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Veteran
Posts: 143
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
Offline
| I'll post one first...
After half a year of using a Polar HRM, I figured out they worked better if you wet your chest with a little water before you put on the chest strap.
For weeks it seemed to take about 10 minutes into a run before my HRM to start reporting proper results. First I thought it was the battery, then the watch. I almost bought a new one before I figured this out.
I'm sure that's in the directions, but what kind of fun is that?
What's yours? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 506
Location: MN
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| Lots of them. Running down hill. I lean back a bit, and increase my cadence while changing my stride to be more of a power walk type move which keeps me closer to the ground. My HR drops like a stone and my speed goes way up. When I get to the bottom I'm refreshed and can't wait to pound up the next hill. It also takes stress off the knees.Using the sun when swimming. Once you know the angle it should be for your direction, keep your head down and by keeping the sun an the same angle you will go straight.I run/bike sockless for Olys and put superglue on my expected blister areas. Protects them a bit. |
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Expert
Posts: 1072
Location: NW Suburbs, Illinois
Online
| - Baby shampoo as a goggle defogger
- Holding the mode button for 2 seconds on the Garmin to switch between sports
- Baby powder in shoes for transitions
- Duct tape on blisters, used to just deal with them
- Everything associated w/ tubular tires (still learning - thanks Dumpster!) I am sure there are more.... |
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Champion
Posts: 7357
 
Location: Media, PA
Online
 Silver member | The swim is more important than most people make it out to be. Poor run results in a tri are almost always the result of biking too hard. Running a lot is key to making big improvements, but it's the area you have to be the most cautious in adding to your training. |
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Cycling Guru
Posts: 15077
Location: Fulton, MD
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 Bronze member | You can ride faster by not looking down at your speedo every ten seconds to see how fast you're going and just going by feel and cadence (which is why I rode without any speed sensor at my sprint a few weeks ago and will be doing the same thing at my HIM). For longer races, stop taking in nutrition on the bike about 15 - 20 minutes before you hit the transition so you are not all sloshy and bloated at the run start. |
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Expert
Posts: 1089
Location: Earth
Online
| When turning on my Garmin, I leave it on the laundry line for 1-2 minutes while it finds the beacons. When setting up your transition area, use 2 towels. One to put your stuff on, the second to dry off. The second towel can be used to cover your shoes and stuff to help keep them drier. |
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Expert
Posts: 893
Location: Haddam, CT
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Silver member | Duct tape on the end of my wetsuit zipper cord (helps me find it quickly as I'm exiting the water).Short, skinny Zip ties work nicely for securing cyclometer wires to the bike safely. To get my HR monitor to read, water-based KY Jelly is cheaper than Buh-Bump.Body Glide is fabulous.Not to use cotton sports bras.To upgrade to a HR monitor watch with a chronograph (Timex) for tracking splits.Small individulal Ziplocks bags for anything liquid, gel or powder, preventage major spill problems.Taking out sneaker and cycling shoe insoles to help the shoe dry better.While I want to support my LBS, I now buy my CO2 cartridges at Walmart in the bb-gun aisle.
Edited by lobstergirl 2007-06-01 10:29 AM
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Champion
Posts: 7357
Location: Media, PA
Online
Silver member | Daremo - 2007-06-01 10:25 AM You can ride faster by not looking down at your speedo every ten seconds to see how fast you're going... OK. At first I was wondering what the heck you were looking for "down there" during a race.  |
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Expert
Posts: 789
Location: Lake Forest, Illinois
Offline
| If you put your endurolytes into a ziploc snack baggie and then cut a small hole at the corner of the bag it will keep them pretty dry in your bento box if it rains (or you sweat on them) but you can still pop them out the corner when you need them without opening and closing a bag on the fly. |
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Master
Posts: 1532
Location: New Jersey
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| bikingbruise - 2007-06-01 12:25 AM
Running down hill. I lean back a bit, and increase my cadence while changing my stride to be more of a power walk type move which keeps me closer to the ground. My HR drops like a stone and my speed goes way up. When I get to the bottom I'm refreshed and can't wait to pound up the next hill. It also takes stress off the knees.
Have to disagree with the point of leaning back. Yes, increase cadence, but when you lean back, you're actually braking. I'd much rather keep a consistent HR - small strides going up hill - let the others sprint up it - then keep pace on the downhills. |
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Master
Posts: 1862
Location: Denver
Offline
| My running coach taught us proper hill form last week, two days before I raced and got to put it into practice. Uphill, is a short,steady cadence, and downhill is a posture where you are slightly bent forward at the wast, with chest and shoulders spread open. Arms hang wide open to the sides. Let gravity take you. This form is amazing! In my sprint, I slowly ran up two steep hills, passing scores of walkers, then let myself "fall" down the steep descent and again passed scores of people who were braking on the way down. I thanked my TNT coach heartily yesterday at our track workout, as the training could not have been more to the point.
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Veteran
Posts: 136
Location: Flower Mound, Texas
Offline
| Swimming:
"The kick starts the stroke." Doug Stern
Running:
Don't stretch before.
Walk 0.5mi after every run.
Biking:
Spinclass doesn't help much.
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Location: Kansas
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Silver member | trinosaur - 2007-06-01 12:12 PM
Swimming:
"The kick starts the stroke." Doug Stern
Running:
Don't stretch before.
Walk 0.5mi after every run.
Biking:
Spinclass doesn't help much.
Curious. Why shouldn't you stretch before you run? Also I realize everyone is different, but for me, spin class helped immensely. Coming from NO cycling background it was helpful to have a "coach" of some sort and some drills to get the muscles acclimated. Definitely not the same as riding, but helped me in a lot of ways.
My tip that I didn't figure out till this season: Train with someone faster than you. Lots.
Edited by lisac957 2007-06-01 12:44 PM
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Cycling Guru
Posts: 15077
Location: Fulton, MD
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Bronze member | JohnnyKay - 2007-06-01 11:29 AM Daremo - 2007-06-01 10:25 AM You can ride faster by not looking down at your speedo every ten seconds to see how fast you're going... OK. At first I was wondering what the heck you were looking for "down there" during a race. Ahh, the difference in mindset between a cyclist and a triathlete ...... any pure cyclist would have gotten what I meant. Only a triathlete would immediately go "there" when I said speedo ......  |
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Veteran
Posts: 136
Location: Flower Mound, Texas
Offline
|
{Curious. Why shouldn't you stretch before you run? Also I realize everyone is different, but for me, spin class helped immensely. Coming from NO cycling background it was helpful to have a "coach" of some sort and some drills to get the muscles acclimated. Definitely not the same as riding, but helped me in a lot of ways.
My tip that I didn't figure out till this season: Train with someone faster than you. Lots.}
[/QUOTE
I was having achilles troubles at the time I quit stretching, the problem went away after I quit stretching before the run, now I just run 1 mile easy to warm up.
I was hoping the spinclasses during the winter would make me faster, I was actually slower when I finally got out to ride in the spring. They may have helped some but my expectations were higher.
N=1, ymmv
Edited by trinosaur 2007-06-01 12:50 PM
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Expert
Posts: 689
Location: Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Offline
Bronze member | You cant win a race during the swim, but you can lose one.
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Veteran
Posts: 223
Location: Independence, KY
Offline
| I roll my socks when setting up transition. It helps a ton when you your feet are wet from the swim. (I'm not manly enough to ride/run without socks)
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Champion
Posts: 5255
Location: Butler
Offline
Silver member | lisac957 - 2007-06-01 12:43 PM trinosaur - 2007-06-01 12:12 PM Swimming: "The kick starts the stroke." Doug Stern Running: Don't stretch before. Walk 0.5mi after every run. Biking: Spinclass doesn't help much. Curious. Why shouldn't you stretch before you run? Also I realize everyone is different, but for me, spin class helped immensely. Coming from NO cycling background it was helpful to have a "coach" of some sort and some drills to get the muscles acclimated. Definitely not the same as riding, but helped me in a lot of ways. My tip that I didn't figure out till this season: Train with someone faster than you. Lots. |
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Champion
Posts: 8531
Offline
| Never press your stopwatch button at the finish line, it makes for a goofy looking picture. Instead, raise your arms like a champion, and stop your watch 10 seconds later. If you are on an out-and-back course on the run, high five all the BOP-ers. You can't believe how motivating it is to them. Some day you will be there yourself. If you are running behind a woman, tell her they put the wrong age on her calf during body marking. For example, tell her it says 39 instead of 29. Lie if you have to. You won't believe how many new friends you will make! If you have extra gear, like goggles or a spare cycling helmet, bring them to the race. Someone ALWAYS forgets something and you will be a hero. Run with a small fanny pack that holds a cycling water bottle. For me, it's tons easier to drink from than a paper cup, plus you get your hydration when you want it, not when the aid stations happen to be there. Learn to lift your head every ten strokes or so during the swim, and sight on a distance landmark. It helps keep you from swimming a crooked route. |
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Regular
Posts: 50
Location: Memphis
Offline
| Z-dog - 2007-06-01 12:56 PM My running coach taught us proper hill form last week, two days before I raced and got to put it into practice. Uphill, is a short,steady cadence, and downhill is a posture where you are slightly bent forward at the wast, with chest and shoulders spread open. Arms hang wide open to the sides. Let gravity take you. This form is amazing! In my sprint, I slowly ran up two steep hills, passing scores of walkers, then let myself "fall" down the steep descent and again passed scores of people who were braking on the way down. I thanked my TNT coach heartily yesterday at our track workout, as the training could not have been more to the point. I'd say be careful with this approach. It's fine for short downhills and short duration races, such as a 5K and even a 10K if you're a runner with several years experience. But if you try this on a long downhill on a long distance course (especially one with lots of hills), you'll shred your quads and wish you hadn't "fallen" down the hill. I've seen this happen in many marathons - especially Boston.
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