Author Topic: The Triathlon Thread  (Read 101027 times)

Pippa

  • Busy being fabulous
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #75 on: 16 July, 2009, 09:07:25 pm »
Today I found out my start time for London. 06:30 :o Six bleeding thirty in the morning ??? I may be new to this, but this sounds incredibly early to me (so, brekkie at about 3am?). On the plus side, I have plenty of time to make the 5pm bike cut off  ::-) Oh, and I have to rack and race same day so no taking all my gear down on Saturday afternoon either  :(

It looks like Jenson Button is starting an hour after me so because I am so slow as I believe he is a decent triathlete, he should overtake me somewhere in the latter part of my run.

Anyone else from here doing the London tri?

andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #76 on: 16 July, 2009, 09:43:15 pm »
I'm number 7900 - Sunday at 12:10, wave SUN13, Tower Bridge route.  You're in the very first wave, Westminster route.  It'll all be shiny and clean for you.  And cool: early in the morning is preferable to a midday furnace if it's a scorcher.

I've had a couple of brutally early starts, and I get around the food thing by setting an alarm for T-2 and shoving a flapjack down my neck and going back to sleep.  But with "arrive 90 minutes before start" in the bumf, I'd go with just a couple of early nights to reset the body-clock and lots and lots of grumbling.

At least you get the pretty route.  And you never know, some folks of this parish might get photos as you finish...

I'm starting to get nervous about the swim -- I always get nervous about every swim, so this means nothing.
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Pippa

  • Busy being fabulous
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #77 on: 16 July, 2009, 10:04:47 pm »
I'm number 4984, yep first wave.

Yeah I saw the 90 minute thing.....  ::-) So looking at leaving mine at 4am. But, I get up for work around 5am everyday, so not exactly a huge change to the norm. Except I probably won't sleep very well the night before...

This is my first ever triathlon so I'm super nervous about EVERYTHING. And morning is not my best time to exercise......  :sick:

Still, always the first BEER after to look forward to (dry July - pah)  :thumbsup:

I'm guessing I'll be milling around after (although I may nip home to have a quick shower as I'm only down the road!!!) so will keep an eye out for you and whoop whoop if I see you go past ;D (I think I met you on the Whitstable FNRttC - you were the chap who in the brekkie queue realised you'd left your wallet downstairs so I subbed you a tenner to save walking down - right?)

andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #78 on: 16 July, 2009, 10:42:23 pm »
Ah you're THAT Pippa!  Yes!  Indeed!  I'll stand you a pint afterwards (if you're not already trollied)...

I never sleep well the night before.  And I've yet to warn Charlotte and Liz about my pre-race ritual, too. O:-)
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #79 on: 17 July, 2009, 10:20:48 pm »
damn, i seem to have entered a triathlon.  I've got a couple of months, so time to re-learn to swim!

JJ

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #80 on: 18 July, 2009, 12:35:02 am »
Today I found out my start time for London. 06:30 :o
....
Anyone else from here doing the London tri?
I think Mrs J has the same start time.

Pippa

  • Busy being fabulous
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #81 on: 18 July, 2009, 06:37:40 am »
damn, i seem to have entered a triathlon.  I've got a couple of months, so time to re-learn to swim!

Eat donuts. They help you float  ;D

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #82 on: 18 July, 2009, 07:19:18 am »
Today I found out my start time for London. 06:30 :o
....
Anyone else from here doing the London tri?
I think Mrs J has the same start time.

having met both Mrs J and PippaG, I could be tempted to accept bets... 

Julian

  • samoture
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #83 on: 19 July, 2009, 08:42:20 pm »
damn, i seem to have entered a triathlon.  I've got a couple of months, so time to re-learn to swim!


Which one?

I want a nice pool or lake swim, sprint distance tri suitable for a Total Novice to enter in late August - September.

Any ideas...?

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #84 on: 19 July, 2009, 08:46:58 pm »
right at the end of september: http://www.justracinguk.com/event/roade-triathlon-pool-sprint,  near northampton. 

Pool swim, sprint distance, lots of Total Novices (well, me at least).

Pippa

  • Busy being fabulous
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #85 on: 19 July, 2009, 08:52:38 pm »
I've not been there but every single triathlete I've spoken to highly recommends Dorney Lake in Eton. The course is supposed to be tip top (and also nice and flat). It's also rumoured to be very friendly and a great place for a newbie....  :thumbsup:

I think they run triathlons pretty regularly throughout August and September.


andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #86 on: 19 July, 2009, 09:05:08 pm »
Behold the searchulator: British Triathlon Federation
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Julian

  • samoture
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #87 on: 19 July, 2009, 09:17:30 pm »
right at the end of september: http://www.justracinguk.com/event/roade-triathlon-pool-sprint,  near northampton. 

Pool swim, sprint distance, lots of Total Novices (well, me at least).

Bah, can't make that day.  There's a women's only one on 30 August... but it's in Manchester.  On the plus side, it sounds like the sort of event that would positively welcome my swimming (in)ability.

Behold the searchulator: British Triathlon Federation

I haz discovered it.  :D

andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #88 on: 20 July, 2009, 06:54:09 am »
The Thames Turbo sprint series have one on the 31st August at Hampton.

http://www.thamesturbo.com/archives/48  :thumbsup:

Open-air pool.

It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #89 on: 20 July, 2009, 02:24:51 pm »
just back from my first lunchtime swim.   I used to swim a lot at school and loved it, but it's the first time I've tried to do lengths in about 20 years, apart from 1 or 2 random attempts when I'm stuck in a hotel somewhere nasty.

The first four lengths were easy, I was flying along and wishing the only other guy in my lane would getabloodymoveon.  I was trying to keep reasonable form and breath every 3, like wot I used to.  The next six lengths were tougher, a bit ragged and I was keeping pace with the other bloke - just.

Then it all went horribly wrong.  I struggled through to 20 lengths by mixing up front crawl and breaststroke, but it wasnt pretty and there were several tactical 'I'll just get this bit of water out of my goggles' pauses.  I let the other bloke lap me in the end, he was still going strong when I walked unsteadily back to the changing rooms.

I need to find an 'audax pace' which I can keep up for a while... any tips?  Right now it's all or nothing and nothing seemed to come around quite a lot quicker than I expected :)  I'm still shaking slightly now, an hour after getting out.


& mixed changing rooms?  What's all that about?

Pippa

  • Busy being fabulous
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #90 on: 20 July, 2009, 08:37:08 pm »
Well, as someone who has had 1 hour of private coaching and then made the rest up as I went along, I'm obviously a fully qualified expert  ;)

My general tips are these:
1) Start off at a pace that you think you can maintain for whatever distance you are trying to cover. Then adapt/adjust it as you go along. You'll eventually get into a natural rhythm.
2) Breathe more often. There are no points for drowning. The coach I saw who specifically coaches triathlons told me that I should be breathing more than every 3, which is what I was also doing at first. Then again, this was always with a 1.5km swim in mind. I now breathe every 1 to 2.
3) Your head is heavy. Don't lift it out of the water (apparently this is a very common problem), just twist it and kind of gurn your mouth to one side to breathe.

All the other things he told me were specific to how I was swimming (1) I was spinning my arms like a windmill rather than a T-1 stroke, 2) I was not lifting my elbows out of the water very high as I wasn't twisting my shoulders properly, 3) I wasn't doing the "catch" as I was trying to do the now antiquated thing of making a sort of "S" shape under me with my hand).

Thing is with swimming, once you can swim, well, err, you can swim. But you are probably doing it very inefficiently. To get any good and not kill yourself is all about technique. You can read all the theory and *think* you are doing it right. Then someone will watch you and you'll discover that what you thought you were good at, you probably are not. I would highly recommend getting some coaching early on - it is far easier to start slowly and get it right from the word go, than to try and correct bad technique. I did my coaching session in an endless pool so you swim into a fan and they video you from every angle. Suffice to say I was not the mermaid I thought I was. However, he did get my strokes per min down from 58 to 46 with only 1 hour of coaching. So now I swim at the same speed but am far less knacked at the end of it  :thumbsup:

HTH. Let us know how you get on :)




andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #91 on: 31 July, 2009, 01:19:20 pm »
Good luck Pippa!  :thumbsup:
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #92 on: 31 July, 2009, 05:41:41 pm »
Good luck All!   :thumbsup:

Pippa

  • Busy being fabulous
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #93 on: 31 July, 2009, 06:05:09 pm »
Thanks!

Good luck Andy (YHPM) and Mrs J and anyone else taking part (around 14,000 I've heard :o)

andygates

  • Peroxide Viking
Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #94 on: 01 August, 2009, 10:00:51 am »
13000 with 4000 first-timers, so I heard.  Lots of lovely fresh flesh to chase down on the bike! :thumbsup:
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
OpenStreetMap UK & IRL Streetmap & Topo: ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps updates weekly.

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #95 on: 01 August, 2009, 10:06:28 am »
Good luck. I'm in Ealing, but can't sneak over to watch.

ChrisO

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #96 on: 01 August, 2009, 12:39:47 pm »

I need to find an 'audax pace' which I can keep up for a while... any tips?  Right now it's all or nothing and nothing seemed to come around quite a lot quicker than I expected :)  I'm still shaking slightly now, an hour after getting out.


& mixed changing rooms?  What's all that about?


Mike, I find swimming is one of those things that you can get comfortable with if you just persist with it. It uses such a different set of muscles that they take some time to adjust but keep doing it a bit at a time, gradually increase the distance and frequency and you'll get there. Very much like cycling.

However as Pippa says, to do it well is all about technique. You can plough up and down a pool for two hours a day and then someone will come along Who Can Actually Swim, and they will cruise past like a V8 and you're thinking "But I'm doing that, so why aren't I going fast ? " .

That's why swimming is probably the thing that more triathletes have trouble with. Power and determination can close the gap on the bike and run even if your technique is not great, but a good swimmer will always beat a bad one, whatever the difference in strength.

It's hard to suggest anything without seeing you but in general think slim - it's about drag. So you have to reach forward - roll your body (not too much) and reach out. It lengthens your stroke AND reduces your shape in the water. Keep your bottom half reasonably straight and level, and Pippa's description of breathing is good.

They often tell swimmers to imagine they are swimming along a pole which runs right down the middle of their body from the top of their head to their perineum. The head doesn't lift off the pole, it turns, and the body stays level but reaches forward.

I'm a crap swimmer BTW but Son No1 is awesome and swims about 12 hours a week so I pick up the theory, if not the practice.


JJ

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #97 on: 01 August, 2009, 12:59:18 pm »
Thanks!

Good luck Andy (YHPM) and Mrs J and anyone else taking part (around 14,000 I've heard :o)


Good luck Pippa and Andy too.  Are you the self-same Pippa who was around the finish of the K&SW?

I shan't be there, sadly.  I get to babysit until lunchtime, in exchange for a whole week that she has had them while I did LEL.

JJ

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #98 on: 01 August, 2009, 01:06:00 pm »
I need to find an 'audax pace' which I can keep up for a while... any tips? 

May I suggest Cambridge Triathlon Club, on a Monday evening at the Frank Lee?  I think they start at 9pm.

Helen has found those sessions hard but helpful.

Re: The Triathlon Thread
« Reply #99 on: 01 August, 2009, 02:39:06 pm »
If any one is doing the London tri event tomorrow it looks to me like the run is mostly flat. I was in the area this morning and the barriers were being set up.

Good luck everyone.