Calling all triathletes - current and former

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Former Member — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:50:25 GMT

Oh and thanks for that link Chris. It looks like the Vineman is the one for me. It is the only one on the west coast! You swim in the Russian River!

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Former Member — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:43:29 GMT

Of course some triathlete purists don't like the event. Yeah, I have been snooping around online and run across some pretty nasty elitism regarding the Aquabike. Oh well, when those folks blow out their knees or get visited by the arthritis fairy, they will undoubtedly throw their full support into such events, and probably want to exclude anyone who CAN run from them.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Former Member — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:55:52 GMT

Yay! I have my eye on the Vineman Half Iron distance for next summer. It will be so fun to do an event with family members!

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Former Member — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:28:55 GMT

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Chris Stevenson — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:56:01 GMT

Elise, I'd like to hear more about your experience with the AquaBike event you mentioned doing. I am medically not permitted to run either due to a spinal deformity, but I can swim and bike fine. I come from a family of ultra-marathoners and Ironmen/women and I feel a little left out. Can you tell us a little more about your AquaBike experience? Thanks, Willow Sorry for jumping in here...USAT recently has started sanctioning these kind of events. See: www.usatriathlon.org/.../OtherDisciplines.aspx I can't run either (bad knees) and I've done a few of these events, usually either Olympic distance or IM 70.3 distance. It is fun to head to the hospitality tent after racking your bike. The number of local/regional opportunities to do aquabike races (they go by various other names sometimes) are increasing in this area; as baby boomers age and get more (running) injuries I suspect the popularity will increase even more. Of course some triathlete purists don't like the event.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

elise526 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:49:48 GMT

Elise, I'd like to hear more about your experience with the AquaBike event you mentioned doing. I am medically not permitted to run either due to a spinal deformity, but I can swim and bike fine. I come from a family of ultra-marathoners and Ironmen/women and I feel a little left out. Can you tell us a little more about your AquaBike experience? Thanks, Willow Willow - You will love the aquabike event as much as I did. Many hosts of triathlons are now incorporating this event into the triathlon. It is treated like a separate category such as masters, beginner, clydesdale, etc. within the triathlon, so you are only scored against other folks doing the aquabike. You start the triathlon at the same time as the folks doing the full triathlon. The only difference is that your race is over as soon as you cross the line into the bike/run transition area. Kind of nice that you get to be done while everybody else has to take off for the run. USAT came up with this idea three years ago to encourage folks to stay in competition who were not able to run because of a variety of reasons. It seems to have been successful so far and the field grows each year. You will find it at many half-ironman events and even on sprint triathlon events. Give it a shot!

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Trichica — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:08:05 GMT

I am a triathlete who when she grows up, wants to be a swimmer!!! I wanted to do tris at the age of 40--big problem--did not know how to swim (at all--not even put face in water) or ride a bike. Learned to do both. But, my swim coach after a year invited me to swim with him at a local masters. I thought I was going to die. However, the masters coach said to me at the end of practice, see you on Monday. Three years later--still on that masters team. In the winter swim with the team 3-4 times a week; in the summer, I swim twice a week with team and on weekends in open water. Yes, when I grow up, I want to do a swim meet. Go back to the top--I just learned how to swim....so our AWESOME director of Masters, Patrick Cantrell held a clinic for us because I did not know how to dive or do flip turns and I asked him to help find a place where I could learn. He did help me enormously and I am hoping next season to be able to do both well enough to enter a meet. As for tri training, on the off days, I lift, spin and run. I do sprint and oly tris, so that is enough for me. Now, in the summer, on weekends, I go for a ride (and my other car happens to be a cervelo) and then run and then hit the local pool or the bay depending on the weather. The swimming helps me because of my knees. I can only take so much pounding and I mash on the bike. Swimming relieves the stress. I love swimming and appreciate masters and what it has to offer. I get annoyed when people say to the coach, but I would rather do yardage rather than sets for my upcoming tri. My response would be, that is why we also have a tri swim team and there are open lanes. Our masters team also has some killer tri folks on it who do IM distances and several who place in national tris.....but they do the sets and love them. I think it depends on you and what you enjoy the most. I am not out to win at the tris, just to do better than last time and stay fit. As for swimming, I cannot get enough or learn enough. I want so badly to be a better swimmer. I am an attorney and so I work out every day at 5:00 am even on weekends. By 8:00, someone is just about starting to look for me. Good luck--you can do both. I train with many excellent triathletes who also particpate in swim meets.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

elise526 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:40:49 GMT

Thrashing Slug - I agree with you that the bike and the swim seem to help each other, particularly in the kick sets. One of my favorite sets is 10 x 100 dolphin kick on 2:00 or 5 x 100 dolphin kick on 1:45 (no fins of course!). This seems to really work my core and my legs. Great job on your race this past Sunday! Blackbeard's Peg - Maybe we can get you to join the small group of us that wear an HR monitor when we swim. I'm a big believer in the HR monitor because like swimshark's dad, it helped identify an underlying medical condition. I started doing triathlons in 2000-2001 and really got hooked. By 2003, I was actually starting to get decent at them and thus, had big goals and big dreams. Starting in 2004, however, my performance started to decline dramatically to the point I had to walk the run of the last triathlon I did in 2006. I did not understand what was wrong. I tried backing off, etc. and nothing seemed to work. I got my answer one night when I was wearing my HR while running on the treadmill. I had finished my run, been off the treadmill for 20 minutes, and was talking to somebody when I looked down and noticed that my HR was 140! I thought it strange and figured my HR was broken, but when I felt my wrist, my pulse rate was out the roof for somebody just standing still having a conversation. I had a friend take it and he got in he neighborhood of 140. When I sat down, it dropped to 60 in 15 seconds (my resting HR is 50). When I stood back up, it jumped to 136 in 1 minute and stayed up that high while I was just standing still. Anyway, to make a long story short (I know this is a long post already), I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. My cardiologist is a swimmer and a triathlete, so he has been very understanding of my situation. Many with my diagnosis are put on beta blockers but my doc said this would change my VO2 max. He felt I could continue to compete and not take beta blockers if I was very diligent about monitoring my HR while training and staying well-hydrated. I've done three masters meets since I was diagnosed 2 years ago, but have yet to do a triathlon. It was a challenge to train to swim at Nationals and not make too much of a fool out of myself. I'm hoping now to take on the challenge of training to compete in a short, sprint triathlon.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Muppet — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:54:33 GMT

Turn in your USMS card, you are now banned! If you can't find your card, look in Stud's Euro Man Carry All purse. I figure he has a few of those given his recent love of the needlepoint. I do own a HR Monitor. Certainly not the watch style folks are talking about using in the pool (I do the finger thing when doing HR sets). It came with the computer gizmo I bought for my bike 2 or 3 years ago. For the record, I've used it once. :oldman:

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Former Member — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:06:21 GMT

Hey, maybe that's the purpose of the ubiquitous Mankini - to keep the heart rate monitor in place. :lmao: On the original point.. I too am a triathlete, although swimming is definitely my favorite of the three disciplines. This past winter I stopped biking entirely except for the occasional ride on the trainer. I swam between 3 and 5 times a week, ran maybe 2 to 3 times a week, and lifted weights. I did a few swim meets in the spring. Then I switched over to "triathlon mode". Started commuting on the bike, doing long rides on the weekends, bricks. Simultaneously kicked up the run training - more intervals, speedwork, hills, and threshold runs.. while ratcheting down the swimming. No more 4 or 5X a week, no more breaststroke-specific days. :( Started doing some open water swims, both with and without the wetsuit. All of this seems to be working pretty well, because my results from the sprint triathlon on Sunday were 10 minutes better than last year's last sprint. That really isn't as great as it sounds, last year was a slow year because I worked too much and trained inconsistently. Also I can probably attribute around 2 minutes to the new bike chain which no longer pops off on hills.. Still, it is good to know I'm on the right track, and I haven't been injured in a long while. Overall I like my current balance of training. I've got my bike speed back and I'm gradually getting more comfortable with running. I wouldn't necessarily recommend my "training plan" to any triathletes, since it involves ignoring the bike for 4 months. For me it's not a problem since biking is my strongest suit and I do a whole lot of kicking and fin swimming. I find that legwork in the pool translates pretty well to the bike, but nothing carries over to the run. The only thing that improves my running is running. Other people's results may vary. For me, it is a worthwhile trade-off so I can focus more on swimming during the winter.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Chris Stevenson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:18:00 GMT

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

elise526 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:12:24 GMT

To answer the original question, Polar makes great HR monitors. You can find good, inexpensive ones at Performance Bike. As for wearing them in the water... one saved my dad's life. He noticed that his heart rate wasn't going up properly while running. A few weeks later he had triple by pass. It was a genetic defect an unavoidable and could have been a widow maker! Now he wears it whenever he exercises to make sure his heart is doing well. Thank goodness your dad had one on! I likewise have a medical condition that affects my heart and have found the HR monitor to be an invaluable tool. I was curious to hear about what other brands folks were using because some monitors are better than others. Also, I've heard that some hold up better than others in the water. I've always heard good things about Polar.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Former Member — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:01:45 GMT

Huh? That's nonsensical. It's not like you can't swim without one. A good friend told me he carries his HR monitor with him at all times, his index finger, the ability to count to six and then multiply by 10. Much cheaper. Funny thing, I do the same when I am interested in my HR while at the pool. Can't beat the convenience. :cool:

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

elise526 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:24:15 GMT

Probably. I don't need a gizmo to tell me how hard I'm working during a swim, the clock is enough at the end. Now, now Geek. Don't be closed-minded. Go back and read the article submitted by aztimm. UGA #1!

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

aquageek — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:12:50 GMT

Would the world come to an end? :wiggle: Probably. I don't need a gizmo to tell me how hard I'm working during a swim, the clock is enough at the end.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

elise526 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:47:52 GMT

Huh? That's nonsensical. It's not like you can't swim without one. A good friend told me he carries his HR monitor with him at all times, his index finger, the ability to count to six and then multiply by 10. Much cheaper. Hard to use your index finger and take your pulse while you are swimming a 200 fly. No fun when you are on an adrenalin surge to have to stop in the middle of the swim and see what your HR is. All you need to hear is the little beep telling you to slow down, slow down before you blow a fuse. Try it, guys. The worst thing that can happen to you is that you might look like an "uncool" triathlete. Would the world come to an end? :wiggle:

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

swimshark — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:40:42 GMT

Yeah, wearing a HR monitor in the pool is automatic fail. Somebody at my gym wears one though I haven't seen him there in a while. It's great - over and over again, he stops every 25-50 yards to slide the monitor up from his navel to his chest. :rofl: To answer the original question, Polar makes great HR monitors. You can find good, inexpensive ones at Performance Bike. As for wearing them in the water... one saved my dad's life. He noticed that his heart rate wasn't going up properly while running. A few weeks later he had triple by pass. It was a genetic defect an unavoidable and could have been a widow maker! Now he wears it whenever he exercises to make sure his heart is doing well.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

aquageek — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:51:24 GMT

Um --- some of us wouldn't be able to train for USMS competition if we did not monitor our HR while training. Huh? That's nonsensical. It's not like you can't swim without one. A good friend told me he carries his HR monitor with him at all times, his index finger, the ability to count to six and then multiply by 10. Much cheaper. Enough of this tri junk, let's get back to swimming.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

elise526 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:56:03 GMT

Turn in your USMS card, you are now banned! Um --- some of us wouldn't be able to train for USMS competition if we did not monitor our HR while training. When your heart rate is too high, you can hear the watch beep at you, even underwater. I have used a Timex/Ironman and it worked pretty well until some water got into it somehow after 8 months of no problems. It is kind of cool to see what your average HR is over the entire workout and to see how many calories you have burned. When you see a total of 1000 calories burned, you feel o.k. about having dessert after dinner that night.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

aquageek — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:42:00 GMT

I disagree - HR training can be very valuable to swimmers. They would be valuable on such things as threshold sets, or descend to x% sets. Heck, how about recovery days - if your HR goes above xxx, you're working too hard. Turn in your USMS card, you are now banned! If you can't find your card, look in Stud's Euro Man Carry All purse. I figure he has a few of those given his recent love of the needlepoint.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Muppet — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:28:18 GMT

Swimmers are not allowed to wear HR monitors. That is fully crossing over to the stupid tri gear side of life. I disagree - HR training can be very valuable to swimmers. They would be valuable on such things as threshold sets, or descend to x% sets. Heck, how about recovery days - if your HR goes above xxx, you're working too hard.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

swimshark — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:48:04 GMT

I have never been able to keep a HR monitor on while swimming (not to mention pushing off the wall). I've only tried it with Polar monitors, all failed miserably. Women can use the suit to keep it in place; for the men here who use them, what monitor do you use? My dad keeps his on some how and only wears bottoms when swimming. He has a Polar - 2 in fact. I'm so thankful he wears his.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

aztimm — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:47:55 GMT

There's a fantastic story in the latest issue of, "Popular Science," about Andy Potts, and his training for the olympics: www.popsci.com/.../making-olympian I thought it interesting how he and his coach are so fixated on training at a high heart rate and energy usage.

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

elise526 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:18:10 GMT

Elisa, I often like doing fly in workouts -- if I happen to be training with people significantly slower than me, changing "free" to "fly" is the simplest way to make an easy interval/workout much more challenging. However, be a little wary of the effect on your shoulders. Some people's shoulders can't handle lots of butterfly volume. I would ease into it. Rather than one-arm fly, I would suggest alternating fly/free by 25s, or something similar. Chris Thanks, Chris. I will try your suggestion. I am not quite the animal That Guy is!

RE: Calling all triathletes - current and former

Chris Stevenson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:29:41 GMT