European Tri-Group - CLOSED (Page 4)

hey guys, 

I need some help with my bike saddle. I bought a Scott road bike last year and the saddle feels like an instrument of torture. I can manage only about 60 minutes before it becomes nearly unbearable and as such I have been riding my mountain bike much more recently.

I am a big guy anyway (6'6" or 198cm) and quite broad anyway across the shoulders, chest and hips.

I want something that will be more comfortable for the longer rides but that isn't going to break the bank.

Any other suggestions to avoid saddle soreness will also be appreciated. I do use either my tri suit or more usually my padded bike shorts.

Also, if you guys want to add me to your facebooks you will find me via corybantes (at) btinternet (dot) com

Was the weekly track session tonight. Time trial 8x400m laps. Total time 14:56. Over a minute faster than last trial in November. Am somewhat euphoric atm, all the training is paying off. 

Is saddel possession right? I think saddle is very personal thing and what is good for me is maybe not so good for you. Some guys like gel-saddles, but I don´t know if those saddles are good or not.
When I have Biacini racebike, the factorysaddle is poor and my leg become numb, then I change saddles with my mtb bike and then I haven´t any problems.
15.7.2011 we have a finntriathlon 400/20/5, mabye I sing up, so I have 3 races in summer... ??

A simple hint is to look at your back's elasticy: when you ride your bike you can assume a different position, for example, if you can touch your foots with your hands or if you can arrive just at the middle of your leg (like me). So, your weight rests on different parts of the basin according to the elasticity of your back. For that you can look at Fizik saddles and choose the one right for you (Aliante is for me). Take a very confortable saddle (a Vespa one ), because if you ride with a triathlon body you haven't the paddle.

But... a common mistake is the bike/saddle position: if you haven't problems with your MTB, probably you're not so confortable with your position on the road bike. Go to your bike shop which can help you to find the correct position for the saddle (up/down - forward/back). If you have very strange measures (like me, I have a femur much longer than tibia) you can look at a custom bike instead of a "very beautiful" brand bike.

Saddles are very personal, what works for one, might not work for others. I’ve tried dozens of triathlon saddles, but kept going back to my old “Profile Design Tri Stryke”

In the end I was taking the “big” step and tried the very odd looking ISM Adamo Road saddle, and I’ll never look back again. On this baby I can ride for hours without any discomfort or soreness. This is a tri saddle though, but they are also making road saddles, try to take a look at their website: www.ismseat.com. Here in Denmark you can loan an ISM Adamo saddle before you buy, to try it out. Just remember that it takes some rides to get used to. Try to contact Jamie at multisportsdistrbution – jamie(a)multisportdistribution.co.uk

Hans

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Hello Everyone,

Great to see you all so active. Some really good discussions going on there. 

Yes the saddles. You guys said it all, it's a very personal thing (we all have different butts....).
I ride quite extreme saddles (Italia SLC on my road bike and SMP composite on my tri bike). My only recommendation would be not to buy it on the internet, but rather go to your local shop and try it on. I chose my SMP after trying different models and I don't regret putting a little bit more money because well it's a place of my body that I'd like to keep injury free  Also inconvenience may come from a poor bike fit, if you hang too much on your bike, that will add pressure on the saddle. Again, not something you can check on the internet, going to the local shop or doing a bike fit maybe an option. One "all round " saddle, I liked in the old days is the Italia flite, it's heavy but butt friendly.  But again, it's me. 

Cristina, I will be very happy to see you competing in a "real" event. I'm pretty sure you will love it.

Ali, now finger crossed, hopefully my little tip will help you master the water breathing. The key is to feel right in water, so it's a step by step process, don't try too much in one go.

Alberto, great training plan! Now step two is to commit to your training. Indeed if the Duathlon is your second objective, aim for that. Don't forget to fit in tapper and recovery before and after and you should be fine.

Hans great to have you back on the road. I was reading an article on triathlete Europe precisely about putting spikes in your shoes, great to read that it actually works!

No training for me tonight. I'm going (indoor) snowboarding with my son. I guess it must count for something. I  just realised today that I have my first event coming quite soon (6 feb, classic English 10 miles run) I have not put too much distance in so far, so I'm not looking at a great time I guess. For this season, I should be getting some new ASICS from a friend of mine who works there (not sure if they will be speedstars or tharter) either ways I need to get those soon if I want to break them before the race.   

Train well, cheers, H. 

Vicentin... not very: I was born in Venice, but I went to Padova when I was 6 years old. I came here near Asiago last August just for work.



Ok, last year I made "some" race here in Italy. If I can help you to choose your first race... I'm here!

Hi


I have to say that in a way I can't wait to be able to sport body marking and have friends and relatives stare at me asking "what is that?!"



Somehow I have my eyes on Genova on 19 June, no idea why that specifically. 5 months away seems enough time to train for it! Ever been there?



Herve et all - any comments on "female / male" saddles? Or is this only a marketing / promotional piece of news?

2 years ago I made Recco's Olympic Triathlon near Genova. Is not the same race, (Recco will be on 18 september), but I don't think there is difference between them.
Recco was a very wonderful race, a spectacular location near Portofino and Camogli, but... very difficoult! I have an idea in my mind: Recco is the only race where you swim in climb!
Obviously is a gag, but in this race you have a bike session starting with about 12 km in a 6-8% climb, then you go down for 8 km in a very steep descent. In middle of the descent you have a U-turn and return to transition zone via the same (opposite) way. The run in the same strong: 2 Km of climb , 6 Km in quota and 2 Km down with a few steps.
Ok, isn't the same race but the territory is the same. I don't think you can find plain here.
Why not Milano on 17 Juy? I think is the same organization of MTB events of last October: from what I known, all the race is near Idroscalo: the swim is in the lake, the bike session is outside but near it (2 years ago came into Linate airport) and the run is in the Idroscalo park.

Hi Cristina, 

Yes, body marking is very glamorous indeed: it is great to have a big 3578 painted on your arm... the only time I thought it was actually cool, is last year at the European Championships, but that's because I had number one painted on me

Concerning the saddles, difficult to say if it is a real thing or a marketing thing. But, there are at least two elements that seem differ rather fundamentally from a logical point of view:
1 - Anatomy - this part of our body is not exactly the same (male/female you know) and I can imagine that we need to be seating in somewhat different positions to preserve comfort in specific parts of our bodies.
2 - surface - depending on the size of your butt (really I shouldn't be writing that to a lady, but well, you asked for it...) you might need more or less support. In other words, I am light weight and I don't have particularly wide hips, I can do with a light narrow saddle. Someone somewhat more heavy and with wider hips would probably appreciate more surface to seat on,  hence the need for specific saddles. 

After that, the marketing machine runs at full speed, but that does not mean that these factors should not be acknowledged.

Right, I have a hard training plan for this weekend, so train well, cheers, Herve 

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Hi Ali, 

Great to read to works! If you keep going, taking it easy and progressively, you should see steady progresses. The nice thing is also that as you start breathing more easily in the water, you will relax and go faster.

I trained quite okay this weekend, I did a bit of running speed training chasing my son on his bike, and some serious power training on the bike. The plan was to run 20K today, but my knee started feeling sore after ten, so I cut to 13, but still I felt I could have gone the distance which is good.

I hope you'll have a nice weekend everyone, train well, cheers, Herve

Edited by HerveB 2011-01-23 4:36 AM

Winters first bikeride, with my cc and icepeak. -4 °C and little icy road. Quite good winterconditions.
Clothing was quite ok too, only when I go to downhill I have a little cold.

ok well Week 4 of my training has started. 

The goals have changed a little and I have registered for Cleveland Steelman in July. Basically a half ironman but with slightly longer bike and a shorter run.

Ali - great to hear you're making improvement. I am looking forward to my first park run and the swimming will improve rapidly if you keep at it.

This week is my recovery week which started yesterday with a 1.5kg weight loss for the week and then a nice, easy 16.5 mile bike ride.

Played golf this morning so mostly having a rest day and will be swimming tomorrow and running either Wed or Thurs. The rest will be rest days.

I have started to get a few aches although they are only mild. I am quite injury prone usually so am really pleased I have got to my first recovery with nothing worse that a little tendonitis caused by running shoes tied too tight. That has mostly gone and I haven't really had to stop running during the period anyway.

Had a new 8 lap time trial last Wednesday which showed real improvement in my running, taking over a minute off the previous 8 lap time. Nearly everyone else was slower too mostly due to the conditions, so I was especially pleased with my time. 

I just need to find a good saddle now for my road bike and I will be completely set for the first race in April.

If anyone wants to provide any thoughts on training after taking a look at my log I am more than happy to get your input.

Cheers guys and keep up all the great work.

Regards

Kev 

oh just forgot, a great website for swimming technique is www.swimsmooth.com.

Worth a look, especially once you are more comfortable and want to work on a decent fundamental technique. 

Hi Herve,I'm hoping I can join your group. I'm 26, based just outside London, UK. Used to play rugby but that slipped by the way-side, I do a fair amount of gym training (mainly weights) but i'm in need of a new challenge so have decided 2011 is the year of the triathlon. Hoping to do some sprint races over the summer. I'm not unfit, but I find swimming and running tough, for me its a head issue- when my body says it hurts my head tends to listen. That is probably one of the biggest draws for me to tri because I'm going to have to beat that or i'm stuffed. Relishing the physical and mental challenges.If you'll have me I hope I can contribute to the group.CheersHenry

Hi everyone, 

I'll go early to bed today, but before that a short note.

Cycling with -4C, wow, that's impressive. I have to confess that I am a fair weather cyclist, so for me that would be quite a endeavor to do something like that. 

Kev, great weight loss! Concerning your training plans, it seems balanced so far. It seems to be balancing more towards swimming, then cycling, then run, which is a good tactic to protect your articulations while you are still in weight loss. As Feb comes, you might want to up the mileage just a notch for bike and run. Also, outstanding, the many bricks in your plans, which is definitely the way to go. Keep going!  

Right, train well have a good week next week, cheers, Herve 

Hi Hervè

I'll happily settle for 1968, which is my year of birth!   When it comes to saddles, I am surely heavier and "wider" than you I will look for larger and rather "softer" saddles soon...

Wish you a great day!

When is dry and little frozen (-1 - -5°C) bikeride is ok, its only what you wear and of cousrse you need icepeak tyres.
What I hate is rain, I don´t like to ride in rain. Maybe guys in England are ok with rain??
Kev´s link in swimming was very good, thaks. I try some things when I go swimming next time.
I am very slow swimmer (about 2,15min/100 m) and my tecnik is poor.
I can´t kick in water, I only draw with my arms. I try to move my swimmingposession (right word?) a little and slide more. Lets see what happening??

This weenked was very strange for me: saturday was my off-day and I spent some hours walking outside. Now I live near mountains and I want see some beautiful places: also I'm little tired stay at home to train... At last  I made about 15 KM in 4 hours up and down the hills and now I'm tired like after a race
Yesterday I had in program a run-bike-run: 20 min of run, 1H30min bike and 20 min of run at the end, but... Ok for the first 20 min of run, but after 1 hour on my spinbike I was so sleepy then I suspended the bike session and I went to treadmill to do all I can here.
Today, as opposite, I planned a 6x500 swim in 1h15min befor going to work but I did that in 1 hour.
After work I go home and I'll do only some streching and a little core training: tomorrow will be a little strong for me!
Bye,
Alberto

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Hello Everyone,

Today I'm babysitting so no swimming too bad cause I felt like it. On the up side, I just received some new shoes directly from the US (ASICS speedstar 5), they're a bit snug but I can't wait to try them on, if anything else they look the part (we'll see how fast they are tomorrow).

You will have noticed that I closed the group, I took Henry as our last member, more would mean that I can stop training and start mentoring full time, which isn't quite the idea. 

Since my last member update we had a few new entries: 
- Lina from Canada
- Cristina from Italy / Sweden
- Kris from the UK
- Henry from the UK 
From Kris and Lina I'd need to know what kind of distance you are targeting because otherwise it will be difficult to give any advice at all. 

For the others,
Ali great to read that things are going smoothly for you, with some increased energy, that's wonderful news!

Alberto don't worry too much about the missed miles, sometimes when we're tired that's just our body saying, wait a minute, I need a bit of recovery now. It's important to listen to that and also it still is quite early in the season to put in a lot of volume (at least that's my opinion).
 
Jirky you wrote:  
Well, welcome to the club...Personally, when I started I existed my first tri last out of the water, everyone had passed me including old ladies, kids, EVERYONE!!! Today, I surprise myself passing other people (not a lot but a few)...Technique is everything in swimming, but kick isn't the essential part. The longer you swim the less kick matters except for providing stability and keeping your body straight. Another important thing is body rotation; kicking is one thing, but you should do that while rotating along a central axis. So question to you: are you practicing your kick? I use two drills that got me from 3'/100m to my current 148/100, these two drills are:
- Shark drill with paddles (for the arm entry, shoulder rotation, recovery, and high elbow)
- Kick drill with fins (on one side, on the other side, flat)  
You are looking at a 50 euros investment to get the paddles and the fins. But, combined with speed series and long distance series you should see some improvement.

Additionally, I would advice you to look on Youtube for videos of famous swimmers (Ian Thorpe is a great example of perfect technique e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8egC7PbOME, so is Alexander Popov http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIzBaSiWdRA, and there are many many more).  

If you want a more detailed swim drill let me know. 

Right train well, cheers, Herve


  

Hi Everybody,

I am Aidan and Irish......I am a novice to the sport and will be looking for help to keep me on track and focused, I hope its not tooloate to join the group.

I am not very fit when it comes to the bike and run and my background would be swimming but not at a competative level. Like some of the others here I am a member of a Tri club in Ireland (www.naastriathlonclub.com). each of my swimming session would cover 2100mtrs and I do that twice a week with the club under instruction I love it...

I have two children:

5 months and 2.5 years old both girls. This means my time is not my own as you can all imagine so its hard to set up a training plan that is constructive. I am a little over weight and I must look at my diet and where possible if you can pint me in the right direction with this.

I have not set up a traiing plan yet as I do not know how or where to start:  biggest challange is bike and run how and where to fit these into my day so any tricks of the trade welcomed.

My Goals this year are:

To begin with a duathalon in March then progress into Sprint competition April/ June.
let me know if this group is closed...

Aidan

Hello everyone, 

Need to go swimming, so I'll be short.

Aidan, I should tell you that our group is closed, on the other hand I really love Ireland and Irish, so I guess welcome is in order, after all, not all our members are terribly active, I guess I can spend a little time answering your questions. 

Okay, swimming background is great because most of us don't have that, so for us swimming is just a struggle to the finish - on the over hand - it's rare to see a pure swimmer win anything at all, because even in ironman they can't build a big enough lead to resist the cyclists and the runners, whom at the end seem to be winning more often than the rest. But, hey, you're at the start, maybe we can cover the winning part some other time, especially given that I have no experience in this matter (never won anything).  

So if time is of the essence, I think you can make it to the finish line of a sprint tri with about 5 hours training a week (provided that you are consistent with that). Next to your two swimming sessions, I would recommend you add two running sessions and one cycling session. Why two to one you would ask? Well swimming to cycling is the easiest transition, and every one can cycle (not necessarily fast but still). So most likely you won't be breaking records on the bike, but your objective should be to go the distance and refuel for the run. The bike to run transition is the worse, your legs feel like stone. So that's where I'd put the effort, at minima I would do: 
2 x swim training (no change to now)
2 x run (one short speed training no more than race distance <= 5K, early morning is probably the least socially-family damaging / the other longer than race distance 5 to 10K as a brick meaning following your cycling training and during the weekend when it's best for your family). 
1x cycling (race 20-30K followed by your long run) depending on how fast you are that means investing 2-4 hours of your weekend into your activity, but combined in one day, meaning that the over day is entirely dedicated to your family (which is more than what I can say for myself

That's all I can think of now, concerning weight loss, again my recipe is simple (no bread, no sugar, no alcohol - that is when I am in weight loss mode) but some other forum member have more experience there and can share better approaches I am sure. If you really want something serious the best is to see a dietetician who will be able to provide a plan that works for you (cause we all have different eating habits).

right need to put my fins on and start swimming around, train well, Cheers, H.