Slidell4Life's Group - CLOSED for Training (Page 7)

Good question Tim!

When I finished my first Tri here are couple of the things I told my wife that I wish I would have done:

- Do an open water swim with a group.  Can't stress this one enough!  There were 134 swimmers starting at the same time in my wave.  It was physical.  It was violent.  It was pretty awesome.  I was unprepared.  It was only 500M but physically took more out of me than if swimming 2000M.  Everyone told me it would be like this but until you truly experience a Tri swim start you will not appreciate this advice!  That being said, get to some open water and do some workouts.  Practice sighting.  It there are waves or rollers in  the body of water you are swimming in practice breathing on the opposite side from them.  Also, start toward the back and let all the kaos happen in front of you.

- Practiced a couple of more bike/run bricks.  My first tri was on a crappy schwinn road bike and when I started the run my legs felt like a couple of two by fours.  Do this in training a few times so you can get used to it.  Now that I use a Tri bike this isn't as much as a problem.

Nice run.  You've definintely got more speed since your enegy level felt low today.

Its good to hear all this about the swim especially/ That is the part I am most terrified of. I have seen my course and even the sprint distance seems so long

You may have seen this commercial about the Tri swim start.  If not here ya go, cracks me up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM

That's pretty accurate. I had a bike accident in June that left me with a plate holding my jaw together. I did my first 70.3 in October, and I spent the first half of the swim dodging kicks to the face.

well watching that did so much to calm my fears-LOL

I have a question about clothing for an Oly.  What if I wore a speedo under my wetsuit, and then put on regular bike shorts in T1 and continued to run in them after T2.  Obviously I'd have to run 10K in my bike shorts to see if that's even possible but perhaps someone could save me the time.  Failing that, should I wear the speedo, then bike shorts, then change into running shorts in T2 while keeping on the speedo?  I'm concerned about public nudity and having enough padding to get me through the bike portion.  Not sure tri shorts would provide enough.

Thanks.

Although it doesn't seem like there'd be enough padding in tri shorts, there should definitely be enough for an Oly! Try on a few pairs, some are super thin, others are more padded.

Keep in mind that you will be coming out of the swim soaking wet. You'll probably lose time fumbling and jamming yourself into bike shorts if you swam in a speedo, what with the wetness and the adrenaline rush.   

Go with the Tri shorts.  The padding is better than it looks.  My last tri I wore speedos under my Tri shorts.  It helped keep the boys from moving around.  Will do this in the future.

LOL - it is really not that bad!

Get some tri shorts and then go for a practice ride in them. Actually, you should probably do some bricks in your new tri shorts.

Couldn't escape from the wind last night. At every turn I seemed to be running smack into it. Odd as it seems, I felt better as far as energy goes but ran a little slower. What I dont want to do is over do it on the speed and get hurt. Does anyone have a trainer they would be interested in selling. Maybe an extra one setting around somewhere? Someone mentioined doing bricks. Could you explain what that looks like. Finally, advise on nutrition, send me any meal ideas. Better yet, send me the meal. Need help. Even though I've cut back I seem to be gaining not loosing.

Can't help too much but I've had luck with the 'Zone' diet.  Basically I cut out grains and pastas while still getting carbs from veggies and fruit.  My energy levels have increased if anything and I've lost 3lbs in two weeks.

I don't have a trainer, but you should post a WTB Trainer thread on the classified forum. Bricks are simply bike/run workouts. Immediately after a good bike ride, quickly transitition to a run. Start small, tack a half mile run onto one of your rides. You will feel the unique difficulty of running after biking. Can anyone chime in on nutrition? My only advice is to bring fruit to work to snack on. Everyday I bring 1 apple, banana, and orange.

Thanks everyone.I've cut portion size but doesnt seem to be helping. So it really does make a big difference in your run, when you ride first. Sounds likw a great challenge to tackle.

Hi chad, did you say that you also do ultras. If so, how did you decide that  you would tackle that goal?Ireally love the long run and would like to build my miles safely.

no, I've never done anything considered ultra. My longest run was 16 last weekend. If you want to increase distance safely then stick to the 10% rule. Don't increase your long run by more than 10% each week. Also take an easy week once a month. That will help you dodge overuse injuries. Most importantly, always listen to your body. Know the difference between routine muscle soreness and the beginning of something sinister.

The other thing to remember-my husband reminded me when I was grousing about not losing much wieght- it that if you are increasing your training-you are probably replacing fat with muscle. Muscle wieghs more but you still will look better and feel better=give it time and keep eating healthy-fruits, protiens veggies and just go easy on the sugars and fats. You will do fine.

Also pay attention to how certain foods affect you. I have really had to cutdown dairy and take a lactose pill daily so I can still eat cheeses occaisionally. If not I swell up. You may have something that you can not tolerate much and then try to cut it out of your diet

I did an ultra back in December.  It was a 50K trail run and I had an absolutely blast!  I will do it again next December.  Chad's advice was very good.  Build up your miles per week by no more than 10%.  Going into the race I was doing over 40mpw with a significant rest week every 4th week.  My average month was about 125-130 miles.  Now it is quite the time commitment so my swim and bike took a back seat for those 3-4 months.

Can you tell us about your experience doing the ultra? What emotions did you go through throughout the race? What aches and pains? The year after I'm done my Ironman, I am going to focus on improving my HIM time. The year after THAT, I want to focus on ultra distance events. Any input, thoughts, comments would be really appreciated. 

K -

Here is my mini-Race Report the day of the Ultra:  Click Here

Here is my full RR a day after:  Click Here

This is true and is especially the case if you're weight training.  The important thing is to not get caught up in the numbers (weight that is), most important thing is if you feel better and the bonus is that your clothes will eventually get looser on you.

I am impressed! I have heard of the mental and physical challenges the one faces. I am really drawn into this type of running. Never done it but its calling me.So before p90x where were you on your weight? I recieved some copies of the work outs and they are tough. And what helps you the most in your endurance?