The Hip Tendonitis Saga Continues
The running has been kind of slow this week so there isn’t really much to blog about on that front! I went out on a cheeky 5km run on Saturday along the canal where I live but after two kilometres of seven minute mileing, my hip tendonitis started showing itself again and annoyingly I had to slow things right down and jog the remaining 3km. After resting it for three days it still feels weak and sore so I am going to give it one more day off and then hit the physio exercises twice as hard to see if I can bully it back into shape!
Note to self: Don’t try to run fast with messed up hip tendons again!
Sunday was a much better day as, I had a pretty successful swimming session where I managed to knock six minutes off my 100 lengths time (25m pool), coming in just under the hour at 58 minutes. I have decided that if my hip tendons are still going to give me grief for a bit longer then I can at least try and keep up some fitness by really cracking on with the swimming. The next step is to try and bring that 2.5km swim time under 50 minutes.
I spent Sunday afternoon recovering from the pool session by surfing a few blogs to try and make up my mind about what beginner triathlon bike I should buy. Nothing is finalised as of yet but I now know the difference between a compact and a triple chainset…which is a step in the right direction at least right?! I am still really in the dark when it comes to choosing a bike so if anyone has any recommendations that would be great!
Goals:
Sub 50 min 2.5km swim – Curent: 58 min
Build up to 10km again - Current: 5km
Bike depends on budget. I’ve gone from 15kg alu hybrid to 8kg carbon fibre road bike. Got my first sprint tri on the new bike soon. I don’t think i will shave too much off my 20km time, but the reduced vibration from CF makes the whole job much less tiring on the UK’s potholed roads.
It’s a pleasure to ride which, coupled with the large price tag, mean i train more and ride further. Which can only be a good thing.
With groupsets you can’t really go wrong. I wouldn’t go lower than Shimano 105 (Sora is bad, Tiagra not bad, but not great) however. Most SRAMs come highly rated and Compag has a good pedigree. Try each as they are quite different experiences.
A shortish journey to Worcester and you could visit Epic Cycles. This were i bought mine and i recommend them. The fit is most important and they offer a comprehensive service here. I spent most of the day there: 50min fit session then 2-3 hours test riding various bikes all adjusted to your new vital statistics.
If you buy from them, that is all free. If not it costs £50 which is worth it i reckon (you can take the fit details away with you).
Thanks for the Info Steve, you nicely explained what it would have taken me hours to research on my own!
I always wondered what the big difference between CF and Aluminium was. I presumed it was something to do with weight but I had no idea about the vibration reducing properties of CF.
I think that I am going to take your advice and go into a shop for a fitting and some chat as if I buy online I will more thank likely miss out something vital or end up buying the wrong size bike! I start a new job in two weeks and hopefully they have a ride to work scheme so I can get that dream bike with a nice subsidy!
Cheers for the info again!
The government has just moved the goalposts on the Cycle to Work scheme. Previously a 13th salary sacrifice was the norm for transferring the ownership from company to employer. It’s now more like 20% of market value (or at least the value paid by the company, inc VAT). This tapers down the longer it is before said transfer happens. It could all change again. It’s still cheaper, just not as much; effectively still interest free credit though.
CF is worth the money for ride quality. It flexes which is the bonus for ride comfort. It’s an issue for the sprinters however, because it’s a waste of energy. I used to sprint [running] to a decent level and it’s not really an issue for me however.
Drop me an email if you have any other questions. I’m certainly no expert but have just been down the same road as you.