Disylizzy

Part II

cptmayhem summed it up nicely. Another way to justify the purpose of purchasing a wetsuit, is are you planning on doing triathlons after the IM? It's one of those pieces of equipment that once you have it, and you take good care of it, it will last a long time. You don't need a top of the line wetsuit, just something to keep you warm. I started out with a shorty, i.e. above knees and sleeveless, but have since upgraded to full wetsuit, but I use it in training and about 6 races a year. The obvious benefits, is warmth and bouyancy. And you never know what the water temperature is going to be like come race day, and if after a big rainfall the temp drops just enough that you can't compete or finish the swim comfortable, you're essentially wasting all the hours spent training for this race. So in short, if it was just a sprint or olympic distance, and maybe even a half, I would say it's not necessary, but for IM it's definitely a good piece of equipment to have, even if it's just for peace of mind.

I definitely agree that your average rider can greatly benefit from the use of a power meter. That would basically come down to quality vs. quantity training. That said, if you can incorporate HR training along with wattage rides, the improvements you will see are going to be tremendous! Basically this boils down to as your fitness level improves, you are able to sustain more power at a lower HR level. If you look at your power curve vs. the terrain that you're riding, your power increases whenever you're climbing up hills or breaking away from the pack. If you can control how much power you're using going uphill or breaking away, you become a more efficient rider over the whole race/ride. Some things that I use for training with wattage: You have your average wattage that you can maintain over a TT, say that's 170 watts (we'll call this AT). 1. When you go out for a ride, then try to average 75-80% of your AT. 2. Do intervals of a percentage of your AT, I've attached a sketch that of a workout I just did. 3. Week 1 work at 170W, week 2 work at 175, and week 3 recover at 160W. Check out the racermate website, aka computrainer website for the PIG (Performance Improvement Guarantee), it's a free workout that one of the coaches put together. It explains some of the information in more detail, and might give you an idea of how to train. Plus it's free! Here's the link: PIG So just my 2 cents.

Check's in the mail! Don't cash it until next year though!

Hot damn! I'm going to be shooting a music video, do you want to be in it?

A program helps big time. Another thing that helps is getting a buddy and suffering through the IDT together. Kind of pushing each other to see who can stay on the longest. Oh, and lots of good music!

Well Saint, send me a PM, and I can send you some swim workouts that I get from my coach, if you're interested. There's a huge group of us that meets once a week so 4 different workouts for all types of fitness levels.

I take it your still single?

Practice open water swimming, so you can work on your sighting.

I normally check my tire pressure before, but was running late this morning and forgot to. So I think it's totally feasible that it was a failure due to not being pumped up hard enough. Definitely an expensive lesson learned today... And to top it off earlier in the week I had a flat on my car tire because I picked up a 2-inch nail!!!

I believe that the IDT tire dissipates the heat a lot better than a normal road tire. I'll see what the LBS has and may just go with a gatorskin, that's what I had on my last bike that I used on the IDT, and it was in one piece!

So went to spinning class, and 15 min into an hour class my tire started delaminating. Finished the class, but was definitely WTF!!! So tomorrow of to buy another tire...

Red Robin!!! Yuummmm!!!! I would just like to point out to you guys that this thread is torturous to us Saffers over the pond!!! I would give anything for a Steers or Spur burger right now!!!

Test rode the Rockhopper Pro 29er yesterday and all I can say is: It's a bit more than what I had anticipated to be spending on a bike, but really really really like it. So my questions are the following: 1. Do I go with the bottom of the line rockhopper (Comp 29er), just to have a bike? 2. Do I spend a little more money and get the Expert, and have slightly better components? 3. Do I spend just a bit more and get the Pro, and have really good components? I'm just starting out, so I don't want to get a bike just to have a bike. But if I really get in to MTBing, I want to know that I don't need to upgrade my bike for a long time. Here's a pic of the Pro 29er:

Kudos to you, and to all the guys that are out there supporting their significant others in joining them in cycling!

As long as you know your setup is correct, it takes some getting used to the position. If pains keep persisting after quite a few rides, then get your setup checked again. As for control, practice, practice, practice!

Maybe say that you think this is a cool opportunity for her, that you do feel uncomfortable that she's interacting with her ex this way, but you support whatever decision that she makes. That way she know's you're behind her, but she knows how you feel.

I would say let her do it. The fact that she asked you, means that she does care about what you think. I think she would appreciate your support a lot.

You guys keeping eating all your waffles and donuts, you're gonna need to cycle a lot more to burn all those calories!

couldn't resist...

1:2.5 for 2 bikes

Congrats! You'll enjoy it! Like previous posters said, try to get in your brick workouts. Even if you go for a 1mile run after the bike ride, because your legs will then get used to transitioning from the bike to the run. Plus my one coach tells me that after the bike, every mile you run is the equivalent of 3 because you're fatigued. Oh, and practice your fueling during your training!

I think it may have been because your couch wasn't to scale...

Definitely feeling the love here!