New at Tri Training...Discouraged about bike :(

[VeloVT]

Hello,
I don't think your post is a downer at all. I think you should be really proud of yourself for racing the first time, and for committing to do it again. You've lost 20 lbs, and you're training consistently and getting fitter. Good for you! I've been talking about competing in various races (running, tri's, etc) for over a year and still haven't had the courage/motivation to do it, even though I'm in pretty good shape -- so I find your story inspiring.

I find it interesting that you say your heart rate is higher on the bike than when you are running. This is pretty unusual actually, and I find that I can be in good biking shape, from a cardiovascular perspective, and still be in relatively crappy running shape (that is, I can sustain a moderately fast pace for me on the bike with ease, but I'm huffing and puffing to sustain what is a "moderately fast" running pace for me). Others may have more insights, but I have two immediate questions.

First, how heavy is your bike? If it's quite heavy, this may continue to be a limiting factor for you.

Second, I wonder if you are using gears that are too big? While big gears can give you speed in the right situations once you have the strength to push them, they also make you work MUCH harder. It might be worthwhile to work on your ability to maintain a smooth pedal stroke at high cadence. I started riding a little over a year ago and I used to bounce starting at around 98. Now I can ride without bouncing up to about 120. Not that I would ever have occaision to maintain 120 for any length of time , but at the end of long rides, if my legs are tired and I've still got some rolling hills to cover before I get home, it can make it much easier to pedal in gears easy enough to keep my cadence around 100 (it's usually more like 85-90). I can usually still keep up a reasonable speed even in these low gears.

Good luck. I'll bet you'll get lots of great suggestions in this thread.

Edit: I was so slow in writing this that it's now kind of redundant . Oh well. Good luck anyway!