Vineman Triathlon (notes and first timer advice)
Chris Lyman
Myke Morgan (mmo...@netcom.com) wrote:
: Just some notes and observations from a first-time Ironman finisher that
: may or may not interest you. Hopefully it will be of some help to first-
: timers doing IMC or Hawaii or the Floridian this year...
Well, gee, shouldn't we keep this something of a Mystery for those who
haven't done on of these? :-)
: Swim: Even though I come from a swimming background, I was a little nervous
: about the swim. I thought, wow, ~4000m swim is a long way, I don't know if
: I can do that. Well, sure, it's a long way, but it really did not seem so
: bad. None of my workouts in the past 2 months have been over 4000m, and I
: haven't done a continuous swim that long in years.
Most of my workouts from late April to early July were 3000 yards, with
periodic 'long swims'. I did the long swims at my anticipated race pace,
except for warm-ups and stroke drills.
: Never NEVER wear the sweedish-style goggles for an Ironman swim. These are
: the goggles with no foam padding at all.
I'd say that comfort is the most important parameter in choosing any
equipment for a ironman race, especially goggles. I used Tyr foam padded
goggles. Barracudas are excellent but pricy. No one brand is right for
everyone.
: Bike: Again, it did not seem so far. I kind of just got in a rhythm and kept
: going. I have NEVER done a ride this long this fast in training. I usually
: train solo, and the quickest I had done was 100 miles in 5:50. Most of my
: riding has been long easy spins, with maybe once a week intervals (about
: 20-45 min really hard in the session).
Some miles were longer than others. :-) I'm usually pretty strong on the
bike but I fell down big time on this one, mainly due to lack of miles.
: Run: The run seemed really far :). I think the main problem I had was that
: I had never been on my feet for that long (4:30) much less tried to run
: for that long. This is something to prepare for, because the pain was
: equall parts muscle fatigue and joint stiffness/ tiredness.
For once, the run was not my weakest leg! I think that going for long walks
during training helped immensely. My quads still turned to concrete, but
at least I could keep moving.
: Eating: Thanks to some people's advice in this newsgroup (esp. Matt
: Mahoney), earlier this year I began to eat real food on the bike. Real
: as in bring a deli sandwich or something. 11 hours is a long time to
: eat only PowerBars and Gatorade even if you're only sitting on a couch.
The latest thinking seems to be that you're better off if you can
approximate a balanced diet during the race. That means protein and fat
as well as carbos. I think a couple of hard-boiled eggs and some buttered
corn muffins might be good things to find in your fanny pack as you ride
out of the transition area.
[--Myke's race diet deleted--]
: So total of 3300 cal during the race, with maybe 350 before. Oh yeah, and
: pretty much an entire XL pizza (Round Table if you're interested)
: afterwards :).
Hope you had some good beer to go with that. I had:
New York Steak cooked medium, with mushrooms, baked potato, green beans
and a tossed salad with house dressing. Washed down with some Cabernet
Savignon from the Glen Ellen Vintners right there in Sonoma County.
No dessert, though, I was *stuffed*. :-)
: What to wear: I wore normal bike shorts under my wetsuit. This was no
: problem, as they dried out quickly. I also spent the time to put on a
: full jersey to keep the sun off my shoulders on the bike. I also spent
: the extra time changing into my usuall run-training outfit (tank-top
: singlet and Insport shorts to prevent chaffing). Finally, I wasn't out
: to break any records, so I kept sunscreen in the bike->run transition
: and made good use of it on my first couple minutes of walking.
Sounds good. I wore just a swimsuit in the water. (I got comments like
"You're really brave to swim in that cold water without a wetsuit." Water
temperature was 70 degrees F!) Then I wore bike shorts over the swimsuit
with a singlet and lots of sun screen. Later, I took off the shorts and
ran in my swimsuit and singlet. No chaffing or blisters, thank goodness.
: If anyone has any questions, feel free to mail me. The race is pretty
: fresh in my mind and I'd be glad to dispense advice.
My best advice would be: forget the cosmic importance of it all and enjoy
it as best you can. Your dog's not going to growl at you if you don't
break ** hours. Get to that finish line with a smile on your face.
--
Chris Lyman | But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
work: ly...@stpaul.gov | A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
play: 82...@tccn.com | Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
| Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
substandard disclaimer | -- T.S. Eliot, "The Naming of Cats"
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Please, don't throw knives.
Tom Gargulak
In article <brug-110...@seminole1.lanl.gov>, br...@lanl.gov (Pat Brug) writes:
>
> I agree with Chris, goggles (like any piece of equipment) depends on the
> individual and comfort/safety should always be the governing factors.
I cannot believe that anyone who has swam a long time would not agree
with this. I have tried all kinds of goggles, but only one kind works
for me well. All the others leak to varying degrees.
John Walker
first-time Ironman finisher, Chris Lyman (lyman@ajohnson) wrote:
>
>My best advice would be: forget the cosmic importance of it all and enjoy
>it as best you can. Your dog's not going to growl at you if you don't
>break ** hours. Get to that finish line with a smile on your face.
Hear! Hear! There is nothing like the feeling of crossing the finish
line at the end of an ultra. Of the 4 ultras I have entered, I had
the goal of finishing, hopefully feeling strong, in three of them.
I crossed the finish line with an ear to ear smile in each one. In the
one where I wanted to push myself to go fast, I never made it onto
the run course. I finished the bike with terrible back spasms, spent
two hours in the medical tent and still could barely walk. That was
the only race I have ever entered that I didn't finish. You should
easily be able to imagine which of my ultras gives me the best memories.
-- John
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
John Walker Jackson & Tull Chartered Engineers
wal...@cs.stanford.edu Seabrook, Maryland
or john...@jntsea.gsfc.nasa.gov
Pat Brug
wrote:
>
> Myke Morgan (mmo...@netcom.com) wrote:
>
<snip>
>
> : Never NEVER wear the sweedish-style goggles for an Ironman swim. These are
> : the goggles with no foam padding at all.
>
> I'd say that comfort is the most important parameter in choosing any
> equipment for a ironman race, especially goggles. I used Tyr foam padded
> goggles. Barracudas are excellent but pricy. No one brand is right for
> everyone.
>
<snip>
I have done 4 mi lake swims with Swedish-style goggles with no problems.
They fit my face so well that the straps barely need to be tight, and they
have never leaked (I wear contacts when I swim).
I agree with Chris, goggles (like any piece of equipment) depends on the
individual and comfort/safety should always be the governing factors.
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W.Patrick Brug, Ph.D. _- -_
Los Alamos National Lab -__ __-
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internet: br...@lanl.gov | |
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