Suz and Steph's Sprint, Oly and First Tri group! OPEN (Page 5)

Oh my GAWD that sounds like a fun one!!

If you can pull off 2-a-days you win the war. No kidding. It's my goal to eventually be able to do EXACTLY that a couple days a week. I find I need rest days...two of them, so 2-a-days are perfect!!

You buy a wetsuit if you will ever race in water where it's recommended. Wet-suit-legal is really only a term for pros and elite amateurs. If you aren't risking money or a place on the podium, you can wear one whenever you'd like. They increase buoyancy and keep your legs up...helps you reduce drag and swim faster. SO... if you live/train in a place where the water is cold for a big part of the year, then you should get one simply to increase your ability to do REAL swim workouts. I lived in Miami when I started this thing and I bought one my first year so I could reduce the chance of jellyfish and sea lice irritation.

If you can afford one, get one. Get a good one. Get fitted by someone who knows what they are doing. First time out, have an experienced triathlete or open water swimmer (coach) with you. It feels weird. AND NEVER SWIM ALONE EVER EVER EVER.

Mom

DUDE! take care! I have had my share of endoscopy work, both ends... I always get a photo of my papilla because I'm a smart-arse.

I hate that your Chrohn's is threatening your summer! BOO! I hope you can get it under control without too much disruption and I'm happy you can get some exercise in. I know how important it is to you. Inflamation... tendonitis...I'm still dealing with my stupid foot.

WE ARE NOT OLD.

I have actually never been to Charleston or Savannah so you'll be way ahead of me. Beautiful places I hear, and ON MY LIST. I have friends doing Ironman 70.3 Augusta so I'll be over on that side of things in September. Maybe we'll add something to it. My husband turns 50 this year and has decided to do the Maui Marathon as his 11th. So we are off to Hawaii. First time for both of us. I may do the half.

JEEZ How'd I miss this?? I hope you are back to 100% soon. I've had my share og GI problems in the past and have had to get 'scoped and biopsied. Be tough and keep us up to date on how you're doing.




BUT MOM....

I do swim alone sometimes. Other times there are other people in the area, but they would really be of no use to me if things were to go wrong. Speaking of which, I'm about to try some motion sickness tabs to combat swim nausea. The package says "less drowsy". I will try them in the pool first on Saturday so I'll know if I might glub glub glub in the lake on Sunday.

Thinking of signing up for a three tri series about 1.5 hours from my house. 2 Sprints and an Oly. One at the end of every month starting this month.

Well, I pulled it off on Thursday! Biked in the morning, swam in the evening, and boy were my arms tired on Friday. Today (Saturday) was my first bike/run brick session ever, and crazily enough it's been my nicest-feeling run in ages! Almost think I should do all my runs from now on by warming up on the bike.



Fair enough - the lake here is still not warm enough to swim in "ohne Neo" ("without a wetsuit" in the local lingo) so maybe I'll take advantage of my upcoming trip to the US to get suited up after all. Given how well the bike/run sequence went today, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about my triathlon future at the moment anyway!

Susie-I am sorry to hear about what you are going through...I hope you are feeling better. Sending healing thoughts your way!

Julia-if possible-see if you can rent or try a wet suit before you buy it. The reason I say that is 2 weeks ago I had a wet suit that I rented and tried out. Didn't fit good in the water, too long, and felt like it weighted me down wayyyyy to much! I tried a completely different wet suit today and whoa-what a difference! Felt more comfortable, swim better and I wasn't going to drown!!!!!!! . So, if you have a chance to try it out before you buy it...different manufacture will fit different. Good luck!!

I am 3 weeks out from my first sprint tri. I completed my mock tri today. And it's the same course where I will do the tri. I feel more confident I will be able to finish it and not die!!!! Whoo hoo!!!! Lol. This also helped me to focus on my fuel and hydration to see what I will need for the race.

I am also working on the mental aspects of the race, 'to stay present in the moment' so my mind doesn't quit on me. That way I can use my positive, matras to help during the tough part. My mind always wants to give up and I have learned that our bodies can do amazing things-we just have to train our minds to believe!

Just mailed my reg. for my first Sprint on Sunday 6/30. Got race jitters just dropping the envelope into the mail slot. Asked my buddy to borrow his bike. No reply yet.

Took some dramamine before swim today. Felt a little sick, but was able to finish. Had a harder time than usual concentrating on lap count. Took a huge nap this afternoon. Not sure if that was the pills. I think I've now decided that it might be my goggles that are way too tight.

Wanted to run today, but fell asleep. Now I'm wide awake and it's 11PM. Try to drink some chamomile and maybe a little yoga to get me sleepy again.

Any thoughts on tapering for several races over the Summer? Racing on Sunday, but don't want to cut back on training totals or intensity. Do I just do my workouts so that I finish my weekly quotas on race day?

If you do multiple shorter races, there's not really a need to taper much. Maybe 2 days... then a proper rest day or two and go again. There's a series in Miami where there's one every month for 4 months. If you do a sprint or olympic, and you are in good shape, you can do them all summer. The winter training is pretty important though. You like to be ready in spring.

Once you hop to the half iron distance, there's more involved.

Dramamine kills me. I hate it. Your goggles could be a big part of the problem. Adjust the nose part and loosen the rest. Maybe try some different styles. I had to change mine completely. When I do the deep diving drills, I end up with black eyes for several days. The pressure is unreal.

VERY cool. Go get 'em!

I posted yesterday about not wanting a big taper if you are doing a sprint, and I stand by that. I do think you want to have two days completely off. So your sprint/oly is on Sunday. That means Friday and Saturday off. BUT, you want to do a pre-race warm up on Saturday. That means getting on your bike for 4 or 5 miles and then getting off and jogging for a mile (or 5 to 10 minutes)

HOWEVER, I think thing I didn't make clear is the recovery after. You will need to recover. It's more important than the taper, in my opinion. Especially if this is your first. You may 'do something' to your knee, foot, hand... that in all the excitement, you didn't really even FEEL. Well, you'll feel it Monday.

A sprint is a short race, sure, but you aren't lolly gagging and neither is anyone else so you will be pushing yourself a little. There may be some fast age-groupers in your age group...don't worry about them. Enjoy YOUR race.

I would say the biggest thing I learned is that you don't need all the CRAP in your transition area. You just don't. I had too much. Try to be nice and keep everything on your towel. Bring something about the size of a hand towel or a bit larger and put it on the ground below your bike (if it's hanging) and your stuff should fit on it. Lay it out the way you want it when you get out of the water. You'll be winded. So be organized.

Head to toe. put goggles and swim cap back in your bag. Put on your helmet (and buckle it, you cannot leave transition with your helmet unbuckled) and glasses for the ride... shoes next GO

When you get off the bike, same thing.. head to toe.... helmet back on bike seat (or neatly on towel) , hat for run, bike shoes in bag (or neatly on towel next to helmet, put your shoes on.... GO!

Stuff will shift, people shove their stuff around, they are just excited too. You'll notice people who look like they've packed for a weekend of camping in transition. That usually means they are first or second timers and they are nervous. Just ignore that. Triathletes by and large are VERY nice people. You do not know who encroached on your towel and it doesn't matter. That kind of petty stuff can stick in your head. Move on and enjoy your race!

Google the London Olympics Triathlon. That's any Olympic (duh) race. Watch those transitions. Watch that helmet go on and buckled. Watch that stuff go in the bin before the next stuff goes on. They have VERY little stuff. I did one tri with bins (HITS series) otherwise you've got just your bag.

Thanks Bailey, that's good advice and I kinda wish I'd taken it... I was too impatient & bought a wetsuit that seems to fit pretty well. I haven't had a chance to swim in it yet though and I'm a little nervous about whether it's a little too long (I'm 5'2). This weekend I'll find out if I made a mistake!

Good stuff, thanks for sharing. I just officially signed up for my sprint race on 7/8 and reading all the advice is helping me stay more excited than nervous. But I'm still nervous... I'm planning to do some running/biking on the race route and some open-water swimming this weekend. I just started a new job this week, though, and it's getting hard to fit everything in.

What's everyone else doing this weekend? And when are all of your next races?

Julia

First tri on Sunday. WOOOOOT!!

It is about 1:45 from my house so I'm going to get up early to leave. My wife and kids want to go, but I think I scared them when I said I'd like to leave here by 5AM.

Got my buddy's bike and went for a ten mile ride. Firstly, I need tri shorts with a pad. For decency's sake I won't elaborate on that.

Secondly... Why do they call them "clipless" when you have to CLIP into them??? Whatever. I went really fast. I felt I went further, but maybe it's because I was hauling arse like I've never been and my sense of distance was skewed.

Half day of work tomorrow. I'll try to beat the rain and get to try out my new swim cap and finally get a long OWS in.

Awesome! Good luck!

Got to the end of my first triathlon today! The weather was pretty bad, raining and 10C / 50F. I did the sprint distance, with the swim in a pool, but the Olympic distance had its lake swim cancelled because the water was too cold. (Still. In nearly-July.) The pool was heated to 24C / 75F, so felt nice.

My swim was terrible (as I expected, basically) but the cycling was pretty okay and the run went really well! I posted a race report ("Spiezathlon sprint") on the board too.

Weirdest/funniest moment to this triathlon newbie: when I turned up to collect my number and rack my bike in transition, I discovered that they wouldn't let us in transition even to *rack* our bikes unless we put our helmets on first! I would understand being made to show a helmet, but wearing it to walk the bike over to the rack and leave it there? I mean, come on. What if you forget to take it off your head before you leave the transition area?

Good luck at your race! Can't wait to hear how it goes!!!!!

Julia-your race is one week before mine-July 14. Good luck at your sprint tri!

This weekend I'm training (run and bike) and normal household cleaning. Ran 5 miles today-I am also training for half marathon for fall...training for tri and half marathon is wearing me out! Sunday hubby and I will bike-between 20-30 miles with hills, as my course is very hilly.

I am getting nervous for my race! Eeks!

I'm nervous too. But excited. I went out to the sprint course today and did 10 miles of the bike route and 2 miles of the run and it's really full of hills - yikes! I was so afraid I was going to have to get off the bike and walk - it was brutal! I'm just going to focus on getting through it next week and try to have fun and not worry about my speed & all the people passing me.

Tried out my wetsuit, too - I think it works great. More OWS tomorrow. This week I'm going to take it a little easy and rest up. I'm pretty beat from this week's bike/run efforts....

Congrats on your race - sounds like you did awesome! Are you getting ready for another one?

tla...CONGRATULATIONS! That is very cool. I have only just begun training for my first tri. It is inspiring to read that each portion of the race seemed to get better and better. How are you feeling post-race?

I read on another thread that you twisted your ankle. Were you still able to race? Or are you having to rest? Hope the twist wasn't bad enough to keep you from your first race!

Thanks! :D I had restless sore legs and a fairly strong headache yesterday afternoon after the race, though my 'nutrition' for the day was pretty crap and I had to deal with at least one toddler tantrum, which probably explained some of it. Today I feel basically great - I can feel some muscles on the back of my thighs but I wouldn't even say they're sore.

Now contemplating an Olympic-distance event in August, though that 1500m swim is a little intimidating still...

Hope you had a great race!

Yeah, shorts with the chamois are critical.