cathrone's Group - CLOSED

Hi Alexis,

Welecome to the group.   Sounds like you are a pretty active person, so two months should be plenty of time to prepare for a sprint.   To get started, I would encourage you to do two things: 

1) Start logging your workouts in your blog (click on the 'Training Log' button at the top of the screen.  Then click 'Edit today's log').  I, and others on this site, will able to answer your questions better if we can see your workouts.   If you have time, enter any workouts from last week too, this will help me get a feeling of where you are at. 

2) As soon as you are 100% sure that the Luray Sprint is the one you want to start with, register for it.  At least for me, a race entry fee is a big motivator to hit my workouts. 

If you have questions, ask away.

--Craig

Hi Joe,

Welcome to the group and to Beginner Triathlete.  Don't worry about breast stroke being stronger than your crawl, at your tri you'll see people doing breast stroke, side stroke, backstroke, doggy paddle, ...  As long as it propels you forward your good. 

It looks like your first tri is two weeks out.  From what you said, and glancing at your logs, it looks like you are ready in terms of endurance.  If you haven't all ready you'll want to get a BRICK or two in this week.  This is where you do your normal bike workout and then immediately go for a short run (a mile is sufficient).  This where you get your legs used to moving from a circular motion to a back and forth motion (the first time you do this your legs might feel very heavy).  If you have to change from cycling shoes to running shoes, its a good opportunity to practice doing this as quick as possible too.

I am happy to answer any questions that you have.

 --Craig

Hi Jack,

Welcome to the group.   Staying motivated is a big part of triathlon training.   You could probably complete a sprint tri on 8-10 weeks of training.  So if there is an August sprint that would fit into your schedule I don't see any problems getting ready for it.   Doing some 5Ks between now and September might be another option. 

As you start training, keep your workouts at a moderate or easy effort.  You should be able to carry on a conversation for most it.   This helps to avoid injury and overtraining.  As you get closer to your race you can start adding some higher intesity workouts.

--Craig

Hi Jerry,

Welcome to the group.  Congratulations on your first sprint and half marathon.  

I am not the best swimmer out there but have been making steady improvements over the last 15 months (have knocked about 5 minutes off of my 1000 yard pool swim time and my stroke count is down from 30 per 25 yards to 20 per 25 yards).  I am fan of the total immersion system (http://www.totalimmersion.net/).  I have only used the books and free resources on the web site--haven't tried a DVD or attended a clinic yet. 

The biggest thing with TI is balance in the water.  If your legs and hips are sinking it is going to create a drag effect and you are going to have to work that much harder to propel yourself through the water.  For triathlon swimming, you only want to kick enough to maintain balance, that way your legs are fresh for biking and running. 

--Craig

Hi Carol,

Welcome to the group.  It will be great to have a swimmer with us. 

I think five members plus myself is a good size, so I am marking our group as closed.  I encourage everyone to add our group members to your friends list (let me know if you need help doing this) and check out each other's blogs frequently.

Since Joe's first race is about a week away, I will start posting some tips about what you can expect on race day. 

--Craig

Since Joe is racing in a week, I'll start to give some tips out. Below is what you can expect from the time you get to the race venue until the swim start.  I have done races with three different race companies and they all went similiar to this.

Try to get to the venue within a half hour of transition opening (at most races I have done, transition opens about two hours before the start of the race).  This gives you plenty of time to find a parking spot and get setup.

When you first arrive, you'll want to find the packet pickup. Ask the person handing out packets if there are assigned racks (this means your bike has to go onto a particular spot).  If you are planning to wear a wetsuit, ask if the race will be wetsuit legal (if the water is over 75 degrees, it might not be).

Your packet should contain three keyitems: 1) a timing chip--this gets velcroed to your ankle and must be worn the full duration of the race 2) a colored swim cap--this must be worn for the full duration of the swim, and 3) a number bib--this must be worn for the full duration of the run.  Packet will also contain other swag (t-shirts, samples, coupons, ...).  If it contains new food samples, DO NOT try them the day of your race.  Race day is not the day to try putting new things into your body. 

Once you pickup your packet, it's time to setup transition.  If you brought your family with you they SHOULD NOT enter the transition area.  Transitions are normally over crowded with just the athletes.  If spots are not assigned, try to pick a location close to an aisle--this will give you more room to make your transition.  If the bike-in and bike-out are the same, pick a spot close to that less distance you will have to run with your bike).  Everybody sets up their transition different, try not to over think it.  The point is to move as quickly as possible from swim to bike and from bike to run.  Your bike can be hung from the rack by the seat or by the handle bars.  You'll want pre safety pin your bib to the shirt you will be running in or onto your race belt (race-belt is well worth the $5-$10 investment).

Once you setup transition, you'll want to find where they are doing body marking.  Normally they will mark your calves with your age group.  Your biceps will be marked with your bib number.

Next, you'll want to wander down to the water and take a look at the swim course.  Make sure you understand the route you are going to have to swim, try to look for things in the distance you can site off of (I'll go over more swim tips later this week). If you are worried about your swim, don't spend too much time looking at the course, you'll just freak yourself out. The last thing you'll need to do is find the mount line.  This is usually about 100 feet outside of transition.  You cannot ride your bike until you cross this line.  On your way back in, you have to dismount before crossing
the line. 

Now it's time to relax for a bit.  Talk with people, checkout how other people setup their transition (might get some good tips for your next race), drool over the $6000 race wheels, etc.  About 45 minutes before the start of the race, you'll want to start your warmup. If you ride your bike for your warmup, make sure you where your helmet with the strap buckled.  Once you enter the race venue you can be disqualified for not properly wearing your helmet at ANY TIME (including warmups and after the race is over). 

Normally, they will close transition about 15 mintues before the start and call everybody down to the swim start.  Make sure you have your goggles and timing chip before leaving transition.  At this time most race directors will have a course meeting going over the entire course.  If you have a question, ask it--you're probably not the only one with the same question.  Normally, swim starts are divided into waves make sure you know what wave you are in.  

Will post some tips on what to expect for the swim tomorrow.

--Craig

So here is what you can expect with the open water swim portion of a tri.

First off, there will be contact, its just not avoidable.  Most race directors keep the waves around 100, so there will be 200 arms and 200 legs all trying to move to the same point at the same time.  The contact will be worse at the very beginning and whenever you have to make a turn around a buoy.  You can reduce the contact in the beginning by starting at the back outside of the pack. You can reduce the contact at the buoy by going wide around it.

Also, there are athlets out there who will try to swim over you if they think you are in their way.  This practice is frowned upon but it does happen.  If someone tries to swim over you, do a hard frog kick (like what you use with breast stroke)--that usually is enough to convince them to pick a different route.  With all that being said, I have never felt  endangered during a swim.  I find the contact annoying at worst.

The next major difference between pool swimming and open water swimming is there is no lane line to keep you moving straight.  You have to sight. You can either do this by occasionaly switching to breast stroke and sighting when you breathe, or by lifting your head straight up during the crawl, or by treading water for second, getting your bearings and continuing on.  Besides the buoys, you can sight off things on land that are in line with the buoy.  You can also sight off of other swimmers.  If you can see a large pack in front of you, head towards them.  Packs
of people tend to move in the correct direction.  One other tip, if you are in a pack, try to keep someone on either side of you--again packs tend to move in the correct direction.  How often you have to sight depends on how straight you can swim.  A simple test is to close your eyes while doing a pool swim.  If, like me, you are hitting a lane marker every couple of strokes you will have to sight often because you drift.

The last difference is waves and currents.  I have never had to deal with currents so I can't offer any suggestions.  If the waves are big, you might have to dive underneath them as you run out.  If the swim parrallels the shore and is close to the break line, you might have to time your breaths in between waves or change which side you breath on.

At the end of your swim, try to swim until the water is less than waist deep (knee deep is better).  Running through deeper water burns a lot of energy and will hurt your performance on the bike and run.  After you exit the water, you will typically cross a timing mat.  Run slowly, or even walk fast, to the transition area.  This is no place to be sprinting, there is a lot of race left. 

IF you start to panick during a tri swim, here are some things to try.  1) see if you can put your feet down, I've done a few swims where I could pretty much touch the whole way.  2) try to switch strokes--any stroke is legal, I have seen breast stroke, back stroke, side stroke, doggy paddle, lie on your back and kick, and even one guy who started butterflying.  3) roll on your back and float until you feel composed.  4)  If you can get to buoy, it is perfectly legal to hang on and rest for a few moments.  5) See if you can get to a lifeguard on a kayak (grab the boat NEVER the paddle).  You can rest at a kayak without being DQ as long as they don't move you forward.   HOWEVER, if the lifeguard thinks you can't make it they can DQ you and pull you in based on their judgement.  A race director will never overrule a lifeguard's decision. 

Hope this helps,
 --Craig

Just checking in to see how everybody is doing.

--Craig