Login required to started new threads
Login required to post replies
I'm somewhat of a newbie here, though some of you migth know me from RST (I'm about ready to give up on RST), so pardon me if this has already been discussed here.
I'm one of those m/bop racers who participtaes in tris mostly to stay in shape. I'm not completely non-competitve, I love to see how I fare against friends from the tri club and against my own previous results. But I do show up at all of the events knowing that any type of award is highly unlikely. My real reasons for signing up for races are (1) to give me a reason to keep training every morning, (2) the feeling of personal accomplishment I get from participating in Tris, and (3) to feed my gadget/toy addiction.
I've always felt that I was probably representative of the majority of folk who show up at a race. What do you think?
I know I sign up for races to keep me motivated to train :)
-Cheryl
Hey TomH,
It sounds like you and I are about the same ability level. I go back and forth on this. Sometimes the training is such a good experience that travel to races only disrupts that.
Other times I am really looking forward to a race and that is what is getting me out the door.
I think for running and riding, I would do that all the time even if I never raced. All my friends ride and I love to run and always run by myself.
I doubt I would do much swimming if I didn't race. I'm not very good at it and its frustrating to me.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
For me, neither. I train (and 'race', if you can call what I do racing) because it's part of my lifestyle. It's just what I do and part of how I live my life. I rarely gear my training towards a specific event, and in the face of scientific training theory, I just do what feels good. Which means a lot of cycling and running, and a wee bit of swimming.
*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"
I'm having a tough time with this. I did my first Tri in 2001 - Newport Beach Kring & Chung and got third in AG. Did Carlsbad and got second. Had an injury (in another post, burst appendix during half-marathon). The next season, I got first in Newport and did a full season of sprints, always on the podium. Last season, I was way too many times the bridesmaid; 4th place, 5th place, 6th place. I know a lot of racers would be thrilled being there, but it's really frustrating coming from such a winning season before.
I think there are a few reasons I didn't as well as I should have: I did a marathon in January, Ralph's Half-IM in March and then the short course season. So, for one thing, my training wasn't geared for sprints. The other, and probably bigger reason is, I got cocky. I thought I did adequate training for the races. Apparently not. Looking back, I really didn't make myself uncomfortable during training. I did well in the swim and bike but really fell apart in the run in nearly every event.
Anyway... new focus this year. I'm doing Ralph's, again. Then I'll switch to a more intense workout regime, shorter distance at a higher level, but lots of rest between (I am an old guy - 49). So, while I've been training for years (for the health) and running the occasional race, this year will definately be train to race.
Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.
I'm MOP. I think I would still run and ride my bike some if I was not doing any races, but training for future races definitely makes my training much more routine and much more intense than it otherwise would be.