A bunch of gear questions-first HIM

[smithcyn42]

This is my first time posting ANYWHERE!!

I am signed up for my first HIM, the one at Disney in May. I started tri-ing last year, and completed an olympic distance in September (also at Disney). I've been running marathons and half-marathons for 7 years, since the birth of my son. I'm part of the slow and steady group of athletes!

Anyway, I bought a Cervelo Dual, and I've been pretty comfortable in the aero position EXCEPT for the saddle! MAJOR pain in the "girl part" area! I've tried a few random saddles, but I feel overwhelmed with the choices out there! I've been training indoors on my fluid trainer, and it's gotten so bad that I wince just thinking about getting on the bike!

I tried a terry butterfly, with the cut-out, but when I was in the aero position the pressure from the front of the saddle made me go numb. I know my body can do the HIM, but I'm not sure that my crotch can!

On a related front, what brand of bottoms do you like best? Again, I am overwhelmed by the choices! I don't like LG, but other than that, I'm not sure. Any suggestions? Anyone try Oomph!?

Lastly, and thanks for your patience with the legnth of this post, any suggestion for tops for a 32DD?

Everyone here seems so friendly and knowledgable! I don't know anyone else who does triathlons (not much free time!) and I love reading the posts and feeling like I am part of a community! That's my favorite thing about endurance sports.

Thanks for any and all advice in advance!

[Wahine]

Anyway, I bought a Cervelo Dual, and I've been pretty comfortable in the aero position EXCEPT for the saddle! MAJOR pain in the "girl part" area! I've tried a few random saddles, but I feel overwhelmed with the choices out there! I've been training indoors on my fluid trainer, and it's gotten so bad that I wince just thinking about getting on the bike!

I tried a terry butterfly, with the cut-out, but when I was in the aero position the pressure from the front of the saddle made me go numb. I know my body can do the HIM, but I'm not sure that my crotch can!

On a related front, what brand of bottoms do you like best? Again, I am overwhelmed by the choices! I don't like LG, but other than that, I'm not sure. Any suggestions? Anyone try Oomph!?

Lastly, and thanks for your patience with the legnth of this post, any suggestion for tops for a 32DD?

Welcome to the HIM world and congrats on the first post!!

The first bit of advice I would give you is that your saddle issue may not just be a saddle issue. It might also be a bike fit problem. Did you have your bike fitted by a professional? If not you might look into that. I say that, because the terry butterfly may not be perfect for everyone but it's usually adequate for most. My guess is that either your stem is too long or saddle too far back, or saddle not level, or sit bones too wide for that particular saddle or your sit bones are sliding forward on the saddle, of the wide part for some reason.

As for shorts. I'm a Pearl Izumi girl but my next set of tri shorts will be from Oomph. I'll let you know haw they are when I get them. That could be a little while.

I don't have any personal experience with the larger on top phenom. But some of my bustier friends will simply wear double the support eg: two jog bras under a tri top or a jog bra with a tri top if the top has it's own bra.

I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice. There are a lot of really knowledgeable women on this site.

Have fun and happy training.

[smithcyn42]

I was fitted by SBR Mulisports in NYC. They are certified by slowtwitch, so I figure they know what they are doing. But maybe I need to go back there and be refitted.

Thanks for the advice!

[Tri Girl]

Welcome to the boards!!!!
Doing a HIM is an amazing accomplishment- I can't wait to hear of your tales training and completing the race. You'll love the distance (and maybe even want more and try for the full IM- it happened to me it may happen to you! ).

I'm not terribly gifted on top, but I've read women posting here about the Enell bra (they actually sell them on TE), and seems like it's very supportive for larger ladies. Wearing 2 bras is surely not fun (but probably unavoidable), so maybe that bra would be good. Hopefully someone who's worn one will respond.

I agree with Wahine about the bike fit. Even tho you were fitted, you may need to go back. I had to adjust my bike about 4-5 times over a period of a few weeks before it finally felt comfortable (well, as comfortable as I could feel when riding it for 7 hours ). It took me a while to get in just the right aero position and feel good. I have a terry butterfly, and it is wonderful- once I finally got my body in the right position. I think it's rare that after one fitting, you and your bike are like one soul. Usually it's a matter of tweaking just a little here and there to get it feeling just right. Go back to the shop, tell them the problems you're having, then ask them what to try on your own if you're still having discomfort (should I tilt the seat up or down?- move it forward or backward? adjust the bars up or down?). What finally worked for me was titling the seat slightly down and forward, and raising the bars up a notch (both handlebars and aerobars).

Best of luck in getting your ride to fit!!!!

There's always the ISM Adamo saddle- I want to try it so badly, but just can't bring myself to fork over the cash (they sell a little cheaper on E-bay, but still...)

Oh and shorts- I'm a big Sugoi fan! Love the material, love the leg grippers and the fit.

[EBD]

Athletic tops for the well-endowed take some (expensive) trial and error. Do you wear 2 jogbras when you run? If that works for you, a similar approach may work for the tri. I wear a Sugoi Fizz bra (which you can swim in) underneath a Zoot tri top that has a built-in shelf bra. The combo is adequate for my 34DD's and doesn't chafe. The Fizz bra especially has a the best rib-band (whatever they're called) of any of my sports bras - really stays in place. The main thing is to wear a bra (and top) of seam-free wicking material for the tri - you'll be running around wet and all that. I don't think something like an Enell would work for a tri, too restrictive and heavy. I swim in my Fizz bra/tri top combo, as well as bike and run.

[smithcyn42]

Thank you for the great advice! I've really likes Sugoi running gear, so I'm glad to hear that their tri stuff is excellent, too. For running, I've been using a Moving Comfort bra and a bra called "Answers" that I found on a website called X-Chrom. Neither of them seem well-suited to the swim portion of the triathlon.

Anyone heard anything about the Blcakwell Flow saddle?

Antone else going to the Florida HIM in May?

[JmcG]

Antone else going to the Florida HIM in May?

You're going to love the Florida HIM - I did it both in 2005 and 2006. The water is nice and warm so you don't need a wetsuit (they never allowed it either year I was there). The bike course is one loop and mostly flat, with a few rollers, but very fast and very fun. The run was different each year and I'm not sure how they're doing it this year. 2005 it was 2 loops, 2006 it was 3 and more on grass and dirt than 2005's course. I always stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and walked to the start. Just be prepared for the heat. The first year got up into the high 80s, low 90s. Last year, by the time I started running, it was 95 degrees out. I hadn't trained in hot weather at all before racing down there (had been up in NH for work most of the winter/spring) so it hurt my performance some.

This year I'm doing Mooseman Half Ironman in New Hampshire b/c I can drive there and have a free place to stay - to save up for my trip down to Florida for the FL IM in November. I'm going to miss not doing Disney again this year though....

Onto your other questions -

Shorts - I wear Pearl Izumi tri shorts - have 2 pairs and love them. I don't particularly like the Sugoi's fit so well. I haven't tried any others.

Saddles - Terry Butterfly rips me apart - saddle sores, chafing, you name it. I've tried the regular and the tri saddles on both road and tri bikes respectively. Like someone else mentioned, check out your fit again. But try out other saddles too. Many shops will let you try out a saddle for a deposit that you'll at least buy some saddle there, maybe not that specific one. On my road bike, I have a Specialized Womens Body Geometry Jett that I love. On my tri bike, I have a Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow that I also love. It took me lots of saddles to figure out what worked best for me.

Finally - I can't address the subject of tops for the well endowed. I am poorly endowed, so I can easily race with almost no support. But there are definitely other threads on this topic that I've seen.

Good luck! Keep us updated on your training and the race!!

[colby]

Link: http://www.floridahalfironman.com/course.php

Wow, this sounds awesome! I just don't think I could be half-iron by May 19th, or I would SO be there. Good luck!!