u/InfluenceLittle401

I generally stop training in autumn and winter as I don’t like cycling and running outdoors when it’s cold and rainy. This year I have decided to do at least a lot of indoor training (2 hours running per week and 6 hours cycling) during this period. Should it make me much stronger around this time by next year? I train now (strength training included) around 10-13 hours per week.

Last week I did the Alpe d’Huez triathlon (M distance). It’s the most fun triathlon I have ever done because of the climbing and the scenery. I like it much more than the Zell am See Ironman which had been my favourite up till then.

Are there other triathlons that might approach how much I loved Alpe d’Huez? I prefer non-Ironman (too expensive for starters, lol).

I did the Triathlon Alpe d’Huez distance M yesterday and it was fantastic! Next year my wife will do it and I’ll have to be a supporter together with our little baby boy.

I was therefore thinking about maybe doing the L distance (then my wife can watch the little one).

Could anyone share his experience? I am not going to lie: the swimming was very tough for me with the cold water from the mountain river flowing in. I was very happy it was only 1.5km!

Is the L distance as fun as the M distance?

Google gemini suggested I change my 172.5mm crank arms to a 165mm ones because I have osteoarthritis of the hip (reduced strain on the hip).

Does anyone have experience with this? Does it really make a lot of difference?

I was also wondering whether it will lower my speed and whether it will take a while for me to get used to.

When your hand enters the water, you extend your arm and rotate your body. When you start the catch with that hand, does your body need to have a neutral position or does the catch start when your body is still rotating back to a neutral position?

With a pull buoy I find rotating back to a neutral position before starting the catch quite difficult as it takes some time before my body is back to neutral.

Anyway, not sure what is correct… Are there any drills you can advise for this?

I had the opportunity to have a training session with a new coach. He told me I need to have the feeling that I am swimming downwards. One of the things I need to do for this is to point my stretched arm (the one in front when gliding) a bit downward (so not parallel with the water line) and deep enough in the water. Can anyone confirm swimming downwards is indeed a good mental cue and having the arm as described is the proper way?

I have lost a lot of weight in a couple of months. Apparently when you get older your fat distribution is a bit more uneven. I must have lost a lot on my bum, because my bum hurts when I sit down on a hard surface.

During my last race, I really suffered on the bike. The padding was too little and my bum hurt a lot. Has anyone else experienced this? What trisuits help against this problem?

Is gym (upper body training) 4 hours after swim training a bad idea?

On Wednesday I regularly go swimming in the morning. Around four hours later I hit the gym and do some weighted pull ups and core exercises for like 30 min. Is that a bad idea? Even when do callisthenics and strength training for 30 years?

How important is it to receive supportive messages at the event of an important race?

Edit: I am wondering whether I should extend a supportive message to someone who takes triathlon seriously and who might or might not like me a lot. I don’t need them because I only participate for fun.

I am going to the gym/doing calisthenics for a few decades now. Recently, I lost 7 to 8 kilos as a result of simply eating a bit less and including much more cardio in my training regimen (I want to participate to triathlons). In fact I probably reduced my strength training by 30%. For the moment I am at 73kg with 37 skeletal muscle mass and a body fat percentage of around 10.4%.

I look more tiny now but I seem to have kept my strength. I do pull ups with 32kg (5 reps on a good day) and can almost manage a front lever now (straddle is easy) likely as a result of the kilos lost.

I am a bit concerned, however, i will lose muscle mass. How likely it is it with this shift in training regimen and weight loss that I will lose a lot of strength?

Next week it is finally time for the Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee triathlon! I am participating and I was wondering what to expect from the bike leg. Is it hard? How does it compare to Zell am See IM 70.3 bike leg?

What I liked about the latter was the uncertainty about whether I’d be able to manage the steep part of the long climb. All in all it was not too difficult (of course I adjusted my pace …).

I think Kaiserwinkl could be more difficult. Anyone who can share their experiences?

My (45M) partner (40F) and I are 20 years together. We regularly have fights. During these fights she brings up fights from the past and the mean things I have said.

Now, the case is that, when a fight erupts, I try to remain calm and don’t get ‘personal’. I do not always succeed in doing this, because of the things I get thrown at my head (I am a narcissist, disgusting person, a loser, say things about my family and upbringing, etc).

When I then eventually lose control, I can start expressing how I feel (e.g. last time I had said that the recurring drama in her life had become too much for me and that I had decided to distance myself from it emotionally).

Such fights are brought up later and the mean things I have said. It’s like she always forgets that I only lost self control after getting a lot of dirt poured over me.

Is people forgetting the chronology of events such that it fits them a well understood phenomenon in psychology?

Now that I think of that, my father had it too. At one point in time, as a 24 year old man, I was close to committing suicide and the police was alerted. A year or 2 later, my father brought it up during a fight. He made a comment like: the police already knows you. I then told him that the psychiatrist also knew him, because at one time in his life he was scared about being involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. Afterwards he only remembered the mean thing I had said.

My hips are sinking when I try swimming with my fists closed. What weakness does it indicate? What drills can I do to ensure my hips don’t sink when swimming with my fists closed?

Can anyone advise a good racing bicycle repair shop? The one I currently use seems to do half a job only …

I started meditating twice a day recently; 15 min in the morning and evening. I am subjects to waves of sadness and especially depressing thoughts at night. What timeline can I expect for meditation to start softening these feelings?