JohnnyKay's Group - CLOSED (Page 14)

Congratulations!!!

Now, get working on that race report so we can hear all about it. 

Great job, congratulations! Enjoy your recovery days you earned them.

Congratulations on finishing your first marathon.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!  What an accomplishment, you should be very proud!

Thank you everyone for your kind notes.  Its great to have a group for support.  I have completed the race log and included one picture below of me and my team after the finish.  Now its finally time to start serious tri training.  I'm glad all this running is behind me.





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Sorry I vanished for the last couple of weeks. Work has been sort of crazy and I backed off my training some to allow an old shoulder injury to mend itself.... again. Tomorrow's my first tri. Sunny and a high of 50. Winds NE 11 to 13 mph. I'll post up after the race.   Later!      

Good luck tomorrow!

Did it! Don't know my time yet..... but I think it was in the 1:30 range. The swim that I was stressing about was easy.... the bike (which is my thing) was harder than I thought. My avg. speed on the bike was unofficially 16.8 according to my cateye. I have no clue how long it took me to do the run. I learned quite a bit today. For example, check your gear back before leaving home or you may forget your bike shorts and have to drive back home to get them. Also, you have to stand in line for about 15 min before you get in the pool. They start swimmers every 10 sec. There was PLENTY of time to catch my breath at each end of the pool because folks were stacking up in the lanes. I swam freestyle the whole way and never really got tired.... something just clicked. I was a little self conscious about running around in my Speedo Jammers.... but after seeing everyone else.... I decided I'm in pretty good shape and just got over it. Besides, once I exited the INDOOR HEATED POOL area and hit the cold air on my way to the bike area.... I complete forgot about the Speedos. I think the run from the pool to my bike was my best time all day. The ride was windy and cold.... NE 10 to 13mph was the prediction and I'd say the nailed it. I had to work pretty hard to keep my speed up and maxed my HR a couple of times. Didn't reset my odometer before the race... in fact I didn't even look at it (mistake) and I had no idea of the distance I'd covered... so I really just tried to keep my mph up. After the ride I grabbed a gel pack before heading out for the run (smart). On the run, I kept seeing empty water bottles on the side of the road... the cheap ones... and couldn't figure out why.... then the thurst hit me (DUH). Of course my water bottles were back with my bike (bonehead). After a mile or so, the gel pack kicked in and my legs finally decided to join me on the run and I finished strong.

All in all, a great experience. I took too much time off over the last couple of weeks and my cardo fitness suffered a little... but not too much. 

One funny thing: As I was crusing along on the ride I came up on the photo dude who snaps pics and sells them to you online. Well, I thought I'd get down in my aerobars, flex a little tri muscle and smile for the camera. At the exact moment he snapped the pic, the guy I'd been racing (and beating) blew by me.... and  I never caught up to him. We had a good laugh about it after the race.

At the end of the race there was food and music... sort of festival atmosphere. Some folks were choking down bbq sandwiches and soda.... but it was water and a banana for me. Beer and calzones with friends later on. Excellent day! Will I do another tri? Maybe. Sorry if I rambled on too much here....... had beers. Later.

congrats on  the tri - that is great!  you always learn something! 

I ran a 15K race this morning.  you can check out my race report, just finished it.  ended up getting a PR.  Ran 1:10/7:30 pace.  this really surprised me as yesterday we did a 40 mile bike in some serious winds, so legs were tired.  Also, we had a surprise party to go to last night and i drank a couple drinks and didn't eat any dinner until 11:30 at night.  And my dinner consisted of a turkey club at a bar (healthiest thing i could find on the menu).  so i didn't get much sleep and woke up pretty dehydrated.  but overall race went good.  hilly course so my legs were burning.  ran consistent pace.  5K in 23:21 and 10K in 46:43.  like freakishly consistent. 

have a great week everyone!!

A 7:30 pace is pretty awesome in my book! Way to go!

Great job to both of you!  Yes, 7:30 pace is very good to us mortals...I hope to get to that pace for a 5K by the end of the summer! 

Nice report on your first tri.  Mine is 7 weeks away and I am very nervous about the bike portion.  I hope my report turns out as well as yours!  Congrats to both of you!!!

Great job on your first tri!  You definitely learn a lot on that first one - I remember it like it was yesterday.  My first two were both pool swims and I'll probably never do one again if I can avoid it, it just takes forever to get in the pool.  Keep up the good work!  When is your next one?

Thanks! My next tri is the the Old Point Tidewater Sprint on 6/12. Anyone with tips on open water swimming??? I'm all ears.

Stay relaxed.  There's no line on the bottom and it may be hard to see much, but the water works the same way. 

Really, it is an odd feeling to go from swimming in a clear pool to much darker water outside.  But once you get past that feeling, then your only issue is just having more people around you as you swim.  But the key is just to relax even if you get hit or grabbed.  You'll be fine!

Since it'll be my first open water event... I'll probably stay in the back of the pack.  My training buddy and I plan on swimming the course a couple of times before the big day. We both have kayaks... so who ever isn't swimming will be paddling along side for support. June is early for sting nettles.... and I hope there are no toothy critters swimming in the area.

How approximately what temp are wetsuits are no longer needed?

USAT allows you to wear a wetsuit up to 78 degrees without penalty.  Beyond that, its up to you and how comfortable you are and how long the swim is.  For a sprint I would definitely wear a wetsuit for anything below 70.  For an Olympic or longer I would war a wetsuit regardless.  I think wetsuits are a good idea regardless of temperature because of the buoyancy help the provide.

I surfed around trying to find a site with historical bouy data for the Chesapeake Bay... but no luck. I purchased a wet suit last month thinking I may need one... so I should be all set.

Last Sat. I noticed that lots of folks brought a 5 gallon bucket with them to their transition areas. I think they used the bucket to haul in their gear, then once everything was positioned, they flipped it over an used it as a seat. Anyone ever try this? Is this better than one of those transition bags I've seen advertised on various tri web sites? I just dug whatever I needed out of my bag... but my transition times totaled something like 8 minutes. Not good. I also noticed one guy had pre clipped his shoes into the pedals. He began his ride bare footed and put on his shoes after he hopped onto his bike.

As for a wetsuit I was told by a former collegiate swimmer that she would always wear a wetsuit when given the opportunity.  At this race she had the fastest swim time and is the fastest swimmer in the X-terra series.  So I would where the wetsuit.

As for transition, it is really something you have to experiment with to see what works for you.  The key is to be in and out of transition as quickly as possible.  The key to the bucket is you don't sit on the ground, but I wouldn't sit at all, you can do everything while standing.  The key is to practice the transition, pretend to be coming out of the water and get ready as you would be getting on the bike, then go thru your run transition, practice makes perfect and do it in order and have everything in the same place everytime.   Get rid of shoe laces and use lock laces, it is easy to slip your shoes on don't have to spend time tying your shoes.  I try to make it as simple as possible and do as little as I have to in order to move to the next part of the race.

Oh to be young again

Pamela

I don't like to sit in transition.  It's not a rest period and you want to move through there quickly.  Buit you also shouldn't be digging in your bag.  I use a towel next to my bike where I lay out the items I need for the bike (shoes, socks) & run (shoes, hat/visor, race belt).  If you think, but aren't sure, that you might need some other items (jacket, arm warmers, etc.) put them towards the back of the towel.  The only time I use a bag is if I want to keep something dry in the rain.  Even in this case, I arrange the items flat on the ground for easy access.

If you want to try the 'shoes on bike' method, make sure you try it beforehand--both mounting your bike and pedaling while putting the shoes on.  It can save a few seconds but, if you are efficient, not much more than that versus putting your shoes on in transition.


Edit:  Also, x2 on lock laces or yankz or some such on your running shoes.  Slip 'em on and go.  Rest your helmet on your bike bars ready to put right onto your head.  I put my sunglasses in my helmet and put those on at the same time.

Edited by JohnnyKay 2010-04-01 9:56 AM

Everything JohnnyKay said about transition is dead on: I do it all the same way.  In my opinion the shoes on the bike maneuver is a pretty advanced move that really doesn't save that much time.  Too many things can go wrong with it, from just slowing down b/c you can't get them on to totally wiping out.  I don't think its worth it.

Think I'll stick with my bag for my next tri. I plan on picking up a pair of Lace Locks this weekend. Yes, the pre-clipped-in shoes looked tricky... I could see myself crashing trying to get into the shoes. I went over the bars a year ago and scored a cat. 3 AC separation and really don't look forward to repeating that one.  Thanks to you all for your suggestions. I plan to practice transitions in the coming weeks.

Anyone ever purchase an Endorphin Report? I just got mine (10 bucks) via email. After looking at all the data on my first tri I feel like I have a base line to build from.  Reading this thing is humbling ... but at least I now have a measurement for comparing my performance in future triathlons. Assuming, of course, that it's accurate.

Yesterday I ran my first 5k since last July I think.  I knew I was probably going to beat my previous PR of 27:25, but I had no idea I would beat it as much as I did.  I ran a 23:23, which is about a 7:30 pace.  It was pretty much as hard as I could have pushed.  I was very happy with that time but now it will take a lot to PR again.  If I do, it will only be by a few seconds.  Going that much faster than you are used to gives you a completely different perspective on the race and on racing as a whole, its fun.