T3 beginners welcome sprint and OLY = Closed (Page 6)

I took Dave's advice and opted for the shorter race this weekend. It was a blast! I was slightly crunched for time due to some bad directions from my GPS navigator, but it all worked out. The highlights are I finished in the top 1/3 of participants, I DESTROYED my goal time (goal: 1:30, actual: 1:06), and my paces were all faster than usual. I was feeling good, although open water swimming still gives me the heebie jeebies and I am still terrible at it.

Full race report here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/RaceLog/races-view-container.asp?...

Dominion -- I read your race report and although I'm sure your run was frustrating, it sounds like you performed pretty damn well! I don't know many people who have swum against the current for an OWS and come out of it feeling anything less than awful, so kudos to you on that. Plus, your "poor performance" run splits are still a full minute faster than mine, so you've got that going for you...which is nice.


I recently discovered I will have a 4 day weekend for July 4, so I am thinking about driving up to see my in-laws and doing my first Oly! Looks like it should be a good race, but there is not much additional training time and I feel like I will really have to trainer "smarter", not harder to make that goal. I'm more than willing to entertain anyone's training suggestions.

Tacetman,

Thanks for reading and the comments. I couldn't get your report to pull up, but congrats on smashing your goal and finishing top 1/3..

As for training suggestions...you only have two full weeks and a few days.
I would get at least 2 to 3 runs in of 6-7 miles each in addition to a few shorter runs. Same for the bike, try to get at least three 30 mile rides in.
Maybe get at least one 1500m swim in just as a confidence builder. Don't push too hard though on any of it, no time for that. Be sure to power down and rest up a few days before race day.

Just have confidence in yourself and your fitness, and enjoy the ride. Good luck.

Hi

Thanks for getting back
I really like the look of your training plan and goals
it looks manageable and difficult without being silly

I need to throw this out there because it is a thing that will always affect me

I have a depot injection 3 weekly -
it is very sedating
It can take a week for things not to be so intensely unmotivated, tired, basically sedated

I think a 5 day week and a 2 day week on the bad weeks, so 5, 5, 2 - repeat

does that sound like I can still make enough progress?

The general rule is to try to take an easy week every 4th week

I am going to need to go with my energy and have a light week every 3 weeks

I looked back over a year of trying to have a break every 4 weeks but looking at it on paper - although I was trying to keep it up - every 3rd week there was a massive slump - more noticeable than the 4th week where I would officially aim to do less

I can't tell you how much I hate being slowed down so frequently on a cycle of 3 weeks - but It is literally life saving medication

I think I need to say I keep attempting to get a pattern and a fixed program - I just do what I feel when I feel and I need to do more of a plan I think to improve in all 3 sports

Clouddog, I think you'll do great working hard when you feel good and taking the tough week for recovery. It's much better than forcing yourself to do something that has no motivation behind it. My recovery weeks are very light and it really gets me to push the hard weeks. FYI - I work out hard two weeks with one week recovery. Good luck. Hope

Edited by gr8hope 2013-06-17 1:41 PM

Thanks Hammer!
I did 4 sets of this workout this morning.
Pure Gold!!
I did struggle a good bit on the 5 stroke count, but was able to hold the 4 stroke count after the first set. I have up till now been a breath on every other stroke (either left or right) swimmer and had given up pretty much on improving that to every 3rd or 4th.
But now the 3 stoke pattern seemed "easy" after trying to hold that 5 pattern. When I would falter on the 5 stroke count, I would temporarily drop back to grab air every 3rd stoke and it was like cruise control. I also noticed I was swimming alot harder (and faster) with the higher stroke counts...makes you move faster to get through those strokes so you can get back to your air.
Great Workout. Going to work on this alot more. Next race is a pool swim in 6 weeks. So this is perfect.

I did the Beaver Creek Colorado Tough Mudder on Saturday (I know it's not a tri but it was a multi sport challenge). My team was mostly young Nebraska State Patrol officers, they made for a fun day! The funny thing is while the young bucks beat me through most of the obstacles, the old guys (41 & 45) were out front on all the runs. I was 1 of Very few who actually ran up the steep ski slopes! On the steepest one as I neared the top the whole crowd started cheering me on, that was cool & a little embarrassing. I wonder how I could have done if I would have been fresh to start (instead of 6 days after a HIM). One suggestion if anybody else does a Tough Mudder, carry some nutrition with you, the aid stations are Lacking & if its not hot you need the additional calories to stay warm, I shivered for about 4 hours after I was done. It was a real good time! Tim

Was wondering if anyone had experience with TrainerRoad they would be interested in sharing. I am having a frustrating time riding around my local area -- the road quality is utter crap. There are only two stretches of road that are safe and even tolerable in terms of road surface, and by "tolerable" I mean "the assault on my sit bones isn't enough to ACTUALLY make me cry". It plays mind games with me, because whenever I go out of town to ride and/or race, and the road is decent, I have SUCH a good time and feel like I'm FLYING on the bike...then I get home and my next ride is a disappointment. Also, if I loop the 2 roads, I still wind up with less than 25 miles, so I have to do a bunch of weird detouring and backtracking to make a ride with any real volume to it.

The idea of using TrainerRoad to not only give me one or two "rides" per week that aren't filled with frustration AND generate virtual power data is pretty appealing...not to mention the safety factor AND the ability to watch Netflix while I ride seem like features too good to be true. But I'd like to get some experienced opinions first.

Also looking for wisdom on whether trainers accelerate tire wear, especially given that the wear is only on the back tire.

cloud,

Over all I say listen to your body. If the rotation works for you then do it. On paper it looks like you can make some good progression off of what you have listed. One idea to think about. I link a lot of days together at time where it looks like I work out everyday for 15 to 20 days at a time. techiniquely I do. If you look at my time of work out I will do a monday swim at 5:30 am the my next work out will be a run or ride tuesday evening building in more than a 24 hour recovery time. During this time I will do this 3 times in the week to get extra recovery. then when this hard block is finished my next week will be a single workout with 48 hours recovery.

bigtair, nice job on the tough mudder. I had a friend running that this weekend too. glad you had so much fun.

tactman, sorry I have 0 experience on the road trainer. but it should like a good thing in theory.

Dave, it looks like I've been given a kitchen pass for the Redman! It looks like a fun race! I'm glad to see they actually consider the family for the event. Now I need to get back to training, quads are still a bit too sore from the last 2 weekends but I think I'll be back to it this weekend. If possible, I'd like to meet up with you sometime that weekend. Tim

Great job on the Tough Mudder! I've done a Superhero Scramble, Merrell D&D and a Spartan, would like to do a TM and a Savage. That's good advice too... i always take waffles and/or gels with me on anything over 5 miles.

~Rhonda

great to hear. I am picking up a shift to pay for it and will be registered in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to the event and getting the chance to meet you.

well how is training going?

for those that have been working on your swimming are you feeling more comfortable in the water?

call this a welfare check and let me know how you are doing.

Training is going well although my June volume totals are going to be down a bit. An early month race taper and recovery/rest week after have cut into my totals, but I am back at it full throttle getting ready for a July 27th race.

Training is going about average. I took about three days off due to bad blisters on my feet. It's a long story but essentially I flatted BOTH tires on a long ride on Thursday and used both of my CO2 cartridges reinflating them. Got to within a mile of my house but my front tire was so low the rim would touch the ground intermittently. Decided to save the wheel but sacrifice my feet and walked home.

Swimming technique is coming along well, though. I found the trick is, if I'm going to swim before lunch after running in the morning I need to ACTUALLY EAT SOMETHING (besides a protein shake) after my run.

On a side note, I think my LBS is ripping me off. I took my bike to them after the flatting incident to have them true my front wheel -- I had looked at it and there appeared to be some up-down deviations as it spun. Apparently their $50 "basic tune-up" includes wheel truing, so I paid for that. I actually had my mom (visiting me at the time) drop it off while I was at work (otherwise the soonest I would have been able to take it in would be next week due to work scheduling). She wasn't entirely clear on what the tune-up would include besides truing because she knows nothing about bikes, but I expected it to include SOMETHING...when I got my bike back, it appeared they'd done nothing but the wheels (if even that!): the chain was just as dirty as when I had dropped it off, the brakes were still sticky and could use a little adjusting. I don't have anything to gauge whether they adjusted my derailleurs because they were in pretty good shape tension-wise before, but I'm a little annoyed that they didn't even bother to wipe my bike down!

Yeah, I would probably have a little issue with that. I ran over a stick the other day and bent a spoke. I took my bike in to the LBS and asked them to repair it and go over the bike and give it a nice mid-season tune-up. They repaired it, trued the wheel, adjusted my cables, brakes,, etc., and cleaned and lubed everything. $30.

dominion, dont worry about your volume. a little decrease for a recovery or rest week is no big deal. look at your pacing when you come off the rest to see where you stand.

taceman, sound like it is time to introduce yourself to a new bike shop.

hope the last few days have been quite due to great training.

June Totals:

S: 4547yds
B: 137 Miles
R: 40 Miles
Strength: 6hrs 5 min.

Lower volumes this month. Look for July to be a big bounce back month for my training!

June has been a rough month for mileage, with the taper & recovery from the 70.3 & the recovery after the Tough Mudder, then life got in the way. I had planned to do a number of early am runs & every time I woke up to thunderstorms plus a lot of late nights catching up on work, I just couldn't fit it all in. I'm hoping to be back to it in July! My swim speed has really suffered & its my weakest so I can't afford any drop in speed! Swim 4100 yards, Bike 96.3 miles & Run 36.2.

June = wasn't very motivated to do anything but the Orange Theory Classes (high intensity interval training - kinda like a cross between boot camp/cross fit, etc...) Did my hour classes 5 days a week all month...my overall fitness is definitely improving. That said...getting serious this month and! Started off the month right...did my swim this morning and after the first few laps it went pretty well. Will do a bike ride this evening.

Keep me accountable this month guys...clock is ticking...90 days til the big event !!!

~Rhonda

Totals look good so far. Bigairt this should be an easy month for you with your events. Look to get back hard at it this month. Redman is 19 weeks. I can't wait.
Dominion looks like a strong month. Keep it up.
Rhonda. I will be stalking your page. You have good fitness now Judy convert it to tri sports.

My totals.
S 10250 yds
B 177 miles
R. 30.
Str. 1.25 hrs.
My life guards did not make it to work this morning so no swim today.

Hey everyone, I've be silently following everyone's posts. Here are my totals for June. A bit disapointed as I couldn't do as much as I wanted to. Still if any of you have feedback as for what totals I should shoot for July. The only race i committed to is August 4th so far.

Swim: 2h 09m - 1582.88 M
Bike: 4h 59m 59s - 121.05 KM
Run: 1h 27m 13s - 17.98 KM
Strength: 3h 30m

Hk what distance are you racing. That will help with training totals

August 4th is a Sprint, 1k/20k/5k

There is another one I was considering end of August Olympic... if i can be sure i'll survive it.