Dominion's Sprint/Oly Focus Group - OPEN (Page 14)

Congrats on the improvements Nate! Sounds like the new bike is working out great. Congrats on your impending new addition as well Hope you feel better soon!

I wrote a full race report here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...
I felt really good yesterday. Thinking seriously about finishing my season with an Olympic in sept, since I think my training volume is enough that I could finish one (soon if not now).

I've also read that you shouldn't set goal times for your first race at a new distance, but I did for both of mine. I came up with times that matched my training paces, and have come in under those times in both of my races.

Drew, welcome! A lot of us in this group have small kids. I know that's one of my biggest challenges. I don't want to take training time away from family time, and it's always a challenge to achieve balance.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Hi Drew, Welcome to our group.

Where in upstate NY are you from?  I have family up there, Amsterdam.

We have a great and supportive group going here.  Feel free to ask any questions you may have or share any experiences. This is the heart of racing season so we have lots of members with races coming up.  I think we had 3 racing this weekend. 

I find the training logs here to be very helpful as well.  Log your workouts and that will allow us to see where we might be able to assist. Good Luck!

Edited by Dominion 2014-07-20 8:46 PM

Sunday July 20th 2014 Litchfield Hills Olympic Triathlon

1.5k swim (0.93 miles)40k bike (24.8 miles)

 

Couldn't sleep much last night.  Got about 2.5 hrs all night. Woke at 5am. Ate pretty well and had stuff ready to go. Got there a little after 6a and time was flying by. 0.2 walk over rough stones to water. Hmm. Wore flip flops down, but walked back up after swim barefoot.

 

Swim great water. Clean and warm. New suit felt great. First wave. Good news. They said 48 minutes cutoff, but 3 mi between each of 4 waves. Ended up falling to the back of my group. Then after first turn second wave started catching me. A little while later 3rd wave, then 4th wave caught me closer to the end. Was hoping to at least hit 45 min. Goal was 40 min. Actual 35:34. Rank 237/273 =87%

 

T1 5:53 including the long jog up the hill. Ate one baby food apple sauce and loaded tons of food on me. Oh. Had to get out of wetsuit.

 

bike mostly good. About 4 miles in, big hill turns onto main road. I was coasting but going a llittle fast. Volunteer motioned to slow down. I guess I hit brakes too hard. Rear tire started fish-tailing. Let off the brakes and tried to recover. Somehow the rear felt wobbly, thought I had lost the tire. Stabilized. Had a great ride, but last couple miles are a killer. 1:27:14. Rank 200/273 = 73%. 17.06 avg mph.

 

T2 0:54 ! Pretty good, but as I was leaving transition a group member said that I forgot to take off my helmet! She took it for me.

 

run i did most of this on the roads last week, but 0.5 miles was a trek through the woods! Owch. It actually lapped over the swim to bike route. After so much slow going through the wood, i was surprised to see that i wasn't cramping in first mile. Then mile 2-3 was rough..i figured out why. They milled it. Oh well. Each mile was hard to keep going. Wanted to fall to a walk, but just slowed down instead. Passed a guy doing walk-run around mile 4.5. He was in my age group! debated stopping for water with about 1.1 miles left. Stopped and guy passed me at water station. Nooo! Wait. 50? Ha! Different guy. 57:35 for 9:16 pace. Rank 180/273 = 66%.

 

Total 3:07:08 rank 196/273 =71.8%  13/17 AG.

 

Goal was 3:30. Good day

 

In summary... really happy with results. In training estimated swim 40-45 min. Best previous bike ride was 16.7 on a mostly downhill route. So really happy with this 17 mph. Run could have been better, but my legs were beat.

Great Job Jeff!

What do you mean when you say they milled it?

Got to love the tri community. A guy at my race was leaving with his helmet when someone grabbed it for him.

Felt better today and decided to get some LSD in since my wife was going to leave me with the kids for the week. 7 miles.

Hope everyone had a nice Monday.

Good job Jeff! Sounds like you exceeded your goal in every event, that's awesome. Thanks for the report!

Alright Chris what is the difference between tri suits, lift foils, swim skins, speed suits, am I leaving anything out?

Nate

OK, I gotta ask....LSD? I'm guessing you're not talking about the LSD with which I am familiar (through providing harm reduction assistance and psychological first aid at music festivals).

Long slow distance. Essentially my long run of the week.

A standard tri suit is just a one piece tight fitting suit that can be worn throughout the race without having to change.  You swim in it, it usually has a small pad for cycling but not enough to get in the way while running.  Another option of course would be the 2 piece shorts and jersey.

Swim Skins are just rubberized suits that reduce friction in the water.  They are legal in non wet suit swims because they do not contain neoprene or polyurethane.  Some of these are removed like a wet suit after the swim during T1 and I think some of them now can be worn for the entire race. . A swim skin and a speed suit are essentially the same thing to my understanding.

The Lift Foil is a Desoto product.  It is just the name they gave it, like their Forza or Carrera lines.  It supposedly makes you faster in the water in non wet suit swims, though it also contains no neoprene.  It is basically a one piece tri suit with no pockets.  The Lift Foil is a kind of speed suit.  I think it is geared toward shorter races since it has no pockets. 

 

 

 

Edited by Dominion 2014-07-23 11:45 AM

This week I tried to mix in the swim set from triathlete magazine. I'm not sure what it all mean x 50xt.
Warm up with fins 200 swim/100kick/200 swim ( I took swim to be freestyle)
3 x 200 with 30 sec rest 3/5 breathing pattern by 50 (3 sets of 200y with 30 sec rest. breathing every 3rd for 50, then every 5 for 50 and repeat)
6 x 50 with 15 sec rest 25 kick/25 swim build ( not sure what a swim build is)
6 x 75 with 20 rest all strong ( I assumed fast )
6 x 25 on :45 from the middle of the pool, vertical kick between intervals ( not sure at all what on :45 means and what a vertical kick means)
4 x 100 cool down with 15 sec 50 non free/50 free ( 50 non freestyle, 50 freestyle)

Can anyone translate?

Nate

 

Not sure what they mean by swim build either.

6 X 25 on :45 from the middle of the pool;  Not sure what they want in this case, but, "on" usually means "leaving on" 

For example, 6 X 100 leaving on 2:00 means you swim 100, rest and start your next on interval 2 minutes after you started the first.  In other words you are starting a new 100 every 2:00. 

 

Edited by Dominion 2014-07-24 5:34 AM

Hi, everyone! I've been MIA for several weeks due to pneumonia and trying to get back in the swing of things after that (btw, it is true what they say: for every day you take off, it takes two days to get it back; and I was out of commission for 2 weeks. ugh!). But I signed up for my second sprint tri on August 9, so I have a reason to get my rear in gear! Been doing lots of interval work this week to get things moving in the right direction.

In response to the swim build question, the way I understand it is this: The swimmer's goal is to increase speed within the single swim distance(s). For example, the following set: 3x 100: Build. It's asking you to swim each 100 starting easy (with perfect technique) and increasing speed within each 100 to a fast finish (maintaining perfect technique throughout). The goal in a Build swim is to build speed while maintaining good stroke technique.

Hope this helps! I've loved reading everyone's race reports! Been great inspiration for me to get moving again!

Agree with married the pool guy. A "build" set is like a set on descending intervals - you want to get faster with each. "Strong" definitely means swim hard. I think the vertical kick thing means start halfway down the pool, and swim to an end and back, then kick in place (tread water with legs only) between each 25. It's not something we did in swim practice, that's just what it sounds like to me. Not something to do when you're sharing a lane, lol.

Otherwise you got it! "On the 2:00" means leave every 2:00 - you get more rest with a 1:30 100 than with a 1:45. Feel free to adjust if the intervals they suggest aren't realistic for your current level. :15 rest means just what it sounds like. "Swim" is your choice of stroke, while free and non-free are more specific.

Marriedthepoolguy, glad you're finally feeling better! I can't imagine - at least you didn't have to skip a race you'd already paid for. Hopefully you still have enough time to be ready - I'm sure you'll do fine

Thanks guys. Apparently triathlete mag puts out a weekly workout. Was hoping to start mixing in their "C" workout to add some variety.

I've seen some people at the pool jump out between laps and do sit ups, squats, ect. Anyone have a name for this time of swim workout and know where I may find some?

Sorry it's been so long since posting but I thoughts I'd update you all on my season so far.

Back in late June I competed in a Super Sprint, which went reasonably well.
I was happy with the run.
The bike which is always my weakest event was OK, still like to improve it, but I only have a £200 bike which is about all I can afford.

In July, was my big event - the London Tri, which was a Sprint distance.
It took place the day after the ITU on pretty much the same course.
Very weird to watch on telly the day before and to see the course with the elites.
It was also my first open water swim, and when I say first I mean FIRST!
I only brought my wetsuit the week before and had never worn it in the water let alone open water.
So it was with a real sense of trepidation that I stood on the start.

After taking various advice from you guys, when the gun went off I took about a second before I begun.
This gave me some clear water. I swam well within myself as I was unsure of how I would respond to a long swim without stopping at the end of the pool. I had of course done the distance, and more, in the local pool.

In any event I found the swim a lot easier than expected. There wasn't the huge crush at the turning point like with the elites and the distance was fine.
The only thing I would say to others in the situation is prepare yourself for the coldness of the water on your face. This was a shock to the system and took me most of the swim to get use to it.
The bike was pretty good for me. My first time riding where the roads are shut which was a joy.
My time was also the quickest I had run the 5k - 23 mins. Might seem slow to a lot of you, but was a PB by some minutes on a Tri for me.
All-in-all a very enjoyable event I'm already signed up for next year - this time no hanging around at the gun! Might even think about the Olympic distance!

Mid July was the last event a flat 10k at one of my kids school. Another PB for me 45:23 beating my previous by 2mins.
So the training is working!

The only trouble is I've developed a bit of a knee ache, so am seeing a physio and don't have any more races planned this year.
If anyone knows of any events from mid Sept in-and-around the North London area can you please send me the details.

Next year I hope to compete in a lot more events. This year was really about practicing and seeing how I would do in a couple of different types of races.
What do people think is a good gap between events - I'm thing about a month (cash and time allowing), so doing about 4-6 races?

Anyway that's enough rambling from me, just finally to see how nice it is to read everyone's posts and to feel part of the wider community.

Would like to join your group. I am 47 years old and have been running for about 4 years now. I have done well In a spartan sprint and spartan super. I have also just completed my first duathlon in March. Looking to get into the tris and will really need help learning swimming technique and will need to Improve my biking.

Race Report: Race the River Triathlon
July 27, 2014

S (1/2 mile): 20:54.409
T1: 3:06.222
B (11.25 miles): 47:04.460
T2: 1:07.914
R (5K): 55:02.855
Total time: 2:07:15.86

Today’s race went fairly well. I got up at 3:30 a.m. and was on the road by 3:50, which is pretty fast for me. I’d loaded everything except my cooler in the truck the night before, so there wasn't too much I needed to do in the morning. I got to the race site by about 5:45 a.m. and found a good spot to set up my gear. I then had about an hour and a half until my wave started at 7:55, so I wandered around a bit and checked out the transition area, making sure I knew where to go when I exited.

After the mandatory pre-race meeting, I joined everyone else as we walked the half mile or so to the swim starting point. The race organizers had kindly laid blue carpet down over the weeds and thistles so we didn’t have to walk on them barefoot. The first wave (elite athletes) started at 6:59, so I had almost an hour to wait. I talked to a couple of people, but mainly just focused internally to deal with the pre-race stress, which was upsetting my digestive system. But, I wasn't concerned about it too much because the same thing happened to me at the previous race.

As it got closer to my wave time, they let us walk down to the beach to watch the wave before ours warm up and take off, and then we were in the water. The Spokane River was very warm, clean, and clear; it was a very nice change from my previous competitions! I swam out a bit and waited for the start gun to go off, and then we were off! My digestive issues disappeared immediately, and the swim went flawlessly for me; it was by far my best competition swim so far. I didn’t hold back this time as I have in my previous two, letting everyone else get ahead so I wouldn’t have to deal with people swimming over me. This time, I started with everybody else. I got kicked a couple of times and returned the favor a couple of times, too, and passed a couple of Clydesdales from the previous wave. I swam the half mile in 20:54.409, which is about nine minutes slower than my previous swim on the Columbia River. Clearly, the Spokane’s current at that point isn’t as strong as the Columbia’s and wasn’t nearly as kind in assisting my swim time. However, I am very happy with my swim. I was 4th in my division, 179/245 for all women, and 362/458 overall. Although it wasn't fast, it was a good, strong, solid swim.

My first transition went excellently, with me getting in and out in 3:06.222, which was the second fastest time in my division, 158/245 for all women, and 332/458 overall.

The bike course was 11.25 miles long, covering two confusing loops, which I completed in 47:04.460, placing me 6th in my division, 214/245 for all women, and 421/458 overall. This didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. There were some sharp turns I really had to slow down for, and I went off course at one point for about 1/10 mile, causing me to stop to figure out where to go, and then backtrack. (If no one had noticed, it would have been a nice little shortcut.) I also had some gear changing issues stemming from an emergency derailleur repair yesterday morning, and I kind of babied changing gears so I wouldn’t risk the chain becoming jammed or falling off. I need to work on upper body strength this winter so I can have better control of my bike, as well as do a lot more mountain biking next summer. I think mountain biking will be a great way to improve bike control, as well as gain upper body strength. I think the two will really help me improve my time next year. I also had to deal with allergies and had to slow down about a half dozen times to pull out a handkerchief and blow my nose. However, I averaged 14.34 mph, which isn’t bad for me, so I’m OK with the bike ride portion.

The second transition went excellently, as well, and I downed a half bottle of PowerAde before taking off. I was in and out in 1:07.914, the fastest time in my division, 81/245 for women, and 183/458 overall. Not bad!

Running is where the race fell apart for me, as it always does. My running really bites. Most people can walk faster than I can run. In fact, it’s not uncommon for toddlers to pass me up in family fun runs! Running for me is an exercise in frustration and humiliation. My time on the 3.1 mile course was 55:02.855, which placed me dead last in my division, dead last for all women, and 461/464 overall. (I don’t know why there were more people counted on the run leg than on the swim or bike legs! That makes no sense!).

So overall, my time was 2:07:15.860, which placed me 8/9 in my division, 233/245 among women, and 442/458 overall. My next triathlon is August 17, and it’s the exact same course as my first triathlon, so it will be a good opportunity for me to gauge my summer training. I think at this point my swimming and biking are what they are; running is where I need to concentrate, and I’m not sure what to do to improve my speed. I’ve been working on it for three months, and I’ve seen absolutely no improvement. I can run longer and further now than I could three months ago, but it’s still an 18-minute mile, which is really, really bad. I can actually walk faster, but walking isn’t what I want to do. I want to run, and I want to run faster. I’m not sure how to get there.

Does anybody have any suggestions? What would be a good sprint running program for the next three weeks? I’ve been practicing my running pretty regularly, but mainly as bricks, and not for the full 5K. I’ve been trying to do a 5K once a week, but running a 5K fresh is completely different from running a 5K after swimming half a mile and biking 12 miles. Should I be doing a 5K more often? And should I be incorporating it into brick sessions? I think it might help my endurance, but I’m not sure it would help my speed. I’m somewhat at a loss. I would have expected to see some improvement by now. I don’t understand why running is so difficult for me. If I can improve my running speed, then I can improve my times in all areas.

Edited by burner2 2014-07-28 8:36 AM

Has anyone ever worn calf compression sleeves during the swim portion of an event? I have started wearing them when I run and thought I'd wear them during the swim to save the time and trouble of putting them on in transition. I did check with the race director and he said that they were acceptable for this event. I wasn't sure if there would be an effect on drag because of the sleeves. Just wondering if anyone else has any experience or an opinion. Thanks!