Mine would be "run long distances without pain" but that's not on there.

Solution to the aerobars problem for most people is to find a bike that fits them and then only train in aero.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Hard to argue with your logic. Still, how many of us just can't seem, even after years of trying, to shed that 10lb?

Sitting up w/hands on the pursuits doesn't stare back at you in the mirror every morning.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Funny thing, I have watched plenty of high level athletes train in aero all day and yet not be able to hold aero on race day or not aero, form, and power all at once late in the ride. Then there is Sebi, who rarely rides his TT bike, rides 175mm crank on it and despite some back and forth on the Saddle does a better job than most at staying aero. I believe Jordan is a frequent road bike user as well and yet does a better job of holding aero IMHO.

That is why I really put it in the super power category.

Running injuries sound like another fixable issue to me with time and patience. Outside of some genetics or other life accident issues, running injuries IMHO are mostly fixable and are usually self-inflicted in the first place. With attention to many finer things like rest, and mobility/strength/soft tissue work/massage etc. it just takes a lot of patience.

In other words, If I am rubbing Dan's magic lamp I am pretty confident I can work thru most issues listed by myself without the help of the Genie. Staying aero for the duration of the event, well I am blowing my wish on it for better or for worse.

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And that makes some sense. After all, it is usually at about mile 80 when people realize, "dang I probably should have... *insert anything to improve aero*, and by the time they run 26.2 it is a long lost memory. The mirror does not lie and most of us stand in front of that baby a few times a day... "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest Slowtwitcher of them all"

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Hello Thomas Gerlach and All,

I agree with you ... losing weight is a no brainer ... eat less ..... thousands of humans in the world do it successfully from time to time ..... becoming very skinny ...... even to the point of starving to death.

The weight loss device is a surgically implanted 'mouth gate' that prohibits food from entering except for a very few seconds .......... three times daily ..... and if you miss the few seconds the gate is open .... Oh Well ....

Now not cramping ..... that is a tough one to fix ... and certainly not in one day.

Slowman could fix aerobar position problems .... I think .... for most people .... but I don't think he can fix cramps.

'Saddle comfort' is an oxymoron ..... maybe 'relative' saddle comfort ..... of 'less uncomfortable' .... or 'tolerable' saddles ...... There are few chairs or bar stools that look like bike saddles ... ummmm .... maybe there were back in the days of the Inquisition.

Perhaps the future of saddle comfort is a carbon fiber sitzmark that is fitted and strapped to your entire butt (about the size of an old fashioned tractor seat) and mates to the seat post.

Orphaned running shoes could be a commercial enterprise .... take old orphan shoe .... 3D measure it ...... 3D print a mirror image ..... (or something like that)

Flip turns and forward progress kicking probably take more than a day .... unless we develop a way to instantly imprint new neural pathways via some kind of electrical stimulator.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

Yeah pretty much. I've been 183lbs as long as I can remember (6'1). Most of it is hidden as muscle in my legs and calves in particular so very hard to loose that weight bar breaking both legs and putting them in casts for 6 months. I feel it's my biggest limiting factor to getting on the podium.


Also this. I don't have legs for running

Staying in aerobars would be my nr 2 choice, not cramping nr 1. Have big problems with side stiches in races, and not much I can do about it. Doing workouts I have no problems, but the same or even slower pace in races just doesn't work sometimes. In my last oly I made it 5km in the run before it came, was running 3:45/km which is a tough effort for me but not full out. After the cramps I was barely putting together 5min k's.. My HR is not high, my form is good, have talked to several coaches and nothing so far has helped. Would do a lot to get rid of this...

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Except you order your raceshots and only 1 out of 50 shows you in the aerobars. ;-)

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-shoki

Loosing weight is not staying light, it's a human skill vs human nature ..

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___/\___/\___/\___ the s u r f b o a r d of the K u r p f a l z is the r o a d b i k e .. oSo >>

Yeah I went for 10lbs because it was ONE day. I can, and have lost a lot more than that but it takes time. 10lbs in one day would be a massive boost and brings me pretty close to my ideal weight (the mythical "race weight").

o

I don't have 10 pounds to loose (realistically). What really peeves me is an inability to find a replacement for my Wave Elixer training and Racer S5 racing shoes.

I've struggled with weight all of my life... so many ups and downs that it's maddening. That poll question was a no brainer for me.

Are you assuming that *everyone* who answered the poll is racing long—so 112mi bike, 26mi run?
I can be aero AF for 40km, and run w/o pain for 10km. It's really NBD.

Being aero for 55'-60' is a lot easier than losing—and keeping off—10 lbs. A lot easier.

Anecdotally: I've done the structured 10-15lbs weight-loss thing before—for 20+ years—I know how to systematically do it (NEVER NEVER 10lbs in a day. NEVER.) and IME, proper weight loss IS A LOT HARDER THAN BEING AERO.

So, maybe your question/observation needs a frame of reference, like "for those of you who race long..."?

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no sponsors | no races | nothing to see here

I chose weight only because I can do everything else with no real effort.

If "Be able to increase training load by 25% without injury/lose of family time/problems with work schedule" was an option that would be my choice.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Still getting acclimated to my Adamo saddle after years of riding traditional saddles...

I haven't struggled with weight and it was still a no-brainer for me to pick the 10lbs!

Go put on a 10lb weight vest and run up a hill and get back to me.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

When I first started out on this path I dropped quite a bit of weight (lowest weight was around 150-155), then put back on around 10-15 lbs when I upped my training demand (depending on the time of year I ride between 160-170), I watch what I eat as reasonably well as possible with my busy schedule, but struggle to get back down into those low 150s without feeling like I'm sacrificing performance due to lack of fuel both pre and post workout. Would love to maintain the feeling of being fueled but be back down into the low 150s and to do it in a day, YES PLEASE.


Yeah, this would be number 1 if it were an option for me as well, biggest struggle of my life right now is finding training time, especially for long course.

Another vote for 10 lbs...

If you have 10 lbs to lose, this can increase your running pace by ~10sec/km per 10lbs lost (that adds up quickly), may help with some aches (less weight pounding your joints on the run), can help you hold a more aero position more comfortably (my belly gets in the way of full aero tuck...); That's just racing advantages. Then there's the other 95% of my life where I would feel more confident and in general healthier.

That being said, I have been working to lose weight and have lost 55 lbs this year. The "last 10 lbs" is still 20 lbs away hahaha; But I'll get there. So far every 5-10 lbs i see noticeable gains in pace and fitness. Obviously there are other factors at play with larger weight loss too, but "the last 10 lbs" is as hard for some as finding a running technique and shoes that allow them to run pain free.

Loosing weight is hard enough when you are NOT training for long course. Add in the energy needs for 12 to 20 hour training weeks and I have found it to be incredibly difficult. I eat a very healthy and clean diet to begin with, so there is little low hanging fruit to cut out to get those last 10 lbs. This winter, I weighed everything I ate and kept a small calorie deficient loosing .5 to 1lbs a week. I dropped 15 lbs, but at the end I found myself over-reached/under-fueled. My swim times took a nose dive, and while I was still seeing some progress on the bike and run, I was tired all the time.

I decided to stop loosing weight and start eating more to fuel my workouts better. I am now hitting power, run and swim PRs and my training is going very well. I also have gained back 5 lbs or so, but I am performing better than I was when I was loosing weight and running a calorie deficit.

While loosing weight is definitely a challenge for most people, I think it becomes an even bigger challenge balancing that with training needs. Unless you have a lot of weight to loose, I think it becomes very difficult to boost FTP and loose 10lbs over the same two month period. If given the choice of magically dropping 10lbs in a day while not giving up the training quality I need to progress, I would take that any day.

With that said, I am pretty sure this poll is a "be careful what you wish for" trap anyway. Hard to say, but the 10lbs you loose are probably all muscle, and the aero position you can hold for 112 miles turns into the functional equivalent of a parachute :)

I think this comes down to optimal weight. There is an optimal weight that provides the optimal balance of strength, durability, energy levels. As you said you can lose the 10lbs no problem, just track it, but you touch on an exact problem, just because you *think* you want to lose 10lbs doesn't mean that you actually want to lose 10lbs when you realize that you have to sacrifice strength, durability, and energy levels. Which leads me even more to why so many choose 10 lbs.

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I realize Dan's question is merely a hypothetical question and I know I used 112 miles and that may be an extreme number to many. Obviously there are even more extreme ie. Ultra, Deca etc but I choose Ironman distance because by and large that is the meat & potatoes of the industry. IMHO, most people have self-selected the position which they should be able to stay aero for the duration of the event, even though many do a poor job at this.

I would assume in your case you have self-selected a position that balances comfort, power, and aero. The question is could we make you more aero by making you narrower and lower. Likely you haven't chosen that position because you know it is not sustainable for the 55-60'. Maybe I was giving too much credit to the choice and what it could deliver in also assuming, not just staying in the aerobars, but also being super aero. I do think nearly everyone would like to be lower and narrower than they are. That is at least based on the number of discussions on here querying and discussing getting lower.

It would be interesting to see how many threads on here talk about weight loss versus trying to get lower or more aero on the bike.

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I have known many pros that can and do stay in the aero bars for 112 miles, one guy even stayed in them while climbing out of the saddle.

If you are in the right position it is easy to stay down, you actually want to stay down. You only come up for a tricky turn or downhill, or if you don't have a drinking system to take a drink.

Guess I am at a good weight. If I lost 10lbs I am not sure what I would do with myself. That would put me just barely heavier than when I was as senior in HS. Of course I lost around 34lbs about 5years ago and have kept it off.

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

It's just how that question is interpreted.

I clicked 10lb as I struggle to train well at -10lb, so if I can knock off 10lb in one day (without side effects on that day) I'd gladly take that for race day.