I have my first tri on Saturday (New Bern YMCA). I'm really excited.
Hoping for 1:15.

5/20/2010 1:25:29 PM

Quote :

"Sprints are usually a 750m swim"

Not really. I mean, some are, and you might even say that is average but pretty much the only consistent distance across the board for sprint triathlons is the run at a 5k. There is no standard definition for the distance of a sprint triathlon and often the swim and bike legs vary quite a bit depending on the facilities and course available. Since hers had a pretty short time limit, I guessed that the swim and bike were shorter than "normal".

5/20/2010 1:41:09 PM

^^ what's the distance on that?

5/20/2010 2:04:05 PM

^^makes sense to me.

5/20/2010 2:11:49 PM

https://www.signmeup.com/site/reg/register.aspx?fid=W62V4K7&ref=nf

this is the event

Quote :

"A 300-meter dual-start pool swim with wide 50-meter lanes/ 10-mile bike on a safe, divided four-lane boulevard with plenty of SLPD protection/ 3-mile shaded neighborhood run around a lake with two water stations. "

pool swim imma get punched/kicked

5/20/2010 2:40:06 PM

haha you'd get punched/kicked in an open swim too

and that's not that long at all... i definitely bet you can do that in under 2 hours

5/20/2010 2:46:51 PM

I will smack you upside the head if you don't finish it in two hours.

5/20/2010 3:12:21 PM

usually pool starts have time seeding meaning you submit a 100m pace so they know where to put you in line, then everyone will start in 30 sec. intervals and you will be around people with a similar pace to you. That usually means much less kicking/punching than an open water swim.

You will come in WAY under 2 hrs. A 10 mile bike means you can basically coast the bike course and finish in less than an hour. Worst case scenario, that gives you another hour to walk the run course and pull yourself down the lane dividers in the pool. I'm sure you will be fine.

5/20/2010 3:24:51 PM

haha ok i feel a little better about it now.

i havent done any running since NOVEMBER so i prob need to work on that the most, swimming too and im lucky that my gym has both. and cycling i do every saturday so im solid on that

thanks ya'll

5/20/2010 3:39:11 PM

This thread reminds me, I need to register for the tris I want to do the rest of this season.

I've enjoyed slow bike rides, more swimming, and walking instead of running lately, but seriously, I need to start doing more serious workouts if I want to be ready by August for Lake Lure.

5/20/2010 5:33:26 PM

I'm signed up for another sprint in Virginia in October. Contemplating another sprint in July/August/September. My goal is to do an Olympic early next season and a Half Ironman later in the season.

5/20/2010 5:39:33 PM

which one in va? i might've asked already - sorry

5/20/2010 6:11:49 PM

New Bern is a 400y pool swim, 20k bike, and 5k.

5/20/2010 8:53:03 PM

that's an ambitious time imho.... rock on dude

5/20/2010 9:16:29 PM

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7451081

I knew I felt something brush by my leg as I was finishing the swim portion of the Triangle Tri.

5/20/2010 9:22:38 PM

^^I'm trying for 9 + 3 + 30 + 3 + 30 = 1:15, but we'll see.

5/20/2010 11:20:07 PM

That's a pretty aggressive bike time. Just as a benchmark, the guy who placed first overall in the centennial one (the one that Cricket, I and a few others did) was 27:31, and that was a 10.5 mile course. 30 minutes on a 12 mile course is a hell of a pace to keep up. 9 minutes on the swim would be cake for me, don't know what kind of swimmer you are though, and 30 minutes on the 5k is a pretty easy pace as well, so it's possible.

Good luck dude, I hope you do well. I was shooting for 1:30 in my first one and just missed it at 1:31 (my transitions sucked).

Oh, LunaK, I'm doing the Giant Acorn in Virginia on 10/3. Strongly considering doing the Lake Lure sprint in August as well.

[Edited on May 21, 2010 at 12:20 AM. Reason : adfasdf]

5/21/2010 12:16:36 AM

Damn we got some swimmers in here. My swim time was way too slow but I made up for it worth the bike and run.

If anyone wants to organize an open water swim for practice let me know. I've done a couple in Lake Raleigh already.

5/21/2010 6:23:49 AM

The bike time may be unrealistic. I can routinely swim 400 in under 7 min and keep working out, so 9 is conservative. My slowest 5k time is 28 min and that was in a brick with a 12 mile bike, both done in my very hilly neighborhood. I'm fairly comfortable that my swim and run goals are safe.
1:15 is aggressive for me for sure. I may be putting too much stock into the fact that the course is flat and I'm training on hills. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Any pointers from you veterans for my first time out?

5/21/2010 8:02:39 AM

Honestly the best advice I got when I did my first tri was not to use my legs during the swim. Seems rather obvious but I hadn't thought about it.

5/21/2010 9:10:49 AM

i did the new bern ymca tri 2 years ago. good race and nearly pancake flat. about half of the run is well shaded in the neighborhoods so it should be quick. it was my first tri and had no swimming or biking background and i went 1:06 on a crappy bike so 1:15 should be manageable if you can hit a 27 or 28 min 5k.

5/21/2010 10:06:07 AM

Anyone else doing the Battle at Buckhorn in Wilson tomorrow?

5/21/2010 10:32:01 AM

Quote :

"exasperated"

i think you mean exacerbated

5/21/2010 12:32:53 PM

Yeah, I'd love to get together a group to do an open water swim on a regular basis, it would certainly be good practice. There's a big, big difference between pool swimming and open water.

5/21/2010 6:50:32 PM

As long as they clear out the bodies in Lake Raleigh I don't mind some group swimming.

5/21/2010 11:30:46 PM

Doing an open water swim in Lake Norman in about...8 hours. I should go to sleep.

5/21/2010 11:35:23 PM

Finally got clips.... Hopefully these will help with my tri times

5/22/2010 11:38:51 AM

Just got back from New Bern. Had an absolute blast, I'm hooked!

Finished 46th in 1:05:56. Third place Clydesdale. I was very happy
with it. The bike ended up being short, it was ten miles and some change.
Can't wait to see the splits tonight

5/22/2010 3:35:43 PM

wow

nice job dude

5/22/2010 3:37:34 PM

Those clips will help a lot. It will cost you a few seconds in transition,
but you won't believe how much better of a cyclist it'll make you.

5/22/2010 3:41:19 PM

yea, that's what i was figuring.

my main concern is the fact that i am beyond accident prone - so the likelihood of me turtling multiple times is very very high

but c'est la vie. i ended up getting speedplays which my sister swears by - so hopefully they'll work out for me.

5/22/2010 3:53:26 PM

Speedplays are great, that's what I use. I brought the bike home and fell
over in the driveway first thing. The next day a guy riding in front of me
stopped quick and I fell. Since then, no problem. You just get used to the
fact that if you stop, you better unclip.

Just remember to make sure they're clear on race day. I went to put them on
today in T1, and they were full of screwdrivers from when I put my new
computer on the bike Thursday night. Lesson learned.

5/22/2010 4:12:17 PM

^huh?

so i got back in the pool for the first time in about a year. i swam 300 meters in about 10min (including a couple breaks)

i ended up swimming 800m total in 30min. i was DYING at the beginning but about 15-20min in i was feeling it and could feel a difference. i feel like with some more practice i could likely improve my time some but i'm expecting to do about 10-12min during the tri in the pool so anything else will please me

as for the 10mi, i did the first 10mi of my ride this morning in about 35min. i maybe could have gone a little faster on a closed course but since we're on the road we can't ride the same

overall i feel pretty good, i am not very sure i can finish in under 2 hours. just have to get a few runs in to wake up those muscles, i went for a run about a week ago and i was hurting back, totally different muscle group from what ive been using and whoa, def need to add some running back into my routine!

5/22/2010 5:27:21 PM

That did sound kind of unclear. Thursday night I was putting a new cyclometer on my bike, using small screwdrivers. I wanted to take them to New Bern in case I had a computer problem, so I threw them in my shoe to make sure they would get there. When I got to New Bern, I didn't have a problem and didn't take them out of my shoe until I tried to stick my foot in during T1.

Of course all this is assuming that this is what the huh? was about.

5/22/2010 6:42:46 PM

haha yeah that was the huh. i get it now and thats kind of funny, as long as your foot is ok

5/22/2010 6:44:47 PM

Get after it, Wolfy! a 12 minute 800 would be hella good.

5/22/2010 6:53:28 PM

oh no, 12 min 300m is what i meant

300m is what i have to do for the tri, 800m is just what i did today in 30min

5/22/2010 6:56:52 PM

Aaaah. Keep at it though, and may I recommend doing some drills and some interval swims rather than just doing pure distance swims.

5/22/2010 7:02:27 PM

explain the drills & intervals! im def interested

5/22/2010 7:05:18 PM

OK, depending on how much distance you're wanting to put in you might do something like this:

200m-500m warmup (easy pace, standard front crawl)
2x200m for time
4x100m for time
8x50
4x100
2x200
200m-500m cool down

You could also replace the second half with drills like pulls (arms only, no legs) and kicks (using kickboard) and other stuff.

Here's a link to a site with a bunch of different workouts for anyone:

http://ruthkazez.com/50swimworkouts.html

There's also a bunch of stuff for beginners, a glossary of terms, explanations of drills, etc.

5/22/2010 7:16:29 PM

thanks!

5/22/2010 7:21:38 PM

Quote :

"overall i feel pretty good, i am not very sure i can finish in under 2 hours. just have to get a few runs in to wake up those muscles, i went for a run about a week ago and i was hurting back, totally different muscle group from what ive been using and whoa, def need to add some running back into my routine!"

Even if the swim takes you 30 minutes (which I think you'll finish quicker than that), the bike takes you 40 minutes, you have two transitions of 5 minutes, you'll still have 40 minutes to finish the 5k.

5/23/2010 8:23:43 AM

ugh i meant that i AM sure i can finish in under 2 hours

i was very tired yesterday. as evident in my confusing posts

5/23/2010 11:45:37 AM

Just bought a nice pair of triathlon shorts. Inside Out Sports is freaking awesome. Every time I go in there I'm tempted to spend a shitload of money. I really want to get a tri bike. I'm pretty sure next season I'm going to get one, probably a Felt or a Scott. Does anyone have one already or have any recommendations on specific ones to try or ones to stay away from?

5/23/2010 4:36:12 PM

any ladies that have done a tri before have big boobs? pm me plz i have some technical questions

5/23/2010 8:31:22 PM

^^I have an older Cervelo P3 (you can see a picture of it on the previous page) that I love. Your best bet is to find the one that fits the best rather than looking for a specific brand.

Tri bikes are a little more fickle when it comes to a proper fit than a road bike and there are way too many knuckleheads that spend $3K on an aero bike, then they ride it sitting up like a damn sail in the wind because they can't get comfortable in real aero position. Honestly, the biggest benefit from a tribike isn't the aero frame, its the geometry of the frame that allows you to get into a low, aerodynamic position.

5/23/2010 9:46:01 PM

i was at a bike shop today - really was tough resisting the urge to buy a road bike....

granted i'm out of a job next week, so not really in the cards. but I really want to upgrade to a road bike sooner rather than later.

5/23/2010 10:06:19 PM

Did the http://www.woodlaketriathlon.com this morning and placed third in my age group. w00t! Got a medal and everything. I felt good racing, but I was not expecting it at all.

5/29/2010 2:36:27 PM

wow congrats!! thats awesome

5/29/2010 3:36:15 PM

I'm planning on doing a couple sprint-tri's in asheville this summer, but I haven't really heard much about them other than they exist. My running partner has competed, and I figure I'll be fine on the bike and in the run portion, I just have to hit the pool and learn to swim again.

But hooray, triathlons!

5/29/2010 10:59:29 PM