Eli's Getting Ready for the Season Group-CLOSED (Page 10)

Did a group ride with a Triathlon Club I just joined, a lot different riding with people - i have kinda been a lone wolf training so far. It was fun and challenging.

First Tri in 12 days, I have a few questions to throw out here - give me your opinions:

* socks or no socks?

* should I wear my polar HRM under my wetsuit?

* should I take all hydration i will need for the bike? I know they have stations but do they give you bottles? I really don't know. Fill all my cages at the start? What do I do with empty bottles?

* Thinking of wearing my bike jersey on the run, good idea? Its short sleeve and breathes well.

Any other race tips for newbies would be appreciated.

Hey Mark -

Congrats on getting this far :-)

I have a couple of ideas, but first, how long is your tri?  I did a sprint with a 14 mi ride and 5K run and went without socks. Wished I had wiped off my feet first, as there was grass and grit in my shoes. I had practiced both riding and running without socks before the race.  Not sure I would do that for a 10K run.

Had a Polar - not brave enough to risk the HRM in water. Do you want your HRM for the bike and run?

I just volunteered at a bike water station for a half-IM. Yes, we gave out bottles, but that means you have to be able to get one while riding your bike. Took me a while to get the hang of handing off the bottle to the rider, and not many of them slowed down or opened their fingers wide enough to grab the bottle. A few didn't know how to grab the bottle, because they had never practiced that. With that experience, I vowed to bring my own hydration and slow down for the volunteers at the station.

I wear my bike jersey / tri top on all my races, even just runs that aren't part of tris. I've grown to love the pockets in the back for my iPod and fuel. Our local bike shop is also raffling off a pair of race wheels for every race photo submitted in their tri top, so that's extra motivation.

Now I'm curious for other people's thoughts.  Hope these are helpful.

Michele

Michele, My race is a sprint (750meter, 17mile, 3.1mile). Heard that its ok to wear HRM in the water - just not sure. Thanks for the input!

out of town tooooo long - sorry for delay in response.

YES - I do sometimes wear the compression socks for long(er) training runs. By recommendation from a very good runner (friend) I also wore them in my last marathon - and ran my best maraton time --ever! Yes-I was tired the last few miles - but my legs did not punk out - and I was able to walk the following day (up and down the stairs!).

I understand compression socks may not be for everyone - but they work for me. (my college age son - runs XC and track - and he swears they work for him)

Happy Running.

Socks are up to you - if you've never gone sockless I would wear socks in the race.  Be sure to dry your feet in transition or you'll have real trouble getting them on though!  Personally, I prefer sockless for a sprint.

I like to wear the HR just to look at the data later.  I don't really check it during the race.

In terms of hydration, just bring a half bottle or so on the bike.  I always bring a bottle and honestly I rarely get more than a few gulps.  I wouldn't bother with a bottle pick up during a sprint.  If you do go for bottle pick ups on the course, usually you leave your bottle and just take the ones they give you.  The RD or race info should have that info.

As far as a jersey - I wear a tight jersey under my wetsuit and just leave it on the whole race.  If you're adding your bike jersey after the swim, I would definitely not change it after the bike.

I would suggest practicing transitions before the race, not so much to get faster or anything like that but just to get used to what has to be done and get a sequence down.  It helps eliminate some stress during the actual event if you've done the transition thing a few times.

And that feeling in your legs when you start to run is normal.  Everyone else has the same feeling, just keep going and your legs will feel normal again soon!

And mostly - enjoy and have fun.

Okay guys, I have 4 weeks, and 3 weekends left before my first Sprint.  Is there anything I should try to concentrate on?  I am not feeling very confident in the swim still, I keep getting this feeling I am going to get in the water and power through with my head above the water for 750 meters.  I am averaging 22 minutes for 750 meters in the pool, but I am having to take a breather every 100 meters or so.  I can't seem to nail down the breathing technique.

My biking has been strongish, about 40 minutes for 12.5 miles, and the run I am not even worried about, I have been running about 23-25 minutes for 3.1 miles after I bike.  I have been doing bricks with the bike to run transition, but I was wondering if there would be any benefit to trying to do an entire set of swim bike run before the race? Or should I just stick to going at all three individually?  

I am probably over complicating this, but I thought I would see if there was any advice being 4 weeks out.  Thanks everyone.

Wow, those are some pretty serious paces!  Are you following a plan or did you wing it (which is mostly my way, by the way).  If you have a plan, just follow it.  If not, just keep training to your plan.

Are you biking and running on terrain similar to the race?  If the race is hilly it might help to at least experience some similar hills just for the feel.

In terms of doing all three together as a dry run – I don’t think it’s at all necessary, especially at your paces.  You will have absolutely zero issues finishing, and you’ve done some bricks so you know what it feels like to run off the bike. 

That said - it can be a confidence boost doing the whole thing all together.  I admit I did a dry run of my first sprint and it gave me great confidence.  I wasn’t running anywhere near your paces, and I had just learned to swim and had only been training for a month, so I felt I needed to make sure I could do the distances.

As I said to Mark, I’d work on some transitions.  Lay out your area and actually go through the whole T1 and T2, come out of the water so you’re wet, and go right up to getting on the bike and then getting off the bike and getting started running.  It might help iron out some details about where to put stuff and how to sequence it.

But since you only have one first tri – the number 1 thing is to HAVE FUN!

Wow, I go out of town, and the board goes CRAZY!!!

* socks or no socks?

As others have said, if you haven't gone sockless, wear them. I can go sockless on the bike, but my running shoes aren't made for sockless running, so I throw on some socks. I usually get to T1, use the sock to wipe my foot and then slide it on.

* should I wear my polar HRM under my wetsuit?

I have a polar HRM and I wear it in the water all the time. It won't give you good readings, but it wont be a problem.

* should I take all hydration i will need for the bike? I know they have stations but do they give you bottles? I really don't know. Fill all my cages at the start? What do I do with empty bottles?

For a sprint, you should be fine with a bottle or two on the bike. That is all you will need.

* Thinking of wearing my bike jersey on the run, good idea? Its short sleeve and breathes well.

I like to wear the same top for all three events, as changing will suck up time in transition. If you are planning on putting on the bike jersey, and feel comfortable running in it, do it.

Any other race tips for newbies would be appreciated.

Get there early so you can rack your bike and use the bathroom. and you WILL need to use the bathroom.

Keep your transition area as simple as possible. The less moving parts, the easier it is.

Don't gas yourself too early on the run. Give yourself a few minutes to get your legs "warmed up" before setting the pace you will try to keep for the run.

Don't worry, it is a PR!

Well, I have been winging it to be honest with you, I just started doing what I could do, and push myself a little more each week.  My goal is to finish in 1:40, but ultimately it is to have fun.  As far as the bike terrain, the way I understand it, the course I will be riding is a lot flatter than my usual route.  I live in Ocala, so I ride through horse country up here, quite a bit of hills (which kill me) my race is over by Orlando International, and its pretty flat over there.  

I think I will take your advice and practice my transitions a little more.  I still have yet to attempt a pool to bike transition, so I think I need to work on that for sure.  Thanks for the advice.

Colby,

With 4 weeks to go, you have plenty of time to work out the kinks. Sounds like you are in good shape on the bike and run. The only thing I would say is that if you aren't doing a little bit of threshold work on the bike, you may want to throw in one session a week or so where you do some 1-5 minute intervals of pushing it.

As for the swim, when you say take a breather, do you mean stop, or do breast stroke? In my first few triathlons, I would switch to breast or even side stroke if I needed a breather. You have to be careful not to do it in a crowd, so you don't kick someone, but you will still be moving forward, so it will help your time.

Hello all.  I have been around and checking in.  Great to see all of the races and updates from everyone.  My next tri is coming up on June 25 so I am continuing to train for that.

Since my last tri, I have been looking for a place to practice open water swimming.  Took some time but got connected with a group in the area that does an open water swim at a lake near my house every Wednesday.  My son and I went out there this past Wednesday.  There was a pretty good breeze and the water was kind of choppy.  The regulars said it was one of the roughest they had seen.

So any way, started swimming to a dock that was 1/4 mile (400m) away.  I have to admit at this point that even though I feel like I can swim pretty good, this open water thing is kicking my butt.  I am just not comfortable at all.  I get a little tired and then a little panicked and I have to swim on my back.  I probably swam 65% of the way free and the rest on my back.  I really did not expect to be this uncomfortable in the water.  I have swam since I was 5 years old.  Got all of the red cross certifications except water safety instructor.  Taught lessons to kids during the summer.  On swim team in High School.  I can swim 1000m in the pool in 20 minutes.  Touch and go at the wall but all freestyle and I am not tired.  I guess that push on the wall makes a big difference.

I am committed to getting comfortable in the open water but need some help.  Someone there said that you could tie a noodle float to you so that if you get tired you can just grab it and float for a minute.  I think that may be the key for me.  Any other comments, suggestions, words of encouragement?

I sure hope I can get over this and get comfortable in the open water.

When I say breather, I literally stop.  This week I started trying to stay moving at all times, and it has actually slowed me down quite a bit.  Though I am figuring out how to rest as I am moving which I will obviously need to be able to do for the race.   Just need to keep working on it.

Thanks for the tip on the bike.  Up until now, I have just been riding longer as opposed to harder as my workouts progress.  This weekend my goal is to start doing sprint intervals on the bike and the run to work on getting some more speed out of myself, since I think I have a pretty strong endurance foundation for now, just have to start speeding it all up. Thanks guys.

Colby

Open water swimming is a totally different animal than the pool, so don't worry about having a different experience with that.  I think you have it right - just keep going to those swims and really practice pacing and breathing.  If i'm really struggling with breathing, I really over-rotate for a few strokes and take a nice, long, slow breath, and then just sort of coast while breathing out.  A few of those and I've got my breath back and away I go.

I agree with Eli that it's a good idea to push on the bike, but be careful on the running.  If your logs are up to date you don't have a lot of miles in your legs, and adding speed to running too soon can really cause some problems.  You've got a lot of speed already, so maybe just run some more.  As the wise men on the board say - run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard, bike lots, mostly hard, sometimes easy.  Good luck, and you'll crush that tri.

I have to agree with Warren, pushing yourself too often on the run is a frequent source of injury. Plus, your body takes longer to recover.

As for open water swimming...You just have to do it more. I have had occasional moments of OWS panic, and I have much the same background as you-swimming since 5, swim team, red cross, etc.

The thing that helped me was to just do it more. Once major issue with OWS is that it will change your stroke, depending on conditions. This will mean you will often be less efficient, which will make you tire faster.

As I mentioned in response to Colby, one of the things I do it breast or side stroke to "rest". Even though I could go over 800 meters in the pool no problem, at my first OWS tri, I had to use breast stroke 4 or 5 times-sighting, breathing, etc.

The more you do OWS practice, the more comfortable you will get with its challenges.

The float might be a good idea for a couple of practice sessions, just to get you comfortable and give you confidence as well, but I wouldn't make it a habit.

Oh, and if you have one, a wetsuit also can give you some of that confidence, since it floats you better.

Any of you FL guys doing heartland tri in Sebring? I just signed up and going with a group of about 10 training buddies so I'm looking forward to it.

Might be a little far for me for a sprint. However, you never know....

Hope everyone had a great weekend. 

I spent the weekend at our lake camp and we have no internet, so I was offline.  I got in 2 amazing rides.  Only in New England can you ride one day in freezing drizzle, jacket, gloves, long tights, fighting to keep warm the whole way, and the next day you're in a sunny, 88 and humid steam bath!  I love riding up there since it's just hills, hills, and more hills.  Good for the legs, bad for the ego when you see your average speed!  Both rides were about 30 miles and total climb for the 2 was about 5000 feet.  My legs were fried in a good way.

I also got a few short swims in.  The lake water was chilly - 58 Sat and it had warmed up to 62 today.  Yes, I wore the wetsuit; even so my face and feet were pretty number after just a 15-20 minute swim.  I need to move down with you FL people!

Warren, that is TOOO COLD!!!

Hey All, happy humpday and welcome to June!

Had a decent weekend. Got in a couple of rides. Funny how a few weeks off can make you feel like you haven't trained in ages.

It is just about time for me to get back on a guided plan, rather than just doing stuff that feels fun. I am looking forward to working on my swim and bike this year, and hopefully keeping my run going, despite my achilles.

Next weekend, we are planning to go to Clermont, FL to ride the south Florida equivalent of hills. A group of us are riding on Saturday. We also have a couple of people in our group that are racing on Sunday. I am seriously considering doing the Aquabike on Sunday, but may just ride Saturday instead.

How is everything going for the rest of you? How was the racing over the weekend?

Back in the open water today.  Much better.  Not so much wind and the water was much calmer.  Swam out 0.3 miles, resting at two land points along the way.  Swam back to the point and then skipped the next point coming back in.  Felt much better and getting a little more relaxed.  I still had a couple of times where I got a little anxious but over all it was much better.  Oh yeah, no noodle.  Just stayed close to shore.  I definitely agree and feel like more time in the open water will help.  So that is my plan.

That’s a great plan Bill.  Open water swimming is very different than the pool.  Water temps, currents (even in lakes), waves, unknown depth, not being able to see the bottom, no end at 25/50 yards, wearing a wetsuit (if applicable) – it all makes for a completely different experience.

I do very little swimming compared to most tri people, but almost all of my swims are either in a lake or the ocean.  I think I get a lot more benefit come race day per hour of swim training.  I could be wrong as I’m not a great swimmer, but I am very comfortable in the swim now.

Way to go Bill. Glad it is getting better.

Anyone have plans for the weekend? I am trying to get my plan back on track with a good ride or brick on Saturday and then maybe a swim on Sunday and an easy ride on Sunday with my wife.

I need to step it up, I have had 3 half- weekends and I only gave a few left.  Saturday I am doing a long group ride with my LBS, usually about 30 miles (long for me), then I am jumping off and going for a run with a few of the guys that do tris there from our triathlon clinics.  I think I am going to try and do another brick in the afternoon but much shorter.  Then do it again on Sunday. I feel like I have been slacking on the bike, so I am going to try and squeeze in a few short and hard rides throughout the weekend instead of 2 "long" rides like I normally try and do. 2 weekends left, and 3 weeks left until my first race, and I am feeling pretty darn good about it!

Thanks Eli and Warren for the words of encouragement.  I definitely have to agree that you get more benefit per hour of swim doing open water swim just from the little bit that I have done lately.  I am glad that I spent the time I did in the pool getting ready for my first tri.  It has given me a good base to work from going forward.  I plan on doing as much open water swim as possible through the summer and fall and then going back to the pool over the winter.  It will be interesting to see what the transition back to pool swimming will be like.

Colby - That sounds like a packed weekend to me.  Like others have said, it looks like you are ready so just have some fun with it.

Just got finished riding 24.7 miles this morning.  Hoping to get in an open water swim late morning/early afternoon.  Long run (for me) on Saturday and short pool swim on Sunday morning with a yoga class afterwards.  3 weeks to go until my second sprint tri.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Looks like we have some nice training weekends planned. 

My Achilles is chirping a bit running, so I’m planning to back down on the running a bit.  I do hope to get some nice hilly rides in again.  My sprint is two weeks away and it’s a rather hilly course, so I’d like to get in all the climbing I can.  I've also only swam about three times all winter, so I'd better step that up or I'll really struggle there.