Allison and Ryan's Beginner Mentor Group - FULL (Page 25)

Well - I have paniers on my bike - I have one small makeup bag, one small toiletries bag. I use travel sized shampoo and liquid soap containers. I sometimes use my Y membership where I can borrow a towel for 50c but I also have a small microfiber towel that balls up. And then I choose light weight clothes for the day. If you can pick a day where you may not have big meetings or anything, it's good to just try it once. You'll be surprised at how easy it really is.

It always seemed way more difficult until I just did it... I have a couple of "travel" outfits - you know those unwrinklable jacket, loose trousers, tank shirt combos : look nice and are pretty small when you pack them.

My husband has this great panier on his bike which can hold a grocery bag. If you had one of those, I think you would find it easier. It's great if you have a locker where you can stowe your bike stuff - mine can get kind of stinky in the office (!).

Good luck!

m

Well....the first one is in the books! I finished, wasnt last, and had fun so I met  the goals I set. I will post a full report, probably tomorrow....I have to work tonight so time is short. Suffice it to say the swim was ugly, as I expected(well maybe a little worse, but i survived). I made up some time on the bike, again as expected. And the run was a little disappointing as I think I used all my energy on the swim.....BUT I FINISHED!!! Thanks everyone for the support these last few months....full report soon. Ended up with 1:51:36...slow but heck, I"M OLD!

Woo Hoo We have another triathlete! Congrats!!!!!!

Thanks Mary. I'll have to suck it up and just try it. I don't have anything on my bike to hold something. will have to google paniers

First brick today. .75 mile swim + 8 mile run.Swim was better than great. I can't believe the difference since my last swims. Not sure if it's from being in the open water on wednesday or what, but I swam all 25 laps with no breaks, all free style, never ran out of breath and never wanted to switch to a different stroke. Even felt like I could have done more

The run on the other hand, was a different story. Slow, just kind of brutal. Had to take a few walk breaks about every 2 miles or so. Couldn't quite get into the groove. Almost hit my stride for a while, but then lost it again. Boy the brick is WAY tougher than a regular run. I've done double up days, run at lunch, swim after work but not back to back. 

Glad I'm practicing now though.

Tomorrow long bike and super short run brick just to practice the off the bike legs.

Race report:http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=258217

Got in a little 2 mile run this morning to loosen everything up (and punish my body for it's mediocre performance yesterday...LOL)

Back to training!

Congrats, Dan or should I say Triathlete!  How does it feel to officially have one in the books now? You did really well overall and have come a long way these past few months.  It sounds like you had a good time which is really important. You'll get faster with time. Plus on the swim...swimming with lots of arms and legs flailing around you takes some getting used to.  It looks like you killed in on transitions!

Awesome race report Dan! Congrats!

I did my first 25 mile bike Sunday. Around mile 17 or 18, really lost a lot of speed. Frustrated I set up my garmin wrong, so don't have mile splits to look at. On the way out, every time I glanced at my garmin, I was around 13.6 mph at the turn around, I was clocking 17+ for the first 3 miles back, and then I ended up with a 12.58 mph average. Definitely hit the last 2 hills on the way home will much less gusto than I had on Wednesday. Will have to make sure I have the garmin set up correctly next week.

The run straight off the bike was weird, but didn't seem as bad as I expected. Took the dogs and they were atrocious, so maybe that was a distraction

I'm sure having done my longest swim and longest run on Saturday contributed to my tiring on the bike as well. Feeling better mentally today, but yesterday was definitely thinking OMG what have I gotten myself into? I'll never be able to do all 3. I'll just do the best I can and try my best to focus on having fun.

Congrats Dan and nice race report.  Back to training already too! Wow!

My race wasn't as long as yours and I still took it easy for the a couple of days after the race. 

So are you addicted now?

Well I am moved. Boxes everywhere.  Glad to see so many had races.  FUN!!!

My race was 9 days ago  and I haven't done any exercise except pack and move boxes.  This morning I must run.  We have a 5K on Sat. Of course, I have no idea where my watch is or for that matter not sure if I can find my running shoes.  Oh dear.  Time to stop procrastinating.

Congratz Dan!!! You must be stoked to be finished with the first Tri and I bet looking forward to others!

As far as my training goes, weights this morning, 16 mile bike at lunch.

More good news, I was able to locate and join an endurance sports club here in AR. They have 3 elite members and mid level experience and then folks like me that have not done a Tri at all. They seem real friendly and helpful. Maybe I will learn something 

Anyway, Good training to all!

Hi everyone!

Don't have a computer during the weekend, so I could not do my race update but here it is:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=258529

I have to say I was surprised at how good I felt doing this race! I was especially happy to have the admonition to HAVE FUN in the forefront of the race. I noticed the sky, the beautiful wisconsin countryside, the kind attention of the volunteers. It was really a great day! We had perfect weather - overcast about 68, not too humid. the lake was just as smooth as it could be. Really fun. I'm so happy to be able to say that I'm NOW ! a triathlete.

and i'm not even sore. I guess I could have pushed a little harder, since I didn't seem to be completely drained at the end. My husband was taking pictures of me - he said I looked happy thru the whole race. Smiling and not killing myself. I guess I'm not that much of a speed competitor since I didn't really care about the time. Just wanted to finish the distance.

Thanks!

Mary

Congratulations triathlete! I think you meant to say "I'm NOW a triathlete" above   I am so glad that you had a good time out there. I think that's very important in not just your first race but all of your races. I am often guilty myself on getting too caught up on times and trying to beat last year's time that I sometimes lose sight that I am doing this for fun.  But it sounds like you will be back for more which is great!  And you finished in the top 1/3?1 Way to go!

Shannon, congrats on completing a nice, long bike ride.  Speed in longer distances will come with time so try not to get too frustrated. You know you can maintain that speed for shorter distances so more time in the saddle will increase the distance you can bike at the same speed. And that's great that you felt good running right after biking. That's an important transition to practice often. You really put on the distances these past few days so way to go!  And you will be able to do it. And like you said have fun (that helps distract you a little too while racing)

Hey Congratulations Triathlete! Super cool! So glad to hear you had a great time. Share those pics your hubby took, we'd love to see them!

So glad to hear you had fun! And you did great!

I'm thinking of writing "have "on one wrist and "fun" on the other so I stay focused on the right things during mine

Nice easy 3 mile run today. Nothing big to report. Was pleased my splits were all very close to the same time, so I was running a pretty even pace. Funny, sometimes when I'm moving at a decent pace, I feel like a snail and sometimes I feel like I'm a speed demon and I'm actually running like a turtle. 

Little nervous, but also kind of looking forward to my 2nd ows tomorrow night. Doing the loop twice, so a full mile. After my swim in the pool over the weekend, I'm hopeful that I'll do much better this time than last. Fingers crossed.

Trying to get my nutrition straightened out, think I was severely under fueled for my bricks last weekend, so want to make sure I have everything straight for race day. I've had a severe dental issue arise and am restricted in what I can eat which has thrown all my previous nutritional planning down the drain. Soft foods, shakes, liquids, and things that break apart easily when chewed are ok, but even bigger pasta pieces or multi grain bread is completely off the table.

On a nutritional note, does anyone else find that sometimes after a good hard workout that you have no appetite? I am good about taking my recovery drink right after but other than that, I often have just no appetite at all. Today, post run has been an example of that for sure.

Got in an hour long ride yesterday, felt good to get back into the swing of things although I started to have pain along the outside of my right knee during the ride, feels better now but going to have to watch it.

I want to start riding to work but I live too far out 22 miles so not for awhile, hope everyone is enjoying the heat

Run and maybe a swim today

Glad to see this group moving again!  Went on my LSD run this morning.  I've gotta say, running in the morning, when it's still relatively cool out beats running at lunchtime in the full heat and humidity any day of the week! 

Taking advice from the BT forums to "run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard" and running more.  It's my focus now since it was my weakest event.  So I'm running lots, mostly easy, and sometimes hard!

5.5 Mile this morning and a swim at lunch coming up.  Did 3.5miles yesterday and 4miles on monday with a swim. We're rolling again!

On vacay in Leland Michigan this week, so limited internet access. Just checking in and seeing reports of people's first Tris - congrats everyone!

This is turning in to an interesting training week - no gym, no pool, but good cycling country and big lakes for OWS practice. I have realized that the "strange environment effect" is my biggest hurdle in swimming. I can go all day in a pool - particularly a familiar one - but when I get into unfamiliar surroundings I try to swim too fast and tire quickly. Hopefully swimming in these cold lakes will help me get over this.

Beautiful cycling country here, but man is it hilly and windy. Humbling.

Have a good week, everyone. Will check in on Monday when I get back.

holy cow I can't believe I did it! I swam a mile in open water. I'm not fast. but I did it. Bricks this weekend and practice on nutrition. Woo! I can't believe it's next weekend.

We realized today that my hubby requested the wrong day off and I got pretty upset that he may not be able to make it. He's a pilot and missed my first marathon last year. It's just not the same without him there. He thinks he'll be able to work something out. I sure hope so.

Shannon! That is so awesome. I can't believe you swam a whole mile in open water!?! Congrats.

I hope your husband can get off. It does seem much more fun when your peeps can cheer you on, I think.

mary

Thanks guys. Last night was a crazy night mentally for me. I finished the swim and aside from a bit of tingly in the fingers of my right hand and some significant friction burns on the underside of my arm, I was feeling really psyched. When I stood up at the end of my second lap, I threw both hands in the air and gave myself a YES! A guy who also just finished said "and you don't even have a suit" (meaning wetsuit) Felt super proud of myself since just last week, I couldn't even do 1/2 mile freestyle all the way. Starting to feel like I can do this.

Then I talk to hubby on the drive home and we get to the realization that he doesn't have the day off and it was like someone knocked the air out of me. I felt like crying (still do) and couldn't be mad at him as it was a simple miscommunication, but my disappointment was HUGE. The thought this morning of driving to the race and doing the whole thing all by myself was very saddening.

Skipping my 3 mile run at lunch to give my friction burns a little bit chance to heal. Bike after work tonight. (so single workout today instead of double)

Have to work on my nutrition more this week. With this broken tooth, I'm falling under on calories (which is hopefully good for my waistline) but I know it's not good for my performance. Ended yesterday at 1730.

Congrats on the 1 mile OWS....that's REALLY impressive!  And that's great that you felt soo good afterwards. I hope your husband can work something out and make it to your race but if not I know you'll still do great and have fun.  Where is your race and what distance is it (sorry if you already mentioned it earlier)?  And hopefully your tooth starts feeling better soon.