A New Athena

Lisa, contgrats on taking the big plunge into triathlon. You have plenty of time to prep for this race. You have 6 months to get ready, this is plenty of time. Work with the trainer to get stronger and gain flexibility in your shoulder, this will help with the swimming. As for the running, it will come. Start walking and try to incorporate short bursts of running into your workout, in time make these running session longer, it will come.

Welcome!  x2 to everything Jezzie said about time and conditioning. 

I would just add that it you should not worry about not having an Athena division because with the exception of the top 5 in any age group/division, most of us compete against ourselves, enduring against the impuse to stop. 

Congrats!  on the decision to train for and run your first tri! 

You have till April so believe me (as someone who just finished their first sprint after just 6 weeks of training) you have plenty of time to get ready.

There are plenty of running experts, biking, and swimming experts.  You will find most of them over on the Triathlon Talk forum - go spend some time over there.  Everyone on BT is great and more than willing to help.

From what little I know, your method of walking warmup, light stretch (and I do mean light - get in most of your stretching AFTER your running when your muscles are good and heated up and MUCH less likely to get injured from strecthing).

But then run 1, walk 4 ... that is perfectly acceptable at this point.  Matter of fact, even though I really didn't start "officially" training for my tri until Aug 1st, I guess I was kinda in training since Jan 2008, and all I started with was just plain old walking.  At first 30 minutes 4 to 5 days a week, then added 15 minutes each week or two, till I was walking nearly everyday for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.

I got there in about 4 to 5 weeks, then I moved on to doing 30 minutes on the Eliptical at the YMCA, after a couple of weeks started doing 1 hour on the Eliptical, then from there on out just increased incline levels and resistance levels and the intensity I worked at, but maintained the 1 hour session.

I guarantee if you follow something similar (doing your 1 min run, 4 min walk method till you are doing this for 45 mins to 1 hour solid and/or for 4 miles soild), in place of my walking ... by then you will have lost some weight and strengthened you legs, and you can go for some intense eliptical workouts.

I like the idea of this for those of us who have some extra weight and we need to train smart and safe - the Eliptcal is very easy on the joints and low impact.

I expect you can be walking/running 45-60 mins or 4 miles withing a couple months easy, then hit a month hard on the Eliptical ... this puts you around Jan 2009, Feb at the latest, and that still leaves a couple of months to train doing consistent 5k runs (no walking at all) ... and believe me, you will be more than ready.

You say your biking is good - only advise is toward the end of your training try to be doing about twice the distance than your race, which is probably 13 miles.  So try to be riding upwards of 20 to 25 miles.  The reason I say this is because after biking, the run portion will be harder and you legs will feel weird.

I didn't do this but wish I had, so if you can train at 20-25 miles on the bike, then come race day when you only have to ride 13 miles, you will still be fresh for the run and you will smoke it.

Swimming, just practice as often as you can.  Main thing is find your breathing rhythm, whether it be every 4 strokes, 3 or  strokes.  Get your timing, strokes, and rhythm down and you will almost instantly double your distance.  At least for me, it was like a miracle ... I wasn't really as tired or fatigued as I thought I was - it was just that my breathing was off.  You may find that once you get into your training that your swimming will make the biggest gains.

Again, Congrats and hope to hear from you April 27th about how much fun you had!

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that is the same one i read that got me geared for doing this!!!!!

To klowman:

Thanks for all that you had to say.  I will check out the Tri Talk forum tonight.  You are right it is a light stretch that I do (calf and hamstring) before I start running.  I usually stretch for about 10 minutes after I am done.  It is good to know that I am on the right track for the running portion.  I know I may have to walk a portion of it the day of the race but I am planning on running across the finish line.

Good idea with riding the extra miles, especially since this race is known for the headwinds that riders encounter every year.  So wind + 4 hills = tired.  I also never considered that by riding farther that you do in the race that it would make the running easier.  But it does make a lot of sense.

Thanks for your insight.  To everyone who responded so far thank you I am listening!

My pleasure to help,

So many others on this board helped me out, and now if I can even give back just a crumb of wisdom I'm more than happy to do that.

Once you finish your first tri (and I know you will), you will learn so much and in a day you would multiply by 10 the knowledge you have for tri's, the training it takes, and little tips and tricks.

After you run your race on Sunday, come Monday you will reflect back on all that you have been through, all the training, all the help you asked for and the adivce given (if you could've only rememered half of what was said you are sure you could have done better) ... but you will have an epiphany ... all of a sudden all the training, all the advice or conversations you've heard from other people ... it will all come together and make so much sense.

You will think back on your training runs, and your biking, and whether you did any bricks or not and the distances you put in ... and after your race you will be able to look back and know exactly what you did right, what you did okay in, and what you need to do better.

Come later that week once you are rested up and ready to start training again, you will have so much more focus, the "eye of the tiger" because now you will know about doing some warmup laps in the pool, then you will know how many laps to swim and train at in order to be ready for your next race.

You will know the right combo of walking, running, eliptical, treadmill ... whatever your method is ... that you need to train at .... now you will be focused on your running form and you will feel it getting better, your breathing easier, your strides longer and faster ... and you will no longer be worried about cramping or so pre-occupied about whether you will even be able to finish or not ...

...that instead you will actually be caught in the moment of the training and really start to be able to maximize all yor efforts.

Trust me, you have plenty of time and you will have fun come April 26th, and then next time you log into BT, you can be the one to give some tips and advice to the next Athena or Clyde or Skinny.

See ya!

..

Hey--

Welcome to tri'ing! I have done my first event yet--I am in the process, but I figured I would give the little bits of wisdom that I have . . .

1) I am SOOO proud of you for beginning this. I have so many family members who are severely overweight and I wish they would do something like this. I tried convincing my dad lastnight . . . I don't know, maybe if he sees me racing, it will compel him to being racing as well.

2) I hurt my knee in high school because I started light jogging (I was WAY out of shape) and did make sure and strengthen all the muscles equally (inner and outer thighs) and I didn't stretch. So make sure and stretch REALLY well after you run and also make sure and strengthen those muscles or you'll regret it--trust me!

Well, I guess that was all my wisdom. Hahaha. Remember, we are all proud of you and you can totally do this.

Elishia.

Thanks so much.  It seems that every time I tell someone what I am doing they laugh first then they realize that I am serious and their attitude changes.

I have another question.  I lost 11 pounds in 8 weeks.  Pretty good for me, I think.  The question is that currently, within the last week or so, I am feeling fatigued after I work out.  Sometimes it lasts all day, sometimes it is only for a few hours.  Any insight?

If you are fatigued after for the day - you probably need to eat something right after your workout.  I, personally, LOVE chocolate milk (regular or soy)  well... and because I'm cheap.

As far as swimming - go check out some youtube videos on Total Immersion or someone really good swimming (like Michael Phelps) there are also a lot of technique videos on there.  If you are getting shoulder pain after swimming I would bet that you are doing something wrong in your stroke.

Are you bending your elbows on recovery?  Your hand should lift out of the water not from swinging your arm from the shoulder, but by the fact that as you bend your elbow, your hand naturally exits the water.

You might want to consider getting a couple of professionally coached swim lessons - cause someone swimming with you will see things that you can never tell on your own.

Welcome!!!! I am also a new Athena....you will find that this site is amazing for information....ex. this board!!! Best thing to do is just start browseing

Welcome aboard!!