How did the company's indoor tri work? Participants were ranked based on total distance covered across three disciplines:
Let's talk strategy. Here is how I approached each segment:
Rowing
I have almost no rowing experience. I've only used a rowing machine maybe ten times my entire life? I knew the rowing would be my downfall, but I was hoping that maybe the comparatively shorter timeframe of 10 minutes would reduce the deviations across contestants. My only hope was to pull out something semi-respectable here.
Biking
I have some experience with spin bikes, but not a ton. I wanted to try to find a happy medium between speed versus resistance. One of my coworkers and I strategized that the biking segment could manifest the biggest potential mileage spreads. Therefore, I wanted to push the biking as best as I could.
Running
Of the three disciplines, I am most comfortable with the running portion by far. However, I do not usually run with a 1% incline, as was required here. I also knew that my legs could potentially be shot by the time I got to the running segment. My thought was that I would start at a pace that felt comfortably hard, and then gradually try to increase the speed.
So how did things actually go on the big day?
Rowing - 2040 meters completed
I started out feeling good, but like any other race I realized after a few minutes that I had started out too quickly. I tried to use a combination of leg strength and arm strength. I also leaned backwards a little on the extension in the hopes of making gravity work for me.
Towards the end, my hands were sweaty so I had trouble maintaining my grip. To compensate, I tried to squeeze the handlebars more securely. This made my forearms ache. The 10 minutes on the rower couldn't go by fast enough.
As expected, my performance on the rower was eyeballed by a race volunteer as being "a little bit south of what we've seen on an average basis." He was probably being charitable when he said this, too.
Biking - 4.0X miles completed
I did most of the biking between levels 8 and 9. I tried going up to levels 10 and 11 for a few seconds, but found it a little too challenging. One of my fellow participants stood up on her pedals a few times, but I elected to stay seated the whole time.
I was unhappy that the bike only measured distances in tenths of a mile. My odometer was at 4.0 miles for a good twenty seconds at the very end, even though I was pedaling like crazy. I hit 4.1 miles at the 15:02 marker, but I only got credit for 4.0 miles. Grrrrr!
Running - 1.65 miles completed
Admittedly, I had high ambitions for the run segment. I was thinking maybe I could maintain my target 5K race pace (8:20/mile) for 15 minutes. But those ambitions quickly came crashing down as I was getting underway. My legs felt like grape jello.
I did still want to run a negative split on the treadmill. I started out at a 9:20 pace, then I gradually upped the speed a notch or two at a time. During the last two minutes, I went all out. The last 30 seconds or so, I was flying at a 7:07 pace. During those moments, I was thinking to myself that I could very well die right now.
My pace for the 15 minutes averaged out to a 9:06 pace. Not too bad, but in retrospect I think I could have done better.
At the end...
I was completely zonked. I was sweating like a fire hydrant, and my legs and arms were both shot to pieces. Even though it was only about 1:00 PM when my participant wave finished, I was ready to call it a day and go home!!!
As I write this, the final rankings have not yet been posted. Despite a subpar rowing performance, I was told that my biking and my running were comparatively strong. That made me feel good.
I know I have no hope of placing. On the contrary, I could largely be at risk for coming in last place! But honestly, I will more than happy if my performance ends up being at or above the 50% percentile.
Tons and tons of renewed respect for all you triathletes out there. This tri stuff is no joke!
- 10 minutes on the rowing machine
- 15 minutes of spin-biking, with higher resistance translating to more distance covered
- 15 minutes of treadmill-running at a 1% incline
 |
| If only!!! |
Rowing
I have almost no rowing experience. I've only used a rowing machine maybe ten times my entire life? I knew the rowing would be my downfall, but I was hoping that maybe the comparatively shorter timeframe of 10 minutes would reduce the deviations across contestants. My only hope was to pull out something semi-respectable here.
Biking
I have some experience with spin bikes, but not a ton. I wanted to try to find a happy medium between speed versus resistance. One of my coworkers and I strategized that the biking segment could manifest the biggest potential mileage spreads. Therefore, I wanted to push the biking as best as I could.
Running
Of the three disciplines, I am most comfortable with the running portion by far. However, I do not usually run with a 1% incline, as was required here. I also knew that my legs could potentially be shot by the time I got to the running segment. My thought was that I would start at a pace that felt comfortably hard, and then gradually try to increase the speed.
 |
| Every hard-core sports strategy discussion requires the unwielding of the X's and the O's! |
So how did things actually go on the big day?
Rowing - 2040 meters completed
I started out feeling good, but like any other race I realized after a few minutes that I had started out too quickly. I tried to use a combination of leg strength and arm strength. I also leaned backwards a little on the extension in the hopes of making gravity work for me.
Towards the end, my hands were sweaty so I had trouble maintaining my grip. To compensate, I tried to squeeze the handlebars more securely. This made my forearms ache. The 10 minutes on the rower couldn't go by fast enough.
As expected, my performance on the rower was eyeballed by a race volunteer as being "a little bit south of what we've seen on an average basis." He was probably being charitable when he said this, too.
Biking - 4.0X miles completed
I did most of the biking between levels 8 and 9. I tried going up to levels 10 and 11 for a few seconds, but found it a little too challenging. One of my fellow participants stood up on her pedals a few times, but I elected to stay seated the whole time.
I was unhappy that the bike only measured distances in tenths of a mile. My odometer was at 4.0 miles for a good twenty seconds at the very end, even though I was pedaling like crazy. I hit 4.1 miles at the 15:02 marker, but I only got credit for 4.0 miles. Grrrrr!
Running - 1.65 miles completed
Admittedly, I had high ambitions for the run segment. I was thinking maybe I could maintain my target 5K race pace (8:20/mile) for 15 minutes. But those ambitions quickly came crashing down as I was getting underway. My legs felt like grape jello.
I did still want to run a negative split on the treadmill. I started out at a 9:20 pace, then I gradually upped the speed a notch or two at a time. During the last two minutes, I went all out. The last 30 seconds or so, I was flying at a 7:07 pace. During those moments, I was thinking to myself that I could very well die right now.
My pace for the 15 minutes averaged out to a 9:06 pace. Not too bad, but in retrospect I think I could have done better.
At the end...
I was completely zonked. I was sweating like a fire hydrant, and my legs and arms were both shot to pieces. Even though it was only about 1:00 PM when my participant wave finished, I was ready to call it a day and go home!!!
As I write this, the final rankings have not yet been posted. Despite a subpar rowing performance, I was told that my biking and my running were comparatively strong. That made me feel good.
I know I have no hope of placing. On the contrary, I could largely be at risk for coming in last place! But honestly, I will more than happy if my performance ends up being at or above the 50% percentile.
Tons and tons of renewed respect for all you triathletes out there. This tri stuff is no joke!
That sounds like a lot of fun!! Very creative to use rowing in place of seimming :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Xaar! Yes - I liked the whole idea of doing a "water"-inspired sports as part of the tri rotation without having to worry about changing out of a wetsuit during transition!
DeleteThanks, Amanda! Congratulations on coming in second in your AG at your first indoor tri! That's a huge accomplishment! I seriously have so much more respect now for triathletes, you included. Tri-ing is so intense!
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of using the rowing machine instead of swimming! I don't have a lot of experience with rowing except for when I took a month of Crossfit. I learned form but that was YEARS ago so I bet I don't remember it! I do remember that it takes practice, for sure. I would be happy with your distance even if that person said it was in the lower half. Poo on them!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Crossfit included any kind of rowing machine usage! I bet if you did go on a rower, that your muscle memory would kick in on some of those form pointers. I can certainly imagine that it would take a LOT of practice. Thank you for the kind words on my rowing distance. =)
DeleteThis looks like fun! I definitely would have struggled at the rowing machines.
ReplyDeleteZenaida, this experience was craziness! It was definitely unique but ended up being a lot tougher than I had envisioned. I do wonder if the longer triathlons would be easier for me than the sprint triathlons, similar to how I find half marathons to be easier than 5Ks?!?!? But I think you like 5Ks better than halfs, yes?
DeleteI love how active our workplace is! I've rowed maybe twice in my life. It's hard! But I imagine people who do it regularly are super toned. Maybe that's the cross training I'm looking for to compliment my running. Hmm...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy! I am very fortunate and very blessed that my company puts health and fitness such a top priority. Rowing is definitely no joke! Whenever I've done rowing workouts in the past, I struggled to complete 15 or 20 minutes! You think that it's all arm and back strength, but there's a big element of leg strength too! Whenever I've done rowing workouts in the past, I struggled to complete 15 or 20 minutes! Let me know if you decide to give it a go. =)
DeleteAwesome job! So much about triathlon is about pushing yourself and also strategizing on how to get through ALL of the sports as fast as possible. I've learned that I 'could' go all out on the bike, but that would be at the expense of my run, and thus make my overall time slower. It's a fine line.
ReplyDeleteI love the rowing for the water activity! I've also heard of kayaking and SUP'ing as alternatives that some races provide too.
Now can we get you out to an outdoor triathlon? ;)
Thanks so much, Lauren! I am reading your tri updates with more understanding now that I have a little bit of experience with what is involved! Couldn't agree with you more about the strategy of going all-out on the bike but then paying for it on the run. It reminds me of the strategy involved with doing a running race, except much more complex!
DeleteOoooh, kayaking or SUPing as the third sport? Those are both VERY cool alternatives! I think that those two activities open up a LOT of room for performance deviation, too, especially with SUPing.
Goodness, the idea of an outdoor tri sounds intriguing but also intimidating! I'll have to work up to it, literally. But I appreciate your confidence in me. =) I seriously have so much more respect now for you triathletes. I knew tris were hard, but I didn't realize they were THAT hard!
Wow! I think that is so fantastic and I highly doubt you finished last, come on! And if you did... that either means your workplace is really fit, or more people need to be engaged to workout, there ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim! The results got posted and I ended up finishing 8th out of 28 females. Not bad! And yes - you have great perspective on the population participating in the tri. =)
DeleteGood job! So ... now are you going to do a real tri? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Natalie!!! I'm a little gun-shy with an outdoor tri, now, given that these events are so much tougher than I realized. But yeah, someday I'd like to try a real outdoor tri. I know that you have gotten bitten by the tri bug yourself! ;)
Delete