Just signed up for sprint triathlon- anyone else?

Just a quick appeal for help!!!! Can someone explain to me what I need to buy for cleats???? Road shoes? Tri shoes?? And what bloomin pedals?? I’m looking online and haven’t a clue what I’m doing! Can you tell? tia

needsleep hope you are ok I’ve been too chicken to clip back in after falling off a couple of times and knocking my back out of alignment.

beach well done on the dualathlon and good luck for the half. Hopefully the weather will be kind and not too warm.

bee sounds like you did brill at your swimming welldone.

I did a mini brick sess Thursday took out the road bike for the first time since sept! I was scared all the way, I just can’t pull the brakes easily and struggled trying to balance and arm signal at the roundabouts Arrh! My DH is fab and is going to fit some brake interceptors on the top bar this wend I did jump off the bike and run ...doh left my helmet on so ran back left it under front wheel of our car and then did a 15min run around the block. I then had a swim session that evening so felt like I’d had a Tri day. Only a week to go..

Oh no really, glad not too much harm was done. I've done the same and you do feel a bit of a wally.

My duathlon was good - first run was as quick as I've ever run (it was only 1.2 miles though!) and I loved the bike - it was so much fun riding on a track with lots of other people. The second run was a struggle as usual but as it was only 600m the pain didn't last too long! The kids enjoyed their race and OH did really well, so all good. I've entered the next one in July - it's a series of 3.

I'm having half-maranoia, panicking that I haven't done enough preparation, as I haven't done a lot of running since my 12 miler the weekend before last. I'd hoped to beat my half marathon PB but I think I need to focus on just getting round!

Oh no really! Hope you’re alright. I’ve been looking at switching to cleats but I’m not sure if I should just wait till after my triathlon. Shock Absorber is too far away for me I’m afraid.

How was the duathlon life? Having the whole family involved sounds good, I’m starting to feel a little guilty at how much I keep abandoning mine

Tri club swim last night was hard as usual. A couple of drills were really hard but I was quite pleased at how I kept up with all the speed drills. 1500m in total

I fell off my bike today!!! I was doing so well on my cleats and I just toppled over at a junction because I remembered to unclip too late. I’m not very hurt apart from a slightly bruised arse and ego. Poor me.
There’s got to be a point to all this though! Has anyone entered the Shock Absorber women-only triathlon in July? Thinking about it...

bee and ski it sounds as though you're both doing really well with your training! I need to get back in the lake soon. We're lucky to have one 5 minutes up the road that tri club members can use, but I haven't braved it yet this year.

I've got a duathlon tonight. It's just a short one and the bike is on a purpose-built track rather than on roads, so should be fun. My OH and two older kids are doing it too (kids distances much shorter). Then it's the half marathon at the weekend, eek! Weather currently looks warmish and sunny, but not hot like last weekend, thank goodness!

I''ve also signed up for a 10 week swim improvers course that the tri club are running, which starts on Friday. My swimming has improved a lot since I first started triathlon training, but it's stalled a bit now and I think some coaching will really help.

Is it just sea swimming by you ski? No lakes? The lakes round here are all measuring between 19-22 degrees! Lovely temperatures. But I imagine the sea is pretty cold still. If you can get to a lake, do it, it’s so lovely being able to swim outdoors.

I did a 40k bike ride yesterday. Which is further than my tri distance so I’m happy with that. Going to do the same route again next week but tag on a run at the end. Will squeeze in a short but hard hill climb session between now and then. Club swim tonight, always swim harder than I’d ever do on my own!

And at some point I need to run, up to 8km at mo. 10km needed for the tri but I’m still going easy on my knees. Softly softlyish for now! Might do a slightly longer run tomorrow. Hope everyone else’s training is going well?? Any races to report on?

Been busy squeezing bits in here and there. Cycled to work, swim coaching session thurs, ran 10k sat then swam and abit of Paddle boarding today in beaut ☀️ Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather.

I’m jealous of the open water swim bee I need to get the courage up to try swimming in the sea but I really don’t like the salty taste.

Ah ski marathon place would be amazing! I’ve always said I’d never do a marathon but having started to train (albeit not running!) at longer and longer distances makes me think I could be tempted one day. A once in a lifetime thing I suspect!

Well I have my second open water swim in the morning, same lake as last week but it’s at least one whole degree warmer! Whoppee!! Did my longest ever bike ride earlier in the week, 34km. Going to up it a bit more next week so I’m at the Olympic distance. Beginning to feel like the big triathlon is doable, which is just as well with 5 weeks to go 😬🏊🏻‍♀️🚴🏻‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️

Arrh thanks bee my head knows I could prob do it but I get bad performance anxiety so I’m not sure. I’m going to do the Go-Tri at end of May then there is a couple of local sprint options in July & Sept if it goes ok. I have just put my name in the London Marathon ballot which would be seriously way out of my comfort zone in terms of crowds/people overload! but DH has also put his name in so knowing my luck he will get a place or we both will & then will have a nightmare sorting out childcare! Both his sisters havevrun it in the last couple of years so they have been goading him to do it

ski you should sign up for a standard distance tri with that training!

Did a tough hill ride today then swam tonight 66L in the pool nearly all F.C., so pleased with the efforts today need to get to sleep now.

No, not in Leeds bee. Is there a half marathon there the same weekend?

Would ideally have gone for a bike ride tonight, but it’s so cold and windy!

Oh ok, well done! 12 miles, no mean feat. Are you in Leeds???

bee I was worried my knee wouldn’t hold out as it’s been hurting towards the end of all recent long runs. I did it though - 12 miles, following most of the half marathon route I’ll be doing in 2 weeks (it’s in my home town). Hopefully this means I’ll make it round ok -just need it not to be hot!!

There were lots of people using gloves and boots life they looked swim specific to me as I was checking them out enviously Hope your long run goes well. Why are you nervous??

really I did my 400m open water swim go tri last year pretty much all breaststroke. It was harder on the legs so I’m determined to nail front crawl this year! I didn’t get much open water practise last year, maybe only two sessions I think. Hence the early start this time. I’m hoping to get at least 5-6 lake swims in before my tri this time. I wasn’t the only one doing breaststroke by the way. And we were all swimming in a pretty straight line compared to the front crawlers so it’s not all bad!!!!!

Hope the long run goes ok beach

Wow well done on the cold swim bee sounds brill and far braver than me. And sleep on the lake swim brrr we are by the sea it feels far too cold still even for a paddle
I did a 5.5k run followed by 1k pool swim and then spent the afternoon on the sofa watching netflix being a lazy Mum as zero energy I reckon there was reduced oxygen in air as we all felt zonked this afternoon after an active morning.

Well done on the swim, bee, glad you survived the cold! I used my surfing gloves and boots - not sure they’re ideal though - maybe a bit thick and bulky. I don’t know whether there are swimming-specific ones?

Parkrun for me today with an extra 0.6 miles added on for the #finishformatt thing. Didn’t push too hard as I’m hoping to do a long run tomorrow morning. Feel very nervous about it for some reason!

Igotta, well done on the swimming! I went lake swimming on Thursday evening and really struggled to get my face in and swim crawl. I’m sure I can do my triathlons with a nice, leisurely breaststroke...

Well errr safe to say it was cold!!!!! But once I was out swimming it was actually fine. And I managed to do my sighting ok, wasn’t fazed by getting my face in the water and wasn’t remotely tempted to stop and do breaststroke (which is what happened almost immediately last year). So it’s progress and I’m feeling much more confident about my Olympic distance tri (6 weeks to go!!!!!). I did no where near the distance, about 850-900m with stops here and there. But it a start! Im off to find some neoprene gloves, hat and socks now......

Going for my first open water swim practise if the year this morning! It’s 6 degrees out there what am I doing?!?? First swim in my brand new wetsuit too!!

Following

really - take arms out of jersey and then pull the bib parts down I guess. Must admit I’d not thought about that!

I got the DHB classic ones from Wiggle, so mid-range I suppose, not mega expensive ones. A big improvement on my cheapy shorts though. They didn’t ride up at all on my legs and the padding was so much more comfortable.

Did a 1600m swim tonight. I had a couple of weeks off swimming over Easter, apart from the sea pool swim, and it’s felt so hard getting back into it again.

I need to do my last long run before the half marathon this weekend. Will have to be Sunday morning as my kids have an aquathlon in the afternoon. Hoping for 11 or 12 miles but worried about my knee.