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

I am a run/walker too. Honestly I feel so much better and like you said I cover the time actually better at this point. I am going to continue to train this way and hope to increase my run to walk time intervals. I have done one sprint and so many participants were run/walking that it was not an issue there! Welcome to the group!

I thought you frontier girls were tough? Gonna let a little ice slow you down?

Half the battle with swimming is form the other half is not freaking out. Just relax and enjoy it and you'll be fine.

My thoughts exactly. Keep us posted on how your intervals are going. And thanks for the welcome!

Before I signed up, I scanned the photos from previous years to confirm that there were at least some overweight participants like me. And there were. Of course, they may still be in much better shape than me, but everyone has to have a realistic short-term role model.

I'm a Floridian by birth, so alas, I can't claim frontier toughness or ice tolerance. I'm sure it'll still be plenty chilly in the summer, or they wouldn't make wetsuits mandatory, right? I haven't been able to track down any temperature data on the lake, though.

Sorry to have been away for a while. I’ve been on nights and sick lately. I’ll catch up on everything tomorrow night.

Hey Everyone!

It's been awhile but I just finished my final week of college! Training and finishing my final semester has been an experience.
Whoever said I wouldn't be sad when it was over, was lying. Time to be an official adult.

I am now 1 week from the race and surprisingly my nerves have settled. I'm sure they'll pick back up soon. Training has been slow this week with all my finals and just finishing up the semester, though I planned on this week and next being relatively easy. I'm going into this race with the mindset of finishing and not necessarily getting PRs and medals. I want it to be fun for my first time!!! (which I know it will be) & somehow I lucked out and it's suppose to be 68 and sunny!! WOOHOO

Welcome to group Marie, you're gonna love the support this group offers.

Thanks, and congratulations on finishing up college, remilam! If you're not keen on being an adult yet (I get that,) there's always grad school. Sounds like the stars are aligning for you to have a great race. Keep us posted!

Marie welcome to the group, sorry for your lose, and congratulations on taking that difficult step towards a happier/ healthier life. You are very correct in your belief that you can be ready for your race / date. Enjoy the journey to the start line because that’s the reward, with finishing being icing on the cake.

I’m really glad that everyone is coming back right now and has events coming. I’ve been struggling to stay on course and when this group and everyone in it is going well it just pushes me to do what I need to do. I’ve tried to find intermediate races / rides to keep me motivated but the dates they are fall on the weekends I’m scheduled to work.

Thanks, Todd. Maybe there is a virtual race you could do? I did a tiny bit of googling to find this list, for example: http://mentalfloss.com/article/85861/5-virtual-running-clubs-will-g...

I'm sure there are others, and in the other disciplines. I may want to look into virtual races myself, since I'm in a pretty remote location.

In other news, I beat my weight loss goal for the week, officially dipping under 230! And at 2100-2500 calories a day, too. Looking forward to doing the race at about 215, with far less pressure on my poor knees.

Great job on the weight lose. You are right that every pound off will make it easier but the lose is not as important as what you’re doing for your mind and health. Great job!!

Apologies for so many posts from me lately, but here's a question. The sports I need to work on the most are swimming and running. My criteria for that are 1) can I already do the distance required for the race (swimming, no; running, probably; biking, yes and more) and 2) can I do it with relative ease within the cutoff times (swimming, not yet; running, unclear; biking, yes). Plus, for the whole month of May, I'm going to be biking nearly every day for a bike competition at work.

Is it reasonable to bike just once a week for the rest of April and in June, focusing on running and swimming instead? Then I can add more biking in July in time for the August race.

Sounds like you are pretty comfortable with the biking aspect so focusing on your swim confidence is something to consider; also your run portion can be the walk/run method. Frankly I have to walk the run portion due to my knees. So you should be able to manage that's segment just fine. You will do well!

Ok so there is no perfect or right or wrong answer but let me give you some things to think about. #1 most important thing is to know you can safely cover the distance you are going to have to swim. Remember it’s the one portion where you can die from drowning. I say that a little tongue in cheek but seriously you have to be comfortable that you have the fitness and ability to cover the distance. #2. Biking is not the same as running but if you are working at it hard your run / cardio is improving at the same time. I always trained / prepared to do double the distance on the bike that I would have to do on race day (sprint distance anyhow). You may ask why and the reason is two fold, if I’m comfortable with a 20 mile ride and race day I have to do 10 it’s money in the bank with a smile. Second your legs will be even more fresh when you get off the bike for your run portion. I also think it’s important to remind you that once you get to the run you are still able to walk if necessary. Another words as long as the swim and bike went well you just have to keep moving forward on the run to finish. You are right to focus on weaknesses especially if it’s swim but I don’t know if you want to cut back to one ride a week if you end up losing bike fitness you’ve built. Try to sneak in runs / walks on a treadmill to get some extra in. You have to do what works for you but please be good for the swim because I’ve seen to many go in unsure of themselves and then quit or panic during the swim.

Don’t worry about asking questions that’s what the group is for. Also you will get several suggestions take them as that and then decide what best for you and your goals / race.

Thanks, both of you, for the useful advice. I promise not to die, quit, or panic on the swim! Turtle promise.

I would love to go full-throttle on the bike in May and still do lots of running and swimming, but I'm worried about exhausting myself.
I am still relatively new to doing so much exercise. For example, one day a couple weekends ago, I swam an hour (nice and easy), biked an hour, and ran 5 minutes. Early that evening, I fell into a sudden, deep sleep for an uncharacteristic, slightly scary 10 hours. I'm pretty sure I had overdone it. Ah, well. I guess I'll just see what I can manage when the time comes. I may have to come to terms with the fact that I can't be the hero of my bike team.

I'm also thinking that, as much as I love to see the pounds go, if I continue to lose more than 2lbs/week I may need to eat a bit more in order to keep my energy up and prevent excessive muscle loss. I'm already eating a lot--I go over my 2,100 calorie allotment several times a week. I may just need to move the target to 2300 or so.

Marie....my wife talked me into using the free Fitness Pal app....its taken some time for me to get used to it and being sure to capture all my meals and snacks but it has proved to be helpful; it also syncs up with our Garmin watches and helps keeps track of calories used and consumed; perhaps something for you to consider.

Todd's advice in his last post is great!!

Edited by 2NewKnees 2018-04-24 8:53 PM

Hi Turtles

Just thought that I'd check in. Life has got in the way of training the last few weeks but I'm ok with that. Time to get back into it now.

I enjoyed reading the recent posts and the increased amount of activity in the group.

Tomorrow I'm off to try Deep Water running for the first time. I've been wanting to do this for a while and I hope it provides a no impact, aerobic workout. Has anybody in the group done this before?

Rod, I’ve seen it, never done it, but am really really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions of it.

Well folks, we are 2 days out from my race and like normal Indiana weather, we are predicting 57 degrees and party cloudy... Quite a big drop from the 70 degrees I was hoping for. I'm wearing a tri suit, so I'm curious if I should wear a compression jacket over it or if I should be fine without it. I'm packing a jacket regardless but wanted to hear some advice from you guys.

I figure it would just add to my transition time but 57 isn't the warmest weather, especially when you're wet.

Thank everyone!!
- Reid

I have no experience in triathlons yet, but I do have experience biking outside in temps 30-60 degrees and in the rain. I think you probably want a compression jacket, especially if you're not carrying much extra fat to insulate you. If you were hoping for 70, that might be a good indicator. 70 sounds too hot to me!

A vest might be easier in transition, though. No arms to contend with.

Edited by BlueMantis 2018-04-26 2:35 PM

Reid,

You will dry very quickly on the bike and your body temp will warm quit a bit a well. I can tell you that I’m not cold tolerant at all and did one ride when it was 40 outside and within 15 minutes I felt fine for the rest of the ride, which was almost 2 hours long. Another thing to look at is when do you start the swim, when will you be out of the water, how long will you bike , and how quick and how much is it supposed to warm up. You have to know your tolerance and what temps you’re comfortable at.

I had a MAJOR swimming breakthrough today!!! The breathing just started clicking for me, and I went from having to pause after every 25-50 yards to being able to do the 750 meter race distance without stopping. Wow. This is swim session 4. Here's to not drowning!

Reid...have a great race tomorrow! Enjoy the event....relax.....but that's easy to say!!!

Marie....outstanding!!!! Congrats on a great swim!!!!!

There’s nothing better than that ah haw moment when something clicks our comes together. Congrats Lady!!!

Happy Sunday!!

One triathlon in the books! I finished the race in 1h39m. This is huge because I told my family/friends it would last a little over 2 hrs. Why?? Some reason I had the idea that it would take me at least an hour for both the bike & run. I figured nerves would play a part in slowing me down, surprisingly my bike was a PR!!!

It ended up being 45 degrees at the start, mostly cloudy and 15mph winds. FUN. Got a little warmer as the race went on and the clouds opened up for a few minutes at a time.

Few things I learned:
1. I'm a much better swimmer than I thought. I put myself in the back of the pack and ended up passing and getting held up by a lot of people ahead of me. Still had a good time at 6.32
2. I need to work on my biking skills. Almost crashed into a sidewalk trying to get my water bottle back into the bottle holder. :/ not very coordinated.
3. No matter how tired I am in the run portion, I somehow can manage to sprint to the finish (partly because I couldn't feel my legs)
4. This is the MOST fun I have had in sports in a very long time. Everyone was so nice, athletes & spectators. My family is big into the Louisville IM, so they knew that cowbells and signs were a necessity to cheer me on. Let me tell you, I smiled and laughed every time I saw them.

I already signed up for another one in August and it's open water. I think I'll try to get into one before then as well.
Sorry for the long post, I'm kind of high on life right now! Time to spend the day recovering!


Edited by remilam 2018-04-29 1:18 PM