Today I set a goal
 

They say it ain't a goal until you reduce it to writing. So here it goes. About five and a half years ago. I moved roughly seventy five miles away form my home town in order to exercise my right to have my daughter on a 50/50 time basis. I reduced that goal to writing and after a nearly three year court battle I prevailed. The original goal was to bring her home but I realized that couldn't be reached in a reasonable amount of time so it was altered to 50/50. This past May another milestone was reached I became parent of primary residence.

As many could imagine the move changed my whole life in more ways than one. Mostly for the better but there have been some tradeoffs. I moved to a town where I knew no one. I didn't work in the community and all of my interests were seventy five miles away. I immersed my self in my daughters life to try and make it better. I got involved in PTA, School, her extra curricular activities, etc. and of course the occasional court skirmish that is what my life has been. I went to the gym for a while but that gradually waned. I bought P90X about two years ago used it once. I did the abs and chest work out it kicked my a$$ so bad I couldn't brush my teeth for a week it hurt so bad. In March 2008 I ran into my high school crush that I hadn't seen in 20 years or so at an event back home for one of our school mates who worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald and was killed in the World Trade Center attacks. We began dating and are now engaged to be married. I have always enjoyed cooking and with hours of free time on my hands I would cook home made meals every day. After my daughter would go off to school I would go to the super market or the Italian market in Philly (yes the street Rocky ran down and my mother grew up on) and buy fresh produce and meats. I cook breakfast, make my daughter lunch to take to school and cook diner. We eat well. Lack of exercise and eating good food even home made food can take a toll. Of course the Martini's and Miller Lights haven't helped either.

When I moved here I was 42 years old. I weighed 148 lbs. I had a 29 inch waist and 3% body fat. I am 5'7". My whole life I was in excellent physical condition. Today I am 48 (49 in November) I am 165lbs. my waist is 32-33 inches and g-d only knows what my body fat index is. I have a gut and man boobs. Small ones but none the less. I am always tired and I tend to put things off until tomorrow rather than charge ahead as I have always done

THE GOAL

For the past 10 years my home town has hosted an event called "Tri-the-Wildwoods". It is a mini Triathlon. It consists of a quarter mile swim, a ten mile bike ride, and a three mile run. This event begins and ends on the beach two blocks from my house, the bike course goes right past my front door. I have watched the bike event for the past ten years from my front porch while sipping coffee. Last year I asked a few questions of an official about the race. As he was answering I thought to myself there was a time I could do this. For the past year when ever I see would someone running or the streams of bicyclers in their garb riding on the side of the road I think about the triathlon. Yesterday I decided to looked up the race web site for more information.

This morning I registered in the "first timer" catagory. My goal is not to beat the 17 year kid who won last year finishing the race in a time of 1:04:30. My goal is to finish in the top 10 of 45-49 year old men. Last year 1st place time was 1:09:29 and tenth place was 1:22:49. My Achilies heel will be the run. I am confident I can get myself into shape for the swim and bike ride and achieve decent times.

I have just about ninety days to get in shape. P90X says it can whip a person into shape in that time,. So I am going to use that as a guideline. It also has a good dietary guidline, stretching and warm up warm down schedule I will use.

Any help from the runners, bikers swimmers, strength trainers, dieticians, stamina experts, flexibility guru's, etc. is welcome.

Here are what I see as my strengths and weaknesses.

Strength- I am an excellent swimmer. In the past I have had excellent stamina, concentration and determination. I have always had good metabolism, it's a bit slow now but I think I can bring it back around with exercise and diet. I can block out pain.

Weakness- I hate running long distances I have never liked it. I am about 17 lbs over weight as I see it. I need to learn how to breathe for long distance running and cycling.

I'm off for a physical.

Can't help with the Tri-the-Wildwoods, but your sacrifices for your daughter are humbling.

I wish you the best.

Sweet! I am rooting for you. Starting with a doc visit is wise. Good luck. I think the running will be a mental game.

Do it

I did a spring tri a few years ago and while the run sucked it a great thing to finish. Training in the summer can be dangerous, hydrate and be careful when it's hot/humid. Get used to early morning training.

Good news it's only 3 miles, you can do it.

kudos for being involved with your daughter.

wrt the tri, frankly I think your goal is misplaced. Participating should be the goal rather than top 10, and your focus should be on a sane training regimen that takes into account your 48 year old body. I'm getting back onto the bike at age 51 and I find that I have to be really careful about how I go about things. Somewhere around age 47 I finally had to give up the last competitive team sport as I was never sure if I was going to be able to get off the ground after diving for a ground ball.

Stretching first, then non-percussive exercise (swimming and cycling are great). Frankly I think running is for the birds - only way I'd do a triathalon would be on a team where someone else did the running. But I've got abused knees so I'm biased.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369157473.jpg

Markus had that same desire..
so he went and did it..
don't stress about placing this year..
simply do it & finish..
next time go for place..

Rika

A wonderful thing that you've done for your daughter...

About triathlons: I did an Ironman in 1999 and a bunch of triathlons over a couple of decades, and yet feel that Nostatic's advice is wise. Aim for health, not for position. My goal for the Ironman was to finish without losing my job, my wife or my health. That's harder than it sounds.

I'm also the same age as you and am already humbled by my Jr. High son's cross country team speed :) so I know how easy it is to fall behind physically as your focus turns to raising your children.

That said, if you're a strong swimmer, you're already in a good starting place. The real trick if you're a strong swimmer and yet haven't done a triathlon before is to build up biking/running (together/back to back in a "brick"). No matter what shape you're in, you won't believe how poorly your legs feel when you jump off the bike and start running. Practicing gets you used to that feeling so you can more easily work through it. If the run is 3 miles, expect most of the first mile to feel very rubbery.

Rest is crucial at this age too, so do one long day a week and 1-2 shorter workouts in each of the sports per week. Take 2-3 full days off every week so your body can recover.

Good luck & enjoy! It is a great sport!

Some good advice already. But I think your goal is unrealistic. Like the others have said, make your goal completing the event and don't worry about being in the top 10. The trouble with most training regimens, including the P90X is that they are designed for people in their 20's, who still have bodies that can recover in 24 hours from an intensive work out. The same routine, as you discovered, doesn't work for a person in their late 40's. You end up getting injured, discouraged and then give up.

Start with an easy training schedule, then build up as you gain stamina and lose weight. The idea is to be pleasant tired after your work out and able to hit it again the next day. I've assisted a number of friends that wanted to get back to exercising. I would suggest something along the lines of the first week try and do 10 push ups, 10 sit ups and a 20 minute run walk. Second week up that to 15 push ups, 15 sit ups and try to jog the entire 20 minutes. Third week alternate each day between a run and bicycle, including the push ups and sit ups. Then add swimming. In 90 days you will be able to complete the event.

I know the 10/10 pushups/sit ups seems simple for the first week, but the idea is to wake up your body to the idea that your are getting back to exercising. You will also be surprised to find they are harder than you thought.

Finally, see if you can find someone that is willing to do it with you. That makes it easier to get out and do it every day.

Give it a try. Oh, and I turn 58 next month.

I disagree with the others. If you're not in it to win it, what's the point? At your age, and having a pretty big "down time" since last you competed in something, I'd say top 10 counts as "in it to win it." Good goal.

However, I am in complete agreement with their sentiments in regards to your daughter. Ya sound like a great father.

Congratulations with regard to your daughter - good on ya!!!

This is a real short tri, in addition to everything else, work on your transitions. The bike to run transition can stomp you really bad if you have pushed hard on the bike. You get a phenomenon called "bicycle legs" and find yourself "noodling along" for about a half mile. Practice that transition especially.

P90X is awesome. When you're done having your ass kicked by that, get Insanity and let Shawn T. whup whatever remains of your ass. That said, nothing will prepare you to swim/ride/run, like those specific events. So you gain your strength, especially the critical core strength, but without technique the other three fall out. I pass guys who are in great shape all the time when I'm riding - they're like "wtf mate - some fat old lady just rode past me..." Technique is huge. Find cyclists and ride with them.

Mountain or road tri? That makes a difference both for equipment and training. A ten mile road tri-bike is a red-line time trial. A ten mile MTB tri is usually a series of past-the-redline sprints while trying not to ride into a tree (skill when tired is hugely important here).

As far as how you finish - I say train hard and swim/ride/run your hiney off as long as you have fun in the process! Don't worry about the finish placing, whatever it is - it is.

angela

Coincidentally I just set a similar goal for myself. I am 42 years old, also 5'8" but weigh 10 lbs more at 175 (down from 195 in the past).

I am trying to get in shape and have started running and riding my bike. I plan to atend a similar "mini Triatlon" on the 22nd of june in 4 weeks time. My swimming leg is longer at almost half a mile but the bike and running parts are similar. The goal is just to finish.

I have already completed the bike and running parts separately and today went to the pool which is my weakest part by far. Well... after just 500 yards I had to get out of the water feeling very bad and ended up vomiting (fortunately outside the pool). Next swimming practice will be this friday and then I will decide whether the goal is doable or not.

Keep us posted on your progress and good luck with your training.

Listen to you bunch of fat old guys. well, I am a 5'7", 170 lbs. fat ass as well. :)

Glas to hear you are spending quality time with your kid and kudos for the new life.

90 days should be OK but you really have to work hard at it. I am getting back on the bike after a 15 or so years of bike racing and a 10-12 years of no riding at all but eating. for any endurance events, you need base miles. If you can squeeze or get in the simple miles for 2-3 weeks on both the bike or run (I ran x-country in HS to keep in shape for bike racing during off season. That running will last me two life times. Hate it). After that you must ride twice as fast so you can be competitive in the 10 mile event. I would start some type of interval training after that. the distance is short, so you should be able to do it in 90 days. My suggestion id to train for the run and the bike in the same day. They use different muscles. Oh yeah, you will hurt for a couple of weeks. you will sleep well too. If you keep up the the training, you will fly next year. Kids have speed, but we (I like to think) still have endurance. I come to accept that we are no longer Porsches but a diesel truck after my last club with a bunch of hammer heads.

Good luck.

Jeff

Not a tri athlete here, but I think no events before the 'placing' event is not a good strategy. Working out on a machine can't prepare you for the actual event given outside factors like weather.

When I was living in Lehigh Acres before I moved to NSB, I hooked up with a small group of guys and every Wednesday after work we would bike, run, and swim the same distances as in your event. A mini-triathlon.

We would do this every week.

In between I would just ride near my home by myself. I think that was 3x per week minimum - maybe 12 -18 miles each ride. I was lucky and had a wonderful road to train on - almost perfectly straight for miles and miles without any cross streets and very very little traffic.

That's all I did and feel it helped me a lot - just repetition.

Yours is a great story and I appreciate your sharing it - I wish you all the best moving forward and hope you will keep us posted as appropriate.

Hi Everybody,

Just getting back from Ballet class. Not for me but my daughter.

Thanks for all the support, kind words and words of wisdom. I appreciate the kind words on my being a dad but I'm no hero. I just did what I thought I needed to do form my daughter. I didn't put it in for praises it's in because it is part of how I got to where I am today physically. No regrets. So please no more congratulations.

I agree with those of you who say train for health not to win or place. I will pay attention to the signals my body is sending me. I don't have any real issues other than iffy ankles form basketball when younger and some lower back pain which I know is because my abs are out of shape and not supporting my body properly. For now my goal is to place in the top ten of the 45-49 year olds and I am going train to achieve that goal. As I progress (hopefully) I may re-evaluate my goal but for now that is what I am shooting for. I don't want to train just to finish because I am sure with minimal effort I could finish. I don't want to give it my minimum I want to give it my best shot. That is how I have always done things.

Where I live in the winter months there is a nice bike/running path just a short distance away. I took a brisk ride to today after my physical to get a feel for the path. I marked out some distances for training. I will take advantage of the path for the next few weeks. I will ride and run, run and ride. Get my breathing down and concentrate on the correct stride when running. As soon as my daughter is finished school for the year I will be back home and can train on the exact course I will be competing on.

Thanks again for the support and info. Keep it coming.

Here are the times for 1st and tenth place by event for the 45-49 y.o. men's category

Swim Bike Run Total
14:41 26:30 23:00 1:09:29
16:35 32:55 27:21 1:22:49

You are an awesome dad. Boy does the world need more like you.

Zeke and Rika had great advice. This is your first event. You will learn a lot about yourself and about the technique of running the event the first year. Train hard and expect the first event to be a learning experience. What's the rush? You can win next year.
OTOH if you are as good at this as you are at parenting you may be the phenom who wins his first time out.

You can do this!

Make sure you train gradually and give yourself time to recover. Make sure you have the proper shoes and are actually running properly so you will not injure yourself. Cardio training will also give you the stamina you need to get through the tri. Something tells me you'll be hooked after you do the first one, especially if you push as hard as I think you will.

P90X will definitely give you the full body workout you need and old fashioned squats, lunges and bench presses will help, too.

Best of luck. Can't wait to see your results.

When's the last time you ran?

Running can get you insured fast. Over-use injuries are your enemy when starting from scratch. 17 pounds extra at your height will take a toll as well. You definitely want to lose a few while you are training.

My advice is also not to target a certain time. This year is participation, next year is a time goal. It is an annual event for Pete's sake.

I would start the running program gradually. Ideally you only walk 80% and run 20% of your workouts in the beginning and limit it to a short distance like a mile. ALWAYS take at least 1 day rest between runs. If anything starts feeling funny or sore, put ice after the workout and take a longer break until there is no pain. Don't run through injuries.

Join us on this thread. Lots of exercise and weight loss discussion. You can set a target for the end of the year, so you don't fall off the wagon after the tirathlon: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/726649-ppot-weight-loss-fitness-challenge-2013-a.html

Good Luck,

George

Another note: See if you can get with a training group that is preparing for this event. Often running shoe stores or bike stores do specifically train for the local events and they do have a beginners team, usually.

G

Hi everyone sorry for not posting sooner. Aigel the last time I ran anywhere other than to the bathroom has been yeeeeeeaaaarrrrrssss.

Just a little update. Last week after posting I started my work out. I ran a little, biked a little and did some P90X. P90X has a stretching program so I do that every day before starting my work out. My runs have been slow practicing proper stride and breathing. I have been gradually increasing my distance. Same with the bike ride. A nice brisk pace working on breathing and stamina. I mix a P90X core work out in every other day.

So far I feel pretty good. I have lost 3.5 lbs so far.

The first few days I started I used the running/bike path near my house. Over the weekend we went back home and I trained on the course. Here are a few shots.

The race more or less starts and ends at the bottom of this ramp in front of the white building to the right. This is the North Wildwood Beach Patrol first aid building. The swim takes place just over the dune to the right out of view. The bike race starts here as well. Probably in the parking lot to the left. It goes straight down the street in the distance to the end and then turns left to a larger street. The run takes place on the beach to the right and the boardwalk behind me.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370042402.jpg

The swim

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370042479.jpg

Central Avenue the majority of the bike race is on this street It is roughly 2.5 miles end to end. My house is just out of view behind the tree to the right.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370042533.jpg

The run goes past the roller coaster about a half mile to a second amusement pier. It's hard to see but the smaller of the two towers to the right of the roller coaster is a fifteen story Ferris wheel. That is on the other pier. From there we cross the beach run through the pier and back down the boardwalk to the beach tent.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370042635.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370042759.jpg

Congrats for taking the time and effort to be a parent that will leave a positive impression on their kid. When it comes to working out, you do that for fitness. If your goal is to lose weight modify your diet. Diet is everything! A realistic goal may be to complete the race, then beat your time next year. Good luck and keep us posted. AL

You live in a really nice place. Good luck with the fitness, but play the long game (don't do yourself in trying to hard).

You say you haven't ran any real distances in years. I'm sure you know that's probably going to be the toughest part for you.

Shoes. You really need the right running shoes for your feet. If you get the wrong shoe, it'll crater your efforts no matter how hard you train. Road Runner Sports has a "run evaluator" that works pretty well. They video your feet as you run barefoot on a treadmill and show you in slow-mo what your foot and ankle does when it strikes the ground. Then they pull several shoes with the correct support you should have. The service is free and imho will certainly help.

There's no shortcut to becoming a decent runner. It just takes time. At first your knees will feel like you've hammered nails into them but that will pass. As long as you keep it up. The right shoe will prevent any added stress to the wrong areas and your overall support system will make positive progress.

There's only 3 Road Runner Sports in NJ but they're way north. None in Del.

You can also find a place that has knowledgeable shoe people, wear a pair of worn shoes and they can look at your wear patterns to put you in the right shoe as well.

Best of luck and I look forward to hearing more.

Good luck to you and kudos for putting it out there in writing to cement the goal. A training partner would be huge here if you could somehow find someone at the same level of fitness/age.

All I can say is watch out for the injuries. They can derail you. After a lifetime of sports and physical fitness, I suddenly ruptured a disc at age 40 and had a surgery that produced no miracles and I'm still hampered by to some degree. But mentally, I think I am still in-between the do-anything of youth and the "just happy to be out here" older/wiser-guy mentality. If you've ever done anything physical that can be measured i.e., weight lifting, golf club distances, running etc, so that you know where your numbers used to be, and know what they are now, well, it can be very, very frustrating. You've inspired me to consider setting some goals and trying not to scoff at the target.
thanks

+1 on good shoes.

Also, especially for old guys, running in the right form makes a huge difference. Check out these instructions and video. It greatly reduces your impact on knees, back and also chance of injury: http://www.goodformrunning.com/

G

Hey everybody,

It's been a while since I posted. My lap top took a tumble.

I'm still at it. So far so good. I'm able to easily complete the swim bike and run distances individually. My swim is still in the back bay right now. I am still working on breathing, technique and stamina. I will probably transition into the ocean in about two weeks. I have been training for the bike on my Mountain bike which is 30lbs. and about as aerodynamic as a Dodge Power Wagon. I located a really nice 2007 Kestrel Tri-Bike a few weeks back and got a good deal on it. I just got it back from the bike shop yesterday. So I'll start working that into my routine. I have tried a few "bricks" which is the bike and transition into the run. It's not so bad. I have more or less broken the mental struggle I have to want to quit running as soon as I start to get winded. Usually at about the half mile mark. I have found that if I push through it my breathing comes around and I guess I get my "second wind" and I am ok. The hardest part is when I have to run the beach at high tide which keeps me in the soft sand for nearly the entire mile and a half of the beach run. My foot sinks into the sand a half inch or so. What an energy zapper. At low tide I only need to contend with the soft sand twice. When first entering the beach I need to cross about fifty yards of soft sugary sand with little traction under foot. At the waters edge it is nice and tight and easy to run. Then at the end of the beach run is the transition to the board walk. I cross anywhere from 250 to 300 yards of soft sugary sand and/or a wet sand almost a wet cement consistency that wants to suck your foot in when you try to lift up. I am not sure how they are going to set up the run course so part of the strategy may be to look far enough ahead to take a path to avoid the wet sand. I won't know that until the day of the race though I suppose.

I have also lost between 9-1/2 and 10 lbs. It fluctuates depending on the day.:D

My original goal was to finish in the top 10 of my age bracket 45-50 year old males. I am still holding on to that goal as of today. The race organizers changed a few things this year. One of which is the start. In the past they started by age group. Which would have made it easier for me to track my competition. This year they changed the start to all start at the same So I'll just give it my all and see where I end up.

One thing I am not sure what to do about yet is my bike/run shoes. I have addressed this with my bike guy but he isn't a runner so I am a little on my own right now. My tri-bike has clip in pedals and my mountain bike has pedals with the cage thing. Currently I have two pair of running shoes. The soles at the front kind of where your toes meet your foot are different widths by about a half inch. The narrow pair slides into the cage thing perfectly with out interfering with the crank. This is also the pair of running shoes I like better when I am running. The bike ride is also only ten miles long and almost perfectly flat. Three small bridges need to be traversed the hardest of which may have a 20 degree incline and max 40 foot elevation. They have to be crossed once in each direction.

The thought right now is to switch out the pedals and put the cage things on my tri-bike and ride with my running shoes on. My bike guy thinks that is the best compromise. The time to change shoes on a short race will be very hard to make up he thinks. He also said the advantage to the clip in shoes over the cage things will be on the incline side of the bridges. As I will not be able to pull up as well as the clip ins but I will have some ability to pull up. I think he called that the back stroke? I'm not sure though. But the loss in power on the inclines would not nearly be able to compensate for the loss of time to change shoes from the transition from bike to run. Any thoughts in put?:eek:

I used to do run/bike duathlons, including a couple where there two running and one bike leg. So run 5K, cycle 25K, run 5k. That's two transitions from bike to run.

I was absolutely 100% convinced that I needed to use my tennis shoes and go with some type of alternate pedal setup. I tried a couple of them. Tried standard cages, then later a "power strap" that looks a lot like what you see on a gym bike (rubber goes over the foot). I was just POSITIVE that the time I saved keeping the same shoes would pay off in quicker transitions.

Problem is, that proved absolutely false. Took me a while to figure out why. The cycling shoe and clipless pedal is very efficient. The tennis shoe and anything else is LESS efficient and very consistently my run was slower with that combination and in every case, the bike split was faster with the cycling shoe/clipless pedals.

Use your proper footwear for each sport and practice your transition. Lay your gear out properly, use speed laces on the running shoes, etc. You should be able to switch from cycling shoes to running shoes in well under 30 seconds. You will easily make that up in increased efficiency.

angela

Just a reminder.. if you are running on the boardwalk.. " Watch the tramcar please..":D

I agree with Angela. If you already have the clip ins and shoes you are better off using those in the cycling part and swiching to your best running shoes in the transition. Any time lost in the transition you will make it up by being more efficient in the bike.

Today I did my own version of the sprint tri. It went well. The best part was I had several adverse conditions to contend with. As I was getting ready to swim a storm was moving in. The water was somewhat cold this morning. As I was swimming it began to rain. I made my turn at the 1/8 mark and headed into the wind and small waves. Inhaling salt water on a few occasions. The last 100 yards or so I began to tire and struggled to breathe properly. I switched to the breast stroke for a few strokes to compose my self and finished the swim.

I jumped on my bike. I use my mountain bike most often to train. As I started to ride the rain picked up and it became a down pour and I was riding into the wind. I clicked down two gears to conserve energy. I made my turn at 2-1/2 miles with the wind to my back went back up two gears and pumped to the end.

During the run the run the rain backed off to a steady rain. The first half mile-ish of the run was rough (as Angela said it would be) My legs came around my breathing settled and all was good to the end.

I don't have clip in shoes for my pedals but I am going to look into them. I'm not sure but it felt like my thigh muscles worked far more than my hamstring while riding. I could feel my thigh begin to tire while running. Angela, I guess your suggestion regarding the clip in shoes is to even out the work load between thigh and hamstring while riding? This will conserve energy for running?

On Monday was the first time I rode the Tri-bike any distance. I did 20 miles. I rode a steady pace to get a feel for the bike. It is effortless to ride compared to my mountain bike. It will take some time to get used to though especially when in the aero position. It is so light the slightest shift in weight makes the bike react. A turn of my head to look over my shoulder for traffic, pressure on a pedal, a hiney wiggle for adjustment the bike would veer off the line. I think the 20 mile ride was more like 25 miles as I couldn't keep the bike going in a straight line. I am surprised I didn't get pulled over for drunk pedaling.

This is a man to admire. Sorry I don't know how to attach a video. I hope the link works.

66 year old Dick Hoyt who's disabled son Rick wanted to run the Marathon triathlon (4 km Swimming then 18km by bike and finally another 42 km running) video about the relationship between a father and son.... Dick has a heart condition

My Redeemer Lives Team Hoyt "For My strength is made perfect in weakness." - YouTube

Way to go, drcoastline. A couple of thoughts for you:

1) Angela's absolutely right; wear cycling shoes and clipless pedals -- much more efficient cycling

2) Make sure your new cycle's properly fit and adjusted for your physique -- you'd be amazed at how much efficiency you'll lose if it's not properly set up. Maybe your bike guy offers this service; well worth it IMHO.

3) Cycling and swimming solo are great for physical training, but not nearly the same as doing so elbow-to-elbow with other competitors. Probably tough to simulate a crowd swim, but at the very least get some experience/time over the bars cycling in a group with others. Amazes me how many people freak out when riding in a pack. Also make sure you know the event's rules re: following distance/drafting. Come tri day you'll be glad you did.

4) Break down your stages into discrete goals -- will help your confidence immensely. A strong (but not necessarily great) swimmer should be able to do 400 yards in a pool in about 8 minutes; in/out of ocean swim at that distance and in a crowd, target maybe 12-14 minutes. Cycling @ average 20 mph (don't know how hilly your route is) = 30 minutes to complete cycling stage. Running 3 miles @ 9 minutes pace (not great but not bad either -- I'm 51 BTW) = 27 minutes; total of 1:11. Leaves you nearly 12 minutes for transitions -- lots of time, but can't afford to dally -- to beat that 1:22:49.

Hope this helps/encourages; best of luck to you. Keep us posted!

Thanks for the input flat six. SmileWavy

The other day when I was getting out of the water a woman came u to me and invited me to a local tri-club to work out with them. They meet every morning at 7:30. I'll probably start with them in another week or so.

Today I ran a 5K with my niece god daughter. It was fun. I got a little incite into running in a crowd and 98 degree heat. The race started at 8:30AM so I created my own little "Brick". I took a nice brisk 10 mile bike ride before I went to the race. It wasn't exactly the same because the race didn't start for about forty five minutes after I rode but my legs did get a work out.

Here is a shot of my niece and myself before the race.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1374367930.jpg

It was a fun experience.

Hey, way to go!

You are doing GREAT!!!!

The clipless pedals allow you to make very smooth circles with your pedaling motion. Most people who a standard platform tend to pedal "squares" or "stomp postholes" in their pedaling action. You want a light, fluid feel, a very circular motion, like an engine's crankshaft - it should spin, not bang around. High RPM is your friend, even if it's just the last few minutes of the bike portion before the run. Go into a lightly loaded high rpm and spin out those last few minutes (don't bounce on the saddle, stay smooth). It helps with the bicycle-legs that you get on transitions.

Tri-bikes are notoriously twitchy. They are often aero-framed or bladed-forks, darty in the cross-winds, very steep seat angle, and often the rider's weight is very forward. They are also the fastest bike out there for non-drafting events. Definitely need to ride/ride/ride one to keep from flailing around. Clipless pedals actually help when you are able to smooth the pedal stroke and LIFT (engage the hammies and hiney). If you can find a local school track that you can ride on, put the bike in the outside lane and ride it, keeping between the lines. Very safe way to smooth this out. Otherwise, find a quiet, long road with a little shoulder and a fogline. Ride just to one side of the fogline, eyes focused ahead, not down at the line, follow the line using your peripheral vision. You should be able to make pretty quick gains in this area.

I think you're training is really coming along. Working out with the tri-club is a great idea!! You are on your way!

angelahttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/clap.gif

Congrats, you're doing great. I've done a few races and agree the clip less pedals are the way to go. Tri-bikes are twitchy so be careful, I've crashed a few times just reaching for a water bottle:)

A few things from a fellow 50/50 parent, rec athlete... :)

Great job on doing what it takes to get to parent your daughter min 50%. Shows you have your priorities straight. Too bad there are not more parents like you out there. I am sure you maximize the time you have with your daughter as well. I know I do with my son.

For the training, make sure you mix it up. Train multiple ways. Ensure you mix speed work with endurance work, and keep up the core and some resistance training.

For the race, DO NOT worry about the location or pace of others in your age group during the race. Their is plenty of historical data (repeatable) to show what sort of time will get you to your goal. You have found this data already. Race against the data and your goal, not others in our group. Do you really know anything about your fellow competitors strenghts? Probably not, so don't pay any attention to them. Your goal should be based on a finishing time that nets you a placing you are hoping for. This will also help you keep your goal realistic and achievable, two of the most important factors of goal setting. Race your race, not anyone elses.

Why track someone (you don't know) through the swim and bike. Later you find out they were a collegiate swimmer and rode in a cylcing club but can't run worth a darn. You waste energy trying to pace them only to get spent and realize they can't run..... Again, pick a finishing time goal, and stick to it. Keep and an eye on your event times and segment times, know where your strenghts are and beat your goal.

Another thing to consider. When push comes to shove out on the course, it is really mind over matter. That is something you have already demonstrated being able to do. With the sacrifices and choices you made to do "what is right" when it comes to your child you will have no trouble overcoming the mind game of meeting your goal on race day. You know you can complete the events and you will.

I am training with my (almost) 11 year old son for his second triathalon. We train his mind as much as his body when we are out training.

Can't wait to read your post where you beat your finishing time goal!

How about pictures AFTER the race??? :D:D:D