Newbie - disappointed

take it easy on yourself... you lost 90 pounds (a major accomplishment)
and finished ( a praiseworthy feat). Not sure if a 10 percent
improvement is a lot to expect, but for me it was easier to shave off
time when I was new because there were so areas to improve. I always
kick my butt post race, but during the event picking up a little time is
not as easy as it I think it is when I'm berating myself the day after.
Think of saving time in segments: how much can you realistically expect
to shave off the swim, bike, run, and transitions? I'm sure others will
have more concrete suggestions but you've got the winter to prepare for
next season.
Eric

PROZAC said:

Hi all - new poster to the newsgroup - Just ran my first sprint tri in
4 years (1/4 mi swim, 10 mile bike, 3.5 mile run) Ran my first one is
2001, after losing a bunch of weight (lost 90 pounds) I wasn't
impressed with my time (1:22) but happy I finished.

Started training for the race 3 months ago - I don't run well, thanks
in part to 2 bad knees and a newly replaced ACL - I've been biking,
spinning 3 days a week, and sporadically swimming in the pool.

Well, my time sucked 1:32 - Got kicked in the neck during the swim,
which threw my pace off, and then sprained my ankle during the swim
transition (12m swim, 42m bike, 38m run)

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? Well, I'm planning on
entering 3 of these races next year, June, July and September.

Thanks for letting me vent - is looking to improve my time by 10% a
stretch???

Thanks Eric, I expected to get slammed for asking a stupid question - I
know I lost a lot of time transitioning from swim to bike, couldn't
find my helmet (I was a little disorientated after the swim - it was in
my hand) lol....Bike to run was quick, just a shoe change...looking at
it again, 13 minutes might be a stretch - thats a little over 4 minutes
a "stage" - I think shooting for a 10 MINUTE reduction is more
realistic - shaving 4 minutes from the bike AND the run is do-able,
leaving me to make up 2 minutes in transition and swim - going to wear
a wetsuit in the swim next time (I wore short tri-pants) with spandex
shorts underneath, so I didn't have to change (I ran and biked in them)
- I am concerned about losing time dropping the wet suit, but I've been
told to take it as much as I can IN the water.. ANyhow, thanks for the
reply, enjoy the winter and as soon as I take this cast of my ankle,
I'm back to training and planning on kicking a**

Brian

I used to roadrace motorcycles (I REALLY sucked at that sport; it was a
real thrill but lacked the feelings of accomplishment that go with a tri
finish). Before I go too far off, we used to work hard to shave of just
a 10th of a second, but the same strategy should apply here.
If there were 10 turns, and I cut each by 10th of second, then that was
a second per lap (a HUGE edge in that sport)
I guess what I'm saying is we looked for tiny time savings throughout
the entire course. It took a lot of off-track thinking and planning to
improve the on-track, in-race performance.
I'm too tired, this is too off the wall... good night
Eric

PROZAC said:

Thanks Eric, I expected to get slammed for asking a stupid question - I
know I lost a lot of time transitioning from swim to bike, couldn't
find my helmet (I was a little disorientated after the swim - it was in
my hand) lol....Bike to run was quick, just a shoe change...looking at
it again, 13 minutes might be a stretch - thats a little over 4 minutes
a "stage" - I think shooting for a 10 MINUTE reduction is more
realistic - shaving 4 minutes from the bike AND the run is do-able,
leaving me to make up 2 minutes in transition and swim - going to wear
a wetsuit in the swim next time (I wore short tri-pants) with spandex
shorts underneath, so I didn't have to change (I ran and biked in them)
- I am concerned about losing time dropping the wet suit, but I've been
told to take it as much as I can IN the water.. ANyhow, thanks for the
reply, enjoy the winter and as soon as I take this cast of my ankle,
I'm back to training and planning on kicking a**

Brian