Chicago is too unpredictable with weather and snow on the ground so I'm biking indoors on a bike trainer. I don't really have cold weather riding gear either yet.

SGeranium I keep meaning to make a blog, but not yet. I do have a workout log on BeginnerTriathlete.com under the same username and I've sorta semi-been blogging there. If I make one I'll let you guys know. My first group workout went well. Our first group swim is tomorrow morning (At 6am! Eeep! I have to get up at like 4am. Wah)

Ideal: the last thing you need to do is add another thing to do to your list. IE a blog. That said I would totally love reading along your journey. Very gutsy my friend. I'll have to peek on beginnertriathlete. I joined a mentor group so I have started to poke around there from time to time.

Hello ladies. I am really excited to have found a thread for triathlon discussion. I signed up for my first one yesterday. June 13, Naperville, IL women's triathlon. It is a sprint. Any advice? Also, how did training effect your weightloss?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by jellofer2:
Hello ladies. I am really excited to have found a thread for triathlon discussion. I signed up for my first one yesterday. June 13, Naperville, IL women's triathlon. It is a sprint. Any advice? Also, how did training effect your weightloss?

Thanks.

I've heard good things about that Tri Jello... The womens only Tris are really nice to do for first timers. I did the Danskin one up in Wisconsin a few years ago as my first. The environment tends to be very supportive and in my opinion a little less intimidating!

Lets see advice. Training plans are a good idea. You can get free ones on BeginnerTriathlete.com. Do you run yet? I'd start learning now even if your training plan won't kick off for awhile but don't fee like you have to run the whole thing if you can't. Have you read the book "The Slow Fat Triathlete"? It's great...

Tri Training has been awesome for my weight loss I went from 240 to 186 the 7 months I trained for my first. With obviously some very careful calorie watching... but as long as you behave with your food the exercise helps the weight loss quite a bit.

Welcome Jello! I agree with Muse, check out beginnertriathlete for training plans. If you don't run at all I would suggest also looking into the Couch to 5k program (you can google for it).

Personally, since I am in the maintenance phase of weight loss, I actually gained a little weight during training. I wouldn't let that put you off though. I was already at a "normal" weight and already working out 5 days a week, so I mostly added muscle. You should be aware though that you may need to modify your diet a little bit (either content or timing) so that you have enough energy for your workouts.

Hey jellofer2 did you pick out a training program?

Most of the ones for Sprint Tris are 12 weeks or so... so you have plenty of time. I was just curious!

I'm currently on week 3... of I think 32? Seems far off at this point but the weeks are passing quickly. Enjoying my training so far. We are doing our first bike LT Threshold test tonight.

Hope everyone is well!

Welcome Jello. I have a lovely auntie and some very nice cousins who live in Naperville:carrot:. Good luck and have fun with your training. BT has a lot of great plans.

Idealmuse: i found you on BT I hope that isn't to weird. I'm really rooting for you /inspired by what you are doing.

Well I think I found my first race of the season. I heard it's a good one. it's in between sprint and oly distance. 1/2 mile , 21mile, 5 mile. it's in June. and their race site says they strive to run the least expensive , most organized race in the state. Inexpensive and organized: my true love.

It turns out one of the people who teaches spin at my gym used to be pretty competitive in sprint distance tris in the area. She offered to help me out with some transition training and other junk. We started talking because she complimented my form after class. I'm such an easy get. What? my form is great? tell me everything.... You're my new best friend. Especially since I've been reading about and working on my form lately.

I'm going to run a half marathon this spring. Running has become my new favorite except for when I hate it. :dizzy: I'm inspired by all of you guys to find some swim classes, so that's on the agenda oh and I haven't lost a pound in months so I should probably do something about that. Exercising is the easy part for me. .....

Originally Posted by SGeranium:
Idealmuse: i found you on BT I hope that isn't to weird. I'm really rooting for you /inspired by what you are doing.

Well I think I found my first race of the season. I heard it's a good one. it's in between sprint and oly distance. 1/2 mile , 21mile, 5 mile. it's in June. and their race site says they strive to run the least expensive , most organized race in the state. Inexpensive and organized: my true love.

It turns out one of the people who teaches spin at my gym used to be pretty competitive in sprint distance tris in the area. She offered to help me out with some transition training and other junk.

Running has become my new favorite except for when I hate it. :dizzy: I'm inspired by all of you guys to find some swim classes, so that's on the agenda oh and I haven't lost a pound in months so I should probably do something about that. Exercising is the easy part for me. .....

Hah, no that's fine. Everyone is welcome to peek in on my since I've been too lazy to start the blog... I actually saw your banana post SG. Interesting replies you got there ha!

Sounds like a really cool race you found. That's sweet that you found someone to help you out!

Running is a love/hate thing for me too. Because my weight is sorta high for a runner it still doesn't come easy for me, but I do like the way it makes me feel. Exercise too is the easy part for me... I weight the same as I did around Thanksgiving if that makes you feel better. I kept going up and down 5-10lbs although now I'm in crack-down mode... should be headed down again.

I swam 25 laps yesterday! Woohoo, go me. I think I will definitely be improving my swim time this year over last year. Still slacking on the running and biking. Winter, aren't you over yet?? I really hate running on the treadmill. It is just. So. Boring.

25 laps is fantastic PC congrats to you and your hard work.

Thanks Geranium!

It's finally looking like spring here and I got out on my bike for the first time of the season Saturday. All I can say is my butt is extremely sore! :lol: I have to get used to the saddle again.

Does anyone have any tips for learning to bike faster? Should I do intervals like I do for running?

I think intervals are the way to go to help increase your speed. I was reading the March issue of Bicycle magazine and that's what they recommended. Look on line for the art it might be there. It was about plateau busting .

25. Sweet. Nice Job!

First outdoor ride of the season on this week... it was nearly 70 degrees and now a day later it's snowing... Ah Spring in Chicago.

Anyone else getting outside yet?

Intervals do help. We've been doing both strength (low cadence to build more muscles) intervals and fast intervals of 100+rpm to get our legs used to peddling at a more ideal rpm range.

Colorado weather is pretty unpredictable too (60s all last week then 6" of snow last night), but lately it's been super nice so I've been getting a few rides in. Last week my Vermont friend convinced me to go out in the sleet/snow. With enough layers, it was actually a really sweet and surreal ride. But I'll take those 70 degrees any day!

As for increasing speed, for my level of fitness, getting any ride in where I feel tired at the end is enough for me. I've been following a training plan that eventually calls for hills and intervals, but for now, I'm just trying to get miles under my belt.

Sorry I'm not of any more use.

paperclippy - I totally understand your boredom with treadmills. I tend to avoid them like the plague not only cuz of the boredom, but because I hate the pounding sound they make when I stomp down on them. I swear, I feel like the whole gym can hear me trying to run on that thing. So instead, I just don't go for a run when it's gross outside. I know, not the best solution at all, but I'm learning to layer and mix up my training to reserve those crappy days for swimming. It's not perfect, but for the most part it's working out. And now that spring is here, there are much fewer bad days.

Muse, I like your new avatar!

Thanks for the tips guys. I actually looked up some info on cycling online before my ride Saturday and realized I've been doing it totally wrong this whole time. ( :lol: Didn't I say the same thing about swimming a couple months ago? When will I find out I've been running wrong too?) I had been pedaling more slowly at the highest gears on my bike instead of pedaling faster at lower gears. So when I went out Saturday I switched to the lower gears, tried to pedal faster, and ended up going a little bit faster than I usually do. Score! I will definitely start incorporating intervals next, now that I know what I'm doing a little more.

I had a funny yay/boo moment yesterday. At the pool I swam a race distance to see how I've progressed. I did 550 yards, which is about 500m, in 15:38. At first, I was like, :woohoo: because in the race last August I did that same distance in 23:21. But then I was like :( because I looked it up and realized that even with that much of an improvement, 15:38 will still put me at the back of the pack. Sigh. I was hoping for a middle-of-the-pack speed. Still, going from 23:21 to 15:38 is a pretty big improvement. If I can improve my bike and run times as much I'll be in good shape.

Which one of you was it who is doing the half ironman? How's the training going?

P.C. - My swim speed is similar... it is sorta back of the pack so I know what you mean, but depending on the race it's not the way way way back. Just keep at it... eventually we have to get better right? I think that's great progress you've made!

Peddling slower isn't always bad it's good way to build strength, but your right my understanding is it saves the legs and is a better use of energy to peddle faster in an easier gear for most of your rides.

I was/am the one doing the half IM in July (and full IM in Sept) training is going well so far... We haven't really ramped out our workouts yet, so it's not too hard yet. I've been training with my group for about 7 weeks now (gosh really? wow!) and I enjoy it. Although we are starting to ramp up the times just a bit. For example: I did a 1.5hr run this week and a 43mi bike (was only supposed to do 35 oops)

Aug - At least you have that nice CO scenery! Living in Chicago I had to invest in a treadmill for the wintertime. I don't mind it too much I just turn the TV on to pass the time.

How's everyone doing? Is your weather warmed up enough to train outside? It's been gorgeous here the past few days, but I've been taking it easy this week because DH and I are running a 5k this weekend. I haven't actually run 5k in a couple months but I've been doing 2.5 miles so it shouldn't be too bad. Hoping to beat 36 minutes this time.

Muse, a 1.5 hour run and a 43 mi bike sounds like a hard ramped up workout to me! :lol: I am totally impressed with your dedication to train for a half IM and an IM.

I think if I improve a lot at my sprint distance the next couple years, maybe, MAYBE, I might try to train for an Olympic. Or I might change my mind entirely and go for a different sport -- after all, I used to be into just running, then a friend said, "Oh, you should try triathlon" so I ended up here.

Random question -- do any of you have tips for how to avoid hand and wrist pain while biking? I have tendinitis in my wrists from repetitive stress injury (from typing at work) and after about 30 minutes on the bike, my wrists and hands start to hurt. My bike is an old road/mountain hybrid with flat handlebars.

paperclippy -

How did the 5k go?

As far as the bike thing... I had the same issue when I was on a Hybrid/Moutain Bike. Gel Gloves only helped so much. I have a feeling my bike was just oversized and my core not strong enough.

When I switched to my road bike 2 years ago I had no further issues. I've done about 3.5 hours now of riding straight and still so far so good.

If you plan on sticking with your current bike I'd go talk to some folks at the bike shop. They may have some better suggestions for you.

Training is going well here... I'm on a build week and next week is our easy week. I'm like 150days out now from Ironman. So far I'm holding up well but the real long sessions are still to come. We are retesting our bike fitness next week so I'll get to see if I've progressed any.

Thinking about doing a organized ride that's this weekend. I've never done one before, but thought a chance of scenery might be nice.

Too bad we don't have more 3FC hanging out here in our little thread.

Muse, the 5k was good! 35:57, a new personal record for me. I'm schedule for another one this Saturday but I caught a cold so I probably won't be very fast (if I manage to run it at all).

I've been thinking about getting a road bike, but I'm not sure I want to invest the money in it.

Good luck with the bike fitness test!

Hey guys, I made us a new thread: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/exer...ason-chat.html

Maybe we will get some more chat going!