Hi Everyone, new to the Club!

[philjolliff]

Hi everyone, I consider myself a newbie. My wife Danielle and I started doing triathlons last summer (we did 2 each) at the encouragement of our fellow co-workers.
Danielle was a swimmer in high school and some in college at Ohio U. I was a sprinter at Ohio U (running longer than 200 meters seems a bit weird to me still). Triathlons have been great so far, we really needed something to fulfill our competitive edges. I started out at the floater level of swimming so last year was a fun start having her teach me how to swim. Neither of us had really ridden bikes other than our mountain bikes before this either so that has been a learning experience.
Danielle and I just joined the club and we look forward to meeting people and we look forward to a full season of triathlons, we'll both probably be doing several Sprint and Olympic races this year. We are also both in Rob Reddy's Tri Swimming 7/7 class up at Oberlin, although I need it much more than Danielle does.
Serious question - Is there such a thing as too many races in a season? (considering all races will be Sprint or Olympic distance, possible half-IM near the end of the season) What do most of you stick with?

[Aussie Rob]

Hey, welcome to the club!

I may get smacked down by some of the more experienced members (i still consider myself a newbie too), but if i were doing all sprints and olys, i'd probably race 10-12 times or more.

[JenCollister]

It is a free world, so you can do whatever you want. However, most triathletes focus on one (or maybe 2) "A" races. These are the races that you taper for properly and structure your training season around. You can throw in "B" races and "C" races, but the focus is different. "C" races usually get little to no taper and you race "balls to the wall" or treat it as a training day instead of following a race-day plan built from the months of training beforehand. I personally think that it is difficult to train properly for an A race and race throughout the season continually. You miss out on quality training days on the weekends that you race.

However, if your focus is to just do the race to say you did it, then go ahead and do one every weekend. Just be careful to not get injured. Listen to your body.

Of course, this is just my opinion - we all have one and most of them stink. : )

Welcome to the club!

[philjolliff]

Thanks for the tips! Last year was more about doing the race and saying that I finished.
This year I already know I can finish them, so now I just want to get better. I've picked 1-2 races that I want to do really well in, and a few others that will just be good for getting experience. I'll probably do 5-6 tri's total, mixing in a Duathlon or two and some road races near the beginning of the season.
Thanks for your help, I appreciate everyone's opinion.

[Janet E]

I might as well chime in.

First welcome to the club!

I think as long as you are realistic with your expectations and listen to your body, you can race quite a few races. I did quite a few last year, but probably could have done a bit better if I had the proper build structure and taper. As long as I was out there having fun and doing OK, it was good enough for me and I enjoyed racing a lot!

[Brent]

Phil,

Welcome to the club. I live in stow too. If you want someone to ride with let me know.

[philjolliff]

bdm17 said:

Phil,

Welcome to the club. I live in stow too. If you want someone to ride with let me know.

Thanks Brent! As it gets a little warmer out I'll be sure to contact you and set something up. I could definitely use some tips on good places to ride around the area.

[JMcAbier]

Go BOBCATS & welcome!