Todd's Tri Turtles 6 (Beginner - Sprints, 5K, 10K) - OPEN (Page 5)

Hi Everyone!

I know I'm joining this a bit late but I figured later was better than never. I am a newbie to the triathlon world, at least as a competitor. I've been part of the Louisville IronMan for the past 7 years and figured it was time to get into it. My far far farrrrr away goal is to eventually compete in the Louisville IronMan. I have my first sprint distance April 28th which makes me more nervous every day. I thought joining a group would allow me to get advice and just over all knowledge on how to do things. I'm pretty close to clueless, aside from what I've learned from this website and various triathlon blogs.

My back story:

My names Reid, I'm 23 and come from a running back ground.... By running I mean sprints... I ran sprint distances throughout my young age into college. So getting into these longer distances has been a bit of a struggle. My legs want to stop at stop after a mile and a half. But I'm determined to push through it all.

So far through all my training, the swim portion has been the easiest. Not really sure why though, as I have never swam other than in the ocean and the backyard pool. I train 5 days a week. A mix of swimming, biking, and running workouts. I'm starting to do 1 brick workout a week, to work on the transition from bike to run. That has been interesting.

I'm taking this as serious as I can for my first time but I'm starting out with the bare minimum for my gear. I figured if I continued with these races (I'm already in love with the sport) then I can look into getting better quality gear down the road. Really the only thing I have that isn't fancy is my bike. It's hanging on though!

I look forward to hearing from everyone, getting support and advice as I make my way into this. I'm open to any advice because like I said I close to clueless.

Good luck y'all!!

Welcome to the group! Never too late....great advice from others and Todd is a super mentor. For your first event relax and enjoy the experience. You learn each time you do an event!

Hi Turtles,

Welcome to the group Reid.

Thanks to all for the words of encouragement and support. I resumed training today and I've refocused my efforts.

I still shake my head when you guys talk about not training due to snow. We only have a couple of places in our entire country where it does snow and then it is not very deep and doesn't last too long.

Off to the gym........

That's exactly the type snow I like!!!!

Welcome to the group, Reid. Ask any questions you have no matter how small. You will already have a lot to think about your first event so the more comfortable you are the more you will enjoy it. Really take in the first one and don’t ever let the clock decide whether or not you enjoyed the day.

Edited by Hunting Triathlete 2018-03-27 8:35 PM

I'm really excited but I am curious on what to expect for the swim portion. It'll be indoors in a 25m pool. From what the course map says, it's a zig zag, down and back in each lay and then into the next lane. Has anyone experienced this type of swim? They will have a beginner info meeting before the race that I will be attending but I'd love to hear from people who have experienced it. To me it seems difficult to do with the large amount of participants.

That is exactly what my first one was and I thought the same thing as you. I don’t know the size of the pool or distance your doing but it will likely be something like this. They will ask you to seed yourself according to your Average 200 time or whatever they set up. They do this an attempt to allow the faster swimmers to get in and out without swimming over the top of people. (Most pool swims have quit a few nervous swimmers / beginners) You wiill take off and swim to the end of the lane, touch the wall and then go over to the next lane and so forth. Tip, get you a good strong kick off the wall to get you free speed and distance. They will either have you swim every lane and then get out or will cut the pool in half to allow two groups to go at once (how mine was). At mine we lined up and the person in front took off, the next gets in the water and then they had that person go 15 seconds after the one before them and so forth.

My first mini-sprint was a serpentine pool swim - what a mess. Too many people seed themselves very optimistically and then really pile up at the walls. With a good push off the wall, you can pass 10 or 15 people at a time.

Assuming this is a mini-sprint, put some flat pedals on you bike and do the whole thing in jammers. Bike in your running shoes with no socks (test this out) and then just run.

If it is warm enough - swim in your shirt. You should dry out fast enough.

I've done the serpentine type swim in a couple sprints(down and back in same lane then into the next lane-25 yard pool); can get a little crowded but for my first ones I was pretty conservative in my seeding time so I was further back in the crowd; another event was in a 50 meter pool so you changed lanes after each length; it's doable and unless you are the first one in line you'll get to watch for a few minutes to see how it all comes about; the starters will space out each swimmer by a few seconds to provide a little space between them at the start; chip timing starts when you cross the mat as you enter the pool.

You will do well!

Thanks everyone for your advice! I believe the pool is 25m and the distance is only a 300. So the swim portion won't be long at all but from what i've seen there are already 300 people signed up. Now the race is also a 5k, so how many of these people are doing the tri I don't know. I'll be wearing a tri suit and my running shoes throughout, just to make the transitions a little faster. Overall, I'm not too worried just confused on the swim course. I'm not an awful swimmer, I have okayish times, HOWEVER I'm realistic and know being back in the pack would be best for me.

I hope y'all don't mind all the questions I may ask. My cousin (my tri idol) has been doing her best to mentor me through this but Australia's time difference compared to little ol' Indiana, makes it hard. I'm asleep when she's awake and vice versa.

Any suggestions on what to eat leading up and during? I know carb loading a few days before is beneficial. I know the day of I probably won't be eating a full meal before just because my body doesn't exercise well on a full stomach or really any food. But I want to make sure that I have something in me to get through the race. I didn't know if there were any fruits or veggies that triathletes swore by to get through a short race.

Well, I do try to eat a bite a couple hours or so before an event; oatmeal for a morning event does fine for me; maybe a little fruit and by all means some coffee/caffeine! If a mid day event I might have a later breakfast similar to an am event. Personally I've not needed anything during the sprints I've done other than water either on the bike or the run portion (walk for me); but when I did my 1/2 marathons I did train with using the gels or gel beans; I do remember tho when doing winter long runs getting one of those gels down was a challenge! Damn things got too thick due to cold temps. Learned to carry them in a small pocket in my running pants to keep somewhat warm....but I digress; you're doing a sprint tri!

Whatever you decide to do, give it a couple of trial runs prior to your event....that way you know what to expect race day!

Don't worry about the swim segment....the event folks do a pretty good job based on their experience in running these; most likely a pre race meeting especially for first timers; and after you've observed the first few minutes you'll see how it goes.

My first time I was wound up and didn't breath one time in the first 25 yards....duh! And in my event last April my swim went well but I put my darned bike helmet on backwards...impossible you say? But I did...... ; my point to all this is crazy things happen so don't let it break your concentration.

Enjoy!!

Rod....crazy Easter snow event dropped 4” of snow on us yesterday; what a kick in the knees...hoping for spring to really start!

Sorry I have been MIA! Catching up on everything here! I really kicked training up the past couple of weeks. First Sprint of the season coming up on May 12th, then I will be focusing on training for my 70.3 (just wanna finish) race! I am hoping to find a tri suit with turtles on it to "celebrate slow". I will never be a speedy swimmer, cyclist or runner but I am determined! I need to update my training log, but finally hit 2000m in the pool this morning! Good milestone for me!

I went paddle boarding on the lake as it was around 75- 80F. It's a mild autumn so far.

I will head north at some stage this winter to get away from the "cold". We will average high 40's - 60 with rain & wind in winter. We still have an outdoor lifestyle although I always say I can't do the gardening in that weather but I can play golf in it.

Hi Turtles,

After a couple of false starts I was able to follow my revised training plan this past week: 1 Run, 1 Ride, 1 Swim & 1 Gym Session. I also had my annual golf trip where we play 3 games over 3 days.

We're having record warm weather for this time of year so it is very pleasant training outdoors and working up a sweat without too much effort.

Hope everybody is well and training hard.

Rod....great weather for you! We had another darned snow event over night; thankfully this one will be short lived...temps to get into 60’s later this week. Spring??

Rested yesterday, good swim this am to start the week.

I can't wait for spring to get here either. Training has been very spotty for the last couple of weeks - work and moving stress. Now have to try to squeeze packing into an already long day. And I have to find another half marathon because the current one coincides with moving day.

I have to catch up on some older posts - but welcome to the new guy!

I'm officially 18 days out from my first sprint tri! Nerves are starting to kick in...... spent an hour going through facebook pics from last years race. Shopped for some basic things and actually started packing my bag.

The weather here in Indiana might actually be getting better, 70s by the end of the week. Could be a sick joke though as it did snow on April fool's and yesterday. :/

Started my morning with an easy 30min run and gonna end the night with a 45min swim. Going to include a few different sets but overall it'll be rather simple.


Have a great week all!

Good Luck on your Sprint! I know what you mean I have a month left and they are already starting up (nerves).

Does anyone have any tips on strength training that is helpful in this tri world? I am looking at really starting to incorporate more strength training after this sprint in May. I have a lot of training to do before my big race in Oct but I know strength training is so helpful! Any tips are welcome!

Don't forget to practice your transitions. Especially in a Sprint there is valuable time to be saved with an efficient T1 & T2. There are some good clips on youtube on how to layout your gear.

Is there room for one more turtle in this pond?

NAME: Marie

STORY: I am turning 31 this year. About a year and a half ago, I was doing well losing weight on a restricted-calorie diet until my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I took care of her until she died, eating everything in sight along the way. Afterward, I found myself at my heaviest weight ever (about 240 lbs on a 5 foot 8 inch frame), totally sedentary, disconsolate, and diagnosed by my doctor as having "very poor cardiovascular fitness." Since then, I have been slowly building up my emotional and physical fitness. I started with "just move" and built to "try to get your heart rate up three times a week" and now I'm adding in "do any active thing that seems fun." My Fitbit has recently decided that I've moved to the "fair to average" cardiovascular fitness range! I know that my mom wanted me to have a great life, and I'd like to become a mom myself in the next few years. Improving my fitness is essential to both those things.

When I heard about a sprint triathlon in my area in August, I was already doing a slow 26-mile bike ride on the weekend and the occasional very slow, almost walking, 2-mile run. With sixteen weeks to go, I've decided the sprint triathlon is an attainable, slightly scary goal that will keep me motivated. Triathlon also appeals to me because cross-training is critical for a very overweight exerciser like me to avoid injury.

I want to join this forum because people who don't do triathlon also don't want to talk about it, and bringing it up more than once is a good way to get ostracized.

FAMILY STATUS: Married for about 12 years to a wonderful man who struggles with attention deficit disorder, which keeps my life interesting and at times unpredictable.

CURRENT TRAINING: Bike at least once a week, race distance or farther. At least once a week, try to build on a very slow 2-mile run. Only two freestyle swim sessions so far, ever, last week. I grew up in recreational pools and the ocean all the time, but until now have never tried to move quickly in the water. But swimming has enthralled me, and I anticipate hitting the pool at least twice a week. Outside swim-bike-run days, weightlifting and miscellaneous active pursuits.

2018 RACES: Aukeman 2018, Juneau, Alaska (750m lake swim with mandatory wetsuit, 19k mostly flat bike, 5k run)

WEIGHT LOSS: Down 8 lbs so far, hope to lose about 1 lb/wk until the race. Compared to past weight loss efforts in which I dropped weight at 2 lbs/wk but had little energy to spare, I intend to eat a little more, be a lot more active, and lose more slowly.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I love learning about triathlon, I'm pretty funny, and I have realistic expectations: completion is the mission. At the fastest time possible, given my own limitations.

Edited by BlueMantis 2018-04-16 4:50 PM

Welcome to the group Marie!

Sorry about your mom - I've been through something similar with both my parents and other relatives.

Sprint triathlons are fun - they are SUPER competitive at the pointy end, but really relaxed from the middle of the pack back.

Look at the Galloway run-walk training plans to build up your running stamina. You biggest gains and biggest comfort boost will be to swim as much as possible to get your form down and just to be relaxed in the water (even if you are a water baby, swimming with 200 close friends is very disconcerting.) Try find a group that swims in the lake too - open water navigation is a hard skill to master and one of the things that keeps me out of most tri's.

Thanks a lot! I had been thinking about the Galloway run-walk approach, and thanks to your advice I will definitely try it. And yes, I can't wait to get out into the lake. Unfortunately, it's still covered in a thinning ice sheet.

I had my third swim session last night, now with goggles that actually fit. I clearly have a LONG way to go. But every now and then something feels like it's starting to go well. It seems like the first order of business is getting the breathing rhythm down, because nothing else can happen without it.

Also, our pool is "salt chlorine" but the smell lingers on my skin, which is also very dried out afterward. I plan to order some pre/post swim goops to tackle this effect. Anyone who has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Marie....welcome to the group; I see you’ve already been give. Some excellent advice!!!; not much I can add other than trying to be as consistent as you can in your training and don’t get discouraged. Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than we should be....I know...been there done that!

Enjoy the experience!

Thank you, Bill! That's great advice.

Run-walk went awesome this morning. Hilariously, it took me the exact same amount of time to cover 2 miles that way as when I was "running" the entire time, due to increased speed during the run portions. It felt better, and I can much more easily see building from it than from the slow death march I was doing before.