Running/Fitness Triathlons

[Special Agent Utah]

Had a quick look in the first 3/4 pages and could not find anything on competing in Triathlons so thought i would post this.

Aiming to do a triathlon in the next 6 months and was curious about the training load people used and how hard it was to pretty much start from scratch? or if anyone here has actually done one?

Any ideas and tips would be much appreciated. If there is another thread mods more than welcome to delete this.

 

[mons]

I have done a few and doing more, what u want to know?

 

[Tivva29]

Great fun but a bugger to train for if you work full time. When you actually do the race you want to settle into a pace you can maintain without blowing up and remain steady on that pace for each leg. With that in mind a large part of your training should be to find out what kind of pace you can maintain for whatever distance you are racing over. In the pool I would do 1km straight out then do another 1km of efforts of 100m, 200m, fartlek. On the bike it is a matter of miles but would always go to some hills for the strength work. Running would be similar to swimming in that I would do 20-30mins straight out then do efforts that last between 30secs to 2mins for another 20 mins. The one element that gets most people in tri's is the change overs, their bodies just can't handle the sudden change in activity Especially swim to bike. Do some transition training like ride for an hour then run for 30 mins. Try running or riding to pool then do your swim.
Finally spend some time working out how much drink you can take in during the bike/run and if you need to take in a gel to get you through till the end. For me I found that a water bottle of 300ml with cordial or Gatorade was enough for the bike then just take small sips of water from the water stations was enough over the 1km/20km/5km races.
I ain't no expert but through a bit of trial and error I found the above worked quite well for me and wasn't to big a time impost on family time. Good luck and enjoy your races.

 

[Tivva29]

Also, the less sexy stuff..sort out things like do you wear a wetsuit? If you can get your hands on one do it...not for warmth but for flotation. Over 1km it will save you minutes.
Do you wear socks? My first tri I didn't wear socks and my feet were a mess by the end and this was with shoes I had for some months. Subsequent tri's I took the time to put some on and it was great. A little tip lightly dust the insides of your socks with talc powder and it will make getting them on wet feet heaps easier. Also put talc into your shoes if you are using speed laces.

 

[mons]

Had a quick look in the first 3/4 pages and could not find anything on competing in Triathlons so thought i would post this.

Aiming to do a triathlon in the next 6 months and was curious about the training load people used and how hard it was to pretty much start from scratch? or if anyone here has actually done one?

Any ideas and tips would be much appreciated. If there is another thread mods more than welcome to delete this.

What distance are you looking at doing to start?

 

[jpkennedy]

I used to row, and even rowers think triathletes are crazy! I take my hat off to anyone who does them!

 

[Tivva29]

I used to do sprint kayak and ski in surf life saving before I started doing tris and the pain/misery is completely different. As I noted it is all about finding your optimal pace rather than smashing yourself.
But again there is no best to train other Than doing the hard boring yards.