Am I out of my mind??

[colby]

Hi All,

So, I have a triathlon coming up on August 22.... and I'm a bit nervous about it (to be expected). I am just not totally prepared for it, but I'm just going to do it anyway-- who cares if I walk more than I run, it's still a tri!

Here's where the out-of-my-mind part comes in: there's another tri (both are sprint distances) the following weekend that a friend is doing.... and I'm thinking about doing it too! My question for you:

Are two events (Sunday 22nd, and Saturday 28th) too close together? Will I be totally tired? Can I do this or am I being insane??

Any opinions welcome.

I assume we're talking a couple of nice sprint distance races, and if so - no way, that's not crazy at all (disclaimer: I am not really one to talk on the subject of frequent racing).

You probably want to take it easy the day after the race, do a couple of things during the week to keep your body moving but nothing super hard, and you'll be recovered well enough to race. It might not be as fast as the one before, but you might also learn some things in your first race that you get to put into practice for the second one.

Good luck!

[JennK13]

Totally doable! You'll know how easy to take it during those in between days based on how you feel after the first one. I'm usually fatigued right after a race, but my recovery rate is pretty quick - I'll do a long ride or something the day or two after. Like Colby said, don't do anything too hard the day or two before the second race (just like you wouldnt before any race).

It really just depends on what you mean by not being "prepared" for the race. This is my first season doing tris, and my swimming sucks so I never feel "prepared" - I should swim a lot more than I do to be better prepared. But I am physically capable of doing everything, and I don't come out feeling any more tired than I do on long, hilly ride. Usually, I'm more mentally exhausted from being amped up than I am physically

[derosarah]

thanks, ladies! I appreciate the feedback.

Yep, Colby, two sprint races... the first is a half mile swim and a ~12 mile bike... the second is a 1.4 mile swim and a ~17 mile bike... I figure that will help (although I'm not totally sure how.... maybe just blind optimism?? ). I feel like the swim is my best event, then it goes progressively downhill.... ending with a run-but-mostly-walk. I'm totally ok with this-- I think my ultimate goal will eventually be to do the whole thing without walking, but for right now, I'm just trying to get used to tri-ing!

I can relate to the "preparing" problem, JennK... running is by far my worst leg, and I simply don't spend a lot of time training for it because it's so rotten.... maybe we can conquer that problem for next year's season??

I just signed up for the second one! Looks like I'll be taking it easy between... maybe a little yoga stretching and easy swim. Thanks again for the support and encouragement!

[derosarah]

Just a quick update on the 2 tris in 2 weekends... I finished my first one yesterday and it went pretty well! Actually, I was quite pleased with it! I took almost 20 min off my time from last year and that was with an extra 2 miles on the bike! I think a lot of it has to do with my new bike and being more hydrated, etc... but at any rate I was so happy with the results! I saw my time and couldn't believe it!!! It was amazing to see that.. seeing everyone's results was a little damper on things... I wasn't DFL, but I was in the bottom 25 of 420 women... but I CANNOT buy into that BS-- I took 20 min off my triathlon time! And I ran almost half of it!

I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing. Onto tri 2! But first, some restorative yoga, a light swim, and maybe a massage!

Thanks again for the encouragement!!

[colby]

Way to go, sarah! 20 minutes is a HUGE improvement. Rest up!

[kacie tri-ing]

20 minutes is incredible!!! You should be VERY proud!

Rest up and I look forward to hearing how #2 goes!

[derosarah]

Thanks Colby and Kacie!!! I was totally shocked () when I saw the time, and then grinned for a whole day.