Active Community: Message List

Re: What scare you most in Triathlon!

guest — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:47:09 GMT

Try biking in NYC, while Central park sounds wonderful with its lack of cars, getting to the park is a whole other beast. NYC cabs are probably the worst, followed by Sanitation, and MTA buses. Then once you get in the park you have tourists, constantly walking around with their head up their a$$ looking at the sights, sounds nice but for the love of god please look both ways before crossing the roads. I have seen too many close calls and a few pile ups because of naive people walking around.

Re: Just Curious....Bike Computer

guest — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:00:27 GMT

I like to have my cadence displayed on my watch but I also keep an eye on my heart rate, I don't want to burn out before the run. I find keeping my heart between zone 3 & 4 works well for me on race day (generally kept in zone 3) obviously as you climb and pass your heart rate increases but having the watch right there to beep and remind me to keep my heart rate in check insures I have enough in the tank for a solid run time too. Good luck.

Hip pain after long spin session

guest — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:12:52 GMT

Morning all, I recently started taking a spin class that is roughly an hour to an hour and a half twice a week. Its very early in the AM and I generally only have time to wake up, do a few quick stretches and race out the door, by the time I get on the bike, class is getting underway. I have noticed after the last two sessions my left hip has really started to bother me after the class. Has anyone had this problem? I haven't lost any strenght in that leg as I can still spin at full power (both seated and standing) and my leg is fine when I do running drills. Please advise if I need to raise my seat, drop the bars, move the seat closer or further away? What do I do? It wasn’t bad at first, mostly just discomfort; which I took as being sore after a long workout. Now my hip bothers me when I am just moving around. I greatly appreciate the help!

Re: Triathlon Magazine

guest — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:08:39 GMT

I find that it really depends on how you apply the articles in any of the magazines to your workouts, life schedule, or fitness ability. I like USA Triathlon Life Magazine I get with my USTA Card Membership. A lot of the articles on Active are good, and the discussion boards are a great spot to pick up tips, advice, and lessons learned.

Re: Wetsuit?

guest — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:51:14 GMT

Yes you can rent a wetsuit. Yes, you wear the wet suit directly over the tri-suit. Look around on the race's home page to see if there is any information about rentals, if not check your local tri stores. A wetsuit is not a necessary purchase if you are unsure about the sport; renting is a more cost effective way to go. Pros: well a wet suit will allow you to keep your body temperature higher, increases buoyancy in the water (especially fresh water in a lake normally salt water helps you to float more), lastly it can increase your speed. Cons: if its a poor fitting wet suit, meaning not sung, it can increase your drag in the water, weighing you down, you can get rub burn from suit if its too loose or too tight in the shoulders, neck, etc... there are tri-specific suits, I use xterra www.xterrawetsuits.com

USAT rule on wet suits Wetsuits: (cut and pasted from USAT website http://www.usatriathlon.org/pages/1684 )

Each age group participant shall be permitted to wear a wetsuit without penalty in any event sanctioned by USA Triathlon up to and including a water temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water temperature is greater than 78 degrees but less than 84 degrees Fahrenheit, age group participants may wear a wetsuit at their own discretion, provided, however that participants who wears a wetsuit within such temperature range shall not be eligible for prizes or awards. Above 84 degrees, wetsuits are prohibited.

Basically it depends on the race day conditions but lakes can be warm during the summer so you might not need one, but if its early in the spring/summer season you will totally need one.

Best of luck to you, I hope I got all your questions.

Re: USAT Card

guest — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:56:21 GMT

The USAT Card is a great way to get into events early. There are some races that sell out extremely quickly like the NYC Nautica Tri but if you have the card you are able to sign up the day before the sign up opens to everyone. As mentioned the more races you go to the more you can amortize the cost of the card down for each race. There are other perks too, but once you sign up and get the card you can view all that information.

Re: Spring tri attire?

guest — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:48:53 GMT

Best of luck in the upcoming spring tri. I know no one wants to spend a lot of time in the transition area, and indoor/outdoor events along with imperfect weather make for some difficult tri attire decisions. USAT rules do not allow you to discard any clothing during the race so you cannot peel off any layers as you warm up. The best approach is to dress for 15 degrees warmer than it is outside. As you begin to bike/run you will naturally become acclimated to the temperature and eventually you will be sweating. Make sure to bring a really good towel to dry off quickly with if you decide to throw on a pair of pants. One time I did throw on a pair of breakaway pants just to stay warm because it was freezing out and the amount of time this took was negligible. It will really depend on the weather for that particular race morning. I will say there are some suits available made from thicker material that can be worn to stay warm but these suits cost more and right now spending more on equipment is not an option for average/intermediate racers. Good luck.

Re: tri shirt

guest — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:16:43 GMT

First, congrats on joining the multisport lifestyle! Most participants do not wear a tri shirt under their wetsuit, however, I have seen a racer or two do this to prevent irritation from the wetsuit rubbing against the skin in the arm/shoulder area. This irritation can be prevented by having the wetsuit properly sized and using some body glide to help prevent friction. If you had a tri suit on, you would wear the suit under the wetsuit. What everyone will tell you is that it really is personal preference and it boils down to how comfortable you are wearing the shirt under the suit. The best idea is to get some practice swims in with your wetsuit on, you will get acclimated to the wetsuit restrictions and how easily you float wearing one, at that point you can play around with your set up, try both ways, see what works for you! Best of luck in the upcoming season.

Re: first time 70.3

guest — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:36:10 GMT

First off, best of luck to you! With recovering from any injury you should spend lots of time doing PT (I would know I dislocated my shoulder and had surgery on it to repair it) to help repair that muscle group. My only piece of advice, and I am no doctor, is to limit the amount of time you spend training for the run. Spend more time on the bike, I know the bike to be less strenuous on the knees. Swimming more is obviously the best for your knee’s rehab as all the weight is taken off your legs. There are lots of articles out there on strengthening up your knee, give them a solid reading.

Re: Stomach cramping in the run - how to resolve?

guest — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:27:48 GMT

Have you tried other foods instead of gels. While you train you should experiement with various bars/gels/tablets and ratios with water if you are really a perfectionist. I agree swmbkrn4fn that you should eat 2 hours before race time, and then really all you should need is some water for the run. I find that if I take in any solids it should be done toward the beginning of the bike, this way I have time to digest and avoid stomach cramping but that is really only for longer distances. You might be over consuming gels and things when it really isn’t necessary. I just mentioned this in a previous post but I will reiterate practice transitioning from T2 to T3, running after you bike is the best way to help your body adapt to race day stress. Best of luck to you in your upcoming events.