Hokies 1st Timer's Group - FULL (Page 22)

Your welcome.  Enjoy your time with your boyfriend.

BTW:  Planned 0's are OK!!  Unplanned 0's are well.... not as good.

Hey Christi,

I think you are heading out soon for your cruise.  I hope the sea and weather turns out great for you.  Enjoy!!

BTW: Every cruise ship I've been on has had an exercise room. 

Hey Jeff...

http://siestabeachtriathlon.com/

Thanks Melissa.  Didn't know about this one.  It's in Mid-July - it's gonna be warm!!

 I am register for the FIT Olympic distance in May.  Are you still targeting this race?

Haven't had an official "workout" in a couple of days, but I've been moving, as in getting ready and packing for a two week cruise.

Tomorrow will be walking in airports.  Monday I hope to get a walk in while visiting relatives in Melbourne Beach Florida.  Tuesday, I'll be starting on ship workouts.  I love walking on the deck to my iPod, and should be back on track (except for the swimming workouts).  I have workout gear and am looking forward to being in the exercise room as needed!

Having said that, I'll chat with you all after April 14th! 

Happy training!

Christi
 

Oh yeah, one more thing.  Excited to report that I re-connected with a friend this week who is also doing her first tri this spring.  After i get back we are going to work together and I am going to see about doing a race that she is doing.  So fun to find another newbie!

Christi

Enjoy!!

Good for you.  Now you have a training partner.

Hey Team,

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and was able to get some training in.  I had a pretty good week of training last week - legs (knees particularly) are fatigued.  Next week is a recovery week on the plan so I look forward to scaling it back a little.  Keep your focus, the tri season (racing) is upon us. 

Christi...welcome to the Sunshine State! We haven't had rain in like a month until...well...today 

Sorry about the diversion...are you sailing from Ft. Lauderdale?

You are about a 90 minute drive (north) from Sarasota.  And yes indeed you did bring the rain (lots of it)!!  It killed my workout this evening but we needed it.  What can I say, Melissa is right, I can't remember the last time I didn't see sunny and warm.

Hey girls and guy.

I am back from vacation. We had three great trail runs, but no swimming or cycling. Tomorrow the plan is to get back into the pool.

~Amanda

I hope you pool is warmer than my pool was today.  Made me rush and took all the fun out of it.

I'm quite busy with work this week so don't have time to catch up with everybody right now. But I was wondering if any of you has participated in a group ride? There is a Century ride in two weeks, with 37 and 62 mile options. I'm thinking about one of these shorter options, but I'm a bit hesitant to sign up because I've never done a group ride, and I don't know what to expect. I guess I'd be concerned about the level of experience of the other riders, and being able to keep up. Also in general, I don't know what the atmosphere of these things are like (competitive vs. low key?).

Right now I feel like my riding skills are pretty beginner, so i don't want to be a liability or safety risk.

This is kind of how I felt before signing up for my first running race. There are lots of unknowns, but once you do one you feel more comfortable about the situation and then get hooked.

Amanda,

There is always a 1st for everything.... so with that in mind her are a couple thoughts:

1) Often these Century Ride events are organized by a local cycling/tri club or local bike shop.  In those clubs you have cyclists with differing experience levels (..ie intensity/volume).  Most of the time within those clubs you have organized rides for different levels of athletes.  I know here in Sarasota the local cycling club has rides for A, B and C level cyclists.  The A riders are for the "fast" guys/gals, etc... etc...  So if your lucky and the Century Ride your talking about is organized by a cycling or tri club I would contact those folks and ask if they have different levels of organized groups that will be doing the ride together.  If so, then figure out where you comfortably fit in and go for it.  A great way to potentially meet some new training partners.

2) "Keeping Up".  This is a interesting aspect to training/racing.  Since we are social animals we often have the fear of being "left behind".  I used to have this problem even with complete strangers (maybe not the "left behind" feeling but a competitive urge would creep up).  I would be out on the bike and somebody would pass me and I would feel the need to jump on their wheel.  Then of course when they saw that I was on their wheel they would start increasing the intensity.  Next thing you know you have a hammer-fest.  Now with all my workouts I have a goal in mind.  Often that means getting "left behind".  As long as I know my way home (which is always the case) I'm OK with getting "left behind".  I choose to think of this as building my mental fortitude which will payoff when racing.

3) "Competitive versus Low Key".  Like most events my guess Amanda is that there will be those that are competitive and those that just want to finish.  My advise is just have fun.  If that means being competitive then be competitive.  You define this... don't let others define it for you. 

4) "Riding in a Group".  I don't do a lot of this.  However, anytime I join a group I NEVER ride on my aerobars and I NEVER overlap the back wheel of the person in front of me with my front wheel.

Hope this helps.

Century ride sounds cool, Amanda! I tend to train by myself, so no group rides or group training runs that I can help offer suggestions. 

Finally back in the pool today after missing a couple weeks. I'm really getting concerned that I'm not going to be ready for the tri in May. Breathing still seems difficult...not the process itself, but getting enough air so that I don't feel panicky. Since I started from zero, I started with the bilateral breathing technique and that part seems fine. I tried to switch today to only breathing on the right, but that felt too frenetic. While I can do the quarter mile with rest, I can't get much past 25 yds before losing breath control. When that happens, I flip over and backstroke, which I can do all day. Any chance backstroke is legal for a tri?  

Hey Melissa,

Any stroke is legal as long as what is propelling you forward is provided by you (not somebody or something else).  I've seen everything (backstroke, sidestroke. breaststroke) with the exception of butterfly.  So you won't be out of place if you were to do backstroke during the race.

Good that you are getting back in water.  It is the only way that you are going to get better.  Regarding breathing...  When you swim freestyle Melissa are you exhaling underwater?  If not, you need to do so... think blowing bubbles.  If you are exhaling and inhaling when you mouth is above water it's near impossible to get a full breath.  So exhale underwater, inhale above water.

My guess (and it is only a guess) is that if you are getting panicky you are more than likely rushing it.  I can completely exhaust myself today in 25 meters by going to fast.  When I initially started swimming I didn't like doing it so all I wanted to do was get the workout over with.  I tried to get from one wall to the other wall quickly.  Wrong approach.  All I managed to do was exhaust and frustrate myself. 

If you keep getting in the pool and think "slow down, relaxed breathing pattern" then one day it is going to click for you Melissa.  It did for me. 

Melissa,

You might want to check out this thread on BT:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=246769&posts=17&start=1

General discussion about breath control and slowing down in the water.

Gang,

Odds are that Christi started today with pleasant walk around the deck of the cruise ship.  Next it was a Bloody Mary with breakfast.  It's lunchtime now so it's probably a Corona with lime on the pool deck with a plate full of fruit.  Next on the agenda is a mid afternoon Pina Colada followed by a quick nap on a lounge chair on deck.  After the nap it's back to the room for a shower and then off to the bar for Margaritas and appetizers (probably quesadilla's).  Maybe a pre-dinner show or some gambling before a nice wine and seafood dinner.  Following dinner its off to a show OR to the casino OR maybe some dancing.  Whatever she chooses I'm certain there is probably wine involved.  Tired after a long day and night it's back to the room for a good night's sleep without an alarm clock.  Then, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT.......

O to be Christi right now!!

Yet another thread here on BT regarding breathing while swimming.  Good advice here:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=246867&posts=7#M3426649

Hey team, sorry for my absence!

I decided not to sign up for the group ride. I'd rather spend the summer getting comfortable riding on my own, and then later just with a friend or two. I'll sign up for one of these group rides in the fall. Plus, it saves me the $30 registration!

I wish I was Christi right now, on the cruise ship!

Mel, I struggle with swimming as well. But like Jeff has pointed out, we must train to our weaknesses. Of course, I haven't been in the pool in over a week... Doh!

~Amanda

W00t w00t, bragging time -- I did my first brick workout today!

32 mile bike followed by a 3.2 mile run. I tried to keep the transition short, but I dropped my car key and panicked a bit while I tried to find it. I think I spent 10-15 minutes changing and refueling and taking a bathroom break.

The bike was great - the first half was into a very strong head wind, the second half I was able to move much more quickly. I averaged 16 mph which is okay by me.

My immediate reaction to the run -- wow, you sure feel like you are going slower than you really are. I looked at my Garmin and was running too fast for my first brick, but I felt like I was barely moving. That must be a product of having been moving so fast on the bike. I reigned myself in and got back to my normal slow/easy pace of 10:30.

~Amanda

Yeah... I noticed!!