Boy Meets Tri

Training Update

The start of Kerr YMCA's tri club training this year has been great. I mentioned the time trial in a previous post, and to date I've completed a running time trial and the inaugural master's swim practice among the first workouts. The time trial was called a Cooper test, which involves running on a track for 12 minutes and recording the distance. The result is compared to the times of a runner's age group. Here are my results from the coach:

Distance: 2850 yds age group=excellent
Estimated VO2 Max: 52.427 ml/kg/min superior range for age group

I've never heard of this test, so I can't say whether the predicted VO2 is accurate. I'm also a little shaky on the whole VO2 thing too, but at least I have a baseline to gauge my training this winter.

Swimming was another eye-opener. Steve, the coach, was very cool and full of good advice. My warm up yardage amounted to about 1/2 of my previous workout yardage. Did I mention that I'm a rock? I'm short with broad shoulders, and someone once described as a human fire hydrant, and float like one too. The next few months with Steve will certainly be interesting. I'm sure he was entertained with my kickboard drills. What is the proper technique with those things? There were times my legs were moving like hell, but my body was basically stationary. Any advice from the swimmers will be much appreciated.

My next tri-project will be to buy a new saddle for my bike; a converted Specialized Allez. Its been a good ride so far, I shortened the neck by 10mm to help with the aero bars, but I want to try a forward seat post. I feel like my body wants to move to the front of the saddle, which isn't comfortable for the sprints, and will get worse with longer distances.

posted by Battman @ 9:07 PM