kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2012 - CLOSED (Page 81)

I wouldn't think it would be creating bad habits unless you did 100% of your workouts with it.  I look at it as an opportunity to work on certain aspects of your stroke (as long as you're still rotating your hips and not swimming flat). 

The point of practice is to make it harder on yourself so that at game time you can just worry about the race.  Plus: what if you have a wetsuit illegal race?  dont rely on crutches.

UPSTATE NY all wetsuits!!  Even IM LP.

I do agree with trainig harder in practice However I can do that with a pull bouy & paddles.

you are not disagreeing with me .  I use a pull buoy when i do certain drills so i can focus on my arms or shoulder, but thats 200 yards or so in a 2-3k set.  Lots of people use the buoys because they cant swim a particular distance without it.  If thats the case, its better to work on the problem (dropping legs).  

AND, buoy users, dont tell me your "legs just dont float".  I have football player legs.  I sink like a freaking stone, legs first.  If i can do it so can you.  Personally, I credit the Total Immersion program with whatever swim technique i have. 

Maybe not in Chicagoland this year, it has been in the 80's every day and the lakes don't even open for 2 1/2 months ....  Last year out OW swim lake got up to 90 water temp!

Anyone seen anything about what this warm weather is expected to do for the rest of the summer?  I am very worried that if we are regularly in the 80's in Chicago in March, what will the summer look like?  It's nice, but I am a bit terrified because I am not a great warm weather runner.

Not true - last year IMLP was wetsuit illegal.  

I have done a sub 11 hr IM and realize that IM racing will always be wetsuit illegal for me as I am  not tring to go to KONA

Presumably 2 hours of that arent spent in the water.  Only way i'll ever make it to Kona is the lottery or maybe being the only person who shows up in 80+ AG when eligible.  but why wear the wetsuit if it is not legal under the rules?  Plus, i cannot imagine swimming for an hour or so in 78+ degree water with a wetsuit.  Seems like a recipe for heat stroke.

I guess we are agreeing  I don't exactly know why I wanted to defend the pull buoy in the first place....I could do without it and be just fine.  I'm just feeling argumentative today.  LOL

Wait....so you'll wear a wetsuit even if they deem it illegal (and you've already gone sub 11?!!!)???  Why, for the sake of curiosity?  Jeff is right.  You're going to get overheated quickly.  They make it illegal for a reason.  3 of my races last year were too warm for the suit.  

There are other reasons to use a pull buoy than do drill work.  Jeff-y is correct that many people use it as a crutch, but there can be benefits to swimming higher yardage with the pull buoy as well (e.g. super easy recovery swim or fcoused arm set for a person who doesn not have body position issues). 

Also from observation, I find that a pull buoy is a bigger aid to men than women.  Women tend to have a decent amount of adipose tissue on their hips and thighs, which allows them to maintain a better swim position without the oull buoy. 

Last year at IMTX several people decided to wear wetsuits.  By the end of the swim many of them had unzipped or removed the tops because of over heating.  If the water is above 76 degrees, it is really too warm to be in a wetsuit (it also drove me crazy at IMLP last year when lots of big guys in wetsuits wanted to hold onto my non-wetsuit overed legs). 

You should see the hundreds of posts arguing whether it's good form or not to wear a wetsuit at IMTX this year in my tri club forum.  Holy s^*t.  WTC really needs to address this and make one hard cut off line. Of course they won't because it may cause someone not to fork over the money to race and they are about the money after all.

Fun blog:  http://badig.com/2012/03/the-rules-to-being-a-triathlete/

If a crappy swimmer wears a wetsuit in 83 degree water when the air temperature is in the 80s - 90s and the humidity is 100% they won't come out of the swim "fresher," they'll come out of the swim dehydrated and over heated. 

For those of you who were interested in making a donation here's the link for Mary Egger's Duel in Pool with Lance Armstrong:

http://www.teenslivingwithcancer.org/duel-in-the-pool

All proceeds benefit Teens Living With Cancer and the Livestrong Foundation.

Also Michele -- I think you should shoot Mary an e-mail about your story:

http://ironmomma.com/2012/03/21/stories-of-cancer/

It's a wonderful sport.  You'll be making your comeback in the pool soon enough!

It's something they make you do at the beginning of a triathlon.  Some people hate it, some love it, but everyone must get in the water prior to race day if they want to make it to the next leg of the race.

An invention of the Devil.