Todd's Tri Turtles 3 (Beginner, Sprint, 5K, 10K) Basically Closed (Page 2)

Ahhh thanks Todd. I hope I won't disappoint the group or myself... I will see how it all unfolds. (I suppose this is officially post number two... so perhaps I've jumped the first hurdle...) That and tonight I swam lengths for the first time in a very very long time... and it actually wasn't all that horrible The hardest part is just getting out the door and on the way!

J

Thanks Todd. I look forward to sharing what I can and learning, sharing from everyone here.

Anna - I know what your saying about getting up and going to workout. With my crazy work schedule, the best time I can workout and train is before work in the morning. 5 AM comes awfully fast and only have daylight at that hour 5 months of the year, the rest of the time its pitch black out!

In addition to buying new shoes, I'm going to switch from my current Shimano SPD pedals (i.e., clip pedals for mountain bikes) to SPD-SL pedals (i.e., clip pedals for road bikes). It will be a family trip to the bicycle shop this weekend!

Today I trained for 30 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow I'll be back in the pool.

So I finished my first Sprint Triathlon on Sunday, May 18, 2014! This was the HITS Triathlon Series in Grand Junction, CO (actually at Highline Lake State Park near Mack, CO). Great location, only 30 minutes from my house, which meant I was familiar with it and actually able to do some swim, bike, and run training on the actual course before hand. Here’s a recap of the weekend.

Before I go into the specifics, a couple of notes on training, etc leading up to the race. The 6 weeks ahead of the race had been pretty hectic at work with visitors, etc so my stress level was higher than normal. Then about three weeks ahead of the race, I had a death in the family and had to make an unexpected trip back to Louisiana as well. Finally, about 10 days before the race, I started having some pain in my left foot when walking, so I laid off of running for several days. I certainly didn’t want to hurt myself and have to pull out of the race. Main goal now -- get to the starting line! With all of this extra stuff, and the fact that I wasn’t doing a good job getting to the gym to swim, my training was less than optimal, but I still felt pretty confident I could finish - the swim being the biggest challenge. But enough excuses!

The two weekends before the race, I actually went to the race site and swam in my wetsuit, biked part of the course, and ran part of the course. That was very helpful! I also learned that 60F water feels like ice water on your feet, hands, and face! But I was glad to experience that before the race and not during the race for the first time. The one thing that got me rattled a bit in the days leading to the race was when I realized there was a cut off time for each leg of the race. For the swim that was 30 minutes, and while that’s a long time, I was worried. I’d hate to fail at that and get pulled from the remainder.

Packet pickup was Saturday afternoon for the Sprint and Olympic distances. The Half and Full distances actually started Saturday AM, so they were underway when I and my son, Will, went to pick up my packet. We got there to pick things up and all went well. I took some time to familiarize myself with the swim start area, T1/T2 area, and even got to see them labeling my transition area with my number, so I felt pretty comfortable about the next day. Got the packet, including the TriTats body marking numbers which were pretty cool.

I only slept about 3 ½ hours Saturday night - stayed up late adjusting my bike a little and making sure I had everything ready to go and wasn’t forgetting anything. But I had slept well Friday night so all was good. Saturday morning was early -- 4:30 AM wake up, left home just after 5 and got to the race site around 5:30AM. Transition set up time was until 6:40 AM so I had plenty of time after arriving. When I got to the transition area, one of the volunteers told me my tires were too wide to fit in the slots they had setup, so I could just go down to the last row (by T1 exit) and lean it against the fence and use that area. As I walked through, I realized that contrary to what I thought I’d see, mine was the only non road or tri bike I was seeing there. I figured more would show up in the next 30 minutes and I wouldn’t be the only one on a 10 year old Schwinn hybrid bike.

Race start was at 7AM so everyone worked their way to the swim start and started getting wetsuits on and some started getting in the water. I got in just a few minutes before start and listened to the instructions given for the route to take, etc. Glad I did get in and get some water in the wetsuit instead of waiting until the start. Before the start, the race director said he’d be offering a prayer before the start and we could join him on the beach then, which was a pleasant surprise for me.

Race started a 7 sharp and off we went -- all 80 Sprint racers started at the same time. I stayed to the back, hoping to avoid any kicks to the face. Started out ok but that cold 60F water just seems to take my breath away and make it tough to do any bilateral breathing, so I just stayed with every 2 strokes for most of the time. I was using my custom earplugs from work which had proven to work well to avoid dizziness in the cold water. During the swim I checked back behind me several times and did see a handful of people scattered around back there. I also wore my regular stopwatch so I could keep an eye on my swim time and checked it periodically. First ? of the swim were ok, not great, but ok. The last ? or so was tougher. I was mostly getting tired of not feeling like I was getting enough air and felt like I was really having to work hard to breath well. I finished the swim and started the ¼ mile jog over to the transition area across the grass. I was working on getting my wetsuit off while running and then I saw a few volunteers in front of us saying they were wetsuit strippers and asking if I wanted help. I said sure. He told me to get it off my arms, then just lie down on my back. So I did and the wetsuit was off in 2 seconds flat! Wetsuit strippers rule! I did glance at my watch at some point and saw 25 minutes, so I was relieved that I had beat the 30 minute cutoff time. Then I made it over to T1, rinsed my feet in my water tub, dried them and got my socks and running shoes on, dried off a bit, put on my bike jersey, helmet and glasses, and headed out. It went pretty quickly. I had intended to have my GPS on my bike powered on already, but had forgotten so I got it started coming on too. Now on to the bike!

Bike started out well, aside from my Garmin not starting up right. It finally started reading a couple of miles down the road. This was an out and back course, so it was neat seeing the first place guy headed back toward me behind the lead motorcycle. About a mile in there were two racers stopped -- it looked like one had crashed and was not in good shape. They waved me by and right after, race officials arrived to help them. I got passed by a couple of people on the bike, and passed one other who was working on a flat (still feel like I should have offered a hand there) then on the way back I actually passed one about ¾ mile from T2, which felt good. By the way, after looking more, I was indeed the only non road or tri bike of the 80 Sprint racers and 120 Olympic racers. At least I was unique and went for it anyway. Based on my bike time, I averaged 15.0 mph for the ride, which I was quite pleased with. T2 went quickly, only having to pull off the helmet and get the Garmin off the bike. Time to run!

Started off slow on the run and legs felt pretty good. I had planned to run/walk as needed and played that out, usually walking up some of the hills and whenever else I needed. The run went well and I kept about 11 min pace. They apparently had moved the turnaround point for some reason so instead of 3.1 miles it ended up being a little over 3.5. I had picked a couple of folks in front of me to try to pass before the finish. In the last ¼ mile of the race I realized one of those was right in front of me so I did get that pass in, plus a couple of others earlier on the run. Next up, the FINISH!

Finish time 1:58:54! I was pretty thrilled to see it less than 2 hrs. I had unofficially hoped to beat 2 hours and I did that even with the extra run distance, so I was quite pleased. I was pretty spent immediately after the race so quickly got some coffee and mini-donuts to wake me back up. I stuck around for the awards too and enjoyed and was quite impressed by some of the times. There was a large group of teens (Teens that Tri) from the Denver area and they were pretty impressive!

Got home and my son and I decided to go back to see the “Open Distance Tri” for beginners as we figured there would be some kids and other amateurs in this one. We got there just as the last few were coming out of the water so got to see that and T1 and stayed until most of the people finished. There were a lot of kids doing this one, but also a few adults. I’m glad my son got to see it has actually considered doing it himself next year. Oh, and I found the other bikes that matched mine...

Many thanks to Anthony and Steven at Two Gomers Run For Their Lives for the encouragement, education, and entertainment! Love the podcast and excited for the next challenge.

And thanks to Todd’s Tri Turtles at Beginner Triathlete for the guidance, support and encouragement as well!

Next up…. Olympic Distance….?

AWESOME story - congratulations!

Thank you so much for posting your report here, that was exactly what I was looking for. I laughed at the bike comments, but it had to make you feel good passing people on bikes that cost several thousand dollars. I know you probably already know this, but if you averaged around 15 mph on the fat tire bike you would average 17 pretty easy on a road bike. It's amazing how much more you get out of a road bike with less effort. Again thank you for the report.

Alright, so we have an extended weekend upon us. First, let us remember what Monday is for and about. We have this opportunity thanks to the Men and Women of our Armed Forces past and present.

Ok. So here is the first challenge for all the Turtles. Get in 30 minutes of work two of the 3 days during this extended weekend. The workout does not have to be Tri related or hard. Go for a Walk, Swim, Play Golf, just do something for 30 minutes two days. If you check the Sport section of your training log you will see that there are a ton of things you can do. O'ya and don't forget to log the two workouts in your logs, this challenge will also help get everyone going with logging their workouts.

Here is my planned Extended Weekend:

34'ish Mile Bike Ride - Saturday Morning

4-6 Mile Run - Sunday Morning

Monday is Up in the Air but I will be doing something.

Weekend plans...

- Saturday morning: 7am with the fleet feet cycling group. The email says we're doing hill repeats. Lucky me! Actually it does not look that bad compared to where I live (I live on a hill). After the cycling part is complete we'll do some sort of a run. Shooting for 5k distance. But we'll see what ye old legs say after doing the hills... I will do a more aggressive 18 mile bike loop when I get home.

- Sunday: no training but if the weather cooperates kayaking on a local lake

- Monday: Attend our Memorial Day Parade in the morning. I typically do 5 mile run (m/w/f) so I'll likely do that plus go for a bike ride and/or tennis with my wife (probably more kayaking if i'm lucky)

Have a fun and safe weekend everyone!

Forgot to include my official times....

Bib #4526 Swim 23:19 T1 4:48 Bike 49:39 T2 1:21 Run 39:44 Total 1:58:54

General question -- is there a "normal" distance to have to run from swim to T1? I was just a little surprised how far it was (1/4 mile or so).

OK, my challenge:

Saturday morning - ride my bike to the gym about 8 miles away so will be 16 miles round trip, do my swim workout. Yard work and home repairs round out the day.

Sunday - absolutely nothing!

Monday - Bike again on what I call my "death climb" route. It is 14 miles, but elevation change is 400 feet , and it feels like it is uphill both ways. My lungs are burning after this one!

Hope everyone has a great extended weekend and Happy Memorial day.

I am in for the challenge. The only issue is my hubby may want to travel to see family. I do not run in that town for any reason. Trip and break a leg bad sidewalks and loose dogs. I do not do dogs! If we travel, I will have to think of something.

If I am at home, here is my challenge:

Saturday morning –
developmental masters swim
Short yoga (20 mins) with swim coach
Family Activity (run or bike ride or lacrosse in the back yard)
Yard work and house cleaning
Family cookout

Sunday –
Long Run (6 miles)
Long bike (18-20 miles) with the local bike shop. They ride my tri course every Sunday. This is my only free Sunday to do it with the group until late July/early August.
Family Activity (lacrosse in the back yard)
Yard work and house cleaning
Family movie night

Monday –
Boot Camp with hubby
Yard work and house cleaning

No, each is different and usually based on the area and logistics.

Hi,

I'd love to join this group. I a brand-new newbie training for a women's sprint triathlon the first weekend in September.

NAME: Melissa

FAMILY STATUS: Married for nearly 10 years, 3 boys (ages 6, 3, and 10 months).

STORY: I'm 33 (but racing at 34). I'm a stay-at-home mom with a small tutoring business. As a child and through high school, I was an athlete. I played three varsity sports (soccer, track, softball). In college, I got lazy. I got married soon after college and started teaching. I got healthier through diet, but living and working in NYC left little time for exercise. With my first pregnancy, I gained too much weight. I never lost it all before my second came along. After baby #2, I tried to get back in shape. I got injured and had knee surgery. As I was beginning my recovery from the surgery, I discovered I was pregnant again. I had my third son last summer after a long pregnancy with exercise restrictions. Couple that with that fact that we closed on our house just weeks before he arrived, and life felt a bit crazy. I just lost 30 lbs and am back to my pre-baby-#3 weight. Now, I am training for a sprint while trying to lose the remaining 30 lbs to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently, I am swimming, biking, and running. To train for my running races, I am running three times per week, swiming and biking once. I do one or two strength training sessions per week. On a good week I do one hour of yoga to stretch everyone out.

2013 RACES: NONE - Babies will do that to you!

2014 RACES: I am running a 5 mile race on Sunday, a 5K the first week in June. The sprint tri on Sept 7 and a 10k in October. (My goal for early 2015 is a half marathon.)

WEIGHTLOSS: 30 lbs down, 30 to go

I am a decent swimmer and grew up on the ocean so open water doesn't freak me out (although open water with lots of people around will be something new). I ran track in high school and have always used running as part of my exercise routine. Cycling, however, is my biggest concern. Up until now, I have only done spin classes. I just bought a used mountain bike to get used to being on the road. I will buy a used road bike once I feel confident enough to do so.

I will follow the 12-week sprint tri training plan from Your First Triathlon.

Looking forward to having some people to chat with. My friends are either hard core triathletes or think I'm crazy.

Cheers!
Melissa

Thanks for the race report. It was great reading about the lead up and the event

I'll bet there will be no stopping you now you have one under your belt

After having a week off, I had to work yesterday and again today, but have off Sunday and am on call Monday. Sunday I am hoping for a good swim and run and I'm not sure about Monday, maybe a run and short bike, as I have to stay close to home to be available for work. Have a great weekend. I'm impressed with everyone's plans and it was nice to see a race report at the start of our grouping. BTW, at my first tri, I was surprised at how far away from the swim T1 was, a nice little jog, just when you don't want to have to run.

Got my workouts in.
45 minute swim, mostly drills
20 minutes yoga
3 mile run

I'm in :D

Saturday: Get bike down, tuned, and go for a long ride... (thinking about an hour)

Sunday: Yoga class 1 hour ... and then either run or swim

Monday: Run or swim (not a holiday here)



If training goes well and it looks like I will actually be racing (participating may be a more accurate verb in this situation) in 12 weeks... I seriously will need to buy a proper race bike mid summer ~ open to suggestions. Would want to buy used I would think. I have no concept of the expense involved.

I'm beginning to realize this is all about building cardiovascular endurance and some muscles to support those efforts.. not sure my feet will be happy with me running so much... my old foe (planter fasciitis) is threatening me... my heals are achy... so I'm trying to pace myself.



QUESTION: How do people typically log their runs? Total time out including warm up and cool down? Or are we looking to capture the total "pure" running time ... or the total time at an aerobic level of activity (or whatever the proper term in the Tri-world is for that)?

I can tell you that during my 30 mins out running/walking... the only time I'm not in that aerobic zone is during the warm up 5 mins... the remainder of the time... and for sometime following I completely am. (even though my total running time is 16 mins in a 33 min outing). So I'm not sure if the running log is meaning to reflect simply milage covered... time spent actually running, or more the cardiovascular training piece of it... I noticed somewhere that they suggested breaking it down into run and walk portions and entering them separately. Since I'm just starting out I though it best to be consistent... and not flip to a different way of logging it when I realize how it ought to be done.

Thanks,
Jean

Hope everyone's having a great weekend! It is beautiful here!

Welcome to the group Melissa and another you. Don't worry about the weight because if you are actively training it will come off. The hardest thing for someone in your shoes is finding that balance between family and that alone time that is needed to train. It can be done without a doubt but will likely take a bit of trail and error. The biggest thing is to not get frustrated along the way. You can and will do this

Jean, Anna pretty much hit the nail right on the head. Log it however you set fit. Your logs are strictly for you, so you put in the informaiton the way you feel will best benefit you and this journey. I can tell you that people a lot of time show the warm up and cool down as Sport - Walking, because they want to know where they are quickly while actually jogging. Then again, a lot of people and I was one, used a walk / run ratio starting out to cover distance / time and do so safely. I certainly would not show the walk portion as walk because it was a part of my total distance and time, which I wanted to see for improvement purposes. Anna also hit the bike just right. Don't kill yourself or your bank account buying a road bike or thinking you have to. For an example I rode a $90.00 Mountain bike for the first few months, not by choice but because my wife told me I could not buy anything else until she knew it was a fade of mine. (I had a habit back then of going all in for around a year and then stopping what ever it was, or at a minimum slowing to a crawl) I did buy a road bike but even when I did that I wanted a Tri Bike but let others talk me out of it and then spent the next two years wanting one. I slowly saved and then did find a Tri Bike used in great shape for a great price, but that was after buying another that did not fit right and caused me back pain. Used is a fine option, but Fit is the most important thing in the equation. If the bike does not fit it will cause problems and you will not enjoy it. The way I see it now is that I would perfer to have a non name cheapier bike that fit, then a high dollar name brand bike that didn't. The second used Tri bike I bought I knew what to look for and how to fit myself. The other key thing was that I went and test rode it for approximately 3 miles, twice before purchasing it. I can tell you now that I have a Tri bike and one that fits, I no longer think about the next bike or what I want. Will I maybe buy another in a few years, possibly, but I don't really think about it anymore. Don't be afraid to show up on a fat tire bike to your first tri, enjoy the journey along the way regardless of what you have and don't have.

Well today I changed my plans and almost regreted it. I planned to head out at day break for a pretty well flat 34 mile ride. Instead I decided to go 26 but for what I consider an H3 ride - Heat, Humidity, HIlls. Well my body was obviously not use to the heat and humidity yet, and felt terrible towards the end of my ride. I definately have a way to go before doing my Half in Lubbock at the end of June. It is extremly hot and hilly there and a difficult Half. The ride all and all was not bad and was a hello, how you doing, day for me to get going and more so in the heat and with hills. I will still go for my run in the morning and hope to be fully rehydrated by then.

Great to see how everyone is working and this group really seems to be coming together nicely. TURTLE POWER