What's your "stress" part of a tri?

You know, I am thinking tons about it. I have a bike right now that is NOT shifting and I have the tri tomorrow. It's ok, I can only do the best I can do. DH, bless him, cleaned my chain and gears. My bike is difficult sometimes.

I was thinking about it though. I'm not a swimmer so each accomplishment seems wonderful. I like the swim segment though I worry a bit. I'm not a runner so again, I am SO proud when I can waddle through at a 12 minute mile. I was a cyclist before all this so there is the most pressure there. It is THE only section I can make up time and I have too high of expectations. I am almost (sadly) relieved that my bike isn't up to par. I'm stuck in the close-to-granny gears so if I can't make it work, at least I'll do the hills ok :D

So to those experienced, are your stress segments the ones that you know you can do well in? Or are they the ones you are still working on? Do you judge yourself on improvement or how you are in relation to other people?

Teigyr... have you fiddled with your deraileurs???

T - I stress about it all. Especially if the night before I know that something is not right, like your bike. Worse tho is the way I analyze every little part of my race and compare it to those around me. I really stress about that. And what I hate is that I spend a ton of time on my bike and that is still my weakest event relative to the crowd.

So yeah, we all have our stressors. But you'll get through tomorrow and it'll be great, what ever happens.

Good luck!!

RR, the less fiddling with that bike the better. It's the front derailleur and I'll make do. There is support tomorrow and I'm worried that it could be made worse but we'll see. Honestly, I'm not stressed about that! I'll be in my smaller front gear if we can't resolve it.

I was just wondering though because last week the bike part was the easiest but was the most stressful. I hate expectations :D

Geez Teigyr. Sorry bout your bike. Check your cable tension as well. All the tri's I've been too have had a mechanic from a local bike shop there onsite for any last minute "emergencies" so get to the registration as soon as you can on the day to get him/her to check it out. (Oh just re-read your last post... ^_^ Yeah... Get support to check it out...)

As for stress?

I stress out in the first 25m of the swim... I full on panic the minute the hooter goes off! My mind races at a million miles a minute... Here's an example of my panic atack thoughts...

"ARGH!!!!! THEY'RE LEAVING ME BEHIND!! DON'T LOSE THEM DON'T LOSE THEM DON'T LOSE THEM! CRAP I LOST THEM... NOW WHAT??? DO I GIVE UP? NO DON'T BE STUPID, YOU can do it!!! BREATHE ONE TWO... WHERE THE **** IS THE BUOY? ONE TWO...."

Then I kinda get into a rythum and I am enjoying myself for the rest of the race. :o

The swim psyches me out every time. I'm a pokey swimmer so I get myself competely wound up trying to go faster.

ermmm.... making it to practice on work days, and transitions.

The OWS.

Hmm...
Well it used to be the swim because I'm slow, and worrying about flatting on the bike. I still worry about that in IM, and everytime I pass someone on the side of the road with a puncture I say a little prayer- one for them, and one for me that I don't get one too. :o
But I really don't stress about either things as much anymore. I guess over time I've gotten to trust that my bike is sound mechanically, and I roll strong tires. I figure if it happens, it happens, but I don't obsess about it the whole ride like I used to.
I think anymore the stress comes pre race with the jitters. Once the gun fires and I go into "go mode" I'm fine. But before that I have a ton of nervous energy. Maybe it's seeing everyone around me being nervous as well? I dunno??
I'm racing next weekend for the first time in a good while, and my mom and dad will be there for the first time, so I'll let you know next week around this time what my stressor was... ;)

The run.......I had a bad one this summer and I have gotten it in to my head that I suck at running and that every race is going to be that awful. That is why I am trying the walk run thingy that I dicussed up in the running forum. I will try anything to make it better, or to remove that notion from my head.

Thanks :D

I'm just curious cause my stress parts are from the areas that I feel I have expectations in. Other than that, I'm thrilled to even finish the other areas.

I think I will have to have amnesia with the bike and pretend that I don't know what I'm doing. I feel I'm doing it a disservice by dreading it so just because I think I should do better.

The mechanic at the tri was awesome! He fixed it and I think I might have found a new bike shop. He was able to diagnose and repair within 10 minutes and as much as I like my other bike shop, my bike has had drama since they've started working on it.

Glad you were able to get your bike fixed before the race! One less stressor. ;)

For me, the run is the most stressful part. Partly because I used to be soley a runner and could bang out 9:30-10 min/miles easily and now I can barely do a 11-12 min/mile without feeling like I'm dying.
It's why I'm changing my HIM to the Aquabike this weekend. I just haven't put in the miles running and I'm afraid to go out there and suffer for 13 miles. Stinks because it was my A race and now I'm dreading it. :(

teigyr-
I know about the bike having stress because of a poor lbs thing...
My fave lbs has become my not so fave lbs ever since IMAZ...
The bad part is I REALLY like the owners, however, their repairs stink...
They really try, but I just don't think they know what they are doing.
I finally came to the realization that just because you LOVE all things bike, doesn't mean you know how to fix them.

A little known fact is that my hubby and I are in the process of opening up our own shop. And the one thing that we decided first thing was that we were going to school. We want to be certified in both repairs and fitting. We also plan to find a good wrench that really knows what he/she is doing. But having the knowledge beyond just a "working" knowledge is very important to us. We have a lot of serious cyclists in the area, and I want them to be able to trust us.
I wish I could clone Deb W our resident guru of all things bike repair related! :D

RM, that'd be great to open a shop :D With all your experience, too, you know what people need and what their expectations should be.

It's difficult to say with my lbs but I had the rear cassette and derailleur changed in the spring. Ever since then, the poor bike has had drama. I take it in, it's fine for a bit, then it goes back to dropping its chain or not shifting. The guy at the tri yesterday said it really needed a tune-up. Here's the thing, it's been less than 1K miles since the last one. I was having to take it in every two months or so and I don't ride *that* much. It's difficult for mechanics to know sometimes because a bike that shifts fine on the stand (or even for a cursory ride) handle differently in real world riding. I give them the benefit of the doubt but perhaps the bike would be better off going elsewhere. I've learned not everyone does Campy well either so that might be part of it.

I've always been lucky with my bikes and I don't know if it's just this bike in particular and the work I had done to it or if it's the shop. I guess I can start the process of elimination though.

And for all of those who think the swimming is tough...yeah it is. I see the most improvement there but it is just so slow. If I try to speed up, that is trouble because then I get out of breath. I guess I just need to learn patience, swimming (unless you are Very Good) takes forever even just to go 1/2 mile. At least it seems that way. I think I'm making progress in a swim, I sight the buoy, and realize it looks just as far away as it did before :o