'First Time Triathlete' - The Novice Thread

griffin100

What harm.

From swimming in the canal or doing the tri?

tunney

griffin100 wrote: »

From swimming in the canal or doing the tri?

Both.

mitresize5

were does one rub the baby oil

(on the wetsuit - not looking for extra curricular advice)

hunnymonster

messed_up wrote: »

Can this post be deleted please in case any of our significant others find out how little it can cost to take up triathlon!! I'm a dead man if the gf sees this!

It works both ways, I had an email the other day with two links in it and the question, "which bike should I buy"? Not "should" I buy a new bike or do you think we can "afford" a new bike but rather "which bike". We are now the proud parents of 8 kayaks and 5 bikes. Trainers seem to breed like bunnies and the coffee table has been permanently moved to accommodate the turbo. The shelving/boxes in the basement are interesting "Zuppylurk Compression gear", "Hunnymonster - swim aids"......

hunnymonster

mitresize5 wrote: »

were does one rub the baby oil

(on the wetsuit - not looking for extra curricular advice)

no, rub it on you, particularly on bits that move (armpits, elbowcracks etc) and tight bits (ankle, wrist, neck). Neck is always a killer for me.

HardyEustace

griffin100 wrote: »

Come now, some maturity please, I ruined a very expensive jacket with baby oil at a race last year and I'm just passing on the info:p

I've said it before here, one of the strangest looks I ever got in my life was in the Superquinn in Waterford before the Tramore Tri last summer when I bought baby oil, ky jelly and a 6 pack of power aid - the cashier must have thought I was planning a wild weekend.

Yes, it's important to manage expectations when new significant others get an eyeful of the amount of lube that's on your bathroom shelves or gathering on bedroom shelves.

HardyEustace

hunnymonster wrote: »

no, rub it on you, particularly on bits that move (armpits, elbowcracks etc) and tight bits (ankle, wrist, neck). Neck is always a killer for me.

this also works for extra curricular activities as well...

MCOS

Picked up the baby oil this morning little did I realise It has been on my desk next to honey and people have been coming over all day... no questions yet!

Good luck to anyone doing Tris this weekend. Could be a windy and wet one down in Valencia :cool:

mloc123

Thread is a bit quiet so... a question for all you first timers out there. How much training are you doing a week? Distance swam, cycled, run and other?

richiemack

mloc123 wrote: »

Thread is a bit quiet so... a question for all you first timers out there. How much training are you doing a week? Distance swam, cycled, run and other?

I try to keep to the following, swimming drills once a week, long swim once a week, in the sea twice a week. Running 5km upwards every second day, and cycle twice a week, mixture between short and long spins, and tri bar sessions on long straight roads. Best of luck to everyone competing this weekend:)

Canis Lupus

Woo, Valentia was blinking cold, windy and rainy but good craic!

Shame the swim didn't go from the pier to the island but still for me I appreciated the turns as it was the first time I had to go around bouys and it was a good experience to learn how to sight stuff better.

Despite being gloomy about how I thought I would do (injury and lack of motivation)and having a tragic balls up in T1 (forgot to put on my teeshirt with race numbers and had to wall hop back in then couldn't find my stuff despite it being right at my feet, (hope the fact that I exited out of T1 twice doesn't mess up my official timing :P ) I did alright with 1.17 being on the clock as I passed through.

Was up the front coming out of my wave in the swim (water=freezing), first half of cycle was tough with the constant uphill but once you turned and got the wind behind you it was brilliant fun. Finally the run was also damn tough with I suppose half of it also going uphill and the mental issue of having two turn around points but still, didn't feel too close to death at the finish.

Saw one or two ppl have wobblies and get taken into the ambulances but I hope nothing worse than that. Shame the weather drove alot of spectators away but still great day.

Valentia should be hopping tonight.

ZZJ

Great day in Valentia, just defrosted. Well done to all. I also could not find my shoes in T2, all my own fault, I changed from my big green box to a bag to keep my shoes dry and then could not find the bag, lesson learnt!

Agree it was a pity about the swim, but safety first and all that. I thought it was a great route and very well run, will be doing it again next year.

barongreen

mloc,
im in the medium wave, will prob stay at the back for the start as i'm nervous about the swim.
Training for me consists of doing something 5 days of the week, so if i do a swim followed by say a 15 k cycle one day i might just do a short run the next day. the last couple of weeks ive simulated the tri on thursdays doing about 2/3 of the distance. thing is i just started 6 weeks ago so speed is eluding me altogether.
completion is the goal for kilcock anyway .

So who else doing kilcock this coming wkd?

barongreen

barongreen wrote: »

first tri is in 1 1/2 weeks so thought id post my expenses so far as 6 weeks ago i had no notion....... and this may be useful to people thinking of giving it a go.
I Just recieved my size 9 wetsuit in the post yesterday and suprise suprise it fittted perfect, i just used there site size estimator.

My list so far is
one road bike 2nd hand off adverts for e120
wetsuit ,online retailer e108
Helmet, online retailer e32
cycling top/jacket, online retailer e38
trishorts, online retailer e28
race belt, online retailer e5
googles, online retailer e11


All in all v happy with stuff so far, a few bits and bobs left but suprised that i'm ready to go equiped to first tri for 300-350.

messed_up wrote: »

Can this post be deleted please in case any of our significant others find out how little it can cost to take up triathlon!! I'm a dead man if the gf sees this!

forgot about the wetsuit lube e400

MaxPower89

great weekend in valentia for my first tri. bit disappointed with my time(1.25) but a few lessons learnt and at least i know for the next time. things that cost me time were leaky goggles, laces coming undone and trying to tie then with wet numb hands, running out the entry in T2, and a rubbish bike which was borrowed.

still it was a great weekend, the atmosphere was really good, and a great sense of encouragement from the crowd and other competitors.

are the times up online anywhere? i think they were wrong first time as there were repeats times given?

jlang

MaxPower89 wrote: »

are the times up online anywhere? i think they were wrong first time as there were repeats times given?

Don't think there's a sheet online yet. I got a text message with my own splits last night. The results sheets that were handed around on Saturday had the overall total right, but some of the splits were a bit messed up. Seemed the swim split was printed again as the run and the run up the town from the swim exit point wasn't included in the T1 split. The text seemed to have these right, so I'd expect the results sheet will too, once it's available.

mitresize5

Lost my cheery at Valentia as well at the weekend, unlike the first time I lost my cherry this lived up to expectations.

According to my splits I was middle of the pack for the swim and run but fell apart on the bike .... I'll have to concentrate on that big time for the next few weeks.

How does someone build speed on the bike, is it just putting in the miles or are their specific drills you could be doing?

fade2che

Similar to you Mitresize15, not enough bike training messed me up especially on those hills at the start of the run. I had to look down to check the speed as I thought I was moving in slow motion with the cold and the rain! I happy to get in under the 1.30 mark I had set in my head and I did 1.19 in the end.
The gear and transitions were a bit of a mess for me. Lost my timing chip in taking off the wetsuit, found it again for the run. I left all my stuff in a plastic bin with no top on it so my only shoes for the weekend and jacket were soaked in a puddle by the end.
the swim was better than training as I found it easier to slight when there was someone to the left of me and to the right all the time (Delighted to be a red hat!).
Bike felt great to be in the majority for once, rather than all the close drive bys with dangerous cars etc.
Run around the red van was funny but would have been easier if it was a bollard maybe.
Great scenery and very friendly atmosphere. I really enjoyed it even with the bad weather.

tunney

barongreen wrote: »

mloc,
im in the medium wave, will prob stay at the back for the start as i'm nervous about the swim.
Training for me consists of doing something 5 days of the week, so if i do a swim followed by say a 15 k cycle one day i might just do a short run the next day. the last couple of weeks ive simulated the tri on thursdays doing about 2/3 of the distance. thing is i just started 6 weeks ago so speed is eluding me altogether.
completion is the goal for kilcock anyway .

So who else doing kilcock this coming wkd?

I had intended doing it but for *some* reason I seem to not be on the start list. I had wondered what would happen alright when I entered.

makker

barongreen wrote: »

mloc,
im in the medium wave, will prob stay at the back for the start as i'm nervous about the swim.
Training for me consists of doing something 5 days of the week, so if i do a swim followed by say a 15 k cycle one day i might just do a short run the next day. the last couple of weeks ive simulated the tri on thursdays doing about 2/3 of the distance. thing is i just started 6 weeks ago so speed is eluding me altogether.
completion is the goal for kilcock anyway .

So who else doing kilcock this coming wkd?

Was planning but had to pull out. Picked up tendonitis during the rotterdam marathon over 6 weeks ago and have not run since and it will be at least another 3 weeks before i can.

in the 6 weeks off I managed to drink my own body weight in alcohol each weekend, back on the smokes, and put on a stone in weight.

Entered in Dunmore on 20/06 so hoping to get back for this but will be a struggle just to get back to where i was.

griffin100

I had intended doing it but for *some* reason I seem to not be on the start list. I had wondered what would happen alright when I entered.

I wounder what would happen if you entered using the Irish version of your name? Give it a try! This could be more entertaining than watching the Greens and FF trying to get along!!

ps enjoying the blog, very entertaining.

osgur

hopefully times will be up on site later today, i must have visited the site 100 times since Sat !..... was my 2nd tri and found it an awesome experience again.... swim was tricky as didnt now where or when the finish was... the bike was my fav bit even though according to the text I was well down the field.... just thought it was a great cyce around the course... run was torture for first k but legs warmed up eventually and I got going..... mistakes made, lessons learned and stuff to work on for the athy.... Christ I was tired Sunday, still not right.... cycle tomorrow morning

MCOS

Well done to fade2che, jlang, mitresize5, Bambaata, ZZJ, Maxpower89, Canis Lupus, osgur and anyone else who did Valentia on Saturday. It was well gnarly. One of our own club ladies ended up in the ambulance after the run she got so cold. Recovered in time to collect her prize though!

Roll on the next one

tunney

mitresize5 wrote: »

Lost my cheery at Valentia as well at the weekend, unlike the first time I lost my cherry this lived up to expectations.

According to my splits I was middle of the pack for the swim and run but fell apart on the bike .... I'll have to concentrate on that big time for the next few weeks.

How does someone build speed on the bike, is it just putting in the miles or are their specific drills you could be doing?

Time in the saddle. No short cuts.

mitresize5

tunney wrote: »

Time in the saddle. No short cuts.

thanks Tunney - so if I clock up the miles I should see an improvement.

Is there a way to cycle smart if you know what I mean.

I have an entry level trek 1.2 which was set up by the bike shop owner using a computer so the hardware is ok

tunney

griffin100 wrote: »

I wounder what would happen if you entered using the Irish version of your name? Give it a try! This could be more entertaining than watching the Greens and FF trying to get along!!

ps enjoying the blog, very entertaining.

Appears that I'm in the race now Only took all morning........

mloc123

tunney wrote: »

Appears that I'm in the race now Only took all morning........

Took a few days for my name to appear on the spreadsheet. Presume you are in the draft legal wave?

tunney

mloc123 wrote: »

Took a few days for my name to appear on the spreadsheet.

I think that this is one of the very very few cases I can say "I'm special"

mloc123 wrote: »

Presume you are in the draft legal wave?

Yes - yourself?

mloc123

I will be splashing about in the slow wave

Heading over earley to watch the pros in action tho'

MCOS

I need to get new goggles. I have the Aqua Sphere Eagle Clear ones but they are beyond annoying me now.

I realise its an individual thing so just a couple of questions to help me please if ye don't mind.

Whats the purpose of mirrored goggles? Do they help swimming towards the sunlight? If not do you need shaded goggles for sunny days?

What causes the fogging? (other than temperature)
How do you look after your goggles? Do you dry them after a swim etc...?
Has anyone had goggles that never fogged or leaked?
Do they have a shelf life?

Thank you