RunningAHEAD - Topic: My 1st tri - John Tanner State Park (Carrolton GA)

tcerda

Supa Dupa Fly

posted: 4/22/2008 at 2:44 PM

Yipee! just a couple days away!!! I think I'm ready...i've been running through everything in my head a thousand times. I think i have everything I need. I've seen a number of checklists and it looks like i'm prepared. I normally prefer to not run in a shirt...but at 8am it's probably going to be around 50-55 degrees. Am I going to freeze my butt off on the bike after being wet from a swim? even with a tri-tank on? Or will I build up enough body heat pretty quickly to be able to make it through a 12 mile bike? I can run shirtless in 55 degree weather no problem..but there's a bit more wind on the bike... suggestions?

~TC --There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't--

ironTriKev

IronMan ;)

posted: 4/22/2008 at 2:59 PM

I ust did a tri in 60F weather and pouring rain, I was definitely warm enough in my tri-top.

Tri-Kev Here are my favorite links:
My "kick @ss" running club ;)

Swim 2.4 miles.
Ride 112 miles.
Run 26.2 miles.
Then brag for the rest of your life.
-Commander John Collins, Ironman Triathlon creator

Cashmason

posted: 4/23/2008 at 2:52 AM

You may want to keep your shirt on for the bike. Like you say, more wind chill at faster speeds on the bike. Also check with the race director about running shirtless. Some races don't allow it. Most have no problem with shirtless, but hate to see you get DQ if it is against that race's rules.

tcerda

Supa Dupa Fly

posted: 4/23/2008 at 1:10 PM

Another question... I'll be swimming in a wet suit. During the first transition, I'm supposing after i get the thing off, i'll need to get it folded up and in my bag in my area or something? i'm guessing you don't have tons of real estate to work with in your transition area?

~TC --There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't--

Cashmason

posted: 4/23/2008 at 7:02 PM
modified: 4/23/2008 at 7:05 PM

You would be correct. Normally people lay out a bath towel right next to the bike and lay some of their stuff including the bag on it. That towel area is normally all you get, and sometimes others will park their bike right on your towel which is considered rude, but if its crowded and you have a good spot it may happen. People will not normally try to damage your stuff. But when racing, they may very well run their bike over your wet suit or step on it with bike shoes and tear it. Normally one towel on the ground and you can wipe your feet on it. Perhaps another towel to dry off with quickly. Take an extra water bottle along to sqiurt on your feet to knock any excess sand or stuff off your feet. My bike shoes got stolen at the UCLA tri. I am sure it was an accident. My black bike shoes look like tons of other peoples. Since then I put my bike shoes back in the bag when I finish If you get a good bike rack location, lots of other people will try to cram their bikes onto the same rack. The transition area will have an area for swim in, bike in, bike out and run out. Most want to be near the bike out area. Make sure you know which rack and which aisle you are in. The all look the same and its easy to lose time looking in the wrong rack. When you are done with the swim its easy to find your bike. But when you come back from the bike its hard to find where your stuff is. Some races allow you to tie a ballon to the rack so you can spot it from a distance, some dont allow that. Other wise just count the racks and remember it. I forgot my first race and lost 5 minutes looking for my stuff with bike in hand. There were 1200 spots for bikes and I went to the wrong aisle.

tcerda

Supa Dupa Fly

posted: 4/27/2008 at 2:21 PM

Field Placement: 165 / 326 (50.6%) Age group: 30 – 34 Group Placement: 20 / 28 (71.4%) Gender Placement: 135 / 246 (54.9%) Weather: 62° F, Partly Cloudy 600 Meter Swim - 12:10.46 T1 - 2:11.69 11.2 Mile Bike - 41:21.65 T2 - 1:15.07 5K Run - 22:38.29 Total - 1:19:37.15 Woo Hoo! I finished my first tri!! Smile

The open swim wasn't as rough as I'd thought it would be. Plenty of bumping into other people but I didn't get any hard hits or choke on the water. I feel like I did pretty well with sighting the buoys as well. I also found a guy swimming breast stroke near me (who was hauling @ss) and I used him as a sight instead of having to look up since I figured he had a good eye on where we were headed. This allowed me to take more strokes without having to look forward. The biking was TOUGH. It is definitely my weakest discipline. I did some excel spreadsheet sorting by times of the swim/bike/run and I ranked: 83/326 for the swim 268/326 for the bike (OUCH) 69/326 for the run So I have a lot of room for improvement on the bike. I was dying on the hills. I need to get a lot more rides in before the next one. I passed maybe one or two people on the bike and got passed by a ton of people. The run (my strongest of the three) was a solid 5K. I passed a ton of the people that passed me on the bike in the first 1/2 mile of the run. I was definitely running out of gas by the end of the run but had a strong kick at the last 200 meters and passed a few at the end. I didn't stress about the transitions too much and its reflected in the times. I decided to use my first tri to get a feel for how it all works and I'll take what I've learned and work on cutting down the transition times next go around. Overall I loved it! and will definitely be doing some of the others I have planned for June and July. Here are a few pictures:

~TC --There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't--

Econo

posted: 5/26/2008 at 8:17 PM

Goodness -- how did I miss this report? MOST EXCELLENT, tcerda! You're a triathlete now. Big grin

Looks like a pretty place for a tri, too -- great pictures!

andytrihard

Gotta TRI

posted: 5/31/2008 at 6:28 AM

Awesome job! I have my first TRI tommorrow am. I have ridden the bike course and run the run course so I feel confident there, but my swimming is weak! IF I do not drown, I should fair pretty well. Here's the downside. We (DW) went for a swim yesterday and left our wetsuits hanging on the line to dry and it has since rained overnight so I cannot imagine them being dry by morning. It is going to suck trying to sqeeze into a cold / wet suit in the am. Anyhoo, will post the results tommorrow.

2010 Dec. California International Marathon 2011 Jan. Disney Marathon

ironTriKev

IronMan ;)

posted: 6/1/2008 at 8:15 PM

Great job triathlete!

Tri-Kev Here are my favorite links:
My "kick @ss" running club ;)

Swim 2.4 miles.
Ride 112 miles.
Run 26.2 miles.
Then brag for the rest of your life.
-Commander John Collins, Ironman Triathlon creator

tcerda

Supa Dupa Fly

posted: 6/2/2008 at 2:30 PM

Thanks!

My next one won't be until July now...scheduling conflicts ruled out the 2 i was going to do this month. Grrr...

~TC --There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't--

tcerda

Supa Dupa Fly

posted: 4/27/2009 at 3:06 PM

I had this tri again on Saturday. My second tri ever (didn't end up doing any others last year). I dropped my overall time by 2:08, so I was very pleased with that. Smile

My 600 m swim time was 1:32 slower (been having shoulder issues, so didn't get much swimming training in) T1 was 21 sec. faster 11.2 mile bike was 2:54 faster T2 was 3 sec. faster 5K run was 22 sec. faster. I'm planning to do another in June, but due to shoulder trouble, we'll see...

~TC --There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't--

Markfive

Me and my gang in Breck

posted: 4/27/2009 at 8:24 PM

Great Job!!! Can't wait until my first.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Neitzsche "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." "Dedication and commitment are what transfer dreams into reality."

andytrihard

Gotta TRI

posted: 4/27/2009 at 8:50 PM

Congrats!! The season has begun!!! Which reminds me.., I am SO far behind in training this year!!! First tri coming up May 31st. It's been a tough year, new job and such..anyways... Great job!

2010 Dec. California International Marathon 2011 Jan. Disney Marathon

AmoresPerros

Options,Account, Forums

posted: 4/27/2009 at 10:12 PM

Excellent! And it is nice to see another member of the minority of weak-on-the-bike club, of which I am very much a member Smile

It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

tcerda

Supa Dupa Fly

posted: 4/28/2009 at 10:38 AM

Quote from AmoresPerros on 4/27/2009 at 10:12 PM:

Excellent! And it is nice to see another member of the minority of weak-on-the-bike club, of which I am very much a member

Ugh, it's SO frustrating! I've been training for a 200 mile bike ride that is 3 weeks from now (100 on sat / 100 on sun) and so i've been doing one really long training ride a week. So I've been getting some training in on the bike...but, i have a freind that did the tri with me...who bought his bike 2 days before the tri...did no training...and STILL beat my time on the bike. I blew him away on the swim and run but he got me by a whole minute on the bike. WTF? lol.

~TC --There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't--

Swim Bike Run

My 1st tri - John Tanner State Park (Carrolton GA) (Read 343 times)