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Just did my first tri.
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 2018-05-21 4:59 PM |
 1 |  Subject: Just did my first tri.I did my first Triathlon on Saturday, May 19th. It was the Sand Hollow Triathlon down in St. George. I've been working on training for the last 2 months, but honestly, I am getting the the point now athletically where I wanted to be when I Started the tri training. I finished the triathlon though I was DFL (which I suppose is still better than DNF). That's OK. My goal with this tri was to complete it. A bit about me. I am 38 and have been driving a desk too long. I love mountain biking and hiking, but I have let myself get out of shape to the point that I struggle pedaling up the hills on my mountain bike. My goals with the Triathlon was to have a good well rounded set of activities that keeps the work outs interesting, changed up and helps me get into better physical shape. On that aspect, I am doing very well. I've been pretty good about doing my work outs consistently. I did miss a couple weeks worth of work outs. Per my first tri, I had a little bit of difficulty in the water. During my training, in a pool, I was able to do the 750m swim un about 18 minutes. The bike ride in 45 minutes and the run... In about an hour. During my triathlon, because I had a panic attack during my first open water swim, I rented a wet suit to help with buoyancy during the swim -so I could roll to my back, stop panicking and then keep going. I think the wet suit was also too restrictive, as I couldn't take full breaths without having to work against the wet suit compressing my chest. The swim took me 40 minutes, but according to my HRM My total time moving was just shy of 13 minutes... eek! Anyhow, I am planning on another tri, the Jordanelle Tri which is in August. I am excited to get on the training regimen for this! -James |
| 2018-05-22 9:22 AM in reply to: 0 |
701  | Subject: RE: Just did my first tri. Awesome work! I'm right with you on just about everything you said and know exactly where you're coming from. I had a terrible swim too on Sunday. And I love open water swims...at least in comparison to swimming laps. I know that feeling of the wetsuit....but I honestly don't think it's the wetsuit. Maybe we can work together to figure this thing out. I feel like I'm constantly out of breath when I start a race. I can't settle in within a few strokes like I can in the pool It seems worse in a wetsuit. But, I've come to the conclusion it's because if I need a wetsuit, the water is just flat out colder. And some people here have talked about an effect that cold water kicks in a reflex to suck in air. Which in swimming....sucks....because if you can't empty your lungs, you can bring in oxygen. I don't know if that's the case or not. I think it's just that colder water...."upsets the balance" and you just start doing things differently. A race is different than a swim. So again...you start doing things differently. I run in to similar problems in races without a wetsuit. Honestly, my best swim was in a full IM I did last year. I think it's because of a number of things: -I was swimming...A LOT. TONS, leading up to the race. The more you do something, the better you do it, right? -Since you have to be there so early and you've already dropped off all your gear and such, you don't really have anything to do except put some water on your bike and then sit and wait....I had a lot of time to 'visualize' and think about how I wanted to settle in to the water. A lot of races, I show up and spend time setting up gear, looking for the run out, counting racks....and before you know it, I'm scrambling to get my wetsuit on and it's time to go. No moments of calm to think it through. -the amped up factor of a race. I should probably try to get some granular detail from my Garmin sometime and see if I'm just blazing on those first 200-300 meters. Maybe I'm so amped I'm outswimming my usual pace and am just....outright out of breath? Also, I find if I can at least get in the water beforehand, I do better. Especially if it's cold water. To get over that initial 'shock'. I hate cold water. You're not alone in this. I think it manifests itself differently in a lot of folks. Some it's debilitating freak outs. Some might be like you and I where it just kicks us out of our optimum capability to varying degrees. Either way, you swam....you biked...you ran. And you prepared for it. It's all about the journey for most of us. You'll crush it next time out. Edited by jhaack39 2018-05-22 9:22 AM |
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