Todd's Tri Turtles 3 (Beginner, Sprint, 5K, 10K) Basically Closed (Page 8)

Wow, what a fantastic resource! Thanks for sharing!

Looking back on my training calendar its been 8-weeks since I started in the pool. That 1st day I logged 300 yards and during those laps (and subsequent days) I think I made every "don't do that" mistake they mention in the swimsmooth articles I've read! That being said, I counted 22 sessions in the pool and WOW it's become easier.

Honestly if I had found and read those articles early on in the swim training, it would have been SOOO much to think about. I guess I learn by error and as I mix things up and feel that it gets easier I count that as a win and a keeper. Now I find myself comfortable in my breathing. I breath every two strokes BUT keep looking at the same side of the pool all the time so one length I am breathing to my right and the next length I am breathing to my left.

I'm also glad I found this breathing article - I really did not know what was right holding or exhaling between taking breaths. My body screams to get rid of the air but I felt more buoyant if I kept the air in. This confirms that getting rid of that CO2 is the right thing to do!

http://www.swimsmooth.com/exhalation.html

That is a great plan for your first open water swim. Don't ever go it alone.

This is great, thanks so much for posting! I hopped in the water this week and just kind of went for it. I had reviewed technique videos and tried to keep that in mind, but didn't have a plan as far as # of laps and amount of rest after each lap, so I ended up feeling a bit lost. I'm going to do this tomorrow morning for sure.

I'm going to post that in my training blog for easy access from my phone.

Hey Todd,

How much of a difference do you find in your pace riding a road bicycle versus a tri bicycle (or road bicycle with aerobars)?

Today I went all out on my road bicycle and my pace was 18 mph over a 10 mile ride. When I did my sprint tri last weekend, a lot of people in my age group were riding 20 mph and up on flat terrain. I'm sure I'll get there in time, but I feel like the leverage of an aerobar-fitted bike would make a big difference. While I'm starting to consider clipping aerobars onto my road bicycle... I also don't want to mess around with the fit of my road bicycle too much. What are your thoughts - are the aerobars worth it?

I'm sure many of you are in the same position as I am with having to get a workout in super early in the morning. I find it hard to want to eat anything that early, but need something that will sustain me through the workout without feeling like I have a brick in my stomach. My local newspaper posted a Protein Bar recipe and I've made two batches these past two weeks and it's pretty good. I don't mind eating it at 4:45 in the morning and it keeps me going through rowing till 7:30, so I thought I would share in case anyone is interested!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup pitted, whole dates
3 tbsp vanilla protein powder**
3 tbsp natural smooth peanut butter or almond butter
3 tbsp water
pinch cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios
3 tbsp unsweetened, medium coconut flakes

Blend ingredients in a food processor till mostly smooth, or just chop them up fine. Put mixture onto some plastic wrap and mold it into a rectangle about 1" thick. Wrap it up and place in the freezer for 15 min, then cut into 5-6 bars. I keep mine refrigerated and grab before I head out the door.

**I subbed pumpkin seed protein powder (essentially just ground up pumpkin seeds) and added some chia and flax, because why not.

-Neva

Thanks for this!!

I have heard 9 out of 10 pedal strokes is to battle wind resistance. Aero would have to make a big difference. Would love to know avg speed difference from someone with a road bike and their tri bike...

Edited by shanehurley497 2014-06-09 9:17 AM

In reply to Lovey's earlier post regarding the shoes:

Wish we had something like this in my area. I'm looking for a good stability shoe with a wide toe box and a plush ride. Does anything you tested fit this description? I currently have the stability Newtons, which I do like, but they aren't as cushioned as I'd like.

Edited by GimpyRUNR 2014-06-07 8:12 PM

My first ride today was a 6- mile hills ride that took a whopping 42 minutes on my old mountain bike. Ouch! Looks like I have my work cut out for me and that I should probably think about getting a road bike once I feel a bit steadier. Too many years of spin classes have given me false confidence.

It can only get better from here, right?
Melissa

It wasn't easy, wasn't fun, I had to rest (hang on the side of a kayak), and I was very tense during it, but I did a little over 1/2 mile!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/516725915

Patrick, sorry for the delay, but I had a ton of yard work to catch up on and had to get it done this weekend (Wife has 10 friends coming over Tuesday night, so the yard and house has to be perfect)

The engine is the most important thing about a bike. You can have the best bike, all the aero gear, a perfect fit, but if you don't have your butt in the saddle riding on a regular bases then your endurance and speed will not improve much. Simply if you are going 18 on a road bike your engine work can get you pretty quickly to an average of 20 or close to it with work. Remember the pro's on the Tour De France average around 24 on road bike for over 100 miles with no aero bars or TT bike.

To your question: First off I can see no reason not to have aerobars on any road bike that is being used in a Tri. I say that to say this, do not alter the fit of your road bike for the aero bars. Leave everything the same on your road bike set up and adjust the bars and pads to where they feel most comfortable for you. I think that are also very good for practicing and letting you know whether or not you would even like a TT bike. Yes, you will get some speed benefit from putting them on your road bike but the amount of time your down will have a great effect on that. Don't think that you will jump up 2 mph but anything that makes you more aero (less wind resistant) will save you time. Now as far as going for the full on Tri bike, I can tell you that I went the road bike, then road bike with aero bars, then Tri bike and will never go back to a road bike again while I'm doing triathlons. Yes the TT bike will make you more aero and will save you time, but the biggest difference in my eyes was the geometry and the benefit that gave. A lot of people just think of TT as aero / increased speed, which it does, but for me the biggest difference was fresher legs. The geometry of a TT bike allows for the larger use of a muscle group that is not as heavily associated with running as what you use with a road bike. I can tell you this, do that be surprised if you are slower on a TT bike the first 5 to 10 rides, until you back and newly engaged muscles build up. So yes, in my opinion a TT bike will save you time, but to me is more important for the energy you save.

Let me add that when you hear about something being more aero or saving time, it does just that but may not be near what you think it is. For example they showed a stat at Kona a couple years ago, where an aero helmet worn by a pro saves them roughly 4 minutes over the course of the 112 mile ride. Now is that a time saver, yes, but take that and make it you in a sprint, not perfectly aero like them and you have 20 or so seconds (no real math there). So if you are losing a podium spot by that then it is worth it and if not, save the money, wear a comfortable helmet, and go work on something else. Another thing about super expensive aero wheels, most will not give you any real benefit until you average over 20 mph for the duration of your ride.

As always, if I did not properly address your question let me know.

Just my .02. I need a good stablilty shoe and have gone through similar struggles. I started out with an Asics Phoenix that was discontinued, then another one that never felt right, then Asics Gel Neo, which I loved, but they changed them and I tried the new Gel Neo 2 and hated them. So I switched and tried a pair of Brooks Pure Cadence, which I hated more than any pair that I have ever owned (something just felt funny and umfortable to me) I then read a bunch of reviews and gave the Pearl Izumi EM H3 Stabliltiy Shoes, which I like more than any pair I've worn. I've ran 100 miles on them thus far and ordered another pair. They have room, stabliltiy, are light, but not to minimal. I really like them. Keep looking you will find something, maybe give the Pearls a shot.

Yes Melissa it can, and I promise you that it will. You are absolutely right, spin bikes do make people believe that that will be stronger on the street than they are. It will come and like I just said about, time in the saddle is key and you will build the engine.

Nothing wrong with that, especially for a first go at open water swimming. You said it best when you said, "I was very tense during it". I can not emphasize enough how much relaxing and just putting one stroke in front of the other helps during a swim. The other thing that being tense does, is makes you more fatigued and sore once you get done. Sit in an chair and try to flex and hold as many muscles as possible and see how you feel, that is essentially what we do to ourselves something while swimming. Again Great Job, you pushed through, got it done, and have learned from it.

Thanks! And I'm very thankful that I did the swim now. My 1st tri is on Aug. 10th so I have plenty of time to work through this. Looking back, it took me about six sessions in a pool to loosen up so it makes sense that it'll take me that many times to get used to swimming in this totally different environment. I guess I also went into this 1st open-water swim over confident too.

I also know that I won't have to deal with the yuck-factor of yesterday's swim in the real race. I had to be towed by the kayak through about 40 yards of nasty weeds to get to the deeper water. And then the depth of the water did change and got shallow enough to where I was almost dragging my hands through the weeds/muck in places. I actually did the best where the water was deep and I could not see the bottom.

Good job getting out there for the OWS. There is a lot of mental play that comes with it (visual, temp, etc...) and just getting out there to practice before your race will make a tremendous difference.

And learning about differences in the conditions between shallow vs deep could help a lot with your strategy. I did a sprint tri a couple weeks ago where the course followed the coastline. I hugged the shallow waters, but in hindsight the conditions were better in the deeper water maybe another 50 feet out because you couldn't see the bottom muck being tossed around by the current.

Edited by cassowary 2014-06-09 1:42 PM

Thanks! Will definitely look into those Pearls. I had my very favorite Nikes that I ran in for 2 years, but they changed them (why, oh why must shoe manufacturers do this????) and they no longer worked for me.

How do I get from a 13 mph pace to 16 mph. Thank you. Suz

You will not like this answer, but it's RIDE! Time in the saddle is what helps to increase speed and your cycling endurance. One limiter thou can be if your on like a single speed bike for distance, or like a mountain bike for distance your speed will cap out much lower. You'd be surprised just how much your average will improve by being in good enough shape to not coast on a ride except when your going downhill a basically max speed.

All:

I am happy to report I completed my first Triathlon on Sunday, and survived!

I finished with in 1:50:35. A bit slower than I liked, but under my goal of 2:00:00 ( actually just to finish was the goal, but a time goal was a good place holder).

I learned a lot, also, I have a better understanding of what I need to work on as far as fitness goes. But most importantly: I have a blast and I want to do this again! I need to really focus more on core and bicycle. I had a great swim minus swimming into the exit dock, but once on the bike, I felt uncomfortable and others were blowing by me with ease. I see the discussion about aero bars, but the more i think about it, Todd is right. It's the engine that needs work. Once off the bike my back and sides started to hurt, and had to walk some of the run leg. I finished strong, and now know what to look for on the next event.

Thanks to all here for advice and inspires, in this group and previous groups. This site is such a tremendous resource! Thank you!

Mike