Newbz' Spring Fling Mentor Group is FULL! (Page 4)

Just finished another day of Jorge's plan.  I'm still in the prep weeks as I couldn't start the plan in November.  It was tough...but getting more manageable.  I forgot what it's like to push through the pain on the bike.

Going for a short run after work, then going to finish my christmas shopping.  I still don't know what to get my parents...everything else is taken care of.

As I said in the opening profile, I just started last year so my bike is a basic entry level Felt.  It's a F-95 intro road bike.  I like the bike and it has proved to be a pretty good machine for the price but the seat is awful.  As in the meat and potatoes are numb after about 5-10 miles to put it in pg terms.  My mom got me a gift card to the LBS for christmas and I was looking to upgrade my saddle.  Most likely to a split model to help with the before mentioned issue.  Anyone have any suggestions?  I was considering the one of the Cobb saddles that are always on the banners on this site. 

Fit + good quality shorts + saddle = comfortable day on the bike

5-10 minutes is pretty quick to get numbness though so I agree on checking the fit first.

I don't have any first-hand experience with the Cobb saddles, and I'll agree that fit is going to be REALLY important, but I picked up an ISM Adamo Road and love it. My only complaint is the width of the front projections rubbing against my adductors a little, but it's comfortable as all heck on the "twig and berries".

Does anyone know of anything that can improve swimming besides actually swimming? I only have access to a pool 2x a week right now, and its hours are horrible. I'm trying to find anything perhaps with free weights or a body-weight exercise that would strengthen the related muscles. I'm aware that I need to work on technique primarily, but I'm seriously SOL for a couple of months.

I know that Navy commander who was featured in the 2009 Kona broadcast said he was mainly using a rowing machine and "versaclimber???" for swim training since he couldn't swim while at sea (on a destroyer I believe).

After I crashed my bike last year and hurt my shoulder...I found using resistance bands great to stimulate the shoulder and other surrounding muscles.

So, I'm seriously short on sleep today.  Thanks to a croupy kid overnight, I might have slept for 4 hours.  Fortunately I had only planned a 30 minute bike on the trainer, and I think I should still be able to get that in.

Can I ask what kind of pedals everyone has and prefers on their road bikes?  I got my bike last week, but I have yet to get shoes and pedals for it (just have cheap platform pedals on it temporarily).  Any tips on what to look for when I get the shoes?

I use Shimano style road pedals.  I think their official type is SPD-SL.  I have the 105 version on my road bike, and the R-540's on my tri bike.  I honestly can't tell the difference.

Without an available pool, there are still a couple of things that you can do to work some of the muscle groups associated with swimming, and most are pretty easy and lo-tech.

Push-ups - (pectoral, tricept)  One way to build up muscular endurance with these find a platform that is about 2 ft. high and stable.  Leaving your feet on the ground, place your hands on the platform so that your body is at an incline from your feet to your head.  This will make the PU's easier to do, and you will be able to do them for longer periods of time.  Start out with timed sets of 4x1:00, and slowly work your way up to doing 2, 3 and more minute sets.  If you can do the longer sets without the elevation, or even with the feet elevated, so much the better.  Elevating your upper body decreases the amount of weight you will be pushing.

Lat-Pulldowns - (lateral) Your lats are a key muscle group worked during swimming.  Again, concentrate on low weight, high repetition sets (25-50 reps)

Seated rows - (lateral, deltoids)  low weight, high rep, and ensure that you are concentrating on keeping your back straight.  Picture a tennis ball glued to your spine between your shoulder blades.  Try and touch your shoulder blades to the tennis ball each rep.

Dips - (tricept, pectoral) If you do not have a dip bar available, any chair or couch will also work.  Start by sitting on the edge of the couch/chair.  place your hands at the edge next to your rump.  Leaving your hands on the chair/couch, slide your rear end off the table so that your weight is supported by your hands and arms.  Your legs should be straight out in front of you, locked or otherwise.  (I would not lock them out, as it effects circulation).  Lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the ground.  (Not until your bottom hits the ground!)

Pull-ups - (Lats, deltoids, tricepts) Not to be confused with chin-ups.  Your hand position should be at or just wider than shoulder width, palms facing away from you.  (reversing this grip, palms towards you will work shoulders, lats and bicepts) If you cannot complete a repetition on your own, a spotter might be necessary.  If this is available, bend your knees 90 degrees and have the spotter brace your feet.  Use your legs to assist you in the repetitions only as much as necessary.  Use your upper body strength as much as possible.  If a second person is not available, pulling yourself up as much as possible, as many times as possible will begin to work those necessary muscle groups to complete the repetitions.

ETA - If available, utilizing a vasa-trainer (whether the normal kind or the ergometer) is another way to work on your swimming endurance, as well as technique.  We used it about everyday on the swim team, and we saw great success with it.

As tri808 mentioned, resistance bands can be used to simulate most of these motions, and can be utilized to better effect, more than most of the body weight workouts, to provide long sets at lower weights.  Hope these help!

Edited by Dagwoodz 2010-12-23 4:53 PM

If I'm not mistaken, the versaclimber is similar to a stair master, but utilizes the arms and legs together.  Nearly vertical machine, with a tall tower.  There are handles in the tower for your hands.  As you pull with your left hand, you are pushing with your right, and vice versa.  It's a pretty good workout...as it engages the entire body, versus just the lower body with the stair climber.

Yup...that's what I was referencing to...but couldn't put it into words like you did

"Yes this totally works and for someone starting out/over hte winter, its a good plan. You want to see improvements but not be beating yourself down."

Great, that is what I was hoping to hear. 


How does one go about quoting someone from a previous post?  I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong.


Edited by inmyelement 2010-12-23 6:47 PM

There's a quote button up in the top right corner of each post.  Just click that, and it automatically throws in the HTML code for you. 

As long as you leave the HTML coding in, you can take out extreaneous stuff to pinpoint what you are responding to.

Thanks much!!  I figured it was easier than I was trying.

I run the shimano spd-sl cleats as well and I really like them. 

In terms of shoes, I'm using a really cheap brand by performance that have held up quite well.  I have recently been considering upgrading my shoes finally.  There are lots of shoe types out there, but with patience (and an uncommon shoe size) there are deals to be had.  I would check out performance or nashbar if you already know your size.

I bought a set of Look pedals and shoes from Nashbar last spring for my first road bike. Very inexpensive, and have been really happy with them. They were recommended to me by the athletes in my last mentoring group.Less than a 100$ total. http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_170216_-1_201485_1...

Edited by chmoore2 2010-12-23 7:48 PM

I looked into this a few months ago myself.  The 2 most popular choices seemed to be Look and Shimano SPD-SL.  They are similar in style and the Shimano is actually a copy of the Look if I remember correctly.  Look seemed to be the preferred choice if you have any knee problems as you can get a cleat with more float. 

I found a pair of new Shimano 105s for $40 new on eBay and a pair of new SIDI's for $60.  Only reason I chose the Shimano was that they were the first good deal that crossed my path.  As a new rider I was not going to be able to tell the difference between the two, money was my deciding factor.  No complaints so far.

ok, going to try and get caught up.
Had a fun (note sarcasm) 9 1/2 hour drive through two snow storms today, but surprised my folks which was awesome.



Pedal wise, I personally use speedplays, 15degree float. I have two very dif placements with my feet and it's dif at the top and bottom of my pedal stroke, so these made the most sense. Before that i was on time RXE

Really with road pedals you have two main types. Speedplay, and then the everything else (look, time, shimano), which are all very similar.

The SPD/mountain bike pedals are good if you are riding off road/going to be walking a lot in the cleats, but many will not mount on road shoes.

Like others have mentioned, I used Shimano SPD road pedals on my road bike.  I started out with mountain bike shoes and Shimano mountain bike pedals and switched to road pedals when I was training for my first century.  I was getting horrible hot spots in the ball of my foot and changing shoes and pedals worked.

I've had the best luck with Sidi shoes but they are pricey.

depending on the workout, that can be a huge change or a very little one.
the longer you go the closer you better get it or you run the risk of falling apart, shorter intervals you have more wiggle room.
yes it is often just a single gear change or cadence change, but that can make a large dif in longer intervals.

I'd personally probably look at another wheelset. Great wheels but not a smoking deal.
Check out the planet X set posted, also look into used flashpoint 60 or 80s, can normally be had cheaper and are awesome wheels, also consider used HED 3s or a regular rim with a disk cover (70-100 total and the same as a disk)

FWIW most of those hotspot issues are shoe related/cleat placement, vs the actual pedals.

hey david...I noticed you are now a gold member.  Was there any reason why you decided to bite?  I was considering the $35/month online coaching feature...but wanted to wait for feedback on how helpful it is.

I've got trial membership, so just checking it out right now.



Training is going well for me this week, got in 10 miles each tues and wed, and a short 4 on Monday. hopping for 10 tomorrow and Sunday and 5-7 sat.

Bit of a shorter week with travel and Christmas, but enjoying the time to myself!

catwoman and gofaster opted into another group, so i'm going to open this up to two more. if anyone else is thinking of switching (totally fine), just let me know so i can adjust numbers.