I did it. I am a triathlete

[NancysSummerSip]

Aug 6, 2016 16:10:30 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Aug 6, 2016 15:48:05 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I'm training for my first Olympic triathlon early next year. It falls in the same month as a half-marathon. Talk about crazy town with padded cells. But this is what happens...you do one, you recover and think, "Dang, I can do another one of those!"

Isn't that part of your training?

When I told DH that I wanted to hike the John Muir Trail (JMT) he said you have train like it's a marathon. I kind of blew the comment off thinking that what I was doing was no way nearly as hard as a marathon.

Has anyone recently hiked 13 miles with a 40lb pack? Doing that over and over again over a 21 day period has me thinking he may be right!

I don't do any trail running or off-road runs. I don't do that kind of training, though the walking/hiking thing sounds interesting. And forget mountain biking. I think THOSE people have all their screws loose.

[Deleted]

Aug 6, 2016 15:37:06 GMT -5 Bonny said:

I think @athena53 does the sprint triathlons too.
We  you tough women!

Yes, I do. Welcome to the group!

I was surprised how much some people are freaked out by lake swims. In my last company, we had a local corporate competition that included a Team Triathlon. The woman recruited for the swim had been on Harvard's swim team and she was really anxious about the lake. It didn't help that they were teasing her that the turtles weren't likely to be snapping turtles, the snakes weren't likely to be poisonous, etc. I asked her how many self-respecting critters would hang around with all those bodies thrashing through the water. She did fine.

[Cookies Galore]

Aug 7, 2016 12:56:46 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Aug 6, 2016 15:37:06 GMT -5 Bonny said:

I think @athena53 does the sprint triathlons too.
We  you tough women!

Yes, I do. Welcome to the group!

I was surprised how much some people are freaked out by lake swims. In my last company, we had a local corporate competition that included a Team Triathlon. The woman recruited for the swim had been on Harvard's swim team and she was really anxious about the lake. It didn't help that they were teasing her that the turtles weren't likely to be snapping turtles, the snakes weren't likely to be poisonous, etc. I asked her how many self-respecting critters would hang around with all those bodies thrashing through the water. She did fine.

It's because pool swimming is so much different than open water swimming. No matter how good you are in a pool, you have to relearn sighting and breathing in open water.

[swamp]

Aug 7, 2016 13:10:27 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Aug 7, 2016 12:56:46 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Yes, I do. Welcome to the group!

I was surprised how much some people are freaked out by lake swims. In my last company, we had a local corporate competition that included a Team Triathlon. The woman recruited for the swim had been on Harvard's swim team and she was really anxious about the lake. It didn't help that they were teasing her that the turtles weren't likely to be snapping turtles, the snakes weren't likely to be poisonous, etc. I asked her how many self-respecting critters would hang around with all those bodies thrashing through the water. She did fine.

It's because pool swimming is so much different than open water swimming. No matter how good you are in a pool, you have to relearn sighting and breathing in open water.

The race yesterday has quite a current you have to factor in too.  If you swim straight at the marker, you will miss. 

[HoneyBBQ]

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Congrats! Now you've gone and drunk the kool aid.

I think my next sprint is in 2 weeks. Should be my final race of the season (1/2 iron, aquathon, oly, sprint).

[wvugurl26]

Congratulations swamp!!!

[Regis]

Good job, Swamp!

[wyouser]

Swamp, ,  way to go!!

[movingforward]

Way to go!  I workout on a regular basis but no way in hell I could do it.  Did your entire body ache for days afterwards?

[swamp]

Aug 9, 2016 16:04:37 GMT -5 movingforward said:

Way to go!  I workout on a regular basis but no way in hell I could do it.  Did your entire body ache for days afterwards?

Not at all. It was weird.

I don't think I pushed myself. I just wanted to finish, and I've never done anything like this, so I just kind of went for a stroll, KWIM?

[kittensaver]

I can't run at all. The titanium rod in my leg won't let me. I'm in serious doo-doo if I ever have to escape a burning building or an active shooter situation .

Congratulations, Swamp - that's terrific! I'm awed by (and jealous of) your achievement!

[Artemis Windsong]

You will beat your PR next time.  These races are against yourself.

[Pants]

Well, my mom qualified for Worlds today! In... Rotterdam? Huzzah!

[Tennesseer]

Sister swamp?

[rob base]

Awesome sauce swamp

But can I ask how do the logisitics of it work? Like do you preposition your bike and lock it somewhere before and after the bike part? Do you change out of the wet bathing suit into other clothes?

Sorry, I am curious....but awesome jobby-job!

[Cookies Galore]

Aug 22, 2016 13:51:53 GMT -5 rob base said:

Awesome sauce swamp

But can I ask how do the logisitics of it work? Like do you preposition your bike and lock it somewhere before and after the bike part? Do you change out of the wet bathing suit into other clothes?

Sorry, I am curious....but awesome jobby-job!

Your stuff goes in the transition area. You have a set spot.

Tri shorts are the preferred option. You swim, bike, run in them.

[swamp]

Aug 22, 2016 13:51:53 GMT -5 rob base said:

Awesome sauce swamp

But can I ask how do the logisitics of it work? Like do you preposition your bike and lock it somewhere before and after the bike part? Do you change out of the wet bathing suit into other clothes?

Sorry, I am curious....but awesome jobby-job!

I'm not one of the hardcore people, so I just put yoga shorts over my bathing suit.

There is a transition area with chip readers on each end, and it's fenced it. The bikes and the rest of your stuff go in there.   You have a chip in a thing velcroed around your ankle.   You do the swim, and then go over the chip reader into the transition area, put your shorts on, and get your bike.  You go out the other end over a chip reader. you do the bike part. you come back into transition the way you went out on the bike. You park the bike, get your sneakers on, and go out the other end for the run.   you do the run. There is another chip reader at the finish line.

The computer gives you your time for each even and how long you spent in the transition area.  

I have a herniated disc in my back. I don't run.  I walk.  But I still did it.  

[rob base]

Again- AWESOME SAUCE

But do you lock ur bike up? What's to stop someone from taking it? (it's the New York City in me I guess.....just wondering.....)

[swamp]

fences and volunteers on each end watching people.

Nobody gets in the transition area unless they have a number on them.

Nobody takes anyone else's bike because they are personalized equipment. It's not like grabbing a bike off the shelf at walmart.

Most of these people have bikes made to fit them. Except me. I'm the slug on the borrowed bike.

[swamp]

Aug 22, 2016 12:48:05 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sister swamp ?

Um, no.  I will NEVER to an Ironman.

[Deleted]

Wow.  That is absolutely amazing.  My Grandmother was a Masters Swimmer until well into her 80's and would swim a crazy amount every day, but to do a marathon and bike 100 miles on top of that?  In 16 hours?  OMG. 

[HoneyBBQ]

Aug 13, 2016 18:27:48 GMT -5 Pants said:

Well, my mom qualified for Worlds today! In... Rotterdam? Huzzah!

AMAZING!!!!

[HoneyBBQ]

My sprint I was planning on got canceled, so now I'm trying to find another one to end the season in September.

Most tris have very secure transition zones, and if they have bike drop off the day before, they will have security on site in to 'guard' the bikes and property left in transition.

during the race or morning of, no one that isn't an athlete is allowed into transition (usually you have to show your body marking (race number)).

Also, when exiting after the race with your bike, your bike's stickered number has to match your body marking.

[Cookies Galore]

I think I pretty much have hubs convinced to do Challenge Aruba in two years. He wants to do a full Ironman for his 40th birthday, but a half distance in Aruba sounds much more delightful! For me. We want to go back to Aruba anyway. :-)