MadTrippin

The Amazing Race Meets National Lampoon’s Vacation

Posts Tagged ‘bike’

Triathlon Equipment Review – Sugoi Tri Shirt

Posted by madtrippin on July 31, 2008

Originally I was planning on doing my first triathlon swim shirtless and then pulling on a cycling jersey for the remainder of the race.  After speaking with a few more experienced triathletes and hearing one story of trying to pull a tight jersey on over a wet body, I changed my mind and searched out a tri shirt. 

I’m a big fan of buying online, but was running out of time before the big day and wanted to be able to train a little in the shirt, so I sucked it up and bought through a local store.  I had intended on going to Gear West, as they have a huge selection and it looked like decent pricing online.  The night I headed out there I got stuck in traffic and wasn’t going to make it before close.  So as to not have wasted all that gas and time, I stopped at Start Line (the same place I got my running shoes) and pick up some yankz laces. 

As it turns out, they also had a small line of tri clothing, including a couple of tri shirts with reasonable pricing.  It’s good that I didn’t buy online, as I was sure I was a medium (I’m 5′8″ and a healthy 170).  When I tried on the medium, it was TIGHT (and not in a good way).  The sales woman commented on how you shouldn’t be able to see chest hair through the shirt.  When I tried to take it off I heard a small ripping sound, so I actually pulled it down past my feet, rather than over my shoulders.

So… Large it was.  I decided on the Sugoi Fuel (the price was right – at about $40 – and it seemed pretty comfy).  I wore it for training in all 3 disciplines and it seemed just fine.  I didn’t notice any drag in the pool and it wasn’t so tight I couldn’t breath on the bike or run.

After my first race I can tell you that it worked like a charm.  I went from one event to the next without even thinking about the shirt.  Plus, I looked pretty cool in it - I suppose I should have some pictures to back up my claims.  My feeling is that good clothing should feel like nothing.  I didn’t even notice the shirt at all… that’s good stuff.  It dried quickly and didn’t chaffe or irritate in any way.  PERFECT.

Posted in Tri Product Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Choosing My Second Triathlon

Posted by madtrippin on July 28, 2008

I want to do another tri before the season is over, but I’m feeling the need to get more training in (especially on the swim).  I also wanted a week off from the 5-6 workout per week routine I was doing coming up to the Chaska Tri.  Last week I only trained 2 days – 4 mile run, followed by weight training and a 10 mile bike through the same crazy hill country the Chaska tri went through.

I’ve tenatively made up my mind… I’m thinking I’ll be entering the St. Croix Valley Sprint Triathlon in Hudson, WI – slated for August 30th.  It’s another 1/3 mile swim, only 10 mile bike and 4 mile flat course run.  This will give me enough time to improve my swim so that I should be able to rock the comparitively easy bike and run portions.

I don’t think my boys – Ben and Michael – wouldn’t be accompanying me on this one, so I’ll be going it alone.  Michael lives out of state and Ben has a bum ankle that he was nursing all through training before the Chaska tri.  I’ll still have my family posse there though.

On a not-so-sidenote… Andy – a fellow tri’er (FAR more experienced than myself) – finished the Chisago Lakes Half Iron Triathlon in 6th place overall and 1st in his age group.  Congrats.

Posted in General Triathlon | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Post First Triathlon Summary

Posted by madtrippin on July 19, 2008

So I’m back from the race.  I had a great time.  By that I don’t mean I was the fastest.  Not even close, but it was a lot of fun.  Here are my splits:

Swim 16:06
T1 2:02
Bike 57:52
T2 1:21
Run 28:08
Overall place – 182 out of 325

Not exactly the performance I was hoping for, but what are you gonna do.  My overall time was 1:45:27, which pretty much falls at the tail of my 1:30 to 1:45 prediction.

The thing that surprised me was my bike and run times.  I really thought I would do better on those.  The swim was harder than I thought.  I had a game plan of 200 meters of crawl, 200 meters of breast stroke and then the last 200 crawl (with maybe a little sidestroke when necessary). 

The lake was glass calm and plenty warm.  The plan started out well with about 150 meters of decent crawl.  I was actually in the mix for a short time.  Being in the pile was crazy with all the waves and legs and arms were crazy.  I got kicked in the head and got a little freaked out.  I immediately went to the sidestroke to try and get back into it.  For some reason, I couldn’t get into the breast stroke, so side stroke it was.  Unfortunately, I use a lot of legs in side stroke and by the time I got to my bike, my legs were feeling it. 

16 minutes is about as good as I could have expected.  I may need professional help with my swimming before my next tri.  That’s right, I’m doing another at some point.

My transition time was pretty good.  Michael was just finishing up T1 and heading out on his bike.  I got going pretty well, but I just didn’t train enough on the bike.  I used to race and kind of neglected biking too much.  I was great on flats and decents.  I don’t think I ever got passed in either scenario by anyone other than the obvious serious triathletes.  It was the hills that got me.  I’d make up a ton of ground on other riders until i was getting to the top of the hills.  I also made quite a few passes on corners.  I just booked through and cut to the inside.  It seemed like a lot of people tried to respect the lanes.  That’s crazy when the roads are blocked off.

The final decent is steep and I kicked in the afterburners.  I passed a load of people on the hill and in the turn just at the bottom of the hill.  I was in top gear (14) and out of the saddle coming into T2. 

I hopped off the bike and holy brick.  I shuffled like an old man to my area and hung up the bike and dumped the helmet.  I didn’t have to change shoes, so I took a drink and was on my way.  Despite my slow pace, I did 1:21.

The beginning of the run is a 1 mile uphill that nearly killed me.  I’m a little ashamed, but I did stop and walk for a little bit in the middle.  the middle mile is flat and the last mile is downhill.  I motored coming down and passed a few people.  In the last stretch I got my sprint on and cruised by a couple of people to finish strong.

Michael and Ben both beat me.  They actually crossed the line almost side-by-side.  They both did 23 minute 5ks.  Not too shabby at all.  I think my weak swim and less than adequate bike training killed my run.  No big deal.  I’m happy to have completed my first triathlon and am already looking forward to the next one.  Now I feel like I have a better grasp on what I’ll need to do to be better prepared.

The Chaska River City Days tri was very well done.  The organization was excellent and the athletes themselves were awesome.  Everyone is super supportive and actually the better athletes encourage you as they’re passing you on the run and bike.  A good time was had by all.

I guess now I’m allowed to say I’m a triathlete.  Pretty cool.

Interesting side notes… the women’s overall winner was 50 years old.  And… They started the swim waves from typically slowest age groups to the groups that are typically fastest.  I was in the 25-34 wave and we were second to last.  The last group was the 35-44 men.  That tells you something… being young doesn’t mean you’re going to have an advantage.  That being said… the overall men’s winner was 21.

Posted in My First Triathlon | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Last Day Before the Triathlon

Posted by madtrippin on July 18, 2008

So here we are… tomorrow is the big day.  Am I starting to get a little nervous?  Sure.  It’s really excitement not fear, although we did look at last year’s results and found some of our estimated times to be not as good as we were thinking.  Really more of a matter of overestimating our times.  Some of those people put in some crazy times.  I think the winner did it in something like 1:02?

I really believe I can do this in 1:30 – 1:45.  Sounds like a big gap, but I really have no idea how I’ll perform outside of training.  After my last training swim last night, I’m thinking I may be able to put up a decent time.  At least better than the goal of a sub-20 minute performance I was thinking I’d put in.

I’m feeling like my bike time is something of a question mark.  I do feel confident about my cycling, but I never really timed myself over any specific distance, so I’m not really sure of my attainable time.  I did ride every section of the route as part of my training runs and feel like I should be able to put in some good pace.  I’m hoping for an average speed in the 19 or 20 mph range.  I always ride faster when there are other riders out there too.  I feel compelled to keep my pace up.

I feel very confident on the run.  I was able to put in low 25 minute 5k times pretty consistently during training, which I’ve been told would be a decent 5k time for a first time 5k runner.  I’m hoping for something in that area, although that may be tough after the swim and bike.  I’ve set a goal of 27 minutes for the run, but who knows considering all events in succession.  Or maybe I’ll get a good burst during the run.  

I have visions of me making some dramatic passes coming down the monster hill towards the finish line.  In training I always try and finish my runs with some punch, so I’m hoping to have some juice left at the end and look solid crossing the line.

Good, bad or average… I’ll post my results tomorrow.  There’s no shame in my game.

AND… I’d like to say congrats to my brother Gabe and his girlfriend… correction – fiance Malika.  I’m happy for you bro-ham.

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45 Minute Run to Make Up

Posted by madtrippin on June 27, 2008

My training plan had me doing a 45 minute run last night.  I didn’t do it.  On Wednesday I did a 30 minute swim at 5:30 in the morning and then did a 45 minute bike ride + a short mile run after (bricking).  I was whipped yesterday, so I skipped the workout.  Now I’ll have to do the run today after work, but before I pick up the kids.  No big deal.

On sunday I’ll be doing my first open water swim, followed by a 60 minute ride.  Should be a good time.

Yesterday I got my tri shorts from Aevero in the mail.  I got a great deal… $19.50 + $3.00 for shipping.  It only took about 3 days to get them.  I also got a free pair of gel-padded cycling gloves with my order.  I’m not so sure of the comfort/quality of the gloves, but the shorts seem top notch.  I’ll test them out Sunday during my workout and report back.

I also got all the preliminary info for the race.  That will give me the opportunity to ride/run the course a few times before the big day.  I’m amped.

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