Trying a Tri

[wavedancer]

I am also throwing myself into the ring as a late blooming discover-my-inner-athlete tri girl! I am having to learn two of the three disciplines (running and swimming) and will be doing my first mini sprint on May 11. It is a 400m pool swim, which is a good thing because I am still having to catch my breath after 25m! The run is 2.3 miles, which I am almost up to doing now, and the bike will be an easy (for one who is not actually racing) 7 miles.

I have also signed up for an open water sprint tri in July and hopefully will be ready to swim without stopping by then.

Lots of great info on this forum. I discovered Total Immersion and Chi Running here and I think they are key to my being able to do this new endeavor, hopefully without injury. I am loving training in three disciplines, especially in the winter (it's still winter here) because there is alway something I can do besides grinding away on the trainer!

[KSH]

Welcome to the world of tri's! You will love it! Sounds like you are on a path to success!

[MegaNova]

Hello Wavedancer -
a Group of us newbie tris are meeting up this weekend to share training goals and ideas if you are interested.

**************
OKAY Lets meet up!!

When: Saturday April 5th at 10:00 am

Where: Lake Forest Park Starbucks, outside
on Bothell Highway, on the outside road edge of the Third Place Books Shopping Center
17039 NE Bothell Way

Lets meet and chat over coffee or tea. Then perhaps go for a light jog (~30 minutes) together on the Burke Gillman Trail, which is right across the street.

Sound Good?
- HOlli
**************
We started a new thread on this website called 'Danskin Tri Training Group' but really it is open to anyone.
- HOlli

[MegaNova]

oops....just realized you are in Cape Cod, MA. Sorry.

[wavedancer]

Thanks for the invite! Wrong coast :(. Please post any ideas or inspiration that emerge from your meeting.

[firenze11]

I'm also doing my first Try a Tri this summer and there's a part of me that really wants to do a sprint. Congrats for signing up! I know there is the Seattle thread open for the Danskin tri but I was thinking about starting an open training thread since the season is starting and training will start soon. I don't know how much interest there would be but maybe it would be good for motivation and just talking about what's going on with everyone's training.

I just ordered Total Immersion so it's good to hear that you like it! I'm sure I'll get Chi Running eventually, too.

[MegaNova]

hey wavedancer -

well we decided from our tri training meeting this weekend that first of all we just need to do....swim, bike and run....all three on a regular basis. Some of us need the motivation of others in order to make one or all of them happen. So we started a definite jogging day and hope to add some swim and bike days soon here after.

From some of my other discussions with previous tri competitors, that you should not just say you will dog paddle through the swim and make up the time on the bike and run because those are your strong points. It was recommended to me to extremely focus on the swim as that being my weekest point is the place where I can improve my overall time the greatest. If you think about it, it really makes sense. I am a decent jogger, so if I really train hard on jogging, how much time could I really improve there....maybe 5 or 10 seconds, but in the swim that could be huge!

So what is Total Immersion? I good book and/or training program?

[wavedancer]

I'm jealous that you guys can train together! It definitely helps to have other folks to keep you going.

I am really concentrating on the swimming right now. The cycling I'm not worried about, the run is new for me and I am slowly getting up to the distance I will need doing Chi Running. I figure if I can't run it all I can still walk. The swimming, however...I really don't want to be towed in by a guard on a kayak!

Total Immersion is a program of learning to swim efficiently with as little effort as possible. You do a lot of drills to find your optimum balance and streamlined position in the water. I have really been enjoying the process of discovery with using both the book, Triathlon Swimming Made Easy and the DVD, Freestyle Made Easy. There is also a forum on the website that has a lot of good information. Total Immersion (http://totalimmersion.net/index.html)

Thanks for filling me in on your group training plans. Wish I could join you!