ChrisM's Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 6)

I just think the key is to concentrate on keeping your upper body loose and spinning as much as you can.  Grab the top bar for leverage if you need,it also opens  the chest for breathing.  The best climber I know said in training he stays seated unless he absolutely has to stand or he'll fall down.  However,  sometimes I'll break it up,upshift one gear and get out of the saddle for a few yards, then back to seated climbing.

Also, slide your butt back on the saddle

Decent weekend.  65 miles yesterday,all flat,but headwind on the 32 miles coming back.  By 10 miles left I was done.....   Didn't help that about 30 minutes into the ride, reached down for my bottle with Infinit and,,,,,  it wasn't there. Damn.  Had to borrow a friend's bottle, but it wasn't enough

Was going to run after, but we got back  to the start and bought a red bull and a sprite for the kcals, and after sitting and drinking it I was done.

Today, had a pancake breakfast, which is rare, then went out and ran a hilly 8 mile trial run today

I do a lot of hill riding (mountain really) and what Chris said is key.  Stay loose and shift to a gear you can spin (or as close to spinning as you can get ). 

So I had a really good mountain bike race yesterday.  First time I've ever raced the mountain bike.  I use to ride it a lot but the last few years not as much and usually it's just a nice relaxing ride.  Well, I paid for all those years off.    Sporting one knee that is about twice the size of the other one right now.  I don't think it is anything too serious, just a knee to rock landing during one of my falls.  Lots of blood left out on the course by many of us.  They added a nice little hill at the beginning of the race compared to previous years.  No problem I thought.  50 minutes to go 2 miles.  WTF?  And I was in the top half of the pack at this point.  About then I knew I was in for a long day...  Although my endurance held up for the whole race my technical skills held me back.  Still pretty proud of myself though.

Oh, and I got 1st female OA.  Course I was also last place female...  Oh yeah, the only girl brave enough to enter the race and play with the boys.  I'll take it.  And yes, I even beat some of the boys.  I must say, the majority of them were super positive and supportive when they found out I was the only female.

Now it is time to get serious and stop playing around.  HIM training starts

Thanks guys for the advice.  I do notice that When I start getting fatigued, my whole core collapses.  I will try sliding my butt back a bit too!

gator22 - its the Whiteface Uphill Bike Race.   Depending on how I do...I would like to ride Mt. Washington in July.   Its a steeper, longer mountain and entry is $300 so I want to make sure this is something I want to do before entering

Congrats.  A win is a win!

Nice job.  it's always great when you hit or surpass your goal.

Happy Monday everyone!   Sounds like some great racing already.  And Kim, you know it's about who shows up.  I've done races where I've gone 10 minutes faster than the year before, which would have won the AG (clydes, albeit) by several minutes, only to lose 5 spots!

Still dealing with saddle issues.  Lowered the adamo a little bit, still by the end had chafing issues on my sit bones.  Maybe I'll just go back to the arione...  it's frustrating. 

Got up and ran my 4 miles at 6 am along the beach, but my running partner bailed on me.  I felt pretty slow and lumbering, but I ran the last mile at 8:48, which is pretty fast for me.....

Swim tonight

One could say all my runs are along a beach here.  Just no water.  lol  A running partner that bailed though?  That's lame.  I hope you give him a hard time

When I was racing a lot, I had the bungee laces in my shoes and wore them for all runs.  Got a new pair of shoes, put bungees in.  When I took time off racing, I stopped putting them in.  I found them to be pretty comfortable for longer runs.  I have raced now without them, I don't think my laces are keeping me from Kona 

Ha, yeah, no Kona dreams here.  However, I have been told I must qualify for the World Duathlon Championship in France next year (talk about pressure) so need something quick for the shorter distance.  For a HIM I use socks and regular laces.  I'll give the bungee laces a try

Okay, I am now officially confused. lol It does not take a lot, but I know nothing about swimming and in my quest to become more efficient I ran across a method called Total Immersion. After asking a couple of my triathlon buddy's they told me I should not even try this method. They suggested that I learn the traditional freestyle method. The consensus is that the total immersion will totally mess up my stroke and create a lot of bad habits. 

Have any of you been exposed to this method? What are your thoughts?

Today I tried to push myself to go 75 yds. without stopping and could hardly make it. My focus is on trying to exhale as soon as I inhale or when my face starts to enter the water after I inhale. I breath on my right side every time and now my left side rotation is suffering. My swim instructor just keeps telling me to keep practicing and it will come. I am starting to question that because I have been practicing and trying for almost 8 months (3-4x per week) now without much progress.

I have found that if I put fins on and let them drag behind me with little leg kick I can swim 100 yds. before I have to stop. I even purchased the Swim Smooth workouts for my swim type and that seemed to help a little, but still not where I would like it to be. Any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.