Last week I missed both my swims, and when I went swimming last night I could really tell I'd been slacking. 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. 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. 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 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.

Hi Geranium!!! Thanks for joining the thread! My sprint tri in just under three weeks is my first one ever too.

I've been slacking in my training and I think it's because I'm afraid. If I slack off, and then I do poorly, I can say it was because I didn't train enough. But if I train really hard, and then do poorly anyway, it's just because I suck! I told DH that next time I come home from work and whine that I don't want to work out he has to just kick me out the door and force me to do it. I did get in a good run over the weekend at least!

I've committed to training for a sprint triathlon that's to be held in September. A friend asked me to train with her, apparently she's got two other friends doing it as well. I've wanted to do a triathlon for about 15 years...since I was first athletic in my mid-20s. Now is the time! I'm excited but also scared. Working on my training plan and all that now, guess I'll "officially" start training in a couple of weeks. (I've been doing walk/running and biking and strength training for a few months now, but this commitment will necessitate kicking it all up a notch.)

Welcome WarMaiden! beginnertriathlete.com has a lot of useful stuff on it for beginners.

I'm starting to obsess over details at this point. Things like how I need to buy something so I can attach a water bottle to my bike, and whether to fill it with water or gatorade, whether to wear my sports bra on the inside or outside of my swimsuit, whether my bike helmet is up to the standard required or I have to get a new one . . .

Apparently the mayor is firing the shot to start the race! They sold out the adult tri, which means I think there will be about 300 people there (not including the children's version).

Hi everyone! I just joined 3FC, but I've been on beginnertriathlete.com for a couple years (offthegrid is my handle there)!

I love triathlon! I am hoping to continue losing weight so I can do some races longer than sprint distance this year. I've registered for an Olympic distance in August.

I've been having ongoing issues with plantar fasciitis, so I'm not running much at this point, but I can swim a mile and bike about 25. I am soooooooooo glad it's spring! I can't wait to get out riding this weekend.

Welcome Athena! Good luck with the Olympic distance! I hope your plantar fasciitis gets better.

My knees have been acting up the past week or so. I didn't run yesterday because they were achy. I think I'm going to call my doctor to get my thyroid checked earlier than usual because in the past it's been the culprit when my knees hurt.

Thyroid / knee connection? Please tell me how they could relate if you don't mind.

I made it to the pool today. I had been putting it off, because I knew it would be humbling. I haven't been in the water to exercise for a while. A long while. It was OK though. I ran the 1/2 mile to the community pool, and spent 20 minutes doing laps. SLOOW laps. More breast stroke than crawl, with a few kickboard laps in there too. I did succeed in moving forward the whole time.

I'm reading Transformed by Triathlon: The making of as Improbable Athlete by Jane Booth. Interesting red if you haven't

I got up the guts to swim with the master's group this morning, and yowsers are they fast! I think I probably did 2,200-2,400 yards (2,000 was the most on my own), but I had to use fins for about half of the time because they are just too fast. So my first goal is to be able to keep up with them without fins!

It's also tough being the slowest, because I never get a rest. They get to take 10 or 20 second breaks between sets, but by the time I get there, they are leaving.

But they are super nice and very encouraging, and I definitely swam way harder than I would have on my own.

Geranium, I don't know the mechanics of how the thyroid and knees interact, but aching knees can be a symptom of hypothyroidism. A lot of people don't know that it is, and most doctors wouldn't suspect it. I had all sorts of physical therapy treatments for my knees that didn't help at all for years. I had to have a whole lot more symptoms before I got diagnosed with hypothyroidism, but once I got on the right medication my knee pain totally disappeared. Weird! Hypothyroidism can cause all sorts of bizarre symptoms. I think theoretically it has something to do with the thyroid hormones affecting collagen production but I'm not a doctor.

I did mostly breaststroke for the few few months of swimming training I did. It took me a while to be able to do a crawl for more than one lap, but now I'm pretty much equally proficient with the two. I'm still slooooooow but nowhere near as slow as I used to be!

Athena, good job practicing with the masters group! I'm afraid to do any group training because I am so slow in all three events.

Last night I had dinner with the friends who convinced me to sign up for triathlon in the first place. I got to check out their fancy tri bike. I seriously think if I tried to ride one of those things I would just fall over and kill myself! They are just totally in a different class than I am. The only special gear I own is a good pair of running shoes. I went this weekend to our local triathlon store, but it was also really intimidating. The running store people are really friendly to beginners, but the triathlon store people are like, if you're not going to be spending $3000 on a bike, get out of my store. In any case I picked up a thingy to attach a water bottle to my bike, and a "fuel belt." It's this belt thing that you wear that has a water bottle in it and a little pouch for food.

It's snowing here today. So I think I'm going to hit the pool tonight, since running or biking would be a bad idea. I'm going to try out wearing my sports bra under my swimsuit during the swim, and work on my swim to bike transition.

The transition practice went pretty well. It took me two and a half minutes from when I unzipped my bag until I was fully dressed for biking. I think that's pretty good, although I'd like to dry off a little more. The hardest part was getting my socks on. Wearing the bra under the swimsuit was totally comfortable.

Are you wearing a wet suit? The transition time worries me too, I'm sure you'll be great.No one expects you to be a professional your first time out. When I went to the pool Saturday, I ran. I didn't want to bring a bag , so I wore my suit and put a change of underpants in my pocket thinking I was super smart and unencumbered. I was so proud of my smartness until I was in the pool and realized I didn't have a towel. Not as smart as I had hoped. Also, running with wetish feet and no socks = a small blister.