I need my Triathlon people and their help.
I know how much I have always detested them and rambled off about how biking really hurts my hips, but I want to enter a sprint triathlon-you know test out the waters with the biking portion.
See how it goes. What I don’t want or need, is to spend a fortune for a bike only to find out that I actually I enjoy biking as much as I thought I would. (meaning none). What is a girl to do? I have a beach cruiser bike (which would most certainly not be okay) and my brother has a mountain bike (which I really don’t want to use either but is better than option A). Anywho any advice and words of wisdom would be amazing. The race is:
1k swim
20k bike
5k run
So if any of my Tri pros (or biker pros) could give me some advice-we could be biker bffs too. 
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Also yesterday-I was testing out larger pictures versus using smaller. I haven’t quite decided what works better with my layout yet. So tell me your opinions on that too.
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I have been reflecting a lot about my blog lately and deciding what sort of path I want to take with it. Do I want to become a strictly food blog, do I want to just focus on swimming, on running, on both, on my nonsense of a life, on my curly hair, on math…you know the list is quite endless.
Then it hit me-I started my blog with the intentions of recording my healthy eats of an athlete (and true eats always) but it has kind of migrated a lot into my shenanigans and such. I’m okay with that as well, although I’m not too sure my life is that exciting. Anywho, I’m going to get back into doing weekly tallies of my working out to get a good feel for my training. I didn’t really do this when I was injured because how exciting can saying that I spent my life on an Arctrainer be? Yeah…not so much.
Please don’t train how I train, it is what works for me and I don’t intend for it to be a schedule for how you should train. I take rest days when my body needs it, not scheduled in and that has always worked well. We are not the same person and you are better off that way because god knows that world doesn’t need my twinnie.
So stats this week are
5 hours of ArcTrainer
31 miles (24 outdoors)
2 lifting sessions
Oh yes and no heel pain. That is very important. Actually-the most important!
I also feel the need to tell you I broke out my Burton hat and had the most fabulous run since cross country season today. (And yes-I wear my hair in a side pony..it's kinda my jive)
My goal next week is to replace 30 minutes of my Arc time with about 3.5 miles so we will see how that goes. So here are the goals for next week:
35 miles (as many outdoors as possible)
2 hours swimming
2 lifting sessions
4 hours of elliptical
Oh yes and about the history being made (minus my decision about Tris).
I.Am.Getting.In.The.Pool.Tommorrow.
GASP! It’s true. I’m going to swim for 1 hour tomorrow and get between 3000-4000 yards of slow easy swimming in. Wish me luck. 
With that I leave you-and the fact that Julie makes the best French Toast in the world I had an awesome weekend at her house.
WithWhip Cream!
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Question for you:
What is your favorite topic to ramble off about in your blog (food, athletics, knitting…)? If you don’t have a blog what is your favorite topic to talk about with your friends?
Oh yes and any Bike advice would be oh so helpful.
Good luck with the swimming tomorrow! You so could do triathlons, at least you have the swimming and running down and I’m sure the biking won’t be much of a problem, right? At least once you get the right bike. And no heel pain this week is definitely a plus!
Love the hat!
Ha just dont crash the bike like me. Sprint tris are fun in my opinion minus the biking! I ramble about anything on my blog… Lately i’ve kind of been thinking I should choose something and stick to it.
Oh god, you know as well as I do that is certainly something I would do bahaha,
I like your random posts! Keeps me interested ! I did a sprint tri I would say to see if there is a local bike shop where you are racing and see if you can demo or rent a bike. Since the bike distance isn’t that very you could def do it on a mountain bike but it would slow you down, that might be okay for you since your such a speedy swimmer and runner! Looking forward to hearing how it all works out!
** not very far
Oh thanks Larissa! What a great idea-I shall go harrass them over break.
I’d say for a bike, check craigslist. For a 20k bike, you don’t need anything fancy, but you will want the correct size, so look up how to determine what size you are and try to get that size frame.
I think the important thing about a blog is that you like writing about the topics, even if they are varied.
No idea about the bike — all I know is that my brother in law was in some duathlons last year. The first one he used a mountain bike and after that he borrowed bikes from friends — he said it made a big difference. But please don’t listen to me because I don’t really know what I’m talking about. That is all I know about bikes and events.
I like that your blog is a mix — seeing food all the time isn’t always that interesting. I’d rather hear about your training, your life, etc. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Ahh good luck with the swim tomorrow! I’m excited to hear more about your workouts! I like hearing about your life too though, it makes me feel like we are hanging out in real life. I mostly ramble about food and running, and I wish I incorporated more about life… but then I realize that my life comes down to school, food, and running, and no one wants to hear about school
We are legit blogging BFFS!
Have fun with the swim tomorrow! I’m so happy that you get to run again
I kind of just roll with whatever is going through my mind at that particular time. Food, my workouts, my random thoughts.
Oh I am just the opposite of you! I love triathlons but I hate swimming. I can run and ride all day long, but put me in the water and I am basically dead weight. I just get through the swim and then have fun on the run and ride. I wish we lived closer! I could help you learn to love the bike and you could help me learn to love the water
When I first went from marathons to tri’s I got a cheap Trek roadbike on craigslist. It ended up lasting me 5 years!! I think new it was $700 but I only paid $100 for it. Not too shabby! So I would check craigslist and see what you can find in the size you would need.
Haha! I’m a rambler too! And by the way, I used to draw my own Sailor Scouts too!!!!! I need to find those pictures!
With the bike situation, maybe borrow a friend’s or your brother’s. You can probably find a cheap bike online like craigslist perhaps. My bike is a Trek and it was like $800 back in the day. Bikes can be expensive for something good. I totally want to do a triathlon except I can’t swim that well yet.
So far in my blog I’m just rambling about running. Boring to others, exciting to me. (:
Oh my gawd. WE BOTH WEAR SIDE PONY TAILS WITH HATS. We were destined to meet via interwebs.
I recently bought a road bike (and by me I mean my parents) and I love it. They dropped around $750 for it but I use it so much on cross training days and biking with Alexis. It is da bomb.
YAYYYY for running. We all love running. And ice cream. And lolcats. And ANTM.
Anyways, I’m done. It’s past my bed time since I woke up at 5:45 to log that 20 miler. Yikes.
YAY we can be side ponytail grandmas together!
I’m just gonna read all the comments for advice because I was thinking about a sprint tri this summer too. I have experience swimming & biking for fun, but not racing for either of those.
I like the big picture, just cause it’s a really pretty landscape picture. Smaller pics would work for other things though.
I can help both you guys if you want with your tris!
I love your blog! No need to change in my opinion
I used to nanny for a former semi-pro cyclist, and his biggest thing with bikes is to go to a good shop and get fitted properly… and then if you’re low on $$ scour craigslist for bikes that size to buy. good bikes are EXPENSIVE. When he worked in a bike shop he said it was common for people to come in because they’d bought a cheap one and after a few months realized it sucked, they loved cycling, and needed something better… and at that point, their cheap bike becomes wasted money. Wasting money is lame.
If you’ve got friends around your height, borrow their bikes and give it a go before you invest too…
Ahhhh we can be tri-bffs!!! Since I’m doing my first tri and didn’t want to shell out a ton of cash, I got an older road bike for about $150 off of Kijiji. That way if I like tris and want to keep going I can invest in something better when I have the money, but if not then no big deal
Seriously Callie-I would love to be your Biker/Tri BFF! And your bike is the bomb.com. I want something ultraretro for real!
Lets be really cool and ride our bikes around town soon? I like bike rides hahah I’m def not hard core by any means….
ps. i will like any way you blog! it’s your blog blog how YOU want to!
aww girl i love this
i wish i could do tri’s with you girl! we’d be awesome! ps i always ramble in my posts haha 
glad you had a great weekend!
ask around! see who has a road bike that you can borrow. if not, a mtn bike would do the trick- wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable or as fast. but they may have a separate division for mtn bikes- here they’re called the “fat tire” division. check and see! if not, walmart sells a pretty inexpensive road bike (check for it online) that you could look at. mind you, the quality is iffy, but if you’re not ready to commit to a big price tag, that may be the way to go. oh, and check craigslist and ebay! that’s where i got my bike!
Wow thank you so much Rachel. I never thought Walmart would and for 12 miles it wouldn’t be too bad.
haha, I love the pic with the hat! Hilarious! I’m registered for my first tri right now so I could totally use advice, too!!!
I can help with the bike. And how about big pictures of food, and small pictures of other stuff lol ; )
And I don’t think your blog needs to be one thing or another. I think people like to read your crazy life, eats, and workouts than they would about weekly totals. We read your blog for you Hollie, I like what you have now- don’t try and mimic anything you see other bloggers do. You rock!
I did my first indoor tri which was basically a sprint tri, and it was SO much fun!! Girl you should do one:) Slash we should do one togeths, that would make my life. I would recommend getting a road or hybrid bike, mine is a hybrid and works amazingly. The wheels are just a tad wider than the typical road bike, which is perf because I also love riding on other terrains!
What kind of bike do you have Katelyn?
I honestly LOVE your blog the way it is!! You’ve got a great combo of fitness, foods and your crazy fun life! Seriously, I’d keep it exactly the same way; perfect enough in every sence:)
Big pics rock my socks! I like reading about food & I love your recipes. I look forward to seeing your funny pics of just being goofy! They are the most fun
xo
Mindy
that french toast. needs to get in mah belly.
and I love the side pony/hat combo!
I think anything YOU like and want is what WE readers like and want! (for the majority of us?) b/c it makes you real and more able to show your true self. so anything, we’ll just take it!
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Tri! YAY ! I can’t help though because I am pretty much as lost as you with biking
LOL.. if only our swimming and running could make up for it….
Hi there,
I did a sprint tri (my first race of any kind!) last year on a Kona Dew (hybrid bike) which was around $500 new. My legs were certainly burning at about 18k but it is completely do-able on a hybrid (which like like a light mountain bike with skinnier tires). I wasn’t fast per se but I did beat two of my friends who were on road bikes in the bike portion by about 2 minutes! If you buy a used bike (or a walmart bike) get it tuned up at your local bike shop. You never know what safety issues could arise from shoddy assembly! My next tip is to get a cycling computer – I get so much more motivated when I see how fast I’m going (or not going!).
The above poster who recommending renting or testing a road bike from a local bike shop has a great idea! Shops probably won’t advertise these services but you can go into the shop and negociate something. Just make sure you practice on the bike before hand, you don’t want to be uncomortable on race-day!
Good luck!!
- Elena
Wow thanks Elena, what awesome advice. I am going to look at bike shops back in my area I think first.
I just started reading your blog and I’m addicted! This is a few days late but I did my first tri last summer and actually the biking was my favorite part! I bought a new road bike (which I love) but my friend used her old mountain bike. I would suggest NOT using a mt bike – she was ahead of me by a good few minutes in the swim but I quickly passed her in the bike and finished that leg a good 15 minutes before her. Apparently that heavy of a bike makes a huge difference!
There were tons of people who were also doing their first sprints who were borrowing or renting bikes. Maybe you could a road bike a few times before the day to get used to a certain type and then rent that same kind again day of. A lot of people use hybrids too but I would say if you use that kind the day of the race, definitely use it for training too. (I did a lot of my training on a spin bike so the road bike felt easy.)
Looking forward to reading more of your posts
Honestly, you would be fine using a mountain bike for a sprint tri. I did my first sprint tri on a mountain bike and all though I was passed, I still finished in a decent time! Plus, they are the easiest to handle if you aren’t used to a road bike, it could spell disaster!