Hello from Pensacola, FL

Welcome John!  I am over in New Orleans as you may be able to tell and I am also doing the IM Florida (actually there are a few of us BTers doin it).  Love P'cola, so I may be back and forth doing some training over there also.   We will have to get together for some rides/runs.

Hi John, I'm from Ft. Lauderdale so welcome from a fellow Floridian...glad you finally joined the forum. Best of luck with your training towards an IM!

Het Cavu9,
Let me know when you are gonna make it over this way. I usually do Saturday AM rides, sometimes with the group from DragonSports.
Also, if you're ever in town during the week, I coach the Masters group M-W-F 5:00AM and you are welcome as my guest.
I am eager to hear your race report from Memphis in May.

John

Lisa,
Thanks. If you're ever looking for a race that's not too far away, we have some nice ones up this way.
www.sritri.org (Santa Rosa Island Triathlon) is a great race.

John

Hey John -
Welcome! As far as SRI tri, I signed up for last year, but got "hurricaned out"! Am looking forward to doing it this year though. I am in Gulfport, MS about 2 hours from you. My family and I love to come over there to go to Navarre Beach! My favorite restaurant over there is in Gulf Breeze called The Creamery Cafe (awesome salads!)
Good luck in IM Florida!
Terri

Welcome John~

You will soon be a favorite offering free swim advice!

I'm in B'ham and love your part of the country, the kids and I come down often.

Happy Tri-Training and good luck with getting your run where you want it to be.

Kristi

I actually live in Gulf Breeze and work about a mile from the Creamery. Hopefully SRI tri goes off this year.
Are you doing any other races over this way?

Kristi,
Although proportionately, swimming is the shortest leg, it gives alot of athletes big trouble.
I have some theories about making that first discipline a little less troublesome.
Ask away if you have any questions!


John

swim master lessons m w f .. . Shesssh I gotta get somebody to do that at my club. Swimming pool is almost alway empty. MN dont swim too much... I guess its the cold eh?

IM holy cow... 5 years is plenty of time to gear up though.. .when did you tackle your first half? When did you tackle you first olympic tri?

Can you really swim the 1 mile using freee stly ethe whole distance ?? Is that really possible? I expired after roughly 125 yards.... and switch to breast stroke for a final 200. Then I start all over again after a 30 second break.... Any recommendations to build up an endurance to free stlye doing the 200, 300, 400?

Thx in advance.

Rabka,
It might be the cold of MN, or maybe there's just no Masters coach to get it all started.

I started off with tri's in Japan where it seems Olympic distance was the norm. So my first 2-3 tri's were Oly. I tried a psuedo-half after about a year. It's called Izena88. That's 88 kilometers. 2K swim, 66K bike, 20K run. My first true half was Gulf Coast Half Ironman in 2003.
As far as swimming the entire distance free... I started competitive swimming at 9 and swam up through college and beyond. So I may have it a bit easier than the "non-swimmer". I would hazard a guess that the reason you only swim 20% free is that the breathing part of free is an issue for you. If that's the case, I would recommend mixing in some drill work as you increase your yardage. Let me know what you think is keeping from swimming more continuous free and maybe I can recommend some drills.

John

That is cool that you work so close to the Creamery. Do you eat there at all?
Are there any other Tri's in that area? All I know I am doing this year is Memphis in May (with Team In Training) and Tri4God near Jackson, MS.

Hey Pcola, I usually go to the area from Middle Tennessee a couple of times a year for a little family vacation. I haven't talked to anyone from the area since the hurricane. How bad did the area really get hammered? Specifically the Gulf Shores/Fort Morgan area? I am planning a trip down and would like to know if it will be "ready" for business as usual by spring?

THanks Murry. my percentage of free for a full mile is roughy 30% not 20%... My breathing is one per stroke... I used to do 2 stroke breath but found myself gasping to much.... I know I have several years before I can get to a full mile just doing free... maybe even longer...i dunno. Besides breathing I think its also my frame and arm strenght. I am 6'6" and have long arms so my arms get pretty tired after 4-5 laps. I have been strength training lately to improve my upper body strength based on that arm strength theory.

i will most likely do the full olympic for the first time... a bit scary but I have 6 months to train for it ... so I should be ok... I HOPE.

Regards

Terri,
The Creamery is a local favorite... very popular. Yes, I do occasionally eat there, was just there the other day. Good food!
We have a few other races in the area:
~~Abitaman holds one of their series races here in Navarre, around April.
~~Grandman is on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay in early Jume
~~Destin Crab Trap is in early October.
Note: Because of the damage from hurricane Ivan some races may be shortened or cancelled altogether.
Hope to see to down this way some time!

John

John-
I almost forgot about the Abitaman series. I am new to tris, so this is still pretty new to me. I love the Navarre area, nice and flat!!!!!!!
When I get down that way, I will give you a shout!
Terri

Rabkaman,
I recommend a Masters program if available.
Things I believe you can concentrate on:
- Body position- be able to balance your torso while in the prone position is important. We practice this often at our workouts. We try to get our heels to pop up to the top. See "Total Immersion" literature for more info.
- Head position- goes along with body position obviously. Makes sure you are looking at the bottom of the pool and when you breath your whole torso should roll to the side which will make it easier for you to breath. Picking your head up to the front will drive your legs down.
- Efficiency- another aspect that we spend a lot of time on. I have the swimmers count strokes. We work on DPS(distance per stroke) or low stroke count. I'm not so much interested on your time as I am interested on how you feel going into T-1.
Use a planned program that will increase your yardage and efficiency.
-Drills- Use different drills to improve problem areas. There are a myriad of freestyle drills out for you to choose from.

Hope this helps

John

Special,
This area(Pensacola/Gulf Breeze) took quite a beating. Just last week they opened up Pensacola Beach to non-residents. Anyone along the water, that includes not only the Gulf, but the bays and sounds, were devastated. Most homes that were not on stilts were completely washed away.
I took a trip down along West Beach/Gulf Shores area about a month ago. Most home were still there, but almost all lost there decks and steps up to the houses. The roads were okay. I'm sure they will not be opened to full capacity even in 6 months.

John