Scottt's Group - Closed (Page 9)

Embarrassing to admit but I know relatively NOTHING about bikes.  A friend of mine is a competitive cyclist and got me a deal on a Trek Madone 4.5 WSD.  It's sweet but like I would know any better!  Prior to this I rode my brother-in-law's old mountain bike - often referred to as VINTAGE - Rocky Mountain Blizzard with thin slicks.

I just googled your bikes - very sleek looking!

Fi,

I'm totally jealous of your trip to NZ.  What a fun place to do a race.  I've sailed regattas there twice and it has to be my most favorite place to go adventuring.

Great choice!

Alex,

I love my new Garmin (Christmas present).  I had Polar for 3 years and it worked great, but Garmin's GPS does not jump around as much and you can't beat the small size and lightness.

I train (running) more by pace than HR.  HR has become a reality check more than anything.

Sometimes my wife will ask where I am running and it is cool to be able to say "I don't know" and just go and have the Garmin tell me how far I went.

Here is an example of the output, if you download your data to GarminConnect: Sample Garmin Output

Great tool, if you use it.

Saddles are a very personal thing.  Softer may work for some, while harder may work for others.  My opinion is any saddle will be tough on the backside until you get many miles on it.  Feel free to try out others.  Look for a LBS that will let you try and return saddles.  (time in the saddle) is what will toughen up that area.  After trying may different saddles, I ended going back to the stock Felt OE saddle once I had put the miles in to get used to the pressure points, etc.  Go figure.

Jason,

You have gotten much more consistent the last five weeks.  I cannot comment on pace, since you are not logging pace, distance or HR.  If you feel you can't carry on a conversation during most of your workouts, then, yes, I'd say slow down.

Assuming your goal is to be ready for a sprint triathlon some time late this spring or summer, you've got a good start.  I would recommend ramping up your long workout times in each event to: swim=30 min., bike=50 min., run (or run/walk)=30 min.  I know running/walking is tough due to your weather up there.  Do what you can.

Try to devote 3 workouts/week to what you consider to be your weakest discipline and get in at least 2 sessions of the other two.

As for your vacation, that would be the time to get in a heavy dose of running/walking.  I suspect your accomodations may have a excercise room with the basics.  You are obviously well versed on using a spin bike or excercise bike.  Decent pools are hit or miss.  Given all the walking you likely will be doing anyway, I'd do several shorter, more intense runs with some time on the bike and whatever pans out as far as pools.

Jordan,

Sorry to hear that...

Most likely swimming will aid your recovery/healing in addition to give you a way to get the heart rate up during your "off" period.  You may fine spinning (bike) as low power/watts does not hurt or aggrevate your issue.