Triathletes? Anyone?

Princess

I was surprised at the number of people who popped in with running advice for Vitty. I didn't realize we had so many runners on board here. I'm getting ready for my first triathlon next month and find myself wondering if we have any triathletes around here....

I have wanted to complete a Tri ever since I ran the 1/2 marathon portion on a Tri relay 1/2 ironman in 2003. I've shied away from them because the swim totally freaks me out. I've been swimming laps (rather unsuccessfully) since May and just Monday I joined some friends in an open water practice. We swam across a local lake and back for a 1/2 mile swim. It was hard but I found my groove on the way back and really didn't have any trouble finishing. I find I much prefer the open water swim to lap swimming because 1. I hate chlorine 2. I hate swimming toward a wall, turning around and swimming toward another wall and repeating the process endlessly and finally 3. You cannot rest in a lake, there is no cheating.

I'm swimming the lake (Martha Lake) again on Friday and will be joining another group Sunday morning for a swim in Lake Washington. The tri swim will be in Lake Washington, August 21 at 7:30 am. (Danskin, women's triathlon) I need to experience the misery of a cold morning lake swim. Oh joy.

Anyone else Tri?

tijkmo

try atheletes

i have enough trouble trying to get out of bed in the morning

Billygoat

(((Rachel)))

I don't tri, but I've always had great memories of running and swimming in high school. Mozz and I aren't the "fitness" types. We're both naturally thin and watch what we eat, but we just don't exercise. Until earlier this month. On vacation I decided to take a run on the beach. Invigorating! I was long distance in HS and loved it. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it in spite of the fact that I'm terribly out of shape now. (Just because you're thin, doesn't mean you're "in shape", but I'm sure you already know that.) So later that morning I mentioned to Mozz that maybe we could start running together. After he regained his composure from the fit of howling laughter, we compromised on walking together in the mornings. So last week, we started waking up 30 minutes earlier and taking a very brisk walk together. Brisk enough to sweat and be out of breath. Not quite running, but maybe we'll work ourselves up to it. We find it gets our morning started off on the right foot, eases our anxiety about work, and allows us 30 minutes of uninterrupted "couple" time. Can't find one thing wrong with it, except we don't get to sleep in as much.

Good luck on your training. Like everything else, I'm sure you'll do a fabulous job. I highly admire your persistence and ambition! I'll try to remember that tomorrow when my desire is to hit that snooze button.

Love,

Andi

EvilForce

Princess... I found open water swimming to be the only way I could practice / train. Swimming laps is so boring. I did my last ( and only ) 5 years ago very close to a birthday to "prove" to myself I could do it. After finishing the tri I patted myself on the back for my feat, and quickly forgot about doing tri's ever again. LOL
Be sure to have a nice light wet suit for the swim....you'll be very happy you invested in a high quality one for the training.

Princess

Mozz and I aren't the "fitness" types. We're both naturally thin and watch what we eat, but we just don't exercise.

AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!! That's not OK

Until earlier this month. On vacation I decided to take a run on the beach. Invigorating!

Isn't it great? I love running to the detriment of my swimming!

I was long distance in HS and loved it. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it in spite of the fact that I'm terribly out of shape now. (Just because you're thin, doesn't mean you're "in shape", but I'm sure you already know that.)

Annoys me to no end when people talk about someone being so fit when in fact they are just thin. It's called "skinny fat". Naturally thin with no muscle tone.

So later that morning I mentioned to Mozz that maybe we could start running together. After he regained his composure from the fit of howling laughter, we compromised on walking together in the mornings.

That's too funny

So last week, we started waking up 30 minutes earlier and taking a very brisk walk together. Brisk enough to sweat and be out of breath. Not quite running, but maybe we'll work ourselves up to it. We find it gets our morning started off on the right foot, eases our anxiety about work, and allows us 30 minutes of uninterrupted "couple" time. Can't find one thing wrong with it, except we don't get to sleep in as much.

You'll find that the quality of your sleep will improve and you'll notice when you skip the exercise.

My problem is not taking enough rest days and I tend to overtrain. I've become rather compulsive about it but can't seem to care that I'm obsessed. I always have a goal in the near future to train for...August Triathlon....November Seattle Marathon...so I tend to really thin down when I'm close to an event and let up a bit afterwards. These two events are so close that I'll have to really watch myself. I tend to drop body fat quickly and then people start mentioning how thin I am. I know it doesn't look very good or healthy but I will soften up over the winter.

Keep it up! That's awesome. If you need any tips for training (you should be strength training too) let me know. You have my number.

Billygoat

Rachel,

We walk 4 weekdays a week. (One day/week he meets his dad for an early breakfast, so we don't that day.) When we start working into running, should we be resting a day in between and start doing it on the weekends? Getting Mozz to wake up early on a Saturday may be too much to ask. He's waking up with me four other days, I don't want to push it.

Andi

Princess

Be sure to have a nice light wet suit for the swim....you'll be very happy you invested in a high quality one for the training.

Most of the women don't use a wet suit for this tri. I know lots of women who have done this tri and not worn a wetsuit and said it's fine. I figure this is my trial tri, if I like it and want to continue with them, I'll buy a wetsuit. I may hate it and go back to Duathlons where I run/bike/run and never have to swim again. I kind of doubt it though. I tend to move on to the next level...longer distance.

I did my last ( and only ) 5 years ago very close to a birthday to "prove" to myself I could do it.

That's kind of what I'm doing. I want to prove to myself as well, plus I've done every running distance including marathon and I've biked centuries and double centuries. Seemed like a natural next step.

MegaDude

What about beer-athlete?

EvilForce

You've biked double 100's??? In one day?
The most I've biked in one day was 121 miles over Xmas last year on vacation and I was beat afterwards. I stick with biking and surfing now. Neither one seem like "work" to me. I find running in a gym or swimming in a pool to feel like "work" and not enjoyable.
But kudos to you for your training. I'm a bit like you. I always have goals for personal fitness that I need in front of me to keep me going. While I also have to be mindful of being happy today...... I find myself from time to time burying me head down powering thru something and forgetting to enjoy the process. I think that's some left over Dub'isms. Knuckle down, paradise will be here shortly.

EvilForce

Mega....after my tri I decided the beer-a-thon was a better idea...LOL

Triathletes? Anyone?

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