Hashers and Mashers - Open (Page 30)

Originally posted by miche033

Sorry, didn't mean to shout. Not sure how my typing turned to all caps in that last message. Anyway...

I am getting nervous for my race Saturday. First HIM. 8 hr time limit. I am slow. So... Here are my goals and strategy. Any comments, encouragement or prayers for cool weather on Saturday in Virginia will be greatly appreciated!

GOALS - doable - amazing - bonus

SWIM - 55 min (2:36 min/100yd) - 42 min (2:02 min/100yd) - beat husband's time from RRox (46:06)

BIKE - 3:52 (15 mph) - 3:40 (15.5 mph) - no bonus goal. save legs for run.

RUN - 3:00 (13:45 min/mile) - 2:40 (12:12 min/mile) - half mary PR (2:37:47)

OVERALL - finish - 8 hrs - 7:30

My swim goals are ambitious and depend a lot on conditions. My bike goals are conservative, in line with being able to run afterward! My run goals are ambitious too. Everything could get screwed up by heat, or wind, or GI cramps. We'll see...

NUTRITION/STRATEGY:

T0 - good breakfast; bathroom before race; bike lube; luna bar when leaving transition.

SWIM - concentrate on sighting, wide arms, kicking, and moving water; peace but hard effort.

T1 - swap gear; down a BOOST shake; breathe easy

BIKE - banana at 15 min; PB cookies at 1:15; 2 gels; 2 bottles gatorade/TRS; 1 to 4 bottles water; start easy & shoot for 15.7 mph; do the hills as easy as I can; pick up pace after mile 42 if I can; don't overdo it!!

T2 - finish gatorade/TRS if needed; sunscreen on shoulders, arms, face; swap gear; breathe easy

RUN - can walk aid stations; water + 2 gels if I can stomach them (or possibly other stuff at aid stations); listen to my body re:food (not re:pain! ha!); start at 12+ min/mile (no starting at 11 min/mile!); pick up pace at mile 8 if I feel up to it; do whatever it takes to finish.

 

Originally posted by ransick  A couple things come to mind.

1. Stay in the moment during the race. - While swimming, don't think about what's next, think about form and relaxing. - When biking, don't think about the run, it will come when it's time. Think about pedaling in smooth circles, keeping cadence high, drinking when thirsty and taking in your calories per plan. Don't chase anyone that passes you. - on the run, drink to thirst, take in whatever calories and electrolytes you can and keep moving - smile and thank the volunteers, high five kids on the run

2. 2 gels per aid station seems like a lot unless you practiced that on long runs.

3. Did you practice the boost shake during your bricks?

4. You can do this!

Originally posted by strykergt First Triathlon, Olympic distance race report: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp... Time is not that great average at best , but good lessons are learned. My next Oly is Sept.22 before my Half Iron on Nov.3 Any advice and feedback is gladly appreciated

Originally posted by miche033

I wrote it on your race report too, but I'll say it again. Congratulations, triathlete! You stuck it out in spite of some rough moments there. You are clearly a most awesome biker. A great first race. I would never have done an oly for my first triathlon!

Swimming: Breaststroke is a less taxing stroke that can give you a rest in the water, along with backstroke, or even just floating on your back. Get those goggles figured out. Swim more open water if you can. If not, practice sighting in a pool by closing your eyes, except when you sight every few strokes. Have a coach or someone look at your swimming. A little stroke efficiency can go a long way towards a faster swim and less need to stop and rest. Ah, and my biggest swim lesson this summer has been DON'T NEGLECT KICKING, especially on long swims. You won't wear out your legs, but you'll get done with the swim faster. Kick from your core.

Cramps: If you're cramping on the bike, then my thought is that you have an electrolyte problem already and once it's started it's not surprising it got worse on the run. That + tummy issues sucks. Bummer. My other big lesson training for a HIM has been to practice nutrition and hydration EVERY WORKOUT like you will do in the race. You've been training like crazy, so I'm surprised you had this much trouble. Did you make sure you were well hydrated going into the race? I have been advised to drink a gallon a day for a few days before the race. How about salt? There are better products out there than gatorade. I've been adding "the right stuff" to my gatorade. (http://www.therightstuff-usa.com/) I'm sure others on here can chime in with their preferred electrolyte sources. You definitely want to figure this out before your next race! Bricks will help, but you need the nutrition/electrolyte/hydration figured out. You might also do a bigger breakfast with more protein. But you have to figure out what you can stomach. Go easy on the fiber. Experiment.

All that said, I am still worried about GI cramps on my race Saturday... we'll see!

Stretching: I have heard multiple times now that studies show stretching muscles before exercise decreases performance. So don't stretch before a race. If you want to warm up, you can jog for 10 min or get in the water and do a few strokes. I would, however, stretch easy to try and relieve muscle cramps. I have done that in transition and on the run before. You can also stretch at the end of workouts, but for sore muscles you should also consider a foam roller (look it up on amazon).

Your next race will be better! Good luck!

Originally posted by miche033

I wrote it on your race report too, but I'll say it again. Congratulations, triathlete! You stuck it out in spite of some rough moments there. You are clearly a most awesome biker. A great first race. I would never have done an oly for my first triathlon!

Swimming: Breaststroke is a less taxing stroke that can give you a rest in the water, along with backstroke, or even just floating on your back. Get those goggles figured out. Swim more open water if you can. If not, practice sighting in a pool by closing your eyes, except when you sight every few strokes. Have a coach or someone look at your swimming. A little stroke efficiency can go a long way towards a faster swim and less need to stop and rest. Ah, and my biggest swim lesson this summer has been DON'T NEGLECT KICKING, especially on long swims. You won't wear out your legs, but you'll get done with the swim faster. Kick from your core.

Cramps: If you're cramping on the bike, then my thought is that you have an electrolyte problem already and once it's started it's not surprising it got worse on the run. That + tummy issues sucks. Bummer. My other big lesson training for a HIM has been to practice nutrition and hydration EVERY WORKOUT like you will do in the race. You've been training like crazy, so I'm surprised you had this much trouble. Did you make sure you were well hydrated going into the race? I have been advised to drink a gallon a day for a few days before the race. How about salt? There are better products out there than gatorade. I've been adding "the right stuff" to my gatorade. (http://www.therightstuff-usa.com/) I'm sure others on here can chime in with their preferred electrolyte sources. You definitely want to figure this out before your next race! Bricks will help, but you need the nutrition/electrolyte/hydration figured out. You might also do a bigger breakfast with more protein. But you have to figure out what you can stomach. Go easy on the fiber. Experiment.

All that said, I am still worried about GI cramps on my race Saturday... we'll see!

Stretching: I have heard multiple times now that studies show stretching muscles before exercise decreases performance. So don't stretch before a race. If you want to warm up, you can jog for 10 min or get in the water and do a few strokes. I would, however, stretch easy to try and relieve muscle cramps. I have done that in transition and on the run before. You can also stretch at the end of workouts, but for sore muscles you should also consider a foam roller (look it up on amazon).

Your next race will be better! Good luck!

Originally posted by jillebean

Hi guys ... I'm a newbie and would love to join you guys!

NAME: Jill

STORY: I have always been athletic - I was a high school jock, pretty much spending most of my time in the gym or playing sports. At 38, not much has changed, still love to play sports I play competitive soccer but had always wanted to do a marathon. Injuries, due to the comp soccer, kept me from completing the plan a couple of times. Then, 3 summers ago, my former boss told me to do a triathlon. I wasn't so sure ... but signed up at 8:29am the morning of the race, precisely 1 minute before registration shut down. I did a Try-a-Tri and well ... the results weren't great. I was DQed - it was a loop for the cycle portion and I only did one loop (as per instructions from my boss! Granted, I never bothered to check myself!!!). Anyway, I was pretty disappointed and left feeling like it was something I had done and would move on to the next thing. Starting training for another marathon - got hurt again in soccer and then decided maybe running wasn't really for me. Plus, I really don't like running sooooo I decided to train for triathlons instead - summer of 2012, I participated in 3 tris (2 Try-a-Tri because the run was shorter, 1 super sprint) and I was hooked.

FAMILY STATUS: I have been married for 16 years and have a 7 year old daughter (my husband started tris at the end of last year and has done 3 super sprints this summer; I'd like my daughter to get into them as well)

CURRENT TRAINING: I just signed up with the local tri club for swimming 1x/week. I also plan to swim once more weekly. I try to get 3 runs in (only 5k and I usually only do two). I do cycling the most - did 130km on the bike last week and commute often to work (30km each way). I also have a gym membership + a membership at Greco's Lean and Fit (circuit training). I really don't have a solid plan and fly by the seat of my pants. I need to do more brick workouts ... I pretty much need to improve everywhere in the training department, become more consistent!!!

THIS YEAR'S RACES: 4 super sprints, 1 sprint (+ 1 sprint to go, end of September), possibly a duathlon in October and a couple of running races. And I also signed up for the Hilly Hundred which is a 128km hilly ride this Saturday. I tend to enter things last minute so there will likely be more!

WEIGHTLOSS: I am pretty consistent with my weight ... I hired a PT 2 winters ago and put on some weight. I feel like I could lose 5-10 lbs. It's just something that would make me a bit leaner and faster but I am not actively working toward it really. That said, I did start tracking food again in MyFitnessPal this morning ... it's really just a matter of watching calorie intake for a few weeks.

GOAL: Olympic race 2013, Half Iron 2014, Iron 2015 (a big HAHAHA to that one! Really not sure I can handle the run )

Looking forward to getting to know everyone ...

Originally posted by strykergt

First Triathlon, Olympic distance race report:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Time is not that great average at best , but good lessons are learned.

My next Oly is Sept.22 before my Half Iron on Nov.3


Any advice and feedback is gladly appreciated

Originally posted by wenceslasz

Carl - you're considerably younger than me so you may recuperate a lot faster than me but I would think a HIM this soon after your race might not be a good idea - yet. You still need to work out your electrolytes and hydration before a longer race. But by all means get in another event or two this season if you can but taking on a HIM this soon could result in injury that will slow you down for awhile.


I'm by no means an expert, just offering my twoonies worth of opinion. As I typed the above I remembered I had the same response after my 1st Sprint last year. I wanted to jump back in right away too. I guess we're all a little crazy that way eh.

Originally posted by strykergt



Thanks for the advice for what can i do next. I really take it seriously

I really need someone to talk me out of it before i register tomorrow. Its a wetsuit event and i tried to pick up my wetsuit today and apparently it did not fit and not exactly what i need, so thats already one sign . I guess this is the final sign not to make haste. thanks again.

I need one lasty help from you and rest of our fellow trainees .If you have further advice for my next Oly 17 days from now? more thanks.

Originally posted by wenceslasz



With only 17 days to your next Oly you've already got yourself pretty much prepared for the event and there isn't a lot you can do to make yourself faster. As the Hammer people explained it to me, "You've got all the hay in your barn that you're going to get."

Some OWS would be wise especially if you can swim where your event will be held. Anything to help you relax and be comfortable maintaining a "slow" but steady swim pace and cut down on your rest stops. With a wetsuit you can just stop swimming and rest where you are for a few moments.
Getting a wetsuit that fits you properly is really important. My swim buddy has a wetsuit that is just a bit too small and it really irritates him (& constricts his breathing as well) and therefore slows him down. Get new goggles or fix your old ones. I usually buy Aquasphere goggles but at Lake Stevens I got a cheap Speedo pair and they fit me better so I had less leaking issues. You should also have atleast two reliable pairs with you (I like one clear pair and one dark in case of bright sun). Take time and find goggles that really fit.

On the bike, you're fine just do a few easy rides over the next two weeks. Maybe look at a training plan and just maintain your bike endurance without over doing it.

You seemed pretty good off the bike for your run but certainly do some bricks over the next two weeks.

Because of your cramping your transition times were necessarily slow so over the next two weeks you really must come up with a good nutrition/hydration/electrolyte plan. Right there you'll save 5 min or so in transition and without the cramps you'll feel better/perform better. At the 2011 IMC a professional female athlete said she couldn't finish two Iron distance events. One because she didn't have enough electrolytes and the next because she had too much electrolyte.

I don't think we need a lot of Sodium but I figure I had about 200mg an hour for my long ride last week and that seemed perfect for me. Some people sweat more so they might need more electrolytes especially on a hot day but for moderate temps you should aim for a baseline of 60g of carbs (240 calories from carbs) per hour; 24 to 28oz of water and 200mg of sodium per hour.

It was Joe that reminded me of the value of peanut butter too. Try to get some peanut butter on a bagel two or three hours before the event.

SLEEP!! Get lots of sleep on the nights leading up to the race and especially on the Thursday and Friday before a Sunday race. This is the most important time for sleep and then Saturday night you just get whatever sleep you can.

Sorry, I got carried away. I hope this helps some and maybe others will add some good gems. Do bear in mind I am only a beginner as well and just offering my opinions based on my own experiences.

Have fun!

Originally posted by wenceslasz Hey Miche, I'm heading out tomorrow to drive to the coast for my Sunday Olympic so I won't be able to follow your progress until I get back on Monday evening. I'll be thinking of you all day Saturday. Have fun on Saturday, don't be nervous, you're going to be amazing. I'm dying to make a time prediction but I'll bite my tongue and keep quiet. I was even willing to bet a twoonie on it. Have fun!

Originally posted by PsyTri

Welcome!!! Glad to have you. It's a great group. You'll enjoy it.

Originally posted by jillebean



Thanks!

Originally posted by Fresno_Joe

Best of luck to George and Rebecca this weekend!  Can't wait for the race reports!