Guess what? DH finally got a bike!! The old one we got from his mom is finally out of the shop. I wouldn't call it good as new, but it is rideable. There are some cracks in the casing around some of the cables, and one of his gear indicators doesn't work (the gears work, just not the indicator), but everything else is functional. We went for a spin around the neighborhood last night.

I want to take DH on my favorite bike route this weekend but I'm not sure if it's okay to take him on an 8.4-mile ride his first time out. I think his legs could handle it okay but he's certainly not used to sitting on a bike seat.

That Gu scares me! I worry that I will choke on it. I actually have found the best fuel so far has been Stoneyfield yogurt smoothies. They go down easy, and have enough sugar to give me energy, but enough fat and protein to last for a while.

Lori, those smoothies sound like a great after food, but I'd be puking on that during a race.

Ran 3+ this morning. Getting back on the bike tomorrow after a minor crash last weekend.

Anne

GU's aren't bad if you like sweet things. I just bought a bunch of them because they were on sale, but I've also tried them before. They gave out Gu's at the Chicago Tri last year.

Speaking of which I finally bought my entry, so I'll be doing the International Distance again. This year is just "To Finish" again because of my weight I don't run all that fast.

"Muse, how is your training going?"

Paperc -

Thanks for asking. It's going well I'm back to running again. I did 30mins today... fairly slow because I was instructed to stay in zone 3 HR so for me that's about 4.3mph. I like working with the group so far. They don't train as much as I'm used to though so for weight loss purposes I'm adding in walking. I still want to lose another 20 or so before my Tri.

The womens only races are nice because there is less of an intimidation factor, but I'm sure you'll have fun which ever you pick.

My first tri is in a couple of weeks. I feel confident I will be strong enough to finish strong for me, but I'm having trouble with what to wear. That's what I'm stuck on. That's what I can't stop thinking about. I need SUPPORT for the run.

Geranium, for mine I wore a sports bra under my swimsuit, then layered on sweat-wicking pants and a shirt. It was cool and rainy during mine though so I wore long pants. The only thing I know for sure is that if you don't have something covering your thighs, you can get pretty chafed on the bike and run.

I was at the running store getting shoes for DH the other day and I saw their tri shorts and tri tops. I was seriously tempted, but at $75 for just the shorts it wasn't worth it at the time. Still fretting about which August tri to do (if any). I think I might stop going to bootcamp next month and go back to running, biking, and swimming on my non-weights days to prepare.

that's kind of the heart of it. I know what would be the easiest (go to REI, Buy all new stuff), but I feel I have all ready invested so much money in something I haven't even done yet. I'm over thinking it I suppose. Congrats on getting your DH on the bike. Mine is really athletic, but it's sometimes hard for me to get him to join me. He is extra obsessed with mountaineering lately, so it's hard for me to pull him into a simple ride or run when he could be off climbing mountains. I think I talked him into an 8k fun run at the end of July though. That should be , well fun......

That's exactly it, Geranium. I spent so much money on running shoes, gear for winter training, bike supplies, and swim gear before the triathlon that it felt like it would be ridiculous to spend another $150 on clothes!

SGeranium those Danksin Tri-suits are pretty flexible as far as sizing. I wore mine last summer and lost about 35-40lbs while training and was only starting to get to a point were it seemed a bit big. If you buy one size down it will probably last awhile.

Other then that you could wear sports bras that look less like bras and then just slip on a shirt for the bike/run over top.

For both my Tris I've just done a tri-top and capri running pants (also danskin) going under the wetsuit and threw a shirt over the top for the bike/run. I only use my tri-suit to swim in practice as little sense as that makes, and the capris make me more comfortable since my legs sag because of my weight loss.

moments after I order what I think will be the missing pieces of my outfit I checked the race website and find it's been delayed. FOR THREE MONTHS. I couldn't be more disappointed. I've been working towards this goal for months and I'm ready to go. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Nothing to do but carry on I suppose, chin up and all that. I'm going to spend some time trying to find a race or two to fill in the gap and keep it interesting.

That sucks was that the Danskin/Trek or whatever they are calling it these days (I know they are 2 different races now)

At least you have more time to train!

Hey triathletes!

Body Glide. Lots and lots of Body Glide. Everywhere. For chafing. Don't be shy with the stuff.

As life gets busy, I post less. Sorry. Still training hard for the big race in October. My bike is really improving to pre-kid levels and my swim is back where it should be too. If only I could get it together running. I'm hoping it is the heat. It's often 80 deg at 5 am here this time of year, and I could just be feeling that.

Anne

The Danskin is impossible to get into here. I need to change my schedule around a bit. What do your training schedules look like?

Body Glide: Does it dry out? I bought some last year and there doesn't seem to be much "glide" to it. I put it on my neck for the wetsuit and I wasn't sure it was even rubbing on. Wondering if I just bought a bad one or its properties are just subtle. Someone mentioned they have it in a gel now too or something?

Training: Not sure if you were asking me, but mine is dictated by the tri group I joined. She has us mostly doing 2x each sport for 45mins-1hr a day. Way less then I was doing last summer on my 3x Olympic plan (from beginner triathlete.com) I also was using more intense training zones. When she wants us to "Run" in Heart rate zone 2 I have to walk to keep my HR that low.