lkagop's Training Group (Page 4)

Hi guys,

I thought I would pick your brains.  I plan to do my first tri in November and had planned to just keep plugging away with training till then.

I have just looked on the Trivic (Triathlon Victoria) website and see they have a series of dash distance duathlons - one a month (2 in August) till the end of Oct - as the bike and run distances are not far off what I plan to do as my first tri I thought this would be a good way to get a feel for transition / bike & run together / setting up bike etc

There is also a sprint distance section but I think I will stick with the dash for now as my bike isn't all that strong just yet, I imagine I can change the distance as the season goes on.

The dash distance is 2k run / 10k bike / 1 k run and it is on 27th July.

I obviously want to keep up the swimming as I am a long way from what I need to be doing on Nov but I want to pick your brains on how I should be directing my training now.

Any ideas for training structure in the lead up to 27th July?

mmh, i am no guru on racing plans, but I always train by doing alittle more than the race distance, so if it is a 2k run, I would run 3 or 4k every time I ran. Same way on the bike. Personally I do not follow any plans or training schedules, but I will say that I really focus on my weakest segment. If you look at my training logs, you will realize that swimming as always been my weakest, so I am in the pool 5 out 7 days a week swimming.

 I like duathlons, and I have one on my race schedule, and there is plenty of time to prepare for it. Use it as a training race if nothing else!  Good luck!

Good advice, thanks for that.

That IS a great idea, I don't know why I didn't mention it.  I use it for everything, all my bikes and runs.  And I love that it gives you the climb also.  I love to use it to compare to the race routes, so I know how hilly the course is going to be if I can't get there to run/ride it prior to the race. 

Wahoo, got my first ever open water swim in today.  It did not go well.  Found a nearby park that has a lake section blocked off from boat traffic.  Several problems...water is a little low so I was having to be careful with rocks and branches sticking up from the bottom, and we had steady 20-30mph winds with gusts up for 40!  Wind was coming in from a 45 degree angle so was blowing me off course both out and back. 

My questions for you swimmers. I had a hard time figuring out the best time to lift my head in order to see where I am going. How do I do that without losing my momentum?  I have to admit that I was pretty nervous out there.  I consider myself a decent swimmer, but still, getting out there and putting your head down and not being able to see a thing was a little nerve racking.  Plus in a pool I can stand up or grab a lane line if there is a problem (I don't remember ever having a problem, but ya never know!).  I think the wind really hurt the experience today.  It was so windy, I was having to breathe on the same side the whole time to avoid the "waves". 

 Well, at least the first one is out of the way.  I would welcome any tips or advice!!

Not sure I qualify as a swimmer, but here is my advice:

Practice, Practice, Practice on sighting. I place a water bottle at the end of my lane and always practice sighting that in the pool. I also try to sight every 3rd stroke (I breathe every time my left hand comes up, so it is kind of a right stroke, left stroke breathe, right left breathe, and I exhale as my right hand hits the water, so I am never holding my breath) I also think this stroke helps me in open water because my face is not in the water that much, which I find helps me in open water swims.

mmh - I'm also no training guru, but I love plans! lol.  For me, they help keep me organized and on track.  I try to make sure I get 3 days of each sport and add in strength/yoga as often as I can.  The idea of the plans is to increase your training at a reasonable level.  They usually go in 4 week intervals.  The first 3 grow increasingly intense (by about 10%), then the 4th, you drop back in order to give your muscles a chance to recover.  Lots of people schedule their races around this pattern, so that the receovery week is also their taper week.  Mine didn't fit that nicely, so I have to adjust, but I would suggest to use that idea.  We shouldn't forget (and I always do) that we all need to recover just like we need to build.  I would also try to add some bricks in once a week or so if you haven't already to make sure you're prepared for what it's going to feel like after the bike.

chichitao - I just did my fisrt OWS at the race.  It wasn't too bad.  I think it has to do with the fact that there are so many people, you can kind of just follow the crowd. lol.  I only breathe on one side, so I just slightly straightened my head as I was putting it back in the water in order to sight.  Didn't really thrwo me off at all.  What was worse was when I could feel I was getting close to someone and I had to look to see how to get around them.  Like jford said, practice, practice, practice and you'll figure it out.  And I'm sure the wind was a huge factor.  It will get easier.

Jessica:

The first time I got in the pool for training, I borrowed my friend's swim cap.  It was really thick, rubbery and uncomfortably tight.  My hair got somewhat wet.

When I bought my own, I bought one that was made out of lycra because it was thinner and was made to hold longer hair.  Well, my hair gets soaked every time.

With my first experience using that swim cap, I thought my hair would stay fairly dry, but I think I was just getting lucky.

hi guys,

Thanks for all of your comments on the training plans etc.

I actually signed up for an online running program after I did the Melbourne Half Marathon last year. The coach is Pat Carroll - he is an elite runner here. I paid the money, got the program etc and ran into problems from the Melbourne event with an elevated HR of over 200 when running and this hung on for MONTHS!! So I had to put the program on hold and Pat was kind enough to tell me that he would honour the program whenever I was ready.

I called Pat last week and he is putting together a half marathon plan for me for the Melbourne event in Oct. I really like to follow a plan - tick all the boxes etc so I plan to follow the running plan, swim with the tri-club twice a week and just plug away at the bike and do as suggested earlier and do a bit further than the event distance.

I'll also throw in a couple of practice 3krun / 10k bike / 1k run bricks towards the end of this month and early next month in prep for the duathlon.

I really want to feel much more comfortable with the half marathon than I did last time and I know from past experience that doing the longer distance training will make me feel much more confident with the shorter distance runs.

Best of all once I get to Oct and do the half I can just keep on building a strong base in prep for the Paris Marathon in Apr 09.

We have a long weekend here and the weather is gorgeous so I'll head out for a walk in the sunshine a bit later.

Hope you are all well.

Egads!!!  A tornado?  I hate those things!  I hope you made it through everything safely.  Report back soon.

- Lora

The forum has been pretty quiet for a few days.

How is everyone getting on??

It has been quiet.

Just today, I upped my bike to 7 miles, having only been doing 2.5.  It took me about 45 minutes to get that done.  Sigh...so sad.

How comfortable are you feeling with your training so far?

I am racing on Saturday. The DragonFly Triathlon. (800 yd/18 mile/4 mile) I am going into this with two main goals.

1. Finish the swim stronger than I did on my last triathlon, which means as little time floating on my back as possible.

2. No walking on the run at all.

I think I can get it around 2 hours. I am doing a nice easy run tonight, then I am taking off Thursday and Friday!

Hi gang,

Good to hear from you all.

Lora; well done on the bike. My bike training is not my favorite thing but I do feel good when I come back from a session of hills even though it is s...l...o....w... going. I love feeling how much stronger my legs are getting from the hills.

My last run was a good one but that was a week ago. I've had a sore throat and chest cold since Friday so I have been out of action which is quite frustrating and I'm still coughing like a lunatic so I really can't do much till this goes.

I will start swimming with the tri club at the start of next month when thier new membership year begins. I had planned starting earlier but this cold has set me back.

I'm itching to get back into it all.

Keep up the work on the bike; you will get there. I find that being consistant makes the difference to my training everytime. Now your move and all is out of the way can you see yourself being a bit more freed up for training?

jford: good luck this weekend, especially on your swim leg and be sure to post your race once you are done. Will the family be going along to watch?

 chichitao: I hope you enjoyed your time with your family; it can be hard to juggle that sort of thing and training. I think sometimes you just need to do what you need to do regarding family and friends - no point training like a demon for events and not having anyone to share it with

I hope this week goes well for you in the lead up.

Take care everyone and when I get back out there I'll try to get some kangaroos on the camera and post them. There are lot's of babies around right now which makes me not want to get too close as the mums can get a bit narky.  You don't want to be hearing on the US evening news about some plonker aussie women who should know better being mauled to death by a pack of angry kangaroo mummy's after trying to get a "joey" close up

Thanks for the encouragement on the biking, mmh.  Finishing those 7 miles was ta-ough!  I'm glad to know I'm not the only who's struggled.

You take care of yourself!

- Lora

Safe travels!

Well my 3rd triathlon of the season is in the books and I feel really good about it. I really enjoyed the swim part of it the most, how weird is that? All the bumping and shoving, slapping, grabbing and just powering through everyone was great! I was able to swim the entire 800 yards freestyle with no backstroking, so it was a major win for me.

I really wanted to finish in 2 hours and I accomplished that goal. I finished 23rd out of 26 in my age group (139 overall); however there were 4 other people within a second of my time! So that one little let up cost me about 4 spots! Also I am finding that I am in a very competitive age group. There were only a time difference of 32 minutes from the first place to the last place. So I know I need to average more speed on my bike and work on my transition to the run, cause that is an area I need to focus more on. So I know I am looking at more brick workouts.

My next triathlon is July 19. The MightyMite, which consists of a 1/3 mile swim , 18 mile bike and a 4 mile run. I am looking to kill the swim and the bike!

jford: well done!! Sounds like you had a great race and are really finding your rythm now. Not too long to the next one and I am sure this next one will see you improve even more. I love that you enjoyed the swim so much; gives us all some hope

 Have you done your race report yet?