2010 Tri Thread

[supercritter]

Is there room for one more in here? I'm a fairly new DISer and just saw this post for the first time (although I haven't read through the entire thread).

I did my first Tri last year and already hooked. This year I'm registered for two Tris so far; an Oly in June and Timberman (HIM) in August. Also have a Du in April, a half mary in May, and the Wine & Dine half in Oct in the books.

Can I ask if anyone has a suggestion for a HIM training plan? I've been looking at free online plans and waffling.

TIA,
Christina

 

[Duanerice]

Welcome to Tri-land Christina.

Might want to go to BeginnerTriathlete.com I hear their plans are pretty good.

enjoy,
Duane

 

[tiberius]

I am riding and swimming with all the folks that are doing Texas - I will be more than ready for my half in April 80 mile ride yesterday. That just takes a long time.
Duane

Yes, the clock is definitely ticking on the race countdown! I have my Olympic in 2 weeks and the 9 weeks until IMTX doesn't seem as far away as 9 weeks should feel. One word about the IMTX bike route for your friends...it is not a flat course. It is nowhere near the hills that many courses might have, but it is downright hilly for a flatlander. Fortunately the worst parts of the course are in the first half of the course, which is where I am putting in my primary road on-road bike training these days. I logged 112.2 miles last weekend and you are right, those long rides just take so much time to do.

Hello to Christina!

 

[bekkiz]

I am so upset. I had so much funr "tri"ing last year, and was SO excited for a few races this next year...BUT I have a small fracture in my foot and based on the location, it looks like a 3-6 month recovery with no major walking or jogging I have to wear an orthotic and there is a chance that even after 6 months, the fracture will not be healed, in which case I will need surgery!! I do have a few friends who are competing this summer, so hopefully I will be able to swim and bike with them as they train--I just have to stay off my foot.

Sorry, I just needed to vent. I am so bummed out.

 

[Duanerice]

Wow! That stinks. Do what you are told - this is for the long term, not just 1 summer.
Duane

 

[Duanerice]

Hi All,
just got back from the Clermont Olympic Tri followed by 2 days at Disney. This was an Oly which had a 1500 meter swim, a 25 mi bike ride (long course) followed by a 10k.

My wave was the second to start after the college kids. They were having a collegiate qualifier so there were about 50+ college kids. The bad part about starting essentially first is that the fast people pass you. I know I am not super fast but giving me a head start of 3 minutes over the 50 and under crowd didn't give me much leeway Didn't leave much opportunity for me to pass anyone until the run (when the fast bikers slowed down)

Swim was great, water around 73 and wetsuit legal. First race in wetsuit since last November. Took a lap to get used to it (two 750m laps).

Bike was brutal. I swear there was no flat spot on the route. I am not used to hills, especially continuous hills. Heck I'd get to 32mph going down only to be slowed to 8 - 10 going up the other side. My legs were beat! Nice ride though as most of the road was decent.

The run was fun, along the lake for a little while then off into some shade which was desperately needed. Plenty of water stops along the way. At one point there was a guy with his little kid spraying people down with a hose. They would point it up in the air and create a mist. Felt awesome.

My finish was horrible in the age group standings but just where I thought I'd finish time wise. Finished 2:54:11. They get a fast crowd up here for this race.

Hung out for a little while then back to the hotel for quick shower. When we checked into Pop Century we went right to the room, closed the drapes and went to bed for a nap. Told my wife that very few people arrive at Disney around 2 pm and go straight to bed. I was tired! Spent that night at the Magic Kingdom then a good part of rainy Monday at EPCOT. Never stopped raining the entire day. For those that know Florida, that is unusual. But, looking on the bright side EPCOT was empty

Next on tap is New Orleans HIM on April 17. Can't wait!

enjoy and good luck everyone.
Duane

 

[monsterkitty]

I am so upset. I had so much funr "tri"ing last year, and was SO excited for a few races this next year...BUT I have a small fracture in my foot and based on the location, it looks like a 3-6 month recovery with no major walking or jogging I have to wear an orthotic and there is a chance that even after 6 months, the fracture will not be healed, in which case I will need surgery!! I do have a few friends who are competing this summer, so hopefully I will be able to swim and bike with them as they train--I just have to stay off my foot.

Sorry, I just needed to vent. I am so bummed out.

I feel your pain. I had surgery in October on my foot and ankle from an injury I received in a tri last year. That injury led to the discovery of an old unhealed injury and a bone in a place it shouldn't have been. I've just been cleared to "jog" on the treadmill at a level 4 (15 minute mile which is really a fast walk). I just bought a new bike but am only allowed rides of less than 10 miles.

I will not lie to you - the frustration is horrible. I did tons of upper body and core. You can also use the row machine with one leg. I really never want to see a row machine again. I can swim so I am swimming about 5,000 yards 3 days a week. Depending on where your break is kicking may be painful. ALso, watch your IT band on your opposite leg. Because I was non-weight bearing for so long and the in a walking boot, my IT band took a beating. I am now doing PT on my foot/ankle and my IT band.

Listen to your doctor but more so your body. I know it is tough right now, but stay positive. The rest will heal not only your foot, but other injuries that we tend to ignore. Oh, and make friends with the row machine at your local gym or rec center. I'm sure the row machine at our gym really misses me.

GOod luck and

 

[monsterkitty]

Duane, congrats on your race!

 

[tiberius]

Good work, Duane!
I have my Olympic Distance race this Sunday and should come in a bit behind your time [my PR is 3:18 and I hope to beat 3:10 this time out]. Then it is back to the training grind for my May 21st IM.

 

[Duanerice]

MonsterKitty is back! Get well and get back out there.

Richard - doing a 100 mi ride today with my IMTX peeps. A bit over kill for my HIM but someone has to keep them company.

enjoy the weekend all,
Duane

 

[monsterkitty]

Part of me is back - I'm missing a few bones and parts of a bone.

I have an Indoor Tri next weekend and am using that to see how mentally I am back. Okay, physically as well. It is a 10 minute swim, 30 minute spin bike, 20 minute treadmill. I pushed it today on the dreadmill to see what I could do and I am embarrased to say that I only got to 1.7 miles in the 20 minutes. I guess it's a start but I am out of patience!

I have two goals for the tri: 1. "Jog" faster than a level 4 if my PT clears me this week to do that; 2. Beat my husband.

Duane, good luck!

 

[Duanerice]

I have a lot of respect for you, there is NO WAY I could o an indoor tri. Spin bike and treadmill? YUCK! Go get em!
Duane

 

[tiberius]

Hey guys!
I am back after my Kemah International Tri this weekend and I am sore and tired; fortunately though, not too much of either. It was a muggy day that did not get too hot, and the sun stayed primarily behind the clouds as well. I managed to knock off 12 minutes from the same distance at the Austin Tri last September on a tougher course, so I am quite happy with my 3:06:14. My swim and bike times were pretty much the same as in Austin (swim 30 sec faster, bike 1 minute slower) but better transition times and a 10 minute faster run carried me through the day. In fact, and even I am a bit hard-pressed to believe this, I had a 10K PR during the run portion of the event. After I have a chance to settle down I will be back to post a true report.

Now it is on to IMTX in under 7 weeks....

 

[fashionista311]

Ok guys I took my first (baby) step into the tri-world by attending our state's big open house with a 5k fun run and a stroke class...here's my blog post if anyone's interested..

http://nyc-runner.blogspot.com/2011/04/dipping-my-pinky-toe-in-world-of-multi.html

I was hoping the swim clinic would make me feel better, but now I feel so overwhelmed and I don't know where to start anymore!!

 

[tiberius]

I am back to say that I finally got my race report finished. Rather than try to rewrite and reformat it here, I will just post the link to my blog:
http://intotransition.blogspot.com/2011/04/kemah-international-distance-triathlon.html

Thanks for reading!

 

[ironz]

Fashionista...hang in there. It takes a little bit to learn swim technique, but you'll find swimming easier and more fun eventually. I will never forget...my first swim "training" on my own before my first triathlon--I swam 8 lengths of 100 ft (33 yds), resting between each length, for a big total of 266 yds! Within 6 weeks, I could swim 750 yds almost continuously. It was amazing to me! (now, 266 yds isn't even a warmup )

Richard...great job! Love the run pic from the hill...I think that BAM! guy was exploding from the inside! That's a big bridge...haven't run it, but have seen it.
Are you (or Charles or any of the other SE TX people) going to Galveston this weekend? A previous conflict went away, and I'm not ready for the half, but signed up for the sprint this week to kick off my season, sort of as a practice race to go through the motions before the rest of the season. Starting to ramp up some...up to 60 miles on the bike...but I have 3 months before my IM still. Focus for now is consistency and attitude.

 

[Duanerice]

Great report Richard. Unfortunately I can't see the cool picture of the bridge. Darn work computers

Fashonista - we have all been there. Heck my first swim was about 75 yards before I died. But it comes quick if you keep at it.

Betsy - I was so happy to get my first of the year tri under my belt a few weeks ago. I know you must be excited. All that training and no races make for a frustrating Triathlete

Heading to New Orleans next week. Way too excited right now This is actually my first WTC Ironman branded event. Should be fun.

enjoy,
Duane

 

[monsterkitty]

Well, it's been a week since my indoor tri. I'm trying to forget about it because it went so well (if you knew me really well you know I am very sarcastic).

My ankle joint is still pretty loose and the cartilage is mushy from the 12 weeks I spent in a cast. Every time I do a flip turn it feels like my ankle is tied to a rubber band - the force slings it out when I flip and then it comes back in. It doesn't hurt at all so it doesn't concern me.

About 200 yards into the 10 minute swim I flipped, pushed of the wall and felt a pop in my ankle. Didn't hurt, but it felt weird so I slowed down and then just did open turns and didn't push of the wall with that foot. As a result I only swam a 500.

Got out of the pool and my foot felt weird when I walked. Once again, it didn't hurt so I went to the locker room to change into my biking and running gear ( they give you a 10-minute transition). I also put on the stupid ankle brace that I have to wear.

Once I was in the brace and shoe my foot and ankle felt fine. Headed up to the spin room and hopped on a bike. One of the spin instructors yelled at me for participating in the tri. She is also a physio therapist and she gave me a lot of info on the surgery that I'd had as well as moral support. I stuck my tongue out at her.

The odometers on the bikes weren't working all that great so mentally I decided not to let this part of the tri count. The final reading was only 11.4 on my bike in the 30 minutes but I knew that was wrong. In fact, no one had a reading over 12.4. Oh well, like I said, I wasn't going to let it bother me.

We had a 5 minute transition to the treadmills. I tightened my brace and my shoes and stretched a little. When they said go, I set my treadmill to Level 4 (15-minute mile) and started on my leisurely stroll. That worked for about 30 seconds until I got bored and bumped it up to 5.5. I stayed there for a while and then bumped it up to 5.7 then 5.8.

Okay, let's tell the truth here: I did start at 4 and then bumped up the speed few seconds into the run. About 2 minutes into the run I knew that this wasn't working. I had no pain, but it wasn’t feeling right. My swim coach, Dan, was the supervisor of this leg. He walked over to my treadmill and pushed the button back to 4. I stayed there until he walked away and bumped up the speed again. Dan walked back over and put me back at 4. He walked away, I changed it again. Dan came back and put it back to 4. Lather, rinse, repeat. Finally my husband told Dan to just babysit me because they both know how stubborn I am. I only ran 1.68 miles in the 20 minutes.

After we finished I took off my shoe and brace and my foot looked like a cartoon character's foot. It didn't hurt and it often swells so I thought nothing of it. One of the trainers handed my an ice bag and gave me a lecture (they know me well there). Stuck my tongue out at him, too.

Tuesday I had physio for my IT band, which gave my no problems during the run during the tri. However, I made the mistake of showing him my foot. The beauty of my Kaiser building is orthopedic and PT are on the same floor, so we walked over to ortho and asked if anyone was available. Lucky me my surgeon was the on-call doc (my sarcasm again). I told her what happened during my swim and that it still didn't hurt, just felt weird. She sent me to x-ray to rule out a break. What they found was two of the plugs they used to reattach my posterior tibial tendon to my navicular bone during surgery came unattached.

Good news is the tendon did not tear. Bad news is, I'm back in a boot and can do nothing but core and upper body for 8 more weeks. If I am a good girl(like that is going to happen) I can swim in 4 weeks, but no kicking or pushing off the wall.

Oh, and even worse news – my husband beat me by 2 points.

 

[tiberius]

Oh, and even worse news – my husband beat me by 2 points.

If that is the "worse" news, then I think there is hope for you!

Duane - How was N.O.? I heard the swim got canceled due to the water conditions.

Betsy - I did pop down to Galveston to see the start of the swim and early transitions before I had to leave on Sunday. I hope your race went well on Saturday!

Today several training groups did a large combined group ride (read a couple hundred riders) of the Ironman Texas bike course today. I can only wonder how many might have showed if the MS-150 ride from Houston to Austin was not this weekend, of course they take 2 whole days to do their ride. :rofl: All in all it was a great time, if not a bit windy. My goal was to finish in 7 hours and stay within my training heart rate zone. I finished in 6:58:46 and met the heart rate goal as well! (btw - Duane, now that I have ridden the whole course I can get around to that description I promised you!)

 

[Duanerice]

Hi All, just back. Spent a few days in Biloxi on the way back.

Monsterkitty - when will you learn????? I saw many warnings in your post above that you just ignored Hmmmmm

Betsy – how was the race?

Richard, looking forward to info on the ride. You did great - beat your time and kept the heart right where it should be.

Went to the Expo of Friday. Took about 20 minutes to get through then into the Ironman shop. Bought a jersey, hat and t-shirt. Didn’t know they gave you a hat at the finish, I could have saved $25. Disappointed in the swag bag. Other than a shirt, we didn’t get anything of value. Local 5k’s give better stuff. Saturday took the bike over to transition. Took all of 5 minutes since we didn’t have anything to set up.

Sunday morning I picked up a few peeps and we drove over. As we showed up for transition, they were announcing that they cancelled the swim because of 23 mph winds. If I understand correctly it wasn't because the swim would be so hard (although the current was really fast) it was because they could man the rescue craft properly. If someone got in trouble they were not sure they could get to them in time. Kind of relieved and bummed at the same time. We did have some folks doing the relay so they were really bummed as they came only for the swim. Not swimming sure makes setting up transition a little easier 

Well they now had to start in a time trial fashion, 2 by 2. Took and extra 45 min from my original start time to finally get out on the course. They started the pros and took at least 45 min to send them off. Unfortunately I didn’t really get to see them as we all had to be in the transition area. Finally started down the coast and we were flying. Lot of fun for the first 5 miles. But we turned around! For the next 20 miles it was basically straight into the wind. Sometimes the wind was from the side but mostly head on. For the last 10 miles before the turnaround it was straight on into that same wind that caused them to cancel the swim  I was never so happy to turn around. It was like night and day. Struggling o keep 15 – 17 up all of a sudden turned into 21 – 23 with no effort.

You would think that we would have the wind all the way back – NOT! After the first part, I didn’t feel a lot of wind and my speed didn’t show much wind. It’s just not fair! Ended up at 3:03 for the bike.

Run was a blast. Very nice course, well supported. A lot of people along the course. Probably one of the best runs (course wise) that I have seen. OK, Miami Man was pretty good through the zoo but this one was so well supported from both the Volunteers to the spectators. I put off taking a GU for a bit too long. Didn’t take it until mile 9 and it was too late. Had to walk a bit starting at mile 10. Walk a minute run ½ mile. Followed this until mile 12 then either the GU kicked in or my competitive streak reared up. As we passed mile 12 a guy from my age group appeared beside me. OK, he was still running so I settled in beside him and kept running. We turned onto the street leading to Jackson Square and I picked it up a bit. He didn’t follow. So this was for 75th place instead of 76th, but hey…… Although very happy with the course, disappointed with the run 2:18.

I think my run is OK. I think what I need to beef up my bike fitness. The bike wears me out as I do not ride a lot. There are many weeks where the only time I ride is on Saturday morning. Need to spend more time on the trainer or take it easier on the bike. I won’t take it easier on the bike.

Great race, finish was as cool as I expected. By the time I finished there was pizza and drinks available. I heard so much about the post-race party. Again, local sprints put on better post-race spreads than this. Would I do it again? Don’t think so. Although it was a lot of fun it was a pretty expensive weekend and we’ve been to New Orleans a couple of times now.

Next up a reverse sprint in Naples June 12 and Augusta HIM in September. All so I can do that crazy IMFL in November 

Enjoy,
Duane