General Info

Hello Triathletes:

I feel so lost without seeing all of you on Monday at 0530....darn this snow. I wanted to let everyone know that since schools are closed again tomorrow but our roads are fine that we could do a running/boot camp session at 0700. I can be up and ready to go at 0530 if that is better for some of you and then do another one at 0700 if that works but please let me know so I can set my alarm. The roads are fine in Ballentine.
I have been very impressed with how all of you have been still getting your workouts done in spite of the weather...that is the sign of true dedication. A few things have come up that I want to comment on for the entire group. Many of you have been getting into the pool and that is great. I have heard the comment that the swim is not a huge issue because it is such a short part of the race. This is a very true statement. Triathlons are not won or lost in the water but you have to be able to complete the swim portion of the race safely. The goal is to complete the swim as quickly as possible without wearing yourself out since you have two more longer events to go. The way that we do that is by training in the pool twice a week (unless it is your super strong event and you have a weaker event that could use an extra workout). I have made the mistake of not training for the swim at all (lack of time and over confidence) and when I get out for the bike I am much more drained than I should be which is NOT good. The bottom line is that yes the swim is short but you must be getting in the pool once or twice a week and doing at least 1000 yards by this point.
The other thing that you should know by now is what is your base work out time for a 50 free. This is your building block for all of your workouts. I will explain what I mean using myself as an example. When I make up my work out for a swim session I base all of my times on 1:30 per 100 yards freestyle. So if I do 10 x 100 free I do each 100 on 1:30. That means that if I do the 100 in 1:15 I get 15 seconds rest and then I go on the 1:30. Today we learned that Lisa B's base time is 1:30 per 50 yards. So from now on she will do 50s on 1:30, 100s on 3:00 and so on. I can answer questions on this as Julie's house but the days of extended resting in the pool is over :-)
I was so excited to see that Kathy has Ian coming to give a bike fitting/safety class. I am hoping that he can talk some maintenance as well if we have time. This is a very important class and one we don't have time to dedicate while we are trying to get our miles in during a workout. I had my bike professionally fitted to me and most triathletes do since you are putting a bunch of miles in on your bike. It is a comfort, speed and safety issue. I intend to be there since I am always looking for bike info because the bike is my weakest event and the longest so very critical event!!! This is a super opportunity.
Finally Kathy asked if there was a tri in the area that she could watch prior to our event. There are some but not right here in Raleigh. However, we will be doing to full dress rehearsal mock triathlons so you will get a great feel for what the transition area is like and how the event will flow from swim to bike to run. We will also have all the course routes for the Riverwood blown up and briefed to all of you prior to race day!!! You will do great. Keep up all of the hard work! Pray that soon the kids will go back to school.