Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners! (Page 7)

2009-01-09 9:04 PM

in reply to: #1897566

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

colewarren - 2009-01-09 9:25 AM

Hi folks,
Scott and I were in the same mentor group last year, and he said it was okay to join in this one. I hope no one minds. I have been reading all of your posts for awhile even though I haven't been participating in the conversations.

I am a 42 year old woman. I am married and have 2 teenage boys. I love cycling...not competitive, just riding. I have ridden my bike across my state, and I rarely pass up a chance to ride. I have a road bike as well as a mountain bike for trail use. I ride with many different goups and individuals, and I rarely ride alone. My husband had a heart attack 5 years ago. We believe the reason he is alive is because he had been exercising for months before his arteries clogged. Exercise is not an option for him, it is a necessity. Lucky for me, I love exercising, and it gives us time to spend together.

A year ago, my husband and I decided to add running to our exercise program. We signed up for a Spring duathlon to insure that we kept up with the training. When I first started, I HATED running. After many months of practice/repitition and baby steps, I learned how to enjoy running. The duathlon went well for us (we completed it without stopping, throwing up, or being disqualified). Our goals were met plus we started bike season in great shape.

I will run my first (and probably last) marathon in a week (PF Changs Rock n Roll Marathon in Phoenix). I will not be fast....Daniel 4 1/2 hours is blazing fast compared to me. I hope to finish in 5 hours. However, since it is my first marathon, just finishing will be a success for me. (I am doing the Galloway plan).

Enough background. I am joining this group because we have once again signed up for the same Spring duathlon. My original goal was to just better my time from last year. However, my brother is coming to town to compete with us, and I really want to beat him. It may not be possible to beat him, but I won't mind losing if I give it my best shot.

Cole

Cole I am so glad you have joined us. Thanks.

2009-01-09 9:17 PM

in reply to: #1896738

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Swimming drills and Transitions

jtdintaipei - 2009-01-08 10:14 PM

Hello Everyone,

Scott, thanks for the swimming drills, my son (David) and I will be going to a pool more often , hopefully starting next week.

I have just been tying to get into the discipline of training for an hour a day 6 days a week. What I would like to to know is:

A) When is the best time to train am or pm , or is this in individual thing?

B) When doing 2 disciplines a day, eg swimming and running, should they be done one after the other or one in the morning and one in the evening?

Any ideas and experiences?

I have tried the change over from bike to running and found that I took too much time changing my HRM from bike mode to run mode, I need to practice this a lot more .

Hi Justin,
I have seen research that suggests both times for workouts as being advantageous so I say personal preference. I would think about though what gets in the way of your workouts? For me I have to get my workouts done before I get home. Once I am home for the night I rarely get them done because I want to see my family. So for me earlier works better. On the flip side though I try to run once in a while later at night because I love to run without interruption. It's also a great time to plug in the worship music and sing loudly because most people are in bed or at least out of ear shot :-) So it really is up to you. I do think it is important to not let anything else be a substitute for a workout. I don't remember his name but I saw someone skip a workout once because he was installing windows. Installing windows is hard work but it won't help your tri performance so don't cheat yourself. Sorry that was a bit of a soap box there.

Also for multiple workouts in a day ask yourself what your purpose is. If you want to stress those specific muscles for that specific event (ie biking) you will get a more beneficial effect if you don't do it right after swimmiing. Since triathlons are a combination sometimes it is good to stress already fatigued muscles in a different way So I guess my thought is do both. I would do the consecutive workouts (also called bricks) less often and seperate workouts more often. Maybe do a brick once a week or two.

For everyone -
I just read another article tonight about the importance of off season base training and how you can focus on your weak event during this time. The article (in Triathlete magazine) even said that if you do 6-9 workouts a week make 3/4 of them for your weak event and during the off season you may not have to work on your strong sport much at all because it will come back faster. Just food for thought. RIght now I am swimming for a majority of my workouts and biking maybe 1-2 times a week and running maybe 3 times a week. Swimming is 4-5 times a week.

2009-01-09 9:22 PM

in reply to: #1898720

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Swimming drills and Transitions

moves327 - 2009-01-09 4:01 PM

My work is ramping up also, so it has forced me to work around a bit, but I do get my workouts in all at once. On a side note, I am down 21 lbs now! Jogged(if you can call it that) my first mile non-stop.

And Scott is supercool, so it does not suprise me all these people want to be in his group. Although I may have to go get my 80's CD's out now and jam some Billy Squier in honor of that totally radical playlist! Probably watch Vision Quest too.

Thanks Ray. I am glad you guys are enjoying the group. Honestly my biggest hope is that when the mentor group finishes around the end of March that we stay in touch and encourage each other through out the years to come. I met Cole last year in a group like this and we have stayed in touch and she has been a great encouragement to me over the year. I hope all of you find this too.

Good for you too with your weight. Keep truckin! I'll bet you are feeling better and better.

2009-01-09 9:50 PM

in reply to: #1896806

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Transition

karen26.2 - 2009-01-09 2:22 AM

I have not practiced since my last race. But I have considerably cut down my transition time by -

skipping gloves on the bike

having shoes already tied and all I have to do is cram my foot in

having every item place in order of necessity and ready to go such as bike helmet upside down with straps laying over side

sunglasses with arms opened up and in my helmet so I can grab them then the helmet

socks apart and in each shoe (I'm debating on skipping socks for a sprint distance to see if my feel hold up, socks take the longest for me and I see lots of people not bothering)

bike shoes opened up as far as possible and ready for foot

tank top placed face down with the bottom of the back side ready to grab and toss on

Most of this I learned by doing a couple of races, but also observing others that were setting up before the race. I noticed how everyone had everything in the order that they needed it, and every item was placed ready to put on and in the quickest way possible. If I do all that I can cut my time in half, but I'm still not that speedy.

Hi Karen and group,
Here are a couple of things that worked for me that I learned either by watching others or just plain hard knocks as far as transition goes. As you practice this I hope these ideas help.

1) In open water I swim with socks on. Then when I go from the water to transition my socks get dirty. When I step up to my towel, I take off my socks and step onto the towel...with clean feet. Last year I saw one person do this at a place where they mowed the grass the night before. You can guess how that went

2) I only recommend using no socks if your shoes are designed for it and you have trained that way...but I do recommend it.

3) I recommend using body glide on your shoes. Makes wet feet slide right in. I use it around the top of my bike and running shoes. It helps a lot

4) Take time pre race to look at how you will come into and leave transition.

5) I cut several inches off of the arms and legs f my wetsuit. This opens up the isze of the openings which make it much easier to get on and off. Body glide around your wrists and ankles works great too. It is needed in other places too but not necessarily for fast transitions so I won't go into that here.

6) Practice how you rack your bike. Hang by seat or handle bars. This is personal preferance but should be explored.

7) Ask yourself what you really need. When I change from swim to bike I don't dry off or change into anything else (I understand for ladies changing your top might be a necessity but I am not qualified to speak to that so any advice would be appreciated for the group) I have my tri shorts and top on under my wetsuit so all I do is pull of the socks, wetsuit put on my number and bike shoes, helmet and sunglasses and off I go.

Well there is a few thoughts for starters. Anyone have anything to add?

colewarren

2009-01-10 6:53 AM

in reply to: #1857812

Regular

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

I can't add anything, but I have a question that I would love to have an opinion from others who have done this before......I want to improve my times from last year's duathlon. There are 2 places that I have the biggest room for improvement, running and transition. I am pretty sure that I used transition to recover (catch my breath, drink, etc). I don't plan to do that this time. I am also considering staying in the same shoes (remember, I am only running and biking). I will change my pedals and use toe cages instead of bike shoes and clip pedals. I know that bike shoes are faster, but over a 12 mile bike ride I didn't think the shoes would make enough difference to make up for the time it takes to change shoes. Any thoughts?

2009-01-10 12:07 PM

in reply to: #1857812

Master

2151

Johns Creek, Georgia

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

There are shoes that don't require socks? I guess I assumed all shoes needed socks, but if you wanted to run without you could. I'm afraid of blisters. But if there are tri specific shoes please share. Maybe the Zoot shoes I've seen? I'm very interested though because like I said, putting socks on wet feet takes me the longest. (Swimming in socks...is that so you have clean feet when you get to your shoes?)

As for clothing, from a woman's perspective -

I have only signed up for races in warmer months that do not require a wetsuit. I don't own one, and wouldn't know how to "install" one if I did. That's something I want to learn more about as I progress in this sport.

I always swim in the same thing I bike and run in. Tri shorts and a long sports top. My problem is I am 6' 1'', so a long sports top is not really long on me. And since I'm not comfortable exposing my middle section I throw on a tank top usually before the run. The tank top is also where I attach my race number. I did one race in just the tri shorts and top, no tank top, and used a race # belt. I may do that this year so I can cut off the few seconds it takes to put the tank top on.

Definitely watch people and see what they do. That's helped me the most.

2009-01-10 12:10 PM

in reply to: #1899281

Master

2151

Johns Creek, Georgia

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

colewarren - 2009-01-10 7:53 AM

I can't add anything, but I have a question that I would love to have an opinion from others who have done this before......I want to improve my times from last year's duathlon. There are 2 places that I have the biggest room for improvement, running and transition. I am pretty sure that I used transition to recover (catch my breath, drink, etc). I don't plan to do that this time. I am also considering staying in the same shoes (remember, I am only running and biking). I will change my pedals and use toe cages instead of bike shoes and clip pedals. I know that bike shoes are faster, but over a 12 mile bike ride I didn't think the shoes would make enough difference to make up for the time it takes to change shoes. Any thoughts?

I've never compared the difference in pace between bike shoes vs. regular shoes in cages. For that distance I would think you're probably right that it won't make much of a difference. Especially if the course if fairly flat. If you can cut out the time to swap shoes in both transitions I bet you'll make up quite a bit of time.

2009-01-11 5:45 PM

in reply to: #1899587

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

karen26.2 - 2009-01-10 10:07 AM

There are shoes that don't require socks? I guess I assumed all shoes needed socks, but if you wanted to run without you could. I'm afraid of blisters. But if there are tri specific shoes please share. Maybe the Zoot shoes I've seen? I'm very interested though because like I said, putting socks on wet feet takes me the longest. (Swimming in socks...is that so you have clean feet when you get to your shoes?)

As for clothing, from a woman's perspective -

I have only signed up for races in warmer months that do not require a wetsuit. I don't own one, and wouldn't know how to "install" one if I did. That's something I want to learn more about as I progress in this sport.

I always swim in the same thing I bike and run in. Tri shorts and a long sports top. My problem is I am 6' 1'', so a long sports top is not really long on me. And since I'm not comfortable exposing my middle section I throw on a tank top usually before the run. The tank top is also where I attach my race number. I did one race in just the tri shorts and top, no tank top, and used a race # belt. I may do that this year so I can cut off the few seconds it takes to put the tank top on.

Definitely watch people and see what they do. That's helped me the most.

I started using the zoot shoes this last year after a not so good experience trying to go sockless with regular shoes. These are designed to go without socks, drain water and be faster to put on. I agree with the socks and water but I am not too sure about the faster part. Definately not any slower.

Yep Swimming in socks means that when you pull them off in transition it means all the dirt gets pulled off with them. It worked great!!! It was a pro that I saw doing it and he was the only one at the whole race who did. Good stuff.

2009-01-11 5:49 PM

in reply to: #1899281

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

colewarren - 2009-01-10 4:53 AM

I can't add anything, but I have a question that I would love to have an opinion from others who have done this before......I want to improve my times from last year's duathlon. There are 2 places that I have the biggest room for improvement, running and transition. I am pretty sure that I used transition to recover (catch my breath, drink, etc). I don't plan to do that this time. I am also considering staying in the same shoes (remember, I am only running and biking). I will change my pedals and use toe cages instead of bike shoes and clip pedals. I know that bike shoes are faster, but over a 12 mile bike ride I didn't think the shoes would make enough difference to make up for the time it takes to change shoes. Any thoughts?

I don't have any experience with the toe cages to be able to say which one is faster myself. One thought is, which ever way you are going to go practice the transition with the bike set up that way. What you are thinking seems to make sense on a 12 mile bike ride. I am anxious to hear how it works.

2009-01-11 6:40 PM

in reply to: #1857812

Master

2151

Johns Creek, Georgia

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

I think I'm going to order the Zoot shoes. I have a credit at an online tri store that I need to use, so this will be a good thing to get. I noticed most running shoes say to order 1/2 size up, but these say order true size. Did you find that to be accurate?

On a side note - I have officially signed up for the Chattanooga Oly in July. Hoping to beat my time from last year. I think I can do it!

2009-01-11 10:04 PM

in reply to: #1901179

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

karen26.2 - 2009-01-11 4:40 PM

I think I'm going to order the Zoot shoes. I have a credit at an online tri store that I need to use, so this will be a good thing to get. I noticed most running shoes say to order 1/2 size up, but these say order true size. Did you find that to be accurate?

On a side note - I have officially signed up for the Chattanooga Oly in July. Hoping to beat my time from last year. I think I can do it!

My zoots are a half size bigger and they fit great. Good for you on the race. Is it an "A" race?

jtdintaipei

2009-01-12 8:50 AM

in reply to: #1896790

Member

Subject: RE: Swimming drills and Transitions

longrun26 - 2009-01-09 5:27 PM

Good morning!

Justin, you asked great questions on the best time to workout and if it is OK to split workouts. I know the ideal would be for me to workout out every morning and practice real transitions between workouts. My friend is a full time stay at home dad. He puts in two hours a day with workouts. On the other hand, I am up at three in the morning to e-mail, grade student essays, lift weights for 45 minutes and make it to work on time. I split my workout and will swim this evening after work. Unfortunately, that is my reality. I still enjoy my workout but often they are split.

I just read in the paper that diet beat exercise in weight loss 80% of the time. While the study is controversial, there is evidence that diet is so critical to weight loss but exercise needs to be incorporated. In fact, Body for Life, states that 80% of the weight loss comes from diet. I know many of us are trying to loss weight. I try to eat six smaller meals a day - every three hours. The more I exercise the more I crave food. My goal is to be healthy and lose 40 pounds - I turn 50 this year!!! I am incorporating lifestyle changes and many of the drills that I read about for workouts are simply beyond what I can do at the moment. I try to stay within myself and enjoy the journey. I will get to my destination eventually.

Daniel

Daniel thanks for the input. I am not sure how I will do all the training, take it a step at a time . Some I might split and some I might do consecutively. I have an initial goal of training for an hour 6 days a week. Once I have established that , I will move on to other things. Running is the weakest of the three disciplines for me at this time. Like you I want to enjoy the journey too, I am not racing against others, but against myself at this stage.

I hope your marathon went well.

Justin

jtdintaipei

2009-01-12 9:06 AM

in reply to: #1857812

Member

Subject: RE: Swimming Drills

Scott,

I tried thhe first set of drills that you gave me. Thanks they helped a lot. I had to leave out some of them, but I did do the fistand the alternate hand drills for a total of 1050m. Still not able to do the whole distance using freestyle though.

Thanks again,

Justin

PS. Has anyone heard of an MP3 that can be used while swimming?

colewarren

2009-01-12 9:18 AM

in reply to: #1857812

Regular

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

Justin,

Great goal of working 1 hour 6 days a week! I found an interesting website about training (it is specifically for Duathlons, but I think that the concepts go over to triathlon training too.) http://www.racingunderground.com/training.html
There was a lot of good information about 3 stages of training; base, aerobic, and speed. The site is specifically for training for a series of duathlons in CO, but I found the information helpful. Now, if I could just figure out what stage of training I am in or should be in.....

2009-01-12 12:47 PM

in reply to: #1902000

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Swimming Drills

jtdintaipei - 2009-01-12 7:06 AM

Scott,

Thanks again,

Justin

PS. Has anyone heard of an MP3 that can be used while swimming?

Justin,
A player is out called a swimp3 player. It basically hooks onto your goggles and vibrates through your temple or something to that effect. Don't worry about the distance of your swim. For me swimming is the hardest to build and maintain. The dividends will come just keep training. One thing to keep in mind with the drills is not so much making faster but trying to show you something in your technique...that will make you more efficient, and therefore faster for longer. You might try thinking through the drills. "What is the fist drill trying to show me or get me to do?" "What is the point of 25m swim sprints?" Knowing what the end result is supposed to be will help get you there faster.

Glad the drills are helping.

2009-01-12 12:49 PM

in reply to: #1857812

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: Question for the week!

Here is a question for the week. Just something for some thought.

Who inspires you in triathlon (or duathlon, marathon etc) and why? What qualities do they have that you admire?

Edited by holt1997 2009-01-12 12:50 PM

2009-01-12 7:47 PM

in reply to: #1902545

Master

2151

Johns Creek, Georgia

Subject: RE: Question for the week!

holt1997 - 2009-01-12 1:49 PM

Here is a question for the week. Just something for some thought.

Who inspires you in triathlon (or duathlon, marathon etc) and why? What qualities do they have that you admire?

Lance Armstrong & Chrissie Wellington

Because neither one of them give up, ever!

Did anyone see Ironman Hawaii this year? Chrissie got a flat, messed up the C02 and dispensed it into the air. Had to wait until one of the other riders behind her offered up some C02. She did not panic, AND ended up winning by a margin of nearly 15 minutes. Watching that made me want to be an Ironman!

2009-01-12 7:49 PM

in reply to: #1857812

Master

2151

Johns Creek, Georgia

Subject: "A" Race

So does "A" race mean a race that you're focusing on for the year? I have about 10 to 12 races planned this year, but two that I'm focusing my training on. The Chattanooga Oly is one of those, so I guess that would be an "A" race?

moves327

2009-01-13 1:32 AM

in reply to: #1857812

Veteran

134

Belleville

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

I really don't know anyone in triathlons. I don't know if I could watch or get it into it from a spectator stand point, seems kind of like Nascar in that respect. Although, I would definitely volunteer at events and hang out.

jtdintaipei

2009-01-13 1:47 AM

in reply to: #1902545

Member

Subject: RE: Question for the week!

Q: "Who inspires you in triathlon (or duathlon, marathon etc) and why? What qualities do they have that you admire?"

A: No one really, I have read some articles , mostly on BT and a book about Masters Triathlons , but that is about it.

People who are consistant and persistant, really inspire me.

Regards,

Justin

colewarren

2009-01-13 6:26 AM

in reply to: #1902545

Regular

Subject: RE: Question for the week!

I don't have a triathlon hero....someone I want to be like. However, the 70+ year old nun who had completed multiple ironmen races gives me hope. She would finish just at the cutoff time..a few seconds before midnight. The last ironman I watched, she barely missed the cutoff time after the bike...she wasn't allowed to finish. She gives me hope and encouragement.

Ray, if you watch triathlons on TV, it is more about personality profiles of the people racing than watching the action. They like to hightlight improbable athletes...70 year old nuns, the man who competes without legs, people who have a lot to overcome. You will certainly learn more about the race by volunteering are going to watch a live race.

atostig

2009-01-13 6:53 PM

in reply to: #1857812

Regular

134

Goldsboro, NC

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

Who inspires me? First of all the guys like us...that work full time and train when they can...the pro's are amazing no doubt...but there is something about the average joe finishing an Ironman that is super cool to me!

moves327

2009-01-13 7:31 PM

in reply to: #1903918

Veteran

134

Belleville

Subject: RE: Question for the week!

Yeah, I see your point. I will have to search for some shows on TV and check it out.

If the final cutoff is midnight what is the start time? I don't know if I will ever have the intestinal fortitude or desire to truly attempt a Full IM. That truly is not one of goals yet. Maybe once, I have more experieince I will feel differently. I do plan on playing soccer again this summer and would love to get on a competitive team again. But if a find a team to play on this summer that will be awesome. Making that happen with work can be a trick.

spinepa

2009-01-13 8:00 PM

in reply to: #1857812

Regular

schuylkill haven, pa

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

I agree, reading these posts make me admire all of you more and more. We all work, most have families and we still find time to train and improve ourselves.

Watching the Ironman on NBC(I dvr'd it and watch it regularly) seeing the average people on not the pros inspires me so much.

The whole group, keep up the good work.

Jeff

2009-01-13 10:24 PM

in reply to: #1857812

Extreme Veteran

608

Ellensburg, WA

Subject: RE: Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners!

I have been waiting to answer my own question because I really wanted to think about it a bit and today at the pool I realised where my inspiration comes from. (going back and forth gives you a lot of time to think) I think the below average competitor inspires me. To some racing or competing at anything comes naturally, to others it is a little more difficult but not bad. But for some they won the second they STARTED the race. Last year at a 70.3 a fairly overweight guy was going up a long hill. He wanted to quit so bad and to hear people cheering and encouraging him was inspiring but then to see his smile when he made it was really moving. Its hard for me to complain about being a little sore when I see someone putting out effort like that. So there you have it.