Meeting Calendar for 2004:

• Meeting 1: Feb 3, 2004
• Meeting 2: Feb 17, 2004
• Meeting 3: March
• Meeting 4: March
• Meeting 5 April 06, 2004
• Meeting 6 April 20, 2004
• Meeting 7 May 04, 2004

Meeting Notes of 2004 Feb 3^rd

• Introductions
  It was good to see alot of new faces at the meeting.
  
• Dues
  Dues will be $10, and will be collected at the next meeting. 
  
• T-shirts and singlets
  These will be ordered soon.  T-shirts will cost about $10, and the singlets will be $35.  The club also has extra t-shirts from last year still available in size L and XL available for $8.  There are also plain white coolmax t-shirts available for $8 (that's a bargain!).  We may get something printed on the coolmax t-shirts. If you have suggestions, email the listserv or post to the forum.
  
• Tabling
  We need volunteers for tabling in front of west mall this week.  Send email to Jason to sign up.  Or feel free to just stop by and help out. 
  
• Upcoming races
  Texas State Triathlon on March 28.  There was talk that the club might get a discount if we get at least 10 people to sign up.  We want to encourage people to participate.  If you are not ready to do the whole thing, you can be part of a relay team. 
  

• Allan's lecture
  Allan gave a lecture on Developing a training program.

Meeting Notes of 2004 April 6^th

• 1. SWIM tips:
  The body should not stay flat like a barge. The body should rotate completely on its side when the arm is extended. As a drill: do 6 or more kicks on each stroke with the body completely on one side, then 6 kicks on the other side....
  - Entrance: When first putting your hand in the water, think of putting your arm into the sleeve of a jacket with super long arms. Reach as far out as possible.
  - Catch: When starting the swim stroke, your hand is an anchor. Don't think of pulling your hand down, think of pulling the rest of your body forward past your hand.
  - The stroke should be with the entire arm, not just the hand. As a drill, try swimming with your hands balled up in a fist. This will give you an indication of how much work you are doing with the rest of the arm.
  - Keep the elbow bent through the pull. This will add more resistance. If your arm is straight, it will just slip through the water. Also, this will help reduce shoulder injuries.
  - The hand doesn't pull _straight_ through the water. It follows an S-curve. Practice sculling drills to get used to how this feels. [It's hard to describe what "sculling" is in writing. It's the type of waving your hands back & forth that many people do when they are treading water. When you are treading water, your hands move from side to side, even though you are trying to keep your body from going down. ]
  - Finishing the stroke: THROW water back from the hip. The point is to make you pull through the entire stroke. Especially important for endurance swimming.
  - Kicking should be very minimal for endurance swimming.
  
• 2. BIKE tips:- Mashing vs. Spinning. Spinning is more efficient.
  - Don't pull UP on the pedal. (This is a myth.) The reason is because at this point the opposite leg is in its most powerful position.
  - When the pedal is at 12:00, think of pushing into the toes of your shoes. When the pedal is at 6:00, imagine that you are scraping off the heel of your shoe.
  - Wind tunnel tests were designed for people going 30MPH. If you average below 22-25MPH, aerodynamics plays a much more minor role in overall performance. Comfort and effort are much more important.
  
• 3. RUN tips:
  - Your torso actually twists at the waist as you run. Hence when your arms move, it is primarily because your torso is twisting, not because you are swinging your arms.
  - Think "HIPS TALL"
  - Elbows at 90-degrees. Arms should not cross the invisible vertical line down the center of your body.
  - Imagine that you have a string attached to the top of your head pulling your head up. This will help keep you from slouching.
  - Keep your feet underneath / behind you. Don't over-extend the hips. (The previous tip will help with this.)
  
• 4. GENERAL tips:
  - Slowing down will NOT improve mechanics. Keep the pace up. Do something in each workout that is a faster than average pace.

Meeting Notes of 2004 April 20^th

• Officer elections will be held at the next meeting. Send email to Jason if you are interested in running for an office.
  
• UPCOMING RACES:
  - Tri-Mania May 25 (this Sunday). There are several people going (Jason, Matt, Justin, Meredith, Mary, Sarah) and a few maybes (Flip, Lydia, Joseph, sorry if I'm leaving anyone out). You can still register on-line at www.tri-mania.com, or in person at packet pickup on Saturday. There is also packet-pickup on Sunday before the race, but you can't register on race day. A few (3-4) of us are sharing a hotel room, and Jason may have a friend that someone can stay with, so ask one of us if you are interested in crashing.
  
• Balance Bar Adventure Race on May 9. There is at least one team from the group doing this. See the Forum thread.
  
• Dirty Triathlon on May 23rd. This is at Canyon Lake (the location of SWT tri), but the bike is a 14-15 mile mountain bike course.
  
• Group event: volunteer at the IronKids triathlon. This is the weekend of CapTex/America's, but on Saturday May 29. Several people have expressed interest in volunteering for this event.
  
• There will be alot of people around this summer. We will probably have several informal social meetings (likely to be held at EZ's), as well as group workouts.
  
• Soon we will start having group swim workouts at Barton Springs. These will most likely take place on Tuesdays at 9:00PM. Let Jason know if you have another time preference.
  
• Recently at TSC on Friday afternoons (5:00-8:00), the pool has been set up for the long course (50-meter lanes). This is great practice for distance swimming, so come to the Friday swim workouts!
  
• END OF YEAR PARTY. Mark your calendars for Tuesday May 18. This is the last day of finals. Location TBD.
  
  ********** Allan's Lecture on Nutrition **********
  
  What your body needs:
  - Carbs: important for *training* and *recovery*
  - Protein: *recovery* / re-building tissue
  - Fat: necessary to build cells (lipids form cell walls??)
  - water
  - vitamins
  - minerals
  [We are going to focus on the first 3 for now. ]Suggested intake as percentage of total daily caloric intake:
  (Opinions differ... There are alot of crazy diets out there.)
  Carbs: 50-60% (1g has 4 calories)
  Protein: 12-15% (1g has 4 calories)
  Fat: (the rest) (1g has 9 calories)
  It is easier to think in terms of the number of grams you need (given
  your body weight).Suggested intake, as measured in grams per kilogram of body weight,
  for someone who exercises an average of an hour a day:
  Carbs: 5-7 g / kg
  Protein: 1-1.4 g / kg
  Fat: limited (If you work on getting the carbs & protein, you will probably get enough of this.)
  You can convert from pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.Tips:
  - Generally, endurance athletes are UNDERfed carbohydrates. Note that a 72kg person needs 360-504g of carbohydrates a day. That's alot.
  - Try to eat 5 times a day.
  - It's difficult, but possible, for a vegetarian diet to contain
  enough protein. Just be very careful about getting what you need. Iron in particular.
  - For reference, a power bar has 30-40g of carbs.
  - Read food labels. And pay attention to serving sizes.
  - There is no scientific evidence that it is "bad for you" to eat right before you go to bed.
  - For speedy recovery, the best time to take in food is within 30-60 minutes of finishing a workout. Mostly carbohydrates, but add a little protein for quicker recovery. Drinks like Slimfast or Ensure are good for this, as they have about a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. Whatever you eat, it should be easily digestible.

   

Meeting Notes of 2004 May 4^th
Business

• Officers were elected.
  President - Jason
  VP: Natalie (fall) and Tyler (spring)
  Secretary: Sarah
  Treasurer: Patricia
  Event/Social Coordinators: Katie and Joseph
  Webmasters: Jeff and Flip
  
• END OF YEAR PARTY was moved to Wednesday the 19th. It will start at 8:00.
  
• NEXT MEETING: The Tuesday after the party (May 25th) we will meet at EZ's at 7:30. EZ is located on Lamar, just north of 38th street. It is directly across from Central Market. They have burgers, pizza, salads, milkshakes, etc.
  
• Austin Triathletes is sponsoring monthly time trials on South Mopac. For more info: http://www.run-far.com/Depts/RFbiketimetrial.htm I think they start giving out free chips at 5:00 but the time trials start at 6:00.
  
  Allan's Lecture Topic: Mental Preparation
  
• The four main concepts:
  - self image / "comfort zone"
  - self talk
  - associative / dissociative techniques
  - visualization
  
• Self Image
  You will only live to the level that you perceive yourself. For the
  average person, 70% of what you tell yourself on a given day has a
  negative connotation to it. If you say you can't, you won't.
  
• Comfort Zone
  In order to learn and improve, we must push ourselves beyond our
  comfort zone.
  
  There are four phases of learning:
  1: unconcious incompetence (You don't know what you don't know; you think you know everything.)
  2: concious incompetence (You realize there is alot you don't know.)
  3: concious competence
  4: unconcious competence (You can just function at a higher level.)
  Phases 2 and 3 are outside of the comfort zone.
  
  Relationships:
  Comfort zones are a big cause of relationships failing.
  A person who has a high self image or is in a comfort zone will learn
  from the other person in the relationship and grow and adjust. A
  person who has a low self image or is not in a comfort zone will try
  to drag the other person into the comfort zone and sabotage the
  relationship. Some people can be addicted to negative self talk and negative self
  image. They typically have a self-destructive behavior.
  
  Athletic endeavours are a good way to push the comfort zone.
  Example: you could tell yourself "Well, it's okay if I don't PR in
  this race today" but then you are sinking back into your comfort zone.
  Another example: finishing an Ironman will expand a person's
  comfort zone because they know what they are capable of.* Self Talk
  
  Take notes of anything negative you tell yourself during a race. (e.g. "This gu tastes awful", "This wind is horrible", "Why do I always have a headwind?") If you do run into problems, try to put a positive spin on it. (e.g. "I'll be done in just 15 minutes.") Even if you have to walk, you will still finish. (In fact walking may be necessary to make it across the finish line.)* Visualization
  
  Associative:
  Be able to see yourself at the event. Drive the course beforehand. Know where all the hills & corners are. When you drive or ride or run the course (for practice), try to associate the course with good feelings. Think about some ride where you felt like you were on top of the world.
  
  Dissociative:
  When you feel like hell, dissociate. Allan's example: he has trouble during the middle of the race. During this time, think about just getting from one marker to the next at a time. (In this case, a
  "marker" is a lamppost or telephone pole, etc.) Other ideas: sing or think of a song, wave to spectators or cheer on the other participants (if they don't mind), and they will likely cheer you on.There are a number of people who feel like they don't have control over their race performance. Really, you have control over just about everything except the weather. Typical excuses are "I didn't eat well the day before the race," "I didn't take in enough calories on the
  bike," "I got beat up in the swim". You have to learn the discipline to get proper nutrition, and you have to learn how to relax and clear your head.*
  
  Pre-race stuff
  Remember it's just a race; there's another one next month; the world won't blow up if you don't perform well. Nobody else is expecting anything from you. You put all the pressure on yourself.
  Once you put your feet in the water, your work is done. From that point on, just think: it's an adventure. Just have a good day; this is what you paid alot of money to do; enjoy it and have fun.Allan has a running group that meets at the Riverside Runtex store on Tuesdays & Thursdays
  at 5:45pm. All paces welcome.