SBR Utopia - OPEN (Page 93)

Yes, I do remember that thread. The vid in there helped to make some noticeable progress before (I'm very much a copycat). Will try doing more of the kick when I can. Should putting my arms at my sides help out, like they do in the vid?

Forgot about looking at Zoomers! I have both TYR Split Fins and the Aquasphere Alpha swim fins. I like the Alphas better, but they're big enough that they really mess with my timing on the full stroke, making things worse. I also tend to jump off my feet instead of working the body motion.

Agree 100% - I was tempted with the stealth logo, but ultimately decided on the white with grey since it will match my SC perfectly.  I think they must have created it for that bike!  I took a look at the FLO site a couple of hours after yesterday's release started and all they have left are some front 60's, everthing else is gone.  I find it interesting so many people would opt for the 90 over the 60 when the data seems to point you to the 60 as a better choice.

Here's what I like.  I've got some historical data now that I can refer to - I could do that with my times that I wrote into BT manually, but this is all exportable and you can play with it, etc.  I like being able to see how my swim pace are going to track over time, it will be nice to see progress (or lack of it).

Another big one for me is stroke count.  I'm not necessarily aiming for the lowest stroke count possible, but it is nice to see what lowering/increasing the count does relative to my pace.  But the bigger piece of that is how long does it take for my stroke count to start to fall off.  I want to really see this on longer sets, or as I start to bump the volume - again, can I stay consistent, and do I improve that consistency over time.

And lastly, I race slower than I swim in the pool.  I really want to get some metrics from OWS before race season starts so I can see if how I swim in a lake is much different than how I swim in the pool.  Hopefully, I can make some improvements once I note the differences.

Yahoo! Was able to swim/bike/lift yesterday with little pain in my foot! 

Biked for 10 mins on stationary bike, was good little bit of soreness, swim did not feel any pain at all, of course used my other leg for one legged pushed offs, took it very easy most of the time did a fast 100 to test it and it was all good. 

Not running for three months, no problem

Love this list!  Especially the extra activites list ALWAYS HAVE PROTECTION!

I lay out four piles on my bed.  One is Swim One is Bike and One is Run than the fourth is all my stuff for the weekend. Then I throw them into two separate bags, race stuff and personal stuff.  I can't use a list it drives me nuts.  It helps me with mental prep as well, kind of a pre-race walk through. 

The Garmin uses an accelerometer to figure out your lengths -- I find that when I'm doing kick sets, there isn't a very defined turn, so it generally doesn't count that length.  When I fill out my logs, I have to remember that we did 5x100 kick sets or whatever, and add it in there.  For "typical" drills, it hasn't had any issues with keeping track of lengths....I can't remember if it was able to figure out the sculling lengths I've done (it's not a drill we do often...). 

When I first got my 910, I would analyze the data like crazy....pouring over SWOLF and efficiency and watching for trends and whatnot.  Honestly, now, I don't really pay attention to much other than time, distance, and time/100.  It might be interesting to go back and look at what I was doing in June, 2012 (when I got it) and now. 

I mostly use it as a fancy stopwatch and lap counter (though I obsessively count laps still!).  All of my Master's swims are done in an outdoor pool while it's still dark out....the pool is lit, but the surrounding area isn't lit well, so I have a really hard time seeing the clock.  I'll often use my watch to know my intervals, rather than watching the clock.  One of my Master's coaches (a non-triathlete) does give me some crap about using a watch, but it's mostly in jest.  He says that some people end up using it as a crutch -- though I'm not entirely sure how.  I just use it to keep track of time and distance so I can put it in my logs reasonably accurately.

Had a couple good swims over the past two days.  I wish more aquabike events were put on....I really enjoy swimming and cycling.

I'm terrible for organizing myself for a race.  Ironman is probably the only one where I was (semi) careful and made a list of what I would need.  I've gone to races and not had my Garmin for the run (no biggie) but my wife and I were driving to a race that was 4 hours away once and about an hour into the drive she said "You remembered your wetsuit right?".  Nope!  I had no wetsuit, no goggles.  Normally I would just tough it out but this was an ocean race in late June and I'm not that tough!  The worst part was that at the time she mentioned it, we were half way across a $40 toll bridge.  Fortunately my wife managed to sweet talk the toll booth dude to let us across for free when we went back across the second time.

Long story short, being organized helps!  I just suck at it.  

Going a bit sideways here but if you are ever bored in a kick set, practice a flip turn with a kick board.  I was doing them the other day and once I had a few tries, I was able to do it well and gave me something more interesting to think about.    The 910 may pick that up properly.

I had a good swim with the swim team kids this morning.  Not a ton of distance for how long we were in the water but some good pacing practice and some fast 50s.  My legs are finally feeling more or less normal after the HM on the weekend.  Other than IM, I don't think I've ever felt the residual effects of a race for so long after.

Good idea Arend - next time I wear the swimsense I will give that a whirl - I do all my kick sets without a kick board, so I am not sure why I do slow open turns in the first place? Oh, wait - now I remember - it is because my kick is so bad I don't go into the wall with nearly enough velocity to execute a proper flip turn...

I would like to think that FLO would have planned to mass produce the Front 60 far more than the 90 due to anticipated demand.  So maybe that's why the front 60 is the only one left.  I think the guys at FLO are smart enough to know that most of their clientell are triathletes who would opt for a disc cover on their current rear training wheel.  They have openly advertised their disc as basically being a spoked wheel with a permanant cover attached, so I think a lot of people are like you in that they are simply opting to cover their current training wheel instead of getting a FLO disc or covering a FLO 60 or 90 rear.

Hah, I think I'll give that a try and see if the 910 picks it up.  I'm guessing it'll take a few attempts to actually get a reasonable flip turn in!

I just learned flip turns a few months ago (I think it was late November and my coach said, "It's time to learn flip truns, Nicole."  He told me how to do them, had me practice a few times, and then said, "Okay, good -- I don't ever want to see you do an open turn again."  They were awkward for a while, but eventually became faster than my open turns....then I tried flip turning with a pull buoy and it was awkward again.  Then I got paddles and did a flip turn with them and found out that I did all kinds of stupid crap with my hands!  Fixed that, so now I guess it's time to try it with a kick board!

I need a wife.

I remember that story well, Axenchilly

And may I remind everybody the condoms are for riding THE BIKE! The bike!!!

Don't know what to say about the wheel, but I did once run into my car with my other car. Also, my dog ran the car into the side of the house, making the carport collapse and wrecking the car. Not to mention the side of the house.

Okay, I'm in full-on taper madness. Please carry on.

I agree.  I think the front 60 accounted for almost half of what they were offering yesterday - I know they only had 20 discs available.  I just wonder why someone picks a 90 over a 60 other than "I look good with a really deep wheel".

Well, if people made purchases strictly based on data and cost/saving ratios...you would see far more people with aero helmets, race tires, and latex tubes.  I find it truely amazing that you can walk into a LBS and have your choice of 4-12 different race wheels priced anywhere from $700-1400 each...yet they can't even stock latex tubes.

TriAya - 2013-02-22 11:41 AM

Don't know what to say about the wheel, but I did once run into my car with my other car. Also, my dog ran the car into the side of the house, making the carport collapse and wrecking the car. Not to mention the side of the house.

Okay, I'm in full-on taper madness. Please carry on.

dogs are notoriously bad drivers Yanti. Even yours, it appears. I'm enjoying atlanta's southern hospitality. Peach smoothie for b'fast. 5 waves from people I don't know on this morning's run. Then the barista at S'bucks called me "Miss" Kim. Good to be back down here.

could someone give a quick tutorial on latex tubes. Pros/cons and when/why you use them?

Is there any disadvantage to having a master link in your chain?

I was just thinking about doing that for when I travel with my bike so that I don't need to deal with a chain tool.

Sure thing. 

Pros
1.  Latex lowers rolling resistance.  Sort of in the same way that race tires does.
2.  Considering you can get a pair of latex tubes for under $30, it's probably the best bang for your buck.  A 5 watt savings can be equivalent to shaving 35-45 seconds over 40k.

Cons
1.  They are a pain to install properly.
2.  They bleed air over time.  Nothing you need to be worried about for a race so long as you pump up your tires the night before or preferably the morning of.  They may lose about 10-15 psi over 24 hours.

Important notes.  Most people only use latex for racing.  They cost 3x as much as a regular tube, so there is no need to train on them and risk flatting.  Also, most people do not carry latex as a spare, even during races.  Mostly because they are a PITA to install properly.

Both of my bikes have masterlinks.  I always carry an extra masterlink with me just in case.  It's so cheap and small, yet can be so valuable.

I also find that a combination of latex tubes and good tires makes for a more comfortable ride as well.  

You have to be *really* careful when installing them.  Make sure rim tape is good and there are no spoke holes showing an edge.  Small things like that that a butyl tube may be ok with will puncture a latex tube in a heartbeat.  Note I'm not saying you are more likely to flat while riding with them, this only applies during the installation.

The lower rolling resistance shows up better with faster tires. Don't need *the* fastest, but using them with Gatorskins probably won't make much difference.

As far as I know, latex doesn't really repair well, so it tends to be replace it or get a ride. Some say they can do it, but it doesn't seem easy. Has this changed? There is no increased risk of flatting once they are installed properly. Also with the bleeding air, many use CO2 during races and this will leak out ridiculously fast in latex. I forget if it'll survive a sprint race, but pretty much forget about trying on long course.

What about the extenders did you get sick of?

That's what I thought! I was surprised my chain didn't have one. I went ahead and replaced one of the links with a master while I was practicing breaking my bike down for travel. Good idea about carrying an extra. I will do that too.