Hashers and Mashers - Open (Page 10)

Originally posted by miche033

Hi Everyone -

Can I jump in on your group? I initially joined another one, but they're not talking much over there and I could really use some encouragement!

NAME: Rebecca (miche033)

MY STORY: I have been doing sprints and oly's for 10 years. I am 39 and want to do a HIM before turning 40. My goal race is at the beginning of September. I did a (horrible) oly this a few weeks back and have a lot of work to do. I signed up for coaching too but I basically need encouragement. I also covet tips from other athletes on how to finish that HIM. My goal race has an 8 hr cut-off, and I'm afraid I'm not going to make it. I'm worried about current on the swim and heat on the run. I'm not a runner... I will be happy with 12 min miles in the HIM.

FAMILY STATUS: I have been married 6 years, got my hubby into racing. He is planning on his first marathon this Nov. I have a 4 yr old and a 16 mo old, both boys. It's a challenge for us to both get our training in.

CURRENT TRAINING: Doing silver HIM plan. Up til now, I have not gotten in the full plan - it's pretty high volume. Since school has ended (I'm a chemistry professor) I should be able to get much closer to targets. I don't want to increase volume too fast though... Want to avoid injuries.

2013 RACES: I have another oly planned, for July. Big HIM in Sept.

WEIGHT LOSS PLANS: I have lost 60 lbs since having the baby.  I would like to lose 10 to 15 more mostly because it will make me faster. But I'm going to have to actually start calorie counting or something. Stop drinking coke and eating candy bars might help. I need to take healthy snacks to work. I get SO hungry I break down and go to the vending machine. Ahem.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's journey this season!

Cheers~

 

Originally posted by wenceslasz

Hi Rebecca and welcome to the group. A Chem Prof is pretty neat. I enjoyed Organic and Inorganic in Univ. but it was a long time ago.

I peeked at your Oly race report and the website for your HIM. The HIM claims a flat bike and run routes which should work in your favour. Also, you've got 2.5 months to build your endurance before your race so you should be well prepared...right. I've got 4 weeks tomorrow to my first HIM in Lake Stevens. I'm definitely getting nervous.

Your race report reads like it was pretty tough but your time isn't that bad overall. Your run actually is a bit faster than my current pace. Make sure you do some bike/run bricks to get your legs used to running off the bike. For more good advice there is a thread in "Triathlon Talk" (2 actually - in the last week). They have lots of good info:

What did you wish you knew before jumping to 70.3

Going from Oly to HIM. What did you learn?

Congrats on your weight loss. Eliminating coke and chocolate bars will help. I'm a recovering junk food junky and I know it's not easy.

Ask lots of questions and have fun.

Originally posted by miche033

Hi Everyone -

Can I jump in on your group? I initially joined another one, but they're not talking much over there and I could really use some encouragement!

NAME: Rebecca (miche033)

MY STORY: I have been doing sprints and oly's for 10 years. I am 39 and want to do a HIM before turning 40. My goal race is at the beginning of September. I did a (horrible) oly this a few weeks back and have a lot of work to do. I signed up for coaching too but I basically need encouragement. I also covet tips from other athletes on how to finish that HIM. My goal race has an 8 hr cut-off, and I'm afraid I'm not going to make it. I'm worried about current on the swim and heat on the run. I'm not a runner... I will be happy with 12 min miles in the HIM.

FAMILY STATUS: I have been married 6 years, got my hubby into racing. He is planning on his first marathon this Nov. I have a 4 yr old and a 16 mo old, both boys. It's a challenge for us to both get our training in.

CURRENT TRAINING: Doing silver HIM plan. Up til now, I have not gotten in the full plan - it's pretty high volume. Since school has ended (I'm a chemistry professor) I should be able to get much closer to targets. I don't want to increase volume too fast though... Want to avoid injuries.

2013 RACES: I have another oly planned, for July. Big HIM in Sept.

WEIGHT LOSS PLANS: I have lost 60 lbs since having the baby.  I would like to lose 10 to 15 more mostly because it will make me faster. But I'm going to have to actually start calorie counting or something. Stop drinking coke and eating candy bars might help. I need to take healthy snacks to work. I get SO hungry I break down and go to the vending machine. Ahem.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's journey this season!

Cheers~

 

Originally posted by wenceslasz Hi Rebecca and welcome to the group. A Chem Prof is pretty neat. I enjoyed Organic and Inorganic in Univ. but it was a long time ago. I peeked at your Oly race report and the website for your HIM. The HIM claims a flat bike and run routes which should work in your favour. Also, you've got 2.5 months to build your endurance before your race so you should be well prepared...right. I've got 4 weeks tomorrow to my first HIM in Lake Stevens. I'm definitely getting nervous. Your race report reads like it was pretty tough but your time isn't that bad overall. Your run actually is a bit faster than my current pace. Make sure you do some bike/run bricks to get your legs used to running off the bike. For more good advice there is a thread in "Triathlon Talk" (2 actually - in the last week). They have lots of good info: What did you wish you knew before jumping to 70.3 Going from Oly to HIM. What did you learn? Congrats on your weight loss. Eliminating coke and chocolate bars will help. I'm a recovering junk food junky and I know it's not easy. Ask lots of questions and have fun.

I regularly get shin splints when I start up running, but this season they haven't subsided. Shins always hurt and calves are always tight, and this really limited my training for the run.
I want to work on correcting my persistent lower leg pain and being able to really increase my run fitness once I'm pain-free.

Originally posted by Ybeal

Does anyone have a cadence sensor on their bike? I have put one on, had it for a month or so now, but I average around 65-70 rpm , that seems low. How do I get it higher? I've been fooling around with gearing, riding in an easier gear than I normally would and that doesn't seem to make much difference. Any tips appreciated!

Yvonne

Originally posted by miche033

Hi Everyone -

Can I jump in on your group? I initially joined another one, but they're not talking much over there and I could really use some encouragement!

NAME: Rebecca (miche033)

MY STORY: I have been doing sprints and oly's for 10 years. I am 39 and want to do a HIM before turning 40. My goal race is at the beginning of September. I did a (horrible) oly this a few weeks back and have a lot of work to do. I signed up for coaching too but I basically need encouragement. I also covet tips from other athletes on how to finish that HIM. My goal race has an 8 hr cut-off, and I'm afraid I'm not going to make it. I'm worried about current on the swim and heat on the run. I'm not a runner... I will be happy with 12 min miles in the HIM.

FAMILY STATUS: I have been married 6 years, got my hubby into racing. He is planning on his first marathon this Nov. I have a 4 yr old and a 16 mo old, both boys. It's a challenge for us to both get our training in.

CURRENT TRAINING: Doing silver HIM plan. Up til now, I have not gotten in the full plan - it's pretty high volume. Since school has ended (I'm a chemistry professor) I should be able to get much closer to targets. I don't want to increase volume too fast though... Want to avoid injuries.

2013 RACES: I have another oly planned, for July. Big HIM in Sept.

WEIGHT LOSS PLANS: I have lost 60 lbs since having the baby.  I would like to lose 10 to 15 more mostly because it will make me faster. But I'm going to have to actually start calorie counting or something. Stop drinking coke and eating candy bars might help. I need to take healthy snacks to work. I get SO hungry I break down and go to the vending machine. Ahem.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's journey this season!

Cheers~

 

Originally posted by knighton

Finished My First Sprint Tri!!

It's been a long time in the making, but I completed my first sprint tri yesterday and I had a blast!


SWIM

This was a outdoor pool swim in two different pools. You start in one pool, go up and down each lane, swim under the ropes, get out, then jump into another pool swim up and down each lane, then under the ropes. It's only 450yards. My goal was 7:05 or a 1:34/100yd. People were seeded based upon other races. I tried to fit myself in with the other people who swim around 1:34 pace. I ended up behind someone much slower and I was hitting her feet most of the time. I couldn't really pass safely as people were swimming both directions in the same lane. I ended up swimming it in 7:37, but that included getting out of one pool running about 20 yards to the other pool and jumping in (no diving).

T-1

As I got out of the water to T-1, I was more winded than I thought I would be, which initially worried me. T-1 went as planned. I had been practicing with my bike transition and was even able to pull off the flying mount as planned. Time in T-1 46 seconds.

BIKE

My goal in the bike was to maintain above 20MPH, which was really pushing my abilities. I just got my first bike only 2 months ago and in my training rides I was at best averaging 18.9MPH. (However, those averages were at a HR under Zone 3, so assumed I could push it up some in a race situation.) As I rode, I kept my pace up, but my HR was super high. The interesting thing was that I got really settled in with my HR high and was even able to pass a few people but I got passed too. The bike was only 15.1 miles. I ended up doing it in 43:40 and averaged 20.6 MPH.

T-2
Into T-2, I got my feet out of my shoes as planned and was able to dismount without crashing. I rode with no socks, but I couldn't run without socks, so I had to sit down to put those on. Because of the socks, T-2 took longer than it should have, but there were really no other hick-ups. Time in T-2 50 seconds.

RUN

On training runs, I can hold about a 7:10/min pace for a 5K, maybe a little faster. I have a foot pod and really can judge how I'm feeling by my cadence. For me a 87 foot strikes/minute gets me about 7:10. Off of the bike my HR was still really high. Once I got my legs underneath me and looked down and saw my cadence was about 84 and I really couldn't push it much faster. After about a mile, I had a burning desire to walk a few steps. There was an aid station at about the 1.5 mile marker. I decided to walk for 10 seconds, drench myself in cold water and then kick it up. This seemed to work. I felt like I got a little boost from the cold water. For the last 1.5 miles I was really trying to keep my cadence at no lower than 84. I scanned through my Garmin and saw my pace was around 7:42. I thought that if I held it there I would be okay. The last 1/2 mile I felt like I was home free so I pushed it a bit. About 50 yards to go and I heard the announcer say "catch him". I looked back and a guy was really gaining on me. I tried to sprint the rest of the way, but the guy caught me. Total run time 23:21, a 7:32/mile pace.

I ended up 4th place in my AG (35-39). There was only 9 in my AG. I beat the guy in 5th place by 6 seconds. The 3rd place guy was 36 seconds ahead of me.

MORE RACES

I've been training for my "A" race which is August 4th. It's a Sprint distance event. My training program is for an Olympic distance. I kinda wanted to be overprepared for the race and also, I plan to do a HIM in October, 12 weeks after the August race. I felt that the bridge between the Olympic training and the HIM training wouldn't be as much of a stretch as a Sprint to HIM.


I know haven't really posted much in this mentor program (mostly because I don't really have anything to offer), but I follow along nearly every day and try to glean as much as I can from the veterans. Having the totals posted also helps keep me motivated. Thank y'all for posting your progress and experiences. It's certainly educational and very much appreciated.

Originally posted by alishaarrr

Hi, everyone! New addition to the group here if you'll have me! Just finished my first tri yesterday (Philly olympic distance) and am looking forward to doing at least one more this season, so could use some support and coaching!


NAME: Alisha

STORY: I've run off and on begrudgingly over the years and spent time in the gym doing various things (spinning classes, cross-training, weight training) but with inconsistent regularity or intensity. The first time I trained seriously for a running event was a Ragnar in 2007, which was a lot of fun. Bought my first road bike in 2009 but moved overseas shortly thereafter so didn't put a lot of miles on it. I've wanted to do a tri for a while, and finally got up the courage to do one.

I did the Philly olympic distance tri this past weekend with Team in Training -- happy to have finished but want to get better. Total time was 3:51 ... 31:00 swim, 1:43 bike, 1:30 run. The bike was slower than I'd have liked as I'm normally a 16-minute mile rider or so on a hilly course, and the run was downright crushing -- lots of walking, lower leg pain, a cramp in my left glute for two miles, and pretty strong nausea. I regularly get shin splints when I start up running, but this season they haven't subsided. Shins always hurt and calves are always tight, and this really limited my training for the run. I was also not happy with the nutrition plan I had in place. Lots of work to do to get ready for my next event!

FAMILY STATUS: I have a wonderful super-athlete boyfriend who will be doing Nations with me in September. That will be his first tri but he's an excellent runner and swimmer so I expect him to beat me soundly!

CURRENT TRAINING: Having just finished an oly with TNT, I've had great training and coaching since February. I am planning to repeat our last two months' training plans to get ready for September 8th.

I'm feeling solid about my swim technique and need to just continue maintaining/building swim fitness. Lowering my stroke count is my current focus in the pool. My bike training for the past months has included a lot of hill work; feeling strong in my climbing abilities and heading into an event with a mostly flat bike course, I'm going to start working on upping my cadence and keeping my pedaling steady with less coasting. But my biggest focus right now is my running; I want to work on correcting my persistent lower leg pain and being able to really increase my run fitness once I'm pain-free. Other than that, overall endurance is my other goal. Would really love any suggestions on the above and improving my times!

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Philly olympic 6/23 (done!), Nations tri olympic 9/8, possibly TriRock Bermuda sprint 11/3.

WEIGHTLOSS: Yes! I've always carried around about 15-20 more pounds than I should. Over the last five months of training I haven't done enough to improve my weight, and I'd like to address that starting now. More discipline with diet and ability to balance training with eating for weight loss will be good.

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Originally posted by oriolepwr



Yvonne,

Much like anything else, there is no magic for this. It's a practice thing. Many cyclists have taken pride in their "mashing" of a tough gear. Not good to think that way. This being said there is a time and place for that.

Conversely, time and place for "spinning" Higher cadence does lead to better form on the bike. IMHO "spin to win" is a good way to think. So yes which gears you ride in does matter..
But much like running just cause you are in a "easier gear" (like slight elevation loss) does not mean your turnover is going to be any quicker.

It becomes a fast twitch muscle recruitment process. In essence in order to ride with a higher cadence you just have to do it more and embrace it. Just like speedwork intervals for running. it teaches the legs to be more efficient and comfortable at a higher turnover. Same thing on the bike. do intervals of spinning at a much higher rate. If you can only do that for X minutes at a given resistance, than fine, next time out you can go X + 1 min or whatever. But yes embrace the idea that your base RPM needs to be higher, you will adjust over time.

Many years ago I intentionally switched to more of a "spin to win" cadence on the bike because I had read that there is a correlation between cycling cadence and foot strikes on the run. The higher rpm you ride at, the quicker your natural foot strikes would be. Is it true? I dunno But I did feel like it improved my cycling. Some achieve this by switching to a compact crankset.. I'd say just ride in an easier gear.

Oh ya and you are using clipless pedals right? cause if you are NOT and not using cages kinda hard to go high RPM using only 1/2 the pedal stroke cycle.

Originally posted by Ybeal

Does anyone have a cadence sensor on their bike? I have put one on, had it for a month or so now, but I average around 65-70 rpm , that seems low. How do I get it higher? I've been fooling around with gearing, riding in an easier gear than I normally would and that doesn't seem to make much difference. Any tips appreciated!

Yvonne

Originally posted by knighton Finished My First Sprint Tri!! It's been a long time in the making, but I completed my first sprint tri yesterday and I had a blast!

Originally posted by Fresno_Joe

Awesome job, triathlete!  Great times, and thanks for sharing your race report.  For making the whole triathlon experience as addicting as possible, nothing compares to a solid first race. 

You seem to be surprised by how high your HR was; I'll note that you get to a point where a sprint tri is just that: a sprint.  That's why you'll hear many people talk about how hard a sprint tri is; many people would rather do a longer distance.  A sprint tri is an all out effort where you're not saving anything, no reason to try to keep your HR low, unless you're just trying to finish (e.g. if this is your first tri ).  Based on your times I'd say just finishing was not a worry.  To me a sprint tri feels less like an endurance event and more like a long-ish crossfit workout.  Once you do your first one and know you can finish it, and you have something to go off of to judge your future efforts, sprints become more about exactly how hard you can push yourself, how fast can you go.  How long can you hold that max effort pace.  It can be a very tough race. 

I say all this to point out, and I'm sure this is not news to you, your sprint tri pace is not the same as your olympic tri pace is not the same as your HIM pace.  They are all different beasts.  When I do an oly my heart rate is still very high because I'm still pushing myself very hard the whole time, but I've done several and have a good idea of what effort level I can hold for the prescribed time.  For HIM this August will be my first one and I know it's totally different.  I do these bike rides where I push myself for 2.5 hours and the idea of running a half marathon afterwards makes me laugh.  It will really be my first race where I'll have to focus on keeping my HR low during the bike.

 

Originally posted by Fresno_Joe

Awesome job, triathlete!  Great times, and thanks for sharing your race report.  For making the whole triathlon experience as addicting as possible, nothing compares to a solid first race. 

You seem to be surprised by how high your HR was; I'll note that you get to a point where a sprint tri is just that: a sprint.  That's why you'll hear many people talk about how hard a sprint tri is; many people would rather do a longer distance.  A sprint tri is an all out effort where you're not saving anything, no reason to try to keep your HR low, unless you're just trying to finish (e.g. if this is your first tri ).  Based on your times I'd say just finishing was not a worry.  To me a sprint tri feels less like an endurance event and more like a long-ish crossfit workout.  Once you do your first one and know you can finish it, and you have something to go off of to judge your future efforts, sprints become more about exactly how hard you can push yourself, how fast can you go.  How long can you hold that max effort pace.  It can be a very tough race. 

I say all this to point out, and I'm sure this is not news to you, your sprint tri pace is not the same as your olympic tri pace is not the same as your HIM pace.  They are all different beasts.  When I do an oly my heart rate is still very high because I'm still pushing myself very hard the whole time, but I've done several and have a good idea of what effort level I can hold for the prescribed time.  For HIM this August will be my first one and I know it's totally different.  I do these bike rides where I push myself for 2.5 hours and the idea of running a half marathon afterwards makes me laugh.  It will really be my first race where I'll have to focus on keeping my HR low during the bike.

 

Originally posted by ransick



Good points. You can do a sprint all out with a good breakfast and drinking water to thirst and be fine. You can do the same with an Oly, but most people will bonk at the end or just after the race IMHO. Bonking after a race is weird, but I've done it, a few times. 70.3 is a different beast in that nutrition becomes the fourth discipline and recovery becomes the fifth.

My first year of triathlons I did a couple sprints and intended to move to Olympic distance within a month. After how hard the first couple sprints were, I put an Oly off for a couple months. Got injured ending my first season then ended up signing up for a 70.3 for the next spring before completing an Oly. I'm not an expert by any stretch but if you want my opinion, fire away with the questions.