G'Day Ewoksta (and Wannabee)

There are a lot of similar questions here on CR about this very topic - perhaps if you do a search you will find some more answers, but here's my take on it all ...

Ewoksta, I assume you're referring to Sparke Helmore Tri in Newcastle, and you're doing the Diehard (longer) option? Thought so.

The key to getting used to transitioning is, believe it or not, not getting lost in there! Especially when you are new to the sport, it's all very exciting and scary and you are in a mad rush to get out of the water and on your bike, or off your bike and into the run.

Arrive plenty early to set up your transition area. Your bike and helmet will be scrutinised by a Technical Official on the way in (not too hard, though) and you then have to find a spot that suits you. Most transiitons are "neutral" - that is, if you park your bike close the Bike Exit, you are an equal distance AWAY from the Run Exit so no-one is really disadvantaged. lay out your towel next to your bike and place on top of it all the stuff you will neeed for the bike, and then the run, in a sensible order so you can grab them easily. In your case - not much if you ride in running shoes. You may want to place your helmet and sunnies ON the bike, and have a running hat ready to go on the ground beside it.

Once set up, go for a walk around the transition, looking at evrything. Know where the exits and entrance are, and then stand next to them and LOOK BACK towards your bike, memorising exactly where it is in the scheme of things. It will all look slightly different with hundreds of bikes there and under styress, so be aware of this. if it helps, count the racks to yours. It may also be possible to 'flag' your bike with a brightly coloured piece of tape or cloth, to make it more visible. walk through the transition, practising where you will go once you have grabbed your bike, and when you return from the ride.

Above all, don't panic. When you run your bike out of T1, an official will show you just where you're allowed to climb on and start riding (the Mount Line). It's a good idea to run PAST this line if it is crowded, as there can be carnage with people all wobbling off at the same time. Same applies when you get back - get off your bike in plenty of space so as not to create an accident.

Wannabe, you're on the right track. Just doing more bricks makes bricks easier, but a handy tip in training and racing is this - as you approach the transtion on your bike, shift down a gear or two and spin easier rather than hard. this will get your legs ready for running. Also a good idea to stand on your pedals and stretch out your calves before dismounting (about 500m out). I still feel like I have tree trunks for legs when I transition.

Hope this helps a bit and there is bound to be more advice soon. Above all, have fun.

Ewoksta - I will see you at Sparke Helmore!

M

BTW, Does anyone have any handy tips to help with "bike thighs" when you do T2. I've done one brick so far and man, my legs were almost frozen straight after some hills. Is there anything anyone does to lessen the effects of this? I'm hoping that the training I'm doing and getting my body used to this will help.

I wasn't completely unfit before starting this, but I wasn't far off.

Wannabe

Carbon fibre, once you're tried it, there's no going back!

C2S Virgin,

I haven't given up on the Huffster. Seems Hubster isn't keen to get his bro's bike, so I'm stuck with my Huffy. I figured it was probably best, time to toughen up. I went out for another ride round my hilly suburb, though being unfit, anything that slightly resembles an incline is a challenge. At one point I was in the lowest gear on the right hand side (is my noobness showing?) and I was picturing myself just strolling past myself. I was almost standing still, but I refused to get off and push, like I'd done on a bigger tougher hill (but only at the top).

Where'd you get the pedal straps from? I've not seen any in BigW or Target, but haven't checked K-Mart, hehehe, specialty stores all the way for this cheaparse. Maybe we could write a book called Tris for the tightarsed?

I'm gonna get some tri pants too, hoping to lose a bit more of my butt before the actual event though.

So for now I'm still in the Huffy club. I even decided if we're doing this together, I'd better name my bike (I'm a freak, name my cars too). So her name is Orange Zest.

Good luck with the bed saving!

Wannabe

Hey Wannabe

We have a huffy detractor in our midst!! They will do us for a little while . . . In the meantime I continue with my modifications. I bought the toe cage (cant think of the lingo right now) and straps at a bike shop the other day, dont think they even sell this stuff at kmart but it is probably best to go to a bike store anyway so you can get some advice. Having said that, I went home later to put them on and found out that the pedals on the huffster dont have the holes in them for the bolts. Excellent. So it was too late to go back to the shop and I was heading to Hobart for work for two days. While I am there I go to another bike shop and tell them what sort of bike I have and that I need some pedals. OK. So I buy the pedals.

This morning I had planned to put on the gear and head off on a light ride just so I ensure the straps are right. I have never taken off a pedal before but I was feeling pretty confident . . .Well, I was looking in the wrong spot at first and then worked out what I am supposed to do. So you know shifting spanner in hand and . . . cant get the damn thing undone. Feeling frustrated I go on line to the huffy site and look at the manual - right handed thread right pedal, left handed thread, left pedal. OK. Go back again. No budge. Get my son out to help. No budge. Feeling like a useless girl. Phone a friend. Yeah come over. So, get the pedal off on the side I hadnt tried, put the toe cage and straps together, about to screw it in and the pedal thread is too large. Not happy with the Hobart shop am I?? My friend hurts his back, (lucky his wife is physio) and I go to another bike shop and find some pedals. Go back, put the left pedal on, YAY is happening. Try right pedal again. No budge. WD40, hammer and tap, no budge. By this time I am thinking I am not meant to ride with toe cage and straps. Head back to bike shop, flutter my eyelashes, he walks outside spanner in hand and . . . it comes off straight away. I say Oh, WD40 must have worked but then change my mind and say, oh, no, it is all in the technique.

He he. Moral to story? Persistence I think. Detractors may say - toss the Huffy!! And the bike is ready for tomorrow! I am a little nervous though.

hi all

stupid question.. but how do you go about doing warmups for race day??

Wow that's quite a drama. You'll have to let me know how your modifications go! Best of luck.

As for me. What's letting me down is the sheer weight of my Huffy. Hubster's Kent is so darn light and I don't have any issues riding that, but mine, it's hard and I really struggle to ride it. Makes me feel like a big girl, okay, so I am a girl, but I don't like feeling like a weak girl! I thought the run was gonna be my weakness, but now it's turning out to be the ride. I can now run the 3km, just need to build that. But I'm yet to actually ride 13km anywhere and I'm slow as a wet week. Doesn't look like I'll be getting any practice in this week either, forecast is for rain til Friday.
Kyls

Anyway I got up there and decided I just wasnt ready for that sort of distance and competed in the novice event. I am so glad I did. I won the veterans women's section and it has given me the inspiration/reward I needed!

Hey Wannabe
Not really a drama in the big scheme of things . . . but thought it amusing anyway.
Well, this morning before I left for tri I thought I better check the distance and it was part of the state series 1km swim, 30 ride, 8 run. I think I felt sick. Anyway I got up there and decided I just wasnt ready for that sort of distance and competed in the novice event. I am so glad I did. I won the veterans women's section and it has given me the inspiration/reward I needed!
Wetsuit went well (although not tri wetsuit but armless) no drama getting it off. Tri shorts were excellent, think previously getting shorts on after swim cancelled out time of getting wetsuit off. Toe clips went well but need more practise getting into them quickly when I jump on. Shoes were a bit soggy though when I went for my run, may need to towel off a bit til i get bike shoes and cleats. Apparently tri shoes have drainage holes!
Although the Huffy is not ideal ( I think my legs can go faster than bike allows now) I am sure it is making me stronger and when I get a decent bike for next season hopefully it will show! So hang in there with the bike. Can you go to an RPM class at a gym if the weather is going to be awful??

The bike is just heavy, because it's dual suspension and all.

Okay, I'm going to change my name to "The Huffy Detractor"!

Honestly, you'd be better off on a 20 year old racer scored for $5 at a garage sale - even a Malvern Star!

There are a number of problems with the el cheapo mountain bike apart from their sheer weight and unreliability. Most people are aware that the thick tyres have a high rolling resistance. Less people are aware that the law of conservation of angular momentum means that the absolute worst place you can carry extra weight on your bike is the wheel rims. The weight of the frame is slowing you down, but the weight of the wheels and tyres is killing you.

I am, of course, totally sympathetic regarding the need to pay mortgages, feed children etc. That's why I bought a new mountain bike just before I got married several years ago and a new roadie just before our first kid came along.

It's great reading people's stories of how well they've done in their first events. I only started racing tris this year (hence my interest in this thread) because most of my running partners were doing them. Any event that can get so many people from so many different walks of life out and about in lycra bodysuits (including our local MP) has go to be fun.

Wannabe the distances were 300/10/3, very enjoyable I have to say! Havent done a detailed posting, getting a bit self conscious about my tome size postings.

Honestly, you'd be better off on a 20 year old racer scored for $5 at a garage sale - even a Malvern Star!

how many tri races would a novice do in a year ?

i plan to do 2 sprint tris, tour de hills and city 2 surf this year - and thats a BIG effort from me. Not sure if theres room for more?

I agree with you on the legs can go faster than the bike allows thing! But mind you, I always have my back hub (or whatever) in the middle gear, haven't gone up to 3, which is what I definitely need to do. The bike is just heavy, because it's dual suspension and all. I saw a nice new diamondback yesterday, good for starting off on apparently. Now I want it, but can't afford it. So I'm still on my huffypuffy.


Wannabe

The other thing I used to find when I had a full suspension MTB was the suspension would used alot of the energy my legs were pumping with the up down movement. I will never own another suspension bike due to this-I want all my energy focussed on moving ahead! I'm told expensive bikes with all sorts of pivots in the suspension don't have this problem, but I for one aren't going to spend the money to find out!
My road bike is a 23 year old Malvern Star I bought off Ebay. Ok it's technically obselete, but it rides nicely, has alloy wheels, 12 speeds, new tyres and was a bargain at $56. I replaced the pedals with an alloy set with built in toe clips (I'm not ready to move to cleats yet) for another $40. The seat on it was in good nick, but I bought a nicer one which was another $30. I didn't actually have to spend any money-it was in good nick as it was. And alot better than a Huffy MTB!
I have an el-cheapo non suspension MTB myself. For the 14km ride to work, the Malvern Star is about 10 minutes quicker.

I don't think it matters too much, as long as you accept that you won't be able to 'peak' for all the races. In other words, you should pick a couple in which you're motivated to do your absolute best and structure your training around these, including a three week taper before the big day. The other races are short enough that even if you go as hard as you can on the day, it may not be your absolute potential, but you won't hurt yourself. Just be sensible and lighten the training volume a little either side.

For example, I'm structuring my training this year around two runs (our local half marathon in May and a somewhat longer trail run in September) and a half ironman in August. These are the only events I'll taper for (work, family, injury notwithstanding). My weekly program until the HM involves a minimum of four runs, two bike rides and two swims. If there is another race or a tri they're usually on a Sunday and substitute for the long run I'd otherwise do with no other change to the routine. In fact, it's a good idea to lower your training intensity a little every four weeks anyway (recovery weeks) and even a flat out sprint tri for a crap swimmer and mediocre cyclist like myself is a lot less tiring than a proper long run - so I'm looking at these short races as part of my recovery rather than as something to worry about over-doing.

As soon as the HM is past I'll switch the balance to the bike (the longest leg in the HI), then following that back to the run.

It would probably be useful to a few people looking at this discussion to find a well-structured beginners program. I've borrowed a few books from the library and have used those to help make my own plan which is not ideal for triathlon, but it wasn't meant to be.

Oh, and you should buy the best ROAD bike you possibly can! No mountain bikes or hybrids (ie. slow both on and off-road)!

hi all - just thought I'd let you know I did my first tri on the weekend! Yay! It was the Hills Club race on Saturday evening.

As expected, the most daunting part was the swim - it was an enticer, and i swam 250metres, but that is a loooong way for me! The bike leg was 10km, and was a nice ride, on a flat course ( at Penrith Regatta Centre ), with a little bit of water on the course, but only enough to give you a nice brown mark up your bum where the water flicks up from the rear tyre!

And the best bit....i did the whole way with my lovely Mouse!! She helped me through the swim, we kept each other company on the bike, and ran together all the way...what a lucky man am I...

The kids also did events too - 7years old a swim (50mtre?), ride (1km) run (1km)? and the older ones ( 9 and 11years) 200-5km-1km. They had a great time, and as expected, the numbers on their arms could not be washed off till after they showed their school mates!! Ohh - and we cleaned up at the lucky draws...winning 5 prizes amongst us!!!

No wonder i had a good day! Go Hills Tri Club!

I've been trying to do the same as dolphin and agree tri is much easier then long run. Was glad to read your post dolphin and will continue this training regime thriugh to GC half. Unfortunatly have had sore hips wish they would just go away. How good it would be never to have any muscle soreness. Have added two stregnth training days into programme, hopefully this will improve core and make me run more effeciently. Going for massage today but beginning to wonder weather this makes things better or worse. I think I will have to ask maaseur to go easy on me. Some days a massage leaves me feeling like I have just worked out and the muscle soreness over the next couple of days slows down my training. Any advice welcome.

hi all - just thought I'd let you know I did my first tri on the weekend! Yay!

Wannabe, I too spotted a nice bike. the bike shop has a 2004 Giant for $750. Anyone know if this is a good deal? Bike shop said it was $2500 new. I reckon it will come down quite a bit in price as it is for a vertically challenged person like myself (160cm) and I dont know of many women my size doing tri's in Launceston! I live in hope anyway. Oh, and had to buy a nice bike training top with the voucher i won in the last tri. . . kind of looking the part (except for the huffster).

Panthers' open water swim on Friday morning at the Regatta Centre was cancelled because (i) they couldn't guarantee the water quality and (ii) several snakes had been spotted in the water, having been washed in with all rain

hi all - just thought I'd let you know I did my first tri on the weekend! Yay! It was the Hills Club race on Saturday evening.

And the best bit....i did the whole way with my lovely Mouse!! She helped me through the swim, we kept each other company on the bike, and ran together all the way...what a lucky man am I...

...maybe Hills members are more resilient...or just expendable!

Wannabe, I too spotted a nice bike. the bike shop has a 2004 Giant for $750. Anyone know if this is a good deal? Bike shop said it was $2500 new. I reckon it will come down quite a bit in price as it is for a vertically challenged person like myself (160cm) and I dont know of many women my size doing tri's in Launceston! I live in hope anyway. Oh, and had to buy a nice bike training top with the voucher i won in the last tri. . . kind of looking the part (except for the huffster).

hi all

Just curious to see if anyone else is going through the same situation. Been into training for about 6-8wks now (lost 5kgs!).. anyhows, i feel like ive hit a plateau with my training/fitness.

Anyone have any tips etc to overcome this hurdle?

Thanks.

Seems there's a lot of bikes on there, but mostly in Sydney and Melbourne. Seems Brisbane people don't ride or rather don't upgrade their bikes often.

Wannabe

Hi C2SVirgin good luck in sally,s ride, would like to do it but, hubby made me realise it would be a big ask when my max distance on bike has only been 40k. I still thought I would manage but then he pointed out what my recovery might feel like. Got to love that man for (trying) to keep me grounded. Are you following the ride with jan's 20k run Sunday?????

My biggest problem? Swimming in an outdoor pool... it will be cold! Me & cold water & htfu have never met!

We have recently implemented the latest Geothermal heating system. This allows us to heat the pools to 27 degrees centigrade all year round and provides hot water for changeroom showers.

I swim in my bike shorts. I use tri specific ones which have a thin chamois.