Tri 101: Do I Really Need That?

I talked a little bit about what a triathlon is last week, so I though I would continue my “Tri 101” series by talking about what you need. There is a ton of gear out there, but for your first few races you need to have certain things covered 100%.

What to wear?  This is a question I had before my first race too, and finally I think I can give some pretty good choices.

• Swimsuit (I suggest a sports bra underneath) + Shorts (for the bike and run) + optional shirt (for bike and run) – This was what I wore for my first race without the shirt.

• One Piece Trisuit – There are a lot of benefits to wearing a one piece trisuit.  The first being no need to change and they are made to fit skin tight for swimming.

• Two Piece Trisuit – The main advantage of the two-piece over the one piece is that you can take off the bottoms if you have to use the port-a-potty in a longer race.   Some also come with built in sports bras.

Do I need a fancy bike with bike shoes?  No.  I raced on a rental bike wearing running shoes for my first race.  I do suggest a road bike, not a mountain bike, especially if you are doing anything over a sprint.  Road bikes are much faster, and you can train on whatever you have then rent one for the day of the race.  Honestly, make sure you are committed to the sport before investing in the bike and the shoes.  This way you can also do it gradually.  I went from rental bike, to road bike, to road bike with shoes and nice pedals, to my carbon tri bike, and then I also finally after over a year upgraded to a nicer helmet than my original helmet from Academy.  If you are sticking to it, you have plenty of time for upgrades.

What gear to I absolutely need?  There are some things required, and some things I think you should absolutely never race without.

• Something to wear – As I talked about above.

• A bike – See the above on that one.

• Running shoes + socks – Depending on your level of racing and your gear, you may be wearing these for the bike and run, which is perfectly ok.

• Something to hold your race number – Races will usually supply pins, which you probably don’t want to put through your tri suit, or deal with in transition, so I suggest investing in a race belt early on.  Saves time and your gear.

• Swim cap – For open water this will be provided by the race, but for a pool swim you need to have your own.

• Goggles – I highly suggest spending over $20 on a nice pair, like my Speedo Vanquisher 2.0’s that I’ve used forever.

• Water bottle – This goes on your bike, and you will drink from it.  Trust me, no matter how you feel, drink something.  I use electrolytes in one, water in another.

Do I need a wetsuit?  Yes or no.  This is a personal choice.  If you are not comfortable in open water and it is cold enough for one, you may be more comfortable with the extra buoyancy and warmth.  I don’t like wearing one very much, but I do own one, which I got because, although I am a strong swimmer, I am not comfortable in open water very much, so I wore it for my first Olympic.  If you wear a wetsuit put Bodlyglide on your neck for chafing and you will thank me.

What optional gear is there?  When you think you have enough gear, there is always something else.

• GPS Watch

• Heart rate monitor

• Power Meter

• Cadence and speed sensors

• Aero helmet

• Race wheels

• Shoes + pedals

• Compression socks

There is so much I could never list it all.

Tri 101: You Signed up for What?

This is going to be the first post in an updated version of a series I ran on my old blog called “Tri 101”. The goal is to create a set of simplified resources to assist individuals who have signed up for or are considering signing up for their first triathlon. I am going to utilize the information I previously shared as well as things I have learned in more recent years to provide a free resource for people who are just starting out.

You signed up for a triathlon.  A lot of people will ask you why you are paying to go do up to 17 hours of cardio depending on your race distance, and everyone has their own reason.  A lot of triathletes come from a single or double sport background, or sometimes even no athletic background, so there is a wide variety of people getting involved in this quickly growing sport. This means you are not the only one who is probably looking for guidance on getting started.

Now what do you do?  The first thing to do is figure out your plan.  Are you going to be like me and not really train much because you think you’re just that good?  Go for it.  Are you going to follow a training plan or find some form of consistent training?  Go for it.  Just make sure you know whether/how much you are going to train, and plan out all of the gear you are going to need.

When deciding what your plan is, know what you are getting yourself into.  Below is a breakdown of the distances.  If you aren’t much of a swimmer you are going to want to be in the pool for a little bit before attempting an Olympic.  It is all about being realistic about where you are and what you are attempting to do. If you don’t have a ton of time to train and are really strong in a single discipline, maybe spend more time on the other two and do just enough to maintain your strength in the third, or if you are new to all three, prioritize where you think you can make the most gains in the time you have available.

You also need to keep in mind that there is more to doing a triathlon than just doing three sports.  Maybe you can accomplish the three distances on their own, but you have to consider what it is going to be like to do them all together.  This is especially important when it comes to running off the bike, where your legs will feel like jell-o the first time you try it.  No matter what distance you’re racing, at least a couple brick workouts leading up to it is going to help a lot with that, because while transitions may be easier to learn, getting a feel for going from swimming to standing immediately or from biking to running does require some training to adjust.

My next post in this series is going to be all about the gear you need as you prepare for your first race.

Adjusting My Run Training for my Current Fitness

I had this post half-written, and I lost it! So, here we go again, which is kind of like my running. Here we go again. My history with running has a lot of ups and downs. From walking out of swim practice during running one day to running to lose weight to completing my first Ironman, my relationship with running has changed a lot over the years, and in a good way. I don’t see it just as a punishment or a tool for weight loss, and completing a run now leaves me with a feeling of accomplishment that I can’t get from my job. I am frustrated though. Since I was not running even remotely consistently recently, I am basically starting from negative when it comes to fitness, and I am learning to adjust to what my body needs.

First, I have accepted run/walking for the time being. I have written about zone 2 training before here and here, and I think for me right now sticking to it needs to be my highest priority to build good base fitness for running. Unfortunately, I can not run at a steady zone 2 heart rate, so I have adopted a run/walk system to try to keep my heart rate down. My runs over the last week have been 3 run/2 walk and 4 run/2 walk. Previously when trying to run/walk, I would just run as far as possible until I hit this little hill in a neighborhood near mine and then I would walk to catch my breath, but by structuring it I was able to maintain a steady pace and was not struggling to catch my breath at the end, which has been the case before when I have been trying to get back to running.

I am also trying to do a better job of listening to my body and its signals when something might be wrong. I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot that is currently bothering me, and while on vacation I actually had to stop walking on the beach barefoot to help it. Now that I am home and can get into a routine, I am trying to add stretching and foam rolling into my regular routine to help it and to help with other injury prevention.

Also on the topic of injury prevention is not increasing my mileage too quickly. After experiencing runner’s knee twice from increasing mileage too quickly, I have a plan. Since I am run/walking, my first priority is getting to be able to run at a steady zone 2 heart rate for thirty minutes before I focus on longer distances. This doesn’t mean I won’t do more than thirty minutes, but that I want to hit that milestone before I work on running for longer periods, so I can do those long runs in zone 2 as well.

Finally, I am holding off on adding speedwork beyond making it up the small hills in the neighborhood next to mine until I get my heart rate under control. This is the opposite of what I’ve done in the past. Typically I have pushed to add speedwork when trying to regain fitness, because I thought it would help more, but right now even running at all is pushing my heart rate to zone 4 (especially with the heat), so I don’t need to be adding it quite yet. If anything, adding additional speedwork right now would slow down recovery after workouts, so I don’t think it needs to be a priority.

Overall, nothing I am doing is groundbreaking, but the thing I find most important is that I am learning from my previous mistakes, and I am taking an honest look at where I am fitness wise. Because my drop off in training was so gradual, I never really noticed how much fitness I has lost until I get out to run and my pace is much slower than it used to be.

Week 1: Zone 2 Training

My first week of zone 2 training has been interesting. As mentioned previously, I have my spreadsheets to track my running and my weight to control for any weight loss, but I am not sharing any of that for a while, because I don’t have any results to share yet. What I am going to share will be my week of training, how it felt, and anything I noticed or found helpful.

Monday: Zone 2 run. I wrote about this with my first zone 2 running post, so I will not go into much detail. I walked a lot, and I let my heart rate settle down to zone 1 when walking.

Tuesday: Nothing. I felt tired, and unmotivated. I did a lot around my house though.

Wednesday: 45 minute zone 2 bike. It was sort of zone 2, but I was on a hilly route, so I let my heart rate climb up a little during the climbs and settled back into zone 2 on the descents and flats. I have to pay close attention on descents to keep it from dropping too much. This means shifting up a gear or two and keeping my cadence up.

Thursday: Swim in the middle of the day. I felt pretty good and had time to get in some extra distance, so I made it 3300 instead of my planned 3000. I also had another zone 2 run that afternoon. I felt like I ran a little more in the beginning compared to Tuesday, but less near the end. One of the recommendations I got from Triathlon Taren is to run more to improve efficiency on the run, so I am aiming for 3-4 runs per week right now.

Friday: Swim in the morning. This was another 3000 with some speed in it. I back off a lot on speed workouts due to an old shoulder injury at the moment, so anything “sprint” or “all out” is actually just strong. I also did 30 minutes of stretching and core work in the evening. As I mentioned in Triathlon Training and Tax Accounting I am planning on trying to focus on strength and mobility to prevent injury.

Saturday: I was super tired Saturday morning, probably from my early morning to swim Friday, so I slept in before working at the bike shop for the day. When I got home from working, sleeping in meant I had to get in my 1.5 hour bike ride. I picked a pretty hilly route for it, which I do a lot on Zwift, and I like that choosing hilly routes means I think less about speed and more about heart rate and the purpose behind the workout. My heart rate still got a little high on a couple hills, but it was returning very nicely when I slowed down, which is a good sign.

Sunday: My long “run” day. I have found a shuffle that I can stay in zone 2 under the right conditions with. I ended up with a few extra minutes past the forty-five I planned for this workout, and it went very well, or as well as a run/walk when I really want to run can go. The really positive thing that has come from all of this is that I can do longer workouts without feeling like I am dying at the end. The distance may not be there yet, but the time is, so as I get faster (hopefully), my distance should build up without increasing time. Of course I am increasing time as well.

Overall, this last week went really well for me, and it felt good. I haven’t actually felt this good training in a while, and my current week is off to a good start. I think not working for two weeks has something to do with it, but I have also made a few other changes, like trying to eat better and taking a vitamin D and B12 supplement. The vitamin D is under the recommendation of my doctor and the B12 is just what else was in the one vegan vitamin D gummy I could find online.

This week I am starting to incorporate some intervals into one of my run and bike workouts each week. On the run it will be on my hard run day and will be heart rate based, while on the bike I am just going to continue with hillier routes, but also push a little bit more for short periods of time.

The Best Part of Thanksgiving is Breakfast Pie (Boulevard Bolt 2018)

I am not a huge Thanksgiving fan, other than my love of pie, but one event I never miss out on since starting running in 2011 is the Boulevard Bolt. The Boulevard Bolt is a 5 mile run held in Belle Meade in Nashville, TN every Thanksgiving supporting charities to help the homeless population here. I have years with great times (2015 being the fastest) and years where I am just happy to be out there running (this year).

This year, I have not been running enough, or really at all. I think my longest run has probably been about four miles, and I have accepted that, so I ran a little (one three mile run and one 15 minute treadmill run) to get ready and not hurt myself this past month. I know leaving the race I will not run over four miles for two weeks to make sure I build up slowly as I move into trying to start some consistent training again. I am beginning to find myself in a good place with a three days on, one day off plan to get started again.

Another thing about the Bolt, you won’t find chip times for majority of the runners. Only people who are actually competitive or want to deprive someone who is competitive of their chance at an age group place get those bibs. There’s a limited number for money reasons, so most of us are literally just there to support the charities, enjoy a run, and maybe have a little extra room for an extra slice of pie at the end of the day.

As for my run, it was about what I expected and I wanted. I started in the middle with other runners, so there would be no zig-zagging through walkers like I have dealt with other years. I sprinted for a minute to get out to where the crowd thinned out, and then pulled back to a comfortable pace.

The remainder of the rolling course I know so well, I tried to keep my pace steady, which my husband makes fun of me for. I consistently run at the same pace I ran my marathon at during Ironman Louisville in 2016, and I do that because it is zone 2 when I am in shape, and if it isn’t zone 2, then I need to get it back there.

I got passed by a Santa, an elf, a turkey (plastic turkey costume), a Native American, some pilgrims, construction workers, and a guy in a cut off business suit. The only disappointing part was that the guy who normally shows up in a suit covered in Perky Jerky (a brand of Turky Jerky) was absent this year, and normally I feel good as long as I do not let him beat me.

this is breakfast pie

Overall, I had a good run and a good day. I have leftover pumpkin pie that will become breakfast pie this week, and I am looking forward to being in maybe slightly better running shape by this time next year, depending on how my accounting classes are treating me.