Achilles Tendonitis

As mentioned before, I starting suffering from achilles tendonitis starting in late July. I first thought it was my lower calf (soleus muscle) before doing some internet research where it was clear that most runners don't actually get a soleus injury and it tends to actually be tendonitis.

I decided to visit a sports chiropractor, Chase Banks, because I needed guidance on how much to rest, how best to recover or how much I could exercise. I found the visits to be much more informative and helpful than originally anticipated.  After doing a bunch of tests, he linked the real root cause to poor flexibility in my popliteus muscle in the leg, which is behind the knee and is used for unlocking the knees. He also thought it could actually be an injury to plantaris muscle, due to the higher location of the injury, but the treatments are essentially the same.

Overall, I think there were several causes:

• Too much volume - I amped up my training in July. I went from running 6-7 miles/week and biking 30 miles/week to running 15 miles/week and biking 55 miles/week
• Going to fast - I run with a group and our pace put me in zone 3, where my coach had dictated zone 2 workouts. I found it hard to say "hey guys, let's slow down." Of course, I didn't want o go on my own, because it is the group that gets me out of bed a 4:50.
• My shoes - I really loved my Newton Gravity, but after doing his tests, he said I was borderline too inflexible for a 3mm drop shoe.

This Runners Guide to Achilles Tendonitis is a good comprehensive article on dealing with achilles tendonitis. Chase has also recommend the eccentric heal drops, in order to increase flexibility of the tendon as it recovers. He also recommended this Return to Running Program.

I am now on two weeks complete rest, so we will see how that helps. I hate being sidelined, but if I am going to take some time off, this off-season period is probably the best time.

Tour De Donut

The Tour De Donut is a timed charity bike race that supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The twist of the race is that for every donut you eat, you get 5 minutes deducted off it. It is billed at 28 miles, but the distance was actually 31 miles.

There are two donut stops, one at the 12 mile mark and another at the 20 mile mark. There, you eat as many donuts as you can stomach and volunteers will mark your race bib with the number of donuts you eat. The volunteers at the first stop were a lot of fun, trying to con you into eating more.  The median amount of donuts eaten was 4, with the average of 5.1. The highest was 30, but the winner had 27. I managed 9 total, which put me in the 82nd percentile of donut eating.

The ride itself was rather well supported, but there is no lanes blocked off. Usually, there were cops at major intersections. At the I-10 / 359 intersection, there wasn't a cop, so I had to sit at a light for a minute or two. The only other interplaces that didn't have cops were right turns.

The course map is below, you started at Katy Mills Mall (near the Sun & Ski store) and headed south towards Fulshear. There was an easterly wind of 11 mph, so the ride east on 90 was challenging. I felt a little shortchange on the wind since the section where I got tailwind was shorter and the ride up from Fulshear was more of a crosswind.

I found myself riding alone for most of the ride. On 359 headed west toward Fulshear, a group caught up with me and I was able to then keep up with them, but it was only for a few miles as I hit the first donut stop and they were doing the 55 mile ride. On 90, I really tried to find a group to share wind duties with, but I couldn't. I would come across a few solo people, but they were riding too slow. One group of three riders decked out in Sun & Ski gear passed me. I desperately tried to hang onto the back of them, but I got dropped.

All-in-all, I had a good time. My post-donut time landed me 12th out of 168, which is far better than I finish in the cycling portions of tris.



Tour De Donut - Donut Race Route



Start of the Race



Volunteers giving out donuts



Cyclists at the 2nd donut stop



Me at the finish

Galveston 5150 (err.. 5000) Race Report

This was my first Olympic distance triathlon. I had been battling achilles tendonitis since late July, so I've hardly ran since then trying to rest and recover. My bike training also took a hit for a couple weeks. I knew I could finish the race, so I didn't want to drop down into the Sprint.

I stayed overnight at Moody Gardens and brought the wife and kids to cheer me on!  The nice thing about staying at the hotel is you can wake up later, unfortunately I still woke up early and then had trouble sleeping.

Swim (or lack thereof)

Due to storms the previous two days, the wind was high (20 mph) and they cancelled the swim due to the chop. I understand why they did it, but there went my strongest part (relatively speaking) and the part I was able to continue training on with the achilles injury.

Bike

The bike was a time trial start. Everyone waited by their bike at the rack and the race official came by and started everyone, 10 seconds apart. We left from Moody Gardens and headed south on 83rd street to the seawall blvd via Stewart. The first mile or so was somewhat technical with sharp turns and uneven pavement. Then you hit a straight shot onto Seawall Blvd (well paved), ride down to Jamaica Beach and do a U-turn.

Wind had sustained winds of 20mph from the NE, meaning the first half of the bike I felt like Lance Armstrong on steroids (or just Lance Armstrong) cruising along at 22 mph. Then we turned around, where it was even tough to maintain 14 mph.

On the way out, I found that I had to ease up to keep the HR under 175 (my LT), but on the way back it was tough to get it up above 170. I would pedal harder, but feel the lactic acid built up in the legs before getting out of breath. I did hold back a little, trying to keep my legs fresher for the run.

Overall, I averaged 17.43 mph on the bike, which put me in 63rd out of 69 people in my AG.

Run

The run was two winding laps through Moody Gardens, which is actually good for spectators. My wife and kids could stay in one spot and see me 6 times.

The first couple miles felt good and time was decent 8:44/mile and 8:54 mile (assuming the mile markers on the race were posted correctly). However, my legs and feet started getting very sore which continued to get worse. My achilles felt fine - it was my legs and feet that were hurting. I wasn't out of breath, but I just couldn't move my legs faster. My heart rate averaged at 177, while my LT is 184.

The lack of running over the last 8 weeks has shown. This was actually only my fourth time running over 6 miles. I had done some 40/2 bricks, but not anything longer.

The best part about the run was that my wife and kids were out there cheering me on.

Overall, I ran at 9:43/mile, which put me in 54th of out 69 in my AG, so I passed a few people.

Overall

I am pretty happy with the race given my injury. Sure, I was 61st out of 69 in my AG and 430/605 overall, but I knew I wasn't going be fast given my lack of training. I finished and I feel my times are respectible, so I am happy. Additionally, an Olympic distance attracts the better racers. If I had done the Lonestar Sprint, even at the same paces, I would have been in the 50th percentile of my AG. I haven't been so tired after a race before and my legs are SORE today. I think I'll need a week off anything.


Race Management

Good, but not great race from an organizational perspective. When I first rolled up to Moody Gardens, there were no signs as where to go. The course was well marked and there was a lot of volunteers, but the communication regarding the weather was poor. They said they would send out emails and post stuff to the website, but nothing ever happened. T

he Expo and the after-party was very weak - I expected a little more for something associated with WTC. Race club tents were not allowed, leaving the after party looking barren. The location at Moody Gardens makes for a nice destination race. It is nice to walk downstairs from your hotel room to the start.

Galveston and Beyond

Galveston 5150 in 3 days! I've been checking the weather report and getting mentally prepared. One thing that this race will inform me of, is whether I want to try for the half-Ironman. The Galveston 70.3 is on the same course as the 5150... you just bike further down the island and run two more laps around Moody Gardens.

My training plan for Olympic distance was pretty intense and I struggled to keep up with the volume.  I know I wouldn't be able to go on a 80 mile ride every weekend AND a long run every week, plus do everything in between.  It's not that I'm lazy, but I want to try to balance work, family, and working out. I can be active healthy by running 5k & 10ks and going on 25mi rides. I don't need to put in 80 mi rides to be healthy. Still the allure of the half Ironman is there, because I feel I could finish it without too much more effort. What's the least I could get away with? We're talking just being under 7 hours. Maybe three, rides 65 miles or more?

While I'm not interested in doing the MS150 this year, I think some of the training rides would be fun. There are a lot to choose from:

 2013-2014 rides: The List
Description of 2012-2013 rides Fall rides, Jan-Feb rides, Mar-Apr rides

Potential Things of Interest

November 3, 2013: Tour de Doughnut (Katy)
November 10, 2013: Bike for Little Heroes (Waller)
February 9, 2014: Bike for Little Heroes (two rides but I like the charity's cause)
February 23, 2014: Sun & Ski Sports Spring Breakaway
March 1, 2014: Woodlands Half Marathon
March 16, 2014: Tour de Houston
March 23, 2014: Bluebonnett Express

T minus 6 days

My first Olympic tri is on this coming Sunday and nerves are starting to build. I've done 1500m+ in a pool multiple times, but I know I'm going to look at the course and think "Holy shit that is far".

I had a good workout yesterday, a 31/2 brick. I kept the pace largely in zone 2, but I was feeling well after the 2 mile run. It gave me confidence that while my time is questionable, I know I will finish.

With family watching for the first time, finishing is my main goal. I originally had a goal of 3 hours, but after my bout of achilles tendonitis, I was trying to forget that, but it is hard. There is nothing magical about 3 hours, but it seems like a benchmark to hitting a respectable number. I think "best case scenario" is 2:50, and worse case is 3:20. There are a lot of variables which could impact this, such as

1.  how well I sight,
2. if there is chop,
3. how bad the wind is on the bike
4. how hot the run is.

I'll actually be pacing my effort based on heart rate, so if I meet those goals, but my time suffers due to wind or chop, then I should be happy.

August Totals

August was dismal for training. I battled achilles tendonitis, my go-to pool was closed, and I spent a week on vacation. I couldn't run and couldn't even bike hard for several weeks. The only upside is that I took the opportunity to get and learn to use clip-on aerobars. I am hoping that whatever I lose (or not gain) in endurance, I can gain in improved aerodynamics. The good news is that I ran today for the first time since Bridgeland tri, and I didn't have any pain afterwards. Run: 0h 34m, 3.6 mi Bike: 16h 44m, 229 mi Swim: 2h 49m, 7,100 yards

The Evolution of My Bike

As I've gotten more comfortable on my bike, I've been able to get more aggressive in the position:



November 2012: As Purchased

May 2013: Partially Lowered Handlebars

  



June 2013: Fully lowered handlebars



Aug 2013: Flipped Stem, Added Clip-on Aerobars

Sep 2013: Bike Fit (before & after), Replaced seat tube to move saddle forward, raised up handlebars on stem somewhat in order to elongate my back. 

Relearning Bike Handling Skills

Last summer, I wanted to get into triathlons, but I needed to get a bike. Rather daunting was the fact that I hadn't been on a bike in 19 years. Yes, my last bike was a fixie with coaster brakes. It was a little daunting to get a new bike. Is the old adage about riding a bike true? Would I crash a lot? Could I handle a road bike with a much more forward body position? I'm glad to report that I still could ride a bike, but I did forget bike handling skills. The first time I got on a bike again, I was a bit shaky and my hands were glued to the hoods. I remembered saying, "look Mom, no hands", but even several rides later even if I attempted to take a hand off for a split second, I would swerve. I could even ride in the drops. From getting the bike, it took 8 weeks, 8 hours of riding, and about 100 miles to attempt riding in the drops. After about 3-4 rides purposely practing, I was able to reasonably go from the hoods to the drops. I was still shaky taking a hand off, so I had to slide my hand down the side of handlebar. It would be about another 4 weeks, before I could even take a hand off for a quick nose wipe, but I was a long way from being able to grab something from a pocket. I got a Speedplay, so I could drink on the go, so I didn't focus on it exclusively. A month ago, I was able to eat food from my "Bento box" while riding. A week ago, I tried just using a regular bidon in the downtube cage - so pickup, drink, and put back. Today, I successfully grabbed a bidon from my seat tube and refilled my Speedplay, all on the go. It feels great to re-obtain mediocre bike handling skills. I feel like a baby who learned how to walk. So why is this important? For one, safety. At first I couldn't signal or let other riders know of a pothole. Second, if I was on a longer ride, like an Olympic distance triathlon, I'd have to physically stop to refil my Speedplay from another water bottle, which could be a huge time drain. Granted, I am going slow while refilling or drinking (10-12 mph), but this is much better than having to stop. Lastly, I can try out aero bars, something I thought would be impossible for me. It took 80 rides, 77 hours, and 1,100 miles, but I am ready for aerobars!

The Effect of Temperature on Running Pace

Despite 3 more months of training, I have not replicated my PR 5k time of 26:34 at the CB&I triathlon. I think the weather is largely to blame. CB&I was perfect running weather... probably 55 or so by the time I started running. Despite a best effort over the weekend, I only managed 28:58. This was a drop in pace of 0:50/mile. The heat was tough. The weather at run time was 85 F, but it felt like 95 F (that is what the weather report said it felt like, not just me).

How much doesn't the weather impact run time then? My heart rate for the run averaged at my Lactate Threshold of 184, so I don't feel like I was slacking. An online calculator shows a change of 0:19/mile from 60 F to 85 F and only goes up at total 0:27/mile at 95F.

What about real life data? I compared participants in the 30-44 male age groups from CB&I to Bridgeland. Including myself, there were 38 people that did both races. The median differential was 36 seconds per mile, with the 20th percentile at 18.4 seconds and the 80th percentile at 50.6 seconds. As with any statistics, there are outliers on both ends, but you never know the circumstances: e.g., if someone had stomach cramps at CB&I.

So real-world data indicates a higher impact of temperature than the calculator. Is the calculator wrong? Well, maybe the study that produced the data for the calculator only included only professional or elite athletes, who may have higher tolerance to the heat, or a variety of other reasons. My 50 seconds may be higher than the average, but it's not tremendously out of line, and doing this comparison has made me feel better about it.

Race Report: Bridgeland Triathlon

The Bridgeland triathlon was a 600m open water swim, a 12.8 mi bike, and a 5k run. It was originally billed as 550m/13mi/5k, but there was some last minute changes.

Swim: 12:56 (2:09/100m)

This was my first open water swim since CB&I back in May. I was in a later wave, so I didn't start for 32 minutes after the pros went off. Overall, the swim went pretty well. A couple times I found myself significantly off course, but since I sight rather frequently (about 14 strokes - counting both arms), I don't think I added too much distance. I did start to get hot at about 300-400m or so. The water was warm, the sun was coming up, and the swim cap keeps the heat in. I tried drafting once or twice, but it was a failure. The visibility in that lake is about 0.00001mm, at best, so that made it harder. The water was warm, so I started getting hot after about 300m, with the swim cap on. My time was 0:02/100m faster than CB&I and my time was a little outside of the top 3rd for my AG which was very consistent to CB&I.

T1: 2:42

The ground was a bit muddy from rain the night before, so I took a few seconds to wipe off my feet. Overall, though I didn't make any major mistakes. This race had a longer run in transition to my bike, which increased my overall time. GPS data shows that I was at my spot for 1:18, but I barely eeked into the top 75% of my AG. I need to work on this.

Bike: 41.28 (18.5mph)

I was happy with the bike. Per my coaches instruction, I was to not go too fast the first couple of miles. After that I was usually over 19 mph for most of the ride. Sometimes my mind would wander a bit and I would slow down slightly, so perhaps I need to focus more. At Sugar Land, I hammered the bike as hard as I could and average 19.3 mph, but I thought that was a cause of my poor run, so I deliberately spun at a lower gear before the finish for longer. I definitely felt like I could have continued at that pace for longer, so I'm feeling more confident for Galveston. Despite an improvement of 1.7mph over CB&I, I was still one of the slower bike - 100/129, but it was an improvement of 5 percentile.

T2: 1:39

Per my GPS, I only spent 39 seconds at my station, the rest of the time, I was running.

Run: 28:58 (9:19mi)

Chesty Puller said that "Pain is weakness leaving the body." Well, a lot of weakness left today. My run time was 2:24 slower than my PR, but it hurt the entire time. The weather was brutal. My wave was one of the last, so starting a half hour later in Houston in August is the difference of 3-4 degrees. According to the weather report it was about 84 for the run, but it "felt like" 95F, and yes it sure did. I normally run at 5:15 in the morning before work, which is usually the coolest part of the day and is about 76 and no sun. I found heart rate training to be helpful here. I know my LT was 184, and if I could stick to that, then I knew I was actually putting in a good effort and I didn't have to question whether I was "wussing out" over the heat. What to do differently? Carry my own freezer pack? I wonder if I could keep some freezer packs in a small cooler, and then grab them on the run. Twice on the run, there was someone with a hose which was helpful, and at the Mile 2 station, they handed out iced sponges. Both of these were welcome reliefs, but I could have used more. My relative rank in my AG was right at the same, so many must have been impacted by the heat.

Total: 1:27:45 Overall I was pretty happy with my performance - 78/129 - very consistent with CB&I. Despite the heart rate data, I still question whether I could have done better on the run. I'm sure every athlete does. At least for me, it's not like I'm getting 4th and miss the podium by 10 seconds. I'll keep striving for improvement, but it does ease that anxiety knowing that I am just comparing the difference between the 60th and 55th percentile.

July Totals

July is done and I hit my highest totals ever by a long margin: thanks to getting a coach and her setting an aggressive training plan for an Olympic distance. Swimming would have been a record had the pool not been closed this week (and next month) for maintenance. Some of the bike was on a trainer, but based on data riding outside, I can calculate distance based on time and heart rate.

Swim: 5h 29m, 15,060 yds (record: 16,528 yds)

Bike: 14h 20m, 213.6 mi (old record: 146.5 mi)

Run: 9 1m, 50.2 mi (old record: 38.3 mi)

The Benefit of a Coach

I recently started a training plan with a coach. I sat on the fence for a while but I have an Olympic distance race coming up and I was adrift. I had a feeling I wasn't doing enough volume, but I didn't know how much to do.

1. Pushing you to higher volumes
2. Giving guidance on the right paces or intervals to do different workouts at
3. Accountability - the coach can look at your data from your GPS watch and know if you are slacking
4. Accountability - you are paying for it.

 

Pre-coach average weekly volumes:

• Swim - 3000 yards
• Bike -  30 miles
• Run - 7 miles

 

 Coach prescribed volumes (approximate as it varies by week):

• Swim - 6500 yards
• Bike - 90 miles
• Run - 18 miles

Bike Wheels & Tires: Speed Improvement

 

So my bike, a KHS Flite 300, came with Kenda Kontenders and Quasar Q2 wheels. Professional reviews gave decent marks to both, but I was curious as to how much difference upgrades. Were we talking 0.1mph or 1.5 mph?

 

I started doing some internet research, learned about rotating weight vs static weight, the coefficient of rolling resistance, etc. It lead me to conclude that the benefit would be much more than 0.1 mph.

 

I  made three changes:

• Lower handlebars on stem - improve aerodynamics
• Bought Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheel - reduce rolling weight. The alternative would be a more aerodynamic wheel that isn't necessarily lighter. Even though I live in a flat area, where a more aero wheel might be more preferred by many, since I am a bigger guy, a low-weight wheel would offset my disadvantage when I am on hills.
• Bought Mavic Griplink/Powerlink tires - reduces rolling resistance

 

Overall, I reduced the weight of my bike from 23lbs 5 oz (w/o saddle bag) to 21lbs 8oz, a drop of 1 lb 13oz!

Results
At my race in May (15 miles), I rode at 16.8 mph. In June (10 miles), it was 19.3 mph. I would say 0.5 mph was due to the lowered handlebars, 0.5mph were due to the shorter course and training in between races, and 1.5 mph was due to the wheels and tires.

 

Reference:
http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-1503651.html
http://www.biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/AFM_tire_testing_rev9.pdf

Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Triathlon

The Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Triathlon consisted of a 300 meter pool swim, a 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run. The race sees a wide range of participants from professionals to first timers.

Swim (5:58)

I had done some recent time trials at 5:52-5:53, which was quicker than the 6:15 that I put down on the entry form, so I was expected to pass some people. I caught the woman in front of me within the first 30m, then I caught three more people over the course of the swim. I was originally worried about passing and the potential for head-on collosions. I did see one almost head on collision while waiting to start, but it was always clear for me. I touched the person in front of me's toes and then I sighted to make sure it was clear.

My time was 5:58, but that includes getting out of the pool and dealing with other swimmers, so I was very happy with the swim.

The biggest problem was getting under the lane lines. I had practiced this beforehand, but it didn't go according to plan. The first lane crossing, I had caught another woman at the wall, so we were both trying to go under at the same time. There was also less of a grip at that side of the pool, which messed up my second try.

T1 (1:53)

Everything went smoothly this time, except that I forgot to put on my 2nd bike glove. It didn't end up bothering me. I also didn't hit the button to end the "transition" period on my watch, so I didn't get any bike data. 

Bike (31:05 - 19.3 mph)
It felt really good. I was 16.8 mph in my last race so this was a huge improvement, at largely due to some bike changes: lower handlebars, new wheels and tires, as I had only rode 175 miles since. I passed probably 15 people, while only about 5 passed me.

Based on my run performance, perhaps I over did it. I thought I could hammer throughout the race since it was shorter - so I was pushing the pace, riding out of the saddle up hills, etc. I probably need to do more bricks to figure out how hard I can go on the bike and still run effectively.

I also normally spin out at a higher cadence prior to hitting the bike in, which helps to clear blood from the legs, but I was caught off guard - I turned a corner, and there it was.

T2 (1:29)
Except for racking my bike on the wrong rack and having to move it, it went pretty well

Run (27:38 - 9:09/mile)

The race was going very well up until this point. My legs felt heavy and it was hot. The run was definitely a mental battle, which I wasn't winning.  At my last race under ideal temperatures, I ran at 8:31/mile. I bet I lost about a minute on my overall time due to the temperature and minute because I didn't try to push hard enough through it.  My average HR was 178, which is about 4 less than my Lactate threshold, so I know I wasn't pushing hard enough.

June Totals

June is done and I put in 17.6 hours of training, which is better than May but less than April. I hit a new high in distance and time on the bike, though swim has severely lagged.

On July 1, I start a 12 week training plan for an Olympic distance triathlon so having a coach look over your shoulder will push me.

June Totals
Swim: 3h 7m - 9,058 yd
Bike: 9h 36m- 146.5 mi
Run- 4h 27m- 27.7 mi

Personal Bests

I used to have this on the side of my blog, but it kept adding in lots of blank lines.

Official

Run
2 mile - 15:48 (first leg of tri)
5k - 25:55
10k - 1:00:14 (in tri)

Bike
10mi - 31:06 (in tri)
40k: 1:25:34 (in tri)

Swim:
300m pool = 5:58 (in tri)
600m open water = 12:53  (in tri)

Unofficial Training

Personal Distance Records
Longest ride: 44 miles
Longest swim (all freestyle): 2000 yd
Longest run: 8 miles

Running
1 mile = (superceeded by race)
2 mile TT = (superceeded by race)

Long Course
1500 meter swim = 32:36
500 meter swim = 10:08
100 meter swim = 1:41

Short Course
100 yard = 1:22
550 yard swim = 9:22
1800 yard swim = 35:21

May totals

As predicted, my May totals were halfway between March and April numbers.

Swim: 4h 50m - 13,173 yd
Bike: 5h 35m- 88.1 mi
Run- 4h 32m- 29.9 mi

Volunteering at Ironman Texas

Ironman  Texas is nearby, so I decided to volunteer. I got involved in recruiting employees at my company to volunteer, so I ended up getting asked to be volunteer captain for my shift which was the 6-10am timing shift.

One of the two main responsibilities of this shift is to replace people's timing chips if athletes forgot to bring it on race morning and replace them if they lost them during the race. The highly comptent WTC staff person took care of the programming. We would hand out the new chip and write down the person's race number. The race was wetsuit optional so athletes wearing a wetsuit went under a different arch to register the timing chips so that it knows who wore one. So our other job was to ensure athletes went under the correct arch.

The shift didn't start until 6, but I  got there at 5:15.  It was still dark and  the staff were still setting up. Due to an error in the system, I ended up having about 30 volunteers. So I spent the first half hour or more checking people in and handing out t shirts. The swim start area was big enough that I was getting "where are you?" phone calls from volunteers arriving.  Due to a lot of people who volunteered the day before, I also didn't have enough t-shirts. The shift really only needs 6 people and then another 4 people are good for no shows (we had 4) and to help out with miscellaneous tasks (see the next paragraph). Luckily I had a  few competent people and some useless teenagers volunteering for school credit. At the swim start, there was about 20 people who forgot their chip out of 2500 or so.

We also did potentially anything needed to help the athletes.  Being a volunteer means you will get asked lots off questions about anything and everything. It  also allows you to help in unexpected and rewarding ways. One guy forgot to put his bike computer on his bike. So I had a responsible volunteer take it over to transition. Another woman was looking for a specific table to drop off her asthma inhaler at. I helped her look and tried asking some of the WTC staff, but I wasn't getting anywhere. Then after talking with her a bit more, it finally dawned on her that the swim exit was not at the same spot. So she started crying, but I was able to assure her that we would get it to transition. Given the enorminity of the impeding race and criticality of the inhaler, I can't imagine how bad she felt in that instant. So I was really happy to be able to help out.

After the swim stated, we walked over to transition to replace people's chips if they lost it during the swim. We did about five. There was a lot of down time here, so I got to do a lot of watching. I ended up being near a rack so I also helped guide the athletes to their appropriate bike rack. It was amazing to watch the pros go in and out of transition, especially the flying dismounts they make look so easy.  After my shift was over, I ate then watched the bikes come in.

The swim start:

 The age group mass start:

 The swim exit:

 Transition after everyone left:

Best Motivational Videos & Quotes

Original April 8, 2013:
These are some favorite videos and quotes that I have come across that provide motivation and also keep things in perspective. I will continue to update this list as I find other good ones. Suggestions are welcome.

Update May 22, 2013: I watched a lot of brave athletes tackle 90 degree heat at Ironman Texas last Saturday. There was a 17% DNF rate. For those people, the quote from Teddy Roosevelt has been added.

Best Videos

Move (Nike, 2002 Olympics)

The Pursuit of Better (Newton Running)

The Script - Hall of Fame (remake video)

Best Quotes

"Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.” - Greg Henderson

"My philosophy is you have to give it your 100 percent and you're a winner. That was my 100 percent. Why have any bad feelings about your 100 percent?" - Mike Pigg

"When you are going through hell, keep going" - Winston Churchill

"I would just think of my dad (a former pro cyclist who has Parkinson's). I knew that if my dad could be in my shoes for one day—if all he had to do was struggle on a bike for six hours, but be healthy and fully functional—he would be me on that day in a heartbeat." - Taylor Phinney, talking about why he didn't quit a tough race when he was dead last.

"It doesn't get any easier. You just get faster" - Greg LeMond

"The only easy day was yesterday" - motto of the SEALs

 "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."  - Theodore Roosevelt "Citizenship in a Republic" speech, Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body" - Chesty Puller, USMC (attributed)

"No one falls to the top of a mountain, son" - Chris McCormack's father
"Sweat is fat crying"

Race Day Checklist - What to Do

There are many lists available about what to bring, but there are several things to do on race, that I must also remember.

• Walk from the swim exit to the bike rack
• Walk bike entrance to bike rack
• Look at swim course - Search for landmarks behind bouys.
• Check wind speed and direction (Helps me know how to pace myself)
• Make sure crank arm is in correct position
• Ensure water bottles are full
• Air up tires
• Crack open any gels or food for the bike
• Eat pre-race food
• Roll up socks (I put on my shoes in transition)

CB&I Triathlon

I finished the CB&I triathlon! I had done the super-sprint in March, but this was my first "big-boy" triathlon.  It was a 500m open water swim, 15 mile bike, and 5K run.

It was an unusually cold morning for May in Texas - air was 42 F and the water was about 68F. Standing around before the race started was the hardest part. I forgot to do several minor things, like tear off my gel packet tops, drink my "prime Gatorade", and check the wind forecast. I need a pre-race to-do list, not just a to-bring list. I did eat a Honey Stinger and filled my water bottle with Gatorade for the bike.

Overall
The race went pretty well: I finished near the top 3rd of my age group in the swim, then I got passed by everyone and their mother on the bike, but then made up on a little ground on the run and hit a new PR for a 5K on the run (26:34)! 

After the swim, I was 28th in my AG out of 80.  After the bike, I dropped to 55th, and then I passed a few people on the run to finish 49th. The guy who finished in 48th place was 1:58 faster than me, so even if I avoided the little errors (see T1), I still would have been in 49th place, so that prevents me from beating myself up.

Overall, I was in the 61st percentile of my age group and 46th percentile overall. My run time of 8:31/mile was only good enough for 62th percentile of my age group on the run, so that is an indication of the strength of the field. If you ran a 10 min/mile you were in the bottom 10%.  I basically hit all of my higher goals. I beat the top goal for the swim by a few seconds, I missed the top goal on the bike by about 30 seconds, and then I crushed the run goal!

As you crossed the finished, they call out your name, so that was pretty sweet. Most important, I had a great time! It was fun just getting out there and being in the mix. There is a lot of great people in the triathlon community. I am already looking forward to my next one!

Swim
My age group started in the 2nd wave, only one minute after the pros. So we had one minute to get in the water and get our body and face used to the water temperature in one minute. There was no countdown or warning, just a horn, which caught many people off guard. I at least had my goggles on, but I forgot to start my watch. It wasn't on the right said, but I didn't try to fiddle with it. Later waves supposedly got at least one warning and 3-4 minutes.

I think the lack of warning did help to avoid a buildup of nerves. The swim went rather well. I found it easy enough to sight, because I just looking for a mass of people. I was only significantly off course once. The lake was so dark and muddy that it was impossible to find feet to draft off. Battling other swimmers was okay, in a way, fun, except when I got whacked which caused me to stop and look up once.

Two recent pool swims of 500m were 10:46 and 10:52, so my overall time was right in line. The advantage of the wetsuit was negated by not swimming in a straight line and the one quick stop. Total Time: 10:53

T1
It was so cold, I was worried about the wind on my wet body when I started biking, so I took the time to put on a skull cap, bike jacket, and gloves. I then tried to start my watch, but it was on the wrong setting and then I was fiddling with it. I had also rolled up my socks so I could put them on easy, but I found myself unrolling one of them. wtf, Chris? Total time = 4:12

Bike
I literally passed only one person on a mountain bike. I probably got passed by at least 50 people from all of the slower swimmers in my wave, and the fast folk from the waves behind me.

Despite my slow speed, I was happy to see some improvement. At the super sprint I did in March, I did 6.5 miles at 16.4 mph, so in 5 weeks of training, I improved to do over twice the distance at higher speed. Total time = 53:35: 16.8 mph

T2
My poor T1 time bothered me during the bike, so T2 was as efficient as I could be. (1:59)

Run
I hit a PR on the run by about 45 seconds! I was faster than my standalone 5k from January. I was expecting to be slower.  I felt like I was running slow, but I knew from a previous bric that I was actually going faster. My watch was giving me some data that was in the 7-8 minute mile range, but I knew that wasn't true either. Total time = 26:34 8:31/mile

April Totals

April is done and it is my highest training effort to day in all disciplines since I started triathlon training.   My total time is just shy of 20 hours*. What is amazing is that people training for an Ironman put in about 16 hours a week. 

With my rest for my upcoming triathlon, plus some travel, May will likely be somewhere in between March and April.

*These times are pure workout times and do not include all the other things that may or must be done: stretching, filling tires, driving to bike trail, driving to the pool, stopping at red lights (on the bike), rest in between swimming sets, etc. It also doesn't include walks, such as warm-up or cool-downs before running, going to the park, to a lunch location, etc.
I logged another 7.2 miles of walking (I only log it if it is greater than 1/2 mile). This is another 2+ hours of activitiy.  As a benchmark, if you exercised for 30 minutes on alternate days, you would put in a total of 7.5 hours for the month.

Hours

Distance

Forecasting Water Temperature

Original Post (April 24th)

For my upcoming tri on May 4th, I had seen last year's temp (84 F) for Lake Woodlands so it didn't even cross my mind that it could be wetsuit legal this year, so I wasn't thinking about it. However, I looked yesterday at the race website and it said 73 F, which got me starting thinking about a wetsuit.  I don't need one to finish ... it's not a life preserver but the cold temperature at my first tri (68F) definitely added to the anxiety of my first OWS (along with the mass of people, sighting, and the dark lake). I figure OWS anxiety would go away with practice, but its not something you can practice easily. This tri may be a bit warmer, but there will be lots more people and it will be 500m versus 150m.

Some will cite time savings from the wetsuit, which is true. I estimate I could save about 40 seconds off the 500m swim and probably lose 20 seconds in T1 taking it off. I don't really care about a net savings of 20 seconds. If I did, I would be buying race tires.

I took a quick browse on eBay and saw a used Xterra sleeveless for sale for $70, so I hastily pulled the trigger. I figure even if I can't use it this year, I could use it next spring. I hope it arrives on Friday so I can practice with and without it at the open water swim practice this Saturday.

So will it stay below 78F? I first did a little research into temperatures for the race prior to 2012. Water temperature race had ranged from 74 F to 78 F from 2005-2011, so the 84 F experienced last year was more of an anomoly.

I found this website that predicts pond temperature based on forecasted air temperatures. Last night a cold fron came through and it rained, so the lake temperature was down 5 degrees to 68 F this morning. The 10 day weather forecast looks rather mild: highs around 78-80 and lows between 58-64. Based on the forecast, water temperature may stay in the lower 70s.

Update (April 29th):

The temperature this morning is 74 F, so it is right on line with the prediction from last week. Below is an updated prediction. 66 F is getting chilly, so I am happy I got my wetsuit. It will also help keep me warm while we stand around for the race to start. 45 F in May in Texas. So much for global warming.

For future reference, I will track the daily temperatures leading up to the race:
April 23: 73 F
April 24: 68 F
April 25: 69 F
April 26: 70 F
April 27: 71 F
April 29: 74 F
April 30: 75 F
May 1: 71 F
May 2: 72 F
May 3: 69
May 4: 68

Chris, the Overglider

About two months ago, I wrote saying about how swimsmooth.com really nailed me as an "overglider", but I really spent the last two months building endurance. I haven't focused too much on my stroke rate, because I wanted to first have the endurance to finish the 500m without being exhausted for the bike.

Over the last two months,  I've seen improvement over my 500m time or my 1000 yd time, but my 100m time has been the same.  Last Friday, I completed my first 1500m swim: all freestyle, without stopping. So now I think it is time for me to start focusing on my stroke again. A more efficient stroke will also help conserve energy for later parts of the race.  I decided to purchase the guide to improving the overglider.

While there are several applicable tips on stroke mechanics in the guide, the key takeaway is stroke rate. Increasing arm turnover naturally fixes the some of the issues on stroke mechanics. My stroke rate is now about 50 spm for an endurance pace. I tried increase my arm turnover, but I cannot sustain that for more than 50m-100m without getting tired.

So I think the next task after my tri is to do more speed work. Sets of 50m - 100m where I am pushing the pace and getting uncomfortable.

Race Goals

Everyone has goals in mind before a race. For me, I think race goals are like Maslow's Heirarchy of Human Needs. My first goal is to finish and not get hurt, then there are performance goals followed by more aggresive goals. For this race in two weeks (500m swim, 15 mi bike, 5k run), my stretch goal is 90 minutes which is won't even likely put me in the top 1/2 of my age group for this race.

4 minutes of transition was factored into the above totals

 

Triathloncalculator.com is an interesting website that gives predicted race times, based on previous times/test as well as training volumes and course distance. They asked for a 400 yd pool swim time (7:55), a 20 minute bike TT (17.2 mph) and 5k time (27:17). Below was the output. So the swim time is essentially verbtaim, but over 500 m, the bike likely accounts for a longer distance and the run is the most interesting. I've wondered how much my 5k split will compared to my standalone 5k time.



Change to Bike Training Needed

On a good note, I completed my longest ride: 31.6 miles. It was a group ride (beginner, no-drop) which was good, because otherwise I wouldn't have pushed myself as much.  There were rolling hills and a headwind at the beginning.  Overall, it was hard and I couldn't sustain any sort of speed... especially on the uphills. There were some hills where I was barely going 7 mph per my GPS. I was definitely the slowest in the group. We averaged a pokey 14.75 mph.

Since I've started this journey to triathlon, I've seen dramatic improvement in both running and swimming, but only a minor increase in biking ability. The first time I did a 6.2 mile TT in late January, it was 23:05 (16.2 mph) and last Sunday it dropped to 21:45 (17.2 mph). So there has been some improvement over a short distance, but it hasn't transferred to a longer distance. From the ride today, my peak 60 minutes was 15.5 mph.... so I will likely be one of the last at the CB&I tri on the bike (it is a 15 mile ride).

I think part of the problem is most of my rides are in the morning in the neighborhood.  There are frequent stop signs or lights which interrupts a sustained workout. Its been over four months since I bought my bike,and I've gone for over 40 rides, but less than 10 have them have involved lasting sustained workout without interruption from frequent stops. During the week, I workout and 5 am so its too early and I don't have enough time to go over to a bike trail. Only during the weekend may I have sufficient time to hit the bike trail.

I think there are a few options:

1. Get a trainer - recommend by a coach but its another $340
2. Attend spin class - recommended by a friend but another $70/month for the YMCA
3. There are a couple loops in the neighborhood where I can go round and round with only a brief slowdown. One loop is 1/2 mile and the other is 1 mile. It would get boring, but perhaps not as boring as a trainer or a spin bike.

Being out on the road was a must at the beginning because I really needed to relearn bike handling skills. While I am not great, I have come along way, so I could alternate getting outside with a trainer. I think #1 or #2 would be a must if I tried for a half-Ironman. However, I think I will try #3 at first. I need a break on spending money and I still like getting outside. 


More on the upside. It did give me confidence that I could do an Olympic distance... not well, but finish.

Swimming Longer

I love workouts where I achieve something that is a new milestone. Today I swam, 50 laps - 1250 yards straight.... and I did it in 24:49, which is under my benchmark of 2:00/100yds.

I haven't seen much progess in getting faster over short distances but I have been able to maintain that 2:00/100yd pace for longer and longer. Energy wise I felt fine at the end. The only thing that bothered me was my a back and neck muscles from repetitively turning to breathe 14 times per lap for 50 laps. This too is getting better. The first time I swam 1000 yds, it hurt much worse at 800 yds then it did today at 1250yds.

Bike Weight is Overrated

Efforts to reduce bike weight amongst amateurs are largely wasted. Many are willing to pay beaucoup bucks for a carbon fiber component, but does it really matter? For example, my pedals are the Look Cleo classic. The pedal and cleats in carbon weigh 0.1 lbs less than the steel version but cost $100 more. Is that worthwhile?

Playing with numbers on bikecalculator.com, shaving a full 6 lbs off your bike on a flat half-Ironman (56 mile) course would save 34 seconds (assumes you are generating 150 watts and you weight 190 lbs). If the grade is 2% up, and then 2% down, you can save 2:06. On a course that would then take 3 hours and 40 minutes, even an extra 2 minutes is quite minor. Again that's 6.0 lbs, not 0.1 lbs.

So in a nutshell, spending beaucoup bucks on a carbon components is wasted. 

As a final note, any good analyst would ask: "is bikecalculator.com correct?" The September 2003 Bicycling Magazine had an analysis by James C. Martin, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of exercise and sport science at the University of Utah.  He wrote that for a 160 lb rider who puts out 250 watts, traveling up a 7% grade over 5km, would add 30 seconds to the climb for every 5 lbs added. Running these numbers into bikecalculator, that model said the difference would be 31 seconds, so yes bikecalculator has been validated.

March Totals

March is over and the totals are weak, and as you can see they are down greatly from February. Three main reasons:

1. The place I swim at was closed for two weeks for Spring Break and then high school swim meets.
2. The week before my tri, I tapered the mileage and instead used my available time to practice transitions and mounting/dismounting the bike.
3. Then after the tri, I came down with a sinus infection that knocked me out for a week. 

 

 

Swim Progression

Since pool conditions are the same day-in and day-out, it is easier to keep track of progression. I'm posting it here, not to brag about my mediocrity, but in case anyone in a similar position is curious to see how long it takes to get somewhat decent.

Long Course
1500 meters

• Apr 12: 34:30
• May 10: 33:04
• June 3: 32:54
• June 18: 32:36

500 meters

• Apr 10: 10:48
• May 6: 10:08

100 meters

• Apr 10: 1:55
• May 6: 1:50
• June 10: 1:41

50 meters

• Apr 10: 0:48

Short Course
1000 yard progression

• Feb 27: 20:48
• Mar 29: 20:21
• Apr 04: 19:49

550 yard progression:

• Oct 19, 2012: 15:53
• Jan 9, 2013 : 12:46
• Jan 16: 12:25
• Feb 7: 11:30
• Feb 27: 11:06
• Mar 29: 11:02
• Apr 2: 10:52
• Oct 6: 10:47
• Dec 21: 10:17
• Jan 29: 9:47
• Feb 5: 9:36

 100 yard progression:

• Oct 19: 2:21
• Dec 18: 2:14
• Dec 20: 2:06
• Jan 7: 2:00
• Jan 9: 1:58
• Jan 16: 1:52
• Jan 22: 1:50
• Feb 27: 1:47
• Mar 7: 1:41
• Apr 2: 1:40
• Feb 5: 1:26

Race Report: C Different Triathlon

I completed my first triathlon!

Swim
This was my first open water swim. The swim distance was only 150m, which is basically my warm-up in the pool. However, the water was cold (68F) and the visibility in the lake was nil.  We waded in for the start and a had a few minutes to get acclimatized to the temperature. I did a very short warm-up off to the side (but I don’t think it was enough).  Start is announced and I'm redlining it from the start - I didn't intend to but with all the adrenaline, I was telling myself to stop kicking so much, but my body wasn't listening. I sight - and I am going too far to the right, so I corrected. I swim some more and after sighting again I realized that I over-corrected and was about to broadside a bunch of swimmers. I corrected again but quickly hit a traffic jam by the buoy. GPS data says it took me about a minute to get to the buoy. While I did some practice in the pool turning, I wasn't nearly as smooth due to the other people. I didn't want to swim into people, but this caused me to slow.  I tried to water polo swim around this group which was tiring and slow. Getting going again was also difficult and there were lot of people in the way. It took about 25 yards to be able to get some space and get going again.

My overall time compared to my pool time was pretty good so I am not too unhappy about it. (I am not good at turns in the pool). Even if everything went well, I might have gained 40 seconds at best.

The below picture is my Timex GPS vs an estimate of the buoy line.

Time: 2:59
Speed: 1:59/100m
Rank after Swim: 18/70

Transition 1
I didn't wear a wetsuit, so I was able to get going a little faster than others, but I spend a few extra too many seconds drying my feet. I passed 6 people in transition, and got passed by 2.

Time: 2:00
Overall Rank after T1: 14/70

Bike

Overall it was a fairly good ride which was rather consistent with recent training time trials.  Getting on, getting going, and clipping in was fairly smooth, helped by some recent practice as well as setting the crank arm in the right spot prior to transition. 

I quickly passed some of the kids that exited T1 before me in the first mile. Then I started getting passed by a lot of people, mostly the riders doing the full sprint on their second lap. Of those doing the super sprint, I ended up passing 5 people and getting passed by 5 others.  When we hit the 2nd u-turn, I noticed that this young girl wasn’t too far behind me, but more on that later.

My Timex GPS said that the course 6.47 miles so my average speed may have been a bit higher (16.8 mph). It also showed that my peak 12 and 20 minutes was 18.5 mph and 17.6 mph, respectively. That indicates that I was tailing off towards the end, but also that I lost a a little time getting on and off.  Data shows that I took about 18 seconds after transition to get on and start moving, but only a few seconds to dismount. So, average time actually cycling was about 17.1 mph based on Timex data.

Time: 23:05
Speed: 16.38 mph (based on official distance)
Bike Rank: 17/70
Overall Rank after Bike: 14/70

Transition 2
Everything went fairly smoothly and was slightly faster than my practice runs. Some others were faster because they didn't wear cycling shoes.
There was a 16 year old guy who had the bike spot right next to me. He was out of T1 before me, but I passed him towards the end of the bike ride. He wasn’t wearing cycling shoes, so he was out of T2 before me.

Time: 1:11
Overall Rank after T2: 15/70

Run
Surprisingly, the run was my strongest compared to my competition. 

The previous races I have done (5Ks), there were so many people and almost everyone is significantly better or worse than you, so you are really just racing against yourself. However, here, since the race was smaller, it started to feel like you were racing specific people, which was a fun motivator. 
The run went pretty well and I started passing people. First it a 47 year old who seem to have stomach cramps, then I passed a 61 year old who blew by me on the bike, then it was the 16 year old who passed me in T2, and finally it was a 19 year old girl who was always just ahead of me. 
However, about 1/2 mile from the finish, the 13 year old girl passed me. I was determined not to get beat by her, so I starting keeping pace with her, intending to out-sprint her at the end. Up a small hill, I passed her, but as we rounded the corner towards the finish line straightaway, she started passing me again. So I went for an all-out sprint. Her parents/friends starting cheering for her, but luckily was able to edge her across the finish line and retain my "man-card."

The final timing shows I placed ahead of her, but with equal finishing times. times are only down to a 1/10th of a second, so the difference must have been less than that.

Run Rank: 13/70

Overall


Final Rankings
2/4 - Age group
10/50 - official overall finish (overall excluded Clydesdales/Athenas and First-Timer division)
11/70 - amongst all super sprints, including first timers and Clydesdales/Athenas, (given that it was my first time, it was fair to include them). An "athena" finished ahead of me so I beat the other first timers.
8/31 - amongst all men.

I didn't finish any slower than anyone under 30 or over 50, so I can feel pretty happy. I also like the design of the medal.

Power Increase of Clipless Pedals - Part 2

On Friday, I took the bike out for another ride, redoing the George Bush trail from 4 weeks ago. This time I had my clipless pedals and was ready to ride.

Unlike my ride from February 8th, I hit the halfway point and was ready to continue. I had to turn around and took a minute to refill my Speedplay waterbottle with the one on my seat tube. Unfortunately I didn't bring anything to eat, which I would later regret. As you can see from the graph below, I was met by the man with the hammer at mile 18 (right at the hour mark).  Despite my best efforts to tell myself to HTFU, I couldn't muster any sustained speed. I had to stop one other time to rest my bum and refill water again.  On Feb 8th, I had several rest stops, but the impact of the Honey Stinger waffle was evident during the last few miles.

Note: Speed indicated on charts exclude rest time

So what's power increase due to clipless pedals? It hard to be precise, because of different conditions.  Besides the rest and the food , the wind was a bit stronger in March (I may have had a wee tailwind at the beginning offset by a headwind at the end) and I had a month's extra of training (125 miles).

Compared to my previous post, I saw a speed increase from the start, but this could have been due to the wind in the first three miles. If we look at the entire distance to negate the wind issue, we have a bonk vs rest factor. So if we look at miles 4 through 11 (before the halfway point rest), we see a 14% power increase. Despite the rest, the power increase continued  to grow to 19%, before the bonk in mile 18.

Power in below chart back calculated using bikecalculator.com

Conclusion: I think the general conclusion from Part 1 was correct. Clipless pedals don't increase your power persay, but helps prevent you from losing power as quickly. So the title of the below chart should actually read power differential. Compling the two sets of data leads to the below graph.



Power Increase of Clipless Pedals?

Before I got clipless pedals, I wondered what the power or speed increase with them. I googled the question, and answers on forums ranged from nothing to 40+% power increase. It had to be more than nothing since professionals use them (and toe clips/ straps before that). So I decided to test the difference myself after purchasing them.

About five weeks ago, I did a mini-time trial of 6.2 miles, which is the distance of my super sprint in two weeks. So today I did the same thing.

The results were interesting : No improvement over the first three miles. Almost exact same time down to the second. However, the next three miles I was able to better maintain a faster speed. By pulling up, I was able to give my quads a chance to clear the lactic acid. So over the next 3.2 miles, I was 0.95 mph faster.

Overall: The first time it took me 23:05 and this time it took 22:20. Looking at it from a power perspective, it was a 10 watt or about 8% increase. At the finish I felt like I could keep going at a faster clip. So I image if I continued to go further, the difference would have continued to increase. If I only had done three miles, I might think that they were worthless ;)

Conclusion: I would say that clipless pedals don't increase your power, but allow you to maintain a more consistent power output over time. Measuring the total impact, depends on how long the ride is.

What is the Cost of Doing a Triathlon?

The cost of doing triathlons can vary greatly. I've read stories about people doing a triathlon in board shorts with a beatup mountain bike, etc etc. There are also many people with extremely expensive gear.

What about the rest of us? What is the cost, given other financial obligations, for someone looking to get into and do multiple triathlons. I've kept track of my purchases.

Swimming

• Pool Access - This is the big cost of swimming and can vary based on how good of a swimmer you are to begin with. For me, I knew how to swim freestyle, but made all the classic beginner mistakes. After three months I am close, so I would say four months of training is required. Pool access can couwill If you figure 4 months of regular training at $50/month, or some places allow pay per visit at roughly $5/ visit. Either way you would need about 40 sessions to prepare: $200.
• Goggles - The first time I swam I did so without goggles and my eyes hurt for two days. Invest in goggles. I got and recommend the Speedo Speed Socket Mirror -$25.
• Jammers - For men, swim trunks can act like a parachute and hinder training. Not only will it add about 15 seconds to your 100 meter time, it will make rotating the body more difficult.  I got the TYR Duralast: $45
• Wetsuit - Wetsuits keep you warm in cold water, but also help with bouyancy which in turn helps your swimming. Since the water in my area only drops to 65 F even in the spring, I got a sleeveless wetsuit. I did my first triathlon in 68F water without a wetsuit, but I wouldn't want to go colder than that. Make sure you get a triathlon wetsuit though. I got a Xterra Vortex 3, secondhand for $70.

Biking

• Road Bike - Obviously the single biggest expensive. There were so many manufacturers and options, but you should be able to get a fine ride from between $500-$800. I found a gently used 2011 KHS Flite 300 from my LBS. $600
• Bike Helmet - Required by law. $40.
• Cycling Gloves - Your weight is partially supporting by your hands, which can get uncomfortable. In colder weather, you hands can also get very cold. $40
• LED Lights - If you ride when it is dark, these are a must for safety. - $30
• Better Saddle - Give a little more cushion and has a grove in the middle to reduce pressure on your pernieum. (I got the Sunlite Cloud 9). Bike shorts could be an alternative, but that would make you feel like you are wearing a diaper and you would need more than one. - $30
• Bicycle Pump - I pump up before every ride to avoid pinch flats. - $30
• Bike Repair - Two spare tubes, tire levers, a bag to hang under the saddle, and CO2 inflators. Luckily I haven't had to use them yet - $70
• Sunglasses - I picked up some Foster Grant Ironman sunglasses at a discount store. They are made of flexible plastic and won't shatter if I crash on the bike. $10
• Clipless Pedals - These certainly not a must have, but eventually you will want them. More on them n another post, but they help to maintain speed for longer without your quads burning. The Look Cleo classics were heavily recommended and they have been working rather well so far. $138
• Cycling Shoes - These are needed with clipless pedals. Louis Garneau. $120.
• Bottle Cages -  Two are needed eventually for longer training rides. $20
• Hydration - If you are comfortable riding with one-hand and drinking, you can cover this for about $10-$15. I got the Speedfill Hydration system - $54
• Bike Rack - There are many options and your need for one depends on your ride. Tray style hitch racks are popular (and expensive, $250), but you might even need to add a trailer hitch ($180) which gets prices. There are common trunk mounted racks for much cheaper- $40

Running (you might have some of these already)

• Quality Running Shoes - There are certainly cheaper options, but I found Newton Gravity to meet my needs the best. A few more bucks in shoes is worth avoiding pain and injuries.There are other good options for less, but mine were $175
• Athletic Shorts - Because you can't run in jeans. 3 pairs - $60
• Athletic Socks - Because blisters suck- 4 pairs -  $30
• Technical Shirts - Cotton t-shirts suck to run in... especially in the summer. You may get these for races, so if you can stretch having fewer, you will collect them as you go. 4 pairs - $80
• Winter shirts - The number needed could vary depending on where you live. Expensive but the Addidas Climacool is very nice; 2 pairs - $90
• Winter pants - The number you need also could depend on where you live. I really like the Addidas Response. They aren't super tight, but aren't baggy and noisy like track pants. I just have one right now, but they are $50 each. 
• Speedlaces - You can probably save 20 seconds for $6. Not bad. 

Race Day

• Tri Shorts and Shirts - You could go in jammers and then add an technical shirt, but many people struggle with the shirt in transition. Tri-suits have some added padding between your legs to help with the bike. Probably a must on longer tris. $120

Total Costs

• The total cost based on the range of options provided:  $1,700 - $2,800.