Excellent! Keep working on your freestyle, but mix it up with some breaststroke while you are training. Getting that coach to look at your stroke will help too.

I barely kick when I'm swimming distance. Working on a more productive kick is one of those things I should do, but then again for tri swimming, there is something to be said for saving your legs for the bike and run.

Rest day for me today!

Anne

I got in a run on Sunday. I'm planning to run Tues & Thurs this week, and the Saturday is my last tri of the season. The kids have been high(er) maintenance this week, so it's been a little rough.

Anne

Anne, good luck on your sprint triathlon!

I had a great workout day Saturday! I had to postpone Friday's run to Saturday since it was raining Friday, but I got myself out there Saturday morning. Well, okay, sort of -- I drove to the gym since I had a swim planned and ran on the track. This was my first 20-minute run in the couch to 5k program, and it felt great. I'm clocking about 12 minutes/mile, which I'm pretty proud of. If I can do a 5k at that pace I'll meet my PR from before my knee injury.

I also did my planned swim after I finished running (and stretching)! I am really amazed at how much improvement I'm seeing with swimming each time I go. Saturday I did two warmup laps of backstroke, then one lap freestyle, one lap breaststroke, one lap freestyle, and a cooldown lap of backstroke. I paused for 15 seconds between lengths and 30 seconds between laps, but other than that I felt really good, and probably could have kept swimming longer.

I am so excited about this triathlon. I really feel proud of myself for the work I've done so far, and I've only been at it for 3 weeks. I went to my local running store yesterday and spent waaay too much $$ on winter gear. Hopefully this investment will keep me warm in the snow and ice so I can run outside all winter. I got this shirt made out of this crazy new fabric -- it actually heats up when it gets wet, so instead of getting cold and clammy when you sweat, you warm up instead!

Jessica, it is great to hear you so excited about your race!

I did my run yesterday. My knee is yelling at me today though, which makes me a little nervous. Hopefully it is just tweaked instead of damaged. I think it is still lose from the pregnancy and gets itself into whacky positions--sometimes it feels better after a run (or bike or swim) than before, which I attribute to being bumped back into place. Of course, I'm perfectly willing to accept that may be wishful thinking, but I do better if I think positively about it.

Anne

Anne, have you tried wrapping your knee or wearing a flexible brace while you run? It might help hold it in place until it heals completely.

I have a question for the seasoned triathletes . . . what do you wear? As of right now, I have a Speedo swimsuit which is fine for swimming, and then I have good running gear (including sports bra) for running/biking. I'm a little concerned about the time it will take me to change from my swimsuit into my run/bike clothes, because there is no way I can do the run/bike without a sports bra. OTOH I don't want to spend a lot of money on special clothes, and my goal is just to finish, not speed, but still. If I wore the sports bra under my swimsuit would that work? Or would I end up freezing as soon as I got outside? (the swim is in a pool, and the race is in April so it may be a little chilly out)

Jessica, there is special tri clothing that can go through an entire race. I recommend trisports.com for good selection and service (disclaimer: the owners are friends of mine). This is a good time of year for the end of season discounts. It is really really important to get clothes that can deal with extreme moisture, because, well, you are wet for lots of the race and chafing can be an issue. Load up on Bodyglide too while you're at it. For my last race, where none of my clothes are really fitting me, I swam in two water friendly sports bras, and tri shorts, threw on a jersey in T1, and wore all that out on the bike and run. I'll do the same this weekend.

I haven't found a knee brace or wrap style that is working for me. Today's issue seems to be a tendency to hyperextend (ouch) rather than a runner's knee or IT band thing, so as long as I'm paying attention with active muscular support, no worries. We'll see what new surprise there is tomorrow.

Anne

I did my sprint tri today. Ouch! Actually the swim and the bike went pretty well, but it heated up here as Arizona can, and I was completely fried by the time the run came around. I didn't quite come in last, but close. I did finish, and that is the most important thing right now.

Next up is to try to do some run focus training for a while, play on the mountain bike and start some strength training again. I have NRLW for women coming on Tuesday, so that should give me something to think about.

Anne

Anne, congrats on finishing your tri!

I discovered that I can actually put on my sports bra over my swimsuit, so I think I'll be okay with just layering stuff on. I don't really want to spend the money on tri-specific clothes after I just dropped about $350 on winter running gear (ssh, don't tell DH!).

You guys were right about my bike seat height -- I bumped it up one inch and everything was a million times easier. I biked around 3.8 miles Saturday and it was pretty easy, although my hamstrings are a little sore now.

Hey everyone! Thanks for the invite Paperclippy!

So I registered for a mini-tri in June! Boy, do I have my work cut out for my sagging butt!

Completed week 6 day 3 on the C25K but haven't been in a pool to actually swim since high school (maybe earlier!) and don't even own a bike! OUCH!

Yeah, so sorry if this has already been talked about but do you guys train on the bikes in a gym or actually outside? Outside in Wisconsin is kind of out of the question but then how should I be setting the speed and such on the indoor bikes at the gym? I also have to find out the length of the pool at the gym....which brings up another question that I did read a little on in the start of this thread. I don't want to ruin my hair. Should I be wearing a cap? I feel kind of silly wearing a cap but I probably should, hu? Hope this doesn't sound TOO girly, but any advice on hair shampoo to use if you are in a pool often? What kind of caps do you get and where can you purchase them? Sorry ladies...I'm just all excited now. :)

Hi Jamie, welcome!!! :D I hadn't been in a pool to swim since way before high school, but I'm feeling much better about it now. :) I bought all my gear (swimsuit, goggles, swim cap) at Dick's sporting goods. I bought all Speedo brand because I feel like they're pretty reliable. The tri I registered for requires everyone to wear a swim cap so I figured I might as well get started right away to get used to it!

I'm doing a mix of indoor and outdoor for biking. I think as it gets colder I'll be indoors more often on the stationary bike. I'll leave it up to the experienced ladies to answer your questions about biking!

Anne, want to make a deal again? I'm supposed to go to the pool tomorrow evening, how about you?

I'm so nervous about going to the pool. I actually went to the gym I have access to this morning and did week 7 day 1 on C25K. Gosh it felt good today. I was with a gal pal who I always considered in shape and I was all over her with the running. For the first time in my life I could run "better" then someone else. Her asking me questions on how I'm doing it and all that just made it all worth it. I feel like a million bucks today! But yeah...I'm nervous about the pool...getting into a swimsuit, and all of that...I just need to get over it, I know, but it didn't happen today. :(

Sorry, Jessica, I didn't even read this until just now. I hope you went to the pool. I'm officially declaring this my off-season and am now just committed to running until January. Taking the time off to reacquaint myself with lifting. I'm playing on the bike some too as time permits.

JamieJo, I bike almost exclusively outside, and when I do come in, I'm on a trainer with my road bike--it is a sort of bike treadmill. That way my biomechanics are all pretty constant and the training is directly relevant instead of close. Fewer aches and pains that way. Maybe you and Jessica should make the swim pact. I understand that putting a bit of conditioner on your hair before the swim cap will help protect it, and there are special swimming/tri shampoos that are supposed to help remove chlorine, but I never really bothered. Just cap and standard wash for me. I have short hair though, so if it does get a little damaged, it doesn't last long.

Anne

I didn't make it to the pool last night - I was exhausted from a rough day and my wrists were aching from too much typing at work. :( I will definitely go tomorrow though. Planning on my run tonight! I could use the run to wind down from some of my stress at work.

I went to my tri club meeting last night. Along with other things, we had a presentation from my coach on swimming technique. Her philosophy is a lot different than most coaches. Breathe often, kick to maintain good body position, and make sure your wrists are always below your elbows throughout your stroke, and the rest will take care of itself. This is for triathlon swimming--pure swim competition is a different beast.

Anyway, there are apparently LOTS of swim technique video clips out there on YouTube. We watched a couple last night.

I watched a couple swim videos on YouTube a few days ago too. One of my friends does tri's and she said for swimming faster freestyle that your stroke should only bring your hand down to your waist before you reach out of the water again. I don't quite get how that works -- I thought you were supposed to bring it all the way to full extension. Maybe that is a difference between pure swim (what I was taught in swim lessons when I was a kid) and tri swimming.

Last Saturday I did my swim and then went upstairs in the gym to do the stationary bike. It was tough but doable (I did 250yard swim and 4mi bike). I doubt I could have gotten off that bike and run more than 10 feet though. Tomorrow night is my next scheduled swim -- I am going to actually go this week! I've been falling down on the job -- my one rest day turned into three. I got in a run this morning though.

Oh, definitely go for full extension on your stroke. My coach has me work drills for this!

Still sore from lifting on Monday. Ouch! I did run yesterday, and it was unpleasant. I remember now why I quit lifting. It will get better so I'm sticking to it for a bit, but geez!

Anne

:sigh: I have to bail on my Thursday night swim tonight. I've had a massive stomachache since about noon and can't even sit up straight. :p Hopefully I'll be okay to run tomorrow morning.

enough calories to train while still losing weight
 

Hi, I apologize if this issue has been addressed elsewhere (or if it should go elsewhere), but I have had a hard time figuring out how many calories to eat when I am training and still lose weight while having enough energy. I realize there are charts that set forth how many calories we burn per hour doing each type of exercise (biking, running, swimming, etc.) but I don't think they apply to the extreme situation when someone is training for a marathon or ironman. So I'd love to hear if any of you have had personal experience with this where you have trained for either a 1/2 marathon, marathon or 1/2 ironman, etc., while dieting and how you determined how to balance weight loss and energy? Thanks!

artichokegirl,

I actually have a hard time training for a long distance endurance event and keeping weight loss going at the same time. I get bad bad cravings for sugary stuff if I try to restrict calories too much. I do OK up to about a half marathon level, and after that, whammo. On the flip side, weight maintenance is practically a no-brainer for me with that kind of training.

Anne

Artichoke, sorry I don't have any advice, I'm not up to that level yet. Good luck though!

Dropping in to say hi . . . I'm super-busy at work, so I haven't been around 3FC much. My triathlon training is going well -- I actually swam 11 laps (=550 yards) at the pool Sunday, including my warmup and cooldown. Yay! I am confident that I can do the 400m swim in my sprint tri in April with no problems.

On the other hand, I'm still taking a 30 second break between laps (although no more breaks between lengths), and I have to alternate different strokes. I've been doing backstroke for warmup and cooldown since it is way easier for me, and then alternating freestyle and breaststroke for my workout. I'll keep working on freestyle -- I'm not sure why it is so much harder for me than breaststroke. A friend of mine who does tri's is going to meet me at the gym Thursday to help me out, yay! As far as I can tell my biggest problem is that my feet tend to sink when I'm doing freestyle.

Run status: I'm currently covering 2.6 miles in 35 minutes, which is a 5 min warmup walk, 25 min run, and 5 min cooldown walk. According to online mapping software, it looks like I'm going 2 miles in the 25 min run. A 12:30 pace is really good for me so I'm happy with that. Now the trick is getting up to the full 5k.

Bike status: I admit, I'm slacking off. I did do 4 miles on the stationary bike a week ago, but I haven't biked since then. Maybe I can actually get outside this weekend if it's not pouring rain again.

Thanks for your input Wndranne.

Jessica, sounds like you are doing great on the swimming!

artichokegirl, sorry I couldn't be more help.

I'm dealing with a possible stress fracture now. Just got the knee to cooperate and now this. I'm not amused.

Looks like I may be rethinking my run-focus winter. I'm getting the foot checked out on Wednesday and then probably figuring out something at the Y for swimming. Biking is sometimes outlawed as well, so I'll have to see what they say.

Anne

congrades on the training for your first tri! my family does a tri every year on mothers day at disney ... i unfortantly am the cheering squad the packer unpacker and bike hauler lol... thats what happens when you cant swim and the gym you belong to refuses to teach you lol... but (they are all females that do this race) they all wore unisuits.. they swam in them and ran and biked in them they said that it made it a 100 times better and easier.. i know you didnt want to spend more $$ and just wanted to finish but it really saved them the only thing they had to do in trans was put their helment ,number, and shoes on and away they went... but anyway just wanted to say i think you all are great for doing it and keep up the good work :carrot:

Anne - Oh no! It has really been one thing after another for you. :hug: I hope it's not too bad of a fracture (or that it's not a fracture at all)!

Today's workout: swam 2 warmup laps, 10 laps, 2 cooldown laps, which is 700 yards. Woohoo! Freestyle is still a b*tch for me though. I wasn't able to swim two freestyle laps without having to take a break. 2 miles on the stationary bike and some strengthening finished up my workout. I was falling down on the job this week because I have been working lots of overtime, but hopefully things will calm down this coming week!

Bikes
 

I am shopping for a bike- A road bike that I could eventually ride in a tri. Any and all suggestions are welcomed. What bike do you have? Do you love it? Wish you had purchased another brand? Problems with your bike?

I ride a Specialized, and I like it a lot. I think the important thing though, is to get a bike that fits you and that you are comfortable with. Check out your local bike shop, and tell them what type of riding you'd like to do and they'll help you find something that works for you. They can also show you what adjustments and maintenance you'll need to do. Finally, getting a good saddle is very important and it is a very personal thing--what works for me won't work for you. Some shops have a generous exchange policy on them, since you have to ride a few miles to really know.

Anne

RunningRN, I'm afraid I have no advice as I'm just a beginner and I'm riding my hybrid road/mountain bike still.

Speaking of bike riding, after getting home from Thanksgiving Saturday afternoon, I had a great 5.5-mile bike ride. It's a good thing I went then too, because Sunday morning everything was covered in snow! :eek: This week's plan: 2.25 miles on my runs, 450yd swims, and a 6-mile bike ride.

I had a dream about the triathlon the other day. I dreamed that I had forgotten my bike helmet, and then when I got in the pool for the swim, the pool was only as long as me! :lol:

I'm here. Bummed about the foot. May be a stress fracture, may be a strain. I can't run for a while.

I got out on my mountain bike this weekend, and remembered that, oh yeah, I'm a coward. But I did more on the way back than the way out, so I suppose that is progress.

I also joined the Y so I can swim, now that the city has closed most of the pools for the winter.

Elliptical tomorrow. Pseudo-running...

Anne

Anne, any news on the foot?

I finally hit a rhythm swimming yesterday. I managed to swim six laps breaststroke without stopping, and four freestyle. It felt great! After I got out of the pool I did 7 miles on the stationary bike.

I only ran once last week, thanks to bad weather mostly. Hopefully this week I'll do better -- planning on a run this afternoon.

Hi All,

I was reading the threads and wanted to pass along something I learned when training for the triathlon. Maybe I'm naturally bouyant but I hadn't swam in 18 years and went and said "I'll get in the pool and see if I can swim 1 mile." I decided I wasn't going to care how fast i swam or whether I alternated between swimming breast stroke one lap and freestyle the next, etc. and I wasn't going to care if I wanted to take breaks, etc. I was just going to go out and see if I could swim. Well, I did it. It really was just about an hour and a few minutes, and I swam more slowly than if I were walking really slowly. I think there's a lot of pressure to start out swimming fast. I could only swim about 5 minutes if I went fast and freestyle. Anyway, please be careful and don't push yourself too much, but I provide this advice as just one more opinion. For me, it gave me a sense of accomplishment. I thought, I can swim that far now without training just think how good I'll be in a few months. I did the same thing with running. When I tried to run when I was in my early 20s, I'd go out and try to run 8 minute miles and get discouraged because I could barely make it 1/4 mile. Then when I was in my thirties, I decided, "what the heck, I think I'll just go out and walk/run for an hour and see how far I go and enjoy being outside." I started out walking more of the hour than running and slowly worked my way up to an hour of running -- 12+ minute miles but it was an hour of my shuffling along.

Oh -- another question too, are your triathlons in open water or in pools?

Artichoke, thanks for the advice! I went and swam half a mile yesterday and felt great. The girl in the lane next to me must have lapped me five times, but that's okay. My goal is just to finish, not to be fast.

My triathlon is a beginner's tri so it is in a pool to make it easier for first-timers. If I do okay with this one I'm considering signing up for two more sprint triathlons this summer which are in a reservoir (so it's open water, but no waves).

I think I'm making good progress. I can swim the full distance I need to for my tri (400m) either freestyle or breaststroke, although I can't seem to do it freeestyle without warming up breaststroke first. I can swim twice the distance without any problems getting tired, so I'm really encouraged by that. And to think, I thought swimming would be the hard part! I ran 2.5 miles Friday, which was tough but I did it. My longest bike ride is still 7 miles but I haven't really been working on the biking much.

swimming
 

Hi Papperclippy,

That's terrific! You're inspiring! You're motivating me to get back into it. I actually haven't been swimming in a year or so and, after writing that post, I went out and wanted to see if I was giving random, unhelpful advice or if it was possibly useful. I am still a little worried that my post will discourage people rather than encourage but I think my point is that swimming doesn't need to be intimidating. We all can probably walk 30 minutes and, so if we all take it really slowly, we all probably can swim on and off for a bit. Another problem I have with both running and swimming is that I sometimes get bored. One way I've dealt with the boredom with swimming is to treat it like yoga or meditation and to focus on my breathing. I breath out when I'm underwater and take a breath when I lift my head (I use to try to do both when I was out of water.) I also try to think about something that's been bothering me in my life and try to think through it. Last night, I was able to swim 35 minutes.

In the summer, my town has open water swims every thursday at our reservoir. I think it is 1/2 a mile??? (the fastest swimmers finish in 18 minutes!) and it is two laps so people can get out after the first lap (1/4 mile). It is a great way to get use to swimming in open water.

Bumping up this thread again. How's everyone doing?

I got a new waterproof watch with a stopwatch and heart rate monitor and I'm excited about it. So far I've learned that when swimming or running my HR gets to about 155-160, which I think is about 80% of my calculated maximum. Haven't biked since getting the watch.

I'm currently running 2.75 miles and swimming about a half mile. Biking is falling off track but I'm confident I'll be able to pick it up. Right now I'm focusing on the running so that I'll be able to run the whole 5k.

I got new running shoes yesterday and it was funny because the girl at the running store asked me if I was training for anything. Turns out she's training for the same tri! Her husband is actually in charge of it.

Still here. Had a long string of illnesses (mostly the kids) and injury (mostly mine-possible stress fracture), and am just now getting it back together.

Started easing into running again and am on 2nd week of a C25K build up. I'm also lifting weights. I joined the Y so I could swim, but apparently am afraid of the cold.

Still planning to do the Olympic distance tri in late May/early June, but now putting off race specific training until beginning of March so I can get my base built up a bit. Racing on a zero base just isn't a lot of fun.

Anne

Last week I missed both my swims, and when I went swimming last night I could really tell I'd been slacking. :mad: I still made my 1/2 mile swim like I'd planned, but it was tough!

My friend who does tri's who got me into it in the first place is going to start swimming with me, so I'll have a buddy to keep me on track. I'm excited! Plus tomorrow I scheduled myself for a trial run of doing all three events in a row for the first time. I'm planning on a 200m swim, 5 mile bike, and 1.5 mile run. The transitions won't be as "real" because the pool in my gym has a separate area and locker room and everything from the gym, so once I finish my swim I have to get all my stuff out of the locker room and lug it up the stairs to use the stationary bike. Going from bike to run should be pretty "real" except for the fact that I'll be on a stationary bike.

I did it! 200m swim, 5 mile bike, and 1.5 mile run, all in a row. :woohoo: I didn't manage to do the whole swim freestyle although I did more than half of it that way. Of course I got a huge bruise on my foot where I accidentally kicked the lane divider. :mad: It took me 8 mins for the swim portion, 19:30 for the bike (level 6 on stationary bike), and about 19 mins for the run. Total time was about 59:30, since getting from the pool to the stationary bike took me a whopping 12 minutes.

Things I learned:
* Yes, I will be able to put my sports bra on over my swimsuit and be comfortable, so I don't have to bother buying a tri suit or having to totally change in the first transition.
* My heart rate monitoring watch doesn't work well when it's wet on the side that's touching my arm.
* I could probably have done a little more distance than I did, but I don't think I could have done the whole distance of the sprint triathlon.

My plan is to do another trial triathlon at the end of February, which will be 3/4 the distances of the actual one.

Jessica, you are doing great!

I'm so slacking on the tri front. Biking is killing my knee for some strange reason, and I just got my ears pierced and can't swim for about 4 weeks. I'm back on the running though, in week 3 of a C25K build. Weird how running is fine for the knees and biking isn't.

I'm still hoping to do my June race, but my immediate goals are 1) to get back to 5K running distance since running is the hardest discipline for me, and 2) to get a few more of these postpartum pounds off. I'll decide in March about the June tri.

http://www.trisportsracing.com/

Ah, it is in May this year.

Anne

Okay, I'm reviving this thread in the hopes that now that it's spring there are more people training!

Anne, how is your knee doing? Are you still planning to do the June race?

I'm starting to get really nervous as the tri draws closer. I have a feeling I'll be the very last person to finish! Also the more I think about it the more questions I have. Do I have to bring my own towel or do they provide them? Do I *really* need to know how to fix a flat tire? Is it likely that I'll get one? I have a hybrid mountain/road bike so my tires are pretty tough. Will there be water/sports drinks/food in the transition areas? Are there bathrooms? None of this stuff is on their website, but they are having a first-timers meeting the day before the race so hopefully it will get answered then.

I am, I am !!!!
 

I signed up for my first tri. It's July 5. This week I need to get in the pool. It's been a while. It's my first one, so I just want to finish, but doing a sprint tri has been a goal of mine for a long time. This is the year.