1) I hate running just as much as I remember hating running.
2) Now I hate swimming too.

9/22/2010 6:00:53 PM

Last tri of the season for me is in a week and a half, and then I can finally hang up my swim trunks for the year and forget about how cold and foul-tasting the ocean is. I can't wait.

9/22/2010 6:03:32 PM

swimming >> running

9/22/2010 6:03:43 PM

I agree, swimming is better than running but I get bored doing either for any protracted length of time. Back to Crossfit next week . . .

9/22/2010 6:05:32 PM

swimming is way way way way WAYYYYYYYY better than running

biking is also better than running

running is at the bottom. why can't swimming be the long part and running be the short part?

[Edited on September 22, 2010 at 6:07 PM. Reason : .]

9/22/2010 6:06:45 PM

I've been to 2 sprint tri's in the past 2 weekends as a spectator

I'm being convinced that I should do something along these lines

Seriously considering it, because my 4runner is for sale and I plan to buy a bike afterwards

looks like fun to me

9/22/2010 6:08:21 PM

^^ At first it was a nice change of pace, but I quickly found it was more boring than running . . . just less annoying and more of a workout. I mean really, how much fun is flailing your arms and staring at a black line for an hour (give or take?)

9/22/2010 6:22:24 PM

AWESOME!

i was a swimmer all my life. was/am. then i had shoulder issues, but i'm starting to get back into it now. loves it. but some people weren't born for the water.

9/22/2010 6:24:24 PM

Yeah, my aunt (who is 62 and still does Olympic Triathlons) called me the other day . . . she is undeniably more excited about this than I.

9/22/2010 6:32:01 PM

Yup, I have one Oct. 3rd in VA. I haven't trained much for this one, but I think my times may actually be better since I'm about 25 lbs. lighter. Next year's goal is a half iron-man. I'll probably be doing several international and Olympic distances then do a half towards the end of the season.

9/22/2010 6:40:23 PM

I like running way more than swimming. Even if I'm in a zone, I like that the scenery changes when I run. The ocean is pretty homogeneous. And I do Olympic distance without a wetsuit, so that's a good half hour in 60-degree water. [/fuckingcoldsmiley]

9/22/2010 11:20:11 PM

Hate running, HATE it. I ran CC and track for several years, dropped it in high school and started swimming. I love swimming, I don't get bored in the pool for some reason, I think the rhythm of it keeps my brain occupied. When I ran CC I never paid attention to the scenery. I'm actually good at swimming, getting to be good in the bike, and I'm adequate in the run, probably because I hate to run. Even with music I can't stand it.

I'm doing this last one with no wetsuit, gonna rock my tri shorts instead. 12-15 minutes being cold should be motivation to haul ass, and last time my transition time between swim and bike sucked because I had to peel off a wetsuit. This time, no such issue.

9/22/2010 11:25:12 PM

I don't really pay attention to the scenery either, but it must sink in subconsciously, because the time just passes a lot faster for me when I'm running. I have to concentrate a lot on swimming because I'm not very comfortable in the water, but it just seems to take forever. It definitely feels to me like I'm swimming longer than I'm running, regardless of my times.

Or maybe the time passes faster when I run precisely because I don't have to concentrate on it as much. I can zone out more completely and only focus on how I'm feeling instead of also concentrating on my technique.

[Edited on September 22, 2010 at 11:29 PM. Reason : ]

9/22/2010 11:27:23 PM

When I first did tris I never trained but would go out on the day of and just do them so I didn't get any of this hatred your describing, but when I started doing half Iron Mans that was a different story. Running does soothe me. Swim practice was a pain until I actually started pushing myself and making a game out of it. The only thing that was hard was getting into the pool.

Interestingly enough I now hate biking. It is really boring when practicing biking I can't do the things that made me enjoy biking in the first place. I rather run 13 miles then swim a full mile back to back all week long than do one 40 mile bike ride.

9/22/2010 11:29:46 PM

running sucks.

swimming is fun for recreation and even for exercise, but I think it would suck tremendously if you were doing it for long distances at race pace.

i'll stick with weight training and Crossfit, too, with the periodic lap swim (like a half mile, 10-15 lengths at a time, at a comfortable pace).

Quote :

" then i had shoulder issues"

I have shoulder issues from years of really hard weight training (mostly trying to benchpress all the weight in the world when I was in college)...I think that swimming actually helps mine.

[Edited on September 22, 2010 at 11:34 PM. Reason : ]

9/22/2010 11:32:14 PM

Me too, that's one of the reasons I started swimming actually. It definitely works muscles that help stabilize the joint, improves ROM, etc.

Biking for distance is easy to me, you set an avg. speed goal and you go after it, sort of a carrot to chase. A good bike computer makes all the difference in the world during training.

Running... sigh... it just sucks out loud. I'm not even bad at it, I just would rather do just about anything else. I think I'm going to have to look into doing more interval run training and only do the occasional longer run just to make myself do it.

9/22/2010 11:41:47 PM

haha, i started swimming in earnest when I was in Qatar, because it was 120-125 degrees during the day, and 100 at night.

and then i also noticed that it seemed to help my shoulder.

9/22/2010 11:44:07 PM

Things I've learned about JCASHFAN while he's been training for a sprint tri:

1) he likes to whine

9/23/2010 7:11:52 AM

if you're anywhere near me during the bike ride, you will not make the finish line.

9/23/2010 8:36:19 PM

He did quite well, beat me by 7 minutes in fact.

Now I'm gonna have to listen to him gloat about that!

9/26/2010 4:31:50 PM

When I trained for mine, I learned about runners diarrhea

9/26/2010 6:18:20 PM

^^ nah, Luna finished strong . . . young lady did well. Then there was the 60 something year old man wearing American flag speedos . . .

9/26/2010 8:44:20 PM

Quote :

"I have shoulder issues from years of really hard weight training (mostly trying to benchpress all the weight in the world when I was in college)...I think that swimming actually helps mine."

well swimming IS typically a low impact sport. but i'm guessing we suffered different types of shoulder injuries. i was talking about shoulder injuries resulting from competitive swimming with double works outs for like 10 years doing 7+ miles per practice...and not leisurely miles when you consider a practice was 2 hours long! definitely led to overuse injuries. plus, i swam butterfly and backstroke primarily which are not the nicest for shoulders (esp butterfly) :/

Quote :

"Me too, that's one of the reasons I started swimming actually. It definitely works muscles that help stabilize the joint, improves ROM, etc."

this is true. which is why a lot of runners (and other leg injury sufferers) rehab with swimming. but when you tear a rotator cuff, have impingement/swollen bursa in the shoulders, you have to do other stuff to rehab the shoulders. this stuff typically doesn't happen sans competitive swimming though...


[Edited on September 26, 2010 at 9:16 PM. Reason : .]

9/26/2010 9:14:22 PM

Quote :

"Running does soothe me."

My brother is this way, it has just never worked for me. He can go run a "light" 8 miles and come back completely relaxed. Me, I ran every week day for at least 5 years for distances ranging from interval training on a track up to a weekly 10 miler and I never, ever, felt soothed or got a "runners high". I'm just physiologically inferior I guess

9/28/2010 8:40:47 AM

i feel pumped after i run 10 miles

but i want to die in the process

and its been 6 weeks since i've done distance. i'm going to start running again this week. wait scratch that. i'm allowed to walk fast/and possibly jog for 10 mins a day. blahhh.

BUT what i wanted to ask the tri people was whether anyone could recommend some good (not too expensive, i'd like to keep it under $70 which might be hard) compression shorts. it seems tri athletes wear them more but i am going to start running in them because of what happened with my quad. would like some extra compression/stability. plus my PT said they are good if you have suffered an injury since they add extra support/increase blood flow or whatever?

anyone? anyone? i guess everyone in here is a boy but i just don't even know what brands to look at. i know nike and under amour have "compression shorts" but they are really just spandex shorts that are like $20 a dicks. they aren't the real thing.

9/28/2010 3:12:32 PM

2XU's compression gear is pretty good, imo; I don't have the shorts, but I do use a few other pieces from their line and have been happy with them. They're $80 on their website, but you might be able to find a better deal in an Ebay store or at retail.

http://www.shopatron.com/products/productdetail/part_number=WA1439b/1758.0

Also found these Louis Garneau's: http://www.triathletesports.com/Louis-Garneau-Womens-Compression-Short-p/1050335.htm. My main tri shorts are LG's and I love them, so I would imagine these would be good too, since they would pretty much just need to take out the chamois and do a slight bit of refitting.

[Edited on September 28, 2010 at 3:31 PM. Reason : ]

9/28/2010 3:25:04 PM

^ thanks! i guess i wouldn't mind shelling out the $80 (maybe i can even get my dad to do it for me haha) because its going to help prevent reinjury and help stabilize.

9/29/2010 9:38:35 PM