Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
Reload this Page >

The OFFICIAL Clydesdale/Athena Triathlon Thread

Notices
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) Looking to lose that spare tire? Ideal weight 200+? Frustrated being a large cyclist in a sport geared for the ultra-light? Learn about the bikes and parts that can take the abuse of a heavier cyclist, how to keep your body going while losing the weight, and get support from others who've been successful.

The OFFICIAL Clydesdale/Athena Triathlon Thread

Old 08-11-14, 10:05 AM
  #401  
Senior Member
 
CommuteCommando's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Southern CaliFORNIA.
Posts: 3,078

Bikes: KHS Alite 500, Trek 7.2 FX , Masi Partenza, Masi Fixed Special, Masi Cran Criterium

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 27 Post(s)
Liked 19 Times in 11 Posts
Name: David
Age: 58
Clyde/Athena: 5'9" - 215lb (Target <200 by event date)
# of Triathlons completed: 0
Longest Ride: C*2 (102 & 104)
" " Run: 3.2 mi last Saturday
" " Swim: 50 m (Rank beginner)
Next Race: 10/26/14 Life Time Tri Oceanside

I have been cycling and losing weight for several years. Last July I was selected for a sponsored group of individuals to be trained to run a half marathon in January 2015. The sponsor of this Marathon, not the biggest on the west coast, but it does draw some international talent, is a local hospital. The group I am in is made up of individuals who have overcome some kind of health issue. I, and a couple of others, have controlled heart disease with exercise; one is even a transplant recipient.

The cycling is not a problem for me, the running is new. Cardio-wise I have been keeping up with the training easily. Muscle wise has been a little challenging, but I am handling it.

The sponsorship includes group training and membership in a really nice gym/rehab facility associated with the hospital. There is a pool also, and I have been getting some coaching on the swimming. I learned to swim as a child, but never learned to do it right. The swimming is clearly my week spot. My goal is to be able to swim 100m by the end of August, then increase the distance steadily from there.

Originally Posted by Zoxe
Next best advice I can give is just to relax and have fun. Especially getting into the water, just try to relax and find your rhythm. Some folks try to swim at 150% effort, and panic in the first 100 yards when the thought HOLY CRAP I AM DOING A TRIATHLON sinks in. Don't freak out; flip on your back and kick for awhile, get your HR down, and then enjoy the rest of your race. You'll be fine. [IMG]file:///C:\Users\DAVES~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif[/IMG]
My goal is to freestyle it the entire distance. I am prepared to follow this advice. I have found another member of our group (over coming mental health/eating disorders) who wants to be an ocean swimming buddy. I want to avoid getting a wet suit until I lose a little more weight. The event swim is in an enclosed small boat harbor, so the ocean swimming will be good wet suit practice.

I am not sure I need to get a tri-bike, and am now planning on getting some aerobars for my track bike. I know the bike route (I’m local) and have done it fixed with no problem.
CommuteCommando is offline  
Old 08-12-14, 11:44 AM
  #402  
Senior Member
 
WebFootFreak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Marion, AR (Memphis)
Posts: 363

Bikes: Modified Denali

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Liked 30 Times in 17 Posts
I wouldn't even look at a tri-bike unless your n+1 just goes bat-crazy . Looking at your bike list, I'd say you're more than adequately equipped to handle the bike leg. I saw more than one mountain bike on knobbies in my race back in May. If you do go with aerobars, I would suggest getting them soon simply to get used to the steering control change and the aero position. It's an amazing feeling crossing that line!
WebFootFreak is offline  
Old 08-28-14, 04:28 PM
  #403  
Junior Member
 
eatpancake's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Santa Barbara
Posts: 23

Bikes: Giant Reign

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Finally getting serious about Tri's......

Name: AJ
Age: 36
Clyde/Athena: Clyde - 6'3 ~230
# of Triathlons completed: 6
Longest race; next race: I have only done sprints but my goal is to do an Olympic this next year

Im a motorcycle racer, surfer, Marathoner, Triathlete and a variety of other spots as well. I have only done Triathlons on my huge full suspension mountain bike and Im flippin tired of getting passed by EVERYONE on the bike. It's time for a road bike so Im officially lookin around for one

If I had any advice for anyone, just sign up for a Sprint. A few months before the event do a little training in each discipline and I think you'll be surprised at how well you do if you're giving your training a fair shake. My first Tri I basically just showed up having not trained at all..... it was interesting


here's my rig ready for the SB Sprint Tri last sunday. my time was 59 minutes!





Last edited by eatpancake; 08-28-14 at 04:37 PM.
eatpancake is offline  
Old 08-29-14, 08:53 AM
  #404  
Senior Member
 
CommuteCommando's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Southern CaliFORNIA.
Posts: 3,078

Bikes: KHS Alite 500, Trek 7.2 FX , Masi Partenza, Masi Fixed Special, Masi Cran Criterium

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 27 Post(s)
Liked 19 Times in 11 Posts
Originally Posted by WebFootFreak
I wouldn't even look at a tri-bike unless your n+1 just goes bat-crazy . Looking at your bike list, I'd say you're more than adequately equipped to handle the bike leg. I saw more than one mountain bike on knobbies in my race back in May. If you do go with aerobars, I would suggest getting them soon simply to get used to the steering control change and the aero position. It's an amazing feeling crossing that line!
The tri I will be doing is very local to me, and I know the cycling route very well. It is mostly flat. The biggest climb is near the beginning, and is 6% for only about 100 yards. Because of this, I got a set of aerobars for my fixed gear bike and plan on using it. I plan on hitting that hill a few times before the race, and trying different gear combinations. Currently running a 48 crank and a flip flop hub with a 15/16, no freewheel.

I may try to see how big of a sprocket I can get before bottoming out the dropout. Start the ride in that gear, get to the top of the first hill, then pull over to flip. This will depend on if I can practice to get this done really fast.

The swim is becoming a real challenge. I "learned" to swim as a youngster, but like most never learned to do it correctly. I have gotten some coaching, provided free due to my marathon sponsorship. It's better, but have yet to do over fifty yards before getting blown out. Pacing is hard. I am finding it hard so far to keep good form at a slower pace. Practice will tell. This week hoping to get to 100 yards.
CommuteCommando is offline  
Old 08-31-14, 11:57 AM
  #405  
Senior Member
 
WebFootFreak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Marion, AR (Memphis)
Posts: 363

Bikes: Modified Denali

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Liked 30 Times in 17 Posts
Originally Posted by CommuteCommando
The swim is becoming a real challenge. I "learned" to swim as a youngster, but like most never learned to do it correctly. I have gotten some coaching, provided free due to my marathon sponsorship. It's better, but have yet to do over fifty yards before getting blown out. Pacing is hard. I am finding it hard so far to keep good form at a slower pace. Practice will tell. This week hoping to get to 100 yards.
The only advice I can give you is to stick with it. I was in the same boat. I grew up doing a lot of swimming. I think I had lessons once, but I'm not sure. I hadn't really been swimming since the mid-80's and most of my time lately in a pool was watching to make sure my kiddos didn't drown. It took me a good 3-4 months to break through the wall and start adding distance. It will come.
WebFootFreak is offline  
Old 09-03-14, 08:47 AM
  #406  
Senior Member
 
CommuteCommando's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Southern CaliFORNIA.
Posts: 3,078

Bikes: KHS Alite 500, Trek 7.2 FX , Masi Partenza, Masi Fixed Special, Masi Cran Criterium

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 27 Post(s)
Liked 19 Times in 11 Posts
Originally Posted by WebFootFreak
The only advice I can give you is to stick with it. I was in the same boat. I grew up doing a lot of swimming. I think I had lessons once, but I'm not sure. I hadn't really been swimming since the mid-80's and most of my time lately in a pool was watching to make sure my kiddos didn't drown. It took me a good 3-4 months to break through the wall and start adding distance. It will come.
Started doing upper body work in the training sessions last week. Did four 50 meter laps freestyle Monday-30-60 second rest between laps. I am prepared to not freestyle the entire distance, and will start practicing alternating freestyle and backcrawl.

Originally Posted by CommuteCommando
The tri I will be doing is very local to me, and I know the cycling route very well. It is mostly flat. The biggest climb is near the beginning, and is 6% for only about 100 yards. Because of this, I got a set of aerobars for my fixed gear bike and plan on using it. I plan on hitting that hill a few times before the race, and trying different gear combinations. Currently running a 48 crank and a flip flop hub with a 15/16, no freewheel.
Got to do a practice run with the fixie on that hill before the swim on Monday. Piece o' cake. https://www.strava.com/activities/188...nts/4426495206

Last edited by CommuteCommando; 09-03-14 at 08:55 AM. Reason: added info
CommuteCommando is offline  
Old 09-14-14, 12:59 PM
  #407  
Senior Member
 
WebFootFreak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Marion, AR (Memphis)
Posts: 363

Bikes: Modified Denali

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Liked 30 Times in 17 Posts
Originally Posted by CommuteCommando
Started doing upper body work in the training sessions last week. Did four 50 meter laps freestyle Monday-30-60 second rest between laps. I am prepared to not freestyle the entire distance, and will start practicing alternating freestyle and backcrawl.
I wouldn't discount sidestroke either.
WebFootFreak is offline  
Old 09-14-14, 12:59 PM
  #408  
Senior Member
 
WebFootFreak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Marion, AR (Memphis)
Posts: 363

Bikes: Modified Denali

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Liked 30 Times in 17 Posts
Figured I'd post a report from my 2nd, and last Tri for the year.
Riverbluff Tri (formerly NashVegas) - Ashland City, TN (Nashville) - Sprint distance

Things did not start well... At least they ended at the finish line!

Swim: 11:02.93 (400m)
T1: 2:35.19
Bike: 50:41.04 (14mi)
T2: 2:11.16
Run: 53:10.28 (3.4mi)

OT: 1:59:40.62 - 16/19 Clyde

Things started rocky. Got up and ate a bagel with PB, then had to talk to my sis-in-law because she was lost getting to the hotel. We left the hotel about 15 mins late, so my warmup consisted of jogging with my bike to barely make it to transition to set up.

Swim starts off, in the Cumberland (I think....) River. Big sharp rocks on the banks were very unpleasant. Buzzer goes off and I wait a split second for the pack to get going. I get my head under water, and it was just NASTY! Brown chunks (hope it was mud) and black oozing chunks that reminded me of motor oil. I get about 50yds in and take a mouthful of water. No biggie, I've trained to cough underwater mid-stroke, but I have to take a HUGE breath on the next stroke. I go to take that stroke, and I get ANOTHER mouthful! That killed me right there. I ended up side stroking/coughing/gagging for about 2/3 of the race. I did manage to get back in form and pass a few people in the home stretch. Noone from the wave after me caught me. Odd thing, I know 400m is only a few feet short of 440yd, but I somehow managed to cut almost 2:00 from my Memphis in May time... weird!!!

I rolled up the boatramp and into T1, flip my recently acquired Firehouse Sub pickle bucket , clean my feet, slam on my socks, shoes, shirt, helmet and fly out of there. Cut close to 2:00 there as well.

I hit the mounting line, get my first shoe clipped, and I'm gone. Takes a couple spins to clip the second, but doesn't slow me down. Passed 4-5 riders in the initial quarter mile out to the street. Okay, my gameplan here was to hammer the bike. the entire course was out and back rolling hills with a big climb (for me) in the middle. I live in flood plain farmland, ie: no hills . I think I managed my gearing and everything pretty well. Of course I was passed more than I passed, and I stopped to make sure a rider was okay (think she snapped her frame! ). When it was all said and done I had gone 2 miles further and avg'd 16.57 mph over 15.4 in May.

Swung back into T2, racked my bike, pickle bucket helped with shoes, downed extra water (was getting HOT) and got out of there. About the same time as May, but added in a shoe change as I didn't have clipless at the time... so... IMPROVEMENT

Now... Here's where the story turns into tragedy. Well, not really, I knew that hammering the bike would decimate the run, and I was (and still am) okay with that. 3.4 miles of freaking HOT running on a cramped shoulder with 2-way traffic... yeah, it sucked. Once I got my wind back I did run for a bit, however, a bit of chest pain and my left hand going numb put and end to that with a quickness. Wasn't sure what was going on, but I wasn't about to push it after that. I did take water and Gatorade at all 3 stations, and a GU at the last one. Ended up about 1:00/mi slower than May.

I'm not sure that nutrition would have helped much, but I was on water only until the run, and 18oz of Gatorade and 1 GU were the sum of my caloric intake during the race. I am now officially in my "off season". Like I've said before, this winter will be run-focused. I will get as many miles on the bike as I can work in, and I plan to swim when I can. I've got to improve my stamina!
WebFootFreak is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.