Bumper weekend, I just watched the Women’s T100 Singapore…
Hey all I hope we have @bretzky checking the air pressure in his tires at Oceanside right now, the pro race is starting in 40 mins…good luck!
I’ve re sharpened my internet stalking skills, pretty sure I have the right athlete on the tracker 
Looks like a good pro field too:
EDIT
Brett’s through the swim and bike and strong on the run 
Great pro race if you get the chance to watch, take it
Watched some T100 and Oside highlights. The tracker wasn’t working for me but pretty interesting position swaps on the bike and run in Cali this weekend. The highlights did a good job showing J Riele go for an attack on the bike and it looks like that bit him on the run. The swim pace is mind blowing these days. Now that i’ve spent more time in the water I have respect for the different times rather than just knowing ‘thats fast’… 1:11 pace for the leader out of the water. Thats cooking the entire time.
T100 in Singapore looked miserable with the heat. Those athletes were all on the verge of passing out in nearly every closeup we could see.
Fantastic come back 
Awesome to hear! Great job!
March was a bit of a let down in terms of total training volume. An international trip combined with several days completely off to rest a bout of Piriformis Syndrome that resulted from some poor-form lifting during laundry room remodel…oof. All back to normal now.
Thanks to everyone for providing input into my “70.3 and 140.6 on back to back weekends” question…haven’t decided yet…perhaps the injury should guide my thinking lol.
But I am registered for IM NC 70.3 on October 25 (only other 70.3 I am free to do this year), as I transferred my registration from IM Gulf Coast 70.3 due to schedule conflict. Earlier this year I had planned on doing IM Florida 140.6 on Nov 1, but now that’s obviously in question.
Good luck to everyone and hope to report a better April!
8 weeks until Montauk. Swam 1000m in a workout for the first time, and can now swim 75m without stopping (up from 50m last week). Working on balance in the water and hoping to improve quickly. 
Assuming that scheduling/logistics hold up, I think I’ve found my other two sprint tris for this year:
Gatsby is a little longer than a sprint (500m/25K/5K) and Hopatcong is a standard sprint (400m/20K/5K). Just my luck that the only one with an 800m (Montauk) is the first one! Ah well… will make sure I really care about my swim workouts right now.
I am for sure no specialist swimmer but how is your breathing? Because usually people who struggle with only be able to swim short laps is due to wrong breathing. Exhale under water is crucial. Otherwise you are just filling your lungs with CO2. With a proper cardio condition you should be able to swim 100-200m without stopping.
Do any of you do a run warm up before short distance tris? I’ve never done any sort of warm up before tri races before, but today did a 12km run, just went by feel and found myself getting faster as I went on. This got me thinking, when just running I find I need 15-20 minutes to get loose, would there be a benefit to doing 20 minutes running before lining up for the swim?
Welcome to The Thread! 
12km ain’t in my wheelhouse as a warmup (!) but yes if you can’t get in the water before the race start then I’ve done a few strides on the waterside to get the heart rate up. Then there was the time I was late to start and had to sprint 800m in a wetsuit to the start line just in time…
Hey all - I’m in a bit of a quandary bike-wise.
I’ve used my tri bike for six or seven years, leashed to the trainer and raced two or three times a year. I built it myself, It’s very comfortable but it’s not in a great state and it’s well “out of date” now; quick release skewers, rim brake, the adjustable cockpit is functional but seized in place, the rear brake caliper doesn’t operate well and the rear wheel is distorted.
I could get a new tri bike. But.
I’ve ditched two old bikes in the last twelve months that were clinging on for dear life. I’ve got a lovely urban bike I haven’t ridden in over a year that needs attention. But I should probably sell. My roadie is new and great…in twelve months I’ve only put 3250km on the clock.
So there are things that we want and things that we need and, well saving 20mins in an Ironman…
On the other hand…NBD. 
I wasn’t suggesting 12km as a warm up! Just that that day I felt better after the first 3 or 4km.
If it were me I’d keep my existing bike but get a shop to give it a complete strip down and rebuild, maybe take the chance to upgrade a few bits. It will feel like a new bike, you’ll still be used to how it fits and it will be a whole lot cheaper.
But that’s probably not what you wanted to hear!
If you’re not in a hurry, and are comfortable with what to look for (pretty sure that’s not a problem) you could spend some time in the used bike market. I did that two years ago when I finally moved from a road bike with clip on aero bars to a dedicated tri bike and was able to pick up a nice P2 that was only 2 years old and had just a couple hundred miles on it. I even got the original receipt and a few extra things like bottle cages, BTB bottle mount, and extra saddle. I paid $1000 for it and am quite happy!
My roadbike is a Canyon Aeroad CFR. What a beast. Very fast. And I am a newbie so a brand new TT bike was no option.
But I do all my bike stuff, repair, maintenance, builds myself so I purchased a BXT chines TT frame and started on creating my own Tri bike. All components carefully looked for best price/quality without spending too much. (And I can use my wheelset from my roadbike when do a tri race).
Currently 1x12 setup with SRAM etap HRD so 4 blips to change gears. Pretty handy I find this setup.
So instead of spending 4000-5000euro on a new bike. I just created my own for 1200-1400euro.
Now it is time to train as much as possible on this bike because my power is 15-20W lower than on my roadbike.
ps: my first Triathlon is a 700m/38km/10km race and the bike part is pretty technical so I am even thinking on using my canyon for this one because this bike is fast as hell. But the running part after will be better I guess after using a Tri bike instead of Road bike (and because newbie, my running is still not on the same level as my biking)
Thanks for the input! I have all the usual beginner problems: sinking legs, gasping for breath, the works. And of course just building muscle strength/endurance in muscles I don’t otherwise use much. I’m sure you’ve all been there way back when. 
But I’m getting there! @kurt.braeckel recommended Triathlon Swimming Made Easy by Terry Laughlin and I’ve gotta say, just the first balance drills are already making a HUGE difference. Eye-opening. I’m now up to 12x100, and rest between intervals has come down to about 1:30.
From here, the obvious: gradually increase total distance and reduce the rest between intervals while continuing to focus exclusively on balance and technique, NOT speed. I’ll gradually extend the intervals when it feels natural to do so.
I have seven weeks before Montauk, so I’m nervous. But I’ll get it done.
Realizing I probably have a lot I can give to this thread if I’d actually participate, lol.
I used to do the most complex warmup before sprints and olys, where I’d run, then bike, then swim… and I thought it was just too much. Let’s face it, you’re gonna be pretty warm when you get out of the water. So as I got older and more experienced, my warmup became:
Super simple, good results with that. More isn’t better; it’s just more. That routine also helped me stay more relaxed before race start because less was easier to get done. WAY too many athletes are overamped/anxious before race start and need to calm down (rather than listen to death metal and drink 6 cups of coffee to psych themselves up).
For 70.3+, I just did a short in-water warmup and that was it, especially if it wasn’t a mass AG start (rolling small groups of 2-5 swimmers), you didn’t need the speed right off the bat to get clean water.
For the record for the group here, the Total Immersion stuff will NOT make you fast, but specifically for people without much swimming background, it helps with balance, efficiency, etc., and can get you in the ballpark of feeling good in the water. Some of the stuff TI teaches isn’t what I would have a pointy-end swimmer do (head position, low stroke rate), but again, you need to learn to be efficient FIRST, so you can then build your endurance… and then you can worry about getting fast. @AgingCannon is making great progress in the water… cool to see!
My goal right now is for 800m in open water to not make me DEAD, so it was a very appropriate recommendation and it’s really helping.
Oh yeah, it is great for you. It was good for me in my early 20s when the only swim background I had was my lessons as a kid and lifeguard classes in HS. And I was able to get pretty fast with it. I was never a FOTW guy, but I got pretty speedy and was a FOP swimmer later in my career when I started to figure out how to be fast AND efficient.
