Memphis in May Triathlon anyone?

tharbert · tharbert's Garage

I drove down and did my first olympic distance triathlon, Memphis in May in Tunica Ms. Trained hard, finished well and can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would subject themselves to going further like half or full iron man's.

(no, that wasn't my time...)

widgeon13 · 05-21-2012, 06:46 AM

What is olympic distance?

Oh and Congrats!

VincentVega · 05-21-2012, 08:20 AM

Great work.

Quote:

Trained hard, finished well and can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would subject themselves to going further

I thought the same thing after I did a sprint.

BRPORSCHE · 05-21-2012, 08:25 AM

[QUOTE=tharbert;6759395] Trained hard, finished well and can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would subject themselves to going further like half or full iron man's.QUOTE]

Had a few coworkers do the Texas Iron man this past weekend. I can't even imagine doing a full marathon and a bike ride and a swim.

Beyond eff that but major props to the guys/gals that train for these things!

LeeH · 05-21-2012, 08:42 AM

My wife is training for the Phoenix Ironman in November. I go out and run 3 or 4 miles and feel like I've had a good workout. Her "short" runs are 8 to 10 miles.

vash · vash's Garage

unless someone holds an Ironman event in zero (or very little) gravity..i aint doing it!

good on you tharbert!! well done.

tharbert · tharbert's Garage

Olympic distance: 1500m (1 mile swim), 40k (25 mile) bike, 10k (~6.3 mile) run. I was actually kinda competitive until the run. Could only eke out 9 minute miles. Felt like I'd blow and gasket and just couldn't muster any steam. Got the coveted 16th place in age group out of 50...

Thanks all!

Laneco · 05-21-2012, 11:52 AM

BRAVO!!! That's two or three sports better than most people even try!

angela

Hard-Deck · 05-21-2012, 07:11 PM

Excellent! I'm only a runner. 6.2 in 40:40 is my best. If I swam/biked first I'd be lucky to run 6.3 in 60 min!

Great job!

Rapewta · 05-22-2012, 06:01 AM

Well Done!

Sounds like you started getting tired on the run.
I've done that.
My hardest was the Sierra Nevada Triathlon. 1.5 mi swim, 55 mi bike in the mountains and a 13.1 run in mostly dirt.
What really hurt was all the "team" runners passing me up.

If you work a 40 hr week, it is difficult to get in the amount of training to really be competitive.
I finally focused on running only and had some successful marathons. Squeaking in sub 3's.
I wish I had never stopped training and competing. Best time in my life.
Keep it going. Good Luck.

RKC · 07:46 AM

Congrats! It's a great sport! Olympic Tri distances will keep you in better shape than anything. No reason to get pulled into anything longer. Health doesn't really improve with longer distances, and joints only last so long....

The "why" of a longer race is unique to everybody who attempts one. I've done a Half-Ironman and a Full Ironman, and can trace it all back to an afternoon during High School Swim Team season when I watched Julie Moss collapse on Wide World of Sports on ABC at the Hawaiian Ironman. Something clicked in my head and said I should try that someday.

I'm glad I did them, but also glad I only did them once. I'd like to keep windsurfing and swimming and cycling and skiing for a couple of decades yet, so Ironmans and Marathons and skiing moguls are all past experiences to savor, but not repeat!

Memphis in May is supposed to be one of the great midwestern events. Never made it, but had many friends who loved it.

Bike to run transition has to be the hardest. Your legs always feel like they've lost their snap and are all gummed up until a mile or two into the run. Try doing bricks (bike/run combos) for a few weeks. The feeling will be better, but it never really goes away completely even if you go really slow in transition 2 to give your legs time to adjust.