yeah that should help a lot... cotton retains moisture and is quite abrasive. The combination of heat, moisture and friction are what causes your blisters. A good running sock will be some sort of technical fabric (or wool) that will help manage moisture by pulling it away from your foot and allowing it to evaporate through the ventilation built into your shoes. the tech fabric will also helping to alleviate some of that friction. It really is a lot more comfortable and I'd bet that this goes a long way to help your blister problem.
First sprint triathlon
- Thread starter FL shaver
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yeah that should help a lot... cotton retains moisture and is quite abrasive. The combination of heat, moisture and friction are what causes your blisters. A good running sock will be some sort of technical fabric (or wool) that will help manage moisture by pulling it away from your foot and allowing it to evaporate through the ventilation built into your shoes. the tech fabric will also helping to alleviate some of that friction. It really is a lot more comfortable and I'd bet that this goes a long way to help your blister problem.
My wife and I did our first T1 brick workout today. We’re tired as hell, but pleased with unexpected results: I posted my best swimming time yet and she had her best bicycle time. I’m glad I’m getting my transition work in early this year, because it was SLOPPY first time out of the gates!
Fooling around with my spreadsheets and last few workout pace data, it looks like I can already take 9:49 off of last year’s time. If I work it between now and race day, I can likely hit a 1:35:00 time. I’d be pleased as punch with under 90-minutes, but that may be a stretch. I know most would think that a bad sprint time, so it’s a good thing I’m racing for myself and not them!
I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow morning for another chance to keep getting better!
Fooling around with my spreadsheets and last few workout pace data, it looks like I can already take 9:49 off of last year’s time. If I work it between now and race day, I can likely hit a 1:35:00 time. I’d be pleased as punch with under 90-minutes, but that may be a stretch. I know most would think that a bad sprint time, so it’s a good thing I’m racing for myself and not them!
I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow morning for another chance to keep getting better!
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- #43
Happy to hear your training is going well! It'll feel good to improve upon last year's effort. It's cool that you have a training partner. My wife is doing her training at the gym.
My sister did a sprint tri in CT last evening in 1 hr 7:32. I don't know how she does it! Still hoping for sub-1:15, but the accomplishment will be tempered knowing she's got me by 7+ minutes! Both of her transitions were under a minute.
Are you planning a workout outside tomorrow? Supposed to be a wet weekend. Might throw in a surf tomorrow and skip the long bike ride!
My sister did a sprint tri in CT last evening in 1 hr 7:32. I don't know how she does it! Still hoping for sub-1:15, but the accomplishment will be tempered knowing she's got me by 7+ minutes! Both of her transitions were under a minute.
Are you planning a workout outside tomorrow? Supposed to be a wet weekend. Might throw in a surf tomorrow and skip the long bike ride!
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- #44
Well, got a little wet. Two five minute light showers over 38 miles. The bike shorts are worth every penny.
Surf is up today. An open water swim in the Gulf would be difficult! I imagine they would cancel the race if it were this choppy.
Surf is up today. An open water swim in the Gulf would be difficult! I imagine they would cancel the race if it were this choppy.
If you can't get your blister issue sorted out with socks try some leuko tape. Available on Amazon. Works great for hot spots too.
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- #46
Will check it! Thanks!
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- #47
Did a simulation of the first two legs of the sprint tri tonight. I did an 8:00 swim as fast as I could, and my kids tell me that I can easily do 500 yds in that time. Took a full minute to wrestle out of swim trunks and into dry shorts for the bike. Glad I won't have to do that race day! Then did 10 miles on the bike in 33:00. The best part was that I felt energetic enough to run 5K! The cooler evening definitely made a difference.
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I hear ya about cooler weather being better (or at least less humidity, anyway). My best runs have been starting around 7:30-7:45. I did a 40-mile ride on Sanibel and Captiva this morning at a leisurely pace. My wife and I did our first open water swim tonight (east end of Sanibel) and I posted a much better time than my pool swims, and I felt much less tire. The water was eerily still and there was no wind which had a lot to do with it. We followed that with a 3-mile run. Not a bad day's work!
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- #49
The Gulf is finally calming down, eh? If I hadn't been in the Keys this weekend, I would have gone surfing Saturday and Sunday. Hoping for a glassy morning the day of the tri. Sounds like you are getting some quality workouts in!
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- #50
80 degrees at 8 am and 87 by the time I strapped the running shoes on. Swimming later.
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- #51
Got some tri belts and energy gels in the mail today. Wish I'd had the energy gel while riding 38 today! Going to need help getting through the run...
Nice ride! My longest since we've been back at it was 42, and my run the next day was awful. Good thing this isn't a half IM.
What belts did you get, out of curiosity? I ordered a pair from an online shop, but they fouled up something else in the order so I cancelled everything. We're going to stop by a run shop in town after work one night next week to look at belts.
I'm glad there's still a month to dial everything in, as I don't feel quite where I want to be in any of the three legs. Looking at my numbers gave me some perspective as to how much I've already improved, though: my average heartrate on runs has gone down ~15%, my average speed on the bike has gone up 2 mph, and I can comfortably cover the swim distance in open water with a light chop (for comparison, I could only do 50 meters at a time in the lap pool before getting winded when we started).
What belts did you get, out of curiosity? I ordered a pair from an online shop, but they fouled up something else in the order so I cancelled everything. We're going to stop by a run shop in town after work one night next week to look at belts.
I'm glad there's still a month to dial everything in, as I don't feel quite where I want to be in any of the three legs. Looking at my numbers gave me some perspective as to how much I've already improved, though: my average heartrate on runs has gone down ~15%, my average speed on the bike has gone up 2 mph, and I can comfortably cover the swim distance in open water with a light chop (for comparison, I could only do 50 meters at a time in the lap pool before getting winded when we started).
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- #53
Ordered TYR belts from swimoutlet.com. Didn't think to check the local running shops. Saves the hassle of a ride across the river, though.
Nice improvement in your fitness! I think I have a decent base. Over the next four weeks I'm going to decrease my distances a bit and work on speed.
Looking at the Mucky Duck camera, it seems today would have been perfect for the swim. Hoping for light E wind or none the day of the tri!
Run early and swim later tomorrow.
Nice improvement in your fitness! I think I have a decent base. Over the next four weeks I'm going to decrease my distances a bit and work on speed.
Looking at the Mucky Duck camera, it seems today would have been perfect for the swim. Hoping for light E wind or none the day of the tri!
Run early and swim later tomorrow.
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- #54
The body really appreciated yesterday's rest! Did 5.1 miles. Can't remember the last time I did 5. So much for tapering!
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- #55
Did the T1 brick tonight. 8:00 pool sprint (hoping I'm close to 1/4 mile open water swim), 1:30 in transition or so, and 10 mile bike in just under 33:00. Could and must push harder! Transition was definitely faster than the first time I tried it due to tri shorts! They were super comfortable and drip dried quickly, not affecting the bike at all. The sock rolling tip was great, too!
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I didnt scan back through, but you might consider trying no socks in a couple practice runs and bike rides... Having a small tub of water to rinse off your feet in transition would minimze the sand/dirt/grit making its way into your bike shoes. To go one step further, you could have your shoes attached to your bike and slip your feet into them once you get up to speed. The gains there are two fold: 1) Running in bike shoes, sucks at best. this would alleviate running in them all together assuming you're unstrapping them coming into T2. 2) You dont have to wrestle with your socks.
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- #57
Watching videos, I see many go sockless on the bike. Might have to give it a try. I've run many miles sockless, so I have no trouble with that. They will set up a kiddie pool entering transition. I hope that's enough to get rid of the sand, but I'll have water at my mat, too.
I have debris on my feet when I walk around inside my house... I'd imagine wherever you're going after the kiddie pool, your gonna pick up something uncomfortable. wise decision to have water in your transition area!
Last year the transition zone was grassy/muddy past the kiddie pool. We're off to do a simulated tri this morning!
I'm very happy with our moving times from today's workout. The red dif line compares my times (BR) to last year's race times. I'm right on track with where I want to be in improvements in every discipline! We didn't time transitions because we couldn't really set up well where we were today.
1. My open water swim time splits were faster today than what I've been doing in the pool. We also had a pretty sweet tail wind/tide that was pushing us along, so that was definitely a speed boost. We swam 400 meters across and 50 in as part of our reported times, so perhaps that will be a bit faster on race day. We had a dolphin cheering us on for the swim! Highlight of the whole time we've been training. Wife didn't see it!
2. My bike pace today is right in line with what I've been doing lately in practice. I think I can kick it up a bit more with some more speed and interval workouts in the time that's left before the race. We had a goofy turn around point, had a few road crossings, and were dodging the Sanibel cruisers on the mixed use path. They were having fun, we were having fun, so it's all good. I put shoes on in transition because I don't trust myself to do a flying start. I also don't want to buy tri shoes just to shave off a few seconds when I'm only competing against myself. I got out of my shoes about a quarter mile too early because I mixed up my landmarks. Had plenty of water on bike; need to time my mid-race snack a bit better. I think I ate it too early this time. Saw a family of raccoons that didn't see me until I sped by!
3. Ran out of gas with the run. We had a later than planned start, so the sun was good and hot by the time we started running. No shade at all. This was about a 12:30 mile split, so I definitely think I can shave ore time off here. Saw a BIG bobcat and heard a grunting gator!
I can't believe I've taken 18+ minutes off last year's time. I think if I push hard and get my transitions down, I can meet my "longshot" goal of a sub-90 minute race. I'm really, really proud of my wife's times, especially considering she hurt her achilles tendon early in the training plan and is just now getting back to running.
We decided to do the tri together as a way to cope with her losing a pregnancy earlier in the year. She's been a big support to me in getting back on track with fitness and weight loss. We both ate too much to cope earlier in the year, so this has been a way to reassess what's important to us and to get back into positive coping habits. Her due date would have been right around the time of the race start. It has been very hard for us mentally (well, me at least) the closer we get to the due-date-that-isn't, but today was a great re-affirmation that we're making very positive strides. And I saw aquatic mammals, land mammals, and reptiles! Can't beat that on a Saturday summer morning!
Getting excited to race!!!
1. My open water swim time splits were faster today than what I've been doing in the pool. We also had a pretty sweet tail wind/tide that was pushing us along, so that was definitely a speed boost. We swam 400 meters across and 50 in as part of our reported times, so perhaps that will be a bit faster on race day. We had a dolphin cheering us on for the swim! Highlight of the whole time we've been training. Wife didn't see it!
2. My bike pace today is right in line with what I've been doing lately in practice. I think I can kick it up a bit more with some more speed and interval workouts in the time that's left before the race. We had a goofy turn around point, had a few road crossings, and were dodging the Sanibel cruisers on the mixed use path. They were having fun, we were having fun, so it's all good. I put shoes on in transition because I don't trust myself to do a flying start. I also don't want to buy tri shoes just to shave off a few seconds when I'm only competing against myself. I got out of my shoes about a quarter mile too early because I mixed up my landmarks. Had plenty of water on bike; need to time my mid-race snack a bit better. I think I ate it too early this time. Saw a family of raccoons that didn't see me until I sped by!
3. Ran out of gas with the run. We had a later than planned start, so the sun was good and hot by the time we started running. No shade at all. This was about a 12:30 mile split, so I definitely think I can shave ore time off here. Saw a BIG bobcat and heard a grunting gator!
I can't believe I've taken 18+ minutes off last year's time. I think if I push hard and get my transitions down, I can meet my "longshot" goal of a sub-90 minute race. I'm really, really proud of my wife's times, especially considering she hurt her achilles tendon early in the training plan and is just now getting back to running.
We decided to do the tri together as a way to cope with her losing a pregnancy earlier in the year. She's been a big support to me in getting back on track with fitness and weight loss. We both ate too much to cope earlier in the year, so this has been a way to reassess what's important to us and to get back into positive coping habits. Her due date would have been right around the time of the race start. It has been very hard for us mentally (well, me at least) the closer we get to the due-date-that-isn't, but today was a great re-affirmation that we're making very positive strides. And I saw aquatic mammals, land mammals, and reptiles! Can't beat that on a Saturday summer morning!
Getting excited to race!!!
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