SBR Utopia ---- Permanently OPEN!! (Page 6)

In the midst of a ffffffreezing cold blizzard, I caved to the cave.  Did a treadmill tempo run…  Ugh.

Does it count if it's so cold in my basement that I need to start with a hat, gloves and a sweatshirt?  

Hopefully the pool doesn't close (schools did).

Matt

1650TT in the pool today in 24:27.  Chopped off 37 seconds in 4 weeks.  Never felt this good in the water before and hitting sets I never thought possible 8 weeks ago...pretty cool feeling...just hope it continues.

I guess I picked a good year for a bike/swim focus as this has been a nasty cold/snowy winter so far!!

Awesome Ryan!  Pretty darn good improvement in a short time.

First run of 2014 is in the books.  The 0 degree weather wasn't too bad since there is no wind today.  Project M-T has begun......

Originally posted by BrotherTri WOW I have never seen this group so quite. Everybody must be frozen in..... I ran at 6am in 9 degrees -4 wind chill 28 mpg gust. Nothing compared to the great North...... btw I'll be running every day in Jan

Swim & run this morning - in the relative warmth of Tucson.

But, I've been REALLY COLD after a lot of my workouts. Like, shivering. 

Poking around on the internet leads me to anemia (possible - I'm usually just high enough in iron to donate blood) or dehydration. 

Or is it just that the heat in my house is relatively ineffective, and I'm just cold? I don't know. It's weird. 

Maybe I should have moved the run to this morning and outside then, as it was -11 out. 

And people would find a way to be outraged at the situation...LOL.

A minor rain storm passed by last night and it looks to be sunny weather this weekend.  Planning to test this weekend on my favorite climb.  I was originally going to do the traditional 20' test, but am instead opting to just test till the top of the climb, which should be closer to 24 minutes.

Yeah, weather here is frustratingly bad, too.  Ten below zero F (without the wind) this morning.  I don't know about you all, but below zero plus wind is not something I dig running in (off to the basement).  But, that's OK, as it's stunningly beautiful outside (going nordic skiing with the whole family tomorrow - once it's over 10 degrees or so).

The thing that DOES bug me is when the weather is bad enough to close the town - as the pool closes then, too.  Feels like my workout world is closing in around me!  

Matt

We had that yesterday. Got up into the teens by afternoon. Winds well into the 20's and continuing the next few days. Upper 20's for temps today with more snow. However, tonight it starts dropping towards that deep freeze. Looking at some lows around -20 and a Monday high of -11. Tuesday should get back to zero. So, yeah, more fun coming for you. 

I propose an SBR Utopia training camp in Hawaii.

Hey All,

Been on a bit of a self imposed web hiatus during the holidays and just trying to catch back up now.  Looking forward to a great 2014 for all of us!

I'd like to buy a road bike this year and have a few questions.  When I bought my tri bike, I got a professional fit and was told which bikes would work for me.  I know road bikes are a little more forgiving in terms of fit, but would you still suggest going this route?  Also, I struggled like crazy for about a year with the saddle on my road bike.  I finally found one that works for me -- do you guys use the same saddle between your tri and road bikes?  

One of my reasons for wanting a road bike is that some friends and I are entering the lottery for RAMROD (ride around Mt. Rainier in one day).  It's a 150 mile ride with 10,000 ft of elevation gain.  If I were well trained for HIM distance race (long ride up in the 80-100 mile range), would it be realistic to be ready for a 150 mile ride two and a half months later?  We wouldn't be treating it as a race, but it will be a long time in the saddle.

I use different saddles between the two bikes.  I've never had any trouble on my road bike with saddles, I seem to be ok with just about anything.  Tri bike was a different story.

I don't see why you couldn't be ready in 2 1/2 months.  Are you going to be focusing purely on the bike during that time?

I have different saddles for each.  Stock Specialized on the road and Adamo on the tri bike.  As for getting a fit first, yes, I would recommend that even for the road bike.  While they can be more forgiving, you'll still want to get the best fit you can, I would think (and there are differences among them).

I agree with Arend - no reason you couldn't add 50 miles to your long ride in that period of time.  Just requires a specific effort, but should be enough time if you're already going 80-100 with intensity.  Dropping a little coin on great bib-shorts will help, too.   

Matt

I've got enough fingers to count road bike rides since getting the tri bike a few years ago.  Think more people will have different saddles, but it also depends on the saddle(s) in question and differences in the position. I was actually able to use the same for both. I have a new tri saddle since, but think it could go for both. The Adamo TT saddle I had in the intermediate would not have worked as well for this. It doesn't have as many places to rest on and is designed for a tri position, or possibly a rather aggressive road position. Other Adamos can be used more easily when sitting upright though.

I think the ride is possible. It would help if your training was more bike heavy going into the HIM and weighted much more so towards the bike after the race. Going longer on the bike isn't as hard to do as many think. It just takes some more time. And know that you don't have to go as far as you would in training as for running or swimming. You'll just have to be more careful with pacing.

Yeah, Houston (as your area, I imagine) is very conducive to tri bike riding....lots of wind, not a lot of hills!  I know when I ride my tri bike, I find riding on the horns to be terribly uncomfortable.  I'm hoping it's a matter of the position the bike puts me in, rather than that I just prefer to be lazy and ride on the aero bars!

My plan is definitely to be more bike heavy in the couple months after my race.  Swim and bike will be dropped to maintenance mode to accommodate more riding.  I also wouldn't be entirely opposed to considering bike racing at some point, but that seems incredibly intimidating at the moment!

I know the Adamo saddles didn't work for me because they were too wide in the front, despite sitting all the way forward....they were more comfortable in aero than sitting upright, so I assume they wouldn't work for me on a road bike either.  The Cobb saddles might work on a road bike, though I didn't love it on the tri bike.  I'm riding a Profile Designs Tri Stryke now and it works amazingly for me on the tri bike....I know it's a tri saddle, but it sure seems like it might be a decent road saddle (plus, it's super cheap).  We'll see when I get there.

Matt -- thanks for the input regarding the fit.  I think it's probably a good plan.  The local fitter charges something like $25 more for a pre-purchase fit than he does for just fitting after you've bought it, so it's probably good insurance.  Plus, he doesn't sell bikes, so he's completely unbiased.

Thanks for the input, everyone!