Erin's "Insanity is Relative" Group - CLOSED (Page 9)

ok..life has a way of letting you know who is really in control.  My first tri has been postponed until September.  So I'm going to go ahead and sign up...that way...no more excuses (family events) preventing me from doing this.

More time to train at least.  I'm going to work on more bricks during the week.  I've been doing a few swim run bricks but want to work more cycling in.

Anyway...I've been away for a few days and getting back to a regular schedule this week.

now it's more real....after a few delays I've driven the stake in the ground and signed up for my first sprint tri in september.

I think now training will be more productive as I have an end date to work toward.....now the fun begins.

Congratulations on signing up for that race!  How is your training going now? I found watching the Olympics to be a huge motivator for me. I'd be slowing down and would think about some of those athletes and just feel tougher.  On Saturday I was in a race and I knew the girl who usually gets first in our age group.  I got on the 5 K course almost 4 minutes behind her, but because the course went back and forth on the same road I could see her, and I tried to catch her.  It came down to an all out sprint down the finish chute and I lost by a hair.  My quads are still killing me!  Stupid Olympics... 

That's awesome ...great job!

My training is going pretty good, yeah the Olympics were a good motivator for me too.

This week, my first week with more focus I did this:

Monday, brick, rode 16 miles, ran 3

Tue, swam 650 total yards, same on Wed

Thurs rode 19 miles

Fri...rest

Sat, ran 4.5 miles, swam 800 total yards

I'll ramp up my swimming this week and start swimming longer intervals of distance, but my total yards are farther than the 500 for my first sprint.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I'm not looking to win, just finish mid-pack and learn the process mostly.

Three and a half weeks to go....Did my own little mini sprint last night.

Swam 200 rode 5.5 and ran 1.2....just to see how my body would react.  Felt ok except when I transitioned to running.  My calves cramped right away.  I think maybe i put too much effort in my ride or possibly just started out too fast on my run. 

I stopped and stretched for a minute and all seemed well.

I'm going to do this again, if for nothing else the mental edge it seems to give me in knowing how my body will react in these situations.

We'll see soon enough.

My training plan has me do a lot of "transition runs" where I do a pretty hard bike workout and then do a 15 minute run.  I thought it would help get rid of that jello feeling when I start to run.  It didn't.  But   now when I start to run my legs still feel like #$%$, but I'm used to it and I know it will go away in a few minutes.

I also usually do a dress rehearsal with all of my crap and actually practice my transitions the week of a race.  I'll put my wetsuit on, dip my feet in the sprinklers or the wading pool, then run up  my driveway, strip, put on shoes, hop on the bike and zoom off down the street.  At the end of the street, I turn around and come back, dismount, grab running stuff, and run back down the street.  The neighbors think I am ABSOLUTELY INSANE, but after running out of transition with my helmet on once, I know I need to practice every step. 

I could see me doing that, taking off with my helmet on.  I plan on practicing my transitions as my race gets closer.

I'm going to go this week and swim at the lake where the tri is taking place.  Just to give my self a better mental picture of things since this is my first tri.

I'm going to do another workout doing all three disciplines again this week, again just to start getting my body used to the different sensations from transitioning to each event.

So much of this is new to me but the competition part isn't, I raced bmx competitively for years and I can feel myself now; starting to get the pre-race jitters, visualizing what I can, seeing myself completing the event.  Though I'm nervous on one level, I'm feeling pretty good on another, if that makes sense.

Finished my first sprint tri today, 1:48.  Not what I was hoping for but I finished.  Had a few leg cramps to deal with, learned alot so next time out should be much better.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice and suggestions.

I know my run would have been at least 8 minutes faster without the issues but overall it was a good experience and I'll be better prepared for the next one now that I know what to expect and how my body will react to the stress.