Runner changing to Tri. (Read 1547 times)

to a certain extent it depends on what your swimming and cycling are like now. assuming you can swim a bit and cycle a bit then given your running background you can already do a sprint tri. olympic needs a bit more work. if you swim well then just keep it ticking over. if you don't swim well then get lessons. good technique is more important than lots of swim miles. either way its over in no time so don't worry about it. cycling base is built much like running base. cycle lots. cycling is where you can make the biggest gains so in fact cycle lots and lots. if you want to train to do well at tri then you likely will need to ignore the temptation to run and instead replace some runs with cycling. train the things you aren't so good at rather than the things you already do well. every once in a while practise doing a hardish bike ride followed by a short (1-2 mile) run - it gets your legs used to the jelly leg feeling of running off the bike. and basically enjoy it. tri is lots of fun. and very addictive.

Triathlon is AWESOME!!! Try it... you will definitely like it! Mandy gives some good advice. I was a swimmer most of my "formative" years, swimming competitively through grade school, high school, college and a couple of years of masters after that. Never a record breaker, but a solid swimmer who LOVES the water. Fast forward about 20 years and now my big thing is tennis and running for the last 5 or so. I've always had a bike, but mostly just for recreational bike trail rides or to get from A to B. So, last spring I got this wild hair about doing a tri and long story short, did 2 sprints and CANNOT wait til this summer to do more (and maybe an Oly distance one!). I had such a blast and the tri community seems to be so friendly and accepting of anyone willing to give it a go. Just the best!! I got a new road bike after my first one and am having a great time learning all about biking. That is definitely my weak part of this gig. Get a basic book about triathlon at your library or bookstore and start learning about it. Ask a bunch of questions (here!) and sign up for one early in the summer. I wish I had done my first one before August last year cause I was a little late to the party! But what fun it is.... such a great feeling of accomplishment! I'll add that the first one I did was HUGE (3000 or so) and all women and the second maybe 600 (coed) and both were just great. All ages, abilities, sizes, shapes etc. at both and just a terrific time all around. A couple of websites to look at are beginnertriathlete.com and trinewbies.com. Some good stuff there.

Thanks for all your replies. I am looking forward to the change in training, to correct muscle imbalances that have developed over the years, a fresh training plan, and learning something new. In HS I swam competitively, however, that was 15+ years ago! So my form must be a little off by now. My marathon cross train workouts were either a rest day, short time on the bike or walks. (Usually rest days) I never felt like the bike gave me the cardio boost a run did, but I realized yesterday there are muscles in my legs that have not been worked in long time. Plus it is cold outside. Recently, I bought a bike, and there is a pool at a local club near our house. All the groundwork is out there, now I just need to move on and do it. My plans are to take 4-6 to build a little bit of a cross base, then start on 14-18 week training program for a race in June. Happy training.

Do we have the beginnings of an active forum here??!! I'm starting a topic on the dreaded trainer sessions. cArig

Another beginner TRI-er here. Started with running (4 mos. ago) have started swimming, and adding a little biking in. Still running outside, other two are inside for another couple of months. But so far, having fun. Wouldn't mind seeing more Tri posting here Andy

i've gone the other way! from being an active triathlete over the last few years (all distances from sprint to IM) i finally decided in 2007 to concentrate back on running again. haven't been on my bike or in the pool in months!

Oh my. I tend to concentrate on tris only part of the year, and then switch back to running. But I always keep "some" swimming and biking in there for variety.

There is a local triathlon club in my area that has approx 500 members. Are these worthwhile?