Tri-Z mentor group - Closed for Now (Page 7)

Here are several little things that might be helpful.  Bring a small hand towel to put your stuff on.  Put your bike stuff all together, sunglasses in helmet, helmet facing the right way where you can just flip it on and not mess with it, and bikes shoes loose so it's easy to put them on.   (some race directors want you to wear your number on the bike - but you should find that up at packet pickup - there is a strap/belt that you put your number on that goes around your waist)  Then have your run shoes (very loose) and hat (i always wear a visor that is easy to get on) together. 

Before the tri I put my hair in a very low ponytail so it does not need to be messed with when I try to put my bike helmet on.  I also use bobby pins to keep my bangs out of my face.   Are you going to wear socks?  If so, roll them down (kinda like pantyhose) so it is easier to put on with wet feet.   

More random thoughts...have your bike in an easy gear so it is easy to get started once you get out of transition.    Also, when you are coming out of transition you can't get on your bike until you are out of transition and at the MOUNT line.  There will be volunteers standing there and I am sure it will be well marked.   Also there is a DISMOUNT line when you get off your bike.  Make sure that before the tri you look to see where you bike out and run out so you know where you are going! 

You are going to do great!  Very happy for you and I can't wait to hear about it!  Go Nadine!!!!!

Nadine is gonna ROCK this race, because she is a Tri-Z Red HOT Mama!! 

Go girl, go girl, go girl!!!

IT WAS GREAT!!!   Will my offical times come on this board? The one thing I can say is to train the way you plan on doing the tri. I have been using great ear plugs and decided not to for the race. It kinda freaked me out at first having the water in my ears because I wasn't used to it. A minor deal but that would be one thing I would say to those of you with your first race coming up. Be used to doing the way you plan on doing it. I was also very glad to have my camelback. I think knowing the course also really helped. I bacame calmer driving in the park because I was thinking, "I've done this before, I can do this." The body glide worked great no chafing. There were a lot of really nice people there who were very encouraging as the veterans have said. I had also heard to mark my bike to make it easier to find and that helped too.

I was really slow on my race and someone I had met training came back and ran with me the last few hundred yards. Also the run ended up being part in the the sand and part on a dirt road. One of the rangers said they changed this just a couple of days ago. That sucked. I had never ran in sand and the dirt road was harder to run on then the pavement I have been training on. The swim was mostly a walk through the water. There were a lot of beginners there and they told the girls if you get scared stand up. I was talking to one of the offical race people and he said the lake is only like 4 feet deep most of the way acrossed right now. It was hard for me to walk though the water. I would have done better just swimming, but that was hard. The water was very murkey and hard to see in and I keep running into people. I had a VERY slow transition even though my shoes were loose and socks rolled up. I will need to work on this. But part of the transition was going though very soft sand which was a challenge to me. I have been doing the bike and the run at the park but they don't allow swimming because of the murkey water and no lifegaurds. I had a mental block going up the hill that had been a challange for me in the past in part because I was more tired out in the swim then I expected to be. This got me way behind when I had been doing okay, but I had been doing okay before that.

But I finished!!! YEAH!!! I came in 5th place in my age catagory. The called my name on the loud speaker and I got a certificate and everything for being 5th in age group. I think the bike and the swim were my personal best time. Despite the challanged it was A LOT of fun! I also had a great chearing squad of my husband and sister. Thanks everyone for the help and encouragement. Looking foward to doing it again. YEAH!

Nadine, what a great description of your race... you did it girl!!!  We are all so proud of you, and 5th place, way to go.  You'll do even better at the next one.  I can't wait for mine, and yet I keep thinking I have so much more work I need to do to be at my best.  Now you have an idea where to tweak your training to be even better at the next one.

 NADINE IS A TRUE TRIATHLETE!!!!

Goals for the week:

Run 3 miles twice this week, bike 10 miles twice, swim twice, and strength training twice.

What about everyone else?

Well... plans for the week:

 Today:  long bike ride unless it looks like rain

Tuesday:  Swim a.m.,  strength and elliptical p.m. (leg is hurting AGAIN, grrrr)

Wed:  Swim a.m., bike ride p.m. (inside or outside depending on weather)

Thurs:  Swim a.m., strength and elliptical or treadmill p.m.

Fri:  Swim a.m., bike p.m.

Sat:  long bike?  maybe a run?

 I don't know what's up with this stupid leg, but it is (so my bad word was removed!  It had to do with urinating...) ME OFF!  Everything else in my training is going well.  And how did I run for 8 weeks and then suddenly injure?  I was, oh, so, careful to take it slowly.  I do have some orthotics I got for plantar fasciitis years ago and am going to put those in my running shoes and see if they will help.  I will do the elliptical while healing again, and will probably plan on seeing a doc over spring break.  And I WILL race on May 17th!!  I know I can finish a 5K even if it is at a snail's pace, and I'll deal with any pain after that, but I AM going to race...

looks like nadine had a great race this weekend. way to go lady! nicely done. and it's OVER..the first one is out of the way...you're an old pro now! congrats on the 5th place too! awesome.

goals for the week:

mon: swim 2000 y with 1000 yard time trial , run :40 with drills

tues: bike 1:00, run lt test.

thurs: bike lt test.

clearly i do not love the  time trials or lt tests.

Help. I am having trouble getting started with the running. Don't know why it's so intimidating. I'm swimming, I'm spinning, but I just can't get out the door when it comes to running. I signed Mike and me up for an intro Workshop on 3/7. But I was hoping to get started before then so I'd have something to work from.

I've looked at several beginning running plans.  I've read the whole chirunning book, watched the first part of the video.  But something ALWAYS comes up when I've scheduled a run (walk).  I know it's this mental game.  I think I am having a hard time with the fact that I can't run.  At all.  There's a lot of judgment of myself. 

Just writing this is helping me realize some of the emotions that are really behind this.  It's not ok for me to not be good at something.  Not that I'm a great swimmer or cyclist, but there's a foundation there.  I am BAD at running.  And there's just not much out there that I am truly bad at. 

Not to mention the flashbacks to presidential fitness tests in grade school.  Oh god.  There's some trauma there too.

 -Jenn

Glad you got that out Jenn!  It is hard to do something that you are not comfortable with.  I recommend you find a walking buddy.  This will help with accountablility and make it so much more enjoyable.  My sister in law is my buddy and my workouts do not feel like workouts but our time to chat. 

next - I recommend you start out walking for 20-30 minutes.  Then each time add 1 minute of running(more if you can).  It will be so cool to see how those minutes add up and you are progressing.  There is no hurry, just take your time and build your base.   Something else to do is walk for 5 min/run 1 min.  You can change the times as needed. 

You are right, it is a mind game.  You have to teach your mind that you are going to win this game!!!

Good luck to you!!!  Keep us informed!

Jenn, I am soooo with you on the running thing.  I'm sure I look ridiculous when I run and I am so SLOW!  What a contrast to how I am in the water.  I did this Couch to 5K plan, it gets you ready very gradually in 9 weeks to be able to run a 5K.  I actually did my first 5K during week 5, and then went back to the plan.  It starts you off in baby steps, so that you build endurance and build up your legs slowly.  I got all the way up to Week 8 and injured myself, and I've been nursing that injury ever since.  I got the plan off the Cool Running website, and it was free, other sites you have to buy it.  As an example, the first week is 3 workouts:

5 min brisk walk as a warmup

60 seconds run/jog then 90 second walk, keep alternating for 20 minutes.

I added another 5 min walk as a cooldown.

You can do this!  I wish we could run together, because we are probably pretty well matched.  From what I've read though, there is no shame in walking the running part of a sprint tri. 

So c'mon girl... you are a triathlete, almost!  Start that run and you'll be on your way!

my first sprint tri, i walked nearly the entire thing. i couldn't believe people could actually run after swimming and biking. it felt impossible to me. the worst part is i was a college athlete - played soccer and basketball all 4 years and felt running SHOULD come easy. it didn't...and honestly, still doesn't, at all. there is NO shame in alternating the run/walk. it helps build a base for you to eventually either run longer/walk shorter or run the whole way.

i agree with jenny in that if you find a buddy that will walk with you, it helps immensly. she is my accountability...when i wake up in the morning, what keeps me from rolling over and going back to sleep is knowing she's going to be on her front step waiting for me to pull up in front of the house. plus we get to chat...er, well, she gets to chat, i get to listen through my huffing and puffing!   it is a huge huge huge help though...HUGE.

next time you have the run/walk on your schedule...GET OUT THE DOOR AND DO IT.  even if it's just 20 minutes around the block.  then come and report to us whether you hated it, loved it, felt good about doing it etc. even better...when is the next day you're scheduled to run/walk??? we're all going to be your buddy that day...and hold you accountable!!   let us know!!  YOU CAN DO IT YOU CAN DO IT YOU CAN DO IT YOU CAN DO IT!!

I am back!  Such a cool experience to see Olympians and work with their coaches.  I  was so lucky - I stayed after a presentation and asked Bobby McGee about my run and my It Band.  He evaluated my run giving me lots of tips!  So cool!

Came back late last night and spent the night at the ER with my husband who now has pneumonia!  Poor guy is miserable but getting better.  Just trying to get through the day.

Sorry to hear this illness thing has made it around the country. Jenny, hope hubby feels better soon. Thanks for the encouragement everyone.

Hey, whats a "split" Pastors wife I have heard you use that term a couple of times, you used it to describe your run today. What does it mean?

A positive split is when you start out fast and each mile slows down a bit.  EX:  9:10, 9:20, 9:35

A negative split is when you start out slow and speed up:  Ex:  9:35, 9:20, 9:10

 It is recommended to have the negative split.

Splits are used to reference a time/lap or distance.  For example, if you are in the pool doing 100 yd repeats, the "split" would refer to the time it took you per 100 yds.  In running, the splits usually refer to a "per mile" time.  The idea is that you want to start slower and produce a "negative split" ... meaning the time it takes to go a mile gets LESS with every mile.  Today, the opposite happened for me.  I started out too fast (8:10 per mile) and the next miles were (8:11 and 8:17) ... hence a NON-negative split (or what I called a "positive" split).  A negative split would have been if the 8:17 were the first mile, then the subsequent miles were each less (8:17, 8:11, 8:10) ... hence starting out slower and getting faster with each mile.  Same goes in the pool or bike or for whatever course you are on.  Competitive athletes refer to negative splitting as running the second half of the course faster than the first half.  So that's a more broad and generic understanding of it.  hope this makes sense.  There are a few resources online if you google it (but a lot of it is full of technical jargon that may be too much for you right now), and perhaps Jenny has a better way of explaining it ... I see she just posted!  Maybe she just gave you a clearer understanding!    Either way, my advice to you, Nadine, is to still HAVE FUN!!  And FORGET the splits!!  I'm just obsessive like that!  HAHA!!