Recently, we participated in the first annual Life Time Fitness Indoor Triathlon in Colorado Springs. We went into the race with little expectations due to lack of sleep inflicted by Day Light Savings and a little apprehension related to the setup of spin bikes and treadmills.
This was my first indoor triathlon experience so I didn't really know what to expect. My prior triathlon experience has been in the form of a yearly all-girls sprint triathlon at the Jersey Shore. As many of you know, swimming is my weaker event so, I was a little excited to see how swimming in the lap pool would go. I was a little relieved to know I wouldn't have to deal with salty ocean water, waves, riptides, and the general mayhem of a many bodies flailing round me in open water. On the other hand, I really dislike treadmills so even though running is my better event I wasn't looking to forward to that portion. Overall, the race went really well. I had a great time and learned a few things about the differences in competing in an indoor versus outdoor triathlon. Sure, both have swim>bike>run objectives but tactically they're pretty different. For starters, the indoor triathlon is time based rather than distance based. In the indoor triathlon format we were given a set amount of time to swim, bike, or run as far as we could. In the outdoor triathlons we've done we had to cover a particular distance as fast as we could such as in the SheRox Triathlon which consisted of a .25 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 5K run. The indoor triathlon consisted of a 10 minute swim, 30 minute bike, and 20 minute run. Based on the distance you cover in the allotted time, we were ranked among the other competitors and given a points-based score depending on this ranking to determine the race results
10 minute swim: For the swim this format can be a little tricky if your aim is to be really competitive and rank highly because it requires you to know your splits and pay attention to clock i.e. if you get down to the wire on time you'd need to make a split second decision on whether you can slide another lap in. I was just aiming to see what I could do on a personal level, but in the future if I were trying to be more competitive in the swim, it might have been helpful to know what a 50 yard lap looks like for me time-wise so that I could have a goal in mind. If you're going to have a lane partner, try sharing with someone you know and remember to stay on your own side - one of the nice things about being in a pool versus open water is the ability to see where you're going. Another important tip is to remember your warm-up; whether you're competing in an indoor or outdoor triathlon, it's critical to get some sort of warm-up in to minimize your body's shock when you start swimming out hard. Nick and I shared a lane for the swim and compared to the ocean swims in the other triathlons I've done, this was the first time that I felt I could actually get into a rhythm and swim without bumping into other people and getting knocked about by other competitors and waves. That being said, more consistency swimming lent itself to quick fatigue for me so unlike an open water swim where I'd have to tread water in this scenario, I was able to let me feet drop and jog through the water...haha yes this sad to admit.
Transition #1: Whether you're competing in an indoor or outdoor triathlon, transitioning from the swim to the bike usually takes a bit longer. In the case of the indoor triathlon we were given a set amount of time for each transition which was not included in the race time - 10 minutes from swim to bike and 5 minutes from bike to run. This was different from typical outdoor triathlons in which your transition times count toward your total race time. I used having a set transition time to my advantage in this case and wore my regular swim suite for the swim and then took the time to dry off and change into some dry clothes for the rest of the event. I was excited to try out my new tri outfit from Saucony. Transitions as well as the bike are also great time to get some nutrition. For shorter events like this one or the outdoor sprint triathlons I've done I needed to focus mostly on hydration (especially in the dry Colorado air) and getting a little bit of sugar. I stuck with water and a couple Gatorade energy chews - one during the transition from swim to bike and one toward the end of the bike.
30 minute bike: The bike portion took place on spin bikes. If your bike shoes are compatible with the spin bike pedals, I'd recommend using them to allow for more power output and thus better efficiency. Unfortunately mine aren't compatible, so I donned my trusty Saucony Guide running shoes and made sure to use of the pedal cages. Don't just place your foot on top of the pedal; strap yourself in so that you can maintain a higher power output through your entire pedal stroke! Bike computers attached to the spin bikes tracked our speed and distance over the 30 minutes. Compared to cycling outdoors, you'll want to play around with your cadence and resistance on the spin bike to find the fastest speed. In this case a low resistance and high cadence allowed me to kick butt in the bike whereas I would have been putting in much different effort outdoors. Nick and I have been participating in spin classes 1-2 times per week since returning to Colorado Springs in January so I felt pretty confident and thankfully I was able to redeem myself after that swim.
Transition #2: Transitioning from the bike to run is usually the shorter transition. Compared to outdoor triathlons where you're going to be taking off your cycling gear - helmet, perhaps gloves, and switching shoes, my transition in the indoor triathlon consisted of hopping of the bike and walking over to a treadmill. Because I had a set 5 minutes available for this transition I took advantage of the time to hydrate and do some dynamic stretching to shake out that dead quad feeling when moving from bike to run, keep from getting tight, and stay warmed up.
20 minute run: With the exception of winter speed-work at Pitt's indoor track, I typically do all of my running outdoors. The only times I ever run on the treadmill are for fitness/VO2max testing purposes. Call me a purist but I really dislike running in treadmills - the essence of the great outdoors, wind in my hair, fresh air, changing scenery and surfaces are all lost in the mundane treadmill setting. However, running on a treadmill in a competition against others makes it a little better. If you don't normally run on a treadmill and you're planning to do an race that involves one it's not a bad idea to practice running on treadmill before the race to get a feel for what pace and incline is most comfortable for you...remember that training principle of specificity? Compared to running outdoors, acceleration on the treadmill is a bit different and takes some getting used to in the race setting. In the indoor triathlon, when we initially started the treadmill the timer and belt began as well. Unfortunately, this was at a pace of about 1.0 MPH so I needed to increase my pace as quick as possible. If you're treadmill has quick-pace buttons that instantly change the set pace to a higher value like 6 MPH etc. use them and continue to increase from there to save valuable time. Compared to running outdoors where pace can vary with terrain and such, I took a set it and forget it approach by increasing the pace to a difficulty but maintainable level within 60-90 seconds and then increased the pace again within the last 4 minutes to simulate that final "kick".In the end, I was fairly happy with my all-around results and felt optimistic about starting up my training for this year's Jersey Girl Triathlon with my ladies as well as a couple other triathlons with Nick. Free post-race smoothies were also a plus :)
Jess's Results:
16th overall
7th place female
15.5 swim laps (41 points)
23.2 bike miles (77 points)
2.49 run miles (73 miles)
191 total points
We are able to participate in the same race time which allowed us to compete side by side in the pool, on the spin bikes, and on the treadmills. A rather fun experience was watching each other swim by as we passed every lap, sometimes I'd give a little extra kick to provide a nice splash as Jess went by. When the whistle blew and it was time to head to the spin room I was dreading the pending showdown. This race was set-up for those with great cadence ability to succeed, as resistance on the bikes played no role, it was simply a count of how many times you could get the wheel to spin around in 30 minutes. I knew I'd have to pull out all the stops with my leg speed in order to top my small companion. Through the incredibly fast 30 minutes we battled and were able to take 1st and 2nd place in our heats cycling competition. For pride's sake I was able to win but both of us paid the price with a variety of chaffing and sore hamstrings due to the ridiculously high cadence the race required. We then had 5 minutes to get ourselves to the treadmills to finish our race. At the time of our arrival at the treadmill the top distance run was 2.9 miles in 20 minutes, which was well below my goal of 3.5 miles. However, the feeling that an all-out swim and bike session gives you before attempting an all-out run is not always the priming you'd like. I set the pace at a relatively steady but surprisingly hard feeling 10 mph and was able to maintain it throughout the course of the race, unfortunately that pace did not meet my goal as I finished with a final distance of 3.34 miles. Disappointing, but at the time was good enough for first place.A few days later the results were up, Jess proved to have an all-around great performance finishing 16th overall (including men). Nick's run did not end up standing up as a later competitor was able to crush 3.67 miles in the 20 minute period as well as win the other events. Nick finished 2nd overall.
The race was well organized with great volunteers but both of us would highly recommend a major change to make it smoother and more truly competitive. The idea would have been to utilize bikes that can sense resistance and cadence therefore providing a way to celebrate those who can truly bike at high speeds from those who can spin no resistance at a high speed. The bike turned out have a great effect of equalizing those in cycling shape to those not. Regardless of the feel the bike left we would both highly recommend indoor triathlons to those in cold weather climates that want to supplement their winter training and get into the racing season early. LifeTime did a nice job with the event and their friendly staff always makes it easy to workout.
