Triathlon Pants

I have an Olympic-length triathlon coming up and I recently purchased a pair of triathlon pants. You see, I've done three sprint-length triathlons already, but all of them have featured a swimming segment in a pool. I don't know why this makes a difference, but since I own a competitive swim jammer (a suit that runs from waist to just above the knees) already, I have always worn the swimsuit during the triathlons--even for the cycling and running segments. Now that I'm graduating to a longer-distance triathlon event, I feel buying a pair of pants made for triathlons makes some sense.

I am a strong swimmer and an equally strong cyclist. I'm not fast at all while running. Most (amateur) triathletes are the opposite of me--they are great runners, do well with cycling, and poor swimmers. So I figured I'd buy my triathlon pants from a company that is best known for making swim suits: TYR. By going with TYR, I at least know that the product will be excellent in the water, and for a competitive swimmer like myself, that's important. I didn't want the pad in the crotch area (or any other design feature of the pants) to interfere with my superior swimming ability. 

So how different are triathlon pants from cycling pants or competitive swim jammers? I can't speak for all types, but in comparing one set of each that I own, I find these differences:

type	triathlon shorts	cycling shorts	swim jammer
brand	TYR competitor	Nishiki	Speedo endurance
fabric	80% nylon/ 20% spandex	88% nylon/ 12% spandex	50% polyester/ 50% PBT
pad insert	10" back-to-front; 5.25" at widest point; 3/16" thick	12.5" back to front; 7.5" at widest point; 3/16" thick	none
inseam	9"	10"	12"
panels	13	7	8
pockets	three	none	none
drawstring waist	yes	yes	yes
grips around leg openings	thick dots	thin ridges	none

The fabric matters for several reasons, the most important being that spandex (Lycra) is quickly broken down by pool chlorine, so fabrics with high spandex content will wear out quickly if worn in a pool. A lot of triathlons are not in pools, so it's fine that the TYR shorts are high in spandex. The Speedo endurance fabric contains a different elastic fiber (PBT) that is more chlorine resistant than spandex. In fact, I have swum more than 140 miles in my Speedo Endurance swim suit and it has not yet worn out (though the color has faded).

The number of fabric panels these shorts are made from matters because the higher the number of panels, the better they are supposed to fit. I imagine there are a lot of assumptions with this general rule, but as you can see, the triathlon shorts have more panels and I really do think they conform to my body more than even the Speedo endurance swim suit.

Conforming to the body is good for several reasons including aerodynamics in air and water, as well as muscle support. The muscle compression that these shorts and other products provide is promoted by manufacturers as a way to speed blood flow and improve muscle efficiency, but I am very doubtful about those claims. Nevertheless, there is a certain macho feeling that one gets when they wear tight-fitting fitness clothes and this can act as a placebo effect to improve performance. On the other hand, there is a negative aspect to these shorts in the way they hug the body. The more they conform, the more they reveal hints of the male anatomy. I've gotten completely comfortable with the Speedo swimsuit in this regard, but the pads inserted into the cycling shorts and the triathlon shorts create an exaggerated bulge in the front that could cause some embarrassment. The triathlon pants are probably the worst offenders here, because the pad is shorter from front to back than the cycling pants. As a consequence, the pad in the front doesn't come up as high, and it is much narrower there as well. The smaller pad dimensions tend to emphasize the male bulge rather than obscure it, as the larger pad of the cycling pants do. Oh well. The smaller pad is probably good for allowing greater leg motions during the run segment of a triathlon, and if someone is sensitive about this issue, he can always wear a pair of regular shorts over top. But not when swimming or cycling, as you don't want extra water and wind resistance during the race.

I have worn the triathlon shorts on both a bike ride and a run. I will soon test them for swimming when I visit the pool next. But so far the shorts performed well (no chaffing) and I expect they will work great for my upcoming Olympic-length triathlon.

Now...what should I wear as a shirt? They sell a top that goes with the tri shorts, but it's expensive and I don't see why I need it. I'll probably just wear a compression shirt made by UnderArmour, but the one I own right now has colors that clash with my tri shorts. Perhaps I should fix that problem by buying another shirt? I'll decide soon. Stay tuned for a race report!

Motivators that Work for Me #2: A New Physique

In this second installment of a series of blog posts on things that motivate me to stay physically active, I discuss the fact that once a person has acheived an improved physique, he or she will want to keep it. 

There are plenty of people I have encountered or read about that used to be overweight and then they lost a lot of pounds through diet modification and exercise. Some people in this situation maintain this improved physique forever, and some revert back to their original size. I can understand how difficult it would be to lose all that weight, and then to gain it all back would be hard to deal with, too. My story is not like this, though. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I have always had a thin build. Even my own mother remarks when I come to visit that it looks like I've lost weight. No. I'm the same 6'4" and 175 pound male today that I was back in June 2001. I have records from back then. I have a completely normal weight for my height. However, my impression of myself is that I am a little underdeveloped in the upper body, including arms, shoulders, and chest. Data show that the maximum bench press of an adult male in his 30s should be about 93% his body weight. For me that would be 162 pounds and I don't think I could do that. 

Back in September 2008 I started to do weight lifting to see if I could build my muscles. At the time I was not a swimmer, so I wasn't worried about strength; increasing muscle size was my goal. I'm embarrassed that this was my goal. It's so sophomoric to worry about having big muscles. But guess what? Weight lifting several days per week for 16 months caused my chest circumference to increase 3 inches and my upper arm circumference to increase 1 inch. To be honest, I don't think these minor gains in muscle size were ever noticable in the mirror. But it didn't matter; I knew I had made progress and it made me feel better about myself.

My weight lifting diminished during winter 2010 because of minor shoulder injuries at that time and an increase in my professional responsibilities, and I haven't really done a lot of weight lifting since. Meanwhile, I've been swimming on a regular basis and I think this has maintained my muscle size and strength. It better have, because by swimming regularly, I am walking around in public with no shirt and I have to look good. I can't have a bunch of belly fat. I can't look sickly thin. Thus, one of my motivators for keeping a regular schedule of fitness activties is to hold on to the improvements I made to my physique, and to stay visually pleasing to the eye during my time at the pool. Oh, and ladies, I'm still single!

All kidding aside, I want to stress that what works for me might not be helpful to others. First, I don't know what it is like to struggle with one's weight their whole life. Relative to others, it's easy for me to say "I want to look good at the pool" and be able to work toward that goal. Second, "looking good at the pool" isn't that great of a goal to have anyway. It is a subjective goal. It is an unreachable goal because there is no way for me to know when I've attained it. This goal  emphasizes outer appearance rather than the more important things that count. Lastly, I'm pretty sure that people don't look at my body when I am at the pool as much as I used to think. Maybe they snatch a look or two, but in general, swimmers are there to do their own thing and encourage me as I do mine. There is very little judgment at the pools where I swim--swimmers come in all shapes, ages, and sizes, and we are all far more beautiful than we think we are. You might catch me staring at someone at my pool, but I'm almost certain to be studying their swimming technique than thinking about their body's appearance. Seriously.

In sum, one of the things that motivates me to workout is how good my body looks to me. It doesn't matter that much how I appear to others. I think I look good, and I exercise to keep it that way.

Motivators that Work for Me: #1 Never Say Never

This post is the start of an occassional series in which I will describe the top 10 things that have helped me stay motivated during the last 3-4 years of working out and becoming a middle-aged athlete. I think this list of motivators could be helpful to a lot of folks, but I must be clear at the start that I am not the most experienced athlete, nor the best. To put things in perspective, over the last year I have logged 142 miles of running, 841 miles of cycling, and 136 miles of swimming. Compared to some people, these totals are small. But compared to most people, these totals are exceptional. Compared to me 3 or 4 years ago these totals are exceptional. Today at my workplace, at my church, and within my family I'm viewed as someone who is really dedicated to fitness. I even have a colleague who keeps saying "I know you eat really healthy, but would you care to join us at X resturant?"  Yes, of course! My diet isn't really that great--it is terribly void of vegetables--but I let her have the impression that I'm a health nut anyway. So how do I stay motivated and reap the benefits of this reputation among my friends? My first strategy is to never say never:

1. Never Say Never

Insecurities hold you back. I look at them as being excuses that cause us to fail before we ever begin. That doesn't mean we can fix the things we are trying to fix, but what I have found is that accepting the challenge and working toward improvement--even if it does not ultimately succeed--makes me a more confident person. Motivation and self confidence increase together. If you work toward a goal, that is evidence that you are motivated. As you work, you gain confidence in your self. With greater self confidence, motivation to succeed grows even more. The key is tricking yourself into starting this process. I suggest imagining yourself as a motivated and confident person. Ask yourself "What would I do if I had no fear, anxiety, or lack of confidence?" Then do what comes to mind. It's easier said than done. I know that. But it can be done. I celebrate these successes:

• In a previous blog post I described how I grew tired of being a lousy player on a fast-pitch softball team. Maybe this was due to a lack of confidence, maybe it was lack of skill. Probably it was both. So after failing a few times during a game, I picked myself up and decided to concentrate much harder. Ultimately, I was the MVP of that particular game. This sort of softball success was rare for me, but simply knowing that not every game would be a disaster kept me motivated to do well.
• In late 2010 I didn't think I could commute to work by bicycle because there are two hills between my home and work. With some encouragement from my swim coach, I did it, and it wasn't bad at all. I have continued to commute by bike whenever the weather is nice.
• I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog before, but my recent experience as a cyclist gives me a lot of thrills, both good and bad. Since buying a road bike last summer, I have started to ride regularly on roadways with motor vehicle traffic. The roads around my house are narrow, winding country roads, plus a few busy yellow-striped highways. With 359 miles on the new road bike, I admit I am still nervous to ride this bike. What if I get a flat tire when 15 miles from my home, or what if I get really exhuasted in climbing a hill? Or worse, what if I get hit by a car, or lose control and flip over the handlebars? I would be so much safer if I didn't ride my bike on roadways or anywhere else. But is the answer then to give up? Of course not. Someone with greater confidence and less fear would head out on his bike because it is fun and good. So, with Godspeed and defensive driving, I ride, and I ride well.
• I joined a competitive swim team in late 2010. What in the world happened to me? I had only just learned to swim 15 months before. I felt self-conscious about swimming, diving, and what I'd look like in a close-fitting competitive swimsuit. But I did it anyway, and I've kept at it.

This "Never Say Never" rule has worked for me a lot of times, but there is more work to be done. Even now, about 4 years after learning how to swim and 1.5 years of competitive swimming, I have a deep, subconscious fear of water. It doesn't come to my attention very often, but I know it is still there. It showed up recently when I asked my swim coach to show me a second kind of dive that swimmers use when they are on a relay team. The dive must propel me quite far into the air before I hit the water so that I don't dive into the swimmer below me, swimming to the wall as s/he finishes the first segment of the relay race. My normal dive plunges me rapidly into the water without much time spent in midair. So on this day, as my coach asked me to aim farther as I launched off the diving platform, I just stood there. I did many false starts, sometimes loosing my balance and jumping defeatedly into the water feet first. But for at least 15 minutes I would fall in, climb back out, mount the diving platform, and try, try, try to jump off. Finally, I gave up. But not for good. I won't say "never." I'm going to do it someday, and when I do, I'll feel as though I'm at the top of the world. That will be a good feeling, and that hope is what motivates me to keep trying. 

Stay tuned for more motivational tools I use to keep me fit. The next one I'll write about is Keeping Records.

Cycling Glasses

I recently bought a pair of glasses for use on the bike. As a weekend-warrior type cyclist I used to think that cyclists with fancy shades really didn't need them. Instead, I thought the glasses were just for fashion and for shading one's eyes from the sun. After all, there are lots of folks who drive their cars wearing fancy sunglasses, and sometimes the sun is out and sometimes it is not!

But now that I am a developing roadie--someone who speeds around on a bike more than once or twice a week--I understand that cycling glasses are not just for style and not just to dim the sun's light rays. In addition, cyclists need glasses to protect their eyes from bugs, dust, and debris that can be thrown into our faces as a car passes us. A bit of dust or a bug can be an annoyance for the casual rider, but if you are riding along at 20 mph, you can't afford to be distracted or temporarily impeded by a speck of dust in your eye. The situation can become unsafe.

So I bought a pair of glasses. I now own Tifosi FORZA FC Gloss Black T-V215 Fototec glasses. The purchase price was about $40 on the Bike Nashbar website. This was about 3 months ago, so I don't remember why I chose this particular model (actually now I do: I have a big face and very few other brands were rated as fitting large faces--what are all cyclists like horse jockeys?). I can say that the glasses are completely worth every penny. They sit lightly on my face and never bother me during a ride. In fact, the only time I notice I am wearing them is when the wind is blowing on the rest of my face and I don't feel it around the eyes. "Oh yeah, I've got glasses on." [I should note here that off the bike I do not wear glasses or corrective lenses of any kind]. These things are as comfortable as can be, and they never shift position. I've never been worried that they would fall off.

Tifosi Forza FC cycling glasses

I wasn't actually sure how to wear them with a helmet. Should the earpieces go under the helmet straps or over them? I looked through an issue of Bicycle Magazine and saw photos of people doing it either way, but I can't be sure those are real cyclists or just models. Indeed, some of their helmet straps were much too loose under the chin to provide them any protection during a crash, so these people either loosened their straps for the photo shoot, or they weren't real cyclist. Anyway, I decided to wear the ear pieces over the helmet straps so that if I was in a crash, the glasses would fall away from my face and not cut me.

This pair of glasses is supposed to be photochromic, such that the lenses become more darkly tinted in bright light. This feature is not noticeable while wearing them, but I suppose that is the point. Off the bike I see that they never get very dark. However, I am not one who wears sunglasses routinely (i.e. a motorist who wears them in the car), so I'm not bothered that they are not very dark....except that a certain "cool factor" is lost when you are riding your bike without dark sunglasses. That's OK. I know I'm cool anyway!

Goals for June 2012

In my last post I evaluated how well I attained my May fitness goals and my self-grade was a C. The whole point in working out is self-improvement, so I want to get a better grade in June! So here is my plan:

Events:

• June 9-10: Bike MS Escape to the Lake. This is a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society that hundreds of thousands of cyclists do all across the country. This will be my first year participating. I've chosen a 137-mile route from near Pittsburgh to the shore of Lake Erie.

Monthly Goals:

1. Cycling. Obviously I'll do at least 137 miles, since that is part of the Bike MS event. I am also planning a 25-mile ride with my parents at the end of the month. Adding another 50 miles in weekly rides (this would be closer to 80 if I weren't planning to be out of town for some of the month), that gives me a realistic goal of 212 miles. If I attain this, it would be the second month where I rode more than ever before.
2. Running. This goal is easy to set. I want to run more this month than in any other before it. That sounds dramatic, but given my low running totals, it's completely attainable. Besides, I can run anywhere, even if I'm out of town.
1. I will run 22 miles in June.
2. I will also make sure that at least one of my runs will exceed 4.8 miles (my un-met goal from last month) 
3. Swimming.
1. I will swim 11.3 miles in June, which is an average amount.
2. I will make sure 4 of my swims are an hour in length.
3. The majority of my swims will include: (1) diving, (2) 125 yards of straight butterfly, (3) at least two 100 IM. Practicing my dives will help me spend more time in the air. I need to build endurance in the butterfly. My best friend does a lot of IMs and that's inspiring. I want to see if I can do what he does (eventually).
4. Bird Hikes. I think four hikes with bicoculars this month is not unreasonable, and I always enjoy it.
5. Weight-Lifting. Last month I said I'd do a workout 3 times per week. That still seems reasonable, but in reality I did just 3 workouts in the entire month. 
1. I will do 6 workouts in the month. 
2. I will start most of these workouts with leg raises as a warmup, since my swim coach wants me to work on building my abdominal muscles.
3. My biceps circumference will increase 0.20 inch to 11.5 inches.
4. My forearm circumference will increase 0.25 inch to 11.25 inches.
5. My chest size will increase 0.25 inch to 43.25 inches.

Fitness Grade for May 2012

At the end of April I set some goals for myself to attain in May. Let's see how well I did:

1. CYCLING = A+

I said I would ride 160 miles on my bicycle, which would include commuting to work whenever possible. I did this, and in fact rode 166 miles in the month of May.

2. RUNNING = C

I said I would run 21 miles but I only did 19 miles. That's 90% of my goal. However, I had two other goals that I also did not reach. I said my longest run would be 4.8 miles (but I only did 3.74). I said I would experiment with interval training...and I did not, so I drop a letter grade!

3. SWIMMING = B

I said I would swim 10.25 miles and I swam 13 miles. But my grade was dragged down by the fact that I did numerous short workouts rather than less numerous long ones. I also had a very specific 8-point plan for each day. I fulfilled 5 out of 8 of these on most days. I did not do as much diving, or butterfly, or IM distances as I said I would.

4. BIRD HIKES = A-

I'm not sure what to give myself in this area because I did go on 4 different walks totalling 10.5 miles, but my goal was mostly social and not birding.

5. WEIGHT LIFTING = F

I said I would lift weights three days a week during the month of May. Instead, I recorded 3 workouts for the entire month (grade = 25%). I saw my bicep size decrease (minus 10), my forearm size stayed the same, and my chest size increased (plus 10). I did follow through with the committment to do leg raises as a warmup each time, so plus 10. My grade is calculated as follows: 25-10+10+10 = 35%.

These grades average out to a C grade. Tomorrow is June 1. I'll come back and post some goals for June tomorrow.

Trek 700 "overhaul"

I own two bicycles and the oldest is a 1990 Trek Multitrack 700. Back in 1990, the concept of a hybrid bike--the combination of road bike and mountain bike--was fairly new, so I think they named this particular model "Multitrack" to help people understand why it was different. Today my bike is different not because it is a hybrid but because it is so old.

I don't know how many miles are on this bike. In the last 22 years I've had at least three bicycle computers, and as each one fails, it loses the odometer reading. My current odometer is around 600 miles. The last cycle computer didn't last long because a squirrel chewed through a wire and there was no way to repair it. But at that time (2006) I was regularly commuting to work on that bike and doing some other rides, too. So I easily had anopther 500 miles on it. In high school (1990-1992) I rode a lot, then I only did scattered rides in my college and grad school years. So adding another 800 miles I get a sum of at least 1900 miles. That's actually not a lot of miles at all for a 22 year old bicycle.

But it is a lot of miles for the drivetrain, specifically the chain. I didn't know chains could wear out until last year when someone at my bike shop told me I had a worn chain. According to Todd Downs, "as the chain wears, the inner surfaces of the chain's pins are slowly ground away, effectively increasing the center-to-center distance between the pins" (p.174). This causes the chain to elongate and not fit into the teeth of the cogs that make up the chainset and rear cassette. As I said, I hadn't noticed this until someone pointed it out. But upon inspection, I saw daylight between some chain links and my cog's teeth where there sould be none. So, off to the repair shop for a replacement chain!

Rear Cassette

I also read in Todd Downs' book that "putting more than 1,500 to 2,000 miles on a single chain and cogset will most likely [result in the] need to replace the entire cassette and chain at the same time" (p.164). Uh-oh. I put a new cassette on the list for my bike shop to tackle. I was concerned that the front chainset would also need to be replaced, as I saw the middle chainring had some broken teeth. To my surprise, the bike technician said the chainring had always been that way. The design includes having the middle chainring with a couple ground-down teeth so that the chain shifts more easily from one chainring to another. Well I'll be. I learned a lot today at my bike shop!

I still had two more items for the bike technicians to fix. First, I complained that the rear brake squealed whenever I used it, and it didn't seem that strong anymore, either. Remember, this equipment is 22 years old! The technician looked at my brake pads and didn't see excessive wear, and the rubber still seemed pliable. So he said they'd adjust them. I note on the work order that he didn't mention the squeal, so I hope they fix that.

The last thing on my list was the shifter. I showed them how the left shifter tended to skip the middle chainring so that I would downshift straight from gear 21 to gear 7 (rather than 14). When riding, this causes me to lose a lot of speed as I approach a hill. I can get to gear 14 by gently pressing the shifter, but not always. Hmmm. The technician diagnosed the problem quickly. There is some tiny part inside the shifter that is broken or otherwise not functioning right. He said they's take a look and see what they could do, but otherwise the only solution would be to replace the entire shifter/brake lever. "That would be really expensive," he said, and he seemed to dismiss that possibility outright. I appreciate his honesty and respect for my wallet's resources, but I wish I had pressed him on what "expensive" really meant. In my mind, I had already saved some expense by him telling me that my chainset could be spared. He had also relieved a concern I had about my bottom bracket, and he didn't think my brakes needed to be replaced, either. I entered the bike shop thinking my bill would be about $200--about half of what it would take to replace the entire bike with a new one. I left the bike shop with an estimate of $100. So expensive or not, I was actually ready to pay for a new shifter if he had given me that choice. Ultimately, I may have to do that anyway, but in the meantime I'll see what they can do.

Something I crossed off my list before getting to the bike shop was an adjustment to the kickstand. My kickstand was loose on the frame and while I can temorarily fix that by tightening the bolt, it always gets loose again. Yesterday I took off the kickstand, cleaned it, and tightened the bolt again. I noticed the washer that goes on the bolt was cracked, so I assume that is the problem. It is not producing enough friction to hold the kickstand mounting bracket in place. I felt kind of silly asking the bike shop to replace a washer for me, so I've elected to do that myself when I get the bike back.

They had to order a part, so the shop will have my bike for about 10 days. Meanwhile, I've got my Trek 1.5 road bike to keep me happy.