Ah, full disclosure! That makes me feel a little better.
I hope I get my bike back soon...it's in the shop for tune-up. I've been using the stationary bike for the past few days, which is a major bummer in the summer time. Yesterday I rode 8.1 miles in 30 mins on it and then ran 3.1 miles (pace a whopping 4.5 mph) in 41 minutes. Tolja I was slow...
I've been looking around for an event in September - stay tuned. Even so I can't start serious training until I'm back from travel in the Lower 48 on 14th June. I will work out while I'm gone, though.
calluna-I'm slower than you on bike and that's where you spend the most time, so it's a good one to be faster at! There are people who are WAYYYY slower than you in just about every tri I know of, so don't even think about it. The first time just shoot for finishing happy and healthy!
Hi guys! I had a great brick workout on Saturday. 12.5 miles in 1 hour on the bike followed by a half hour run which I pulled off at a 12:16 pace. It was comfortable, I felt good, and I wasn't tired. Woohoo! My goal for my race is to do the run at a 12:00 pace so that was pretty close. I'd like to get up to 14mph on the bike.
I bought a new saddle for my bike which has a cutout to help my tailbone. The gal at the bike shop who installed it for me said that my old seat wasn't quite level and had its nose down, which might have been contributing to the problem. Added bonus of the new seat is increased ventilation. I also bought a pillow with a cutout to use the rest of the time so my tailbone can recover fully. It feels better already.
Question for you folks about nutrition. How do you eat before your workouts and before races? I had a bowl of cereal right before my brick Saturday (literally right before, I ate and ran out the door) and felt great. However, I can't eat immediately before a swim or immediately before a run. On the other hand, if I don't eat relatively soon before, I don't have the energy. Do you just rely on energy gels?
paperclippy-I eat a Harvest Whole Grain Power Bar and banana about an hour to hour and a half before a tri. So far it has worked wonderfully for me.
Here's my tri report from Sunday:
Finish Time: 01:45:48.0
Swim: 00:08:33.1 Disappointed in my performance, but okay with my time if that makes any sense
T1: 00:02:47.8 Felt slow, but not too bad
Bike: 01:06:12.3 (exactly a 15 m.p.h. pace) Felt like EVERYONE was passing me for some reason, but I kept the pace I anticipated, so I can't be unhappy with that! I was in agony towards the end and went as fast as I could to just get OFF THE BIKE!!!!! LOL
T2: 00:00:44.7Thrilled with how quickly I got thru T2!!
Run: 00:27:29.9 Felt good and passed a bunch of people on this leg which increased my confidence. This is definitely my strength of the 3 sports and it showed!
Overall finished 23 out of 35 finishers in my age group. Not too bad!
Last edited by Ms Perception; 06-07-2010 at 11:32 PM.
Hi! Im new to this site and somehow, LUCKILY, found this thread! You are all so inspiring!!! I have been thinking about a tri for a little while now and after reading all your posts, I registered for my first in September! I figured that will give me all summer to train. It's a sprint tri. There's also a local full tri in October, but I don't know if I can pull that off?? What do you think? Also, I would LOVE some advice on bikes. I need one! What should I look for? I would love your feedback!! Thanks!
Welcome Athlete! Whether or not you can train for an olympic distance by October probably depends on your fitness level right now. Personally I did sprints last year and I am doing sprints this year, and not planning to try for an olympic until I can get my speed up to the middle of the pack on a sprint. However, I am SUPER slow and I am pretty conservative of what I sign up for because I am afraid of injury. Other people jump right into the olympic with no problem!
I ride an old hybrid road/mountain bike that I have had since college, since I didn't want to spend the money on a road bike and for sprint distance it's sufficient. I'm sure the other folks on here can give you better advice about buying a bike though!
Midwife, thanks for the link!
MsP, I forgot to ask, what were the distances on your sprint? Also, was it you who was having a problem with hands going numb? When I bought my new saddle at the bike shop last week I also bought a pair of padded cycling gloves, and they have made a huge difference in terms of how comfortable my hands are. You might want to try it, it's only $20 for the cheapest type.
My training has been going pretty well. My tailbone is recovering thanks to a cushion for at the office and a new saddle for my bike. Running is going well -- I managed to pull off 45 minutes at almost 12:00/mile pace Monday. Biking is now varying between 12-13mph which is better than before. However, I think my swimming is slowing down. A month ago I did an average time test and was doing 2:30 for 100 yards, but yesterday I was at 2:45. It was in a different pool but they are the same length so I didn't think it would make a difference. Also, while I was swimming 500m in 15:08 a month ago, last week I was at 16:30. I am so slow in the pool!
paperclippy-I have 'em already (and wear them religiously!). Like I said I've tried everything I can think of... No worries though. I'm gonna ask around at the local bike shops eventually and see what they have to say, but I'm done with tris for this season to focus on the marathon. I will continue to do the biking and swimming but much more casually.
athlete-Welcome! Excellent choice signing up for the Sprint! You'll love it, I'm sure! The full tri...is it ironman length? If so, that's a much larger undertaking which I would recommend training for for at least 6 mos. for your first. I guess it's a personal decision, though. You're probably the best judge of what you can do.
Thanks for the welcomes! I'm excited to start training for the tri! The one I am still pondering is a 1/2 iron- 1.2 miles swim, 58 mile bike, 13 mile run. Do you think I can train for it in 3 months?? I'm in the worst shape of my life right now. Haven't been in the pool in forever and I'm only running like 15 miles a week and weight training 2-3 times a week. I do a spinning class like once a week. I would consider myself more of an athlete than the average girl despite my weight and I am supermotivated to do this. I just don't want to get in over my head. I'm not out to break records, just finish! What should I do?!?
athlete-I'd say it's certainly doable. I would find a sound training program that looks like something you could stick with and do it faithfully and you'll get there. Make sure you do some of your swims in open water as it differs SIGNIFICANTLY from a pool. Best of luck to you in your pursuits!!
Athlete, personally, I wouldn't be able to train for a half-IM in three months. I don't know how fit you are though so you may be different. For myself, I might be able to train up to that distance in one of the three sports in three months, but not all of them.
Training is going pretty well here. My swimming is slowing down for some reason, not sure if it's just the different pool or what. Sometime soon I will head down to the reservoir that the swim for my tri is in to test out the open water. Biking is speeding up, I'm now averaging 12.5 mph on most rides. My runs vary -- interval runs I'm hitting an average of about 12:15/mile for 45 min runs, non-interval I'm more like 13:00/mile for 45 mins. I'm hoping for about 12:00/mile in the race which should put me a little over 36 mins on the run.
I was laughing the other day because I was thinking about my training plan, and I turned on the TV, and it just so happened that the channel the TV was already on was showing the half-IM world championship race. Wow, those pros are fast!
I had a good run today. 30 mins with some intervals and I kept all of it at 5.3mph or above. Treadmills sure make it easier to push myself, but they are sooooo boring.
I'm so glad I found this because I sort of decided to do my first triathlon this summer. It's in late august and it is just one of the danskin sprint ones, so nothing too intimidating! However, as a newbie, I have a lot of questions and was hoping y'all could be kind enough to answer....
First, is 6ish weeks long enough to train? I am pretty in shape and could easily do the bike part, but I am worried mostly about the swim. My goal isn't to place or anything, just to finish it, so time doesn't really matter. I would also like to not walk at all during the run.
Second, do I need to invest in any fancy equipment? Can I just wear my normal running clothes for it? I know I will have to figure out the swim suit thing, but I have no problem biking in sort of wet clothes....
Third, should I be scared??? I tend to not take things very seriously, but I would hate to show up and look like an idiot because I didn't prepare enough!
Oh, also, is it still possible to lose weight while training?
That makes me feel a little better. 
You are super-speedy in my book! (Or maybe I'm just super-slow 
)
Whether or not you can train for an olympic distance by October probably depends on your fitness level right now. Personally I did sprints last year and I am doing sprints this year, and not planning to try for an olympic until I can get my speed up to the middle of the pack on a sprint. However, I am SUPER slow and I am pretty conservative of what I sign up for because I am afraid of injury. Other people jump right into the olympic with no problem!
A month ago I did an average time test and was doing 2:30 for 100 yards, but yesterday I was at 2:45. It was in a different pool but they are the same length so I didn't think it would make a difference. Also, while I was swimming 500m in 15:08 a month ago, last week I was at 16:30. I am so slow in the pool! 
