Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - TechKnowGN's Triathlon Training Thread

4/6-
Yesterday became an unscheduled off day due to bad weather and no open treadmills. It was probably a good idea as the next few days are going to be pretty brutal from a workout perspective. On the positive side, my triathlon shorts should arrive today!

4/7 -
Part 1 - It's snowing. Yes, SNOWING. And not little itty bitty flakes. Massive snowflakes, it looks like a damn blizzard out there. Seriously, it's crazy. Anyways, I've got swimming this afternoon, and then a 5k on the treadmill. The fun part is that my new "triathlon shorts" came in today, so if the fiancee can pick them up for me, I'll be wearing them to the pool. Looks like "Fat guy in little shorts" Part 1 is about to happen :D

Part 2 - So fat guy in little shorts didn't happen. Those are no where near the advertised size. However, what did happen was swimming 400M in 17 minutes, my fastest time yet. I was tired at the end, but I was close to finishing even faster. Today I'm really gonna push it, and also get on the bike if it doesnt rain.

4/8 -
Had a bit of a struggle in the pool today, and I still managed to be under 20 minutes. I was basically useless at the end of the 400 meters. I didn't have lunch, and that didn't help I dont think.

4/9 -
I should be riding more, but weather or life just aren't cooperating. I still have the weekend, and I know I can do 12 miles without bonking just by adding some food to whats on the bike. I got the bottle mount installed.

The swimming is pretty close to ready I think, though I'm really going to push myself this these last few days of hard training before I taper next week. 18 minutes start to finish, and that's with some lane sharing and distractions.

4/10 -
The tapper has begun. No exercise today of any kind at all. I tapper, ramp, and rest in that order. 3 day tapper, 3 day ramp, 2 day rest, then race.

4/11 -
No exercise of any kind at all today.

4/12 -
I cheated on my rest only because of the extra calories from easter dinner. Played football with the cousins and inlaws in the back yard. Was all time QB, so I only had to run when I threw a pick. Threw 5 picks (we do a lot of jump balls for fun), and only 1 "pick 6", so I did a little running.

I watched a sprint tri over the weekend. I would say that most people's weakness was the swim. It was open water, the lake was cold and murky. Good luck this weekend

This is actually good. I have found that pre-race rest should not involve sitting your butt on the couch, you need to keep the blood flowing and the muscles active. Walks with the family or other activities can be great .


4/12 -
I cheated on my rest only because of the extra calories from easter dinner. Played football with the cousins and inlaws in the back yard. Was all time QB, so I only had to run when I threw a pick. Threw 5 picks (we do a lot of jump balls for fun), and only 1 "pick 6", so I did a little running.

I watched a sprint tri over the weekend. I would say that most people's weakness was the swim. It was open water, the lake was cold and murky. Good luck this weekend


Thankfully mine is indoors, and swimming is what I worked on the hardest. Due to my weight and relative fitness in comparison to the competitors outside (and perhaps even in) my division, all areas might be a weakness. But I am drastically better in 2 of the 3 areas than I was a few months ago (my walking has only improved slightly, and was already pretty good), so we'll see what happens.

College pools tend to be kept colder though for competitions, so we'll see how it feels.

This is actually good. I have found that pre-race rest should not involve sitting your butt on the couch, you need to keep the blood flowing and the muscles active. Walks with the family or other activities can be great .

Yeah my plan is to do the following:

4/13 - Walk 4 miles, 3 at race speed
4/14 - Walk 3 miles, swim 400 meters
4/15 - Walk 2 miles, swim 400 meters, bike 4 miles
4/16 - Walk 1 mile, swim 200 meters
4/17 - Light walking
4/18 - slow casual ride to familiarize myself with the course, no more than a couple miles
4/19 - race

the other thing I noticed, if you haven't done these before, was the transition area. There was quite a hodge-podge of set ups from stuff just being in a pile to stuff neatly laid out. If the weather is questionable, you might want to store shoes/socks/running clothing in a plastic container.

Oh and the bikes...ooooh, everthing from beautiful Cervelo's, Treks and Giant tri bikes to an old steel diamond back mountain bike.

Yeah, i've thought about that. My transition area ought to be pretty easy. Towel, shirt, socks shoes helmet. Bottle full of gatorade on the bike. We're expecting good weather, but I have a bag just in case.

My bike will probably be slightly above the median. I have a Fuji Absolute 4.0, which is a baseline cross bike. I'm pretty happy with it, and feel like I might be the one advantage I have over some of the clydes.

There's no info on the pre-registered # of folks participating, other than it sold out last week.


the other thing I noticed, if you haven't done these before, was the transition area. There was quite a hodge-podge of set ups from stuff just being in a pile to stuff neatly laid out. If the weather is questionable, you might want to store shoes/socks/running clothing in a plastic container.

Oh and the bikes...ooooh, everthing from beautiful Cervelo's, Treks and Giant tri bikes to an old steel diamond back mountain bike.

The last duathlon that I did I was standing around before the race looking at bikes. I have a Schwinn road bike that I picked up off of Ebay, my wife has a Schwinn Hybrid that I picked up off of Ebay, my friend that was with us has on old Binachi road bike that he found on Craigslist. I realized that all three of our bikes put together cost less than some of the wheelsets that I saw there.




Oh and the bikes...ooooh, everthing from beautiful Cervelo's, Treks and Giant tri bikes to an old steel diamond back mountain bike.

The last duathlon that I did I was standing around before the race looking at bikes. I have a Schwinn road bike that I picked up off of Ebay, my wife has a Schwinn Hybrid that I picked up off of Ebay, my friend that was with us has on old Binachi road bike that he found on Craigslist. I realized that all three of our bikes put together cost less than some of the wheelsets that I saw there.

Yeah, my bike was a whopping $250, plus an upgraded saddle and lights. I fully expect there to be cycle computers more expensive than my bike. But I doubt there will be much of that kind of thing in the Clyde class. I'll still be slow but my bike is sweet looking, so I'll get style points :D

I've been doing slightly less than I planned for this week, but its my tapper so thats fine. I did do 450 meters in the pool yesterday in 20 minutes though, so that was cool. Today Im taking it easy, tomorrow 500 meters then friday i drive to the triathlon, and i'll ride the course a bit.

4/15 -

400 Meters in the pool. 16 minutes dead on, almost to the second. My recovery seems to be better afterwards too.

Good luck with your race. But please, please, please stop calling it "tapper". Try "taper" instead. :D

My excuse is that I never had typed it until the other day, so tapering it is :)

Today I'll be doing some walking around the arena district of Columbus, and thats my only workout, prior to the CBJ road playoff game on the big screen in the arena district theatre

Well I did a little walking and running yesterday, and I also did some eatting. LOL.

Today is the last day of "training" though I'll do very little in the way of training.

Well I did a little walking and running yesterday, and I also did some eatting. LOL.

Today is the last day of "training" though I'll do very little in the way of training.

You should do some eating! The last few days before an event that's going to tax your body is the last time to worry about shedding a few pounds. You should make sure you're well "nutriented" before your tri, and go back to weight loss after.

You should do some eating! The last few days before an event that's going to tax your body is the last time to worry about shedding a few pounds. You should make sure you're well "nutriented" before your tri, and go back to weight loss after.


LOL. Yep, I'll make sure I have plenty of food intake yesterday and today. Im just trying to make sure I get my stuff together so I have the right intake tomorrow morning. Im staying at a cheap hotel so breakfast is up to me. I'm thinking 3 clif bars and some gatorade (and a little diet Mt Dew for the wakeup ought to do it)

LOL. Yep, I'll make sure I have plenty of food intake yesterday and today. Im just trying to make sure I get my stuff together so I have the right intake tomorrow morning. Im staying at a cheap hotel so breakfast is up to me. I'm thinking 3 clif bars and some gatorade (and a little diet Mt Dew for the wakeup ought to do it)

3 Clif bars? Seriously?? Why don't you just get some instant oatmeal, get a kettle from the front desk & eat that with some fruit (banana, orange, apple) of your choice. Or a bagel & peanut butter.

I would highly recommend sticking to whatever you normally eat for breakfast. Race day is not the time to try something new. Oh, and you be amazed at how much you can cook by storing refrigerated items in the ice bucket or in the sink with ice, and then warming them up on the coffee pot burner. Don't ask me how how know though.


LOL. Yep, I'll make sure I have plenty of food intake yesterday and today. Im just trying to make sure I get my stuff together so I have the right intake tomorrow morning. Im staying at a cheap hotel so breakfast is up to me. I'm thinking 3 clif bars and some gatorade (and a little diet Mt Dew for the wakeup ought to do it)