Crap. I just read this entire thread while sitting here in my bike kit after the 40 mi ride I just did.

...as far as rookie training mistakes... I'm still making them after 20+ years because I'm an idiot sometimes. So, maybe the mistake is being an idiot. I'm working on that one...

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

^^^^This. More time for bacteria to breed and to develop saddle sores. There is no absolute limit, just change when you're done working out. As our coach at OTC (bdb) said, "chamois time is riding time."

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Raced my first tri with tire pressure set at precisely 65 psi.

Raced my first oly in a new wetsuit having never been swimming in one before - omg the shoulder burn.

Did a reverse sprint tri once with a one piece kit. Did the run with the top down . Didnt notice I forgot to slip it on till it caught my rear wheel. Could have been real bad ,luckly it was just leaving t1 and still had my feet on top of my shoes.

Just on the subject of tires on race day:
- Using gatorskins
- Using butyl tubes
- Pumping up tire to max pressure

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-Andrew

As someone of the female persuasion who just had some fun surgery to get rid of a saddle sore, it's hard to hold back a smart a** comment.

Maybe it could be a bonding experience?

Did it when I first started because I had never trained seriously and didn't know any better (also hadn't endured abuse on ST yet). Guy on the rack next to me asked if I was riding a different course than he was.

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It's easy to make excuses, but excuses don't make champions.

As a rookie, I am sure I am still making plenty of rookie mistakes, but one that jumps out to me was doing a long run as the first run in a new pair of shoes without doing any shorter runs in them first. So many blisters!

I am not sure why so many people are debating the suggestion to take your bike shorts off right when you are done riding. I thought that was common knowledge.

 

Using cheap cork disk pads that came with the deep carbon wheels
then almost biting it at high speed, first corner after a downhill section, going off road in a race.

Man that was stupid.

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Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

feeling tightness in my hip flexor at the start of a run, and proceeding to run 25km that day, causing a major strain in my hip (didnt hurt at the time....) and knocking me out 3-5 weeks.

Oh did you say rookie training mistakes?.... that was two weeks ago.....

First tri that I ever did (about 1990 when I was mid-teens) I decided in T1 to put my bike into an easy gear so when I started the bike I would be able to pedal easily. Bike wouldn't shift.

I struggled with it and another competitor came over and asked what was wrong. I said my bike won't shift. He asked if I had ever cleaned the cassette.

It had about a pound of dirt in it. I cleaned it and it shifted easily. I learned that you actually have to clean your drive train occasionally, as I'd had the bike for 2 years at that point and never cleaned anything.