Brian and the Tri Tarts Group - Full (Page 7)

Kim,

There's lot's of good possibilities in northern VA for sprints.  Reston sprint is pretty good from what I hear...There's Giant Acorn in early October at Lake Anna (usually a wet suit swim) and the Richmond Multisports does another sprint at Shady Grove in the fall as well--different bike and run loop from the spring one from what I understand. There's a race in DC called the Nation's tri in Sept. but I think it's an olympic distance, not sure if they do a sprint.

Judi

BTW gang--I registered for my 10K and half mary last night!!

kimmitri408 - 2007-12-27 7:04 AM Morning everyone I'm finally back home from the holidays..so yay better internet connection, LOL.  I'm looking at the bronze vs. silver packages now and trying to figure out what would work best for me.  Any ideas?  I'm looking at a late summer/early fall sprint triathlon....a few road races in the spring....indoor triathlon late winter....and whatever it is, swimming will be the area that needs the most work.

Personally I would go with the Silver.  It lets you see all of the video drills done by Mike Ricci and I think they are very helpful. My guess is over time, the Silver and Gold packages will get more exclusive stuff. Plus the more members, the more money they have to produce things for us.

Yeah...looking at it..I think the program I like best is in the silver category and I do like the videos.  For an extra $40 a year..I think it would probably be worth it.  Okay..I think I've made a decision on what to do with the rest of my christmas money, LOL!

Yeah I was really surprised at how many tris are in VA.   I'm glad though, gives me more options to look at and find one that really fits my needs.  I really want to stick to pool swims this year though...at least until I get better at swimming.  Maybe I'll feel differently after my next session of swimming lessons in January, but right now an OWS terrifies me. 

Hi Jen

Running in 40F is no problem. When the footing is good, I will run at -35F Windchill for about 60 minutes. The key is good layering.

I would start looking for bikes tomorrow!  That way you can get used to it using a trainer before heading outside.  Although at 40F you could ride outside.  Again the key is layering

Suzy

Jen

Best bike shopping advice I can give is 1.) take a friend who rides regularly with you simply because they KNOW bikes and what is a good ride/deal 2.)  get fitted at the LBS-most will have you take a spin or 2 around their parking lots to see how they feel 3) ride at least 3 bikes before making a decision and don't settle if the fit isn't any good or the gearing just doesn't feel comfortable. THe bike is your most expensive trirelated purchase. Yes, you can do your first race on a hybrid or a borrowed bike but hybrids are heavy and slow and a borrowed bike may not fit you right.  So if the budget allows, go for the road bike and get clipless pedals/shoes ASAP so you can get used to clipping in and out well before your first race. (these allow for full use of both the hams and quads on the pedal stroke giving a good bit more power to it in the process)

Judi

jenado - 2007-12-30 10:46 PM yeah kim, i'm pretty happy the holidays are mostly over too. makes it much easier to be good oh man, i need to start doing some bike research now! jeez, triathlons are expensive... oh well, the more i spend on it, the more i feel obligated to really give it my all and make it all worthwhile

I hear you on the cost!  I've been researching bikes online and at my bike store hardcore the past few weeks to see if the one I want is the right one for me and so I have some knowledge about what's going on so I don't get a snow job.  And...I'm a girly girl..an I want a pretty bike, LOL.  Sigh.  But between what I've already spent on swim lessons and gear and races...I'm committed! 

Jen - I'm wondering what you come up with.  I'm favoring Trek bikes in general right now, but we'll see.  This Saturday I'm planning on going to the store to do some test rides and see what feels right.

 I'm off to a good start this morning.  Had my AM swim and tonight I will do some strength training and the 10 min run in the prep plan.  I figured that would be a decent split for today.  I am surprisingly refreshed for getting up that early, I don't feel like it's nap time like I thought I would, LOL. 

And I agree, we gotta stay off the 2nd page!  Do we want to self inflict some torture with a challenge or something? 

Well...Kristen and I are already in the January challenge as runners...I'm going for 50 miles (officially), don't remember her goal as we're on different challenge teams. How about challenging each other to consistency and sticking to the plan?  Some folks have the plan imported on the site, others put the plan in the top part of the blog...I usually put POD in the comments part of the blog.  Just a thought, I'm open to suggestions...

Judi

Great idea Judi.  I have my run plan linked to the top of my goals.  Also, I have a key work-out for each month (e.g. 3x1600m each under 7:00 for January) to keep me on track.  I'm also comitted to swim 2x/week in January.  Further, sleep has always been an area I need to do better with.  So 7hr/night is my goal.  I figure that's plenty for now.

Definitely lets keep after each other.  Really, just working out consistently is 90% of "it."

Great advice from Judi.  The only thing I may differ on is the clipless pedals.  Most entry level bikes won't have them (my Specialized Transition Multisport didn't).  I did get them right away, but don't feel its a "have to buy" thing.  If you're not yet comfortable riding a road bike, don't cause more apprehension/stress by having to learn the clipless pedal thing.  They're something you can add once you get used to riding the new wheels.  The majority of the power is from your quads ( I also notice some sore glutes after a hilly ride).  The clipless will make you more efficient, once you're comfortable riding.

A benefit for toe cages vs. clipless is a faster transition from bike to run (only one pair of shoes for the triathlon).  This is particularly true for your first sprint tri as the time difference between clipless and toe cages will be small and perhaps eclipsed by the time spent changing shoes.  For your first tri, you've got lots to think about and spend money on.  If you want to conserve $$ and keep it simple on race day, going without clipless pedals in your first year is more than okay IMHO.

I am weighing in on the clipless pedal debate.  I can see where they might help transition times, but toe cages are no guarantee you are not going to fall on your fanny! My best friend dumped more times than I did with those things.  Youl also do not get the same benefit that clipless provide from what I have read.  Do you agree Brian?

When I first started using mine, I converted my old hybrid bike pedals at our local TREK store and it was not expensive at all. To get used to them I did the following: 1) clipped only of them in at a time and rode around the neighborhood a few times and 2) always clip out of the same foot when stopping (for me it is the left).   Lastly you can find some exceptional deals on shoes on EBAY or close outs from the prior year at another online location like Performance Bike. I ride with Mountain Bike shoes because I like being able to walk around easily on them and use Specialized.  They were around $85 versus my first pair of SIDIS which were almost $200!

I do have one other question for the group.  Are most people considering/have road bikes or tri bikes? I have a road bike and I am not planning to get another bike for at least a year.  What about adding aeorbars to the road bike (assuming you can get a good fit from your LSB)?

I survived my first duathlon using this bike and am not planning anything longer than a 32m ride in competition.

Suzy

Suzy,

I have a road bike (Fuji Roubaix) and we put aerobars on it last week.  Most LBS have a selection of aero bars, the question is what kind do you want?  I was a bit overwhelmed looking at the options of them and went for the ones that worked most like the spin bikes at the gym.  I figured if I would ever considering the upgrade to the ones that could have shifters and all on them I would be ready for a tri bike but I'm no where ready for that (and neither is my wallet!)

Judi

Definitely agree you get some efficiency benefit.  There's just a lot of "stuff" associated with triathlons and for the first year, they're not a requirement.

My bike is a road bike that came w/ clip on aerobars - no bar-end shifters.  I ended up racing and training mostly in aero position by the end of the season.  The problem with this is that my seat is too far back for aero position.  I may consider a fast-forward seatpost for next season.

Didn't I just post something about not needing all this "stuff."!?!?