My Year to Tri (Beginner and Intermediate Group) - OPEN

Originally posted by Jencine

Hi gang!

Totally new to the tri scene, and just got my first mountain bike together 10 days ago : ) Three rides in: what a workout!

I'm super outdoorsy and love hiking, paddleboarding, snowboarding, anything really.. I'm in limbo career wise and waiting to apply to a second bachelors Registered Nurse program this year.

No kids, no hubby, quite a bit of free time at this point in life and I've been making the best of it. Last year I got bored and one half-marathon turned into seven. Now I feel like I needed something new to work on, and when I saw that TBF offered MTB races I was iN!!!

I blindly signed up for the MTB Tri @ Granite Bay on March 24th- the day before my 33rd birthday, I am absolutely stoked and afraid of the long bike ride!

I was fortunate enough to find a used Xterra wetsuit on Ebay for $50 and can't wait for a warmer day to go test it out on the lake. I think I'm most nervous about the noise and splashing and other people. So much adrenaline at the start I bet...

I'm not a fast runner, or a great biker, but I just keep going- it's the only way to get better...

Hope everyone is well- Karen

Originally posted by SrhJarvis

Welcome to the group, Dan! Sounds like you've got a good plan. Will you be working with a more organized training plan (BT has some really good plans available for download)? Sorry to hear about your stress fracture! Pool running might be a good option as you return to running.

Looking forward to helping you!

Originally posted by SrhJarvis

Happy Sunday athletes! I hope you're enjoying a productive weekend! I'm suffering through the end stages of an upper respiratory infection but still made it to the pool at 7am to swim with my tri club.

Swimming, more than any of the three sports of triathlon, is heavily technique driven. There is simply nothing natural or instinctive about a human being moving through the water. The key to becoming a strong and efficient swimmer lies in moving through the water with as little resistance as possible. This means traveling with our hips and shoulders and head on the same vertical plane, arms working in line with the shoulder and feet assisting in proper body position without creating drag. We achieve all of this through drills! Lots and lots and lots of drills!

While it can be very tempting, especially in the beginning, to focus on as much yardage as possible. Your time in the pool (especially this time of year) is best spent working on your form. Each swim set should be broken into a warm-up, a drill set, a main set and a cool down. Drills are designed to train your brain (muscle memory) the most efficient way to move through the water. They are slow going and they are frustrating but oh so worth it! There are a ton of drills but some of my favorites are; kicking on my side, single are pulls, streamline kicks, six change kick (or shoulder, hip, head), catch-up, fingertip drag and swimming with fists. Each drill set I do my drills 25 meters and swim back focusing on the purpose of the drill. You can find lots of good drills through Total Immersion swimming and Triathlon Taren

What are some of your favorite swim drills? What are some of your least favorite? Any swim drill questions??

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Happy swimming!

Sarah

Originally posted by danfrink

Thanks!

I have taken the 2x3 training plan that BT has and kind of modified it. I feel good for the swim (not fast, but good) as I do 2800 yard workouts regularly 3-4 times per week. I just started biking again this week. I did a 40 minute ride and a 70 minute ride. I should be getting in 3 rides per week. I won't start running until a month before my first race (the run for the XTERRA is only 4 miles). In November I was running up to 55 miles per week, and had planned to do a 50k trail race in February. I'm hoping the bike will carry over some. I just don't want to rush the return to running from the stress fracture.

What do you think?

P.S. I have a friend who is a certified tri coach, and my GF is an ultra runner. So between the two of them I've kinda came up with this plan. I don't really train at all when I have my two boys (half time), so I have to squeeze things in between.

Dan

Originally posted by danfrink

Sarah,

I'll have to look at the streamline kicks and six change kick drills you mentioned (haven't heard of those). I've only been swimming for a year. I feel kinda stuck at the 1:40/100yd pace right now. I'm sure it's form related, because I feel like I'm in decent enough shape. Anyways, I'll check these out, thanks!

Dan

Originally posted by B.K

STORY: I'm in my mid 30s. I've been mountain biking for several years now and do a couple of mountain bike races each year in the 35km to 50km range. I'm definitely a middle of the pack mountain biker. Last year I started swimming just to increase my fitness and slowly built up to swimming 1km non stop. I also bought a road bike for commuting in order to get more time in the saddle. At the end of the year I put the swimming and cycling together and decided to set a goal to do a triathlon. The only problem was that I hadn't run any real distance in 12 years and when I had tried running in recent years I ended up with painful tib ant compression syndrome. So I started a long rehab process to get myself ready to try running again and after a lot of strengthening work I finally started a returning to run program just before Christmas.


FAMILY STATUS: wife, 1yo daughter and another child on the way. This really limits when I can train so that I can balance training with family and work.


CURRENT TRAINING: Swim twice a week at lunch time, one 1200m swim and one short or medium length interval swim.
Ride 3 days per week usually two morning rides at least 1:30 duration on the commute into work and two afternoon rides :35 duration on the way home and then one mountain bike ride around 1:15 duration. Commute rides are used for specific training following Joe Friel training plan, currently doing Base 3 phase. Mountain bike ride is more just get out and have fun.
Run twice a week. Still building up very slowly. I just finished a pre couch to 5km plan and will begin couch to 5km next week.


LAST YEAR'S RACES: 35km and 42 km mountain bike races. Middle of the pack finishes. My training was fairly poor.


UPCOMING YEAR'S RACES: Wife is expecting in July so the goal is to complete a triathlon before then. Currently planning for 22 April. I would love to do Olympic distance but not sure that I can get to 10km run in that time. I am also considering doing a local sprint tri in March to get a feel for the whole thing.


WEIGHTLOSS: 10kg in the last 6 months. Didn't olan to lose weight but with the big increase in cardio is just happened.

Originally posted by SrhJarvis

Sounds like a good plan! Given your previous running background, you should be able to work up to a strong 4 miles easily with 4-6 weeks before the race. I've known athletes recovering from stress fractures to do all of their run training right up until race day in the pool! Mentally exhausting but it worked! I think the biggest challenge for you will be getting your body used to running off of the bike. Once you're cleared to run again, start incorporating little 10min runs after each bike ride just to get your hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors into the habit of working off of the bike.

Sounds like you're in very good hands!

Originally posted by SrhJarvis

When you search for streamline kick drills, the ones that come up have your arms overhead, I prefer to do the drill with my arms down by my side. Here's a youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QibDH7CkcQ

Six change kick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqN3D7YCbZg

Originally posted by danfrink

Okay, this is super interesting. I hadn't thought of running in the pool, but I'm going to look into it! I'll keep you posted, and thanks!

Dan