Keep "tri"-ing triathlon chat!
 

:swim: :bike2: :running:

So now that I'm committed to train for my first triathlon (a sprint), I thought it might be fun to have a triathlon chat thread, since I know I'm not the only one! Please join in if you're even considering triathlon training.

I'm still working on putting together a training schedule. My triathlon is on April 19th, and it's a 400meter swim, 10mile bike, and 5k run. I haven't swam a lap since I was about 10 years old so I think swimming is going to be the biggest challenge. I'm planning to hop in the pool this coming week though! I'm also still in recovery from knee tendinitis so I need to take it slow. Luckily I have lots of time!

How about the rest of you?

My 'training' schedule is a bit out of whack now that I'm officially training for a 5k run. So I'm supposed to run 4 days/week. I swim 2-3 days/week. I lift 2-3 days/week. I need to figure how biking fits in and just do a bit of juggling.

Paperclippy -- I have a post in my blog about the swim training I did for triathlon if you're interested... :)

What a good idea for a thread!

Right now I am focusing so much on training for my half-marathon, my biking has gone out the window. But I could totally bike 10 miles right now--maybe not quickly, but I could do it.

Which leaves me with swimming. Our pool is now 72 degrees and that is ***cold*** for me. I hate it when it is less than 89 degrees (yes, I am a wuss). At any rate, we are closing it soon, so I will need to come up with an alternative swimming plan. I do have some choices. The high school by my house has an indoor pool and early am hours for a reasonable fee. There is also our local YMCA with an indoor pool and I am encouraging my 8 yo to pick up a sport....maybe swimming, maybe basketball but both at the Y, so that is another possibility.

Midwife, our community pool is closed for the season too. I'm looking at a couple different indoor pools. They're about the same price ($3.50/visit at one, $4 at the other). I think I'm going to go to the one in the new fitness center our city runs because then I can pay like $1 extra and use their treadmills and stationary bikes (and indoor track, etc) too, for when I am up to doing swim + run or swim + bike at the same time, or when it's totally freezing and nasty outside.

Josephine - thanks! I think I'll try just hopping in the pool once and getting a baseline before doing a training plan, but I'll look at the total immersion program if I just flop around like a dead fish. ;)

I joined a swim center which wasn't exactly cheap but since I joined as a couple, it came to a little over $200/person/year. They also do have a small workout room. Some of their hours are weird, especially weekends but it works well.

I started doing tris in 2004 after I overtrained myself into a stress fracture by running too much.

I've been mostly off exercise for a year due to a moderately complicated pregnancy, and my comeback tri (a sprint) is scheduled for October 12. I haven't been running much since my right knee apparently unhooked itself during said pregnancy and is slowly knitting itself back together, but I'm good for the swim and the bike, and there is no shame in walking the "run". This is shaping up to be a personal worst time for the course, but it should be fun and it certainly is motivating. I'll be happy to finish at 4 months postpartum and, sigh, almost 40 pounds above my race weight, but my secret goal is no more than 2 hours (my PR was in the neighborhood of 1h30m).

I'm trying to squeeze training in between caring for two small children, including breastfeeding my 4 month old son, and starting back to work part time after my maternity leave. It has been a struggle, and the first daycare induced cold has hit me. Fortunately my body remembers it used to be in shape after such a long layoff, and it is coming back more quickly, except for the run. Right now I'm happy to get one swim and ride in a week, and two walk/run sessions.

We have good public pools here in Tucson that are open and heated in winter. $1.50/swim. Limited hours, but a nice option. I'm thinking of joining the Y soonish though so I can get DD into swim lessons.

Anne

Good morning everyone! I got my run in for the day (couch to 5k week 4 day 1). My legs are pretty sore since I hiked 9 miles on Saturday. Oops! Oh well. I was planning my first swim for this Thursday, but I just realized it's Yom Kippur so there is no way I will have the energy to work out after work having not eaten since the previous night. I think I might try for the swim tomorrow instead.

Question for the swimmers . . . How the heck do I put on a swim cap? I bought one, but I can't figure it out. Do I shove it on my head, then try to stuff my hair up under it? My hair is pretty short, it just comes to the bottom of my ears, but since it's short I can't really tie it up or anything.

The swim cap is well interesting. Get it on your head as best you can and then stuff your hair into it. Some days I do better than others.

I have short hair so I'm not much help on getting the hair/cap thing straightened out. Just stretch it a lot before it goes on and try not to move it around much once it gets there because it pulls.

I was going to try to strog yesterday, i.e. jog with my big giant double stroller, but a nasty cold has its hooks in me, so I'm happy I managed to stralk. I don't know that I'm going to get in any last minute training before my race on Sunday, so we'll have to see how far a refusal to quit and minimal training will get me. It's an 825yd/12mile/3mile sprint, so I should be OK. I think. Yikes.

Anne

Anne, strog and stralk are my new favorite words! :lol: Your sprint is harder than mine is going to be, good luck!

I put together a triathlon training schedule for myself based on one of the plans at the beginner triathlon website. It has me running MWF, swimming ThSat, and biking TuSat, plus strength training TTh. Do you think that's too much? The running is not negotiable for now, until I work up to being able to run 5k, at which point it could drop to twice a week. This morning I did an upper and lower body strength routine, and this afternoon is my first planned bike ride (2 miles).

Jessica,

That training schedule is probably fine, unless all the workouts are very long or intense. You need to monitor how you are recovering from each workout and if you are starting to drag, make some adjustments. I like that there is one day completely off. I really needed that when I was doing intense training. I also liked a periodized training schedule, which is (for me) three progressively harder weeks building distance, speed, and/or intensity, and then one week where all workouts are "easy". Then build again.

I also found it very difficult to include intense strength training with intense tri training--I just got too sore and couldn't recover adequately. UBW interfered with swimming and LBW with running and biking, so I never found a good split. Core is helpful though.

Anne

That training schedule seems fine. Unfortunately, due to my 5k training, my biking is falling off. I need to try to fit it in but...

Run - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
Swim - Tuesday, Thursday (was also Sunday but Sundays are dropping off)
Weights - Tuesday, Thursday, Sat or Sun (this is very flexible)
Bike - When I can fit it in...

I'm also doing physical therapy right now which takes up a bit of time.

Anne, all my workouts are 30 mins or less, at least for now (until I can handle more time/distance). For example, this week I'm doing couch to 5k week 4 for my runs (26 mins, 16 of which are jogging), 2 mile bike ride, and 50 meter swim. My strength training is exercises given to me by physical therapists for when I was recovering from my knee and wrist injuries, so they are pretty light, plus standard core exercises. I don't think I could handle going without a rest day either! I'm interested in your three weeks buildup, one week easy plan though, maybe I'll try to incorporate that.

Actually I'm upset because today was supposed to be my first bike ride, but it is pouring rain outside. :mad: DH is apparently working late though, so in a minute I'll head to my office's gym and use the stationary bike, even though they only have a recumbent one.

So, I didn't make it to the stationary bike, but instead I went to the pool and did my first swimming workout. All I can say is that it's a good thing I have 6 months to train for this! Phew! :eek:

The pool is apparently 25 yards long. I went one length as kind of a warmup (after attempting to swim and failing after three strokes), doing a mish-mash of freestyle, breaststroke, and underwater breaststroke. I had to stop to catch my breath at the end. Then I came back breaststroke the whole way, caught my breath again, went out freestyle, rested, came back breaststroke, rested, then did a there-and-back all freestyle with a short rest in the middle. I was still breathing hard ten minutes after getting out of the pool! This morning my pecs and triceps are sore.

I had trouble remembering how to breathe correctly. I kept getting big mouthfuls of water, or lifting my head too high. Then when I started to get out of breath, I would feel like my legs were sinking too far. By the end I think I had my freestyle a little more under control, but this is going to take a LOT of work.

This morning: c25k w4d2, done! I'm bumping the missed bike ride to replace Thursday's planned swim.

Edit - so the triathlon registration wanted me to give my 100-meter estimated swim time. I put 12 minutes as just a random guess. Doing my last lap at the pool last night, which was 50 yards total, took me 2 or 4 minutes (I can't remember now). Do you think I should change my estimate? They seed people's entry times into the pool based on speed.

When do you plan to register for the tri? Maybe get more comfortable in the water before doing so. I can swim 100m in under 3 minutes and I'm a slow swimmer.

I'm already registered, but you can change your estimated swim time up until a month before the race. I'm really hoping I can make a lot of progress in the next six months, otherwise I am going to use up all my energy swimming 400m and have none left for the bike and run!

Hi Jessica - and everyone else,

I found your thread.
I am training for I guess you could call it a 1/2 triathlon in June 09
750m swim
20K bike
5K run

So far I have only been running - I can run about 6-7 K ...but nobody calls me
Speedy, that's for sure.
I have a big gnarly mtn bike I am going to train on - then I think I will rent a tri bike for the race (maybe try it out before the race)
I am not sure I want to invest in a bike as I am such a flake and I change my focus every 2 or so years. The equipment is piling up.

Jessica thanks for starting this thread - i think it will help keep me motivated.

-Susan

Jessica, you'll make a LOT of progress in 6 months. If you haven't done so already, I'd highly recommend a session or two with a professional swim coach to look at your stroke and make suggestions. That will make a big difference, since technique is so important.

Hi Susan! Tri-specific bikes with the full aero setup are notoriously twitchy and hard to handle, so if you rent one, it is a really, really good idea to try it a few times before the race. I ride my road bike for my races, and put on clip-on aerobars if I'm feeling serious, and even that makes my bike hard to handle.

Nelie, how goes the strength training with the tri training? I want to try to add it back into my plan, since I like the things it does for my body, but I always have issues with being too sore, i.e. big time sore and not just the little "good" sore I'd normally get with weight training. Being timecrunched and really into tri, lifting is the first thing to go. If you find something that is working, I'd really like to hear what splits you are doing and how you time them relative to your tri training to get good recovery.

I'm still trying to shake this cold. I've decided that at this point, getting well is more important than training, and I'm trying to make rest a priority, which really isn't happening with two small children. I'm hoping that things go well on Sunday. I need to go through my sports clothes today and see if I can find some things to fit me for this race, since I still have my postpartum body. If need be I can fill in the gaps at our tri store on Saturday when I go in for packet pickup. I'm starting to get excited about the race!

Anne

Welcome to the chat Susan!

Anne - good luck on your tri this weekend!!

I did my first bike ride yesterday, 2 miles. Pretty easy. Since my goal with this tri is just finishing, not speed, I think the 10 mile bike ride will be no problem. I'll just go slowly. ;) Plus, it's Indiana, and therefore everything is flat as a pancake, so no hills to worry about! I bumped today's run from morning to afternoon, since it is supposed to be really nice this afternoon and I was totally sleepy this morning.

I'm out of town for a conference Sat - Wed. I'm planning on bringing my workout gear and swimming gear with me since I believe the hotel has a pool and fitness center. I might be able to run outside, but it depends on how dark it is in the morning (I'm going to Portland, OR).

Anne,
Good luck on your triathlon!

If you get super sore with weights, then I'd suggest to build up slowly. You should really only get super sore in the beginning and then it becomes harder and harder to really get sore.

The part that is difficult is just fitting it all in. I do fairly short weight workout sessions (20-40 minutes) so they aren't too bad to fit in.

Race Report
 

I did my sprint tri today, and was I ever undertrained. It is rough doing this with children. There is no time to rest and recover.

Tinfoilman is a sprint distance 825yd/12mile/3mile race. About as easy as it gets. Pool swim, and ride and run are flat as a pancake.

I swam the distance in about 20 minutes, which is about 2 minutes slower than I'd expect had I been training. Back and forth, 33 lengths. T1 was fairly slow, about 5 minutes, since it was cold out and I took the time to dry off and get a long sleeve jersey on and put on socks. I got out on the bike course, which is 3 laps of a 4 mile "block", 1 mile per side, and rode steadily, 47 minutes. I got passed a lot. I got into T2, and did a quick transition to the run, just about 2 minutes to get to my spot, rack bike, and change shoes. The run was pretty tough for me, since my training for this has been absolutely non-existent with the knee issue. I did run about half the time I was on the course and finished the run in about 47 minutes. I'm a pretty visual person, so I ran to, say, that bench, or that tree, and then walked a bit. My knee started whining at about 2.25 miles, so I walked a lot from there, but started to push it again at the end, when I saw I'd be getting close to my 2 hour wish goal. I finished in 2 hours and maybe 4 seconds (I haven't double checked all my math but the finish time is right). The official results aren't in yet, but it is true that this is a personal worst for me on the course. But, I'm so glad I finished.

Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do to train. I have one more fun tri, which is November 1, and a couple 5Ks for the year. I'm going to sit down with my coach soon and figure out what works. I'm sort of planning to play with swimming and biking, doing my home grown C25K, and just kind of get my life a bit more settled before I get serious next year. I'm sort of planning to do an Olympic distance race the first weekend of June, and it's at altitude, so I can't skate through that one like I did this one.

I'm so tired and sore now. But it was a lot of fun.

Anne

Nelie, when I was getting that sore, I had been lifting regularly for some time. I just don't think I could ever get proper recovery. That would certainly be an issue now, when only my left bicep (baby lifting arm) is well-trained.

Congrats on the tri, Anne. Finishing is a victory!!!

My trainer designs such interesting weight lifting regimens for me, that I still get rather sore on a regular basis. I try to make sure I am getting enough protein, but sometimes my soreness makes it way to easy to justify skipping a run. I semi-jokingly reminded my trainer last week that I have a half-marathon next weekend and need to be able to walk. :lol: I'm fairly sore the first couple of weeks after each workout regimen change. I've kind of learned to just live with it, and I have really limited myself to lifting 3 days a week, running on the days I don't lift, except for one day when I rest. It was really hard to cut my running down to 3 days a week. Once the half-marathon is done, I think I will cut my running to twice a week, add a day of cycling, and put in some swim time...somewhere. I might have to drop weights to twice a week. All this keeps me busy! Worth it, but busy!

Bump. I've been a slug this week after my tri on Sunday, and a huge meeting at work that has been killing all my time.

I have a 5K on Saturday. Again no training. Sigh. I see lots of walking in my future.

I signed up for this stuff to motivate me. I need to re-evaluate my decision making process, obviously.

Anne

Congrats on finishing the tri Anne! I will be really happy if I can finish mine in two hours, and it's shorter distances than yours. I hope your knee improves!

My training fell off the wagon this week thanks to going out of town for a conference. Conferences are grueling work! 8am to 9pm every day. I did get in my run on Monday, but not Wednesday, and no swims since last Tuesday (the hotel's pool hours were 9-5, so I couldn't get there), no weights or biking since last Thursday. I'm planning to get my run in this afternoon, and a swim tomorrow.

I think I need to reevaluate my training schedule. My knees aren't ready to do 3x/wk running and 2x/wk biking. I think I am going to drop biking to either not at all for now, or once a week. I'm thinking that biking 10 miles will be not so bad to just complete, ignoring speed, so I don't think I need six months of intensive training on it. Maybe I'll throw it back in in a couple months.

Jessica, I'd recommend just noodling around on your bike once or twice a week, just to stay familiar with it and keep your bike handling skills sharp. Also, if you haven't gone to your LBS for a bike fitting, you could try to do that. If your bike is properly adjusted for you so that it really fits you, it should be easy on your knees. An improperly fit bike can hurt.

I found a sweet new mountain biking area about 3 miles from my home! I am all stoked to go, maybe even Sunday afternoon.

Anne

Anne - thanks, I will try for once a week and get myself fitted. How is the mountain biking area?

They opened up a street that was under construction near me, including a brand-new multi-use path along it, so now I can bike/run somewhere different! Last week ended up being not good in terms of keeping on schedule. This week will be different! My run is done for today already. Amazingly I had no problem waking up at 6, despite the fact that I slept until 10 Saturday and until 9 Sunday.

Sigh. I didn't get to mountain bike. I always forget to allow for the fact that I have children (duh) when I make my plans, and everything takes SOOOO much longer than I would have thought possible. Tonight I did get my mountain bike cleaned up and ready for a quicky test ride around the neighborhood tomorrow, and I'll be ready to go up to the off-road area soon. I also have to time-share training with DH, who is shooting for a 3 hr marathon in early December.

I did run this morning and my knee behaved. I'm basically following a C25K plan to build up my skeletal system slowly so I'll be injury free. I'm thinking I should go to the pool but am completely tired and unmotivated. I have another tri, the last of my season on November 1, and it's shaping up to be rough too. I'm planning to get serious with my training in January, but am having a hard time getting in the base I need with training this fall. I will get there from here though. It will just be slow. It is hard to know when I'm just making excuses and dragging, but the facts are that DS is still not sleeping through the night, I'm breastfeeding, and sleep/rest is a big priority for me. This is hard.

I did a 5K on Saturday. Took 5 minutes off my first 5K, which is mostly attributable to being able to walk rather than limp to the finish line. Still, I'll take it. 13 minutes to go to get back to my PR. One more year? I should be running about 3-5 miles by year's end, barring more injury, so that sounds about right.

Anne

Anne, glad to hear your knee behaved. I think the fact that you are even attempting to do tri's and 5k's with a new baby and a toddler is amazing! :cheer:

I'm having trouble being motivated to swim too, largely because I have to drive 20 minutes to get to the pool. A poor excuse, I know. I'm scheduled to go swim Thurs and Sat so hopefully I'll get my butt there. Today is strength day for me. I was too sleepy this morning but I should have no problem getting it in this afternoon. I might do half at lunchtime and half after work.

Wanna make a pact? I'll go swim Thursday if you will. Deal?

Anne

P.S. I did ride the mountain bike this morning, mostly on the road, and practiced standing the uphills and downhills, bailing out on the "wrong" side, starting with the "wrong" foot, etc. For my graduation exercise I rode across a primitive road in my neighborhood that crosses a wash (dry stream bed) with lots of rocks and sand. Thirty minutes. Now I have to motor to work.

I didn't go swimming today even though it was my scheduled day. Mostly because I was exhausted from yesterday's running/physical therapy. I plan to ride my trainer tonight.

I'm also having trouble with my food and swimming makes me hungry. I hate the idea of struggling with food and being hungry to top it off.

I'm in, Anne! We'll both hit the pool Thursday.

I applaud all you triathloners, and I'm interested in your progress as a bystander!

I'm full of advice, thanks in advance for reading. But I couldn't pass up swimming questions.

This is for Paperclippy. The 100 meter swim. Let's say you did the 50 in 3 minutes, (using your 2 or 4 minute numbers) and multiply it by 2 and say 6 minutes. Then if you want you could add another minute for the conversion from the yards you swam to meters (there is a 10% difference, 100 meters is about 110 yards) So you could even say 7. Then add another minute just for fun, if you want. No way you'd do 12 minutes for 100 meters. In fact I think 7-8 may be too much, given you will be training for a while and you'll get better fast. But, it gives you some room. I would think you would not want to be with people who swim a LOT slower than you as it will drive you insane going around them, and mess up your rhythm. Of course you don't want to be with people going too fast either, but I personally think you'd be better off with those who are a little better vs too slow.

I think this makes sense as I've been working with a friend who wants to do a triathlon and is an AWFUL swimmer. I mean sinking to the bottom when I first saw him swim. But he's really determined and works really hard and he's progressed very well - now can do 50's and 100's when before, well, it was 25 yards, wait 3 minutes, try again. Anyway, he can do a 50 in about 1 minute now, and for the 100, it's about 3 minutes. He switches between breastroke and freestyle to save energy if he needs it, but these were freestyle times. This is after about 2 months of working on it. I think by the time he wants to do the triathlon in the summer he can hold a 4 minute pace on the 100 easily while swimming continuously.

If you can find someone to look at your stroke and help you with your breathing or any other issue it will really help - it will save you energy to swim more efficiently. I guess this is an obvious point but people often think they just need to get in the laps and get stronger. Why work harder than you need to? You have the other 2 events to think about and you need your energy for them.

Somebody else asked about caps. On the cap question, I don't wear one now, as I have hair about 1 inch long, but I did for some time. Works better if your hair is a little damp but you can put it on dry. Stretch it over your forehead and pull back over your head. Stuff in the rest of the hair as needed. Works better if your hair is also in a pony tail, etc, rather than being loose. Less pulling. With practice you'll know how far up on your head you need to start to get it to go over all your hair comfortably.

Good luck with the whole thing, everybody, it speaks to your determination.

Geranium, thanks for the info/advice! I have a friend who did a tri a few months ago who also recommended getting someone to look at my stroke. I think I can maybe pay for a single session with a swim coach at my pool, so I'll look into that.

Anne, are we still on for swimming today? I'm planning to go right after work.

Yesterday's run was C25K week 5 day 2 -- two 8-minute runs with a 5-minute walk in between. It felt surprisingly easy, but my legs/knees were kind of sore last night. Probably because I did leg strength on Tuesday. I know I need to do leg strengthening to make sure I keep the muscles I don't use as much strong so my knees don't get screwed up, but I feel like doing strength in between two days of running is too much for my legs to handle. Any suggestions?

It's supposed to rain tomorrow. :( Not sure what I'll do about my planned run.

Yeah, still swimming today. I was going to go this morning, but got the 4 am wake-up call from the boy, and then got the kids out and it was 45 deg, and I decided that going after work would be a good plan. So after work it is. Bag is packed and in car (I have 7 bags today, I kid you not).

No suggestions on strength training and running. I always had the same issue and never figured it out. There are some tri books that suggest different types of strength training depending on what tri training you are doing. One of these days I'm going to try one of those schemes and see if it helps.

Anne

paperclippy - I'm actually in a place where I'm doing leg strength workouts on the same days as my runs. You should be fine with doing strength in between your running days. My lower body strength training though comes from the physical therapist that is helping me with my running program.

Today was absolutely bananas, but I did go to the pool for a quickie swim and got in about 30 minutes (2x500yds + rest). I wouldn't have gone without the deal, so thanks. Did you make it, Jessica? My time was sort of cruddy, just under 12 minutes for the 500, but hey, I swam, and it did feel good.

My Active tri newsletter has this link about strength training for triathlon. I haven't had a chance to read it, and probably won't for a few days, but it is by a reputable tri coach.

http://www.active.com/triathlon/Arti...ight_Room_.htm

Anne

I did go, Anne! I'm glad we made a deal. I also did about 30 minutes but for me it was 5x50yds. Now I just need to get my butt over there Saturday too. ;) Yesterday's swim actually felt easier than last week's, which was encouraging. I find that breaststroke is about infinity times easier for me than freestyle, so I'm wondering if I should give up on freestyle and just stick to breaststroke. I managed to find a little more comfort with freestyle once I realized that I don't need to kick as fast as I can the entire time. :p I'm starting to think that I will actually be able to do this 400m swim in a reasonable amount of time.

Also got in core strength, UBWO, and 2 miles on the stationary bike last night. Woohoo!