1st race - a retrospective
nuclear
Posts: 2
in General Chat
Having only discovered the whole triathlon thing a month or so ago, I took part in my first race yesterday after 3 weeks training - the Big Cow Trifest 09 Aquathlon at Emberton Country Park in Olney. The race consisted of a 750m openwater swim and 5km run (no bike, thought I would let myself into the whole tri thing gently!).
Race result:
Swim: 00:14:58
T1: 00:02:23
Run:00:33:33
Total: 00:50:56
What went well: [:)]
[ul][*]Rubbish weather didn't make too much difference, luckily no wind
[*]Had all the kit I needed and had trained in all the kit before so no worries or surprises, felt comfortable
[*]No problems with food or drink before the race - ate 3 hrs before and that worked a treat
[*]Training in open water (Heron lakes) help ENORMOUSLY for this part of the event, including successfully drafting someone comfortably for nearly 1/3 of the swim which really helped
[*]Didn't stray off the swim course to much - sighting worked quite well.
[*]Swim went well with me leaving the water about halfway down the field of competitors (14:58 for 750m swim)
[*]Transition kit well laid out as had thought through and read about this before - the prep paid off
[*]As first race, raced with HRM on - excellent learning post race from heart rate which I would not have had if had not worn the monitor
[*]I actually finished!!!! [:D][/ul]
What did not go well:[:@]
[ul][*]Transition slower than I would have liked, arms really tired so struggled to get top half of wetsuit off despite doing this a number of times before
[*]HRM made me feel like I couldn't use my full lung capacity during the run
[*]Calves started to sieze up only 500m into the run
[*]2 laps x 2.5 kms - the first lap REALLY struggled with having to walk a few times, second lap felt much better[/ul]
Puzzles: [&:]
[ul][*]How to avoid the calves thing happening again - would brick sessions help or is my running training wrong? HELP!
[*]Will swim paddles in training improve my performance at this early stage in my training? [/ul]
Lessons learnt:[;)]
[ul][*]Swim is one of my strong disciplines
[*]My running needs alot of work!
[*]Need to adapt my run training programme to get used to race pace (more like Zone 4 than Zone 2)
[*]Need to add some resistance training to help my offset the fatigue from the resistance of the wetsuit - got tired lifting my arms out of the water, not pulling strokes through the water.
[*]Need to do more brick sessions in training
[*]Need to cut my transition time in half - will make a real difference to the overall time
[*]I love this sport!!!!![/ul]
Next race is a 1km open water swim at Dorney as am already committed to the London OD relay race with a team from work - I am doing the 1.5km swim. After London, Cotswold sprint tri and then who knows, Barcelona Sprint?
Race result:
Swim: 00:14:58
T1: 00:02:23
Run:00:33:33
Total: 00:50:56
What went well: [:)]
[ul][*]Rubbish weather didn't make too much difference, luckily no wind
[*]Had all the kit I needed and had trained in all the kit before so no worries or surprises, felt comfortable
[*]No problems with food or drink before the race - ate 3 hrs before and that worked a treat
[*]Training in open water (Heron lakes) help ENORMOUSLY for this part of the event, including successfully drafting someone comfortably for nearly 1/3 of the swim which really helped
[*]Didn't stray off the swim course to much - sighting worked quite well.
[*]Swim went well with me leaving the water about halfway down the field of competitors (14:58 for 750m swim)
[*]Transition kit well laid out as had thought through and read about this before - the prep paid off
[*]As first race, raced with HRM on - excellent learning post race from heart rate which I would not have had if had not worn the monitor
[*]I actually finished!!!! [:D][/ul]
What did not go well:[:@]
[ul][*]Transition slower than I would have liked, arms really tired so struggled to get top half of wetsuit off despite doing this a number of times before
[*]HRM made me feel like I couldn't use my full lung capacity during the run
[*]Calves started to sieze up only 500m into the run
[*]2 laps x 2.5 kms - the first lap REALLY struggled with having to walk a few times, second lap felt much better[/ul]
Puzzles: [&:]
[ul][*]How to avoid the calves thing happening again - would brick sessions help or is my running training wrong? HELP!
[*]Will swim paddles in training improve my performance at this early stage in my training? [/ul]
Lessons learnt:[;)]
[ul][*]Swim is one of my strong disciplines
[*]My running needs alot of work!
[*]Need to adapt my run training programme to get used to race pace (more like Zone 4 than Zone 2)
[*]Need to add some resistance training to help my offset the fatigue from the resistance of the wetsuit - got tired lifting my arms out of the water, not pulling strokes through the water.
[*]Need to do more brick sessions in training
[*]Need to cut my transition time in half - will make a real difference to the overall time
[*]I love this sport!!!!![/ul]
Next race is a 1km open water swim at Dorney as am already committed to the London OD relay race with a team from work - I am doing the 1.5km swim. After London, Cotswold sprint tri and then who knows, Barcelona Sprint?
0
Comments
Unclear what else you have been doing prior to the 3 weeks (any running at all?). If you've just leapt from your sofa then you probably need to be building up a base level of fitness (even if you've been doing some other non-cross over sport, such as football, darts, or shove-ha'penny). Get a few slow, easy paced runs in. This will help build up the strength in the calves (and the rest of it). If you are over 29, I would look at incorporating some gym work - core strength, stretches and light weights.
You're obviously doing well at the swim!
have a look at www.parkrun.com and see if there is one near you.
Make sure those aching calves don't turn into injuries - if they still hurt, then a bit of self massage and stretching might be good - and nothing too intensive, running wise, until the pain goes.
Good luck - looking forward to seeing how you get on when you add the bike into the mix!