kenj mentor group - back for another great season! CLOSED (Page 35)

Meulen - 2013-02-03 3:12 PM What Ken said Robyn!

Ken. You used to race cars? Very cool! I always wanted to try that. I used to race motorcycles. From what I remember about tires the softer compounds got much hotter. If you had a soft compound race tire on there that very well could have done it. I also worked in a metal shop through college and repaired a lot of journals like that for industrial applications. When we came up with repair solutions it was almost always improved by higher heat tolerance. Sometimes a few degrees can be the difference between damaging the journal or a long life. We used to spray on a ceramic coating at 1400 degrees to protect from heat. No tht was not a typo. 1400 degrees!

Yes, I raced in the 80's.  It was fun but makes triathlon seem cheap! 

You are right, the softer compounds grip better and the friction would create additional heat. 

1400 degrees is crazy hot! 

Good post Becky!  Did the instructor give you any drills to work on to help with the shoulder/hip roll?

Enjoy your rest day! 

I hate overnight flying!  I used to do a little better with it when I was young, but can't sleep as well on the planes anymore.  Good luck today!

I love my Madone, glad you got a chance to ride one out there!  Sounds like a fun trip Bill.

jennifer65 - 2013-02-04 3:17 AM I have to admit I just use my normal tyres for the trainer - although I am keeping an eye on it so I know when to get a new one. My club mates think I don't go 'hard' enough to damage anything anyway, ( they like teasing). However, I got my hr monitor in the week and I realized that I don't push myself enough on the trainer - as I suspected. Did about 26 miles outside on the bike yesterday - which was too far for me by about 10 miles. However, it took me about 2hrs 11 mins at an average speed of approx 12.3 mph - which I think is a pb for me. Also I think my swimming is getting a little faster. So, in all I am making improvements - but they are small and slow in coming. I am beginning to resign myself to the idea that I won't get past the swim in my HIM, but I will be fitter than I've ever been at that point..and there is always next year. On the whole I am fairly happy with everything. Jennifer

Way too early to think that way Jennifer!  Keep swimming and the gains in improvement will come!

Nice work on the bike too!

Sounds like a good time Bill!  Glad you had fun and found all the outdoor fun LV has.  Was that the Red Rock Loop you did?  I remember hitting 50+ on the back side of that hill, before hitting "the wall"  That was fun!  The old motorcycle racer came out in me and I just wanted to pedal faster and whip around the turns.  My wife was on the brakes constantly though.  I had to pick a spot and wait up for her.  It scared the BeJesus out of her to go that fast!

Yeah, I'm with your wife it seems.  But Red Rock wasn't even the worst of the technical riding.  I rode that loop with some very friendly mountain bike racers out on their road bikes.  So I got my workout in catching them AFTER the downhills.  There's a 34 mile multi use loop from Henderson and along Lake Mead with some insane serpentine downhills and I was constantly on the brakes.

Yeah, I don't 'remember Red Rock being overly technical, but pretty fast on the back side.  Still fun and GREAT scenery!  The Multi use loop sounds like fun!  One of these days I'll have to meet you out there so you can show me!

Jennifer, I'm going to second what Ken said.  I think swimming is where you can make the most gains in the shortest amount of time with some technique improvement.  As the wise fish in Finding Nemo says..."Keep on swimming, swimming, swimming!"

Jaime

Happy Monday everyone!  I got home from work last night at 3 am, then my youngest woke up with a stomach bug at 4 am, so today has been a bit tough.  I bagged my planned bike, but did finally do my weight lifting (missed it last week.  and maybe the week before. oops).

Tomorrow I was thinking about riding to my local tri shop and checking out aero helmets.  Do you all wear one?  Any advice for shopping?

Thanks! 

jennifer65 - 2013-02-04 3:17 AMSo, in all I am making improvements - but they are small and slow in coming. I am beginning to resign myself to the idea that I won't get past the swim in my HIM, but I will be fitter than I've ever been at that point..and there is always next year. On the whole I am fairly happy with everything. Jennifer

Jennifer, like has already been said, there is time to build the swim endurance. 4 months, right? With working on form and getting in consistently, swim endurance can ramp up quickly, especially for those of us who started swimming later. In a year and a half the distance that i can move forward continuously for has increased by about 100x. Can't say that for running or biking :-). You've got a great attitude and you've already signed up. So as long as your concern is finishing before the cutoff, and not a concern of covering the distance, you'll be fine.

Here's where i'm having trouble committing - I have a Quarq power meter on my tri bike. In a perfect world, I'd be able to switch this back and forth. But the Quarq is a threaded SRAM Red crank. So, in order to make them compatible I would have to upgrade part of the new bike"s group and use a bottom bracket converter (extra weight?). So, if I'm going to keep my tri bike on the trainer in the winter and do 90% of racing on it, why do I care about power numbers on the roadie anyway? Probably because I'll do a lot of my local training on it an I'm a number junky... I know I have to figure this out for myself, just thinking out loud.

ramiedd - 2013-02-05 8:41 AM

bdenehy - 2013-02-05 8:33 AM

jennifer65 - 2013-02-04 3:17 AMSo, in all I am making improvements - but they are small and slow in coming. I am beginning to resign myself to the idea that I won't get past the swim in my HIM, but I will be fitter than I've ever been at that point..and there is always next year. On the whole I am fairly happy with everything. Jennifer

Jennifer, like has already been said, there is time to build the swim endurance. 4 months, right? With working on form and getting in consistently, swim endurance can ramp up quickly, especially for those of us who started swimming later. In a year and a half the distance that i can move forward continuously for has increased by about 100x. Can't say that for running or biking :-). You've got a great attitude and you've already signed up. So as long as your concern is finishing before the cutoff, and not a concern of covering the distance, you'll be fine.

I agree with Bill in how you should approach the swim. Last year leading up to HIM, I only went to the pool a handful of times. Really did not have the time, so my goal was to understand the distance and gain some confidence. In other words, we went to the lake in order to visualize the distance, and swam half of it one time and 3/4 of it another time. This gave me the confidence that I could finish within the time cutoff.

Jennifer,

For my half iron man last year I did a 9 week training program and only swam once per week.  I started around the 50 minute mark and built it up to 1:30 over 7 weeks. I wanted more endurance during the swim and felt I was weaker on the bike at that point so I loaded the program for biking and running to help build my legs up again. 

Keep at it you have plenty of time!

I am sure it was a tough decision, but I think you will find that it was the right one.  Obviously the financial part was a factor for you, but I think having the ability to insert it in your training schedule appropriately will be even a bigger benefit.  One thing I have found over the years when it comes to merging plans from different sources is the recovery weeks and getting them lined up.  Controlling your own strength training and crossfit workouts, you can make sure you take the recovery weeks at the same time so you get the full benefit of the recovery.  30 week plans will make this even more important (you were planning on taking recovery weeks in both weren't you? ). 

I was actually thinking about that this morning as I am traveling this week through today and haven't been able to do a lot of my strength training or the classes I like to do.  But it occurred to me that it is a recovery week in my plan and cutting that back some is probably a good thing. 

I don't have an aero helmet but have been considering it.  For at least 3 of my 4 long course races this year, heat is a consideration, and the 4th could be as well.  I do like the idea of an attached visor though. 

Last day of traveling this week.  Short treadmill run this morning. 

I will try to keep up with my phone, but if not I will catch up tonight or tomorrow morning!

Have a great day folks!!