Wyld Hair On A Tangent Group -FULL (Page 9)

Well, spoke to soon about the weather.  There is something seriously depressing about being on the 27 cog and struggling to go 7 mph... on flat ground.  There were steady winds of 15-20 mph the entire way and gusts up to 35-40, plus most of my ride is next to the water of a huge reservoir.  Those winds coming off the water were miserable.  Seems like I always forget about the lake winds this time of year.  It only took one ride to put me back in my place. I guess that's the price I pay for having something as awesome as the Natchez Trace to ride on all the time.  Of course, anyone who rides it down here will tell you that if the wind is in your face on the way out, and it will be... don't get to excited about coming back in, because the wind is still gonna be in your face.

As for your swimming, just float.  Yep, just get in the water and try to float with your arms straight out and your legs straight behind you.  When you've got that, start kicking.  Doesn't matter how slow you go.  Just keep those legs straight, but not locked.  The biggest problem I see with new or inexperienced swimmers is they kick from the knee down.  Ya kick from the hips, and the leg remains relaxed but straight.  When those knees bend, your back end sinks, you start kicking harder, but you don't go faster, and yet you burn more oxygen, then it feels like you can't breathe, and therefore you have to stop all the time in total exhaustion.

It's sort of like crawling before you walk.  Get balanced, get kicking, get stroking, now you're swimming.

GorgeousGeorge - 2010-01-24 12:46 PM

Thanks!  I really wanted to go, but wanted someone else to say so, so that I could mentally justify it   As for finding a place around here, I live in Bham, which I hate!  In the few years I've been out of school, I've lived in KC, Dallas, Atlanta, NY, Charlotte, and i'm pretty sure Birmingham is the antithesis of those places (except KC - hated the midwest too).   I grew up in Alabama and always said I would never move to Birmingham.  Well, the Bank I worked for in Charlotte was based in Bham and when they said I was coming back, there wasn't much I could do in this economy.  Anyway, I say that to say that Birmingham has very limited options when it comes to doing anything.  I'll ask around though.

Btw, I have several fraternity brothers from Alpharetta.  We also have a lot of family in Hoschton, GA, up around Buford, which i'm sure you're familiar with. 

Regions Bank I'm guessing?  Sucks you couldn't stay up in Charlotte.  My sister used to live there, and I loved going up there. 

As for your breathing, grab the wall with both hands and start kicking.  Put your head under, breathe out, lift your head out, breathe in, put your head under, breathe out... and so on.

It won't much help your rotation on your breath or anything like that, but it'll get you used to exhaling under water.

Make sure they check the rim tape.  There's only three reasons I can think of for flatting on the trainer.  1)  Rim tape isn't on right and some spoke holes are exposed, or a pinch flat 2) Seriously, seriously, seriously over inflated... doubt this is the reason 3) There is something like shard of metal or glass on the interior of your tire.

I actually flatted for the first time in three years on my ride Saturday, which brings up another tip:  If you can take two CO2 cartridges, then do it... especially if it's been a while since you used it.  The first one went off in my inflator, but luckily I had two and got it to work. 

Hello everyone,

Good to see that there is a lot of posting and training going on.

I was unfortunatley a bit sidetracked by an ugly virus infection. Had the feeling that someone forgot some nails or knifes in my throat. As I eating was so painful I lost almost 2 kg.

Enough of the moaning. If not Karen will say that it is true that all ill men are whiners :-)

I will do a short trainer ride this evening to get back in the rhythm!

Take care

YouYou

It's sort of like the question how do I become a better biker.  Answer:  Ride lots.  In general, to become a better swimmer:  Swim lots.

Now for kicks...

I'll just start off and say who cares how fast you go in kick drills.  I've been #2 overall out of the water in a local sprint, top 10% in most area races, and top 20% overall in the New Orleans 70.3.  In the masters class I used to go to, I was the absolute dead last person by a wide margin for all our kick sets.  Reason being, at least the reason I think is accurate, is that in distance swimming (especially for tris) the legs are not used significantly for propulsion.  In a 50?  Hell yeah you kick your legs like your trying to beat sharks off you.  In a 500+ before you have to bike and run... not so much.

A strong kick in distance swimming doesn't mean your legs act like a propeller on a boat.  A strong kick in distance swimming means you efficiently use your lower half to maintain balance, stay streamlined, and to make sure you don't sap all that precious oxygen with wasted movements.

My kick drills were NEVER about getting faster with my kick.  It was all about strengthening my core and fine tuning my rhythm and rotation.  The fins simply served to add resistance and slow the entire process down so I could find flaws.  When I did basic on my stomach free kicks, I didn't use a kick board, I had my hands out in front, and I focused on my hips.  Was I rolling or was I rotating?  Was it from the hips or from the chest?  Am I bending my knees?  That sort of stuff.  Then, the majority of my kick sets were on the back, fly kicks, side kicks, on the back fly kicks, and on the side fly kicks.  Those are the sets were I felt my hips and core truly get thrashed.  They were purely for getting a strong core, which in turn made me a stronger swimmer with better form and position, which meant I wasted less energy, which made me faster and more prepared to hop on the bike.

All this swimming talk is killing me since I'm sans pool at the moment  Granted, it's of my own accord, but at our tri club meeting last night, we found out that a deeeeep discount for pool only use may be in store at a local gym.  And it's the 20 something lane when set for 25, but can also be set up for long course pool.  I hope this thing comes through.

I'll give you this piece of advice... Do not worry about your time right now.  With beginner swimmers, the most important thing is finding proper form.  Slow it down, focus on your balance and form, and ease your way across the pool.  Stop... think about how it felt, did you notice anything glaringly wrong?  Usually you can.  Ok.... now go, for only 25 more, but focus on that one thing you know is wrong.  Stop... think about how it felt, did you notice anything glaringly wrong?  Usually you can.  Ok... now go, for only 25 more, but focus on that one thing you know is wrong.  Stop...

I'm repeating myself on purpose.  You have to learn how to swim properly before you can go and swim longer and swim faster.  You'll probably find that when you do learn to swim properly, you'll knock a huge chunk of time off and you'll be able to swim hundreds of yards more at a time.  It's not like cycling.  With that, you buy a bike, get fit, and start riding, then you ride more, and more, and more, and more.  Unfortunately, you can't just start from scratch, jump in the pool and swim more, and more, and more, and more, and more.  If you do what I mentioned above and it takes you an hour to do 500yds, 25yds at a time, then so be it.  That's probably better for a beginner swimmer than swimming poorly for 1500 yds.

Build your endurance on the bike.  When you get in the pool right now, get in with the goal of learning how to swim properly.  When that comes, and it will, then start pounding out the sets.