Forums >Racing>tirathlon
Hey everyone whats a good way to get in to triathlons? like what a good starting block for training? thanks
Your question isn't easy for anyone to answer now (especially me, since I'm a simple student of the game).
It would help to understand your current level of training and your current performance as it relates to the 3 sports.
Can you swim?
Do you swim?
Do you have a road bike or tri bike (or do you ride a hybrid style bike)?
Do you bike often and long distances?
Do you run much? How fast? How far?
Even when those questions are answered, there's other questions....
Why are you looking to triathlons (for endurance, speed, balanced activity)?
Just like in running (5k, 10k, 26.2, 50k, ...)., there's different levels (sprint, OLY, 70.3, 140.6).
Depending on your goals and your baseline fitness, there's different ways to get you to where you want to be.
Cheers,Brian
Life Goals:
#1: Do what I can do
#2: Enjoy life
Run Wild
The swim is a big hurdle for a lot of folks. If you aren't a strong swimmer, focus on that first. Your goal should be to get out of the water at the race and not be winded or "spent". You need to be comfortable with the race distance and be able to come out of the water fresh and ready for the bike.
The bike portion is the longest portion of the race. Once you are comfortable with your swimming abilities, spend as much time on the bike as possible. A strong bike leg can more than make up for a weak swim. For your first tri or even the first tri season, use what ever bike you can find. You don't need a Cervelo P5 to compete in your first local sprint. In fact, if you can't make a bike go over about 22 mph, it looks a bit silly to be on a $5,000+ bike with all the kit.
As for the run, most of us here shouldn't have any issues with the run. You will want to do a few brick workouts. But understand that you will never get "used" to that feeling. Starting a run after a hard bike leg is a very unnatural feeling. Your feet are either going to feel like bricks or (and this is even worse) they're going to be very light... your candence is going to be way higher than normal and you will be sprinting without even noticing. Relax and understand that the first 1/4 mile of that run is going to suck. You'll settle into the run after that and be just fine.
The important thing is to learn from every race and make small improvements along the way. Enjoy it. We're all doing this because it's fun, right?!
We're all doing this because it's fun, right?!
Every morning at 4am (when my alarm sounds), I argue with myself regarding that very question
But yes, it has been the best transition I've ever made (pure running to tri-sport training).
And I agree with DPCrouse regarding the other items written.
thanks for the advice
for the first poster: i can swim but i never train on it unless im swimming back a tube after i have fallen tubing and i do have a road bike that my dad and i built for racing but that never really happened and i use it to do leisure rides. i dont ride that often but being a high school student its hard....thats going to change next summer with 150miles a week hopefully. and i do run. i run track and my training is around 35miles a week with the majority being easy runs at around a 6:50 pace with best time being 2:06 800 4:40 1600 a 10:26 3200(can go faster never ran it after this time) and 17:30 5000(over the summer not doing work outs only doing easy runs for millage bases)
U.M.W.B
A Triathalon is something I have been wanting to do as well, I am going to do the one that starts with a 800 yard swim, then 18 mile bike ride and then a 6 mile run. Since swimming is most definitely my weak area I have been using the Lap pool at the gym, it took a few weeks but I can now swim 800 yards in 32 minutes. I dont know where you live, but here in CA, "On Your Mark Events" is a terrific online resource for local Triathalons.
Good luck!
Jim
thanks i have a good calendar of local events to check out