Todd's Tri Turtles 3 (Beginner, Sprint, 5K, 10K) Basically Closed (Page 15)

Finally I am back. I've been quite the slug, with some good excuses, but they are still excuses!! This week, both my boys attended piano camp- it's run by the local Suzuki group and is a great switch from their usual lessons. However, it is a bit parent involvement intensive, so I didn't have as much free time as I'd like. Boy1 and I took the chance to go out for a run today, finally, which felt so nice! The location was lovely, nice and flat valley road between two mountain ranges, cool, and somehow no bugs. Our house is deer fly central right now, so it was doubly nice.

Then after the last half day of camp, I took both my boys to the lake that my tri is going to be at- it s a state park location, great place to swim, nice grassy beach area. And I got my first real OWS done!! And I was surprised how much the weeds underwater creeped me out. I was always worried about touching them. ick ick ick! I swam a bit shorter than the actual race, but I swam the whole way with just short breaks into my relax stroke so I could sight my directions. The weeds made me want to speed up so I could get through them, so I think I tired myself a bit. I'm planning on going back once a week until the race (4 weeks) so I can get more used to the distance and the weeds.

That means tomorrow must be a bike ride! Plus boy2's delayed birthday party. Then things start to settle finally. I hope!

Oh, and I forgot- I made a run through the local TKMaxx before doing the grocery shopping and they had tri suits!!! pearl izumi, last year's I guess, but for $50, I got one. It's one piece, with a matching support bra. I'm thrilled!

Tracy, I am sorry for your loss and terrible news yall are having to endure with your mother. This group and I are here if you need anything and I will certainly send some prayers y'all's way.

Great job on the prep swim and just know that each time you get in you will notice the weeds / grass less and less as you realize that there is nothing in it that will kill you. I know for me I was worried about any of that, I was worried about cutting my foot on a broken bottle or something an idiot had thrown in the water. Sorry now i probably gave you something else to think about

Edit: great score on the pearl suit. I have yet to buy something pearl that I did not like, and you got yours at an awesome price!

Edited by Hunting Triathlete 2014-07-11 8:57 PM

Hi Turtles,

Just finished my first week of training following some time off. I managed to have 5 running (walking) sessions and 1 bike session.

I'm walking 30 - 90 minutes and managed to work up a bit of a sweat on most occasions which I attribute to the 2 jackets I was wearing to beat the cold wind and rain on some days. I'm planning another week of walking and intend to start gym and additional bike sessions next week. If all goes well I'll start running the following week.

I'm pleased to say that the arthritis in the hip has all but disappeared and the knee is manageable at the moment. I've been taking Glucosamine for about 4 weeks now and it works for me even though it takes a while to feel the benefits.

I'm looking forward to reading some race reports soon from other forum members.

Rod

Great job Rod and way to be smart about things. I have noticed that sometimes the hardest thing for us to do is put aside our egos and do what is smart instead of what we want to do. You'll be back at it 100% in no time!

Originally posted by tri-ing to do a tri

Hello everyone!

I have been stalking your forum for a while and have finally gotten up the courage to post today You seem like an awesome group of people!

A friend and I decided recently to train for a triathlon. We were stuck in a workout rut and I was at a point where I just felt like I wanted to do something big and amazing. I think doing a Sprint Tri would be pretty stinking amazing.

I've never seen a tri, never known anyone who has done a tri (that I am aware of), and have absolutely no clue what I am doing. I basically printed out a 16 week plan from the website and am following it exactly :D Beginnertriathlete.com has been my own personal trainer.

I honestly did not think I would make it past the first week but somehow we're on the second month now (how did that happen?!?!) We have about a million questions, most you'll probably laugh at - and that's OK with us

We're going to shoot for a Sprint Tri at the end of September at the beach in NC.

I'll be a 34 years old by the time of the Tri and I have a great husband and 3 young kids (ages 8, 6, and 4). I'm a mediocre swimmer, a terrible bike rider (seriously - why does it hurt your butt so much??), and I have never been a runner. That being said, I'm SO FLIPPIN' PROUD that I've made it this far :D

So I guess I'll start with the stuff that makes me really anxious - we're swimming in a channel. Today I swam 750 meters in a pool. I don't recall that I've ever swam a long distance in the water. I'm planning on being one of the last ones in the water, but what if someone konks me in the head or I swim straight into someone's foot (likely), or something crazy like that? I've heard there are boats in the water - anyone care to elaborate? Like I said - I've never even seen a triathlon so I have no idea what I'm walking into here.



First off, welcome to the group!
Secondly, I am no expert having completed my first tri in June and ready to compete in my second in 3 weeks. So as far as open water swim, I'll offer this. I prepared by swimming lots of laps in the pool, and I knew I was fit enough, so that wasn't a worry. But when your staging in the water with around 50 other swimmers (usually most events set you off in stages depending on age and sex), it gets a bit daunting. When the horn goes off, its just 30 seconds of total chaos. Your body is full of anxious adrenaline, so are the other swimmers. After that things settle in. My tips for the swim are this:

Try and stay calm. getting anxious can lead to panic. That can lead to trouble.
Don't burn out to early, just focus on nice steady even strokes. Concentrate on breathing and take a breath when you need to.
You will get bumped or hit. Trust me, there is nothing malicious or personal about, it truly is an accident.
If you feel your starting to panic, switch to a breast stroke or even roll onto your back and float for a few.
Also, the race I competed in offered orange colored swim caps for racers who wanted them. This alerted the support boats and kayakers to keep an extra eye on you because you felt your not a strong swimmer. I don't know how many races do this, but I think its a great idea.
Lastly, HAVE FUN! We as humans can get caught up in the competitiveness of it all, but really we are here to have fun. I entered my first tri to prove something to myself, not anyone else.

I hope this helps, and if your like me you'll want to do another. I did my first to prove that after turning 40, diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and then losing 120 Lbs; that it could be done. Now all I want to do is focus on getting better and going further!

Mike

It's 4 weeks until my first triathlon; minus one day. I figure 3 good weeks of training, and 1 week of slowing down and I'm ready! It's a sprint, I'm feeling like a week of tapering should be enough. 3 more increases for long runs, bike rides and swims. And a couple more swims in the lake to get more used to the weeds. I should probably go sign up, maybe?

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone in this group for being so positive and supportive of one another. I broke my leg a few weeks ago and have been MIA on here as a result. I am still going to do a triathlon but I guess it will have to be next season

Thanks for everything! I'll be back next year and will probably come to lurk and live vicariously every once in awhile.

Good luck!

Neva

Neva, you know that you are more then welcome to continue with the group and I'm so sorry to hear of your token leg. Like i said, do what you need to but you're more then welcome to stay an active part of the group. Maybe we can help the time go by faster!

Nancy, I think you should sign up. And don't worry too much about tapering for a sprint. Moderate workouts the week of should be OK.

Neva, sorry to hear about the leg. Heal up and then get right back into it!

That's kind of what I thought about tapering. My goal for the day: signing up!

I ran with rocketboy (formally know as boy1) this morning- he's come so far- we 1.8 miles and finished with a little sprint. yesterday I swam- I did 200 yards sections fort eh first time! 4 of those, plus 2 100 yards, then the pool was closing and I had to get the kids to camp. Biekd hom- kind of slow, but 10+ miles so that was good.

What is everyone else up to training wise?

Nancy, sorry I missed this post. Yes, if you know you've got the ability to handle the distances then you should sign up. The first is all a learning experience and will be a PR no matter where you finish. Patrick is right no need really to taper for a sprint and no need to try and get a bunch of miles the week of either. If I have a sprint on Sunday i work out as normal thru Thursday. I take Friday off or go for a light swim in the morning. On Saturday i go for a 15 minute ride to make sure the bikes good to go and go for a 5 minute light jog. I usually have everything done by noon on Saturday and then rest and enjoy the day with the family.

thanks for the encouragement and letting me know your routine! I'll probably do something fairly similar. I'm not too worried about finishing- since I finished the half marathon, I know I can just keep slogging along for 3.5 hours, and it isn't going to take me that long for the sprint.

One reason I'm planning on keeping up the increases is to look forward to my next planned race, which is a sprint in September. Unless I really really hate the experience. Unlikely, I think.

Hi Neva

Sorry to read about your leg. I hope you have a speedy recovery.

A suggestion to stay motivated & involved is to exercise your upper body & core to keep a training routine going.

Have you considered volunteering at a local tri. This may be a way you can be involved and also learn a few things along the way.

Rod

Oh, the orange swim cap thing makes me feel a lot better! Thanks for that gem! Curious - what is the benefit of a swim cap? I have never used one before...

We have devised a plan to go try and swim in the sound down here on the coast. Anyone know the difference between a sound swim and a channel swim? I'm thinking no waves in either. We're going to try day 1 swimming with ski belts and day 2 without. It was the best we could come up with at this point. How exactly does one know how far in the water they've swam? I'm assuming I should just be going for a certain time in the water and build up stamina.

Several questions for you today:
1. How on earth do you keep up with how far you're swimming. We've devised a system of putting pennies at the end of the lane and moving a penny over every time we get back to it. People always look at us funny and I've noticed no one else seems to have a system of counting. Are they doing it in their heads??? I tried that and kept losing track of where I was.

2. I've noticed several of you said you should train in what you're actually going to do the tri in. Ummm, unless I'm going to do a triathlon in a bathing suit with a skirt I'm going to need to buy something new. This is going to sound ridiculously silly, but what would one wear if they don't want to drop a load of money for their first tri? It's in NC (not cold) at the end of september so I'm thinking not a wet suit. I can just wear a regular bathing suit throughout, right? I'm not going to need additional clothes for the bike/run, correct? Sorry, I tried to google "What to wear during a triathlon" and you can imagine the results!

Thanks for any advise!

Laurina

Hi! I can't keep track of my laps over about 100 yards. I'm starting to be able to get to 200, but geez. and how many repeats, can never remember. So I do a similar thing with a couple small boxes.

And I actually found a trisuit at TJMaxx- you can try? You never know. I'm sure other people will chime in too.

Today was a good training day! I swam 1200 yards after lunch. Then I picked up rocketboy (new nickname), and we biked home- 10.5 miles, easy for me. He did great- even made it up "the Hill of DEATH" (a tough hill up on the way home). I got home, switched shoes, and went for a short 0.5 mile run to see how it felt to run right after the bike. Not too bad, though I know it was an easy ride, not like I would be in a race, but a great start!

I purchased a pair of tri shorts on closeout from REI for 40 bucks, and my top is a Starter brand workout shirt I bought at Wal-Mart for 12 bucks. The investment I made was in shoes. I bought Mizuno shoes from a local running store where they examined my gate and made the best fit possible. Those would have cost about 110 dollars, but I was lucky that they were closeout too so was only 65!

I will probably invest in a tri top after this year, the Starter shirt doesn't fit well, and is hard to put on after the swim, but this got me going to do my first set of tri's to see if I liked it.

Hi Laurina,

At least look for tri shorts. I don't think you'll want to complete the bike ride in a bathing suit. I recommend a tri top as well, which you can wear during the entire event and not have to worry about drying off to put a top on during the transitions. Plus it's more fun to have that complete triathlete look.

I use Google Earth and landmarks to estimate how far I swim in open water.

I ordered my new bike today! Omg, it's so fast and what a difference in my hybrid. I'm getting a Giant Avail 2, will do a 4 hour fit once it comes in. I purchased clipless pedals (Look Keo) and Shimano cycling shoes. I wish it was all here in time for my next tri in 9 days, but at least it will give me time to train on it for the end of August tri. I ended up spending more than I'd hoped, but feel like it's an investment. The local bike store was very helpful and tell me during the 4 hour fit, I will learn a lot about the bike. I just can't believe how much faster it was.
I'm doing a mock tri this Saturday and the actual tri the next Saturday, so this will be my last on this hybrid bike.