Hi Doc, and with that post, I have even more respect for you.  You are so right about Bek Keat's frame of mind when she made that decision (in fact, she responds in interviews by saying that she didn't think she was going to win the race so why not help Chrissie), and I think that's why she decided to do what she did.  And I think that's what your post really points out, how difficult it is to truly be a pro.  Being a pro simply doesn't mean being fast or doing tons of workouts but it's about embodying being a pro, that means being fast, working hard, and making the right decisions.  I will always be an age-grouper because I cannot embody all it is to be a pro.  I would help Chrissie and lose my paycheck, I would skip a workout to spend more time with my family, and I don't train as hard as I can because as biologist, I know the damage I'm doing to my body in the long run.  You are doing the triathlon world a favor by painting a tough picture when it comes to being a pro as it will make all those wishful thinking age-groupers think twice about turning pro. 

Well it all makes sense now.  I found it a bit odd to see Belinda just zoom by Chrissie when she flatted in Kona without throwing her a CO2 or anything.  And then to see Chrissie repast Belinda without acknowledging her, I thought, wow, these teammates are all business come race day.  And that is why I could never be pro, I just don't take the sport seriously enough.  But then again, Bek Keat is a pro and she somehow, at that moment, made a decision to help someone else out.  For me, that's the magic of sport.

Finally, a topic I can contribute.  Just a triathlete who grew up as a swimmer and have had many coaches who use bands.  Using a band with no paddles or buoy mostly works on body position, specifically all the muscles in the core area that usually go unnoticed when you use your kick to compensate.  The band exaggerates flaws in body position, thus, those with poor technique, suffer more and their legs sink more, thus creating more drag, thus they usually compensate by pulling harder.  The key is to actually keep an even pull, stay relaxed, press with your chest in forward/downward motion (some of you might have heard this as the term "pressing the T").  Using a band with buoy and paddles is just working on shoulder strength.  The band keeps your feet from doing inadvertent kicks and increases drag, thus requiring you to pull harder.  Yes, you do have to think about body position with the band and buoy on and some will argue that it helps with body position, but I say any time you use a buoy, you get a false sense of body position because your body is not in a "natural" state of floating.  And then there's the paddles and band only, no buoy.  This is basically the mother of all mothers, you work on body position and strength.  It's not an age-group thing or pro thing, it's a shoulder thing.  I've been using garbage canned size paddles all my life and have never had a shoulder injury.  This is a load my shoulder can take but I also know what line not to cross.  For me, 800-1000 yards in one workout (whether it is a straight 1000 or 2 x 500 or 5 x200) is all my shoulder can take.  Unfortunately, you don't know your limit until you cross it so find out what works for you.  I've been swimming competitively for over 27 years and I love all the advances in technology in swimming (the Finis MP3 player is awesome!) but when it comes to buoy and paddles, old-school beats out technology.  Here are links to my favorite buoy and my favorite paddles.  I've had my buoy for over 10 years and I'm pretty sure it's the 8-inch buoy, could be longer.  As for paddles, nothing beats the strokemakers.  I use the XL dark blue mostly but will drop down to the L red size in the early season or to work more on power and stroke rate (I'm 5'5", 126lbs).  Last year, I trained with some swimmers who were trying to qualify for the olympic open water trials and I was amazed at how often they did band work...with no buoys.  And being a triathlete and a follower on this forum, I thought, "hmmmm...maybe Doc does know a thing or two."  As with everything on the internet, all this advice was unregulated and use discretion.
http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/1241.htm
http://www.metroswimshop.com/product.StrokeMaker_Paddles_S.htm

Hi all, been racing for 18 years now and the only injury I've suffered is an IT band issue so don't have too much experience when it comes to injuries.  Lately, I've had some knee pain.  Here are the symptoms, thought maybe the wealth of knowledge from coach and the team members might give me a starting point in diagnoses:

It's a sharp pain that feels like it's coming from behind or below the knee cap
Have had it on the last three runs, when I first start, sharp pain, a bit hard to bend the knee as it feels like it's locking but once I get warmed up, I can run on it.  The knee locks and I have sharp pains intermittently on the run and more when I'm ending  the run. 
It hurt to kick flutter while swimming tonight, dolphin kick was ok, breaststroke kick no pain, and hurt slightly kick flutter on my back.

My training has been consistent the last 9 months with no spike in mileage.  I'v gradually built my run and my biggest mileage was 42 miles two weeks ago.  Am training for a marathon right now so don't really want to stop running, any ideas?  Thanks in advance!

BG, it's called sensationalism, an old trick used in the media world to boost viewership.  It's nothing but third-grade tactics and totally immature but unfortunately it sometimes works because the world is full of immature people.  Dan Empfield is a cynic and in my opinion, cynical people have lost all hope. But you BG, you are inspiring and your performances give hope to so many people to train hard and to race beyond what any cynic could ever imagine and that in my book is more important than the words of any sad person who has no hope.  Don't waste any more energy on this, instead, put it into your training day in day out and continue to inspire!  Make this post the last of this stupid topic.

Hey M@, google it and you should get the rest of the old but wise saying...and the saying was not directed at you but rather Sugar; but of course we can all take advice from it.

M@, for the record, I like your style...I always see the humor in you posts.  And it seems that Coach does too as his responses to your more "opinionated" comments always have an air of patience and  understanding.

What's that saying about people in glass houses?  One thing I did notice in your post is that every statement ending in a period, you capitalized the first letter of the sentence; and in my book, proper use of semantics/syntax/grammar to COMMUNICATE well is much more evolved than knowing how to spell.

Hey Beck, maybe you forgot that I was the original poster of the team groupie topic.  Stay independent y'all.

On a side note, was meaning to post a quick note to you Beck after Nice.  Glad you're back to racing and in my short and brief interactions with you, I think you're more than just a great triathlete.   

So Doc, I saw a picture of Steve Larsen from Ironman CDA and it looked like he had the Team TBB Badge of Pain on his jersey.  Is he merely a groupie too or has he too jumped on the Team TBB train?  This little underground team looks like it's going mainstream.  As someone who prefers independent films and music, just want to request you maintain your roots as you become more popular, somehow, I think this will be easy for you Doc as I think you have similar tastes.

Doc, you must be one proud poppa after this weekend.  Yikes, this team is off the hook.

I think I'm wishing that I'm one of your illegitimate offsprings because so many times I found
myself thinking about TeamTBB as I trained this week and I made some big breakthroughs
in my fitness.  After taking a year off from ironman racing, I just may go back.

Good job poppa.

A picture is worth 1000 words:

http://www.zanzibar.ca/Webtools/images/D'Arcy/Lumberjack.JPG

Hey Doc, there are lots of tri forums out there (Slowtwitch, etc...) and I've been shopping around.  It took me about 5 months of reading the TeamTBB forum before I mustered the nerves to post.  But I was also getting a feel for this forum versus all the others.  What I like about this forum is the lack of Trigeekness (if that is a word).  Triathletes are the most hardworking and dedicated athletes but all of them in one place can a bit too much and daunting.  All those type A, gear-minded, science of this and that, E1, E2, aerobic systems just hits me as nonsense sometimes.  I like the no-nonsense approach and the simplicity of the way you do what you do Doc.  Take the example of grinding big gears when you bonk, you didn't explain it to me in such a way that I would need a PhD in exercise physiology to understand it.  No nonsense...simple, I like that.  Also, I like the humor that pervades all the threads.  Being in triathlons for 16+ years now, I've noticed how the athletes have become so serious about everything.  I like how this team is serious about their training/racing but not so serious about every aspect of their lives. Alright, enough praise, I did say I am a groupie  .

Thanks for the explanation Doc, must admit, I do regret giving away this little secret as it has been my advantage against my competitors all these years.  But I'm happy knowing that there are a lot of stubborn people out there who never took this advice when I gave it to them.

And as for all that other information like quotes, movies, songs, etc..., me thinks you must have GOLD member status on Wikipedia.

Now I can go about my workday with the ease of mind that comes with the truth, straight from the source, thanks.   

Hi Beck, because I'm such a good groupie, I noticed that your name appeared on Siri's website as a new team member...actually, this sounds a bit stalker-ish.      Thanks for the confirmation and hope things are going well with the new team.

Alright, I gotta come clean, I'm a total Team TBB groupie.  I'm on this forum and the main website religiously and anything and everything each one of you say is GOLDEN.  Too bad you're not a band because I would be at your concerts trying to get backstage.  Dare I say it, you're more entertaining than Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan put together.  And yes, I spend many days at work sitting at my desk fantasizing about what it would be like to be a member of Team TBB.  Thanks for giving this 9-5 age-grouper something to wistfully think about everyday.  Keep it up team.

And Doc, or is it Coach, or is it Sutto, did I miss any other aliases?  Two things that have always stuck in my mind about you and I'm curious to know if they are urban legends:  I have a friend who trained with you more than 12 years ago and he came back to the states and shared with me something he learned from you and it's been my secret ever since.  If you are bonking on the bike, put it in the toughest gear, grind it out in a low cadence and you'll come back to life.  It's so counter-intuitive and every time I give that advice to someone bonking, they never follow it and they never come out of the bonk.  It's always worked for me, after 10 minutes or so of grinding in the lower cadence, I start to come back and push even bigger gears.  So, did Josh really get this advice from you?
And the other line that I think you are credited with is that if you're feeling overtrained, it's not because you're training too much but rather not enough.  I doubt these are urban legends because they seem to fit right in with your attitude.