MrFreefall383

Actually, that's something I'd agree with as well. I'm not really certain there could be a bad picture of you. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Actually, it is pretty amusing, just not for the competitors. LOL I see you're a Specialized girl, huh? ;) Ah well, I won't hold it against you. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Got a nice entry-level Trek 1500. Still a few small adjustments to make to it, but it's working the way it was designed to work. And to Peter, I'm a stubborn bastard. I never take long cold showers after a heavy workout, I just go right back to my normal routine, because I figure if I can still get up and go to work the morning after a triathlon, I'll feel pretty damn good about myself. It's also why I'm very hesitant to take Motrin or any other med to reduce the pain I'm feeling from any workout. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Small update for those who give a hoot. Friday's workout was far more than I probably should have done, but I'm 100% convinced that with a little extra training, I can do my first sprint-tri before the end of this season. So here's how it unfolded. First I went out at about 12:30, did a 20 mile bike ride, then came back, very shortly went to the pool to swim 800m freestyle, and another 150 of lung-building strokes. Then I came back home, realized I had a little more energy than I thought, so I quickly put on my running gear, and went to the high school track and ran 3.25 miles. So the short version is that in terms of triathlon elements, I completed all the events plus some. All I have to do now is train enough to link them all together, and that event is mine for the taking. Reality is of course that I didn't plan on doing that kind of workout this soon in the season, I figured I'd try it in a couple months when I was in better shape. But now I know it's possible for my body to take that much abuse in one day, I just can't slow down now. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Yeah, indexing sounds like a simple enough concept, so I'll definitely keep a very close eye on that. Thanks for the explanation, it helps a lot. As far as position is concerned, I was actually sized to a smaller frame than I thought I would need. And that's something the tech said as well, that if I needed it tweaked to fit me better, he'd do it for free within 30 days. So I'm going to adjust the saddle a touch, and if it's still not quite right, get a new stem. And I'm already riding with my dad. He funded half the purchase just so he could have a riding buddy. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Quite frankly you're talking mostly in another language. The limit screw is probably simple enough, but I'm under free maintenance and adjustments for 30 days with this shop, so I might as well let them adjust everything right now, and watch closely what they're doing. As for indexing... ??? As I may have mentioned in the first post, I'm brand spankin' new to road biking, and brand new to owning a bike that I really felt obligated to maintain in perfect working order. So needless to say, I'm like that car guy who knows how to change his oil, rotate the tires and adjust tire pressures. Granted, I could probably learn everything about the bike in a very short time, my mind works that way, but right now I'm a newbie. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Easy when your body's already in stellar shape, Bee-yotch. i never said EASY.. i was just sayin its better to do 6 on 1 off thhhhbbbbbbbbbt It is. Both the Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness and The SWAT Workout, written by the same author, say the same thing, that if you don't give your body one day off, you can cause major injuries. I never work out more than 6 days in a row. And if it's a day off, it's a day off, I'm not doing anything that will strain any of my muscles too much. It's just moving around to keep from cramping, and that's it. And honestly, it doesn't matter if you're in stellar shape or a fuckin' couch potato, it's still better for your body taking one day off for every 6 working out. If you can make it the 6 days straight, you're in good enough shape to get into a routine. And to answer all the info about the bike, it's a 2-ring front, not a 3-ring, and has no parts changed out as I just bought it two days ago. Stock everything at this point, but that's why I said it needs to be adjusted, because a rattle/click like that isn't normal for a bike I bought two days ago brand new. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

To those who give a hoot, I gave the new bike a full shakedown cruise yesterday, tested the shit out of it. Only found a few small problems, and all of them are easily remedied. The first is the seating position is a little out of whack. It's crunching my balls and chaffing the inside of my legs after just one ride. So I'm going to adjust the saddle's horizontal angle just a touch, and see how it changes things. The bike rattles at the upper end of the gearing, when I'm in the toughest settings for downhills as an example. Every stroke or two, it'll sound like the chain is rubbing against something, which suggests to me the derailleur needs to be tweaked out just a little, so I'm bringing it back to the shop tomorrow to get that changed before it becomes a bigger problem like a busted derailleur. Other than those two small problems though, the bike is amazing. That means it's time to start training. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Getting back on topic, those commercials are awesome. And Sasquatch is really scary looking in the commercials, which makes it that much more amusing. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Ah yeah, then you know all about flutter kicks. LOL Reason I bring those up is because I used them when I was working out from Stew Smith's Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness. I loved 'em. Actually, I hated 'em, but they work like nothing else. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Oh yeah, also, if you're having trouble with your spine/neck during regular ab exercises, then you should try exercises that keep your spine stationary, such as leg levers and flutter kicks. If you need an explanation of those, or further exercises to decrease pressure on your spine, feel free to send me a PM. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Since this is my thing, I'll give you my pearls. You can do various neck, chest, abdominal, and back stretches to aid in de-stiffening your spine. Neck stretches are simple. Just bend your head forward and backward slowly, then slowly side to side, and do that pattern several times. Move to your chest, put your hand on a pole, thumb up, and rotate your chest away from that arm. Switch arms and repeat. Then you can move do your abs, and the best stretch for this is lay on your belly, prop your upper body with your elbows at 90-degree angles, and thrust your navel into the ground while lifting your chin. It'll stretch your abs more than anything else, but it'll also hopefully stretch your upper and lower back. As for the back stretches, do some standing torso rolls. Hands on your hips, and rotate at your waist on the vertical, shoulders side to side. If that doesn't work, PM me, I'll be glad to look into other routines. By the way, never a stupid question unless you already know the answer. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Thanks for the advice all. And to the yahoo above me, real good one. Actually, I'm glad you said that, because I've been working on my swimming a hell of a lot more lately. Running and biking really shouldn't be too much of a problem for me, I've been good at both for years, and regularly training harder and harder in both. I've been an avid swimmer for a number of years as well, used to swim over a mile every other day when I was still lifeguarding. Needless to say, I'm already in pretty damn good shape. But a triathlon is the only way I can really prove to myself that I can do more than just run a few laps around a track and swim a mile the next day. And I just bought my first road bike today, so that'll be another real good tool. As for the details, I'm fairly certain right now that I could complete a sprint tri in my present shape, but that's something I'm going to find out for sure toward the end of this season. I'm going to plot out my own personal sprint tri around town using the local pool for my laps, and the high school track for the running portion. With any luck I'll complete it no problem, and I can bump it up from there for next season. Regardless, the test run at the end of this season will tell the tale. Shall keep you all updated. And to ntrprnr, yes, she is hot. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

OUUUUUUUUUUCH "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

My favorite car color? Mine. Arctic Blue Pearl. ABP ftw "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Anyone here crazy enough to swim, bike, and run back to back? I ask because I'm starting to really think about running my first triathlon starting next season, and I'd like to get some input. A friend from high school became a triathlete a couple years ago, and I found out recently. Never expected someone like him to be a triathlete, and being that I'm very into fitness, I thought to myself about a week ago, "Why the hell not?" So if anyone is a triathlete here, or has any input on being a triathlete, what it takes, things to remember, things to look out for, etc, please share whatever you've got for me. Thanks. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Cute meatball. Congrats. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Never trust a guy named Bob. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Water for me, doesn't unbalance my relatively inactive physiology while at work, and keeps my stomach reasonably full so I don't have to eat quite as much. And if it's not water, it's not at work, in which case a good stiff martini is never a bad thing anymore. The harder the drink, the better. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

5 years here. Wasted a year thinking I was really ready to do something that was way the hell over my head. Came back with only two transferrable courses for that whole year of falling on my ass. Picked up the pieces at a community college for two years, transferred to a better school to finish with a new major, and that was that. I'm now applying to jobs in my chosen field, having a little trouble because it's an exclusive field, but the degree definitely helped. There are things I learned in school that I couldn't possibly have learned elsewhere. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

It's always a good idea, whether you're a guy or a girl. Trusting people only gets you hurt somehow. People are not trustworthy creatures, simple as that. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Congrats! Good for her, she made it through in one piece. Thus ends one section of her life, and begins another. By the way, she's a good lookin' girl! Clearly takes after her mother in that regard. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I got my backcountry camping permit in the mail yesterday for my group of 5 people backpacking on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia's Shenandoah Park this coming weekend. As long as we don't have any last minute gear issues, we should be leaving early Friday morning from New York, getting on the trail by 3-ish, and coming back down from our 27.5 miles Monday mid-day. Boy will I be stinky. Edit: Oh yeah, almost forgot, I'm leading the expedition, which is something I haven't done in a long time. I made sure I'm overprepared, and I'm going to trim and balance my pack all day Thursday so I'm not too overburdened. Will update next week once I'm back in one piece. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

They already proved that running a truck with the bed hatch up and locked is more efficient than running with it down, running with a mesh net, or running with a cover. My best effort at explaining it would be that it is affecting the leading edge flow of the air over your car, which means that in theory, it wouldn't change your gas mileage at all. If it does, it wouldn't change it by much. A bug guard isn't equivalent to driving with a piano on your roof. It's equivalent to driving with a nose-cover on. Really, it's not going to change much. The air's still stable as it was before, it'll just start flowing a touch differently. At much higher speeds, in the neighborhood of 70-100, you might start feeling a little shimmying as some unstable air brushes around the side of the vehicle, kind of like propeller effect on a Cessna, but I wouldn't recommend going those kinds of speeds with a Jeep anyway. And at those kinds of speeds, I don't think you'd really be concerned about gas mileage, would you? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

You two are a fantastic example of how a lifelong couple should interact. When I grow up, I wanna be like John. What he said... Wish I could be like that, I've lost my taste for being romantic. That'll change if I ever find the right person I'm sure, but sometimes things just don't work out. By the way Icon, I like your new sig. Definitely one of my favorite lines in the movie, and oh so true. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche