Jellyfish's Group - CLOSED (Page 5)

Lol guys, I forget that I speak so much "Aussie".

But yeah, "stack" is the equivalent of a "fall" so, saying Superman "stacked" his bike would be like "Superman fell off his bike". I realise now how hilarious that sounds for someone who has no idea what I am on about!!

I got sucked into an Adidas sponsored night for Women's Health over here Monday night, and by sucked in I mean $280 sucked in... custom made shoes for running!
Sounds ridiculous, but I have feet that are two sizes different, so it's either pay that for custom shoes, or buy two pairs... and the second option is more expensive anyway!!

I get to pick the colours to suit my tri gear and all, so that's cool.
All my stuff is like purple and pink, and my bike is yellow! I am going to have to review that :D

I had a great swim on Monday arvo as well, all this running and riding is improving my speed in the water... whodathunk?

Edit - Just decided I am repainting my bike, lol. Purple with pink decals. AWESOME, lol. Lucky it's the offseason! I'll do it when I have time off from uni. in 6 weeks time

Edited by swayerm 2010-05-04 11:17 PM

$280 running shoes!  I'd be running all the time to get my money's worth    Ann-Marie

I sometimes train with an aussie lady. I love the accent and look forward to some more aussie-ism I can spring onto her

I made my second comback to running since my ankle sprain. My first resulted in pain and swelling, but I think this time I'll be ok to continue. I just did 2' slow jog, 2' walk. The first 2' was quite painful, but then I was fine for the rest of the jogging stints.

Race season for me is coming quickly. I've got one month to get my 10k in order.

Looking at the calendar's we've got a few members with races coming up this month. How are we all feeling?

Also, our fearless leader kicked some tail at the Escape from Alcatraz.

I, too have two different sized feet, but only by a half size or so. My left foot is just used to having alot of extra toe-room


I found the opposite with myself. When I swim alot, my running and bike improve considerably. Either way, it's an awesome feeling.


So, when you say you're repainting your bike, are YOU repainting it? That definitely sounds like something I'd like to follow the progress.

Hi all! Sorry have been Mia the last few days. As you may know, I competed in Alcatraz this past weekend. This week I am in napa at a hotel with no tv or Internet so can only check BT by phone. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Will be back online on Saturday.

Yup, I will be having a crack of painting it all myself.
I will be taking photos and documenting the whole process from start to finish, I will let you know when I put it on my blog so you can check it out
It's going to be an experiment, and it might not work quite as well as I hoped... but I'll give it a shot!!

Looking forward to your race report Megan

Happy Friday!!

That is totally awesome. My first "tri" bike was an '80s road bike. I planned to disassemble & paint it over last off-season, but never got around to it. I'll definitely be following along and see if I can learn anything from you.

Another run for me this morning and I think I'm on my way to coming back. Less pain in the ankle today than Wed & I'm still feeling fine. My leg muscles are a bit sore though. It's amazing how a few miles of run/walk combo has this effect after only a month of no running.

The weekend's coming quick. Looks like Ann-Marie (amd723) & John (jslacker) have races this weekend. Good luck to you two. Anybody else racing?

Glad to hear your ankle is feeling better; you're right about how quickly one loses fitness.  It takes so long to get fit and so little to lose it, it really isn't fair.

Me and my closest 1500 friends will be competing in the Danskin tri Sunday, should be a lot of fun!

Ann-Marie 

Good luck for your races this weekend you two!!

I checked out the Shepparton half ironman rice circuit this morning. Took my Dad along... I think that was a bad move, he's just a "new" rider. Had to slow down a lot for him, lol.
Going to have another crack at it on my own tomorrow morning hopefully.
Maybe do two laps this time. I forgot how flat Shepparton is compared to Melbourne, it was an awesome ride!!

I am getting better at getting down on the low handlebars (what are they called someone, help!) but I am not game to try the aero bars still...

Just bought a heap of new stuff from chain reaction cycles, because it's cheaper for me to buy stuff online and ship it here than it is to buy locally... how bad is that!! And dad got so excited that his stuff was like half price, so he paid for it all!!
So I got some new shoes, pedals, and some gels and things, would have cost us about $700 AUD to get it in Australia, but only cost us (well, dad!!) $320 incl. postage! So excited.
I got shoes to match the NEW colour of the bike, so I better get it done in the off season

So glad it's the weekend... have an assignment due Monday, it's almost done luckily. Yay!

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

I am not a big talker, but I do read every 'blog' and they are a help and motivator. Last Tuesday night I went to the hospital and had to get an emergency appendectomy. I did not train for 21 weeks to miss the first Tri of the season. Until my Dr. says I am not cleared for the event, my plan is to pick up my pkg. on Friday the 21 and compete the 22nd, if I can't run than I will walk.

Just wanted to say that reading the comments helps me keep my spirits up.

Please be careful, and ASK your doctor if you are clear, don't wait to be told!

I had my gall bladder out and wasn't allowed to run for 6 weeks. I even had to keep off my feet totally for the first two weeks! Remember, removing parts of your body is not a small thing.
Esp. since it was an emergency, it must have been bad!!

I hope you are better now I know how much ending up in the emergency department sucks.

mw22, I am so sorry for your situation, I hope you get better soon.  Please take the advice of your Dr.  there will be many more races in the future. Hope it all works out for you.


On another note. I rode my new bike today for 45 miles.. WOW is it fast.  I also learned that it is going to take some getting used to.  a Tri bike is nothing like a road bike, and I have sore areas to prove it. 

Hey Gang, just wanted to say I completed my triathlon (now I'm a vetern of 2!).  To brag a little bit, I took 2d in my AG and this time there were way more than 4 of us!  I completed a race report, so if you're interested, give it a read.

Happy Sunday,

Ann-Marie 

I'm back online!

Jess - the lower bars on a road bike are called the "drops"

MW22 - take your time getting back into things after surgery. Do what the doc says

Ann-Marie - Awesome job at Danskin! I'll go check out your RR.

Finally, for those of you who need some motivation, the Giro d'Italia just started this weekend - it's on universal sports in the US (I think they also have coverage at universalsports.com). Whenever I watch this race I want to move to Italy (although today's coverage is in the Netherlands)

Hi Megan,
 My name is Amanda and I have been messaging with Chris about my new found interest in the challenges of triathlon.  She said I may be able to join in with your group to gain knowledge and tips for my first race, August 22nd. I will give you all my history and hope for a warm welcome.
STORY: I grew up swimming, too.  Competitively through JH and HS. I took about 2 years off from swimming after competition and vowed to never go back.  I love to swim for fitness and recently found that I can challenge myself in the water with training and not hate the sport.  I am not part of any team but I do the workouts posted at the pool or bring my own.   

FAMILY STATUS: I am currently married, 2 children ages 1 and 4. 

CURRENT TRAINING: I log all of my workouts on BT.  I may be behind a day or two but they get in there.  I try to run 3X , swim 2X and bike 2X a week.  My first tri/race is in August.  I may add some 5K in before that to get a feel for it.  

WEIGHTLOSS: I am fine with my weight at 135.  I have lost the baby weight and some over the fall/winter.  I want to gain strength and speed. I feel like I could benefit from more core strength. I am not sure what is the best way to go about this goal.
 
WHO IS BEST SUITED FOR THIS GROUP: 
"- Swimmers or former swimmers who are new to the sport"  Well that's me.  I just started running in March and I have recently gotten back into biking for fun and not just to get where I am heading.

I have some questions about gear and what to wear during the race.  I am going to buy my 1st road bike this month and will have many questions in that regard.  What about wetsuits? Do I just rent one?  My friend got mersa from a rental wetsuit so I am a little paranoid. 
Hope that all of your training is going well.
Thanks for reading, Amanda


  
 

Next month I am doing a race whose swim is in the ocean.  To date I have not done any ocean swims and know that it will present issues not encountered with lake swims, so I wonder if you (or anyone) has any tips for ocean swims?  Thanks,  Ann-Marie

Hi all!  Sorry for being MIA.  It has been a very busy month but I am ready to settle back down and get back into the swing of things.   Swimming being the sport that I have to concentrate on this month. 

Hope everyone is doing well and I plan to contribute more in the future now.

Amanda,

Welcome to the group!

Good luck looking for a road bike! How exciting! Let me know what your questions are and I will do my best to try to answer them.

For your first race, you don't need a wetsuit if the water is above 68 degrees. I didn't wear one for mine. You won't go quite as fast, but I am sure you will still be towards the front of the pack. Never heard of someone getting mersa from a suit! That is horrible!

Tips for ocean swims -

1. Learn to breathe to both sides (waves can make it troublesome to breathe to just one side) so that when the waves are coming at you from one side, you can breathe to the other side
2. Learn how to site well and often. You can encounter more currents and get tossed around more in an ocean swim - make sure to work on your sighting skills!
3. Try to warm up around the finish area so you can determine the best landmarks to site for.
4. Don't think about the animals - someone slower will get eaten - survival of the fittest

Thanks for the tips; sighting is my nemisis to I will really have to work harder on that skill.  I do bilateral breathing drills, but I always revert back to my comfort zone of breathing on my left - I imagine one good mouthful of salt water will help break me of that habit!  I actually don't mind swimming in the ocean (with sharks) as that is what I grew up doing; it's the swimming with the alligators that are in all our lakes that freaks me out!  Swimming in murky lake water during alligator mating season really is survival of the fitest or perhaps dumbest

So, how did the races go? I need to check out the race reports.

Welcome in Amanda (PS, I'm a guy; I just have a feminine last name ) I'm sure you'll be treated well here.

This is going to be a down week for me. I've got alot going on. I may not get on the bike once, but should get in a fair amount of swimming & some running. I did re-join my masters group, so I now have them and the tri club masters swims available. The tri-club swims are great (and 4x per week), but the masters group offers more flexibility and convenience, so there's no reason I shouldn't be swimming 4x per week now.

Race season is in full swing around here with 2 races this weekend in the area (neither of which I'm racing). This is also the last week for the kids activities (soccer, lacrosse, & scouts). There will be more in the summer, but it's much more lax. I'll also be riding my bike to work much more once school is out and the kids sleep late.

So I have to ask, what do the ladies wear for racing? I am still considering a wetsuit for the swim, but what do you wear for, er, support? I am assuming you bike and run in whatever you have on under the wetsuit.  I am thinking that I need to get comfortable in the clothing that i will be racing in and I really have no idea what that should be.   Do you swim faster in a wetsuit? I figured it would slow me down because of the resistance in the shoulders/arms.
Thanks
Amanda 

I wear tri shorts and a yoga top (which is like a tri top only costs a lot less!).  I've never worn a wet suit, but understand that it does make you faster b/c it makes you more buoyant.

Time for my next swim question:  I tend to keep my arm straight during the catch and pull portions of my stroke.  I know that is incorrect and spent a good bit of time this morning trying to bend my arm properly during that phase of the stroke.  However, I find it really difficult to get this right.  My coach has shown me the proper way and has used the "pulling/pushing a ball" analogy, but still I can't get it right.   I thought maybe hearing it described/explained from a different point of view might help.  So, how would you (do you) teach this portion of the stroke?

Thanks,
Ann-Marie 

Ann-Marie, do you have a set of paddles? I have a set of shaped paddles that actually "force" (in a way) your arm to move the correct way in the water...
I remember never really "getting" that part until my coach taught me butterfly, oddly enough...

In butterfly, the underwater stroke resembles you drawing a keyhole in front of you with your hands (the pull/push part). I never realised that freestyle was the same until I was taught that.

But also, have you tried testing it out using a kickboard inititally? I find that most people that tend to keep their arm straight are looking for more support in the water (concerned about sinking, trying to touch the bottom, any  number of things). You might be able to train yourself a bit with support first?