Dominion's Sprint/Oly/70.3 Group--Closed (Page 26)

I saw an article (can't remember which web site, maybe active.com) that mentioned doing a multi-transition workout. Something like bike-run-bike-run-bike-run. Basically, splitting the distance up into 3 or 4 smaller pieces, but making multiple transitions from bike to run in the same workout. If I remember the article correctly, they recommended this as a workout to help your body adapt to running off the bike. I had meant to work at least one workout of this type into my training, but I've done so few bricks this year with the inconsistencies in my training that I never got around to it. Although, given my lack of bricks, that might just be a good idea for my next one.

I agree about nutrition being more important than during a sprint. I've bonked during an Olympic tri before because I basically thought I didn't need to eat before the race. Now, I will usually wake up early and have a banana, apple sauce, a bottle of Gatorade the morning of. Then I follow a nutrition plan during the bike and run course. This is stuff I don't concern myself with during a sprint.

Another thing is pacing. You don't want to blow up during the run because you hammered the bike segment too hard. For your first Oly, I highly recommend just taking a pace on the bike that is medium hard (RPE 5 or so) and don't hammer the hills. Just pick an easy gear and take your time up the hills if there are any. Pick up speed on the downhills. On the run, you might take the first mile easy just to loosen up the legs and get into a pace that you can hold for the entire 10K. Almost everyone starts out too fast right off the bike. Do the opposite. Take your time at the start and then take stock of your energy level after mile 1. Believe me, getting to mile 2 and realizing you went too hard and that there are 4 more miles left really sucks.

On the swim, make sure you put body glide around your neck if you're going to wear a wetsuit. I remember not doing that in an Oly and my neck was pretty raw after the swim.

Just a few things to consider....

Enrique

Cass, Monty, and Tony great job.

Glad to hear you're safe Cass.

Thanks for the nutritional advice, seems like I need to do a bit of quick research??

I have another question if I can pester you?
I've got about £150 that I could spend on tri gear. What would you suggest?
I've already got the essentials, wetsuit, cheap (very cheap) bike, helmet, tri suit.
I was thinking about a Garmin that would count pool laps, any other ideas suggestions or thoughts?

Thanks again - Tony.

Are you looking for more data than just counting laps? If you're just looking for something to count laps, then you can probably get away with something much cheaper. I've expressed my affection for my SportCount lap counter on here before. It's relatively cheap ($30 US) and will give you some very basic stats. It counts total laps (which you have to advance manually, but is easy enough), total time, average lap time, fastest lap/time, and slowest lap/time. You don't have the option to download/review your workout data, but if you're only looking for something to count laps then it isn't a problem. If you're looking for more feedback than just a lap count and a few bits of info, then the SportCount wouldn't work for you.

I also have a very basic and inexpensive bike computer. I do use my Garmin watch on my bike rides, but there is a little bit of a lag between your actual speed and the speed on the watch. Sometimes I look at the watch and I know that it isn't possible that my current speed matches what is on the watch. It can take 5-10 seconds sometimes before the watch catches up to real time. I also don't like having to take my hand off the bike to lift my watch up to look at it. I prefer to keep both hands on the wheel! I bought a Bell bike "console" for about $20 that gives me info like time, speed, average speed, distance, etc. It's wireless and the display mounts to the handlebars. It isn't fancy/expensive and (like my SportCount) only gives limited feedback, but it's enough for what I'm looking for and I didn't have to break the bank. Also like the SportCount, it doesn't allow for downloading the data, but you do get the instant feedback while riding and you can review your data in summary after your ride is over.

Other possible suggestions: a race belt (for your race bib and possibly to store gels, etc), transition bag if you don't have one, a bento box for storing nutrition on the bike. Anything you don't spend on gear could always be spent on gels or whatever you use to fuel/hydrate during the race.

Tony do you have clip in bike shoes?

Haven't posted much lately

Well I have been running in the Hoka one one Bondi 4's for about two weeks. They are very soft and squishy. With less than twenty miles they seem to be breaking down. They haven;t helped at all with my foot numbess. So I will try something else. I wanted to try something soft with a slight decrease in my heel toe drop.

Picked up larger bike shoes. Loving them. Got the shimano trivents.

thinking of cancelling the OBX Olympic. With 7 shark attacks they have been cancelling some OWS events. Gonna look for another race.

They had a story in Triathlete magazine about Jekyll island did you see it Chris?

Yeah, I think a Garmin watch is a good investment. I've used the heck out of mine (a Forerunner 405) which I bought many years ago. It doesn't count laps. I've used it mostly for HR monitoring/tracking, mileage and GPS features. It comes in great for pacing during training and races.

Thanks Nate, I had missed that but went back and found it.  My wife is convinced we are going to retire to Jekyll Island. I have a ways to go before that happens, but if I could afford it, what a great place to train year round!

Here's the link to the article if anyone is interested.

http://triathlon.competitor.com/next-family-racecation-jekyll-islands-turtle-crawl-triathlon

Edited by Dominion 2015-07-16 1:58 PM

I have had this typed up for a few days and was hoping to turn it into a blog as it I have some pictures to add to it and just give ya'll a link if ya wanted to read it, but things have been too crazy to have time to get around to it. Sorry for the length. A lot took place that morning.

This past Sunday I competed in the Caseville Sprint Triathlon. I had a few minor setbacks early on before the race even started but I've learned to roll with any punches that come my way and not them bother me. My wife was on call Saturday to 8am Sunday morning which normally isn't a big deal. But, she got called out at 1:30am which 1. woke me up, 2. put me in control of the kiddos, which we had contingency plans in place in case she were to be called out but they could have been better. Anyway, I tossed and turned until 4:15am when my alarm went off and of course my wife wasn't back yet. So, I follow through with the plan to get the kids taken care of and then proceed to head out to the race which at the time I thought was 1:30+ hours away. I should have known it was only and hour and 10 minutes away but, somehow I screwed that up. Oh well. Anyway, all that stuff did was steal an extra hour or so of sleep from me. I don't worry about sleep the night before a race, it's the night before the night before the race that is important to get a good nights sleep and I did, so, I was still set on going out fast and hard come race time.

I arrive at the race after picking up a coffee and pop-tart for my pre-race meal. (hey, I've found it works and I'm not about to mess with a routine that works) I then proceed through checking in. Rack my bike and set-up my transition. Then I find a buddy that's doing the Oly and chit chat with him. It's his first Oly and second Tri ever. I just kinda relax and hang out with others I know from the area. It's a local race so I know alot more people. Then, I watch my buddy go out to the start of his race it's my turn to get counted in the water for the Sprint start.

The start of the race starts in about 4 foot deep water and we swim a counter-clockwise square before heading back to shore. I hang out towards the back until they start the countdown and mosey my way up closer to the front. The horn goes off and it feels like I'm being passed by alot swimmers. I actually hang tight with someone again and saw alot of bubbles and figure I could have been drafting for a good portion of the swim. Not all of it as he/she did pull away from me. I think. Once we make the final turn towards shore and get back to the start it gets interesting as it gets shallow to the point where alot of folks get up and try to run. I kept swimming as long as I could stand it. I knew it got 4 foot deep again and just pushed myself along if my hand hit the sand. I finally can't take it anymore and with water essentially at my knees get up and start running in for the last 50 ft or so. By this point everyone around was already doing it so I figured I did good to swim as far back in as I did. Swim time turned out to be 13:48 which was much faster than I had anticipated so I was thrilled!

T1 went well. I figured I'd struggle with the wetsuit so I just accepted the fact and sat right down to get it off. It worked as I was out of T1 under 2 minutes!

I left T1 with a group and never looked back. The bike ride was an out and back course on nice wide should of a main road. I caught up with 3 more riders and closed the gap between me and what would the 1st place women overall. The ride was fast and most flat with nearly no wind. I was pedalling like a mad man and having a blast. I had no idea at the time exactly how fast I was going but figured I was going at leas 20 mph. Bike time was 34:04 and T2 went great and was out in 36 seconds!

The run I new was going to be tough as I was pushing my limits on the bike. It also was on an out and back course. Had one quick hill to climb at the beginning and then it was most flat. I was chasing or was trying to chase the 1st place women but I couldn't reel her in. She still had too much gas left in her tank. Instead I was able to close in on the guy she passed around the halfway point but that was all I was able to do. He was too far ahead of me to catch. Mile times for the run were 7:18, 7:20, and 7:05 and finished the run in 22:44 and a Sprint finish time of 1:13:03! Good enough take 1st in my AG and 7th overall! Couldn't be happier with how everything in the race went. I was much more prepared to race Sunday than back in May and it showed.

Reflecting on the race I'm having a hard time finding negatives or places for improvement. So, this leaves me with working on T1 and possibly finally working on the flying mounts and dismounts to save a few extra seconds. I've gone from feeling like an underdog to probably turning some heads and putting the target on my back.

Next race is another aquathon on the 29th. Looking to improve everything there. Swim, transition and run.


Scott

36 second T2! Did you even rack your bike or just toss it in the ditch, lol. Great race, man! Congrats!

Great race and great race report, Scott! Congrats on the finish! 7th overall and 1st in your AG, I see why you can't find anything for negatives. LOL

Awesome job Scott

It's hard to believe that it's mid July and I'm only going to have my first race of the season tomorrow. I just hadn't been able to find anything that fit into my busy summer schedule. I wouldn't be doing this race today (due to how far I have to travel) if I didn't think it was so important to get a shorter competition in before my longer race. Mostly, this is just going to be a practice race to get ready for my Olympic distance race in 3 weeks. I practiced some flying dismounts yesterday and did pretty well, so I'm going to give that a try in tomorrow's race. I'm not sure why, but I feel a little nervous going into this race. I guess that's another reason it's good I'm doing this race, help get the first race nerves out of the way so I don't get them for my A race.

It went alright. I had one or two moments during the swim where I got a little anxiety, but I dealt with it. I've debunked my own myth that my foot cramps in the pool might partly have to do with pushing off the wall because I hadn't been swimming more than 10 seconds and I felt that familiar pinch in the arch of my foot! I think I'm pretty much convinced that it happens just because of all of the stress on my foot because of the relatively high volume of exercise (I hesitate to call it "overuse"). Anyway, I didn't panic, I was able to continue swimming and flex my foot enough to work through the cramp and it never bothered me again the rest of the race.

I (intentionally) pushed the bike harder than I usually do, knowing that it was only 10 miles. That caused my left calf to experience cramps about 6 miles into the bike leg. Like the swim, I stretched it out while continuing to ride. It flared up for maybe 3 or 4 minutes and then was gone. Not to be left out, my right calf cramped about 1/2 mile into the run. I stopped to stretch against a telephone pole and ran the rest of the race without incident.

I'll post a full race report sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm open to listening to suggestions on how I can avoid these cramps. It's ridiculous!

Well, this was an interesting race since I knew many of the competitors and volunteers. In fact, there were a few folks in the race who had been inspired by me to take up triathlons; some competed as individuals, and some as team members. This race was not quite a full Olympic: 1000m swim, 25-mile bike, and 5.1-mile run.

We started with a swim at the top of the mountain. I got the opportunity to practice the start about a half dozen times while we were waiting, and I situated myself to the far side of the pack. Swim went well for me; no breathing issues, and my sighting was excellent. I was just incredibly slow, with a time of 28:59, so there were only four bikes left when I got to T1.

T1 went well. It was in a dirt and gravel parking lot, so I removed my wetsuit on a piece of carpet before getting to my bike, and then I had to clean the dirt, rocks, and debris off my feet before putting on my socks and shoes. Still, I had one of the faster T1 times at 3:42.

Bike went well, but again, incredibly slow compared to everyone else. We rode 25 miles mostly downhill, but there were a couple of sections of uphill longer than one mile. One was pretty steep, and I had to drop my bike in the lowest gear, but I climbed it OK. However, even though I often exceeded 35 mph on the ride, my average was still only 17.74 mph. I managed to pass two people, but otherwise, I raced alone, way at the back of the pack and finished in 1:24:05, one of the slowest times.

T2 went really well. They'd brought all our gear down from the top of the mountain, and when we got to the transition area, they took our bikes and handed us our T2 gear bags, which for me was just my visor and two water bottles. I was in and out in 37 seconds, again, one of the fastest T2 times.

The run was pretty typical for me. Maybe a bit on the slow side because half of it was trail running, which is difficult for me, and then the rest was downhill on asphalt. Everyone I'd passed on the swim and bike passed me on the run. I turned in one of the slowest times of 1:09:16, for an overall race time of 3:06:39, good enough for dead last and a bronze for 3rd in my age group. (Wooppee!)

So, definitely not a stellar performance. I was really surprised I didn't do better, especially since I knew a lot of the competitors and I know they don't train like I do! Still working toward the day when I can compete at couch potato level.

Despite viewing this as more of a hard training session than a race, I still had time goals. The good news is that I mostly met my goals for the swim and the bike. The bad news is that I was W-A-Y off on the run. You'll have to read my description below and/or my race report to find out why! ;-)

I got to the race a little over an hour before the start time. I got there to find out non-car pool vehicles had to park about a half mile away from the event. I decided to look at that half mile as the start of my warmup, but that was the first time I've done any kind of race where you had to park that far away. In my mind, it was just the first of many negatives about this event. Anyway, I got my race packet, body marked, and set up my transition area. I had plenty of time to get in some swim warmup and do some stretching.

The swim had been my biggest worry. I've experienced some open water swimming anxiety and was feeling a little of that during my warmup. The race used a time trial start, every 10 seconds they sent off 5 swimmers from the beach. I like this format and it helped ease some of my stress. However, I was in the last wave (males, 40+) and was one of the last in the water for the entire race! When my group of 5 heard "go!" I hit the water running, lifting my knees high and running until I was close to waist deep. I dove in and went into my swim stroke. I hadn't gone more than 10 seconds when disaster struck! The dreaded and far too frequent foot cramp!! Really?! REALLY?! I didn't panic. I kept swimming and continued to flex my foot and try to stay loose. It only took maybe 30-60 seconds and the cramp was gone and it never came back. I did well on the swim and only had maybe 2 moments of anxiety when another swimmer came close to me (one almost kicking me in the face). I finished the 0.5 mile swim in 18:07, just 7 seconds off my time goal. Damn you, foot cramp! LOL

T1 went OK. Last year, I walked through my transitions and I wanted to make more of an effort to get through transitions more quickly this year, so I made sure to jog out of the swim and through T1. I accomplished that mission. Other than messing/moving my stuff around a little more than I wanted to in T1, things went fairly smooth. Apparently, the race organizers were too cheap to spring for a couple extra timing mats because they didn't record your transition times, they just rolled the time into your bike and run times. I know this because my official time was only about 2 minutes different from the time on my GPS watch, which I forgot to start until about 100m into the swim! If I had to guess, I'd say maybe 1:30-2:00 for T1.

I had decided before the race to really push hard on the bike. This sprint had a bike leg that was only 10 miles, so I figured I'd go for it. As I came out of T1, I looked down and realized I had forgotten to shift my bike into a lower gear and now I was having to try to climb out of the transition area in one of the hardest gears! I made a couple shifts and I was in a more comfortable gear, but it was a rookie mistake. The bike course wasn't bad, but it was almost completely on hills. Other than maybe one 0.25-0.4 mile stretch, the rest of it was up/down hill. Because I was in the last wave, I had a LOT of people to pass, almost all of which came on the bike. There were a number of times where I had to slow down to avoid other riders on turns or where I had to go 3 wide (and almost into the oncoming lane of traffic) to make a pass. But the biggest problem was that I got a cramp in my left calf about 6 miles into the ride. Yup, cramp #2. I'm going to chalk that up to my increased effort level. Like the swim, I didn't want to stop, so I coasted and stretched my calf while still riding. It took me about a half mile before I got rid of the cramp and went back to mashing the pedals. That cramp didn't come back either and I finished the bike strong. As I had practiced it before the race, I stuck the landing on my flying dismount and propelled myself into T2 with that extra momentum.

T2 went pretty well. I jogged the entire transition as I had planned. My only stumble in T2 was futzing with my race belt, trying to make sure it wasn't twisted. That's my perfectionist side coming through. I shouldn't have bothered. The only important thing should have been that it was fastened to my waist. I probably wasted 10-15 seconds making sure it wasn't twisted, which was stupid because I could have fixed it on the run. That small delay ended up costing me 3 spots in the final standings! I jogged out of T2 and out to the run course.

The run was just absolutely horrible! I'm not sure why, but they looped you out of T2 onto the beach for about 50 yards. Running in sand wasn't exactly ideal for someone that experiences calf cramps 100% of the time transitioning from the bike to the run. I had to jog lightly through the sand to delay the inevitable cramping. I hit the road and picked up my pace. You went maybe 1/4 mile and turned up a long hill. About 50 yards into the hill and I could feel the impending calf cramps, so I stopped to stretch against a telephone pole. Like the other 2 sports, the cramps didn't return but I probably lost another 20 seconds and another 3 or 4 spots. That first hill seemed like it would never end! It was fairly steep and felt like it was somewhere between 0.5-0.75 miles long. Also, like the bike, other than the 1/4 mile stretch after the beach, just about the entire course was up/down hill. But the real fun hadn't begun just yet!

Maybe a little over half way into the run, it changed into what they described as a "trail run". I might just be inexperienced or delusional, but this is not what I would expect from a "trail". I expected a packed trail that may contain some roots or rocks, but is reasonably maintained. Nope. There were sections with thick grass more than ankle deep, places where the "trail" was only one person wide making it impossible to pass, sections where you had to precisely place each foot step or you risked injury, and the coup de grace: a long, root/rock riddle, steep uphill section that forced virtually every competitor to walk. It really was more of a hike than a trail run. I'm not one to complain about something being hard, but this was beyond ridiculous. One of the volunteers said that even the race leaders had to walk that section. Maybe they were being nice, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The run finished with a steep downhill slope and final 1/4-1/2 mile stretch that was basically flat to the final 50 yard stretch back across the beach. I knew my run had gone poorly. Between having worn my legs out entirely too much on the bike, to having to walk parts of the course, I knew it wasn't going well. I decided to just let loose on that hill. I didn't have to run hard, it was more that I was letting gravity do it's thing and fight it less. According to my watch, I topped out somewhere in the 10 mph range coming down that hill. I was either going to fly through that part of the course or leave big bloody mess! I managed to stay on my feet and carried that momentum to the finish. Again, transition time was rolled into the run time, so I can only guess at my time but I'd say somewhere around 31:14! Wow! On a flat course, I bet I finish in 27:00. That's how bad it was.

Sorry, that was one long race report! Overall, a crappy event and an equally crappy performance. I know the course for my Oly in 3 weeks because it's on the same course as my first sprint last year, so I know what to expect and I am anticipating a much better performance. I'm glad I did this race and gained valuable race experience and helped quell some of my fears on the swim. But I will NOT be returning to this race next year!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/RaceLog/races-view-container.asp?...

Despite not liking the race itself, it provided a lot of valuable experience and information I can use for my next race. I'll probably try to organize my transition area a little better and, like you said, not waste time worrying about the little things. I'd already wasted 10+ seconds with my race belt before I realized it was stupid and I should just get going!

One of the big take-aways was the confidence boost I have going into the Olympic swim. Other than the hiccup of the initial foot cramp, I felt like the swim went well. I was in good shape at the end and felt well enough to push my pace over the last 100-200 meters heading back to the beach. I probably started that a little early because I was getting gassed and touched bottom in water that was nearly chest deep. I either should have delayed my pace increase until I was closer and/or I should have stayed swimming until I was about to drop. I definitely wasted some valuable time "walking" in chest deep water. Even then, I probably should have made the decision to start swimming again. That would have been faster than wading in to shore from that deep.

I'm looking forward to my Oly, but I'm going to have to temper my expectations a little. I think the bike course will be easier and definitely *know* the run course will be easier than what I did this weekend, but I'll also know that I need to pace myself a little more on the bike and save a little more in my legs for the run. Once I'm into the run, I'll gauge my condition and have a better idea of how hard I can push to the finish.

Here, here!!! Girl, you have come SO FAR! I've greatly enjoyed reading your posts and seeing your progress for the past year and a half that I've been on here. Remember, these times are just numbers; they don't define who you are as a person. You are more than a number! And one crappy race doesn't make you a crappy triathlete! Hang in there, sister!!!!