shmeeg's Winter Madness Mentor group - OPEN TO HIPPIES (Page 4)

Meulen - 2011-01-02 11:56 AM Crap!!! I'm behind on the QOTD!!! First race: As of now my first race is the Christie Clinic Marathon on April 30th. However, I'm waiting for a Mountain Bike Series to come out with their 2011 race lists. I'm anticipating the Sylvan Island Stampede mountain bike race to be before the marathon. If it's 2 weeks or more before that will be my first race. My first tri will be Xterra Fort Custer on May 22. Fav discipline: The bike!!!!! I just love everything about cycling. I used to race motorcycles and being on the road just feels right to me. It's really cool to be on the road riding with friends or in the woods with friends having some friendly competition jumping over rocks or railing through some switchbacks. I just love it. Rachel, I'll let you in on a little secret about Jay. He loves to spend money on new toys!! especially bike related!! LOL Do you have a budget in mind for your new bike? I'm sure Jay could help you part with some cash!! LOL Personally, when I'm buying a road bike I like to follow these rules: 1. come up with a budget 2. get myself a bike fit at a reputable shop and see what bikes, geometry, work for my body type 3. look at what I can afford that has shiman 105 components, or equivilent SRAM/Campy, or better. 4. throw my budget out of the window and buy the most expensive bike in the shop. I'm only kidding about the last one. There are plenty bikes out there that are really solid bikes for reasonable price. I do like to stick to shimano 105 or equivilent though. To me it's worth spending a little extra money so I'm riding the bike all the time instead of working on it. You're going to be putting a lot of miles on the bike training. Bikes with cheaper components packages tend break or go out of tune more often. I'm sure if you share your budget with you Jay could help you out a little more on what to get. For the people with problems swimming: I'd just like to share my favorite website for swimming info. I've found nothing helps better than getting into a class, or masters swim, where a coach can see what your doing and work with you on technique. But I also like to do a lot of research and came across this site that may have some helpful info for you. www.swimsmooth.com Jay, I've found out that TI is holding classes a few times this year at the University of Chicago. I've read that once your stroke is established and your improvements are focusing more on strength through interval training that TI clinics aren't all that helpful. My swim coach is saying I have already established great technique and now it's about the swim strength. I thought you took one of these clinics, what's your opinion on that?

shmeeg - 2011-01-02 4:43 PM

Sh it Brian, I thought you weren't gonna hang out w/ my group since you had your own!



Ladies, don't listen to him, I'm not  into throwing a ton of money away on the bike.  I like to think of it as an investment .  Ditto what Brian said about going to a bike shop and at least pretending you're gonna buy something so you can maybe take a couple bikes out for a spin and see how you like riding them.  I used the aero bike fit calculator off competitivecyclist.com and bought my TT bike sight unseen online because it was cheaper.  I woud gladly have paid $500 more for something out of a bike shop if I had to do it again.

RE: the swimming, no I didn't do any of the TI workshops, just got the DVD and a couple of the books and did a sh*t ton of drills and spent time in the pool.  I was fortunate enough to get a video of my swimming and have somebody who is a much better swimmer than I pick apart my stroke and give me some tips.  You won't win the race in the water, so my philosophy is just get to a point where I'm comfortable swimming the race distance I have targeted w/ a MOP finishing time.  Some of you Type-As might want to go faster :D

nikuman - 2011-01-02 7:52 PM Jay, answers to your questions:

How is your swimming?  Weak to very weak.
Do you know how to swim?  Yes, I can swim freestyle.  Breast stroke hurts my hips; not sure if that's poor form or poor flexibility.
What's the furthest you've swam so far?  I haven't swam for so long that I'm sucking air after 100m.
Do you have access to a pool on a regular basis to practice?  Yes, I do.

~Brian P.

saongiri - 2011-01-03 4:22 PM I have a question for our mentor and anyone else who wants to respond!Ran my second 5K New Years eve and did better than first- I am a slow jogger plus my 14y son ran in place of my husband who got sick and he has never run ( I joked with him and said I can't recall ever seeing him walk fast-it is pretty true).
Saturday I started having asthma symptoms which got much worse SUnday. It was wierd because I haven't had asthma symptoms in 2 years or more- I discovered dairy is a trigger for me and I really need to be strict about avoiding it and with the holidays a bit snuck in.
Anyhow I am not asking for medical advice- I went to my MD and I am also a nurse so I think I am covered there.
My question is- I haven't done a thing sinc the race(except for a family walk on Saturday). I am a little stressed about having so many days off but don't think I can really expect to restart much until Wednesday at the earliest.
I Guess my question is what do you all do during sick days? I plan to totally rest tomorrow- like not leave the house type rest. I am a mom of 3 so I usually spend most of the day running here and there but I am trying to call in help for tomorrow and take it easy!
Thanks for reading!
Oh and Happy New Year!

saongiri - 2011-01-03 3:22 PM I Guess my question is what do you all do during sick days? I plan to totally rest tomorrow- like not leave the house type rest. I am a mom of 3 so I usually spend most of the day running here and there but I am trying to call in help for tomorrow and take it easy!
Thanks for reading!
Oh and Happy New Year!

joelg11 - 2011-01-03 10:11 AM This is tough to keep up with if you don't check it for a 3-day weekend!

First Race: Albany, OR Sprint Tri, 4/17/11.Swim 750, Bike 12.4, run 5k.

Fav discipline: Cycling I guess (although I don't own a road bike at this point) followed by running and swimming, i.e. trying not to drown.

I'm skipping week 1 on the swim focused 16-week Sprint program due to travels, starting today on week 2. Thanks for keeping me on track!

-JOel

lsmapp - 2011-01-03 3:43 PM So I went looking at road bikes today! My budget is to stay close to the $1000 mark more or less, and there are two bikes I'm considering. First - Trek Lexa S and second - Specialized Dolce. Specialized I like a little teeny bit more, but they cost more too - I feel like I'd get more bang for my buck with the Trek (for a $1300 model I'd get better components, I'd spend like $1500 on Specialized to get close to the Trek model). I'm in Canada, which may make the prices seem higher to you!

Anyway - tell me I should go with the Trek right? Thanks!

rachel5576 - 2011-01-03 7:04 PM Hey everybody wow lots to catch up on!

QOTD: Which discipline is your favorite and why?
i guess running probably because I've been doing it the longest i haven't biked or swam until today.

 Oh and speaking of swimming i got my butt up and out the door at 5:15 in the morning to hit the pool. Yay me...until i got there and everyone was doing laps faster than i could get in the pool lol it was pretty embarrassing and i forgot my goggles probably because i don't use goggles normally.  Trying not to worry about it and remember we all have to start somewhere. Funny i thought the initial program i picked out would be too easy boy was i wrong hehehe

Thanks everyone who posted swimming links!!!! I need it bad!

Brian thanks for all the pointers on the bike. i really have know idea what i need. I really don't want to spend much more than $300 (sorry Jay) because this is such a new hobby to me.  does it really matter what kind of bike? i guess i mean if i were to get a decent mountain bike instead of a road bike?   My first tri will be a tester so if i don't really like it it would be nice to have a bike i can take on trails.

Also i rode bike today, kind of forgot how unforgiving the seats can be.  Then i imagine myself in a wet bathing suit can anyone say chaffing? yikes!  Any tips?  Was also surprise how my legs felt when i got off. How in the world are you supposed to run like that? lol  practice, practice, practice i guess

i think thats it

lsmapp - 2011-01-03 7:42 PM I got on both - neither felt more comfortable really, just a little odd after being used to a mountain bike! A fitting is included at that price and a discount or a little free gear, but that's for either bike. I'll go back and try both again before I purchase!

ljee64 - 2011-01-03 7:46 PM Rachel I'm not an expert by any measure but last summer when I realized how long it had been since I had done any swimming to speak of, I hired a swim instructor for a week.  It was amazing how much better my stroke became with just a few hints here and there.  When we finished he also gave me a list of drills to work on.  Laura

norcal_SAHD - 2011-01-03 11:21 PMJust popping in to say Hi!  Great to see you heading up a mentor group this year Jay, have fun! 

saongiri - 2011-01-04 5:25 AMthought I'd post what I am doing to get ready for the swim- it is a 2 part program- starts with 0-700 then goes on to 700-1650 (which is a full mile). I think it is very untimidating and works- you'llbe surprised! She says you should be able to get up to a mile swim in 6 weeks. The other maybe controversial issue some might have is she says not to focus so much on technique at first while many swimmers will say technique is everything. My plan is to follow her workout and then my husband and I are also going to take a class at a local community center that is geared to improving stroke and endurance.


http://ruthkazez.com/Zeroto1milePreamble/pre-zero.html