Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 124)

Wow!  wish I was so tough on myself - my target is aim to finish and have fun and not be too gutted if I am a DNF!  It's not the end of the world.

You are an amazing guy to have come through such tough times and still you wanna beat times and stuff.  Incredible.  Some people just have that self competitive thing going on - I sadly don't.

I would say, cut yourself some slack try and have fun with it.

Okay, really just want to vent here. I went to the only LBS in my hometown that rents quality road bikes in January, explained my situation, and talked to the manager. He said they had available for rental exactly what I needed, same size and model as I train on here. I asked if I could reserve it then and there, but he said no, and to contact him in May. Contacted him last week and received no response; this week re-sent and got back the reply the bikes have already been reserved by others due to an event in our town. (They are not competitors but tourists; it's not a tri or cycling event.) He said he would try to find me something; first offer was a 56 cm TT bike. I ride a 52 and have never ridden in aero, course has 3000m up and down a mountain pass. Uh, no! 

So now I am left with: 1. Hoping this dude finds something and he's reliable. 2. Riding my old hybrid, which is too big (56) and a horrible position for the downhill. It's not comfortable over about 2 hours.  Are you even allowed to ride a bike with MTB handlebars in a HIM? Asked about changing them to drops or adding aerobars in January and a couple different shops said it's not doable or not safe. 3. Shipping my bike here home. $400 each way plus possibility of damage. It's basically an $800 bike.  4. Trying to buy or borrow something locally when I get home, and riding a new or new-to-me bike in a HIM within two weeks of arrival. WWBTD?

So where is your hometown and surely within BT we can sort you out something...

Popsracer - I construct an A, B, C plan for the races. Once when I was running with a friend, I told her I felt really slow. She told me to look around me at all the fast people running around in that area that morning. There was nobody running. 'Exactly', she said, ' you are out here and that is a lot more than most.'  

My exact goals for the race :

I really have a good shot at placing in Athena. Last year's 1st place had 54 min swim (easy to beat) 3:02 (18.4 mph)bike (not impossible to beat) and a 2:10 run (very tough but not impossible to beat!) So that is officially my "A" plan now.  Her official time was 6:13:09. I would love to do that. Finish smiling.

My "B" plan might be something like: Less than 40 swim, Less than 3:30 (16 mph) bike, Less than 2:23 run. Finish smiling.

My "C" plan would be: Finish the race, smiling.

Also, I have NO doubt that everyone here will finish. I even feel like I will finish and finish well and I have not put in the time the most of you have. 

Hotrunner - man, the red tape in your 'hood seems like the real challenge - I think if you have time to practice on the better bike (TT?) go for it...

I'm from Eugene, Oregon. Already checked out the other bike shops and they don't normally rent road bikes. I'd consider the TT but it's not only an unfamiliar position, it's also too big. My hybrid is a 56 and, while I can ride it, it's not comfortable over 2 hours or so. I'm 5'7"ish, long legs, medium arms, narrow shoulders; men's bikes don't seem to work well for me though I have the height for them--I feel like I'm too stretched out in front. Aerobars would probably just make it worse.

Not only is it a TT bike, but not a Trek, so the geometry would be quite different. Maybe for the flats if I could have it continuously for the two weeks prior to the race, but on that hilly a course, I'm not comfortable with it. Most don't ride in aero for much of the climb and descent, only the flats for about the first and last 20 km.

Actually leaning toward just taking my road bike home, damn the cost. It's what I know and it's very comfortable for the long haul. I have had no issues with butt, back or arms, even on that 85 mile ride. If I  finish the HIM, I probably won't do another tri until the following spring as will be busy job-hunting and Vietnam Tri (usually September) has been cancelled this year. (If I DNF for some reason, I'll try a HIM near Singapore in September.) That would give me to time to find a better bike that could then go to my next job (assuming I find one) as part of my shipment, which my employer would pay for.

I've put out a plea to the local tri club but haven't heard anything yet. Giving the shop another week and then I will try posting on the Oregon forum. Tried that last year to find a used bike to buy for training purposes, with no luck. It's just not a big tri community there yet--much more a running town!

To give anything less would be to sacrifice that gift.   Heard that 'round here a while back...some dude with a great attitude...

x2 Pops, Your the man.  Win, Lose, or draw, your going out there to compete, and you'll do great.

hello everyone, I am starting a half IM plan on Monday to prep for the big kahuna tri in Santa Cruz on Sep 9th. Anyone else happen to be doing that one?

Looking forward to following peoples journey in this thread.

Hey Jordan, welcome to the thread.  I've learned a ton from the good peeps on this thread, I'm sure you will find the same!

Welcome to hell!  haha, no it's not bad at all, if I can fit it in and still be standing with only 2 weeks before my first HIM then it can't be that bad at all.  the people on this thread are outstanding individuals who will help and support you.

Good luck - I will be training for my second HIM for end of October so will still be dipping in after Cairns in two weeks (there is no guarantee I'll finish it!)  But to get to the start line is an amazing feat for me!

Good news--My local tri club (in Oregon) has come up with two possibilities for bikes that I can borrow for my race--a Trek 1.5 in size 54, and a Giant carbon road bike in size 54. I've actually tried that model and size in the Trek and liked it (when I was bike shopping) but it was out of budget, so will probably go with that. The Giant owner offered to lend me the aerobars if I wanted to try them for the flats. Trek owner will be gone on vacation for the ten days before the race, so I can train on it then. Sure hope this works out!

Another HTFU fest long run this morning. Really looking forward to leaving behind the heat and humidity. Three more weeks of this!

Did my 30mins on the trainer this morning (thanks to listening to the Black Keys) and then straight into running gear.

The rain stopped the wind dropped and it was a glorious sunny late morning - did 20km in about 2.22 so I was very happy with that the 2:1 mins walk run ratio was great.  I hadn't run for a week but felt strong and had more in my legs if I needed it. 

Nutrition had oatmeal for breakfast, drank the new Gatorade Prime on the bike then for the run ate a chocolate protein bar washed down with water at the fountains I went past.

Then when I got home drank a Gatorade Recover, eggs bacon mushrooms and toast then a beer, good to go!

breakthrough training day!

Finally got out on the public roads with my bike shoes....did 73km!  Average pace 27kph and it was busy, a sunny Sunday afternoon, the world and his wife on the roads!  Heaps of stop lights - managed an inelegant topple once

Stopped for coffee and cake at 32km.

It got dark so had to call it a day at 73km (wanted to hit 90 or 100).  Stowed bike in car and ran 20mins, legs felt good - not heavy at all.

IAMSOEXCITED!

20 mph all day--har! You must be referring to guys, or better bikers. On a good day for 90-100 km, I average about 17 mph. Some days it's more like 16. I can keep it up for 85 miles, though, probably longer. Could probably go a bit faster if I killed myself to do it, but there's the small matter of the half-marathon afterwards! AFA my advice is slow down a little and ride your own pace. Experiment in training and figure out what effort level will allow you to still do a run worthy of the name, and stick to it regardless of what others are doing or what you think you "should" be doing. You'll find that many of those speedsters will die a painful death on the run. I don't know if others are the same but for me, it's intensity that kills, not distance. With my current bike fitness, if I'm doing 17 mph, it doesn't much matter if I ride 20 km or 100+, I can run pretty well after. If I upped it to 20+ mph, even for only 10 or 12 miles, my legs would be toast.

Like our LBS owner told me, "Don't worry about other people, just put your head down and ride."

Marathon training done!  I just ran 3:32:45 yesterday.  That's a PR for this distance for me.  I missed my goal time by 2:45.  Now time for HIM buisiness.

 I have to look at my plan in relation to Aug. 6th HIM and get to work on the bike.  I just ordered an XTERRA Vortex wetsuit, and am excited about working out outdoors and practicing that swim to bike transition as I'm able to do swim/bike bricks in the a.m. 

A lot of you are doing your HIM's here in June/July.  How are you feeling going down the stretch? 

HR, hoping for smooth travel for you, and smooth transition picking up said bike from shop.

Pops, Hoping for quick recovery for you for Boise next month, you'll crush it!  Boise is going to be my target race for next year.  Hoping for some pearls of wisdom from you.

PI, Lake Stevens is around the corner!

Jo, Go after it!  You'll finish strong.

I know there's a few more I'm missing.  Hope everyone has great last weeks leading up to your events!

Still have 19wks to my HIM  at the end of September.

Last week was a recovery week, Today was the first day of the next build week. I went out and did 45miles on the bike at an average of 16.88mph.   At 44  miles I had an average of 17.1.... I live t the top of hill, the last .7 miles killed my time  16.88mph.  I still went out too fast and died on the way back. A flat at the beginning of the ride did not help. The flat was 100% my fault as I hit a sharp rock, thud then hiss wump wump wump....

This was my second ride ever with cadence sensor, average cadence was 78... peak cadence was 110 So I think the average of 78  says I'm mashing big gears too slow...

I have been training for my first ever official  half Marathon, its two weeks from today.

I've run the distance in training at 2:22 so I hope to break 2:15 in the race. 

The half marathon is a huge deal for me personally, I've been working toward that goal since Aug of last year. Prior to Aug the farthest I'd ever run was the 1mile high school fitness test.

Don't forget mine's in KPH not MPH so it ain't fast, I probably can average 17-18MPH depending on how hilly/windy it is.  Lucky where I ride it's undulating hills, every uphill has a good down hill!  Wasn't windy yesterday either whereas it has been known to blow riders off their bikes by the beach.  I raced an Olympic there last year and there was a northerly wind on the uphills and my average pace on that hill was 11KPH!!!!And I was passing people...

I have found that doing lots of indoor trainer sessions has really helped - teaches you to keep pushing even when tired, no cruising or freewheeling on the trainer!

Great idea! I think you just chose one of my workouts for tonight

Kevin, nice work on that !   Amazing !  Sounds like you're shifiting gears now to your HIM-- time to get on that bike !  

The Grand Rapids Triathlon is June 10, so just one more week of self-guided bricks and OWS then the re-join the plan for my final 2 week taper period.   To answer your question, I feel fairly well prepared.   I think the BT plan works.  I wish I'd started earlier on doing long bricks more often than the plan calls for but that probly just inidicates my deficiencies from where I was when I startd the plan.

The swim will be  a survival deal for me, it's not pretty but I can get it done.  I rode the bike course yesterday and that's a confidence builder for sure BUT  I still wonder about running 13.1 after that bike.  WOW.    My biggest limiter will be mental; I've done the work.  My body can handle it.   I need to get control of my MIND if I'm going to make this happen !

I registered this AM for the June 10 half-iron, SO---- IT IS ON !   Full report 3 weeks from today :-)