first triathlonites 2006-07

[eclectic]

Well I did it !

I ran my first non-stop 5k with other people watching I was slow, I was at the back of the pack BUT I only walked about 4 steps and that was because the light was red!

My friend who promised to stay w/ me did (and he is a marathoner - now that's a friend!) It truly was "no runner left behind"

the weather was PERFECT - high 30's F, no wind and blue blue skies, I of course could have worn 1 less layer.

I have never run in the winter before and wasn't used to the surface, sometimes dry, sometimes compacted snow, but the most difficult was where the snow had mixed with sand and created a powder, my foot would slip backwards on it, it wasn' t slushy just wierd feeling. My running partner just said " you eventually get used to it" I just thought that it made me work way harder

after the run there was cookies, bananas, hot chocolate, cider and good camaraderie - I am ready to do it again!

[Bluetree]

Congrats Eclectic...

As a fellow slowbee, I can understand! My friends are also super athletes so I know how kind they are when they go at my (our) pace.
They were so genuinely excited for me in my first race. Yet, because they are ultramarathoners and Ironmen, I know what a drop it is from their own level.

Keep it up, Eclectic - you and I are going to run that marathon together one day!

Joy

[Bikingmomof3]

Way to go Eclectic!!!!

I look forward to my first race, You ladies just keep inspiring me to run an extra mile or two and it is adding up. Thank you and again, congratulations!

[eclectic]

Congrats Eclectic...

Keep it up, Eclectic - you and I are going to run that marathon together one day!

Joy

[alpinerabbit]

Go Eclectic go!!
we did not get anything as cozy as hot cider, only water and bananas.
My swim coach was 10 minutes faster than I :-P

I've been wondering - it's not really time to do bricks yet, this time of year;

a bike-run brick is logistically simple (please correct me if I'm wrong, I only ever did one in the gym)

What about swim-bike? If I am at the pool, it's really a bit pointless as I have to get out and home with all the stuff before hopping on the bike (I would not leave my valuable bike in front of the public pool if my life depended on it); so probably it only makes sense at all when I can try the lake come summer?

Does anyone do swim-bike bricks at all? for a sprint?

Is anything like bike-swim, run-swim or any other reversal useful, or is it enuff just doing 2 workouts in a day.

[HappyAnika]

Awesome! Congratulations!!! You must have done great if you want to do it again. I like that: "No runner left behind"!

This reminds me that even if its only 35 degrees outside this weekend I need to go running.

[Kimmyt]

I have a new foe: 'Phonebook IMs'.

As per swim class last night... we did 4 of them. In which the coach randomly picks a phone number from the yellowpages and uses the last 4 digits to determine how many laps of each stroke we do.



9 laps of breast-stroke take FOREVER.

And don't even get me started on the fly.... but I do have to say, after doing other strokes for some time, it feels exceedingly restful to go into a nice freestyle. I felt so strong when I finally got to do a few laps of FS, like my body was telling me, "Now this... this I could do all night".

[light_sabe_r]

Ahhh.... I'm back after Tri 2! YAY Next ones either february or April... Haven't decided yet but I'm ENJOYING it. ^_^ So after Christmas I'll be back in training. Even thinking of entering the ELITIST category next time cause the distances are only SLIGHTLY above what I did this time... 400m swim, 15km ride, 4km run. ^_^ Oh well it's a NEW goal to work to in the new year. Thanks you inspirationals!!!

Guess I'm not really a FIRST anymore... ;_; But Yeah You guys are such GREAT support!!!!

KimmyT that sounds like hell. I hate breastroke at the best of times (gives me nightmares about swim squad when I was 8 or something) Gimme backstroke anyday.


ECLECTIC! Well done woman!!! Keep it up eh!

[eclectic]

Guess I'm not really a FIRST anymore... ;_; But Yeah You guys are such GREAT support!!!!

KimmyT that sounds like hell. I hate breastroke at the best of times (gives me nightmares about swim squad when I was 8 or something) Gimme backstroke anyday.

GREAT GOING LIGHT_SABE_R ! ! ! ! 2 under your belt already!

give us a report on what it was like especially comparing the first one to the second.

Hmmmmmm that does bring up another question - how many tri's until we aren't "new" anymore. Oh well it doesn't really matter because you will transform from "newbie to "mentor" and help us Northern Hemisphere people who will be starting in another 6 months!

I was always posting under the new rider strand and thought - when do I move out of that category? I now feel after this summer, 2 tours, 2045 miles in one year and both a metric and imperial century I can now officially not call myself a "new rider" anymore. I just haven't changed a flat tire in the rain yet

[light_sabe_r]

Comparing the first to the second???

Well... the big difference between the two was I was a lot fitter this time. ^_^ I accomplished my goals of (almost) swimming the whole thing freestyle and running the whole way (i didn't walk a single bit!) I was a lot slower in transition though

PLUS I did the second one on my roadie...

The second tri the OTHER competitors were FAR more aggressive!!! I mean BF saw one lady in my category get SMASHED into the ramp because the woman behind her wanted to overtake her ON THE RAMP to go faster... She had gotten out just before I did!

I got beaten up in the water as well. Just people swimming in a straight line swim STRAIGHT over the top of you!!!



So my advice is PLAY NICE IN YOUR TRIS. I KNOW it's a race, but that's NEVER an excuse to push, shove and BEAT UP your fellow competitors.

Show your fellow athletes the same courtesy you'd show them on the bike. Keep a STRAIGHT line and they can go round if they're that desperate to pass you!

[beetle]

Hi all, it's taken me 3 days to get though this thread butt what a great and motivating read.

I did one tri about 4 years ago and loved it but have spent the last few years concentrating on my long distance swimming so cycling and running have been off the books for ages. Now that I have a 14month old I find it more tricky to get swimming in so I'm going to work towards my longtime goal of completing an IM.

I'm like a few on here and come to tri with a good swim but poor cycling and running skill/speed. However having found this (and with the help of a local tri club and LBS) I'm sure I can get the necessary advice and help to work on my ride and run.

I won't be able to compete in any tris until May as I'm pregnant again but I think I will do a swim race or two over the summer (I'm another Aussie).

Anyway can't wait to share my training experiences with you all and looking forward to reading about how everyone goes.

Light_sabe_r: How did your GREAT bike go Have you got a photo? Have you put tri bars on?

Bilateral breathing: Though this was discussed ages ago, I just wanted too say that from experience if you can teach yourself to bilat breath it will improve your swimming over longer diistances. I breathed every 2nd to my right for about 20 years quite happily but 2 yrs ago decided to teach myself to bilat breath (with the help of my coach). I took a whole season, my swimming even regressed a bit in the process but I can now easily breath to either side and it has really helped balance my stroke. So it can be done if you work really hard at it and are committed. Incidentally I always still breath every 2nd to the right in sprints up to 200m.

[Offthegrid]

So many accomplishments here.

LightS: Way to go! That's amazing. I'm so proud.

Eclectic: Congrats on the 5K! That's an amazing achievement.

As for me -- only five more days until I can start jogging intervals! Whoopie! I'm so excited. I'm curious to see with the fitness I've built how long it'll take to be able to jog a 5K nonstop. I'm thinking maybe 8-12 weeks, but not sure.

[tygab]

Hi all,

I haven't posted on this thread in ages. Early December was tough. I just did not feel motivated to do much, and I had a few bad workouts mixed in but, at least I did keep going. I took most of one week off, and felt a little guilty about it, but... no more. This week, I have felt focused and ready again.
I did a brick Monday and again today (spin class + treadmill).

Well, on Monday's run I ran for 38 mins, and ran 3.4 miles. Today I ran 39 minutes, got up to 5.7 and held it most of the run. My 5k time was 33:18 (coming up to speed over a few minutes), and my total distance was 3.6 miles.
In september, 39 minutes *was* my 5k. I have shaved almost 6 minutes off my time in approximately 4 months. I don't know if that's good, but if I can continue the trend I will get to my near term goal of running a 5k in less than 30 mins soon! (that's the goal for going into the season, but hey anything better is good too). I felt pretty good on the run too, though my calves are slightly sore now.
My goal is to just go out and run around 45 minutes and try to keep inching up my speed as well.

Come January, I want to be on some kind of a more formal program. And I need to start swimming as well as get more consistent with doing weights.

How will I fit this all in? Right now I go to the gym 3x a week and usually get 1 weekend workout in as well (those haven't been as frequent the last few weeks). I spend usually 2 hrs each time I go (spin class + run, or spin + weights etc). I don't think I can go every day. I do still have a job and house stuff to do.

Also, one more question. I am most often in the 180s (low to mid) during my runs. This is at my upper HR zone if you do the math, and I have read this shouldn't be where I spend most my training time (I do not feel like I am about to keel over ever, but talking would be a challenge). However, if I slow down to a lesser HR pace, I am running really slow. So, should I purposefully run slow? This would seem to contradict my desire to get faster....

Thoughts on the above appreciated.

[alpinerabbit]

Hi Tygab - 180's , and you can hold that? Perhaps a lactate test would tell you if that is your threshold level and then I guess you will be alright. I can do 170 consistently but above that I wear myself out - as demonstrated at my first Run (with a big R) two weeks ago.
Maybe you should try intervals. Is on my horizon these days - and mix it in with very slow running. Yes, it is possible, I'da never thunk it. A workmate expressed interest in running with me, so off we went the first time yesterday. She is young and slim but hasn't done it lately - so I let her choose the pace. I was leisurely skipping along, at a (perceived) heart rate of maybe 130. When running alone, I never think I could slow down to make it easier. But you can! And boy I never thought I would be faster than anyone. I was (very secretly) happy about that.

I've managed 4 workouts the last couple weekends - an hour or so in the pool in the mornings (did my first 1km last Sat, combining 50 m freestyle and 50 m breaststroke - 50 m is my "sound barrier" currently, have to breathe).
Then running Saturday afternoon and a 2 hour spin class (yay! Superinstructor is back!) on Sunday afternoon.

I also manage about two runs at lunchtime during the week (up to 50 min) and swim class one night a week. Swimming has been really addictive to me and DBF! Although we mostly do form drills right now, we have been going at least one other time in the past weeks. Come Jan I will be signed up for a freestyle class plus the private lesson - DBF prefers it.

How do I do it? No kids, no pets, and a cleaner to do the dirty work once a week. In recent weeks it's been shopping for several meals once or twice a week, laundry and bed. But that's ok for a lifestlye.

[Offthegrid]

Tygab, 180s does seem high, but also depends on what your LT and/or max HR are. I hit 187 during my most recent (walking) 5K, but I know that when I start to jog I'm not going to be able to keep my HR under 165 because I won't have the fitness yet. Over time you will be able to go faster and longer at the same heart rate.

Intervals are a good idea. You might want to think about incorporating a long, slow run, too.