Matt Gilmartin's 2nd Quarter Group- back in the pool! FULL HOUSE (Page 9)

Jen, I think we've already discussed this- but is there a group you can ride with?  What about a tri club or something?  You'll be amazed how much better you get if you start riding with riders who are experienced.  Sounds like you're making some rookie errors (which is totally cool), but I don't want you to hurt yourself.

Well that's one of the main reasons I decided to give it another month or more, so I don't kill myself. I just need more experience on the bike, but it's hard to get experience without trying and falling in my case. I've only had one bruise, so not bad so far.

I joined the local tri club, but they don't have much going on yet, and the local bike clubs' outings start at 35-40 miles a ride. So I plan to ride on days with less traffic on mostly rural roads and make sure I have my ID and my husband knows my route. Sunday was the first time I ventured off my usual 6-mile mostly flat loop around the neighborhood, so I'm taking it pretty slow. And I don't have far to fall, which helps! Luckily there are tons and tons of cyclists in the Asheville-Brevard area so drivers are very used to seeing them and they give me plenty of room. I'd love for my husband to ride with me, he's all about mountain biking, but it's not likely with a 4-year-old except when we can spring for a babysitter. I'll get there!

Thanks Mariah. It is hard with kids, but hopefully my husband and I can line up some sitters so we can ride together. I thought the sink-or-swim method would be best there's been a lot of sinking! I can see some improvement though, so that's encouraging. I am just better at running and swimming, took to it faster with fewer problems, so the struggle with the bike is frustrating. I can swim all day, but not stop at a stop sign on my bike without tipping to the side LOL

I've been thinking about what you said Matt and you're so right, I need be careful and riding alone probably isn't the best idea, so I emailed the head of the largest bike group in the area and told him my situation, that I can't do 40 miles but was there any beginner group in the area that he knows of?

He said there's a novice group as part of the larger group but they have a different email feed, so he sent my email on to the guy who organizes their rides. Hopefully I'll hear from them soon, because I'm anxious to keep trying! The guy also said I was welcome to ride with him and his wife because they like to take some slower, shorter rides sometimes.

I also left a post on the tri club's FB page asking if any other beginners want to ride on Sundays or weekday mornings. Fingers crossed!

Hey everyone!

I'm one and a half weeks out from my first tri and I'm so excited I can't see straight.  The training has been a lot of fun! I can't believe that something I have wanted to do for so long and finally got the opportunity to do-is finally here!   I have had a couple of roadblocks but with a little bit of creativity, have overcome.  I'm keeping things simple (no clips for me-I would end up with broken bones LOL).  I do have a few concerns but overall I just want to complete the race with MY best time possible, get good experience and feel for the race, get home and sign up for MORE.   

Any thoughts for last minute preparation?  It does involve an overnight stay. . .

Write out a gear list that you want to have for the race and then actually go through using each item and see if it is correct. This past weekend I did my first Tri and realized that I had forgotten to pack my cycling gloves and also a race belt. Neither was the end of the world, but would have helped. Also wish I had put electrolyte solution in one of my water bottles.

Hope this helps,

Bryan

Yay, glad it's finally here and you are so excited for it! Last-minute prep - just bring that attitude

I've been hitting huge strides in swimming the last week or so, I've been swimming 3 times a week really starting to be comfortable in the water. BUT for every 2 steps forward, there are 1 step back.

I went camping this weekend with my wife for our anniversary.  We planned on relaxing and doing a little trail running, just a nice weekend away.  I'm a grad student at the Forest Health Lab in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at UF, and on Friday and Saturday I was showing her all the dead trees from a new exotic disease, Laurel Wilt (more info:http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs391).  I described to her how small the beetle is that is causing the death of possibly millions of trees, and figured I would carve one out of a dead tree.  This is where the step back comes into play.  As I was carving out the beetle, when my knife slipped and I accidently stabbed myself in the arm.  Right above my forearm, on the underside of the elbow...right where they take blood from. 

Luckily, we had food, water and a first aid kit with us.  My wife quickly bandaged me up, gave me food and water so I wouldn't pass out and we walked just over 1.5 miles back to the ranger station.  We went to the hospital about 20 minutes away and found that I narrowly missed the major veins and arteries, and missed the tendon that attaches the biceps to the lower arm.  I did manage to nick a nerve and have lost feeling to part of my forearm, but I did miss the median nerve, so I can feel my fingers and hand.  The doctor said the nerve damage may be permanent.

I got really, really lucky and ended up leaving the hospital with only 1 stitch and a good amount of pain.

So, I can't get the stitch wet, so no swimming for 7-10 days.

RN's/medical professionals: I am having some weird pains, like pins and needles type feelings when I rotate my lower arm from under where the skin is numb, is this good or bad?

You are indeed most fortunate.  Probably not a bad idea to have your own doctor check you out.  I am a veterinarian and I don't get a lot of feedback from my patients!!

Sorry to hear about the setback. 

Hey All,

Sorry I've been kind of MIA the last week or so.  Between work, kids, and life I've been slacking.  I'm going to start looking for a new place to train, too.  I feel like I am stuck in kind of a rut that I need to get out of.  A change of scenery might be just what the Dr. ordered.  Fortunately outdoor swimming season starts tomorrow :D

Wowzer! Happy to hear your injuries weren't more extensive. No more adventure wood carving! I'm not quite sure what is going on with your pain. Def sounds like nerve pain which can take some time to get better. If it's really bothersome or seems to be getting worse, I'd agree that a trip to your doc would be a good idea. Hope you heal quickly!

On a different note (and much less significant), I finished my first tri this weekend! The swim was way harder than I expected, I think I panicked a bit. Still motivated to do another one so I guess overall it was a success.

Ouch, what an outing. Really hope there is no permanent damage. A pretty memorable anniversary, to say the least.

Congrats on your first tri! We need a race report

What was your farthest training swim before your first tri?

My experience is that pain with nerve damage is frequently a good sign as it is the nerve repairing itself and the pain/sensation changes reflects that the "wire" is getting a signal through it. I agree have your PCP check it out and refer you if needed to a neurologist.

Bryan

Hello everyone,

My running and cylcing is going very smoothly but I am still having issues with swimming. So much so that I haven't even been logging my swim workouts. I do feel like I am making progress but much slower than I had expected. I am hoping to participate in my first triathlon on August 25 but am hesitant to register until I am more comfortable with the swim. I think I have pretty good form it's just a matter of establishing "swimming endurance". Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, does anybody have any tips for preventing flat tires from goat head stickers. I went on a 40 mile ride today and had to stop to replace twice to replace my front tire tube (luckily I had packed two). The tires do have liners but don't seem to help much and the bike shop suggested that I not put slime in them because it would effect the balance of the tire.

Thanks everyone and happy tri-ing.

GatorRunner - You asked about my farthest swim before the race (a sprint tri). I've been lap swimming since I was younger. I typically swim 2000-3000 yards, 2 x/wk. However, the longest straight swim I had done was 750. I bought a book filled with swim workouts (Nick Hansen, Workouts in a Binder for Swimmers, Triathletes, and Coaches) which has motivated me to swim longer & harder. Despite what I thought was adequate training, as someone else mentioned, I think panic & adrenaline exhausted more of my energy than the actual swim. The distance isn't that far, I think it's more about feeling comfortable in the water. I think it's probably worth while to get a few OWS ins prior to race day and you'll feel more confident.

BTW, do you live in Florida? I just moved from Gainesville, still a UF student. I'm thinking of doing another sprint in Clearwater in a month.

Not sure where my post from yesterday went, but here goes again!

Gator - glad to know that you were able to get taken care of right away and hopefully will return to normal. I crushed both of my hands back when I was an aircraft mechanic and it too FOREVER to get any feeling back in my thumbs. My doc said it was normal for it to take a while. Hope yours heals and you're 100% soon!

I don't remember how long my longest swim was, but I just learned how to swim in August/September 2011 and started doing OWS within a few weeks. I had a swim-safe belt that I would wear just in case I felt like I was in trouble and needed some help. I also let the support kayak know that I was very new and they did a great job staying close and checking on me to make sure I was okay. My last OWS of the year (2011 - before the water just got too cold) was in October or November and I did my first 1 mile OWS. I had done plenty of swim workouts that consisted of swimming a combined total of over 1 mile, but the OWS was my first continous 1 mile swim. I was exhausted, but really happy!

I took my new tri bike out on the road last night for the first time. Due to my work/race schedule (used my roadie for the past rides/races) with having to go out of town a few times, she's been on the trainer since March. I was quite nervous about getting into aero position, but once I got on an open road, I knew that I just had to do it, so I did. I just went into aero and it felt totally natural! I was super happy! I did notice that the bike felt quite a bit more twitchy than I am used to with my road bike, so I really had to pay attention and work at NOT looking like I was a drunk sailor on a bicycle

I am planning on doing another Century tomorrow, but it will be on my trainer at my house. I really want to see 100 miles on my logs, so I will rent a few redbox movies and ride while catching up on some movies I have not seen (any suggestions?). I plan on getting off the bike every 17-25 miles to refil my bottles just like I would if I were doing an actual ride. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

Hope everyone is having a great training week. I am going meet Chrissie Wellington this afternoon at her book signing. I bought both of my children a copy of her book and hope to have her sign the books for my children. They will be excited! I would love to bring them with me, however, they are visiting family and won't be able to come. Oh well... maybe next time!

I live in Orange Park now, and I commute about an hour a 3-4 times a week to Gainesville for Grad School.  I am originally from Clearwater, and would love to do a tri there sometime.  What company organizes them down there?

Hey Everyone!

OK, no more excuses (although it's been a crazy busy work month- I'm back

First off- Aaron- holy cow... I'm glad you are OK.  Sounds like you're continuing to get 1 step forward, 2 steps back in your training.  Definitely take the time and rest that arm up.  Glad you aren't damaged permanently.  I can get you lots of exercises if you need them to help your recovery.  Are you seeing a PT or doctor on a regular basis?

Erin- congratulations on completing your race!  That book (Nick Hansen) is a great one- I know a lot of people that train with it.  It sounds like regardless of the panic that you persevered and accomplished your goal!  What was the biggest lesson you took away from the day?

Also, just curious if you wore a wetsuit?  Did you get "assaulted" by any other swimmer in the water?  Sometimes a kick to the head or an arm into your back can be a little startling.