Menglo's Mentoring Group - Closed

Mengalo, - beautiful dog by the way. i love animals, especially dogs.

May I join?

A little about me.

Name: WhizBonker/AJ
Story: My name is AJ and I am studying networking and telecommunications in college. I used to be an equestrian back in highschool, and in my final year i started doing triathlons... (well, i did just the beginning). In the winters back then i would do snowboarding. When i started collge, i was swomped with work. blah, so i had to go to being a full time student. but now its summer, well school is over for me in 2 weeks. i have my finals then. 
Weight Loss: about 30lbs. yesh the lifestyle of a student is kinda crappy. i want to go back to being what i used to look like

- need to know anything more? just ask, i will always have an answer.

Whiz Bonkers

Thanks!  Here's a little about me:
Name: Jeff (or Poppi as my grandaughter calls me).

Story: 55 year old grandfather who decided to participate in a triathlon this year.  I live in Mansquan, NJ.  I teach yoga as an occupation.  I'm a "late bloomer" didn't start rock climbing until I was 35, surfing when I was 40, yoga at 50 and now triathlon at 55.

Family status: married with children & grandchildren

Current training: swim on Monday, Wednesday & Friday / bike & run on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.

This years races: Jersey Shore Kick-off in May (sprint), Long Branch Series in June (sprint) & New Jersey State triathlon @ Mercer County Park in July (Olympic)

Weightloss:  I could lose 5 or 10 and be quicker on the bike & run (plus I wouldn't look so much like a plump sausage in my tri top)

Thanks!

Originally written by Whiz Bonker (2010-04-14  1:54 PM)

AJ,  I hope you don't mind, I figured I would post it in the forum so that everyone could benefit and also chime in any words of encouragement/advice.

Its a relatively complex question and I'll answer it to the best of my ability, I'll break it down by parts of the day(s):

Night before:  Get a good dinner in.  Lay out ALLL of your stuff, maybe even practice a T1 and T2 (transitions) a bit.  Get to bed early and plan on getting up early.  If you're anything like me you may not sleep too well that night due to nerves, but you'll be fine, I promise!

Morning of:  Out of bed early, shower if you want.  Get a GOOD breakfast (I like PB&J toast personally).  Something simple, bagels, oatmeal is great, fruit (if you can stomach it).  Nothing new!  Something that you've eaten before a training session before that you know will sit well.  Pack everything into your car and go over your checklists 3-4 times.

At the race:  Get there early (shoot for when transition opens up) and try to get a good spot (I like the end of the racks, it makes it easy to find your bike after the swim.  Go pick up any info, get body marked than start on your warm-up routine.

Warm-up:  I like to take my bike out and run it through the gears first to make sure their aren't any MAJOR problems.  Check the brakes, waterbottle holders, bike computer.  Lastly, before re-racking your bike, check your tire pressure and inflate if needed.  I'll go for a light jog next just to get the blood flowing.  I'll head out of the T-2 exit so I'll know what to expect.  Continue to drink water throughout.  Continue to stretch and move around till the start.

Start:  They'll let you know when/where you should be to start.  Swim a little warmup to get a feel for the water.  I would suggest positioning yourself to the outside, this will help keep people from swimming over the top of you.  If you are REALLY unsure of your swimming abilities wait about 10-15 sec. after the gun goes off for everyone to "clear out".

Swim:  I would strongly urge getting an OWS in before the race.  It can be tough swimming without the line on the bottom for you to follow.  Just stick to your training and technique and you'll be fine.  Practice sighting if you can, I look every 6-8 strokes.  The bouys are rather easy to see as they are usually rather bright.

T-1:  When I stand up after swimming I'll tend to get a little light headed after being horizontal swimming.  I've never worn a wetsuit for a tri before, but any strippers should be right near transition.  If not, make sure you practice taking your wetsuit off.  Also, I find my heartrate is through the roof because of the adrenaline.  Remember one thing, BREATH.  Long deep breaths.  find your bike, go through the transition you practiced and get out on the bike. 

Bike:  The tendency is to go out way to hard on the bike right away.  Try to avoid this if at all possible.  Your heartrate will be high and you want to settle yourself down.  The courses are well marked and the volunteers at the races I've done have been extremely helpful.  If you can get a chance to at least drive the bike course a couple days before, do it.  It'll be nice to know of any big hills or anything to that effect.  Remember, NO surprises on race day!

T-2:  makes sure you slow up coming into transition, off the bike, re-rack the bike.  Tie your shoes (take an extra second here to make sure they're done right).  Put on your race number belt (if you have one, if not just safety pin the number to the shirt you put on to bike in).  Take a sip of water or sports drink (whichever you prefer) and head out.

Run:  Your legs will feel like lead and you'll feel like you could prabably walk faster than your running.  Trust your training though.  I loosen up after about a mile.  Hit cruise and enjoy.  You're almost done!  Grab water at aide stations.  Stop to drink if you need to (its EXTREMELY hard to run and drink at the same time).

Finish:  When you finish someone will take your timing chip off for you.  Eat whatever you can get your hands one (you deserve it) and go cheer on the other finishers.

A few all encompassing things I've said, others I haven't.  First off, NO SURPRISES! don't wear, eat, or drink anything new/special on race day.  This can be a recipe for disaster.  Enjoy the day.  It is YOURS, you earned it!  Run YOUR race, it doesn't matter who passes you or who you pass.  DFL>DNF>DNS EVERYTIME.  Trust in your training, you trained hard to get there, trust that it will take you through the race, because it will.

If I've forgotten anything, please let me know.  I know its a lot.  Also this is mostly from my experience, which will be very different then many others.  I tried to be as general as possible.  Also if anyone else has any other tips, like I said, chime in! 

I'll share my embarrasing T2 effort today:  On the bike for an hour (I'm slow about 16 miles) and coming in on the pavement to transition @ my Jeep.  Unclip the left foot, slow down, put the left foot down and the next thing I know I'm going over on the right side of my bike with my right foot still clipped in ...I bounced off the pavement next to my Jeep ...got up, (looked around to see who was laughing), stowed the bike, changed shoes and slogged my 4 miles.  Lesson learned: unclip BOTH sides before stopping...one of my problems are that I have the SPD pedals (both sides) and when I unclip and coast to a stop there feels like there is nothing to rest my slippery shoes on and I struggle to feel comfortable coming to a stop or I get the beautiful display you read about above.
Suggestions?  Jokes?  Share your stories?