Zoxe

I am now signed up for the MI Titanium Half Ironman (Aquabike). My brother is doing the full event (Half IM), but my Aquabike entry will allow me to swim and then bike. I'm not a runner, and I generally don't enjoy running distances greater than 1mi.

Sandbagging the bike at Naperville last year really sucked -- I like riding and I like riding at my best pace. This way I can go all-out and enjoy it.

Course distance is 2,000m swim and 56mi bike. Brother will then head out for a half marathon run while I eat cookies in the finisher's tent.

The bike course looks fairly flat, and is an out and back east-west. I'll be coming back to the pit heading west, so hopefully the prevailing wind won't be in my face the entire way home.

Not doing this for speed, more or less just want to finish it. Notionally I'd like to finish in under 4 hrs (45 min swim and then 18mph avg bike).

Event is out in August, but the prices go up after Dec 31st.

smcclain65

Name: Steve
Age: 27
Clyde/Athena: Clyde
# of Triathlons completed: 4
Longest race: Half-Ironman (1.2m/56m/13.1m)
Next Race: Oxford MS Rebel MAn Tri
One piece of advice for fellow racers: just keep going i believe it is all mental.

So I started triathlons in an attempt to lose more weight, as I started runnning at 356 pounds and now weigh 235. My ultimate goal would be to be at 205, still a clyde. I completed the kansas half ironman in june with a finish time of 8:41, there was only 3 minutes left until official cutoff. My biggest advice is to keep going, if you tell yourself you cannot, you most likely will fail.

cdry

Quick question for you experienced tri-guys and gals. I am considering a mini-tri this summer. My only experience is 4 adventure tri's (6mi kayak paddle no swimming) I am use to wearing my cycling shorts the whole time since I do not swim. What should I wear for a 10lap pool swim. I am going with no wet suit for that distance, but I also want some comfort on the bike, but also do not want to chafe from the wet clothes. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Zoxe

How long is the bike segment and can you do it w/o padded shorts?

I did my first sprint tri in an old Columbia swim suit. Fairly normal men's bathing suit -- plain and black, somewhat loose fitting, but a quick drying nylon material. It was fine on the bike, but that course was ~14mi. If it had been much longer I would have wanted some better fitting shorts.

Dedicated tri shorts aren't that expensive if you can catch them on sale. I've worn a pair of Pearl Izumi's the past 2 events. If you were only doing one race, I maybe wouldn't bother. Depends how much use you might get from them.

Rock31

For my Sprint Tri I wore a pair of Tri Shorts for all three legs from Scudopro, fun designs and very comfortable.

ladivaRei

I had to pull out of my first tri. I've been having this sharp pain on the side of my heel, behind the ankle, for almost 2 months now. I happened to mention it in front of my friend, an acupuncturist and TCM doctor, and she said it's either bursitis or Achilles tendonitis. Yowch. Either way, I haven't been able to train since January between getting the flu and then bronchitis and then this foot pain getting worse. My first tri was scheduled for March 10th, and there was just no way I could safely be ready in time. So, I made the call.

Not a week after I decided to pull out, I got an email from the race sponsor saying that they had to move the race location AND DATE due to construction, so now I'm getting a full refund! Phew.

And I've found several other races that I'm planning on doing, so now my first tri will be July 4th, the Fourth of July Triathlon (original name, huh?).

Zoxe

Sorry to hear about your injury, but glad the entry free came back to you.

My race isn't until August, but have a few bike events to hit before then. Since I've opted not to do the running leg this season, it's letting me stretch my bike distances out. Hoping to put down several centuries this summer.

PhotoJoe 

Mrs PJ and I did our first tri yesterday. HAD A BLAST. It was the Los Alimitos Race on the Base mini reverse tri. Not easy, but we did it and now have our sights set on the Nautica in September.

Beachgrad05

Good job PJ and Mrs PJ!

ozziejones

Hoping to do my first tri this year. Having trouble swimming. Running is OK but swimming is a struggle.

47p2

Just joined, not sure I should post here as I'm not a Clyde, in fact I've never heard the expression before and I stay on the banks of the river Clyde in Scotland

I was on vacation in February with my wife, daughter and lovely 2 year old granddaughter, so myself and daughter hired road bikes and went round Lanzarote. I came home and looking at the holiday snaps decided that I really was too fat for the cycling shirt I took so it was time to do something about it. The old bike was hauled out and pressed into service, that was an eye opener, cycling in Scotland in February is nothing like cycling around Lanzarote. So the turbo trainer was brought out and my first few hundred miles were done stationery in the basement.

The only change I have made to my diet is to cut out butter and cheese and have a bowl of porridge for breakfast. The rest of the day I eat as much as I always have. To date I have lost 8lbs and I am now a mighty 150lbs. My target is to loose another 8-10 lbs so I have a way to go yet

ndredsox

First post here as I just picked up a road bike after being on a mtb for some time now. I am thinking of signing up for the mini 2mi run/10mi bike/3.1mi run in August in Indianapolis. Weighing it at 325 in January, I am now a sleek 267 today(sleek for me) and I want to do things that I haven't been able to in the past.....uh 20 years.
I started at the YMCA walking on the treadmill and watching what I eat. In February, I started running short intervals on the treadmill and after stopping at the runners forum store, I was fitted with some running shoes and it made a world of difference. I am now hitting the gym daily and run a 5k while trying to lower my times.
I have some buddies that ride road bikes and I would attempt to stay up with them on 16 miles rides, but couldn't compete with my 29er. So, after picking up a Trek 1.5 on craigslist, I am ready to try the mini tri(duathalon) in August. I am just not a swimmer.

Some of these stories on this thread are very inspiring and I want to congratulate all of you! I still have 37 pound until my ultimate goal at 230, so I will always be a Clydesdale at 6'3" and this looks like a great group of folks.

msujmccorm

I completed a duathlon this weekend, 5k followed by an 11 mile ride. After 3 knee surgeries I really can't run well. My run was 38 minutes and overall time was 1:35 which beat my goal of 1:45. I stopped during the ride to help a lady with a flat and no pump so the bike could have been faster. Anyone nervous about entering one I just want to say don't worry what others will think. Everyone I saw was really helpful and supportive. Now I need to work on the swimming and do a tri.

TechKnowGN

Hi all, nice to see this thread continuing even if sporadically. I did my first race of the season in late april, an XTERRA off-road triathlon. Last place, took forever, rolled my ankle and a fairly light crash, but I had an awesome time. And they gave me the XTERRA Spirit award for the race, which was cool (and came with beer!)

Ive got at least 2 more tris this year, but looking to make it 4, 1 more offroad and 3 onroad

Zoxe

First event for the Zoxe crew is this weekend. Muncie June Tri is scheduled to start at 0800 on Saturday. Weather looks like it is holding!

I will be completing my first Olympic length course, although without the run -- Oly Aquabike (1.5km swim, 40km bike) is my event. Brother is doing a Duo (run/bike/run).

Zoxe

The event went down yesterday in near perfect form. The weather was about the best you could ask for -- overnight lows in the high 50s, and about mid 60s by race time. Water temp was ~72.

I had rented a wet suit, and was glad I did. For a sprint distance (400m), I probably could have gone in my tri suit, but the Oly distance (1500m) meant a long time in the water.

The bike route had a lot of rolling hills. We drove the course the night before but underestimated how much climbing there really was. A couple of spots were granny-gear at 8-10mph for me. Otherwise, it was a fast course with relatively smooth pavement (best you can ask for out of Indiana county roads).

The course was well marked and had volunteer firemen/EMTs/Sheriffs at every intersection. They allowed traffic on the roads, but talked to the drivers, and held traffic while bikers made their way through. I thought it worked very well, and was probably a reasonable compromise with all the local residents.

I felt like a 2nd class citizen a little bit -- doing the Aquabike event instead of a "real" tri. I'm not a good runner, never have been, and skipping the run will let me push my swim/bike distances out. Otherwise, I'd be stuck with the sprint distances. There weren't that many Aquabike contestants, and talking to folks in line before the swim, most people didn't know the event existed. On the other hand, I was MIGHTY relieved not to have to transition to a run after my bike. It let me push harder, put everything I had into the last 2-3 miles, and pass a few people that I otherwise would have stayed behind.

Official times will be posted. I was hoping for a ~30 min swim and a ~2h overall. I finished according to my Timex around 2:03 or 2:05.

btpdragon

Nice job Zoxe!

I finished my first ever Olympic distance race yesterday. The swim is a lake swim and since it is my strongest event, it was an easy 25 min swim. The 40k bike course has 3 really nasty hills and you have to do 3 loops. I came in around 1:45. About 10 minutes slower than any of my training rides, but I still had to get my 310lb frame through a 10k run. Somehow the run was uphill the entire way. I started out great and only had to walk the uphills for the first 4-5 miles. After that, ti was walk the uphills and the flats. Took me 1:26 to complete the run for a total time of 3:42. I still have a long way to go in order to reach my ultimate goal of coming in under 3 hours.

You can follow my antics as a super Clydesdale here https://clydesdaletriguy.blogspot.com/

ndredsox

I finished my first Sprint Tri today and I found out that I am not a very good swimmer! haha 17 minutes for the 500 meters, and it couldn't have ended sooner. The bike(12 miles) was fun and I made up some time with a 40 min finish. Last was the run, a 5K, and I finished in 36 minutes. All in all for my first event, it was a blast! I encourage everyone to try one out and just enjoy themselves. The crowd cheering everyone on was awesome and it is something that I can check off the bucket list now.

Zoxe

Congrats on the finish! Be careful, these multi-events get under your skin. I tried to swear them off this year but ended up doing 2 more.

ndredsox

They are addicting for sure. Getting ready(few weeks) to start training for the Half Iron-Man Muncie 70.3 next July. I figure if I do it 10 months out, I can be ready.

Zoxe

Assume you did Tri Indy today? How was it?

I've never done any of the Tuxbro races. In years past I'd go up to Chicagoland for a race there (near my brother's house) and this year we did one of the Triton Brewing sponsored events in Muncie. The Muncie/Triton venue (different I think from the official Ironman Venue) was pretty nice; if I do any multi events next season they'll be on the list.

ndredsox

Yeah, it was a great event. Tuxedo Bros did a great job. I thought there was another Triton sponsored event in September, but I can't find it now.

Zoxe

Yah, it's Sept 7th.

https://www.americamultisport.com/ind...iathlon-series

They also added the series finale on Oct 5th. Brrrr.... swimming in October. I was tempted to do the Sept 7th race, but now we're going to a wedding out of town.

Zoxe

Yours truly is now the finisher in an Iron-distance event. I completed the Michigan Titanium Half-Iron Aquabike (swim/bike only) yesterday. Distances for this course were 2k swim followed by a 56.6mi bike (although I had it at 57.4 on my cateye).

I'm no runner, don't claim to be, so I've been pretty happy to find Aquabike events this season (did my Olympic distance in June). Without this option, I'd be stuck with Sprint distance events.

This particular event was probably the best organized events I've been to thus far. The staff and crew were top notch. The course was challenging (hilly) and the wind that kicked up in the late morning didn't help my time at all. I can't say that I'll be going back next year (holy cow, the hills) but I'm happy to have been part of it this year.

I set a personal goal of 4:15 to 4:30 to complete the swim, T1, and bike. I came in at 4:23 and change, so I'm pretty happy with that.

IBOHUNT

I ran and rode the bike yesterday... You folks that do tri's are, as my Dad used to say.... A bit touched in the head
After a 16 mile run (2:37) then 58 on the bike (3:07) I was done!