First Tri - Question Galore
 

Oh man - where do I start?

First Tri - 8/14/10 - 300 yards swim, 10 mile bike, 5k run

Swim: It's at the ocean. Water temperature was 76 degrees this morning. Unless it warms up considerably between now and then, I'll be very cold. Yet I'm too cheap to buy or even rent a suit. It's only 300 yards. I probably wouldn't be in the water for more than 10 minutes. Am I just asking for it?

Bike: I bought a Dawes SST AL last month for the Tri. It's a FG/track geometry. Since then I've been reading a lot about the aero position. So I decided to swap the post and clamp with one from one of my kids' bike (it has an adjustable clamp). I set up a forward offset and set the seat forward. Again, too cheap buy a real aero bar I've decided to wing it between the drop and invisible aero bars. The logic again, it's only 10 miles. Am I asking for it, again?

Run: This one I think I have covered. Just that my shoes are about 5 years old.

Advice and words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, 76 is very warm. In fact, if it rises to 78, you will not even be allowed to use a wetsuit. If I was in a wetsuit in 76 degree water, I would probably overheat. It will only be cold to you for the first 50 or so yards.
What are you asking for?. A 300 yard swim is not that bad either, unless you don't know how to swim, in which case, i reccommend going to a pool.

Bike-Don't worry about it, it's your first tri. but if you keep going, the most important thing you will need is gears. worry about that before aero position. (and it's a SS right, not a fixed gear, because you will not want to do it on a fixed, but it is possible.)

You might want new shoes and don't skimp on them.

Have fun, you will be able to make it fine, don't worry about how fast for your first tri, just try to get through it.

The pool at the gym is maintained between 82-84. On Wednesday water temperature was 80. It was cold for me. But like you said I'd probably warm up soon enough.

I'm new to swimming but I think I can handle 300 yards. Choppy waters and people kicking and splashing, that's something I'm not used to yet.

The bike is fixed. Is that a problem?

problem, yes, total impediment, no. For your first tri, you will be fine, but as you get better, you will realize more and more that they just don't work too well.

I can see three real problems, and an infinite number of elitist roadie/triguy reasons. (you may know those already like "Because it's a fixie.")

Problem 1: Hills. If a hill gets too steep for your gear ratio, you won't be able to keep your cadence at the right speed. Then if you go back down the same hill, you will not be able to go nearly as fast as anyone who can freewheel. Your knees might also explode.

Problem 2: Turns, when you can freewheel, you are supposed to keep your outside leg down to be more stable and if you are leaning and you are close to the curb, your inside foot won't hit the curb or the ground, causing you to crash.

Problem 3: As you progress and get faster, you will need a range of gearing to keep your cadence just where you need it.

For you first tri, it will be fine, but after that you will need to think about something with gears and probably aerobars.

Only advice - go easy on the swim. Open water is far different from a pool. Its dark and yes the choppy and kicking doesn't help. Stay calm (it is really easy to panic) and just 'complete' the swim. Don't waste energy trying to make a time. It will only up your heart rate and screw with your head when the 300 yards looks like 300 miles and you feel like you aren't making any progress.

Good points sirious94. Freewheel sounds good. Gears are a pain though.

Cleansheet, I hear you. 50 yards in it gets dark and colder too. I haven't ventured any further yet. I think the setup is in and out around a bouy. So I'll have to concentrate on happy thoughts.

Explain...:twitchy:

And +1 on the taking the swim easy.

Facepalm

:troll:

This is just a joke, right? You're trying to sucker as many people in as possbile I think.

I'm not sure which part of my post indicates that I'm trying to sucker people.

As I stated before......this part.

sirious94, I value your advice. Thanks. I understand how gears can be very useful. However, from experience with cheap bikes in my childhood I have grown to dislike gears. They don't engage properly, the chain falls more easily, not to mention the excess weight. I'm sure technology has come a long way since then and gears are probably real efficient. But my mind set hasn't changed.

When I decided to do a tri I didn't have a road bike. I decided to go for the simplest of bikes so as to limit technical difficulties.

StanSeven, I'm not sure if that addresses your concern. I have mentioned things in my post that sound experimental at best. Well, that just one of the ways I learn new things. That's just me. If you wish to judge that as a joke, well, that's just you.

Turned out to be quite a distaster!!!

The waves were SUPER high by the time I got in the water. I have never been in the ocean with waves that high before. Not even half that size. There were many competitors that turned around and went to the bike. I'm not sure why the organizers even allowed the swim to go on. However, I went in and stuggled for a good 15:41 before I gave up myself. I swallowed a lot of salt water and lost a lot of energy.

So,
300 yards swim -- 15.41 (I didn't finish, but no one needs to know that)
Trans 1 -- 3.39 (I just wasn't into it)
10 mile bike -- 36.01
Trans 2 -- 2.1
3 mile run -- 24.3

Not a satisfying experience overall.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

15 FOOT waves?!? Was that an official measurement? 15 foot waves would only be do-able if the surf zone was tiny, and then only for veteran open water swimmers - speaking as a surfer here. Glad to hear you survived and completed the other legs, though. (edit) Wave height measurements vary, any idea if that wave height was from trough to peak or just from mean sea level to peak?

They might not have been 15 ft. but they certainly felt huge from my perspective. However, I stand corrected, grudgingly *humph*.

Regardless of the -measured- height of the waves, it sounds like you swam in conditions far outside most people's first triathlons. I'm impressed! Don't let my questions take away from your accomplishment. You weren't there to go surfing, but it sounds like you could have :) From experience, open water swimming with any kind of swell is tricky unless you do it on a semi-regular basis. Getting beyond the surf zone can be tricky too! Look at it this way, any future open water swims are going to be a piece of cake compared to this one!

Oh... and congratulations!

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I was thrown back on the first couple of attempts to go past the surf. That was kind of fun!

I hope it'll be easier next time. Thanks again.