Triathalon Advice Wanted
I am considering my first triathalon and could use some tips. It will consist of a 20K bike, 5k run, and 800m swim. I have never done this nor have a watched someone do this. Could you please send this note along to see if anyone would be willing to answer some questions I have. I am also very open to any tips people could pass along.
How do the transitions work?
Can you swim any stroke?
Can you change strokes?
Since swimming is first, do you stay in your suit or just throw clothes on over?
During training, when would you start doing two or all three events consecutively?
How do the transitions work?
Can you swim any stroke?
Can you change strokes?
Since swimming is first, do you stay in your suit or just throw clothes on over?
During training, when would you start doing two or all three events consecutively?
posted by oldLobo at 8:24 AM
9 Comments:
I have not gotten the triathalon bug myself - I don't think I could slip a $2000 bike past my wife - but there is some basic advice in the current issue of Runner's World. That might be a place to start.
Here is what a doctor has to say about cross-training (it's a good thing):
Who is injured more often, a runner competing in one sport or a triathlete competing in three sports: swimming, running and cycling?
The average marathon runner is injured more than twice as often as the average triathlete. Training intelligently for three sports is less likely to injure you than training foolishly for one. Injuries prevent athletes from reaching their full potential by limiting training and improvement. All athletes should train by the 48 hour-or-more recovery rule. Every time that you exercise vigorously, your muscles are injured, making them feel sore on the next day. It takes at least 48 hours for muscles to heal and the soreness to go away. If you try to exercise vigorously when your muscles are still sore, you are at increased risk for injury.
Each sport stresses primarily a particular group of muscles. Marathon runners train every day, so they stress muscles that may not have recovered from a previous day's workout and are at increased risk for being injured.
On the other hand, top triathletes rarely train in the same sport on consecutive days. They train at different sports on consecutive days. Running stresses primarily the lower leg muscles, cycling stresses primarily the upper leg muscles and swimming stresses primarily the arms and shoulders. Triathletes should set up a workout schedule that includes two sports on one day and one on the next. Of the three sports, running causes the most muscle damage. Muscles are protected by the water in swimming and by the rotary pedal motion in cycling. However, the force of the footstrike in running tears up muscles. So a knowledgeable triathlete on one day runs and on the next takes two workouts, one cycling and the other swimming.
http://www.drmirkin.com/archive/7062.html
The bottom line is that this is a healthy path to take in your training regimin. Enjoy and Good Luck!
Hi Becky,
I've done two triathlons so far, I started training in November. I had a lot of questions just like you, and I found it helped a lot to get a coach. This was particularly useful for my swimming - I started out not really knowing how to swim at all.
There are a lot of online resources where you can also get information with forums full of experienced triathletes:
http://www.transitiontimes.com/
http://www.trifuel.com
http://www.triathanewbie.com/ (this has a story on setting up your transition areas)
I agree with Oldlobo - the cross training is really good, and challenging. You should know that you don't have to spend $2K to get a good bike - there's still hope!
Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions, I'm happy to tell you what I know!
I share the orginal post's questions. I too want to train for a triathalon. In addition, I have one other question: What are some good, local triathalons in northern New Mexico between December 2006-March 2007?
Here is what is on the trisport web site
(http://www.trisportcoaching.citymax.com)
right now for that time frame. They don't exactly meet your geographic specs, though. Los Alamos, Las Vegas and Farmington all have triathalons, however, they are all summer events. You can check http://www.active.com to see what is coming. Perhaps more will appear on the schedule
oops. The races are:
February 11th
John Stermer Duathlon 5K Run / 30K Bike Brent Jones (505) 678-3374
CSTE-DTC-WS-CA-RS WSMR, NM 88002
March 12th
Stealth Duathlon 5K Run / 30K Bike Eva Van Horn (505) 572-5369 Outdoor Recreation, 49 SVS/SVRO P.O. Box 734 Holloman AFB, NM 88330-0734
March 19th
Alpine Triathlon 5K Run / 15 Mi Bike / 360 M Swim Ben Telesca (432) 294-1006
SRSU C23 Alpine, TX 79832
have a look at the Southwest Challenge Series calendar
http://www.triclubnewmexico.com/calendar.html
this is all the races in the area for 2006.
Where do you live? I can recommend a great personal trainer in Santa Fe.
A great book out there can answer all your questions and more in a lighthearted homerous way: Slow Fat Triathlete by Jayne Williams. It is a great read full of lots of helpful tips and resources. I am also new to the whole thing and have really found some inspiration here. She gets down to the nitty gritty. Good Luck
To the original person that asked the question: I am a triathlon coach and am conducting a 10-week clinic at Sports and Wellness from March - May (training beginners for the Jay Benson triathlon here in town - May 13th). Feel free to call the Del Norte club to get info. if you would like to participate.
Regardless, to quickly answer a few of your questions:
Yes, you can swim any stroke you want, but freestyle (or front crawl) is the most recommended since it is the most efficient and streamlined stroke. I always encourage beginning swimmers to roll over on their back if they get breathless or panicked, then continue back with freestyle. Many tris around here are pool swims (easier for a beginner than an open lake), and care should be taken when doing breaststroke. The wide kick can take you or somebody else out!
If the swim is first, you keep your swim suit on the whole time and just put bike shorts on top of it (and shirt if you like). You would then bike and run in the same thing (just changing hats and shoes). There is also an option at sporting good stores called a tri-suit. This is a one or two piece outfit that is tight fitted (like a leotard) with bike short length leggings and a cushion in the seat. You wear this the whole race (I love them!)
There's a whole method to the transitions that is too much to cover here. Be organized and minimized!
The last 20-30% of your training time should be focused on speed work and incorporating back to back sports (usually 2 at a time - like swimming then biking, but very important to try biking then running - the shaky legs off the bike is something to get used to).
Good luck.
Post a Comment
<< Home