Jenny (jsnowash)'s Spring Guinea Pig Group - CLOSED (Page 5)

50 minutes Biking this morning, just cruising.  Pushed a little near the end, but not too much.  I hope to get in the pool and swim a mile after work.  No issues whatsoever post-Tri, so I'm going to run somewhere between 7 and 10 miles tomorrow morning based on how early I wake up.

Bill

IMO-They work fine.  Best money spent to get faster. Getting a good fit can be a bit tricky.  Don't expect a 'professional' tri-bike fit.  IMO-Make yourself comfortable first.  You'll get a good deal of aero benefits just from using the bars. Some people worry that it 'could' upset the balance/handling of the bike due to the weight shift forward.  They're right to a certain degree, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.   Most tris are on good roads, fairly straight, no drafting. 

I put Profile Design T1 aero bars on my road bike and really liked them.  In ref. to the fit question, people tend to start changing things on their road bikes after putting them on (seat position, angle, height) and then the bike feels uncomfortable.  My suggestion is if it fits well leave everything alone and only adjust the areo bars to where you feel most comfortable on them. You will find that you use them and it has benefits but you will still ride a lot in the normal road bike fashion, which is were your true comfort needs to be.  I used mine on flats, when no gear changes were necessary, and while going downhill.  I will say that having them has made my transition to a TT bike much easier (control / handling), other than being bent over all the time.  Not an expert or even close, just my .02 based off my experience.

Hey, Gang!

Thanks for the tips about transitions.

Jaycee - I had clip on aero bars on my previous bike and I really liked them.  They definitely adjust your upper body weight a little and you shouldn't expect to have the same level of control because you are bascially steering with your elbows (who has coordination there?).  When I first got them for some reason I had to concentrate on not letting my lower back sag and lose power from my core.  On long rides I did like the option of just having a different position to change things up.

55 minute bike ride this morning.  Going to do the Lactic Threshold test tomorrow per Jenny's suggestion.  I recruited a couple of my spinning classmates to join me for the test.  I need them to stay focused I think!

Have a great day.

Janette 

Quick question for ya'll about doing laps...

I always seems to lose count at some point during my swims.  In other words...did I just do lap 17, or was that 16...oh crap.  And as a result, I'm pretty sure I'm doing more laps that I intend.  (Doing more laps is not the end of the world, but if I want to stick to a plan, it does add an extra wrinkle...)  

So, do you have any tips on how to keep track of lap counts?  Or am I just doomed...

if you start at one end of the pool, going down, that lap should always be an odd number and coming back should always be an even number. having grown up as a swimmer I'm used to counting laps by 25m, 50m, 100m, etc so maybe you could try that instead of counting up by ones?

it's definitely easy to get lost when you're doing a long swim.

I use the lap feature on my cheap Timex watch.  Every 100, push LAP.

Tried to swim this AM, but ran late and only got 500 in.  25-30 mile, hilly, group ride this PM should be nice.  Weather in Boise may hit 80 degrees.

Hey g-pigs,

I had a 60 minute bike ride this evening.  I headed out later than I had planned, so wound up racing the sun to get home (I live in a rural area, and our street has no street lights..).

Some interesting things that I learned/saw:

1) I startled a deer grazing in the woods beside the road - this is a bit strange because I have run on this same road before and seen deer that did not react to me. I guess the bike is noisier than my feet, either that or I was upwind this time.

2) there is someone in my 'hood who raises llamas (or they might have been alpacas - I'm not sure how to tell which it was).

3) Llamas (or alpacas) seem to be fascinated by bicycles - it watched me very closely as I passed by.

4) there is a beaver who is living in the pond across the street from my house (I've never seen him/her before).

5) biking on gravel/dirt roads slows me down. A lot.

6) racing the sun to get home before dark makes me (a bit) faster.

7) constantly moving over onto the soft shoulder when I hear cars coming up behind me (just in case) slows me down again.

8) cars around here are actually very respectful of cyclists - most people moved into the other lane or closer to the centre line when they were passing me.  This is a relief, as I have been wary of biking in the area around our house (we moved here at the end of last summer) due to the busy two-lane roads.

Wow.  That's a lot of wildlife packed into an Hour ride!

After work yesterday I went to the Aquatic Center and swam a mile.  There are so many good swimmers there - various high school teams and a number of Olympians use it as their training base.  I try not to think about how slow I am.  I just keep plugging away at what seems to be 3 mins/100 yards.  It is what it is!

I've really been trying to consciously reach out as far as possible in front of me to get a nice long streamline out of my already long and lean body.  I'm also trying to rotate onto my side when the arm is working out of the water.  That seems like it should help reduce drag as well, as opposed to pushing water with a flat body.

This morning I got up and ran 8 miles on cruise control.  I figured I might be a bit tired given the bike and swim workouts yesterday.  The initial steps out of the bed were a bit creaky, but really, everything felt fairly normal once I got warmed up (3 miles or so).

Bill

Bill: Keep at the swimming! It will come with time and practice.

Heather: Your bike last night is one of my favourite things about training outdoors - you'll NEVER know what you might see or come across. btw, I googled the difference between llamas and alpacas and apparently llamas are twice the size of alpacas.

I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday! I have 45 minutes of tv watching scheduled tonight!! (ahem.. i mean biking)

Joey

I did a 9.3 miles run earlier today - first 6 miles felt great.  I stopped by home for a water/gatorade break, and then ran another 3 miles.  I actually walked around my car while taking the water/gatorade, so I didn't stop per se.  Then as I started again for the final 3 miles, my legs were heavy.  It took me a while (1/2 mile or so) for my legs to get back in the swing of things.  The last 3 miles were decent, but relatively slow.

But overall, it was a good day out and I felt pretty good.  (And it was my longest run this year so far...)  The mid 40 degrees temps here in the NY metro area were quite nice too.  

Unfortunately, I didn't see any llamas or alpacas...only a few squirrels.

G.P.'s,

Don't ya just love spring?!  I am itching to get outside with all of my workouts.  I did a 60 minute spinning session this morning incorporating the LT test that Jenny recommended.  Now I need to apply the test results to some aspect of training/racing.  I am still learning what it all means. 

Heather - your safari bike ride sounds fun.  The last outdoor ride I did this past weekend involved only one dead skunk!  FYI - dead skunk make you pedal faster.

Janette

The wildlife is definitely one of the benefits of living where we do (out in the country).  I'm sure I'll have more sightings to share as the summer progresses. 

Joey - good to know.  I'm thinking they were alpacas: for one thing they were smaller (I think.. without a llama to compare them to, it's tough to say. On that note - anyone have a llama I can borrow for a couple of days?) and there are a number of vendors around this area that sell alpaca wool mittens and socks, so alpacas clearly do well here.

No good wildlife stories today.  I swam at lunchtime. The pool was crazy busy, even though I put off my lunch break until 1pm. Apparently there is a lull around 12:30, so that will be my aim for my next swim. Then this evening I went for a short (3.5km) run in the nearby town.  The first half turned into an inadvertent trail run as I turned down what I thought was a nice smooth gravel path.  Turns out it starts out that way, then becomes a hiking trail.  At least now I know where it goes..

This morning was another Brick workout.  12.5 miles on the Bike followed by 3 miles running.  I hope to get out for a 25 mile Bike ride sometime this weekend.  That will probably be the last ride on my Walmart Special, as I get fitted for my new Bike next Tuesday.  Can't wait.

Jenny, there is another Sprint Tri on the 21st and I'm thinking I'd like to do it since I'll have the new Bike and I'll be interested to see how it goes.  But I don't want to mess with your Training Plan by doing too many races.  What do you think?  Do the Sprint or wait till I train up a bit before doing my next one?

Bill

Bill! New bike! So exciting! What are you getting??

Had a 45 bike ride last night and a 5ish km run. My right knee was feeling a little sore this morning and though I felt stronger than Tuesday my run today was actually a little slower which was a little disappointing.

Jenny,

So sorry to hear of the loss.   Tis often a painful reminder of how fleeting our 'time' is on this earth, and to cherish that time with loved ones and living our own lives to the fullest.  Isn't that what brought most of us to this place?

Rainy Boise day and lacrosse game changed my plans, so an easy paced 1500 yds was all I could muster.  Thursday is also weather dependent; could be easy ride/run brick, or longer run, or another swim if it rains.