First Oly Tri

No idea Marie but for some strange reason, I'm doing an OLY first.  If I come back alive I'll let you know how it is. 

Just did my first Oly this past weekend - my previous tri experience going into it was a grand total of one sprint, and that was just two weeks ago, lol...

It sounds like you have the experience to know what you are getting into, so just stay confident out there - don't let the race numbers intimidate you.

For me, I was most scared about the 1.5K swim - I'd never done a distance anywhere close to that.  But once I got out of the washing machine, I loved it... It was great to just enjoy plowing along out in the water.  I'm odd in that I much prefer OWS to pool.  The pool freaks me out way more than OWS!  So, the swim went fine, and then I just enjoyed the bike ride and plodded along on the run - the race went great overall, and most importantly, I had a blast

I would just recommend to pace yourself smartly on the bike - I was surprised at how hard the run was in comparison to how I felt during the sprint.  Coming off the bike was harder this time to get the legs in "run mode"

You are all set - just remember to have fun first & foremost!

Cheers, Chris

 

I just finished my first oly this past weekend. Prior to that I've done 4 sprint tris over the past 3 years. I've done plenty of 1500m OWS. So I was not worriied about that. The bike seemed to be my weekest part. Only a couple of rides of the same distance of the race (27mi). I also put in a few 10mi runs. Being dead from the bike seriously hurt my run. I also think that it hurt me because my longest workourts were only 1.5hrs. My suggestion, put in a few 2-3 hour bike rides, along with a few 20+ mile rides followed by a short run.

good luck. It is a good experience.

I did my first Olympic back in April.  It was my first race of 09 and my second tri ever.  I really did not think it was that much harder than a sprint.  I really tried to pace myself by easing off on the swim and bike, but could have pushed it harder.  I had never run a 10K race before so I did not know what to expect.  I was hoping for a 1 hour run.  I did it in 51 minutes.  I really enjoyed the distance and plan on doing many more Olympic races.  Sprint is too short.  1/2 is coming up in less than three weeks.  FWIW, I did not have a biking or running background b/f tri's.

Edited by Jeepguy2358 2009-09-09 7:42 AM

More advice to pace yourself wisely on the bike.  Ride to recover/rehydrate/refuel after swim & in prep for a good run.  Did my 1st Oly this summer after 2 Sprints.  Last Sprint I went too easy which set me up for a bad Oly.  As avid cyclist I hit the bike too hard & paid dearly on the run with cramps & my PW (personal worst!) 10k time.  There is a big pacing difference between Sprint & Oly distances for many newbies.

x4 on pacing the bike leg.

I put way too much into the bike in my first Oly & just plain ran out of gas halfway through the run.  I finished, but there was a lot of walking involved.

Edited by oldntrin 2009-09-09 9:35 AM

I'm going to disagree with the recover/refuel/rehydrate bit for the bike. It's less than a 3-hour race, you shouldn't need a whole lot of nutrition for a race of that distance, maybe a few hundred calories. If you need to recover, then you haven't trained enough or you went too hard on the swim.

I race Oly's 5-10 bpm under my lactate threshold on the bike and then try to hold at or just under my LT on the run.

If you don't have a HR monitor, then you want to be just under the point where your breathing gets labored. Pay close attention as you're running and riding at various efforts and you'll notice that there's a pretty narrow area where your breathing changes. It goes from just being quicker than normal to much louder and more ragged. It's also that point where talking goes from being possible but slightly challenging, to very difficult. This point correlates pretty closely to your LT.

Reading your race report, this may be trickier for you with your asthma. Not sure how you work around that!

Pace yourself and you will do just fine.  I just did my first Oly a few weeks back and I enjoyed it a lot more than a sprint.  I ate a gel on the bike and that held me just fine. 

Wow.  Thanks for all the tips!  You guys are great.  I am a former swimmer, so not too worried about the swim.  My only fears are that it is a crowded race, and I may not be able to make the most out of my swim because of the crowd.  As for my asthma, I can say that I finally seem to have it under control with some new meds.  Woot. 

Training wise, I have done a couple two-three hour bike rides, and a few transition runs after 20 mile rides.  I wish I could have done more, but for the most part, I stuck to the schedule, and even did more than my training plan at times.  Still, it is always harder when you are pushing yourself to go as fast as you can for certain distance.  I guess its just time to let my summer training pay off and accept the first Oly as a learning experience!

I really appreciate all the tips and feedback!

Good luck and pace yourself on the bike.