Todd's Tri Turtles 2 (Beginner, Sprint, 5K, 10 K) - Closed (Page 10)

On a tri friend's recommendation I did a Sufferfest cycle video yesterday. I got halfway through. I needed to mop the floor under my bike afterwords to clean up the lake of sweat I look forward to conquering and improving on it. I had always thought I'd find a cycling video boring. It turns out I am happily mistaken.

Go Darcie!

Hi All!

I had my long training run (10 miles) yesterday and I did it at a 1:30/1 minute run/walk split. That's bumping it up for me (was doing 1/1) and I was happy I was able to do it and will move up in my pace group next week. I did get some small bruises around my knee after the run but don't have pain.

Today I'm going to have a super active MLK day! I plan to bike, walk and do a bodypump class!

Hope everyone has a great MLK day!

I have all the Sufferfest videos and LOVE THEM! Especially the stage rides for Tour De France! They are fantastic videos! Love them!

So what are the general options and thoughts on wetsuits needed for a race?

Rent vs buy is the question I guess. Not sure how you practice in the suit if you just rent it for a weekend. I know you can buy the Xterra and others for around $160 or so. What are your plans and experiences?

Training going ok but def need to get more swimming in. Started trying to do some of the TI drills, and was discouraged to find out that I'm one of those that doesn't move forward or even goes backward when doing the sweet spot drills. Guess I need to consider some fins to help me through that... Someone local on craigslist has these for sale, but not sure that's what I'd need. Any input? http://www.finisinc.com/long-floating-fin.html

Also looking to get some Power Grips pedals for my Hybrid bike -- anyone with experience with these? (http://www.amazon.com/Power-Grips-Sport-Pedal-Strap/dp/B001FYGGLC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390246328&sr=8-1&keywords=power+grips+pedals)

As for races, I did finally register! Decided to do a Sprint in May and tentatively an Olympic in late September, assuming I decide I like it. Both are open water swims in a small lake (@5000' in CO, so will be cool for both).

Enjoying keeping up with everyone's info!

I also would like know about wetsuits, looking forward to the response.

I started my training today. I started small since that what everything I read says to do. I started with 45 min of lifting 30 min biking and 15 min of stretching. Looking forward to my first swim tomorrow. I hope I do better than I think. I haven't gone swimming in years.

I also signed up for the my first tri at the Blue Lake triathlon in June. I feel this is close enough to feel eminent but far enough to be obtainable. Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone, looking forward to everyone's progress.

Name: Jeff

Story: ok so a little under two years ago I took up cycling to lose weight and have. Last year I completed a 50 mile race and some other distances and I regularly cycle 20 to 25 miles per outing. I am training to do a century and 2 or 3 sprints this year.

Family: happily divorced with 5 adult children.

Current training: bike 3 / run 2 / swim 3 ( at least I try to do this). I also do early morning weight / cardio 3 times a day.

2013: one 50 miler cycle

2014: a century ride or two, 2 or 3 sprint

Weight loss: Yes want to lose about 50 lbs and doctor thinks I should be a bean pole which would be around 100 lbs.

WHAT YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS GROUP: I would like to get feedback on want I am doing. Right now to am flying by the seat of my pants. I need some insights on how to successfully train for three sports at the same time.

Way to go on your 10k Kelly! sounds like you had a awesome workout!!

Personally I bought mine. I tried on a few since I have a weird body shape then bought it. If you plan on doing more than one tri a year its well worth the investment. I've had mine for three years and have not regreted it. Besides the thought of wearing and sweating in a rubber suit that a stranger also used and sweated in is gross to me. However if you only plan on doing one wet suit legal tri a year or just one tri period then you may want to look into renting one. Also a lot of on line places offer good deals, like on the BT site you can enter a code for Xterra and get 50% off.

Hope this helps

Beth

So I just wanted to share an experience I had today while out running. I was comming down a hill and even though I was on the side walk I was at a point where I needed to cross a street. I was almost acorss when I was almost hit by a distracted driver. I came so close I could feel the heat of the engine as I jumped out of the way. So if you run outside on the streets please be careful and mindful of drivers. Most of them are good about looking out for runners but all it takes is one to end your running. Stay safe out there.

Beth

Back to the wetsuit discussion. I have never been in one before but also prefer to buy instead of rent. I am hesitant to buy because I have weight to lose and do not want to have to buy another one after dropping a few pounds. How do they fit? If I lose 20lbs would it still fit right? Did anyone have to buy another one due to weight change?

NAME: Patrick (cassowary)

STORY: I am 32 years old. I've always played sports, was captain of my HS track team, but I stopped running about 10 years ago because my knees were giving me trouble. Well I started having re-occuring dreams about running over a year ago - so I'm back. I've been focusing really hard on improving my form, with some success, and I've been cross training with swimming, biking, and walking to give my knees some rest. I don't know anyone who has ever done a triathlon - this mentor group seems like a great way to connect and learn from others. I'm very excited for my first race!

FAMILY STATUS: Married for 6 years with 2 girls (Nora = 4 years, Molly = 6 months).

CURRENT TRAINING: I'm running about 2 times per week and about 2-3 miles per event. I've been biking off and on for about 10 years, but haven't gone out yet this year, too cold. My swimming is at about a Marco-Polo level, but it's getting better. I started swimming about 6 weeks ago, 2 times per week and about 0.5 mile per event (cumulative). I've signed up for a lesson.

2013 RACES: 0

2014 RACES: A 5k in February, and plan to to join several sprint triathlons in Rhode Island starting in June.

WEIGHT LOSS: Become leaner.

WHAT YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS GROUP: Tips, techniques, and camaraderie!

Edited by cassowary 2014-01-21 3:57 AM

I woke up feeling exhausted yesterday and opted out of spin class. We had the day off for MLK. I spent my holiday packing up Christmas decoration and tree, making a big breakfast of country sausage and captain crunch French toast and eggs, cleaning my kitchen and making dinner.
We sat down for family movie time (Now You See Me) and then I was out for the night.

I didn't even get to go extreme couponing!
Yes, I am a big coupon shopper. Sunday, I went to my local drugstore (CVS). I had $26 in CVS bucks. I left the store with $28 CVS bucks and 3 Colgate sensitive toothpaste, 3 Irish Spring body wash and 2 Softsoap body wash.

Sorry, I went off topic.
Today schools are closed and so is local federal government offices due to the impending snowstorm. We will be down to 9 degrees this afternoon.
Plan to force myself on my treadmill and get some core work in.


Also, my weigh in days are Saturdays at 6am, right before I get in the pool for development masters.
I started Sat, Jan 4th.
Jan 11th - lost half pound
Jan 18th - lost 4 pounds!


Edited by Lovey 2014-01-21 8:28 AM

Okay..... been a week and a bit since I logged on to the PC.

Everything is going well though. Weighed in at same weight last week -- BUT... fat % down again and muscle mass up so I will gladly take that to be honest.

Exercise is going well so far. into my 4th week of body weight calisthenics. It is getting herder but I am getting there. Still walking but tarting to run a little and on course to be doing 5K at the end of march and no injuries.

I am going to start the "Sufferfest" begginer cycle training program next week. 4 sessions a week so I will let you know how it goes. I have to do a Lactate threshold test this week sometime. (Looking forward to that one LOL) But the cycling should help with the running to so fingers crossed.

Hi Turtles,

I'm new to Todd's group and the BT website, and I'm very excited to get to know everyone. I see that we can view each other's race logs to see what is scheduled for everyone coming up, but I'm wondering if other might be interested in creating a group list of upcoming events within our discussion threads that can be copied, updated, and re-pasted over time? Maybe the template would look something like this...

DATE..........STATE..........TYPE................RACE...........................................................TRIATHLETE..................RESULT..............NOTES
2/21/14........RI.................5K Run............Newport Night Run....................................Cassowary


There may even be the off chance that more than one of us will be at the same event.

Just an idea, not offended if people aren't interested. FYI - I see that we need to insert periods to keep the spacing format.

Oops, I goofed, I see that there is already a chart of upcoming races listed under Community/Friends.

Edited by cassowary 2014-01-21 12:22 PM

Sorry gang work and life have been crazy the past few days. I will sit down tonight and go over the post I've missed and give my thoughts on the wetsuit questions.

Hey Turtles,
Today is a beautiful warm day.....but tonight we are getting the rare one inch of snow.....I live by the coast so this is a HUGE EVENT lol. I drug my fat butt out the door for a forced march with two small jogging segments thrown in. I went two miles around my neighborhood, my heart rate monitor shows that I am VERY out of running shape. I actually hate to run as it has never been relaxing or fun and everyone that I have run with thinks we are in the Boston Marathon. Today was good since I was alone with no pressure and no unfriendly fire lol.


I love reading everyone's posts and seeing how you are all doing. I need to get a swim in this week before I forget everything Iearned last week. I signed up for the first local sprint of the year. It will be March 8th and it is always draws a HUGE crowd. Already has 300 people signed up. I hope you all have a great day,!

Ok,

So I was one of the ones that vanished for a bit. Life moves too fast sometimes!

I've done zero exercise so far this month. It's frustrating to think about, and getting started again is a big weak spot of mine. I'm going to go running after work today (aiming for 3 miles) to get moving again. I injured my wrist about a week ago and it's still giving me quite a bit of trouble. I'm going to give it some more time before I try swimming or biking with it. But it needs to hurry and heal, my swimming desperately needs work!

Darcie, it's very encouraging to read your posts about your swimming. So many times I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't have any idea what I'm doing. I know I've seen several other posts about people's swimming adventures, and it really helps. Now that I've got things straighten out again I'm wanting to check in here regularly and keep up with everyone.

One question I do have is for people with long commutes for work. I have to leave for work by 6-ish (6:30 is pushing it...) and I don't get home until 7 or so most days. I looked at joining the cycling class at the gym I joined, but it's from 5-6 am, and I just don't have time to get out of class, shower and get ready for work, and still get there in time. I can run after work, but there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day. I spend about 3 hours on the road each day just coming and going. How do you all work in the workouts? I've tried going to the gym early to swim, but every time there have been several people in each lane =/

For now I'm aiming to get my running in after work on the way home, until I have more use of my wrist at least. Hopefully I will be seeing more of everyone here.

Shannon (second time I've forgotten my name...I'll remember eventually)

Edited by tweets_4611 2014-01-21 2:12 PM

Shannon~
Welcome back! Thanks for the swim mention. :-). I still consider myself the worlds worst swimmer LOL last week just drained me with all the swimming I did! I hope to get in the water this week. It will be my first time swimming alone and I had to remember to RELAX! I totally get your plight with time constraints.....my work is on a break right now and I am scared to think about what will happen when I go back.....you sound like you have a lot going on with your work commute, I agree there are not enough hours in the day! I like to get up and get the workout over with but like you said the lanes in the pool get filled up fast... I hope your arm heals up quickly so you can get back out there!! You can do it Shannon!!

Alright here is my .02 on wetsuits.

The first thing to know or think about with wetsuits is where are you located and do you really need on. I can tell you that me being here in Texas that I needed to use mine only for my Half Ironman in Racine Wisconsin. I used it once in Texas a month before but that was just to get use to it and the water we were swimming in was like 75.9 so it was legal to do so. I can tell you that I have yet to do a tri here in Texas were I though I needed one like I did in Racine, because this Texas boy froze in that 60 degree water in JULY. Now I say all of this to say that I do have one and like the race to get use to it I will continue to use it whenever it is legal to do so because it helps conserve energy and most people are faster with one on.

Next step is to decide between a full or sleeveless wetsuit. This one usually gets answered by where you will be doing your tri's. Due to what was stated above I have a sleeveless Xterra, but I wished I had a Full in Wisconsin but made due.

What you need to know about wetsuits is that portions of them are measured by MM. A suit can not exceed 5mm to be used in a sanctioned Triathlon. Most mid level suits measure 3mm for most sections. The number 1 -5 goes from least bouyant to most bouyant. You will also find that the higher 4 and 5 MM suits are more flexible and feel less like a tire around your whole body.

Prices range from under a $100.00 (no tri specific) to around $800.00. The $800.00 suit will be extremely flexiable with 5mm panels and a faster all around suit. The thing about it is thought that you can get one like I did Xterra Sleeveless for around $140 with 2 and 3 mm panels that works perfectly. Wetsuits are alot like bikes if you can afford the higher dollars ones then great you will get a little something extra, but if you don't you will still get what you need and will loose very little.

Rent or Buy - This depends solely on you and your budget / future plans. I could not rent one from anywhere closer than an hour away and it would have cost $75.00 so for me it was only the same price to buy the Xterra and not have to put on a suit that someone else pee'd in (this does actually help to warm you in cold water as sick as it sounds - you won't be the only one) Now if you have access to several rentals or the chance to try a bunch that would probably be the best option to ensure you get one that fits great and that you really feel comfortable swimming in. If you don't have that then you have to decide like I did and make sure you take good self measurements if you can't try them on.

Measurements are very important when purchasing a Wetsuit that you can not try on, with the chest measurement probably being the most important. Your chest needs to be able to properly expand. Yes wetsuits are meant to be tight, but not to tight and especially not in the chest. One good thing about X-terra besides the 50% off is that they work with you and will answer any questions you have when ordering. They will also exchange the suit if you get it and it does not fit.

As far as weightloss and whether or not a new suit would need to be purchased that depends on a lot of variables. Most suits have around 20 pounds plus or minus for each size just like a few inches plus or minus. The next thing would be where the majority of the weightloss was because the butt area and legs really don't matter that much in wetsuit sizing. Look at the sizing charts and you will see what I mean.

I know I likely missed some things so feel free to pin point something I missed.

Let me add this from the USAT rules:

4.4 Wet suits. Each age group participant shall be permitted to wear a wet suit without penalty in any event sanctioned by USA Triathlon up to and including a water temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water temperature is greater than 78 degrees, but less than 84 degrees Fahrenheit, age group participants may wear a wet suit at their own discretion, provided however that participants who wear a wet suit within this temperature range shall not be eligible for prizes or awards. Age group participants shall not wear wet suits in water temperatures equal to or greater than 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The wetsuit policy for elite athletes shall be determined by the USAT Athletes Advisory Council. The AAC has set the wetsuit maximum temperature for elite athletes at 68 degrees for swim distances less than 3000 meters and 71.6 degrees for distances of 3000 meters or greater.
Any swimmer wearing a wetsuit with a thickness measured in any part greater than 5 millimeters shall be disqualified.

Jeff welcome to the Turtles and an ever slimming you. RIght now just get in the habit of doing something almost everyday to create a routine then you can get after a plan and go at it. BT has several beginner plans that you can use and I also tell people starting out to look at the first week of any plan they are thinking about and make sure you can do it without killing yourself. If you can't at that time it is fine, just start building the routine and work yourself to that point and then go at the plan.

Patrick welcome to the group. I have to say that Triathlon sounds about perfect for you and will give you the breaks you want for you knees while still getting in a workout. I assure you that if you want to do it, that you will have no problem toeing the line in June and enjoying yourself.

I already welcomed you once, but wanted to tell you again how happy I am that you have come back to the Turtles. Hooray!

I missed the question, It's just something you have to work at and figure out (I know real big help). Seriously, you will find that maybe running right after work and then driving home is the way to go (I know when I used to commute it was always hard to do anything after I got home because the drive just made the day longer). Or going to the Gym before work to run or swim (by the way, do not be afraid to jump in a lane and swim, I fought that myself until one day I said screw it, I'm here, and pay the same money and jumped in - most places will tell you what is expected when sharing a lane) Just play aroudn with things these first few weeks and if it is something you really want it will work itself out.

Edited by Hunting Triathlete 2014-01-21 8:56 PM

I almost missed this and can't stop laughing at myself after reading your post. The first time I ever did one I was like man this is nothing what a joke and then the warmup ended and it freaking killed me. Puddles like you described, out of breath, and begging for it to end.