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!!! 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. Hopefully I'll be okay to run tomorrow morning.

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.