Big Steve's Group - CLOSED (Page 8)

Steven,

Thanks...It's been about 10 years since I rode a road bike.  there was a local used tri bike for cheap, but it might be too tall.  Why is putting aerobars on a road bike a mistake for beginners?    Just curious...

I was told that it would put me in a very uncomfortable and un-natural position without achieving the full aerodynamics that I was looking for.   Something about the body angle vs. the angle of the frame and seat.  Having said this, my coach knew that I was ultimately going to buy a tri bike so maybe thats why he recommended against them.  I just found a good thread on the pros & cons of aero bars on a road-bike:

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-47399.html 

After my short experience on a real tribike, (a Quintanaroo), I can say that Aerobars of any type are not my friend yet 

-Steven

North Brunswick high school has open swim but I'm not sure what night. I don't go because I can only get a swim in early morning.  I swim in LA fitness in North Brunswick on Milltown road.  Really nice pool and facilities however it gets busy (in the morning when I swim).  I'm sharing a lane about 30-40% of the time but usually with folks that have good lane etiquette so its not a big problem.  

-Steven
 

I belong to http://www.princetonfitnessandwellness.com/ (PFWC) , I am pretty spoiled.  I typically swim in mornings and seldom share a lane (unless my wife comes).  I just joined the Masters Swim Class and will be working out there Mondays and Wednesdays.   I also belong to Team in Training (TNT) and have a scheduled swim at The College of New Jersey on Wednesdays.  I don't find the program with TNT challenging enough from a swim perspective and will be changing to PFWC and the Masters program.   I have a bunch of day passes.  If you ever want to check it out, just give me a shout.     

Our Masters swim group does kind of a cool thing each year - the 1650 Postal Challenge.  1650 for a 'swimmer's mile', and Postal because the results are mailed in from all over the US- sorry for the non-US members of our group - a copy of your US Masters Swimming card has to be included.  It takes place now through the end of February.  Kind of cool because they post the results broken by age group after all of the entries are submitted.  Also cool because you can see where you are year-to-year.  Don't think this breaks any Forum rules, but here's where you can get more info -> http://tammasters.org/PoolMileEntry/index.php

I should have my nephew mail his in.  He has a 16:00.81 on the 1650.
 

Sorry- minor clarification- this isn't our group that puts it on- we just participate every year.

Happy mid week everyone,  

I've been doing pretty good and sticking to my plan this week.  Even got a brick in yesterday, biked indoors/ran outdoors. Nothing like going out into the cold soaked in sweat.  Sorry for the graphic.  Actually with the right layers it wasn't bad at all.

Going out to shovel some snow, AGAIN.  That's training too!

Hope you're all having a good training week.

-Steven

FWIW
I have a Road Bike with AeroBars and a Fast Forward Seatpost.  It feels great and I have done a couple of Sprints and an OLY plus a max 35mile ride.  Planning on using it for a 70.3 this summer.  Works great for me.

WoW!!!  An 70.3, I'm still in the beginning stages of all this and can't even imagine the Sprint distance yet, how very exciting, hope your training's right on target.

 

Edited by Muskwa2 2011-01-28 12:23 PM

Hey all, sorry I have been MIA. Need to get an MRI out of the way. Please keep me on the list

In regard to swimming does everyone do drills each and every time you're in the pool.  I'm out 3X per week right now and by the third time, I'm just too tired to get a few laps of drills in too; should I push it out of myself?  Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated
Thanks,
Maureen

As someone who is new to the sport I have found joining a master swim class to be very important.  I use if as my "big" swim for the week and then, like you, I get out two more times and practice what I learded at the hands of the experts.  Frankly it is like learning how to swim all over again.

My coach keeps telling me that drills are as if not more important than pounding out the laps. Do I listen?? Rarely. But I need to try and do better with more drills during swim days. They really DO make a difference!
-Steven

Thanks Steve T. and Steven P.  I just happened to join the Tri Club while our local pool is shutdown for renovation (we only have the one big pool in town)  The Club does carpool to the town just south of us twice a week but no coaches are available to them down there.  Once our pool re-opens here we'll have two swim coaches twice a week.  I'm swimming in a smaller pool at a local hotel for now, working on technique and trying to get my fitness/heart rate back to the more athletic level (operative word being "trying").  It's slow going this time around though and I can't figure out why, maybe it's simply because of adding the swimming to my routine, oh, and the cycling is quite different then mountain biking.  Anyhow, maybe I'll revamp my swimming to include just a drill session and not try to fit a little bit here and there after my laps when my energy is drained and my attention span is waning.  Thanks again!

I find that if I just jump into the drills cold I can wind up with shoulder pain.   To try to avoid this, I spent a couple of months going slow and long.  This gave me time to become comfortable with my breathing again and built my shoulders up.  I've now joined a masters swim, they've altered my stroke a little and have put me into an aggressive workout plan that I start next week - over 4000 yards per session.   I am hoping that by working up endurance first I will be able to accomplish the workouts without injury.  

I agree, drills after a long swim are tough.  If you have the time, I would warm up for 5 to 10 minutes, do the drills, then do the laps.

I've got 56 miles on the trainer scheduled for today. Having a hard time getting off the computer and my butt and getting downstairs.  I can do it.... I can do it.....

-Steven

Ok..Ok, we'll keep you on

Hope everything went OK with the MRI.

-Steven

Here are my weekly totals.   Not 100% to plan but I'm happy with the time put in this week.

Swim: 5,500 yds; 3:05  (1 hour of it was TI class)
Bike:  76 miles; 4:29
Run: 4 miles; 0:35  (have to increase the volume here - will be in Orlando & Mexico next week, hope to get in some outdoor miles)
Strength: 2:20 (Yoga was awesome, got to get that in at least once a week)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

-Steven

4000 yards per?!  That kinda distance seems so far off yet.  But yeah, I'm thinking going on my own for a couple of months first, to get use to the water again, will be a good foundation for my fitness and I'm hoping that the coaches for the tri-club here will be of great help.  So looking forward to getting together with them, but like I say, I'm still building my foundations to avoid injury.  I'm just too darn completive because I know that even though I'm a long, long way from it, I'd try to keep up with the veterans and that would bring on an injury for sure, not to mention the bruised ego.

Let us know how that first master class goes!

Weekly Break down

Swim 5000 2:05
Bike  110 6:20
Run   5.5 50

Total Time:   9:15

Two big events this week.  This is the first time I've swam with my wife and she didn't lap me (she still crushes me in the bike and run).  I also crossed the 25 lbs of weight loss barrier.  I started training in November weighing 240 and tipped the scales this morning at 213.   

Here's my week:

Swim = 8750 yards  3 hours 40 minutes (I about died on a Friday morning killer workout!)
Bike = 23 miles 1 hour 20 minutes (trainer)
Run = 0, however I've started taking half mile walks around the plant where I work- foot is improving! 

Wow- 25 pounds since November- awesome! 

I hear you.  I just started with a masters swim team and their workouts are avg around that distance per session.  I'm still in ther "kiddy" lanes working on my technique.  They only had to refill the pool once after my last time from all the water I swallowed this time!!