tjtryon's Group - Closed

TJ, Can I join you?

You and I seem very similar except that I have ten years and probably about 60 pounds on you. I started walking to lose weight two years ago, walking turned into running, and running turned into an obsession. I lost about 100 pounds during this process. I have since completed 25 half-marathons and several 15,10,5K's. Last year I did a couple of duathlons also and loved the transition and biking. After the first two I ended up buying a tri bike (Quintana Roo Tequilo) and love it.

The similarities: I am originally from Indianapolis and moved way when I was 29. I moved to Hendersonville, TN and lived there for 8 years. I am also in IT. I take several training plans and make my own to conform to my schedule.

I now live in Bradenton, FL. I started training for a triathlon about two weeks ago and have my first Sprint on June 23rd (.25/13/3.1) and my second on July 15th (.33/13/3.1). My big plans are to complete a 70.3 next October to clebrate my 45th birthday. I would love to hear any advice you could give me. I seem strong on my bike, have experience running, and am just learning to be a swimmer again (swam my freshman year of high school on the team). I am doing my first OW swim on Sunday to get used to it. There should be no excuse for not doing these since I live near the Gulf other than the fact I am chicken!! I will try to remember to update my logs on here.

Sure, love to have you onboard, let's work on motivating each other! It's a really small world, I lived at Mallard Pointe in Hendersonville, as well as in Gallatin for quite a while myself. My 14 year old daughter lives with her mother in Portland, TN, just off I-65 just before you hit Kentucky...

I look forward to chatting - currently bedtime for me, more tomorrow. With your experience, you'll have to kick me around a bit as well!

We lived in Portland, TN for a little over a year.

Here is a basic synopsis of my training schedule:

M - Swim (speed work)
T - Run
W - Swim (endurance)
Th - Bike (about 1 hour)
F - Rest Day
Sa - Long Bike, short run (transition work)
Su - Long Run, swimming drill work

I have oodles of spreadsheets that I put together for my training. If you want/need me to email those to you, let me know.

Hey there,

I'd love to join your group. I am 31 years old. Former high school soccer player who got into running and ran 2 marathons (1999 and 2005). Unfortunately, during the last marathon killed my knee, and so my orthopaedist and I decided it'd be better for me to do triathlons instead. I am working with a great coach, but am looking to get moral support and additional training advice. Completed one "olympic" distance this year (my first tri) and a 1 mile ocean swim. Planning to do Vineman (Half IM) this summer in July. Very excited to be here!

Hi TJ, can I join your group. I know it's a little late.

Background: I am almost 25 and have been a competitive swimmer for 14 years of my life. I swam through college (Div III) and am now in my third year of graduate school. I found this a great time in my life to try something new. I got bored with swimming and have a flexible schedule to fit in triathlon training. I am going to compete in my first triathlon on Wednesday, July 4th. My goal is to finish. I have another one tentatively planned for mid-August (assuming I love the one I do in a couple of days). And I have an A race planned for September 23rd. I have never biked before and the only running experience I have was doing track when I was 12 years old for fun.

Similarities: Swimming. I have a few questions on how swimmers should be training for triathlons. And since I am a beginner I have just a lot of beginner questions. So far my training is going alright. I made up a plan for the first 8 weeks I trained, which brings me to today.

Anyways, I'd like to gain some knowledge and see how other beginners are doing this whole new triathlon thing

All you guys are just about on time. I think we have enough people to get this group going now. How's everybody doing?

I've got a sprint every other week until some time in August, then I think I have a 3 week break until the Disney Oly.

How's everyone else's schedules look? What's your A race?

I have my first one tomorrow on July 4th, a second one on August 11th and a third one which I plan to use as my A-race since by then I will have a decent amount of training under my belt on September 23rd. I'm getting pretty nervous for my tri tomorrow.

Make your goal for tomorrow to have fun. Make that your only goal. Finish or no finish, be sure to have fun.

You're a swimmer, you'll do fine. You've got the hard part whipped. You can push the bike, walk on the run, but you can't rest on the bottom of the lake.

You do need to be mentally prepared for a mass swim start. Unless you start on the back/side, you will get hit, kicked, punched, pulled, etc. If you feel comfortable swimming, you'll be fine though.

Good luck and have lots of fun! I can't wait to see the race report.

I had my first on June 23rd and I absolutely had a blast. It was a .25 mile swim, 13 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I acheived two goals I had for a first, 1) finish, and 2) don't finish last. I was suprprised that I did as well as I did considering that the swimming conditions in the Gulf that morning were terrible, at best. Here is the full race report:

On Saturday, June 23rd, I became a triathlete. A slow triathlete, but a triathlete none-the-less.
I participated in the Crazy Dick’s Sprint Triathlon in Sarasota, FL:

25 mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico - 15:35

T1 - 5:36
13 mile bike on Siesta Key (flat) - 39:17
T2 - 2:07
3 mile beach run - 38:04

I figured since this was my first, I would have a hard time sleeping the night before. Was I wrong! When my alarm went off at 4:30 AM, I was startled from a deep sleep. I know I fell asleep before 10 PM, so I started off on a positive getting at least 6 hours of sleep. I ate my cereal, granola bar w/ peanut butter, and DW and I headed for the site which is about 25 minutes from our home. For those of you that say fashion must be a part, I wore my new Sugoi triathlon suit which I had never worn before. I told DW that I think I looked like a 10 pound ham in a five pound package, but she said it looked good.

I noticed that the flags were hanging limp from the poles on the way down. So I was excited to think the seas would be calm for the swim. Maybe this was the reason that I was unexpectedly calm all morning, even though I thought I would be a bundle of nerves.

I went to the transition area, racked my bike, and set up my cycling and running gear in a methodical manner only understood by me. I picked up my chip, and walked toward the beach with DW and several of our friends who had come to watch me. It was then that I realized that even though the winds were calm, the chop was incredibly high for some reason. I took a practice swim out to the first buoy and realized then that I was going to have my work cut out for me on the swim. Also, I participate in the Clydesdale division and for some reason they had us going out in the first wave with the elites. However, this actually helped me as I will explain in a minute.

The gun went off for our wave to start and we ran into the Gulf. A lot of folks were not making much progress against the strong surf, but I noticed the elites were diving under the waves and were making awesome progress. I started doing this and got out to the first buoy pretty quickly for me. During the portion in which we swam parallel to the shore, the waves kept carrying me back closer, so I would spot my buoy and have to swim back out toward sea. This was just my fourth time doing an OW swim, so I was slow, but I was steady. I never panicked and just kept my pace. The faster swimmers in the next wave caught up to me. At first I was wondering what was grabbing my legs. When the second guy did it I was thinking he better cut it out or I was going to kick him. The third guy that did it got kicked, and came up next to me and apologized. I had heard about this, and thought I could panic, but it really just ticked me off more thank anything although I knew they were not doing it on purpose. Finally, I rounded the last buoy and headed for the shore. I got to body surf some, and swam until I could stand about waist deep. I trudged out of the water and into transition.

I had purchased this little inflatable pool that you put water in to rinse your feet off. I was so happy I had that. I rinsed my feet, took a drink, put on my cycling stuff, and exited the transition. Being on my bike makes me the happiest. I was in the aero position and cruising along. I passed a bunch of people. I was about 7 miles into the ride when I heard “on your left.” This guy in flip-flops, riding the front of a tandem bicycle by himself goes flying by me. I checked my speedometer, and I was going 21 mph at the time. Well, I decided that I was not going to let this dude finish the bike segment in front of me. So I hammered down, was about to catch him, when he turned into a driveway. He was not even in the race! I shifted down the last mile and spun as much as I could. I ended up averaging just a tick under 20mph for the ride, so I was pretty happy with that.

I came back into transition, slipped into my running shoes, grabbed a few swigs of Gatorade, and headed out for the beach run. This was miserable. I had decided I would do run/walk intervals, and somehow managed to keep to it the whole way. Again, I am a slow runner anyway, so being exhausted AND running on a beach was not helping my time any. As I rounded the last corner and made my way to the finish line, my cheering section spotted me and started chanting “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry” as they do on Springer. The rest of the crowd decided that this was a good idea, so they all started chanting. I high-fived as many as I could, and when I crossed the line someone yelled “dive into the slip-n-slide.” They had an adult size slip-n-slide set up right behind the finish line, so I dove in head first. It felt awesome!

I had hoped to finish in about 1:30:00, but the swim, slow transitions, and the run were not what I had hoped for so I finished in 1:40:38. At least I left myself room for improvement. I can’t wait until the next one. I think I may be hooked.

I have a duathlon on Saturday, a sprint on July 15th that includes a lake swim, another sprint on August 4th, and a half-marathon on August 19th. I will do two more sprints in September, and one or two in October.

Jerry

Jerry-

Outstanding! Thanks for the great report. Where was the swim, out of Turtle Beach area?

Would you recommend warming up in the lake before the start?

Also, TJ, if I am an experienced swimmer, where should I place myself. I have heard two theories, I should put myself in the front on the outside and just sprint for the first couple hundred yards. Or since I'm a beginner triathlete, I should stick to the back adn the outside. Any tips?

TJ,

The swim was on Siesta Key public beach.

Jerry

OK, swmmer608, I don't know your name. How was the triathlon? Race report yet?

Sorry, I was a little out of touch the last couple of days myself - I was transporting a couple of classic cars to their new home (my house) - and blew the motor on one in the process.

I rode the bike course for this Saturday's tri yesterday, and swam in the lake today. I'm looking forward to this tri, I think I've made a couple of changes for the better. I'm going to be on a new (lighter) tri bike, wearing a full tri suit, and I've got a profile aero water bottle. Additionally, I am able to get my feet out of the pedals while biking. I'm also going to go sockless this weekend. What does all this mean for me? Time...

Last tri, in T1, I wasted about 20 seconds drying off, 20 seconds with my socks, and about another 20 fighting to get my shirt on my wet self. Full tri suit, I'm going to forgo drying off, and just get helmet, shoes, glasses and get on the bike. I should save a good 60 seconds. My T1 time is never bad, has been around 2 minutes max at the local tri course, but I think I can get it below a minute.

For T2, I am going to get off the bike, leaving my shoes on the bike. This *may* help my time - though it should make for an easier time running through transition barefoot. Additionally, I'll be sockless, which is something I have practiced a few times, but only enough to make it interesting.

The new tri bike is good for hopefully 2-3 miles per hour top end. I'm hoping for a sub-30 minute ride for 10 miles. Hopefully well under 30.

As far as the ride, last sprint, I was using regular water bottles, and accidently made my 1/2 water, 1/2 gatorade mix a little too strong, and no matter what I did, I couldn't choke any of it down. I'll be a bit more careful and the bottle will be in my face to encourage me to drink liquids, so I should not start the run dehydrated again.

Run is on grass the whole time, no road running - I'm fast on the grass - we'll see how it goes.

Well, time for bed for me now.

swmmer608, I'm looking for your race report. Oh, yeah, so, what's your name?

I did my first triathlon on May 19th. The swim was crazy hard for me (51 degree water and hypothermia symptoms). Breast stroked the entire way to finish. It was a 0.6 mile swim, 29 mile bike and 6.2 mile run. I finished in 3:49 (35 swim, 2:00 bike, 55 min run) with some long (~5 min) transitions! I was totally hooked.

Recently I did my first mile (37:38) open water swim and feel much better about swimming (helps when the water is not totally cold). And on July 22nd I do the Vineman Half-IM in Sonoma. Any advice out there for me? Hills are tough on the bike. Running is okay. Swimming should be better in the warmer shallower Russian River than it was in Harriman State Park. Any Advice is welcome!

Hey Tj,

I know I'm a little late joining on to a Mentor group, but many of the people in this group seem to have one thing in common with me, the competitive swimming background, and I REALLY hope I can get in on the great discussion and advice that a group can provide!

My name is Derek and I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and I have been a competitive swimmer since I was 5 years old. In my last year of high school, I qualified for Canadian Nationals in the 1500 meter free (time was 16:22). I then took a year off swimming in Freshman year at the University of British Columbia, but began swimming with the Varsity team in my 2nd year, but by the end of the year, decided Swimming wasnt for me!

I began training for triathlon in about February of this year, to prepare for my University's triathlon (UBC Triathlon/Duathlon) in March, which I competed in and came 24/240 people, which I was very pleased with. My running/cycling background has been non-existant until this year, but my fitness level from swimming carried over to these disciplines. My bike was by far the weakest in my first triathlon (1:26 for 40km, 46.30 for the 10km Run) and I have been training steadily in these 2 disciplines for my A race, coming up in 9 days time (possibly in 38 degree weather )

I forgot to mention I swim with a Master's program about 3-5 times a week. My training logs represent the large chunk of my training and are updated every day!

I hope I can sneak into your group TJ, and learn from you and everyone else here!

Thanks a lot!
Derek

Welcome to the group - you're not too late, we're just really getting going. I'm sure we'll all be able to learn from each other, as we all have different experiences.

Is your Master's group doing any open water swims? I'm extremely fortunate in that every Sunday my Master's team has an organized swim. I live on the same lake, so I try to get out at least 1 more time each week for open water.

You should be quite happy with your results from your March race, especially if it was your first race.

What sort of a training plan are you currently working from?

Speaking of training plans, training plans are invaluable. Does everyone here have a plan/schedule they work from? Interested in sharing?

Tonight's prep for tomorrows race, so I will try to get my plan posted over the weekend. For now, I need to get the kids to bed, get myself packed, and get to bed myself.

Wow I'm jealous you get to OWS so much!

My masters team (well some of it) just raced at the nearest lake, but I couldn't make the race due to a Kayaking trip with my dad!

Sorry I didnt write back earlier, I had to leave for my weekly running clinic!! It was a super hard workout due to the heat here (probably about 30-32 degrees Celsius) and that I did a hill repitition set on my bike about 5 hours earlier!

For the weekend I'm going home to Victoria (on Vancouver Island) to visit the family and to pick up a vehicle that will drive me (and my bike) the 4 hours to Penticton which is where my race is next weekend! I might go for a run on Sunday, but tomorrow I'm taking a MUCH needed day off!

So that's my plan for the next few days!
I'm off to bed, had a long day today!

Thanks for letting me in the group TJ!!!

Hi, my name is Lisa. I have posted my race report. I thought the first triathlon was pretty good for a first time. I think my report explains it pretty well. I'd love to hear comments.

As far as training plans go, for the last 8 weeks, I wrote an individualized training plan for me and my friend. Each week was about 180-260 minutes of training. All endurance based with heart rates mostly in Zone 3 (60-75%). I was strong in swimming and he was stronger in running and biking. I pretty much looked at about 3 different sources and combined them together into what I thought was a decent training plan (even though I had never done a triathlon before). I had to shift some days around due to vacation, but for the most part, I biked 3x a week anywhere from 20 min to 60 min. I ran 3x a week for 28 min or 35 min. And I would swim 1-2 weeks between 1400-2500 yards since I was an experienced swimmer. We had two days off and would need to double up 1-2 times a week. My friend on the other hand did 3x week swimming (since he has never swam before) and 2x a week on the other sports.

As far as my training plan for the next 11 weeks before my A race I haven't decided what I want to do yet. I am currently thinking about doing one of the 12 week plans offered in the silver membership however it starts off with 400 minutes a week which is quite a bit. I was suprised they put that as a beginner plan. So I will most definitely have to cut it back a little bit, but I haven't decided if I am going to use it quite yet. The first swim workout is 3200 yards (which is way too much for my friend who just began swimming). So I guess I might still end up making up my own again.

I can attach the excel spreadsheets of what we actually did if you guys are interested. Just let me know.

Just wanted to see if your group is still open? I'm brand new to the sport and am currently training for my 1st Triathlon coming up on August 4th in LaPorte. I was a competitive runner in High School and College, but once I got out, got married, had kids, etc., I got out of exercising altogether. I've had as a goal of mine to do a tri for quite a while. Got the itch last summer when my 8 year old daughter did a Kid's Tri in South Bend. Started training, but injured my leg and never got going again. Got serious this year and started training the first week of May. Injury flared up again, but went away after prayer, a little rest, and alot of water and milk.

VITALS: 39yrs old, live in Elkhart, married for nearly 14 years, 3 kids (daughter - 8 1/2, son - 4 1/2 - son 1 yr old). Work as a Marketing Manager in Plymouth. Christian who loves God and others. I've adopted the following verse as my Triathlon verse:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." - Hebrews 12:1

TRAINING: Got a training plan off trinewbies.com and have been following that as best I can (working around travel schedule). Swimming 2x per week at a pool, biking 2x per week, and running 3x per week.

RACES: None yet. LaPorte Tri on August 4th and probably Peru on Sept 8th. Talking a friend into doing an Adventure Race in Bristol, In in October (Bike 20, Run 6, Canoe/Kayak 4)

WEIGHTLOSS: Have lost about 10 lbs since starting. Still would like to lose another 10. My wife rags on me whenever I step on the scale, saying she's going to throw the scale out and that I'm "worse than a woman".

Mainly looking for other like-minded people who are more experienced and who can offer advice, encouragement, etc.

Welcome everyone, it looks like we have about 7 of us with various levels of fitness/experience.

TJ Tryon AKA tjtryon (me)

Jerry Landis AKA jklandis63
Jerry is a runner who started doing Du's last year, and has started training for triathlons recently. Jerry is a strong runner, with about 25 1/2 Marathons in the last few years.

aolsavsky
Not quite sure what their name is, but they are currently in training for Vineman on 7/22. They also did an Oly this year. They are also working with a real coach locally.

Lisa AKA swmmer608
Lisa is a college/grad school swimmer, just starting out on the tri-path. She's got a strong swim background of about 16 years.

DerekWL AKA Derek Westra-Luney
Like myself and Lisa, Derek has a strong swim background, having qualified for Canadian Nationals in High School even. He currently swims on a master's team, and did his first tri this year.

Jonathan AKA Swank Guy
Jonathan's background is Cross Country running - he did his first Tri's last year.

Dan Wort AKA dwort
Dan is from my neck of the woods, here in Indiana (unfortunatly, I think he may be a Notre Dame fan). He's a runner from High School/College who, like many of us, is getting back into the sport again after starting a family/kids/etc. He's got his first Tri in August.

Well, that's about it for who is in our group. We have such a vast set of experiences and knowledge we should make a fairly strong group.

I owe you guys a copy of my training plan. I'll try to get that up in a bit.

Just catching up on my emails, here's a great article from RW, especially for anyone new to the sport.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/printer/1,7124,s6-238-244-260-9...

You are signed up for their email newsletters, right? If not, be sure to, they are chock full of fantastic articles. There's a signup box on their home page:
http://www.runnersworld.com/

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I ended up with a bad cold about three days after my first tri and was out of commision for training most of the week before last. I finally got most of the way over it in order to get ready for an evening duathlon that I had on Saturday. I ended up almost 2 minutes faster than I did last year, even with this stupid cold still hanging on. And, I believe it was about 10 degrees warmer this year. My next triathlon is Sunday. This one will be a lake swim, so I will know next week whether I prefer Gulf swims or lake swims. Also, I decided to add one more running workout during the week, because that seems to be my one glaring weakness. Hopefully, I can get faster by training more intelligently!