPLETELY horizontal! I guess I didn't realize how light the bike is v/s how fast I am driving v/s not having the seat tube strap would cause the bike to be totally sideways! I didn't want to slam on my brakes in fear of damaging the bike by having it hit the back of my car, so I slowed down slowly and pulled in to a gas station where I was able to secure the bike with some of the excess straps that hook onto the top portion of my car (I usually wrap that around itself to keep it from flying in the wind). It worked out perfectly, but man that was crazy!