3 brief Q's about you and your progress

Triathlon Forum
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  1. What was your finishing time in your first event (in your major area)?

  2. What was your finishing time in your latest event (in your major area)?

  3. What is your PR in an event (in your major area)?

The questions are posed in such a manner that duathletes, runners, cyclists, triathletes, swimmers, etc of all distances can get involved.

10 Reasons for this thread …

  1. Everyone has something to contribute to this thread.

  2. It’s very training related.

  3. People can identify with someone that started where “they are starting from”.

  4. Pro’s aren’t always the best folks to take training advice from, but finding someone successful from a situation similar to yours can provide a lot of “real world” (whatever that really means) experience and advice.

  5. Hopefully this thread will lead to future threads that discuss training methods used to achieve progress.

  6. Revelations of mistakes made during training. The whole “if I had a chance to do it all over again I would …”

  7. Differences that equipment upgrades have made in the AG’s triathlon experience.

  8. Provide realistic expectations of those halfway new to the game.

  9. Training time that others have used to achieve results you’d like to emulate.

  10. You can’t argue with someone else’s success. i.e., if they used it and progressed … it worked. So, we’re not talking theory, but rather application. Theory only does so much.

Does this count as a 15-paragraph post? I want to make sure I meet my quota. :wink:

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  1. What was your finishing time in your first event (in your major area)?

I think it was 31:55 for a 20k TT

  1. What was your finishing time in your latest event (in your major area)?

Same course in Oct 03 was 29:18

  1. What is your PR in an event (in your major area)?

29:18

http://www.timetrial.org/images/aerorotor.jpg

3

Hey TripleThreat,

I can’t give you the specifics on your questions without an exhaustive search of training logs from years gone by. However, I can offer an anecdotal perspective.

At 42 years old competeing in my sixth age category I am nearly as fast as I was when I was 28 but not as fast as I was when I was 25.

The most profound effect on my training and racing has been lifestyle. When everything in my life is happy and stable my racing and training go very well. I had two great girlfriends, one for eleven years, one for about 5 years, one was an athlete (11 year girl) and one was not (5 year girl). During those years everything was fine. I just got out of a protracted rotten relationship that I let ruin my training, racing and lifestyle. That was my fault. Live and learn.

4

Last years best oly distance 2:22 and 2:30 at nationals

!/2 max in Mo. 5:40 perhaps the toughest race I have ever done

This year only thing I have done 5k 22:29

5

  1. 35 seconds or so in the 50 free when I was 10

  2. 1:35 in a December half-marathon with all sorts of itband problems along the way (I’ve since been going easy on the running while working this out)

  3. 16:52 5k last spring (age 31), 1:56.something in an OD race last summer

don’t quit trying is a good way to view my progress over the years!

6

  1. 1’13" or so in the 50 free when I was 7

  2. 1h10’ or so in a sprint tri

  3. 21.3" in the 50 free, 44.3" in the 100 free when I was 21.

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I don’t have my logs in front of me, but I’ll give you a synopsis of my AG race “carreer”

Back in the late '90’s, it was almost a guarantee that I would be one of the last six out of the water. Didn’t matter what distance, size of field, etc. T1 was easy, my bike was one of the few left in the transition area and I had acres of room to doff my wetsuit and never had to worry about negotiating around other athletes. Once on the bike, I would reel people in, sometimes passing as many as one hundred other riders. What ever place I was at comming out of T2 was usually where I stayed during the run. I rarely passed and rarely got passed.

Many, many hundreds of hours in the pool later and we fast forward to my first race of the '02 season. I seeded myself in the back of a mass start, 200 or so entrant field. This is where I normally started out in all the races before. The air horn goes off and away we go. I was passing people like crazy but it didn’t really register at the time. About 50 meters from the exit, I take a sight stroke and I see “the fast people” trotting up the ramp. “Damn, they had a slow swim” I thought to myself. Three strokes later I stretched out on my left arm and sighted down under my right armpit to check the field behind me. “Woah!” Behind me was a sea of arms, colored swim caps and froth. I hit the ramp and start to adjust to gravity again, peel off the top half of my wetsuit and start jogging for the transition area. “Oh my God, where is my bike?” I had never had to deal with more than a handfull of bikes in the transition area and this was the first time I ever had to sort through 150+/- bikes! After passing my row and doubling back, I found my spot and wiggled my way in between the other competitors and stripped the rest of my wetsuit off. The rest of the race was fairly routine after that.

Moral to the story: No matter how slow you think you might be in the swim, reherse, I mean actually walk the route from the ramp to your bike if you can, when ever possible. Count the rows and commit to memory. I will repeat to myself “three, left, twelve” or what ever the route is.

Last, but certainly not least, do not forget rule number one of triathlon–HAVE FUN! My suggestion to those who have never raced before is to look at your first season as just learning to race. All the little stuff like USE A CHECKLIST! Your first few races you should bring everything including the kitchen sink, it will put you at ease to know that you have arm warmers and rain gear for a race in mid August. After a few seasons, you will whittle the checklist down to goggles, bike, shoes, shorts, waterbottle, done.

Dang it, now I can’t wait for the season to begin…

8

i did my first tri last september (the los angeles tri::oly)

swim::32 min

bike::19mph avg

run::1:00 hr

and now i’ve caught the tri bug it has helped me in many aspects of my life but now i wanna do better…ha…ha…

goals for march::

swim::25 - i just ordered the total immersion book and video. i have never taken a swim class before. i’d like to try doing some specific workouts. for my first tri i just swam…back and forth no “workouts”…i can’t really afford personal trainning so i thought the t1 would help me technically and give me an idea of some workouts instead of just swimming back and forth…suggestions??

bike:: - i’d like to get my average up above 20mph but frankly i don’t know what to do to get faster. my legs aren’t too strong so i was gonna do some weight training twice a week. AND i was gonna try to get my cadence up to 85-95 (i have no idea what my current cadence is but it is slow)…i’ve been reading about cadence here…also technique i really don’t know how to pedal correctly and if anyone knows of a web site or something that explains it well…the whole gum on the shoe isn’t enough…i seem to be a stronger hill climber than on the flats…the flats i really struggle but hills i’m better…any suggestions would be great!!! i would love to get the power cranks but i can’t afford it…i was thinking of getting a cycle ops fluid 2 so i can really focus on my technique…any suggestions

run:: ugh!! i ran twice before (maybe 6miles)my first tri so i’m running now 20min a day. the thing is the outter part of my knees HURT the next day it’s not serious pain but not just soreness. i’m trying to go real slow and then stretch out (if anyone knows a good stretching program i’d really appreciate it)my plan is just to run 20min 6 times a week until my knees get stronger and then move up to 30min and so on…if anyone knows a training protocol to get your knees stronger i’d really appreciate it…also i’m trying to use a high cadence when i run and i run on the grass only…if anyone know a good sourse for beginner runners that would be great…

feedback would be great…i’m 36 175lbs and i’m gonna follow a lot of gordo’s nutrition suggestions…i like tri as a lifestyle but not as a black money hole…maybe when i reach a certain level high tech stuff will be good but i’d love practicle solutions and how to begin this journey

i figure if i go slow and patiently i won’t injure myself and hopefully be developing the right body composition problem is i’m confused really what to do…there is a lot of theory but not a lot of specifics…anyhelp would be great…thanks…dave

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First marathon, age 55 = 4:45

PR marathon, age 57 = 3:34

Latest marathon, in December '03, age 59 = 3:47

First and only Half IM, First in AG, September '03 = 6:12

Training hard to get skinnier, faster, and kick butt in 60 - 64 AG
.

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  1. What was your finishing time in your first event (in your major area)?

My first organized, timed endurance event was San Diego Half Marathon Jan 2002. After 20 years of sitting on the sofa, I trained for 4 months and ran 1:59:10.

  1. What was your finishing time in your latest event (in your major area)?

I ran the *very hilly San Dieguito *Half Marathon this very morning. 1:44:21. I am thrilled with that time, as it came in the course of a normal week of training, including 2x 20’ threshold bike workout yesterday.

  1. What is your PR in an event (in your major area)?

PR TODAY! See #2 above. But, I would consider my “major area” of interest the half ironman. Only done two, with 5:11 PR.

11

  1. 1’22".23 was my first ever sprint (750/20/5), i hadn’t swam much, just got a new bike (hadn’t ever road biked before), but had been running

  2. This year (2nd year in the sport) @ the same race i went 1’10".52. Dropped 4 minutes on the swim, 8 on the bike, but lost a minute on the run. Amazing difference what a little training does for one.

  3. Pb’s: Sprint 1’10".52. 1/2IM: 5:28:07 IMC:14:16:01

Looking forward to the upcoming race season. Instead of going on 4 weeks of training for IM, i am starting now…and hoping to have my time well under 12 hours. Looking for a sub-1’10" sprint, and hopefully a sub-5 1/2 IM (need to qualify for canada again).

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  1. What was your finishing time in your first event (in your major area)?

From 1996-2000 I ran marathons, but thanks to successive knee surgeries in 2000 and 2001 from a ski accident, I switched to tris since the biking and swimming helped to develop the muscles around my knees. During the course of 2002, I did my first olympic, then half, then full ironman tris. The ramp was obviously too fast, and I paid for it with 4 months of recovery from the ironman. But now havning done one, then done the world’s long course last year (about 3/4 ironman), and now training for IM Brazil, I now consider ironman to be my “major area”.

So to answer your question:

  1. First marathon: 3:38, 1996 Boston
  2. First ironman: 10:56, 2002 Great Floridian
  1. What was your finishing time in your latest event (in your major area)?
  1. Marathon: 3:23, 2002 Napa Valley (happy just to do another)
  2. Ironman: NA, hoping to break 10 hours at IM Brazil this year
  1. What is your PR in an event (in your major area)?
  1. Marathon: 3:00:59, 1999 Chicago (4 marathons under 3:10)
  2. Ironman: see above

I learned a lot from my first ironman. At the time, I was in my first year of tris and made plenty of rookie mistakes. Although the time was personally satisfying, frankly, I spent most of 2003 recovering from the damage I did to myself in that race. In particular, my nutrition strategy was poor (too much Gatorade), my stomach shut down, and I spent the second half of the marathon unable to eat much, dehydrating, and fighting off cramps.

The most important things I’m now doing differently, relative to the first race, in order to try to drop an hour of time:

  1. Better nutrition (low glycemic sources, i.e. GPush, Carbo-Pro, Gu)
  2. PowerCrank training for the 6 months leading up to the race
  3. Fore/mid-foot running a la Pose (had begun heal striking after my knee surgeries)
  4. Once weekly bike intervals (Spinervals), bike hills, and run hills
  5. Weekend training partners (local tri club)

So far, things are working reasonably well. I’ve ramped volume without getting injured, and I’m having fun. And my wife is supportive. Thanks honey!

13

First event: 20km downtown crit, “beginners” class (would be american 4/5 I think). Finished two minutes down on the peloton, sprinting one the penultimate lap to avoid being lapped. My average was something like 34 or 35km/h.
Latest event: Last event I finished was a 40km crit, open class (1/2…). Time was just under 55 min.
PR: would have to be for a 40km ITT, again, just under 57 minutes in ideal (no wind) conditions.

“Revelations of mistakes made” First thing, I would train. Would’ve given up other things I didn’t. Our Natls were in June, which is early winter in Brazil. My preparation was going very well till late fall, when then temperatures became slightly colder, and many a rainy day kept me at home. Now living in Germany and rejoicing for any day where the streets aren’t snow covered, I know how foolish that was.
Second thing, I would improve my mental game. Lost many a race for playing the cards too conservatively when I had the horsepower to deliver far more. You live, you learn.

“Provide realistic expectations” There is no such a thing =). If you’re still young, dammit, go for it. If you’re not so young, well, give it a shot anyway. You fall on your faces many a time, but the times you don’t, they pay for them all.

Greetings,

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  1. 21.3" in the 50 free, 44.3" in the 100 free when I was 21.

Dude, did you used to be called Alex Popov when you were 21 too?

Ummm…I’d check your times again…think you made a typo…

http://www.fina.org/wldrecscm.html

15

I’ll do this a little differently, substituting pr’s with goal times for next serious race

10k 1st (1st endurance race of any kind): 47:10 Last: 37:30 Next?: 36:30

Ironman 1st(got into the race 10 weeks out) 11:18 Last(thought I knew how to train & race, but now I know I didn’t have a clue): 10:53 Next?(following a real plan, knowing how to pace the bike): sub 10:15

5K 1st: 22:35 Last: 17:40 Next?: 17:10(real goal is sub 17)

40k Bike in Tri/Du 1st: 1:23 Last: 1:03 Next?: 1:01(assuming fairly fast course)

1/2 IM Swim Time 1st: 57 mins Last: 38 mins Next?: 34 mins
.

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For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction:

Pre-triathlon golf handicap: 12

Current golf handicap: 18 (on a good day - did shoot 2 birdies last round :wink:

Seriously, here’s my stuff:

First sprint tri (2001): 1:23 (2 mins. of mechanical)

Last sprint tri, same course (2003): 1:05:46

First oly bike split (2002 - hilly course): 18.2 MPH

St A’s 2003 bike split: 23.3 MPH

First 1/2 IM bike split (2002): 21 MPH

First IM (2003): 11:53 (with faster ran pace than last 1/2 IM); top 15 % bike split in AG)

First Crit Cat 4/5 (Jan. 2004) - 1st Place

Last Crit (today) - 5th Place (bigger field, faster day)

Reasons for modest improvement:

  1. Better conditioning/higher volume - yea, obvious

  2. Bike dialed in perfectly; can stay in aeros for days on end.

  3. Some solid coaching from that Mad Marty dude above

  4. Stopped lifting weights (carrying too much weight from lifting)

  5. Dropping from 205 to 185. Weight = free speed. I’m 6’-1"

Great topic!

Robert

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Actually, I was swimming back in the day of Matt Biondi, who I still think was one of the ultimate sprinters. Nothing will put you in your place when you are on the blocks in lane 5 feeling pretty confident than “In lane 4 is the current NCAA, American, and World Record Holder in this event, Matt Biondi.” Doh!!

Unfortunately, my times were for yards, not meters

18

Still, with a 44.3/100 I’d think you’d be sub-21 for your 50. You had to be low-1:40s for a 200, no? Smokin’…

Oh, and in Illinois it was “back in the day of Tom Jaeger,” not that Cal weenie!

:wink:

19

  1. 25 yard freestyle. I was 7 yeard old, and have no idea what my time was.

  2. Swimming- 200 yard backstroke- 1994 MIAA championship meet, consolation finals. Finished in something like 2:23, good for 9th or 10th place in the event.

Last event in general- 5K turkey trot in 28:10 last November.

  1. 50y free- 26.9, 100y free-58, 200y free 2:07, 500y free- 5:42, 1000y free- 12:00 (aargh, wanted it to be an 11something so bad), 1650y free- something like 19:52, 100y back- 1:06, 200y back- 2:23ish.

I was pretty middle of the pack in the pool, but I had a ton of fun with it.

20

sounds like IT Band Syndrome. do a google search for stretches. also check out www.julstro.com. good luck!