Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 8)

Michele: I wish I had joined a mentor group before doing the tris I've done, and most especially from the very start of my Xterra race training. I feel that my result would have been way better had I seen the kind of efforts that go into training for even the shorter distances. Seeing how organized the training is for the experienced, I realized how willy nilly my training was!

I think you'll get a lot of useful information for your first tri here. Sometimes you don't realize you have questions about things until someone mentions it! Stick around!

Yes, Michelle -- stick around!  You aren't obligated to have questions!

But I'll ask one for you, for the group:  Group -- what is one thing you wish you knew before you did your first tri?

I'll reserve my own answer for later.  (I'll bet we'll get lots of good ones...)  I just got back from a long run and it's time to hit the showers...

Excellent questions!  How you handle hills in training can be very different from racing.

I'll start with racing.  In that case, you will do your best if you go slightly (but only slightly) harder up the hill than down.  In other words, you want to try to have a reasonably 'even' effort throughout the race.  For the vast majority of us, this means going easier up the hills than we normally would, and harder on the downhills than we normally would.  (Most of us -- myself included -- have a tendency to go too hard up and too easy down.)

In training, it depends.  But for the most part, I think it is a good idea to use hills as an opportunity to push yourself.  So in training, I tend to go a good deal harder up hills than down. Once in a while on a long ride, though, I'll practice evening out the effort in order to be able to do that better on race day.  Going down, I don't coast (unless I'm going very fast or there are sharp turns), but in general I don't pedal as hard as I do going up.

Thanks for that, makes a lot of sense. My first race is about 1 month out now, so I'm really trying to focus my training on what it will be like during the race. I've run in races before, so I know what kind of effort that requires, but I don't know how to pace myself in a tri. 

Once you've figured out the basics, pacing is really the trickiest part of racing, IMHO.  You are basically trying to keep your level of effort pretty steady the entire time, the goal, being, of course, that you've reached the limit of how long you can hold that effort at the same moment that you cross the finish line.  That's a pretty fine line to walk (or swim, or bike...).  If you are going to err (and we all do at some time or other -- erring is the norm for me!), it is better to go out too easy and finish strong than to go out too strong and finish walking (or not finish at all).

Michele-hope you hang around.  You have a leg up on most people that start doing triathlons......you know how to swim!  I thought I knew how to swim until I got in the pool and had to actually get somewhere.......real eye opener.  Much easier to improve run and bike fitness than swim fitness in my opinion.

Was able to get a good trainer ride in this evening.

Lots of good discussion so far. Promise to be more active over the next few days. Right now I'm trying to fight off all these time zone changes so I think I will call it a night.

Randy 

This is easy to answer since my first tri was less than a year ago! I wish that I had been able to practice taking the bike off and on the rack in the transition area. I had NO CLUE what to expect, and worried that my borrowed bike didn't have a kick stand (yes, really). Fortunately, I got to the race really early and had plenty of time to check out both transition areas. 

Uphill: I gear down and try to stay seated for as long as possible. I also try to keep a consistent, high cadence for as long as possible.  Eventually it gets hard (if it's a long hill) and I have to stand and push. There's also praying (and begging and pleading).

Downhill: 20 years ago I would have gone as fast as I can.  A job and two kids later I just try to stay in my comfort zone.  On the bike leg of one of the tri's I do there's a long downhill section with a gentle right turn.  One rainy year someone lost control going downhill and crashed into the uphill riders.  It was messy.  Now I take it easy on the downhills.

How to train (including rest and nutrition).  I thought I knew. Doing tri's made me realize I haven't a clue. Still don't but I'm having fun experimenting :-)

That was more or less my answer as well.  I was completely intimidated at my first tri.  I saw all these people with IM stickers on their cars, space-age bikes, and to top it off, the first person out on the swim (it was a time trial start so I could easily watch him) ran into the water, did a few dolphin dives (I had no idea what that was at the time, but it looked cool) and then, for show, did the first 50 yards or so butterfly.  I'm not sure I had ever actually seen the butterfly stroke done 'live' before.  All of that would have really been too much for me to handle had the people not been so friendly and helpful.

So, I've decided to sign up -- sort of last minute, but I've had it on my mind for a while -- for the White Lake Half.  It's the first weekend of May.  I was holding off because I wasn't sure about running.  (I'm still coming back from an injury -- the injury is sort of lingering, but seems to be manageable and sort of 'dormant' at the moment.)  I don't really have a point here; I'm just sharing my slightly nervous excitement at doing a half in a few weeks.  I'm not really in a position to put forward my best performance in any of the three disciplines (though I'm probably pretty close on the bike), but it will be a great opportunity to see where I'm at, and sort of mark the end of spring training for me, and the beginning of serious IMWI training.

Anybody else want to share their 'goal' spring race with us?

How I handle hills:

Depends on many factors including how I am feeling at the time, what distance I am doing, and if I need to leave more "in the tank" eg. is this going to be followed by a run?  Generally I like to attack hills hard in training.  I try to stay seated as long as I can.  On the downhill, if I have many miles ahead of me and I need to rest, then I use this time to rest my legs, stretch a bit, even drink fluids (and pee if necessary eg. an IM race).  Peeing on the bike is a whole other subject (Too much info??), but the reason I do it is not just to preserve speed, but also at 100 miles or so to stop and get off the bike to pee you risk muscle cramps!!  On shorter rides its not an issue.

I like to mix my rides up with all sorts of hills, rollers, long steady climbs, and steep climbs.  Different routes. I'm lucky to have all these around where I live.  Some days all I do is hill repeats and this is where I see incredible gains.  Simply put, the more hills I do, the better I get at them.  Mix them up and have fun!

What I wish I knew before doing triathlons? 

Many things but a few:

1) the importance of a proper bike fit - will enhance not only speed, but also COMFORT!!

2) the existence of the BT website -  there is no such thing as a dumb question

3) trust my training, and once race day arrives, it's time to have fun

4) the importance of consistency in training, including maintenance training in the off season

To name a few, Jim

Michael, good to see you are doing that race.  I wish I could have done a half leading up to my IM in Texas. I may have the opportunity to do a half in August.

Texas is my spring race and I getting very excited as it is rapidly approaching.

Had a good run tonight, one of my long runs, and felt pretty good.  Glad I had a day of rest yesterday.  I felt refreshed!

Jim

First tri - importance of proper hydration.  It was around a 2 hr race (for me) on hot June day and I was really buzzy.

last tri - don't do your stretches on the ground where there is prickly vegetation or you'll wind up with extra ventilation.  Which reminds me, I need to buy some new shorts...

Michael - I hear the lake at White Lake is fantastic!  It's on my "one day" list as well.

It is!  White Lake was my first half.  The lake is crystal clear, sandy bottom.  You can see the bottom of the lake for the entire swim.  Pretty cool.  It almost made the swim enjoyable.    (I kid, I kid.  Sort of.)

The first time I did the race I over-cooked the bike in a big way and ended up walking for a large portion of the run (speaking of things I wish I had known earlier...).  That's a mistake I hope to correct.  I'm going to do a race-day rehearsal next weekend.  It's a pretty epic workout (I've done it before, and fear it), but I'm hoping it will give e a good sense of appropriate power for race day.

Jim -- what is it, 5 weeks to IMTX?  Looks like your preparation is going well.

Have a great day everyone.  I've got a long day at work, but hoping to get in a ride and a swim today.

I wish I knew just how much went into training for all three disciplines and how there is actually no real OFF season. I now realize that triathlon fitness needs to be a full time, year round obligation if you want to not just complete, but be competitive.

Oh, one other thing for the 1st tri - remember to have fun and enjoy the moment!  It's a pretty cool accomplishment, and you ought to savor the experience.  (that is kind of the positive spin on the don't be intimidated by the butterfliers, etc.)

Off to bike!

Hills - Push hard up them in training.  I tend to stay seated, and stand up and every so often.  I am also not a masher.  I will try to keep cadence higher.  In a race I spin up the hill as easy as possible.  Lose a little time, but keep the legs pretty fresh.  Last race had some hills.   One is a 12-15% grade toward the top, but it is short (3/4 of a mile or so).  I had an 11-28 cassette, just for that hill.  I will swap it out to a 11-25 now that IMAZ is my next A race.

First triathlon advice - I think we all have a discipline we enjoy the most, and tend to train in that discipline the most.  Do the opposite.  Train to your weak sport.  You will have much less anxiety come race day.

Riding Hills - I usually come out of the saddle for the shorter, steeper hills which for me is a lot easier. I shift down maybe one gear since I ride in the highest gear most of the time anyway. On hills that extend for some distance I stay in the saddle and down shift until I get into a comfortable gear.

The problem that I have is on the downhill ... I usually get out of the aero position ... still not trusting that going 30 mph or faster.

I wish I knew .... how much fun triathlons are and nobody is really looking down at you as a beginner.

I wish I knew .... how addictive and expensive triathlons are

I wish I knew .... how to properly train and stay consistent in my training 

Luckily I had taken a Triathlon transition clinic the day before my first race ... that helped tremendously ... like using a bright colorful towel to make your transition area visible or hanging something at the end of the bike rack to find your transition spot.

On another note ... I just finished the book by Lance Armstrong "It's Not About The Bike". It is a great book and a very fast read ... very fast. Lots of insight into the sport of cycling. Recommend reading that one ...

Have a great day everyone!

First tri advice-know where you are set up in transition.  Seems simple right?  Walk through transition. Locate where you will be entering after the swim, walk from there to your transition spot then to the bike out/bike in and run out.  At last race a girl put a bright swim cap on the rack at the end of our row...not as visible as a balloon but a big help.

Back to the pool for me today at lunch...have not swam in a week.  Always takes me a bit to get the feel back.

Randy   

Yep.  I remember being pretty disoriented on my first one coming out of the water.  About two years ago I started counting racks in (from water) and in (from bike).  Gets me focused on the transition when I enter the area with the bonus of not getting lost!  Now part of my set-up routine.  Time in transition is especially important in the short races.