Tony's Xterra & Short Course Tri Group - OPEN (Page 14)

Had my first race of the season today! I've been running and active for a long time, but haven't been racing for very long. Today was my first half marathon and it went well. Apart from an upset stomach (I don't know why though), the race went well! Finished in 1:28:14. Better than my 1:30 goal. Also got 11th overall which is a good place. 5th in my age group though. Fast crowd in my group today. I'm in good shape for the May marathon! Full race write up is in race reports.

Tomorrow is a medium recovery run, maybe some biking. This week will be a high-mileage running week, ending with another 8k race with a friend on Sunday. Happy training all!

Amazing time! Congratulations on such a high placement overall an in your AG. You're gonna rock your marathon.

Tony: That would be so cool to meet you there! Good luck qualifying!!I did find a local coach. He's helped a bunch of local triathletes get through Maui and IMNZ. He's put a plan for together for me and I get started today. Excited!

Happy training, all!

That's a hardcore weekend. Kudos for getting it all done! 95 miles on Saturday probably got a lot of mental toughness in there too.

9.5 miles today. Legs were kinda heavy for the first part, but loosened up in the middle and then felt tired again towards the end. Tomorrow is a complete rest day. Maybe a short walk in the morning before work. Normally I do a VERY slow jog for 2-3 miles or 10-20 easy biking (usually commuting on the bike or moseying around town sight-seeing or visiting a friend) on my off days. I get cranky if I don't. I might just take tomorrow totally off.

I also have an 8k in downtown Chicago this weekend, but I think I'm going to blow that race off. I thought it was on Saturday, but it's on Sunday and I'm on schedule for a 20 miler this weekend. I might do the 20 miler early Saturday (leave at 6:00 am) and then do the 8k Sunday morning at a reasonable pace instead of a breakneck pace. We'll see how the week turns out. I might be able to squeeze in 20 miles on Friday evening. 

Probably mental happiness by dropping his coach on every climb!   It was a good weekend! 

How did everyone else do this weekend?  Glad its finally warming up here in the mid-west!

Doing the Shamrock huh?!  Looks like a fun race, never did it.  You can always do the 8k Sunday morning, then just keep running down the lakefront path until you do 20.  The scenery is great!

Welcome to the group and congrats on changing your life around!  Mistakes happen, but the good thing is your aware of the crazy life you lived before and are now changing that.  So congrats! 

Why are you freaking out?!  You still have a month to get ready, as long as your consistent you should be fine!

I can run.

I can bike.

and I am positive I can drown 

February 11th I got in the water for the first time in a LONG TIME (why did I think I could do a triathlon? I HAVE NO IDEA!)  Now since this is a mentoring forum there is no making fun...   I was only able to swim 200m my first time out (in 30 minutes).  Oye.  I can still remember the sadness.

But I am happy to report that I can now do 750m in 30 minutes (750 is the distance of my upcoming triathlon OWS).  I can do this by swimming 2x75 and then 12x50 (resting between sets of 10 seconds to 45 seconds).

I can't rest at the lake!  Is there any advice that can be offered on how to improve my endurance or just be able to not drown.  Not dying is KEY for during this Tri (in case I forgot to mention)  

Thanks for your help.

Don't panic.  Just R E L A X    You won't be the only one at the lake if you have to roll on your back, float, and take a rest.  It's waaaaay better than drowning!

My first tri was my first Open water swim.  That was a mistake.  One or two times in the OW could have alieviated a lot of anxiety and panic, as well as gave me the opportunity to learn how to sight and generally navigate the open water.  Swim 3x or more a week and you will see steady improvement.

Can't believe I didn't think of that...great idea!

Agreed. You'll be fine. My first tri was also my first OWS and it was a bit of a shock. I wasn't totally comfortable in the water yet. It was only 500 m and 250 m in I was resting on a kayak. No shame in that. There will be others who will need to take a break and relax. Come to think of it, my second tri wasn't much faster than what you're saying you're swimming now.

I also recommend swimming at least 3x a week. I made swimming my priority at the beginning. You'll be fine, just keep working on the swimming.

You're only going to get better with practice! Believe me. I didn't know how to swim 1.5 years ago and now I'm gearing up for a 2.5 mile swim from one island to another in May. Along the way I learned confidence, and that's helped a ton! I may not be the fastest, but I'm gonna get there.

It's taken me almost two years of doing triathlons to make me feel like I can hang. A lot of it is knowing how to train, I'm learning. I know how to train for running, but swimming and biking, not really. 1st year I did it mostly alone, so I wasn't just moseying along, not really know how to push myself.

What made the difference was getting the nerve up to tag along with the more experienced, even though it meant I'd be chasing them, and they'd sometimes have to wait for me. I was able to watch them and learn all the little important things I wasn't doing.

Maybe you can find groups to bike and swim with?

Any workout is better than no workout (generally). The general advice for starting out is to just go slow. There's no need to rush. It seems like most people either feel blocked by the swimming or the running. Running has always been easy for me, but I feel like a rock when I get in the pool. For running, just keep it slow and keep building slowly. You'll get there. It takes time and sometimes the time is what gets us most. It's tough to wait.

That looks like Ruth Kazez's 0-1650 in 6 weeks program. If it is, I can say it worked for me. I started after flailing around in the pool for about 5 weeks. I felt like it was beyond my ability as well, but you just have to stick to what she says. I focused on slowing my breathing during those breaks. I might pick up some of those later sessions in that plan to build up my endurance again. I think she has another plan that's a little more beginner than that one too (just looked it up...it's that same workout but with fewer reps). I thought this workout would be beyond me, but when I got to the pool and started, I found I was more capable than I thought.

Also...I'd recommend reading as many swimming technique articles as possible and watching some videos online. Swimsmooth.com is great for this. If you search Total Immersion on YouTube you get tons of great videos as well. I also still pull up 1500m elite level races to watch. I focus on the swimmers form and look for something new. When I first started this, I didn't understand a lot and a lot of the swimmers looked the same. After awhiel though, you start to see the differences.

I haven't become a great swimmer (I'm trying...it's my new focus after the May marathon!), but I can average less than 2:00/100 (barely...).

You can do it! Keep at it!

www.swimsmooth.com

If you can get some lessons or join a masters group