Talk Triathlon

need a name!

Message posted by: Charlie W.

My buddies (3 of us) and I need a name for our marathon relay for the Hartford Marathon in October. So far, all we have come up with is “Vick in a box” . .

any suggestions?

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training for my first tri

Message posted by: Linze P.

I am just wondering if anyone can gives me some advice on training and any info about race day. I am still confused on how the transistion stations work. I am running the Orlando Womens Tri Oct. 23rd. Has anyone run this tri?? Thanks for the advice!

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iron idiot rr

Message posted by: Ross H.

Only because it’s important to this report I want to remind everyone that I completed Ironman St. George a scant two months ago on May 1st. I wasn’t planning on writing a race report for this event since now that I’m part of the elite Ironman world no other distance really matters. I’m pretty certain I read something that once you hear, “You are an Ironman” then all the old rules of training and nutrition no longer apply.

Hi, my name is Ross and I’m an Iron Idiot.

So you have probably guessed I didn’t have the best race of my life. I suppose I could have trained and I suppose I could have eaten better, but have you ever visited Chicago? The hotdogs and pizza, come-on I’m an Ironman, I can do anything. Actually I think I had a pretty good attitude going into the race. I knew there were a zillion reasons I wouldn’t be superfast but I was really looking forward and secretly believed I was gonna rock it.

I couldn’t have been more relaxed on race morning. I got my transition area set and had plenty of time to hang out and chat with the other racers. I even enjoyed the mile walk we had to get to where the swim started. I was supposed to be in the 11th wave so had plenty of time to get wet and even took a seat to relax before my day. I found myself getting too relaxed and decided to go back into the water before I fell asleep. I got back into the water and was chatting up a storm when I realized I completely missed my wave. Are you kidding me? What was I thinking? I couldn’t believe I stupid I was but they were very cool about it and let me go off in a wave some twenty minutes later. No problem, I’m an Ironman so I handle this…

The swim itself went very well, as well as any I’ve ever done. I took the right side and stayed true to the line hugging the buoys. I enjoyed the time beating myself up for missing my wave. Unfortunately they still have my time as it would have been had I left in my wave. I was told it would be correctly but maybe it takes a while. By my count I came in around 36 or 37 minutes. My previous pr was 43 minutes so I am very pleased with this.

The bike went fine and I was doing great up until around the 30th mile or so when I simply ran out of energy. I’d love to blame it on the heat or wind or nutrition but simply put, I didn’t put the time in the saddle and was now paying the price. I gotta add I was also uncomfortable for two reasons. The first was I’ve gained 15 pounds since Ironman St. George and my bloated belly made it difficult to remain aero. The second is due to a bad habit I’ve developed during the swim. I must swallow a lot of air, which gives me terrific gas pains. I need to ask my swim coach about this as it ended up wrecking me.

I got off the bike in 3:01, which I was also happy with. My goal was 3 so who was I to complain! I did get quite frustrated in T2 though as I couldn’t get my bike on the rack. The other bikes were crammed in there and there just wasn’t any room. I’m guessing it cost me a minute or so dinking around with that.

The run was miserable, just miserable. First it was crazy hot and humid. My only goal for the run was to run it the whole way. I lasted just about 100 yards. My right knee buggered up on me just like it did for my Florida half and for Steelhead. Clearly I have some bodily conspiracy to keep me from running a 70.3. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my stellar training. This should be a walk in the park for an Ironman like myself.

The run was two loops of 6.5 miles. For the first loop all I did was think about how miserable I was. My knee hurt, my gut hurt, it was hot, I was walking whaa, whaa, whaa. I got to the turn and saw Joanne who had been there all day in the rain and heat just as happy and supportive as ever and I just had to stop to tell her exactly how miserable I was and that I should just quit and go home. (I couldn’t really quit, I mean geez, I’m an Ironman.) So after I was done whining to Joanne like a spoiled little girl I started back out for the second loop.

I was probably a half a mile into the second loop when a lady coming the other way yelled out something like, “great job, you got this”. Now it’s not like those words of wisdom meant anything as I was not doing a great job and I certainly didn’t have anything! I was in the middle of visualizing her being taken by her ankles and body slammed on the blazing pavement when it hit me like a two by four how bad; how really bad my attitude was! Sure my knee hurt a bit and all that other stuff but my attitude was bad because I wasn’t performing like I thought I should have. Goodness I thought I was just gonna have fun. Well, this wasn’t fun!

So I proceeded to commit some mental kung fu and side kicked myownself upside the head and started saying encouraging things to other runners. I’m telling you, the more times I said stuff the less I thought about my stupid issues. Before I knew it I was running a lot more than walking. Then I remembered reading Lauri’s RR about volunteering and how much fun it sounded. So I totally stepped up my encouragement and tried to see how many different ways I could be uplifting. By the 10th mile I was jogging 100% and wouldn’t you know it, I was having fun! I finally made it to the finishing shoot and put my arms out high fiving people on both sides. I’m sure I looked like a dork but who cares, I was smiling, they were smiling and it gave the announcer something different to talk about.

Its been a few days and yes I’m quite sore and yes, quite disappointed with myself. I’m mad for not putting in the time and training but more than that I’m mad for letting myself fall into the abyss of my mind’s black hole. I should know better. How many times do I need to hear that having a good attitude is paramount for any successful venture. Well. I’m a believer now. Oh, also just because I’ve done something in the past doesn’t mean I can do something in the future without paying for it!

I’ve decided not to do anymore triathlons this season and to concentrate on running. I’ll still be in my swim class and won’t forget the bike ( cyclocross starts in September – yea) but I need to focus on running. My hometown hosts a marathon on October 17th and I have signed up. I’m not sure if I will rock it or not but I am 100 percent certain I will never return to my mind’s black hole – its just not fun!

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tri family

Message posted by: Clyde W.

On Saturday my 4 year old did her first triathlon, which now means we are all triathletes in the family! She did a 25 yard swim (a form of breaststroke, mostly underwater with turtle-like breaths), 0.5m bike (with her training wheels) and a 0.25m run. Despite running a 99 degree fever and a wheezy cough, she still insisted on racing – mostly because her older sister and a friend were also racing. (I know I’m a terrible parent, but if you knew how obstinate my 4 year old daughter was, you’d let her race too!) Anyway, the friend, who is almost 7, won the 4-6 year old AG, while my 4 year old came mid-pack out of about 30 kids. In 2 year’s time she’ll still be eligible for this AG so am sure by then she’ll be tearing up the field!

Next my 7 year old daughter went off in her second ever race. She’s now in the 7-8 year old age group, so we warned her to lower her expectations (after she had won her first race last year). She was now competing against some 8 year old boys and girls, and compared to my 40lb, 45 inch daughter, some of these kids were towering over her. This clearly wasn’t going to phase her though, as she came out of the water in about 3rd, out of T1 in 1st, and held this lead for the rest of the race!

Naturally, we’re very proud parents, and I can see our training time is going to get eaten into more and more as the girls start to want to train and race more! Can’t wait…

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im louisville vs. im wisconsin

Message posted by: Brian C.

I am considering doing an IM in 2011. I am debating between IM Louisville and IM Wisconsin. The distances are almost equal from where I live. I have never done an IM and so I want my first one to be a great memory. Any recommendations on either or both courses would be great.

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