We Don't Just Tri - We Do Group - Closed (Page 16)

That's what I'm trying to do, LOL.   I'll get there, of the three, I absolutely hate the swim, realizing it's a necessary evil if I plan to run triathlons!!!!!but I really enjoy the bike and run which more than makes up for the swim.

I've been doing so well with my training (IMO at least) and I've improved much better and much faster than I figured I would when I began my obsession that I've decided to accelerate my schedule and do a HIM this fall.  Barring any injuries and/or life getting in the way here is my schedule for the season working up to an HIM in October:

April 21st - Tri Mayberry, Mt Airy, NC - Sprint 300/17.4/3.11

May 9th - 36 North, Clemmons, NC (HILLS) - Sprint 328/12.43/3.11

June 9th - Two Town, Apex, NC (in my back yard) Sprint - 328.08/12.43/3.11

July 20th - Triangle Triathlon, New Hill, NC- Sprint 820/17.5/3.11 This will be my first open water swim

August 18 - Rex Wellness Triathlon, Raleigh- Sprint 250/10/3.11  Kinda going backwards a little on this one but this time of year here is so hot and humid there's just not much going on locally.

September 7th Inside Out Sports White Lake International - Elizabethtown, NC -Olympic 1640/27.96/6.21 This is my 55th birthday present I'm giving to myself.

October 26th Beach to Battleship HIM, Wilmington, NC.

I'm open to any coments criticisms, etc from expereinced Triatheltes on my plans.  The biggest obstacle I see to me accomplishing my goal is me, second biggest is time to workout. Is it to ambitous?  Not enough?  I'm trying to do a tri a month to keep me focused.  That and I'm a cheap SOB and I know once I shell out the $$$ for a race I'll follow thru come hell or high water. Each triathlon I'm doing is a little more challenging or introducing a new aspect I haven't done before, hopefully this will help me leading up to the B2B in October.

Good luck this weekend Bull, hopefully the thunderstorms don't get in the way? I've been in Mebane NC this week, flying out this evening and hoping for no delays.

Just remember that no one wins the race on the swim leg, so relax and try not to use up too much energy on it. 

Thanks.  We've got some nasty weather coming thru this afternoon but should clear out by tomorrow. Gonna be cold at the start, 39 degrees but perect temps for the bike and run.   I'll do the best I can on the swim, that's all I can do.

wrapped up another week - 3 weeks of training left and i can't wait to get it done.  I did not get in as much as I wanted to - Ran 13.1 on Saturday and today I did 60 miles on the trainer.  Temps were a little cooler today and I just did not want to bother with the layering.  As a result, i did not get in the 80 miles I wanted.  I need to focus on the run over the next 3 weeks and get in the full 26 at some point.  Then it is a week off before showtime.  Hope 1 week of taper is enough to fully recharge the muscles.  

how was your weekend?

Bull, 

I like your schedule.  One race a month, building upon one another, seems right.  Capitalize on your enegy and enthusiasm.   As long as you keep up with the training, I see no reason why you should not finish a Half by October.  Make it your A race and arrange everything else around it to support that one goal. 

a

Hello,

I've enjoyed watching your progress and hope you do well. Its always tough juggling family life, work, and personal time with training. I guess you get what you can get, when you can get it.

With that said, my wife and I picked up our brand new 6 week old baby beagle on Friday morning. This pretty much means I have not trained since my swim Thursday morning. He has been so much fun so far but the crate training has meant sacrificing most of my sleep. And yes, he is snoring in my lap right now while I type this... 

My wife and I are planning out the week to ensure we both get our training hours. To those of you who have kids, and still do this training my hat is off to you..!!!

Jeff

Good job dude!

Great job Bull! 

I hope you still had fun.

I had a blast!!!  Even though going up that hill I sometimes had my doubts, but once I reached the top and looked back down the hill at that road snaking it's way up the hill, it was worth the effort. Besides, what goes up must come down, the ride down the hill was awesome.

Bull, What an awesome inspiration you are to your family as well as so many of us! Keep up the good work.

as far as OWS, I find it so much more enjoyable than swimming in the pool. I'm like you and take a while to get my stroke, but once I do I love to swim. The hardest part is sighting, try to get out and do some OWS before so that you get a feel for sighting or you may swim twice as far or be like friend of mine that we have to chase down in the ocean because he heads for the wrong point, ha-ha!

Started my HIM training yesterday, Really hoping spring gets here so I can get out and swim soon and I really don't want to do all of my bike rides on the trainer, or any for that matter. 

Thank you for the kind words.  After losing 184 pounds I feel like God has given me a new lease on life and now I must pay it forward. (Not trying to get all preachy).   I have so many people that have backed me and supported me along the way and still support me I'm not going to let them down. 

Waters still a little cold and we've had an exceptionally cold spring for this time of year.   I bought a wetsuit and plan on hitting some of the area lakes and practice OWS.  I consider myself a good swimmer, just not fast.  

I'm  ready (mentally) to take a leap to the longer Tris, Olympic and HIM but since I heven't done any open water swimming since my Navy days, I thought this tri with the 750 yard swim would be a good test and would let me figure out all those things you mentioned WITHOUT finding myself a mile or more away and lost. LOL.   I have an end goal and that's an IM, I want to be sure that when I start it, I finish it. I'm trying to do everything possible to prepare myself physically and most improtant mentally to finish.

Ta da! Season opened! Akron U indoor triathlon, sprint distance 1h 07 min. Here is my report:

Yesterday got sick with some respiratory infection, spent most of the day in bed. In the evening felt better, thought good night's sleep will put me back on feet, but around 3AM neighbor's garage caught fire we woke up from the sound of sirens, saw smoke, flames, firefighters running forth and back. Luckily no one got injured, but nobody in our street slept until morning.  Anyway, got to university pool and discovered that based on my 500 yard swim time on registration form, the organizers put me on the same heat with college girls. Then I saw those girls wearing university track team shirts and my confidence started dropping very fast. Started swim,I really appreciated that my husband counted laps for me, that was my biggest fear  that I mess up the count in a small pool. Finished swim somewhere in the middle. Transition was good, started pedaling on stationary bike. The funny part of bike leg was that I  looked at the wrong number on bike computer and when it reached 15, I started yelling for  volunteer to come and take my time because I'm almost done ( we had to do 16 mi trip). The guy came and explained that I was looking at time, not the distance and I still have 6 miles to go. And I  thought I will finish bike  first, ha ha! Second transition was negligible, I put on shirt while running to the pool exit. But run leg was in a pouring rain 50F, 5 K felt like 5mi. I caught up with one girl and passed her, but she passed me near finish, darn. So I finished 10th out of 19 in our heat, and 12th out of 35 in overall, not bad at all. This is small triathlon, they don't do age groups.

Now I'm back at home being sick What are you doing this weekend?

Tukutuku - 

given that you were/are sick, I think you did awesome.  Think what it will be like when you are 100%???

I guess the genes run in the family!!!   That's awesome that the family is into it!

Good weekend - I ran 20 yesterday and biked 80 today.  Was hoping for the full 112 but after 60, I stopped to see my sons' soccer game.   Tough to get going after 2 hrs of standing around.   We then have movie tickets (42) and so I only had time to get in another 20.  It was a bit warmer today and I was layered, not quite simulating TX heat but certainly made me sweat.   Reading the thread on the IM Texas, I see that a few folks had their last long bike this weekend.   I think I might squeeze 1 more 60 miler this coming weekend and will taper for 2 weeks instead of the 1 as I originally had planned.  I think I need the mental and physical break.   Now is time to plan all the logistics.  

Have a great week.

Hi Thom,

My longest bike ride was 116 miles in 7:30hrs on April 6th. I have logged a 30, 60 and 84 miles in the subsequent weekends.  I may try to get in 100 this weekend. 

As for race planning, I have read a few articles on race planning/execution. For the swim, unless it is unbearably hot, I will wear my sleeveless wetsuit.   If the water warms up and wetsuits become
illegal, I will still wear it and take the 10 minute penalty.   I think I can make the time difference due
to the buoyancy but more importantly, I will be fresher for the bike.   For the bike, my plan is to do the entire course staying in HR Zone 2.  I think this will equate to 15-17 MPH given that the race course is flatter than what I have been training in.   Variables against me here will be the heat and humidity. I have my watch set up to display HR as the primary metric and to beep every 15 minutes to remind to drink and take in nutrition.   I may change this to 10 minutes.  For the run, the goal is to stay between HR zone 4 and 4.5 during the first 13.1.  Depending on how I feel, I may increase the pace a bit but again, heat and humidity are large unknown variables at this time. 

I will be packing Hammer Perpetuem,  lib balm, saltsticks and Endurolytes.  I know that I around 3-4 hrs on the bike, my stomach wants something solid so I will bring a couple of Cliff bars as well.  There are other details I need to go through but the about is the essence.  What am I missing?

Thanks