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.

My First Race in Four Years: 2021 Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon Sprint

After a four year hiatus, I finally got back out racing, and I forgot how good it really feels. I picked the race I did, because I knew the course was pretty much flat, and I didn’t want to race at the end of July in Nashville, because I know how miserable that race can be.

I’m going to keep this race report brief. Chattanooga is a great city for a race I’ve decided. No wonder so many people race the half and full there. My parents drive down, so while waiting to check in at the Crash Pad I parked at their hotel and was able to ride my bike to transition. This is something I would never attempt in downtown Nashville.

I picked the sprint as something easy to train for in the two months I trained, and just as a little motivation for training. It worked. I’ve been more consistent than I have been in a long time while trying to listen to my body and rest as needed while building back my fitness.

The swim was short and downstream. I actually like longer lake swims, but I also tend to panic sometimes in open water, so this was good for my first time back racing. I swam a little too far into the current, but it wasn’t too bad making the turn to the finish. The volunteers were truly helpful with telling athletes to really bring their feet up to reach the bottom stair at the exit. Sometimes they want to help people who don’t need it getting out, but I thought for once they did a good job of helping when needed. Of course, helping when not needed is always better than not helping at all.

Getting to T1 was long, or at least it felt that way because of the stairs. I had a little bit of difficulty with my shoe, but once I was headed out I felt strong. I was also really thankful I bought a new aero bottle for my bike, because it allowed me to drink really easily when I knew I needed it, since I didn’t eat much pre race (1/2 of a blueberry bagel).

The bike course was fast. It took me a minute to settle into a pace, since there is one short hill as the beginning, so I took that easy to keep my heart rate from spiking, but after that I just found myself riding at a very steady pace for the remainder of the ride. I got a little irritated by people not calling out their passes, and by the potholes that need to be filled, but overall it was a really good course. The U-turn is a little tight, but I can stay clipped in for it, so it’s not too bad, you just need to make sure you slow way down for it. I was also very cautious coming down the hill before the bike finish, because it has one tight turn before you go into the straight line to the dismount line.

T2 was a little tough, just because I need socks to run, but once I started running I felt good. The run course was flat and went along the river, and it felt long, but my watch told me it wasn’t. I feel like I could have pushed the pace a little more, but I’ve always had issues with pushing through the discomfort, so I know if I race short course again I will need to work on it.

Overall, I’m really happy with the way this race went. Team Magic puts on a good race, and the volunteers did an excellent job. I’m planning to come back in 2022 to see if I can improve on my run time and get to the podium, because if I had my fastest 5k I would have been up there.