Newbz'z group is FULL!!!!!! (Page 7)

I have been pretty quiet on here (which is surprising because I wasn't on the last forum I was in) but I think primarily because I was pretty intimidated by the quality and experience in this group.  I finally decided "screw it" I'm here to learn so I will try to be a more active participant in the group.

I have my first duathlon Sunday...GearWest Du in MN...5k/28k/4k.  As much as I thought I'd enjoy not having to swim (since that is my weakest event) I'm not finding it quite intimidating to have all three "legs" entirely lower body dependent.

I'm debating on pulling out of my tri on 6/1 that would be my first OWS.  The water is too cold to even attempt training in OW yet and considering I'm a weak swimmer to go with so little experience, water be frigid cold, and suck at swimming might be a recipe for disaster.   

Best of luck.  I wish they had that race here because of the proportion of the race that is the bike.  I am most competitive in the bike.  And no critisism from me if you cancel the 6/1 tri.  As a rule I have canceled ALL Tris in favor of strickly Du competitions.

Aber4 - Good luck with your DU this weekend.     

The OWS is intimidating for almost everyone their first time (and second, and third, and...). You'll get no criticism here either but I will offer some encouragement. My first OWS was last September. I've done two total now. My OWS form is pathetic at best and a guy without goggles beat me in on the last time. However intimidated I was and however poor I did, I did NOT feel that my life was in danger. If it's a feeling that you are not to the level of the other competitors well, someone on here has a great signature for that... "you're never as slow as you think you are, you're never as fast as you think you are." If you truly feel that you would be endangering your life then maybe waiting until the fall or going DU isn't a bad idea. Sometimes you gotta look out for No. 1!

If you do decide to tri it :-) here are a couple things I've learned from a beginners standpoint and others can probably tell you more:

- if the water is cold, acclimate yourself to the water before your wave start. this will help ward off the intial shock of hitting the cold water when you really start your swim.

- start slow and do your best to pace your self. you will feel more comfortable in the water and you will actually end up swimming faster if you relax.

- you're only out there for you... try not to "race" the other swimmers. do what you can how you can.

I should have also added, we (BT'ers and good sports in general) are fans of competitors that sense some adversity about something and try anyway.  So. if you do try, I'll be one to congratulate you!

This note regards another topic not related the David's challenge.  Which I will address shortly.

JChristoff (Justin), ran a 8 mile run on Saturday, a length he does fairly regularly.  He made comments about cramping, hydration, and taking Gels during the run.  That got me thinking.  When I did my first 8 mile run, I just drank a bunch of water before the run and took off.  For my most recent run a bit longer than 8 miles, I did bring two water bottles and placed them along the 1.025 miles loop.  I drank at least 30 ounces.  Finally, when I cycle, I ususally use only water.

My comments/questions:  It is fairly obvious hydration is important.  I have not always done this well, but I do think I understand it and know how to properly hydrate.  But, what about the Gels, or other additives to the water?  Can some general comments be made about how useful those things are at generally stated distances (ie, most people would benefit from taking a Gel every X mintes for efforts lasting longer than Y minutes, or whatever)?

Thank you.  And thank you Justin.

No-no; no lab rats here. 

I used your example becuase it was already public and hoped to get others involved as well.  Your comments just got me thinking what all of us are always thinking.  That is, "is there something more I can do (besides train harder longer) that will help my performance".  Specifically, can better nutrition during exercise benefit me since I generally use only water?  I was hoping for a magic answer like: "for most humans chemical X is depleted within about T minutes and here is a list of products that replentish it.  Use them and expect a measurable improvement in performance!"  That is stated simplistically, but you've got me thinking nontheless.

Hopefully David will share a generalized but scientific opinion.

Edit to talk about my sweating.

You talk about everything in the stomach, I sweat like a mammy-jammer.  If I ride 70.3 miles (long race pace) I sweat a bunch of that water off.  I suppose one of the things that our bodies does when training for long distances is better our efficiency with taking the water from the stomach to the tissues.  But that is just speculation.

Movin on to David's challenge.

I also expressed my goal in terms of "Total Olympic Distant Duathlons".  Just for fun.

I fist list what I did my previous three weeks beginning on Thursday (already three good weeks for me):

Swim: Last 3 = 0 yards, Goal = 100 yards.

Bike:  Last 3 = 9 hours, Goal = 10 hours (200 miles).

Run: Last 3 = 61.4 miles, Goal = 75 miles.

By the way, this would be about 8 Olympic Duathlons.

Good morning Guys,

I'll post my goals but I don't have a schedule until after the TTT this weekend so I don't know what I'm doing. Well....even after the schedule I don't know what I'm doing Well gotta go get some work done.

 I am having weird race dreams.....prob. due to TTT this weekend. Does this happen to you speedy folks???

Chris

3-week goals:

Swim: 5700m

Bike: 176 miles

Run: 31.2 miles

Disclosure: I have another sprint on 6/1 and since this is only my third race I am taking into account a little bit of taper for that event during Wk1 of the challenge.  I'm feeling pretty fast (for me) for this race so I want to make sure I can perform to my full ability at this point.  These are fairly exact based on the training plan I've built for myself.  Pretty small numbers but I don't have anything longer than a sprint until September.  This also includes the first week of ramped up running mileage in order to prepare for my marathon training this summer.

I have a couple questions for you guys though. 

1) Is it preferred to log workouts by time and then distance or distance and then time?  Example: Should I swim 1500m and see what my time is or should I swim for 1/2 hour and count my laps?

2) How long (distance or time) should my training swims, bikes, and runs be in order for Olympic success?  I am training for the Marine Corp Marathon w/ a running group starting in late June so that will dictate my run training but what about the other two?

Thanks,
Scott