[TOMMYTHEBULL]

Well I just completed my second sprint in my short career. 1/2 SWIM(11:40)11 MI. BIKE(28:45) AND 5K(21:49)...PLUS TRANS. TIMES====1:04. Everything improved from my first race. My demographic group(m 40-44)posted some very good times. I was 11th(10th place guy beat me by 8 tenths of a second). Overall I placed 28th. I am very excited about my results so far and am anxious to see where I may end up. Any advice on how hard one should swim(I definitely pushed a little harder than my first race and the results showed it). But I feel like I could go harder. Do HR'S for swimming tend to be lower than the bike or run. I've found that I can get my swim HR up around 160...whereas my bike can get to 180's..and my running can get up to 190's. Anyway so far so good..I'm hooked(is that a bad thing?). TommytheBull.

[sfricks]

Welcome to the "Dark Side". You're hooked and it is indeed a good thing.

Your times look killer. Great transition. Kick butt swim. 23MPH bike. That rocks! And a 7MM run is smokin'! You're in great shape and I personally can't give you advise on where to improve since you are way beyond me in ability.

I can say that you are either Pro level or have a heart the size of a horse for those heart rates. I'm a male 44 and my theoretical Max HR is 176. I HAMMERED a few hills on the bike sunday and couldn't break 175. On 5k runs I usually pull no more than 165~ for the duration. Are you sure you're over 40? :)

In any event, GREAT JOB and keep hammering!

[TOMMYTHEBULL]

Thanks for the compliments Mr. Fricks. I will admit I was in good shape before I took decided to give this triathlon thing a try. I did a lot of fitness kickboxing..great cardio workout...and used bands for strenght training. I have a lot of upper body strength(muscle mass) vs the lean slender body type(more of a runners build)that I've seen at the two sprints I've competed in. I'm 5'9" and my weight stays between 168-172. Now that my 2 girls are back in school I really can dedicate more time to training. I tend to train on the upper end of exertion/HR levels 85% and above most of the time. I've read about HR zones and training that way, but I would have a hard time trying to keep a training session down in the 120-130 range...my competitive drive always seems to kick in. Maybe that's a bad thing I'm not sure. I was just reading about the escape from Miami race it sounds like something I might try next year. I want to stay with these sprints for awhile. Probably will compete in another sprint next month. I'll let you know about my progress.

[hmullett]

Tommy,
Man, am I jealous of your times! Very nice race, and like Scott (or Mr. Fricks) said, it is indeed a good thing.

Heather