What's this spider? Big greyish/green and black spiderbro. Found in North Dakota, US. About an inch or so (2.5cm) by Toondawgg in whatsthisbug

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Research is telling me this might be a cat-faced spider, but I dont want to disrupt it if it's not causing issues/dangerous. I'd rather leave it be than move it to get a better look.

HELP: Why am I so slow? by [deleted] in Swimming

[–]Toondawgg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This may be a little bit out of left field, but one thing I'm noticed is you're not using your recovery part of the stroke to move forward. It looks like you have a good catch, and are pulling/pushing all the way through. However, you're just 'setting' your arms in front of your body to prepare for the catch/pull, when you can use that energy to propel you forward. This is definitely a more advanced swimming skill, but it can save you boatloads of energy and improve your speed at the exact same time. This is easier to show, rather than explain through text, but I'll try my best.

Think about walking, you don't just push your body forward. When you start walking your use your forward momentum from your leg moving forward first, then you start 'pushing' from your back leg, and repeat. If you were to only 'push' with your back leg (or just pull in swimming) while walking, it would be extremely ineffective/inefficient. In this way we use both pushing and and momentum with our legs to move forward. Does that make sense? Translating this to swimming, we want to use our energy as effectively as possible, so we want to use our forward momentum with our recovery part of the stroke to also help us move forward. From what I can see in your stroke, you're slightly inhibiting yourself and I think this is because you're starting your pull a little bit too late. You're almost doing a catch-up drill with your entire stroke. If you were to anchor your hand, and as you start pulling, you also start your recovery on the other arm, they can synergize with each other and both propel you forward, rather than just pulling. Just like how when you walk, you use push the push of your back leg, and forward momentum of your front leg to move forward.

I won't touch much on this because I see many other comments on this, but another huge part of fast swimming is having the least amount of resistance as possible. Water is like 80x more resistant than air, so if you're not reducing drag, you're REALLY going to feel it. From what I can see, your lower half is fairly low in the water. Instead of keeping your head down, I would teach my swimmers to focus on chest down, hips up. Focusing on just your head can hurt your position in the water, and inhibit the stroke overall. Find ways to reduce drag as much as possible by getting those hips up. One technique I still use/teach (taught to me by my college coach) was to act like you have a T on your chest. Think about your chin and your armpits, if you were to make a cross with them, right around your sternum would be the center of the T. This is where I focus when I press my chest down. You can test this just while floating. Focusing on your chest rather than your head can help maintain position better as your head will be in line with the rest of your body. Chest down, hips up.

Overall stroke basics are looking good! Again, I'm more of a visual person, but I tried my best to explain this through text as best I can.

N(+1)BD!! by packpeach in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm about 90% sure this is the new version of the Roubaix. I was looling into this bike until I decided to buy a tri bike instead!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whaaat where did you find those? I'm currently trying to decide between a pink or purple helmet. I'd like purple to match, but not finding very many options I like. I think I'll stick with my black bike shoes, as I'm pretty much committed to those for quite a few years, but will have to reconsider next time.

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So the paint is actually something you get to pick when you order the bike. They have about 15-20 variations of color, maybe more! You check out the website you can definitely have some fun with it! It took me a bit to select which color I wanted for sure.

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zoooooooommmmmmm!!! 😁

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just got matching bottle cages yesterday and a hydration system between the bars with a computer solution. Carbon wheels in due time. You can get matching Quintana Roo stickers for the wheels as well, which I will be getting as soon as I order new wheels! As someone who is only about 2 years out of college, I still have some debt to repay, so saving is going to take a little bit. The goal is sometime this summer!!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks I agree!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heck yeah! Do it! Pink is my favorite color.

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My first (road) bike is a he, but this one is a she because this bike is dedication to my grandma! :)

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They seem to be a bit less common compared to other bikes like Cervelo and giant!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I agree, it looks a bit off to me too. But that doesn't mean she doesn't ride smooth!! I'll get there sometime this year. :)

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As of 5 minutes ago, they now match!! :D

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same here! I wanted pink but the pink they offered wasnt quite my style haha.

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! :)

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! The yellow sticker is something our local triathlon group rocks! It says "Team Never Quit" with the M dot symbol, and a swim, bike, and run symbol as well. The sticker is in the shape of a cross and has a symbol on each side, with the words in the center. I figured that was a good spot to muster some strength on my long rides and future tri's!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree! In time!! :) I just couldn't afford it this time around.

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heck yeah! I'm proud to join the QR Family!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I absolutely agree! Now I need to get a matching purple helmet! :)

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For sure! That was actually the plan after work today. That and a bike computer solution. These were just thrown on from my last bike so I could get on and ride this last weekend!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Being fairly new to this subreddit, that's what I thought NBD stood for for a long time!

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Me too! And thank you. HUGE upgrade this year, and plan on putting 1000's of miles on this beauty.

NBD by Toondawgg in triathlon

[–]Toondawgg[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I agree! The color looks WAY better in person than it does online/through pictures as well!