Get Fit

Back in the day, when I was younger and had less sense, I bought a wedding dress. This is one of those wear-once things that a saleslady will assure you is worth spending a month's salary upon because it's going to be such a special day and your daughter and granddaughter will want to wear it (hint: no, they won't). I didn't spend very much $$ on mine, but I was still required to go through that time-honored traditions of all brides: The Fitting.

The Fitting generally involved a woman with a French accent and bad hygiene with a mouthful of pins, who placed you (in the dress) on a little stool and pinned and tucked and folded various pieces of cloth until the dress allegedly made you look like a princess (second hint: no, it didn't). You had to stand VERY straight and VERY still--and at least for me, it was a very unpleasant, long, uncomfortable experience.

But it did teach me a lesson: if you want something to fit well, you have to go through with The Fitting.

Bikes come in various colors and sizes (mostly centimeters, which really confuses us Americans who still refuse to believe in the metric system) and shapes. It's not your father's bike, as they say, not anymore. It's an expensive welded skinny frame with lots of parts that can break that needs to become molded to you during your 12-15-24-56-112 ride to glory.

When you are uncomfortable on the swim and the run, this is often a result of simply adjusting your pace or your position or your shoes and goggles. Sometimes this can be done right then and there. If you are uncomfortable on the bike, you are looking at several hours of pure misery.

Therefore, since we all come in different sizes and shapes ourselves, we need to go through with The Fitting on our bikes. Yes, you really do. Even if you think you fit a bike perfectly, there may be tweaks that will make you feel better or go faster. You may be surprised.

When you buy a new bike from a reputable bike shop, they should include The Fitting as part of the purchase package. Obviously you will get on the bike (attached to a trainer) at the shop, and their experts will measure you and position you and move parts around so that your knees, feet, arms, elbows and torso are all at the optimum level for comfort and for performance (hint three: sometimes those are direct opposites). There is a serious science into the exact placement of angles and dangles on a bike to make it work right (hint four: sometimes, however, you will not fit into the exact science measurement. See more on this below).

Getting you fit properly for your bike may involve buying alternate counterparts than what your bike showed up with--different seat, seatpost, handlebar, wheels, pedals--oh, come on, don't be so surprised. You need to realize right now that when you buy a bike, you are buying a FRAME and you will end up replacing or upgrading half of the other stuff on that frame. Get ready for it. You'll start with the seat and maybe the pedals, and then watch out....

If you intend to add areobars to a road bike (or any other bike, although they are not considered a proper fashion accessory for a mountain bike), you have to go through it all again, because the use of areobars places your body in a totally different position than a road bike.

I got fitted for my road bike when I first purchased it 5 years ago. Then, when I put on aerobars in March, I got fitted again. Then after four months of riding I realized this simple fact: I HURT. I was uncomfortable, and my rear end and my arms and my neck hurt like fire. I had a lot of different people offer me advice: strengthen up your neck, scoot back on the seat, relax your back--nothing worked. So I went for a Second Fitting, this time with a tri specialist at Triple Threat in Carrollton.

Didn't take Todd long to figure it out. "Your position is basically correct, but if it's hurting you, then it's not correct for YOU." He moved my bike seat back a bit, suggested a small change in my arm position (which position, by the way, was contrary to where all the articles say your arms should be), and has ordered me a new handlebar stem to raise my bars slightly. Already I can tell a huge difference in my comfort. I went for a 2 hour ride last night and spent most of the time on the bars, which before I was unable to do for that long a period. Yes, the new position that he has me in is less "aggressive" in form--more comfort, but a wee bit less power. I say, and he agrees, what good is a power form if I can't stand to be in it for more than 10 minutes at a time?

So, here's the sixth hint: if it hurts, then fix it. This game is not supposed to be about position serious pain. You'll get enough of that from your body saying STOP RUNNING OR BIKING BECAUSE WE ARE TIRED NOW. No need to add to that by not being as comfortable as possible in the water, bike or run. Buy the most comfortable outfits, wear the most comfortable goggles, and get yourself to The Fitting.

I was pleased with the 2 hour ride--it wasn't terribly fast, but there was a horrendous SW wind blowing, once so hard I had to grab for the brake hoods and squeeze my knees on the bike to keep from being literally blown over (and it also blew a lot of grit against my skin, which was unpleasant), but it was a bit cooler out there last night--only 93, which is awesome--and the ride was enjoyable.

Today's my off day! Gonna chill and work the dogs in agility tonight.