Tri Class #6: Transitions

Last night wasn't incredibly physical, but I learned alot. We had to bring all our gear for all three sports. When we got there, they had a bike rack set up on which we placed our bikes and arranged everything else next to it. Then we went over to a "starting point" and put on our swimming caps and goggles. I felt rather silly putting on swim gear when I'm no where near water, but it turned out to be a useful thing. It's very easy to forget taking them off!

In waves of people, we were sent to do the swim to bike transition. So you are barefoot (I wore slippers, it was muddy) and wearing your swim stuff. You strip off the goggles, etc as you jog over to your bike. Then pull on the bike shoes, then the helmet and whatever else you are using. Then we had to grab the bike, jog over to the starting area, get on, ride a loop, come back and then do the bike to run transition and jog over to the starting area. We did this twice. My first run through was pitifully slow. As I was doing it I realized that I didn't have things set up well. The second time, with lessons learned from the experience and from the coaches, it was much smoother. For the first run through, I was either last, or second to last (I'm not sure). For the second, I was second. Big improvement.

You really have to think about how you arrange your gear. Initially, I had placed my helmet on my seat, but it takes time to reach over to get it, and then you have to fumble with the straps. For the second run through, I placed the helmet upside down on top of my running shoes with the straps hanging over the sides of the helmet. That worked much better.

I also had issues with my running shoes. For the first time, I had left them as I normally do, slightly loosened. That's no good because you almost have to sit down to put them on. For the second, I loosened the laces a lot and spread the mouth of the shoe as wide as I could get it. I also pulled the tongue up so it was out of the way. This was much easier to get in to, I could almost step right in without using my hands. Now I still have to deal with tying laces, but I'll get those little plastic things soon so that won't be an issue anymore.

The bike shoes had problems too. When I went to pull them on quickly, the straps came out of their holders/grommets. I'll need to look into adding something to the ends of the straps so they can't slip through.

One of the coaches showed us his transition. It took about 15 seconds. He had his swim gear off before he reached the bike. He put on his glasses, helmet, and number belt, and then took off with the bike. I started to go, "hey, he didn't put on shoes that cheater," when he hopped on the bike and I realized the shoes were attached to his pedals. He put them on as he rode. Very slick. I think if I tried that, I'd eat it pretty bad. After the transition practice, one of the girls was trying to do it, and it looked like a very painful learning curve. Her feet kept slipping off the pedals while trying to mount at the run, and she would bang her shins. Owweee.

After we finished this, we put all our gear away and then went for an out and back run for a total of 45 minutes. After jogging a few minutes, I realized it was myself, a coach, and another fellow alone, in front of the pack. A little while after the turn around point, the coach goes "on a scale of one to six, with six being all-out effort, what's your current effort?" The other guy and I both say around 3. The coach responds, ok, try take it up to at least a four. Crud. I was hoping for an easy run. We really pushed it the rest of the way back. I about died for the last few minutes. I know that sort of thing pays dividends down the road, but sometimes you just don't want to do it.


Below is my OCD listing of gear and how to lay everything out and how the transitions should go. I want to be able to just print this out and use it as a checklist for race preparation.

Clothing/Gear:
Pony-tail holder
Tri-shorts
Swim suit top
Bike/Run shirt
Biking glasses/shades
Running hat
Watch
Socks (heavily dusted with baby powder)
Running Shoes
Bike Shoes
towel to stand on and dry off feet
towel to lay everything out on
bottle for rinsing off feet
baby powder for dusting socks
sunscreen
body glide
food
water
bike (duh)

So here's the order (likely will be revised):
Arranging everything:
Lay out towel for everything to go on
Put running shoes furthest back, spread them as wide open as possible with the tongues held by laces.
Set body glide next to shoes
Set Gu next to shoes
Put hat and number next to shoes
Put helmet upside down on top of shoes, arranging straps
Open glasses and put in helmet
Lay shirt over the helmet
Put bike shoes in front of run shoes
Dust up socks with baby powder
Lay socks over the bike shoes
Lay towel/rag for feet in very front
Place water bottle for rinsing feet next to second towel

Swim:
cap
goggles
tri shorts
swim suit top
watch
LOTS of sunscreen

Transition 1: Swim to Bike
Remove cap and goggles while running up the beach
Rinse feet with water bottle and dry on towel
Put on more sunscreen
Pull on running shirt
Pull on socks and bike shoes
Put on glasses/shades
Put on helmet

Transition 2: Bike to Run
Remove helmet
Remove shades
Take off bike shoes and pull on running shoes
Tuck Gu into shorts
Roll on body glide
Add sunscreen
Put on hat
Put on number holder/waist-band

TODO:
get those little things to fasten laces quickly so I don't have to fumble with tying them.
get glasses/shades for biking
get waist band for number

Tri Class #4: Run/Swim/Run - MUST EAT

Today I trained on my own, but I did the planned workout. 20" easy run, 1k swim, 3 mile hard run. Or at least I tried to. The warm up run went ok (did about 2 miles, very easy run), but there's room for improvement on the rest.

The swim is the reason I trained on my own today. I know that if I was in a group of people, I will try my hardest to keep up, which would end up with me just flailing. What I really need to do is just concentrate on my stroke. I need to do the drills and go at a slow pace in a familiar environment so I can get used to the new things they are teaching us. I'm glad I did this in a pool on my own instead of with the group in the ocean.

For the swim, I discovered I can't swim 1000 meters without stopping. Heck, I have a hard time swimming 100 meters without stopping. I did the first 200 doing a normal freestyle. I played with my hand/finger position. I tried my past method of fingers tightly together and hands rigidly cupped, and then compared that with fingers slightly apart and hand somewhat cupped but relaxed. The difference is huge. How did I never try playing with my hand position before? I could feel so much more leverage with the new hand position. I love it when something so easy can make such a huge difference.

I also focused on pushing down a bit on my upper torso, really reaching at the top of the stroke, and pushing through the water with the elbows high and bent. Although I was trying to get all this down, it didn't seem to be coming together yet. It's a bit overwhelming all at once. Each 50m took about 1:30 at this point, I'm slow as a turtle, but in my defense, I was really trying to be deliberate, not fast (probably would have been worse if I was trying to go fast).

The next 200 were the same freestyle, but with fists instead of my hands open. Very challenging, but the most interesting thing was that my times for swimming with my fists were only a few seconds longer than with open hands (1:35 vs. 1:30 per 50m). I wasn't sure if I should be discouraged by this or not. Either it meant that I'm so bad that it doesn't matter what I do with my hands, or the other mechanics are starting to come around and I'm getting faster.

Next I did 100 just kicking. It about killed me. No kickboard, just head down in the water with hands stretched out in front. I feathered my hands whenever I needed to come up to breathe, which by the end was very frequently. I'm having a hard time keeping my feet below the surface, they keep wanting to pop up out of the water. I'm working on making the water 'boil.' I can feel the difference when I get it right, but I can't seem to hold that consistently. It's taking me about 1:45 for each 50m for this.

For the next 200, I went back to normal freestyle. I came to the end of the first 50m and looked at my watch, 1:15! How is it that I'm tired, but I'm going a full 15 seconds faster than the first 50? That must be a fluke. So for the next 50, I checked again, 1:14! I realize I'm the slowest person in the pool, but who cares, that's a huge improvement for a single day, and I'm very happy. It means there's hope for me.

I did another 100 with fists, and 100 just kicking, and finished off the final 100 (YAY) with normal freestyle (1:16). By this point, I'm exhausted. I've swum further than I ever have before and I'm very pleased with myself. I drag myself out of the pool, and head for the showers, then I realize, I still have to run another three miles. Ugh.

I briefly considered bailing on the run, but I realized that it would set a bad precedent for the days I want to train on my own instead of with the group. I had to stick it out. So, I head for the car, pull on my running gear, and set out. Here is where I made a huge mistake. I've had this beaten into me time and time again, and I definitely know better, but yet, I did it again. I didn't eat. Or drink. Stupid girl.

I forgot to bring a water bottle, another whopper of an error due to me not prepping everything the night before or using a checklist. So I just had a few sips of water from a nearby fountain. Why didn't I eat? I don't know. I even had an energy bar in the car. One I like! I don't know what I was thinking. Laziness perhaps, the desire to just get the run over with.

But I paid. The run sucked. This distance should have been nothing for me. I should have been able to run that distance and really push it hard, instead, I barely limped in. I probably ran that distance at a slower pace than my warm up run. My throat felt tight and my lips were dry. I felt weak and just had no energy at all. I even had to walk a bit. Quite a humbling experience.

From now on, I eat between events, and I'm leaving water bottles in the car just in case I forget. Warm water is better than none at all.

Next up:
flip turns!
Keep working on swimming mechanics.
Try accelerating through the stroke (I forgot that today)
Once I get more comfortable with this, try counting stokes.

Lessons learned (and relearned):
Prep everything the night before.
Use a checklist.
EAT between sports, and during when possible.

Tri Class #3: Ocean swimming

Yesterday we met on the sands of the beach to do our first swim/run day. They had us put on color-coded swim caps, I took the one for "beginner" as my mechanics are pretty bad and I've never really done ocean swimming before.

It started off with drills on land. Long elastic cords were wrapped around a pole. You put your hands through the handles and back up to get tension on the bands. Bend at the waist, make your back flat, and stretch your arms out, as if you are trying to cover your ears with your upper arms. Your hands should be flat, fingers spread slightly. Flex at the wrists so the handles don't slide off.

Next, you bring you arms down, bending and lifting your elbows. You want to touch your knees with your hands and then return to the starting position. Make sure to always keep your elbows above your hands. Repeat 25x2.

The next drill starts in the place where the other ended. Assume the same position, but instead of reaching your arms in front of you, place them so your hands are next to your knees, elbows bent. Then extend your arms back so your arms extend out behind you. Repeat 25x2.

The final land drill puts it all together. Start as you would for the first drill with arms out in front, then move arms back until the hands are near your knees (elbows bent, I kept forgetting that), and then finish the stroke out behind you. It should start slow, then accelerate through the stoke.

The goal here is grab, hold, push. You want to grab the water and hold on to it as you push through your stroke. This as all new to me, but the idea of the fingers being slightly spread apart was the most surprising. Water has a tension factor, it sticks together, so if you hold your fingers slightly apart (instead of tightly together and cupped like I was doing), it results in a larger surface area for your hand. Due to the tension, the water doesn't run through your fingers. I'm sure this doesn't apply if you spread your fingers out wide, but it's something interesting that I'll definitely be playing with.

Finally, we all got to go in the water (cold!). To warm up, they had us swim out to some rocks and back. This is my first time putting on goggles and swimming in the ocean. I've played in the ocean, and swam laps in a pool, but this is totally different. It's disconcerting to look down and not be able to see the bottom. We've had a lot of rain lately and the water is cloudy.

My out and back consisted of trying to not get in anyone's way, not getting kicked, and trying to stay on course. This last part was the hardest. Without the little line on the bottom of the pool, how do you know where you are going? So I have to learn how to time lifting my head to look around with my stroke. As it was, I almost came grinding to a stop each time I had to look, and inevitably, I was off course.

Back to the drills. Next up was legs. They had us extend our arms out in front of us with hands flat and flexed slightly downwards. When you need to breathe, you can move your hands a little to help lift you up, but don't stroke. Kick from the hips. Your legs should be relaxed. Your knees move some and you feet should be pointed, but also relaxed. Don't force the feet, or you're going to cramp. I was shocked at how hard I was breathing after this. My cardio fitness is actually pretty good, but this was a whole new ball game. Maybe it's because I don't have the whole breathing thing down. In biking or swimming, I can time my breathing with the motions, but I don't have the timing down on this yet. I'm mostly flailing.

The last drill was swimming with your hands in a fist. Everything is as if you are swimming normal freestyle, but your hands are balled up. I actually found this one very useful in making me focus on my arms and how they are positioned. I always swam with my arm straight through the water, but you are supposed to bend your elbows. This helps me concentrate on that.

After all this, we got out of the water and got ready to run. I learned that tight running shorts don't go on a wet body very well. I'll either have to get some loose shorts, or buy tri shorts that I can just swim in.

The run was much easier for me than the swim. We did a ten minute warm up run at an easy pace, and then did intervals. 6 minutes at a hard effort pace, 2 minutes at easy effort (not walking). Repeat 4 times. I might have put a little too much energy in the first one, but overall, I was pleased with my pacing. I maintained a decent pace for all, and was fairly tired by the end, so I think I gauged the effort about right.

What was interesting to me, was watching others from the group. Some people who were at ease in the water, were not as happy on the run. I was feeling a little salty about my swimming, thinking about how much I have to learn, but I guess everyone has that in one sport or another. Well, at least the beginners to this sport, like myself. Perhaps that's why people start doing tris, it's a challenge where you learn something new while still having something else to boost you up when the other sport has you down.

Summary for myself:
Things I need to work on:

• Spreading my fingers


• Relaxing everything (I've been told I swim like a soldier, very rigid)


• Kicking from the hips


• Lifting my head to look around


• Exhale under water


• Reaching/Stretching at the top of the stroke


• Gliding

Drills:

• Stroke only: concentrate on relaxing hands and arms


• Legs only: keep hands extended in front, bent slightly down, kick from hips, keep feet under water


• Fists: Keep hands balled up and focus on arm position


• Glide/Catch up: Stretch arm out in front of me, really reaching at the top of the stroke. Keep it there for a moment while the other arm catches up.

Tri Class #2: Bike/Run

25" on a Turbo Trainer.
Warm up, using lighter gears
One-leg drills (1 minutes, 2x/ea leg)
Increasing intensity

25" Core exercises

• Rubber bands (long bands with handles, wrapped around a pole): Stand stright w/ arms/hands straight down. Press back, working triceps. Don't let hands go in front of hips. (30x2)


• Wall: Stand with back flat against a wall. Slide down into a sitting position. Hold as long as you can. If you gt fatigued, try to squeeze knees together or push back harder against wall, anything to distract yourself.


• Crunches: normal, legs up and bent, legs straight up, side crunches with one foot on the other knee, hold legs straight up and reach and hold as long as you can.


• Rubber bands: Stand bent at waist, back flat, arms straight out in front of you as if you are trying to cover your ears with your upper arms. Press arms down until hands touch knees. Bend and lift elbows during the motion (this exercise is to help your swimming stroke)


• Wall: Dips (25x2)


• Crunches: leg extensions (in the air, extend straight, then bend knees and bring in), side-to-side leg extensions (same thing, but draw your feet in to alternating sides), yoga pose where both arms and legs are in the air, only your rear is on the ground. Finally, end with 30 seconds of plank pose.

25" Turbo Trainer

• 2"30s on hard gear, 30s rest


• 2"35s on hard gear, 25s rest


• 2"40s on hard gear, 2" rest

Repeat.
More one leg drills.

20" run at easy pace.

Whoohoo, I didn't die!

Last Cycling Clinic Class

Tuesday was our last day of the cycling clinic. Well, that's not quite true. On Thursday we are all getting together for a potluck. So Tuesday was that last day of actual cycling with the clinic.

We had the option of either biking up Tantalus or doing a Turbo Trainer workout. Normally, I'd opt for the outdoors, but I was feeling a bit off, so I went with the trainer. Tantalus might have been the easier option.

The class started out with just letting everyone warm up and then we moved into one-leg drills. 2 minutes a leg! Then you'd get about 30 seconds with both legs, and then 1:45 on each leg. Right around here is where I started to feel dizzy. After I did the right leg, I had to stop, get off, and go sit for a bit. The feeling passed after a while, and I was back on in time for the last round of the drills (1 minute).

Next up was a pyramid drill. We went in chunks of one minute, two, three, four and five minutes. The odd minutes were at 100 rpm while seated. The even minutes we had to stand. So for the three minute segment, we sat, and for four minutes we stood. It was pretty brutal. I've never stood up on a bike for that long. It's surprising how hard it is. Fortunately, by now whatever icky feeling I had before had completely vanished, so I was really able to push it.

After this, we did various times at different paces. I think this part was fairly random. I guess I was pretty tired by then because I honestly don't remember much. All I know is about an hour after we started, it was over, and the bike clinic was no more.

So now what? I've signed up for a triathlon clinic, but I don't know if I really want to go that route or not. The logical side of me says "Why not?" I see other people of roughly my current athletic capacity doing them, so if they can, why shouldn't I? But the emotional side is a bit whiny. I'm a little reluctant to try yet another new thing when I don't feel I've mastered the others. I'm also slightly concerned that I'll find my swimming is worse than I think it is.

I think my real problem is just laziness. I dread the thought of giving up sleeping in on Saturday mornings for the next three months. The week night workouts don't really phase me, but that Saturday is a huge hill to get over. Yet, I know if I don't have a group holding me responsible, I likely won't get out an exercise at all, and I don't want to lose what fitness I've attained thus far. I know what I need to do, I just haven't talked myself into it yet.

Bike Wash!

So I got up just before 6 on Saturday morning to get myself over to Kapiolani Park by 7. Every weekend I think "It's Saturday, I'm making myself get up before the sun, and I'm paying for this?" But I'm always glad I did after the workout.

Today wasn't that bad. We headed over Diamond Head and down Kalanianaole Hwy, turning left at the base of the hill up to Hanauma Bay. Another couple of turns and we were looking at Heartbreak Hill. Now I've heard the name of this said with dread many times over the training, but I've never done it. I did have some trepidation, but there was nothing for it but to tackle it.

It wasn't too bad, by that I mean I was gasping for air like a fish out of water, but I knew I was going to make it to the top. I kept the rpms around 80 and just tried not to look too far ahead. I find that it's easier for me to keep myself unaware of how much further I have to go, otherwise I start to psych myself out.

After cruising the downhill, trying to stop sucking wind, we reached the stop light at Sandy's beach and turned right to head up to Hanauma Bay. Going up the hills here was actually kind of fun. It's up and down with lots of turns to keep your mind occupied. It's not until the long straight uphill in front of the rifle range that it gets hard.

So we all rendezous at the top of the hill in front of Hanauma Bay, and then down the hill we go. I've never done 35 miles and hour before, but it was FUN! Even with my sunglasses on, the wind was so strong that my eyes were tearing up. It looked like I was crying coming down the hill. The rest of the ride was doing some back roads and heading home with a tail wind.

The ride took about 2 hours which is unusually short for this group, but it's because there was a bike wash planned for after. The coach brought simple green, soap, sponges, rags, and oil and showed us what to do.

It starts with wetting the bike down and then spraying simple green all over the place except on the gear cog (is that the right word?). They say the simple green can get inside and rust out the ball bearings, so while you can do a short spray on the cog from straight on, don't cover it in the stuff.

Then you stick a sponge in soapy water and wrap it around the chain while you turn the pedal backwards to get the chain clean. After this, you take off the tires and flip the bike over. Basically, scrub everything you can reach on the bike and the tires and then rinse. Repeat until you're happy.

Once that's done, dry everything off and oil up the chain, cogs, pedal clips, and anything else that gets friction or moves. That's the gist of it. I'm really happy they showed us this, because my bike was absolutely filthy. I just wish this was covered at the beginning of the clinic.

Mock time trial

Cycling class last night was brutal. Is was on turbo trainers, and started off with a warm up, followed by a series of one-leg drills. Those weren't as bad as most they've made us do. Typically we have to go a minute or even two on each leg, yesterday was just 20 and then 30 seconds. I guess they didn't want to break us too early.

Here's where everyone got sweaty. We did 2 minutes on the big front gear at the highest intensity we could handle, then a short break. This was followed by 15 minutes on the big gear, also at the highest intensity we could handle, and about 90-100 rpm. I had to adjust my back gears to survive, holding a harder gear as long as I could and just before my breathing went ragged, switch it to a lower gear, then upping the gear again when I had things under control.

There was another break where everyone drained their water bottles, and then we did a "mock time trial." They had us all come to a complete stop, and then stand up. When they said go, we started pedaling as if it really was a time trial. For the next 15 minutes, they took us through a mental course. The coach would say "we are approaching a big hill," and we would all switch to a harder gear to simulate the extra effort a hill takes. Then there would be the blessed "downhill" where we could drop the gear and pedal easy for a bit. Alternating between flats and hills, the time went by quickly.

What I really liked about it was that they told us where on the island we would be traveling through mentally, so as they described the ups, downs, and flats, you could picture it in your head. It doesn't hurt that it's along some very scenic areas, so it helps keep you entertained.

We ended the class with a cool down and some stretches, and then I went for a 10 minute run with some of the others. It's suprisingly hard to get off a bike and immediately go running, but I think I'm starting to adjust to it. It doesn't seem as difficult as it used to. Don't get me wrong, I'm still happy to let it be so short.

Cycling

About two months ago, I was talking to a friend at a party who introduced me to another friend of hers that she met in a cycling clinic. At that point, she asked me if I was going to do the upcoming cycling clinic that she was joining. I laughed and said no as I don't even own a bike. At that, the woman I had JUST met says "I have a bike you could use." Whoa. That level of trust and generosity just blows me away. Anyway, with my excuse stripped away from me (ummm, thanks?!), I joined the clinic.

It's been a month and a half now, and I don't really want to go back and enter in everything we've done in the past, so I'll just start with yesterday (although someday, maybe I'll write about adventures with pedal clips. I've lost count of how many times I've fallen because of those). We met out at a long, low-traffic road near the airport. The weather sucked, rainy, windy, and cold. Not typical Hawaii weather, but this is what it's been like for the last week, and it's predicted to go for another week.

I'm not sure if it was due to the weather, but the coaches went easy on us. Two laps up and back (a few miles each way I'd guess) in which we practiced a single pace line. Then another lap at a double pace line. All of this is at pretty slow speeds, around 14-16 mph.

It turned out they were making us save our energy because next were "time trials." It's in quotes because nobody actually timed us. One by one, we got set up, they counted off, and at 5, we were set loose to push as hard as we could up the road and then ride easy back. If you've never see the start of a time trial, it consists of someone holding your bike from behind while you clip both feet into the pedals. When you're ready, you hold the brakes and start putting pressure on the pedal. When they count down, you let go of the brakes and pedal as the other person lets you go.

My first one went well, but I think I was in too big of a gear to start. They told us to use our big gear in front, but I think I'm not quite strong enough for that yet. Going out, you are into the wind which is a bit of a bummer. It's getting dark, so you focus on the little blinking light of the rider who went before you and try to catch them.

The problem for a beginner cyclist like me is that I don't have a sense for how fast I can wear myself out yet, so either I go too fast and have nothing left to finish, or I go too slow which is just lame. In this case, I knew we would be doing another trial right after this one, so I didn't give it everything I had, but I felt I had put in a good effort.

The second one was torture. It started well, but I went out too fast and by the end I was dying. I was gaining on the tail light in front of me, but in the end, came up just short. If the course was longer, I'm not sure if I would have caught up, or just fallen off the pace and limped in. To my dismay, another rider passed me! I know that person's one of the more advanced riders, but it still sucks. Oh well, someday hopefully I'll be able to return the favor.

I drove home with the heater on full blast (I said it was cold. Yes, it's Hawaii, I'm just a wimp), and by the time I put my bike away, I felt ready to do something more. This is a total fluke, I've never felt like doing anything more than taking a shower and crawling into bed after a ride before. So I figured I better take advantage of it and I went for a short run. My DH was making dinner, so I just went out for around 20-25 minutes. I've been focusing on the cycling, so it's been a month or two since my last run. Well...that's not quite accurate, about once a week, immediately after a ride, several of us change into sneakers and go for a 15 minute or so jog, but basically, I just trudge along for those, it's not a hard effort. Anyway, it wasn't as bad as I feared. I was able to run faster than I expected (about 9:30/mile) but I was happy to head home when the time was up.

You know, it's interesting to re-read what I just wrote. Six months ago, if I read this as written by someone else, I would have never been able to relate. I'm not an athlete, just someone who's trying to keep the couch from sucking me back in. As long as I have training groups, I think I'll be fine. I just wonder how long until I can train on my own. How long until I am self-motivating? My fear is that when this group ends, I will revert back to laziness. I guess I should give myself more time before worrying about that.