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Triathlons

Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky

Frumious Bandersnatch
Joined
Nov 3, 1999
Messages
1,297
Location
Looking-Glass Land
Last night i finally told another soul that i've been planning towards a triathlon (god it feels good actually saying this!!).

I don't have any specific questions, but am hoping for ANY and ALL tips anyone can give that'd help!! I'm currently about halfway through "Triathlon Magazine's Complete Triathlon Book", and am realizing how much i had always focused on anabolism instead of cardio/endurance.

I'm just gonna bullet-point some of the main factors going on here ;PP

- Race is Dec.1 (at manatee state park - any FL bl'ers want in? i promise post-race partying will be epic >;-)) ), and is a very short triathlon (0.2mi swim, 20mi bike, 2.0mi run). What's a rough time range on this kind of race, from "acceptable" to "impressive"?

- I ride single-speed and fixed bikes (ie no gears). Will this be a major inhibition during the race? Last time I checked speed over distance i could pull around 18mph as a best for rides over an hour (that's measured w/ speedometer. That was w/o pedal cages but i doubt they're gonna give me more than an extra 1-2mph)

- If you were gonna have a cigarette either an hour before, or an hour after, your training, which would be less damaging? I'm at about 1/3cig per smoke, maybe 4-5cigs daily. yes i know how much of a pussy this makes me :|

- My heartrate is SCARY high. I hadn't messed around with heartrate for years and cannot remember how mine used to be. But when i checked the other day i was pulling 90's!!! That's not an error, as i broke 90bpm this morning (checked right upon standing this morn., before a smoke or anything). WTF is up with that? I'm NOT new to endurance training, I've been doing heavy biking for many many months without any hiccups in my training.
(yknow I DID have a bit of a little cold/runny nose the day i started trying my heartrate, hopefully hopefully that was a big factor..)

- Training with heartrate monitors - necessary or hugely useful here?


Thnx in advance for any tips! The main goal is to just do the triathlon, and i'm already pretty confident i can complete this race in not-too-embarrassing a time. Of course, anything that helps my training and/or performance at the race is huge to me right now!!
 
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This is fantastic news, congratulations! I will keep this open, however we already have a "runners" thread.. let me know if you would like to two merged. There's a lot of useful talk in there that would benefit your cause, I think. :)
 
I'd like this to be left open if not a problem, as the running part is the least of my worries ;PP
/am gg find that running thread tho :)
 
I did a triathlon about a year ago.
Very rewarding.
I trained by simply running/swimming/biking the distance I planned to do in the actual race.
I also did some interval training - pushing myself at 100% for 2 minutes at a time.
Not high-tech, but it worked.
1.5 k Swim, 20 k bike, 10 k run - kind of medium length.
But the fact that you smoke cigarettes really shocked me.
And the fact that your resting (I assume it was resting) heartbeat is so high is not good.
Nicotine can cause increased heart rate.
If I were you, I would stop smoking and watch as your triathlon times, and your heart rate, both decrease.
 
how long had you been training for it? I'm really hoping to do a medium-length in early '13 after i get this one under my belt ;P
so you trained at the full distance? i've still yet to do a single "practice" run, i still wanna spend few more weeks getting my swimming "less embarrassing", and maybe get the last leg of my run improved - biking, luckily, has been sealed for a while (biking is proportionally-larger in my race than others, it seems)

did you ever train with a heart rate monitor?

and ya i get that 24/7, if you knew me irl it'd shock you even more :/ i've been keeping notes on my smoking and, sadly, my daily total is actually 5-6 still.. i'm not planning on smoking after this event (completion of the triathlon, and quitting cigarettes, are the 2 main goals of this).
((i know how weak/flawed it is, and have been struggling with it since HS, so about a decade :| honestly if i don't stop soon i fear i'll smoke for life like the rest of my fam., and really think i'm at a point where i know it's not me))
o and nicotine does increase it, but from what i've read it cannot account for such a high #. I'm in middle of finding out why my HR is so high, will report back when i know more ;P

fwiw this is my new bl-blog that i'm using to catalog my training:
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/entries/6195-In-My-Image-(triathlon-prep-life-)
 
The tri organizers are also asking for volunteers for positions like lifeguards and others.
I'm in.........when I get back to Fl from NY I am training with you. And like slimvictor said, ciggerettes are BAD. Wether you're smoking and performing exercises or just smoking in general. Tobacco is the number 2 cause of death, right after alcohol abuse. Athletics will be a good chance for me to quit and/or cut down on both.
 
oh i've got little doubt i'll be quit by then; quitting and completing the triath are my 2 life goals atm. i'm doing a steady taper so it's easier but am on sched for full quit by then - i'm figuring the psych.momentum from the race will help concrete the quit ;P

o and call back and i'll answer you - i just don't answer #'s i don't know ;)
 
0.2 mile swim? Swimming is not my strong suit. This I could do and easily make up the time with running/biking.
I was a smoker when I did my 10K trail runs this year. I did not smoke the morning of the race and did not have my usual 3-4 beer the Friday night prior.

What was the winning time last year? What was the winning time for your age group?
That is usually my personal meter stick for performance in any race.
 
I know right? each of the 3 events are almost laughable when taken alone; taken together, they're a good goal for me right now. I'm 29 and haven't been in "top" shape since uni (wrestler). To make things worse, i had a *very* bad ~2yr period making lots of bad choices and wallowing in my sorrows, and have only been back to "myself"/normal for a lil over a year...
I'm looking at this as a good 'entry' of sorts - there's a much bigger triath early in '13 that i hope to progress to after :)

and cannot find times from last year :| gg look harder because i really gotta know 'em, as i'm aiming to do some tests of the actual race in a few weeks.

what would you expect outta yourself for this kinda race? i'm guessing you'd be in the upper echelons based on what i've seen you post ;PP
 
<<I can't format this - if you "quote" it and get it into bl's reply box it is formatted correctly>>
ya it looks like the race was different last year -
riathlon: .25 Mile Swim| 10 Mile Bike| 3 Mile Run

and winner was:

MALE OVERALL TRIATHLON CHAMPION
Place O'All No. Name Age City St Time Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run Penalty
===== ===== ===== ======================= === ==================== == ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= ======= ==== ======= =======
1 1 3 Zach Mori 22 Palm Harbor FL 55:12 5 5:21 0:42 2 29:04 0:31 2 19:36

as far as categories, i'm a 29y/o male so i imagine i'm in the most competitive group :)
 
I would have estimated 90 minutes for me without any training for it. I am 39. Come January I sit in the age 40-44 group.
 
fwiw i posted on a bodybuild board to get an idea of times, this reply kind of helps me:

Triathlon as a sport is bifurcated between the pointy end who are competing with each other, and everybody else who is 'racing themselves'. So, the top 20-30 might be competitive, and the other 100-2000 people are just chilling. I say this having been a semi-serious triathlete for a number of years.

For a sprint distance tri, which is usually 0.75k swim, 20k bike, 5k run, here are times
Great: 9min/30 min/18 min
Good: 10min/35 min/20 min
Fair: 12min/40 min/22 min

For the distance you mentioned above, I'd say 4 min/50 min/14 min would be good, assuming no major hills.

For swimming, the real indicator is pool times. What kind of times can you maintain for 5 x 500yds with 1 minute rest in between. For biking, even with hills, a strong biker should be able to do 40km in 1hr, without fancy aero gear, on a standard road bike. Likewise, a very pedestrian high school cross country runner can do a standalone 5k in 18 minutes. After swimming and biking, it's a bit harder. Really good runners can throw down sub 16 minute flat 5ks after biking, but those guys are relatively rare, because they'll stay in running or biking as single sports (or, if they are good triathletes, they'll often move to bike racing as it is cheaper, more competitive and has cash prizes).
 
how long had you been training for it?
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Hard to say exactly. I ride my bicycle to commute, so I am very used to 24k a day.
I swim when I get the chance, but it sometimes is once in two months, and other times I manage to go 2-3 times in a week.
Same with running, actually. I spend enough time on my bicycle plus doing yoga that I don't feel that I need much more exercise, though I do feel healthier when I mix it up more.


I'm really hoping to do a medium-length in early '13 after i get this one under my belt ;P
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I think it sounds like a good plan. Start easy, and push yourself slowly, allowing your body to get used to it.

did you ever train with a heart rate monitor?
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No, I never worry about that, because my heart is pretty healthy, and I think I know how far to push myself.
Maybe it would be helpful. I wonder.

completion of the triathlon, and quitting cigarettes, are the 2 main goals of this
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Actually, that sounds very smart to me.
The triathlon allows you to build up willpower, so that you can quit.
Makes perfect sense.

Good luck!
 
wow you're a heavy rider! I'm getting my volume up at a very solid pace (am going as hard as I can w/o overtraining). first week I started keeping accurate tabs I did 15miles on the bike. Did 51 two weeks ago. Did 113 last 7 days :)
I also brought my 1mile down from <too embarrassed> to a 6.29
Swimming is a super weak spot for me, definitely need to get myself focused on that but i just cannot enjoy swimming the same as run/bike.

Re heart rate, I was pulling mid90's a few weeks ago. I got 77 yesterday!! (I'm basically done with cigs too, having had maybe 1 cigarette, cumulatively, since "quitting" saturday afternoon. Am just having an occasional puff off someone else's here and there and there's no way they all add up to anything more than like 1 or 1.25 cigs altogether)
 
anyone reckon the pro's could be doping? i now wonder after the fact that armstrong had his sights on becoming a triathlete, didn't he? i assume there is drug testing in triathlons?
 
As athletes who care intensely - obsessively - about their game, most at the highest levels of any particular sport are "doping". I can link you to other threads (see DITM for the lance thread, or my "rants" blog for my feelings - but let's leave ethics of certain-performance enhancers outta this thread plz)
 
dude plz PLZ save them for me!! Today's a swim day for me anyways - but so is tomorrow (my schedule's changed, swimming is just lagging wayyy too far from bike/run). Lemme know which + what time and would love to go with you! pm me let's figure out what time :)

OH, and for anyone ever looking to map distances in the ocean, mapmyride *does* do this. i didn't realize i had "auto follow roads" set, lol. you can map fields, or ocean swims, very easily.
 
bmxxx said:
As athletes who care intensely - obsessively - about their game, most at the highest levels of any particular sport are "doping". I can link you to other threads (see DITM for the lance thread, or my "rants" blog for my feelings - but let's leave ethics of certain-performance enhancers outta this thread plz)
Click to expand...

sorry dude, il try and steer clear of your threads from now on! have a good one.
 
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