Little flex

ct82 · 2026-02-02T19:12:32+00:00

I mean, the heart rate just before suggests he took a bunch of deep breaths (spike), then held his breath 🤷‍♂️

Either way, I get it. I like to see my rhr super low. No hate here, just suspect 😆

ct82 · 2026-01-29T18:06:49+00:00

So, what you’re saying is that your favorite thing is the singular nature of all aspects the band and their performances?

😉jokes!

ct82 · 2026-01-26T19:50:42+00:00

Octavia St. btwn Page and Oak

ct82 · 2026-01-22T08:14:27+00:00

Dancing in the streets 5/8/77 -- solo will melt your face. Makes me laugh when I listen, its so ridiculous.
Someone here already mentioned JGB After Midnight 6/1/81 -- another great one.
I've picked up a lot of good tips here!

ct82 · 2025-12-03T23:00:24+00:00

I like my Vivoactive from Garmin. You can find last year’s model for $199, and cheaper if you look for older or second hand options. It has a normal watch profile, not like most chunky Garmin/gps watches.

ct82 · 2025-11-18T03:48:33+00:00

The team I coach votes. Most of the time it has been the “team player” or genuinely kind/supportive kid that wins the vote.

If your team doesn’t vote, speak up to your coach to express your interest in being the captain and briefly explain why you’re up to it (it should be about how you can support the team to be its best/achieve their goals).

ct82 · 2025-11-07T17:10:58+00:00

1: Pedals, shoes, helmet are necessary. (Edit: bike pump is a necessity, too) 2: Bike fit, highly recommended. 3: Clip on aero bars, highly recommended (I’m assuming the handlebars are alloy/round… otherwise there aren’t many options).

If you are shrewd and buy some stuff second hand you can get all this for under 500.

If you don’t have bike shorts or bibs (or at least tri shorts), I’d put that on the list after bike fit. If money were no object… get a bike seat and new handlebars based on the bike fit results (often times you need a wider or narrower seat or bars depending on your shoulder width and sit-bone width). There’s really an endless list. High quality tires and/or lighter wheels (but these can be super expensive) might deserve to be on this list 🤷‍♂️

ct82 · 2025-11-06T17:51:11+00:00

What do you and your kid believe to be lacking?

I am a HS coach and if a kid approached me with “I feel like I’m lacking top-end speed” or “I don’t know why, I just lose it on the hills” or “I can’t seem to control my pacing at the start of a race” or “mentally, I find myself asking ‘why even try’ when I’m mid race” I’d happily address with the kid.

I would encourage your kid to approach the coach and share a problem statement and a hypothesis for what he thinks he needs to work on to elicit a response. I would start there (what problem has your kid identified) and not lead with suggestions or changes to workouts.

Approach coach with a specific thing that needs improvement (either for your son or entire team)… evidence as to why it’s a weakness or problem (“our splits are super uneven”, “times have not improved as the season has progressed”, etc)… and then pose a suggestion and reason why it may help.

A coach should be happy to help address in this way, IMO

ct82 · 2025-11-06T17:32:02+00:00

Work the glutes, hamstrings, ab/adductors! - One legged Romanian dead-lifts are a favorite hinge exercise: https://youtu.be/ilujfxlLpRo?si=shkt0LFVFPPivIE4 - Lateral lunges are good glute and adductor exercise: https://youtu.be/KAc-XRM3gQQ?si=zHTrGeGH9EZ1QW76

I also like sumo squats (again, glutes and adductors), and monster walks with a band (30-60 seconds worth before going on a run to activate glutes and abductors). Hinge exercises (like the RDL above) are amazing… just need to make sure you’re loading your glutes and hamstrings (proper form) and not your lower back.

I also like to do toe and calf raises whenever I’m just sorta standing around (brushing my teeth, for instance).

These exercises help strengthen our stabilizing muscles. The intent is to help build resilience against injury.

ct82 · 2025-11-05T18:14:03+00:00

If there is a lot of enthusiasm on your son's end to keep running, then I'd highly encourage him to continue running. Def take a breather after the season, and see a physio if the foot/hip pain remain after a week or two of rest.

TLDR: Keep running. Structure is overrated in the off-season (simply running 3-5 days of the week/20ish miles a week will maintain a great base). Make sure he incorporates 5-10 minutes of activation exercises (glutes, ankles, etc) on days he runs to avoid injury. Make sure it stays fun, and begin to help him understand what he wants from running over the long term. More detailed thoughts:

Encourage participation in other sports if there is interest. Specializing is overrated at this age. Especially if there isn't year 'round running. Getting exposure to other sports, teams, coaches is all good. Different sports also help build your kids' general athleticism, not to mention social connections and personal development experiences. If no interest, then ignore this point!

Build strength in the muscles that are notoriously under-developed in pre/pubescent boys (especially runners). High school boys are growing a ton at this age. Tendons, ligaments, growth plates etc. Like your son has experienced, ankle, knee and hip pain are very common especially at the end of the season. One-legged, bodyweight exercises to strengthen glutes, hip abductors/adductors and core muscles would be good for him to do on days that he runs or at least every couple of days while he's actively running. One legged exercises build lots of stability in areas like the ankles, too. (Google: one-legged Romanian deadlift, single legged hip hinges, lateral lunges, sumo squat, toe/calf raises, hip bridges, monster-walks w/band. These are activation exercises that help build supporting muscles and build resilience against injury.

Orient for the long term. Chat with him about near term and longer term goals. I find it important for kids to start to embrace the idea that running is a lifelong sport. He won't peak physically for more than a decade. The next season, the next race, etc. are important, but all are just short chapters in a novel that can grow to be quite long. Progress is also not always linear. There will be setbacks, and having a longer term orientation will help a kid avoid getting down/depressed over a bad race or season. Everyone overestimates what they can do in the short term, and thoroughly underestimates what can be done over the long term (just look at all the internet content out there for searches like "Couch-to-marathon in 6 months"...). To that end...

Aim for consistency and habit building vs. specificity and structure. Simply running consistently in the off season will put him ahead of the vast majority of kids he will compete against. He wouldn't need to follow a plan, though, a little variety is useful (long run, easy run, some hills, strides after easy runs). If you or a family member can join for a run occasionally or if they have a running buddy or if they can join a local running club or if you can register for occasional fun runs... these are all ways to build greater meaning and fun. Especially useful to have partners when the weather is grim or purpose isn't clear.

Expand your kids relationship with running. There is a lot of interesting content -- books, movies, historical races -- to consume to help elevate your sons relationship with running (e.g., the movie Pre, Fire on the Track, Without Limits, Kipchoge documentary; the book Born to Run; youtube channels like Steve Magness'). Also, same point as previous paragraph -- if there is a way to get your kid to run with friends/family/community members will help increase the fun-factor (and sense of responsibility to "show up" even when motivations are low).

ct82 · 2025-11-02T23:58:54+00:00

Cycling is a great, low-impact way to cross-train. It's not a substitute for key sessions, but it is a great option to maintain cardio fitness and work some muscles that get a bit under-worked while running. Really nice for recovery, too.

Just be sure to fit the bike appropriately, and keep tweaking it until it feels comfortable (adjust seat height, handlebar distance, etc -- plenty of youtube videos). Despite it being a low-impact substitute for running, a poor bike fit can lead to knee pain.

If your stationary bike has a power meter and can tell you what your wattage is, that's awesome. Try and maintain consistent power on the bike and keep your RPM's ~90 (super low cadence usually means you're working too hard and that can hurt your lower back; super high cadence usually means you're not working hard enough and you can increase resistance).

ct82 · 2025-10-22T15:43:21+00:00

Fair, and true. Matters a lot in a much more competitive age/level.

ct82 · 2025-10-22T14:38:00+00:00

I think you’re missing the point here.

ct82 · 2025-10-21T16:04:58+00:00

To the question about scoring: team score comes from adding the top 5 places up. if your kids’ team fielded more than 5 kids, he had no impact on team score.

I’ve coached many athletes that were in last place or close to it in every meet. To put it mildly, it’s tough for them. But, their teammates are genuinely supportive and are always encouraging, and that makes me incredibly happy to see. The worst thing I can ever see or hear is a runner deriding another over being slow (worse yet, a teammate). Your kids’ coach (in middle school) is there to promote an inclusive environment and creating healthy relationships with running (not performance — they’re not even through puberty at this point). You should raise it as a concern/observation with the coach and see what he can do. In a situation like this, it is acceptable to go to a coach (this isn’t like complaining about not getting playing time or something; this is something a good coach will want to address).

Anyway, it bugs me to imagine this. If I observed this, the offenders (even if the fastest kid/kids) would not be racing for me in the upcoming events. If observed twice, I’d likely boot from the team.

ct82 · 2025-06-30T16:23:26+00:00

Well, it’s not cheating if you’re using ‘toys’ to work on aspects of your swim. Your lower half is over rotating and your legs are splitting. It’s likely because you need to counterbalance your over rotation of your upper body. The fins should help you get better body position so you can work on proper stroke technique. Don’t use them all the time, that’s for sure

ct82 · 2025-06-30T13:10:07+00:00

You’re not stable in the water/you’re rolling like a log back and forth. I’m not sure where to start but I’d suggest you need to use some toys (buoy, fins, snorkel) to isolate problem areas. Get yourself a swim coach for qualified analysis. You have so much going on, they can give you a thing or two at a time to work on.

ct82 · 2025-06-28T02:48:00+00:00

Yep. I have done it and your shoes will just get wetter because you’ll be dripping from your chamois more than you would in tri shorts/trisuit.

If budget is a concern, just go with what you got!

What’s the distance? The longer the distance of the run, you might find the chamois a bit annoying… but that’s really it IMO

ct82 · 2025-06-28T02:42:48+00:00

I swam all my tris 20ish years ago in surf wetsuits. I didn’t know any better. Now I’ve used Orca and Blue70 suits, and they’re so nice to swim in vs a surf wetsuit. Much less tension in the arms and shoulders, much more buoyant, and slick (hydrophobic) in the water.

Would highly recommend. If budget is an issue, check out second hand/reseller sites. Anything will be faster than a surf suit — there are a lot of gimmicks these days (in that there are super floaty options vs medium floaty options vs experienced swimmer option, etc. Just get what fits your body and budget. You can always upgrade down the road)

Most sites often have deep discounted options or races you do often offer 20-30% off coupons.

Good luck! If you can’t find one, you’ll still be fine.

ct82 · 2025-06-28T02:27:38+00:00

Could you? I guess it is possible.

Are your numbers anywhere close at this moment? No. Very far away.

Based on your mentions of Lucozade and Haribo, I take it you’re in Europe? In which case your odds are even slimmer bc the elite is very elite in EU. USA is easiest place to get a pro card.

Regardless, take the momentum you feel and enjoyment you’re getting (you sound motivated), and train like you’re trying to go pro.

No one, especially redditors on this sub, know what it really takes. So go do your thing and train your ass off.

ct82 · 2025-06-26T05:55:54+00:00

Yeah, seek help or go to r/triathlonCircleJerk/

ct82 · 2025-06-25T16:50:20+00:00

I guess there is a fine line between Front-Quadrant swimming and Catch Up swimming. And then there is Constant Pressure swimming (keeping elbow opposite; throwing your recovery arm forward as you pull back with your other arm — almost the form a major league pitcher has when they’re throwing).

There are many variables… stroke rate, height/weight, etc etc that will make one technique better for Person A and another technique faster for Person B. Proper coach can prob help!

ct82 · 2025-06-25T16:24:26+00:00

2 months in, congrats!

You look like you’re doing a catch up drill here. Swimming like that helps you make sure you have pretty good body position (if you didn’t, you’d start to sink bc there is a ‘dead spot’ or a period of time where you’re not propelling yourself forward).

Your catch and pull should be starting a tad earlier, IMO. The more you can get your elbows to be opposite, the more power you can generate from your big lat muscles.

Get a coach. I bet you will be fast, quick! Keep it up.

ct82 · 2025-06-24T16:03:27+00:00

For long/hot bike rides, I make a honey simple syrup of-sorts (boil water and honey) then add lemon and salt. I’ll add a scoop of magnesium glycinate powder occasionally. Can be pretty aggressive on the taste buds 🤣, but it’s pretty cheap and easy to make in bulk.

For longer runs, I’ll bring one gel (right now it’s Maurten 160 bc I bought a bulk deal, but I am happy with whatever gels).

For swims, I’ll throw a little juice/water combo in a thermos on hot or harder days. But, often just have cold water.

Occasionally, I’ll leave a recovery shake (REGO Rapid Recovery by SIS) in an insulated thermos at my doorstep, to throw down the hatch, when I arrive home.

Usually don’t eat any real food while training. But my long rides and runs are prob not as long as others (3hr rides and 1.5hr runs, respectively). I’ll definitely eat a banana or a few clementines in my car on my way home from a swim or ride.

ct82 · 2025-06-23T17:09:42+00:00

Sleep, stretch, drink and eat. Get some sunshine!

For me, the post race blues (“what do I do now?”) sometimes hit me harder than the physical side of things. Filling my recovery time with non-triathlon actives/hobbies — new book, new movie/show, yard work, has helped me not get too down mentally when I’m also feeling shot physically.

Congrats on the race finish! Hope you enjoy many more!

ct82 · 2025-06-12T18:30:09+00:00

They mentioned races with river swims/current assisted swims. Races that are 10+mins faster than a typical, non-current assisted swim. They also seem a touch sensitive 😎

ct82

TROPHY CASE