Summer 2014 Triathletes.....in here!

[pootlebug]

I've seen a few comments about people planning triathlons for this summer, and I can't find a general triathlon thread (if there is one, can someone point me in the direction of it, pretty please!).

Thought it might be good to have a thread for general chat/tips/encouragement etc. I'm sure there are some seasoned triathletes as well as others new to it.

I did some sprint distances nearly 10 years ago, pre-kids. I was always limited by my crappy swimming though, so never anything with more than a 400m swim. But then I did an amazing swimming course in October, not planning any more babies, and youngest has started (mostly) sleeping.....so wanted a fitness goal for this year. I've signed up for a 750/20/5 sprint in May, an Olympic distance in June, and the London Triathlon olympic distance in August. Currently have no problem swimming a couple of km, but need a lot more work on the bike and run!

Come on in and introduce yourself, tell us your plans, etc.....

I've just been searching for threads on triathlons and found yours. I'm trying to decide whether to sign up for a triathlon at the end of summer but know I'll kick myself if I don't.

I'm currently running a couple of times a week and cycling to work one day (17 miles round trip) but think I could do with a training plan. Can anyone recommend one?

I know I need to get swimming but it's definitely my worst discipline and so I'm burying me head in the sand about it. I had swimming lessons before Christmas to learn front crawl but I still find it more tiring than breast stroke so think I'll stick to that. At the moment though I know the swim will leave me shattered and in no fit state to do the other two.

Anyone with any top tips?

Hi HappySeven

First top tip - just sign up! Do it, do it, do it, do it!!! As you say, you'll kick yourself if you don't. It sounds like you're already covering most of it in what you're doing anyway so shouldn't be too much trickier to get a bit more focus/structure to the training.

If swimming is your worst discipline I'd find a tri that works with that. There are quite a number with short swim legs - a friend did one yesterday that was 400m swim, 26km bike, 5km run. You certainly wouldn't be the only person doing breaststroke. I wish I could find one with a really short bike leg (actually given my cycling incompetence an aquathon might be my best bet tbh).

I did a one-day course with Art of Swimming that changed me from a slow breaststroker into a competent and pretty efficient front crawler...there is a book, and a DVD, although I think they'd be harder to follow from scratch on your own, iyswim.

I'm doing a Sufferfest training plan. I've only just started though - I decided it was time to quit whining about being a crap cyclist and try to do something about it. I'm only a week in but I wish to heck I'd started it weeks ago. I have time to get through the 10 week plan before my later triathlons but not before the first couple. I'm doing their triathlon plan but it incorporates a lot of their bike videos. Works okay for me as I don't love cycling in busy London traffic so can live with more time on the trainer, but wouldn't be so good if you mainly cycle outdoors.

Thanks, Pootle, I'm definitely going to go for it. The most likely one I'll go for has a 500m swim (even two lengths seems tiring at the minute so I've got a lot to do!) with a 20k cycle and 5k run. I reckon I'd survive it all at the minute but I'd like to 'enjoy' it and feel I've done my best.

I'll have a look at the training plan you suggest but, as you say, I'm an outdoor cyclist so it may not work for me.

Thanks for this shove though! I'll keep you posted!

Pootlebug- I feel inadequate now as I have the sufferfest videos but have only used them once since September. It just doesn't appeal even though I have a good home set up ( DH uses it ). I'm fairly strong on the bike considering my lack of training, ( gym work helps ) but I'm not so good at cornering/descending etc due to lack of experience. ( and nerve )

I had a lesson with the Art of Swimming recently. He filmed my stroke, and freeze framed my shoulder action with the comment that I have muscles like a body builder or Madonna! However I think he was telling me to relax my muscles rather in the arm recovery so I'm not sure it was a compliment....too much tension !
It's hard to train for 3 disciplines isn't it? 3 kids here and a new puppy, and also I need a lot of sleep !

Happy, I had swim coaching sessions 1:1 which was brilliant and very focussed on efficiency, and then I've been hitting the pool 2-3 times a week and doing a split of some time really focussing on freestyle technique and then following that up with 600m or so of breaststroke, and then another session where I do as much freestyle as possible, then a couple of breaststroke lengths to recover, then go again. Its amazing how this is building up.

Claybury - oh please don't feel inadequate. I'm doing Sufferfest vids because I am so, so, so rubbish at cycling and I really need to try something. If it doesn't appeal it doesn't appeal (to be honest they don't always appeal to me either. At 6.20am this morning I was very much desperate to sack the whole thing and go back home to bed....but I did feel much better for completing it). And yes, 3 disciplines takes time, I agree. It feels like I'm not doing enough cycling but know if I do more I'll neglect the other two then feel like I'm not confident enough in the things I think I can actually sort-of do, iyswim.

I agree CMOTD that someone teaching you how to be an efficient swimmer makes all the difference. I can't believe I spent 37 years unable to swim front crawl in any reasonable way whatsoever, and it took one measly day for someone who could actually teach to change it all. What a bloody waste. I love swimming now and so so so so wish I'd learnt properly sooner (I did have lessons as a child and for a term as an adult before that....just not great ones).

10 days until my first triathlon in 12.5 years, and my longest one ever (750/20/5)....I've only done super-sprint ones before, with a longest 400/16/4 as was limited by my inability to swim.

hello can I join you? I'm mostly a paddler so do quads rather than tris, although I'm doing my first tri (cycle, paddle run) on saturday.

I'm also doing a quad at the end of the month at Brigg which should be fab.

I've only had a bike for a month so I';m a bit nervous about the cycle on Saturday but I'm more overwhelmed by the logistics because its a linear event so I need to drop the boat, then drive to the start and get ready to cycle; cycle 13 miles, lock up the bike, grab the boat, paddle 10 miles, abandon the oat and run to the end, wait for a bus for the hour long transfer to the start and then drive back up the course to pick up my kit. I hope to finish in sub 5:30 but that will still mean a 12 hour day.

At the moment I'm swimming once or twice a week (coached session trying to sort my technique out), running 3x and cycling a couple of times too.

oof, that sounds complicated golemmings!

Pootle, you'll do great! Where is your tri?

A landmark for me today, I was able to do my full 400m in freestyle with no stops - and then kept going! Suddenly, its all come together and feels smooth. Am

My 7 year old ds is doing his first tri the day before mine, and he's super excited. We also have an 18 mile charity bike event the week after which is the stretch target for him!

pfft. It's all gone belly up. I have access to 3 cars and 5 sets of roof bars and none of them fit together so I can't move my boat which is annoying. I suppose I could do 20 mile ride and 10 mile run but I could do that from home so I'm going to do something local instead. It'll save a lot of driving around. I'm a bit disappointed but it's not the end of the world.

Pleased with my weekend's training. Had a one hour swim session on Friday, a run session on Saturday where the coach made us run 600m loops with stuff to fatigue us in between like 20 press ups. ( to replicate running tired in a race ) then today we had a coached transition session with bike / run/bike /run X 2, practicing my very slow fumbling transitions and running off the bike.
DH can't understand why I'm falling asleep in the afternoons though....
Anyone else have this problem? Zzzzzzz

CMOTD - My triathlon is a small-ish local one, with the swim in a 50m pool, so I don't have to face the wetsuit+cold thing just yet. It's popular with club triathletes though, so I'm not expecting to be very far up the table! It's great to hear that the swimming is coming together - I am in awe of you doing it with limited mobility in one arm - I don't exactly find it easy as it is. And I'm seriously impressed with your 7 year old. I am still trying to persuade my two (6 and 4) to do the Scootathlon at Eton Dorney when I do the Womens Only Tri in July. My 4 year old is actually a faster scoot/bike bet than my 6 year old.....he's not a bad running partner with him on a bike, albeit that he requests stops for the most random stuff (Mummy, there's an annoying bogey up my nose, I need to get it out, can we stop?). We did a 5-ish mile bike ride with them last summer but we're a long way off doing 18!

Golemmings - that's a real bummer that it isn't going to work out to do the race you wanted (though I confess I was starting to feel exhausted just trying to follow the logistics!). I'm hoping you can find something good to do instead.

Claybury - that sounds an excellent weekend! Yes to the falling asleep in the afternoons. I discovered energy gel + caffeine - which is frigging amazing if you're feeling like it's all a bit early and you can't really be arsed to train. But once it's wears off you turn into a zombie.

My weekend was....a bit rubbish. Rainy and didn't do enough cycling. Did a run which was one of those where you feel like shit the whole way through, are way below PB pace, and feel like you've lost the ability to run full stop. I went to an open water coaching session which was really useful....but also highlighted how uncomfortable I am a) in a wetsuit, and b) in a lake. I like the ends of the pool not really to push off but just to know that I've done 50m, 100m, 150m, etc. I think I need some sort of watch that vibrates every 50m just so I know I'm progressing (does this exist?) as the buoy takes a long time to get any closer. And I feel like my stroke goes to pieces in a wetsuit.
I got some great tips on starts, sighting buoys, what to do in various situations etc....but when we had a mock 'race' at the end I did exactly what I should know NOT to do.....tried to keep up with the much better swimmer next to me, was exhausted after no time and panicking / breathing stuffed....and doing breaststroke. Dammit I should KNOW not to do that.

Pootle, I'm so glad to hear you say that about running below par. I felt like I was running through treacle on Sunday and had lost all ability. I'm going out later with some friends and hope it feels better.

Well done on the swim though! I went to my local pool to try and estimate my time for 500m but the pool was heaving and I haven't swum in ages. I did it all breast stroke as I'm more efficient with breast stroke than crawl. I had to stop every couple of lengths (25m per length) and have a breather and did the 500 in 15 mins. I timed a length at the beginning and at the end as both 35 secs so now I'm wondering what to put down. I obviously intend to put some pool time in before Sept so what should I guess?

Happy - if you are like me, in the pool you stop at the end because you can. In open water you will be able to keep going, I'm sure. Also, it is worth learning font crawl, it takes some some commitment but it is worth it. You can always mix up a bit of breast stroke in a race, when you need a breather, but it's best not to do too much breast stroke as you will end up kicking people with your leg stroke.
I'd guess 12- 14 minutes, it only needs to be approx. ?

Thanks, Clay. I will keep going with the crawl but I know I find the breaststroke to be faster and less tiring at the moment. I've decided to put down 14 and hope it means I don't feel under too much pressure on the day and exhaust myself before the cycling and running.

Better to put down a slower time, and find it works out faster than be overly optimistic and annoy everyone else imo.

I have a manky cold today, so instead of running, I had a rest day. Strangely, the enforced rest annoyed me, esp as dh popped out for a nice 18 mile cycle.

Its my one year running anniversary today. I was a never runner, even when I was a vv fit teen, and then at 40 it seemed like a good idea. Now look what its got me into . I blame the 68 year old lady from down the road who I meet out running who does tri and told me I should give it a go

Less than 48 hours to go. Bleugh I feel a bit sick at the thought tbh. I don't know why as I've got to go twice as far in 5 weeks time and I should know very well I can do this distance fine. And the swim is in a pool so no open water to worry about.

Off to put on my trisuit and have a quick swim followed by quick bike & run in the gym. Short training session only as I'm doing 3 days of mini-taper to try to be fresh and raring to go for Sunday.

CMOTD - hope the cold clears up soon and congratulations on a year running!

HappySeven - I think erring on the side of caution is a good plan. TBH it is likely to be mixed in terms of paces even with the attempt to order it - some people will know exactly how long they'll take, others will be making a wild stab in the dark. Some will be hugely optimistic and think they can easily take 5 mins off their swim time with a bit of training, whereas others will be pessimistic etc. It will work out.

Thanks, Pootle, good luck for Sunday, keep us posted!

Good luck for tomorrow Pootle!

I loved it! Well apart from standing in line waiting to swim when there was a handful of people to go before me....then I wondered what the heck I was thinking.

Blatantly I need to work on my cycling - partly leg strength but also just general confidence and technique on the bike and making the most of every bit....there were quite a lot of people I passed on the uphills who then passed me on the downs/flat where I should have been pushing harder. But I was pleased with my run and my swim, and pleased with my time and place (26th female out of 192. Not so good at beating guys but I still beat a couple of hundred of them....)

5 weeks til I have to go twice as far. Ulp. Though the next one is pretty flat and this one really wasn't - either the run or the bike.

26th woman is pretty damn good in my book! Well done

Dropped my bike off at Scary Bike shop (they specialise in TT and road racing bikes, and its all tight lycra and carbon, but do general repairs and is 5 min walk from home) this morning as my back brake doesn't work - doesn't bother me as its my bad hand side, but needs to work for the tri, and they are going to try and sort something to put both on my good side. Which is excellent as coming down a steep gravel track on a trail at the weekend I could have done with both brakes tbh.

So I have to ride DHs bike this week which will be entertaining!

How is riding DH's bike CMOTD? I have found (i think) the holy grail of bike shops - know their stuff but they are nice guys, who don't look down their noses if you don't know everything there is to know etc.

Day off yesterday and back to training today with a static bike Sufferfest video. Wasn't feeling inspired but stuck it out. Looking forward to my run and swim tomorrow!

Size wise its fine (he's 6'3 and I'm 5'9 with long arms), but its much heavier than mine. In fact he rode mine last week which was his final decision to get a road bike. He went from no exercise before christmas, 5 min top on the turbo at a time in Jan to doing 60 miles a week road biking now, and has lost 3 1/2 stone so far!

Just been out running before it gets hotter, and it'll be swim and run tomorrow (fastest way to the pool!) for me as well. I'd have swum today but have a meeting in swim time. Bah.

Anyone watch the BBC coverage of the London triathlon on Saturday. ?
What a great race
Triathlon is simply the best sport - slightly obsessed here.

Me! I went to watch it on the saturday and then did the sprint on the sunday. It was great fun. Highly recommend it.

I watched it on iplayer. What struck me was how much it felt like a completely different distance race to the sprint I did a couple of weeks ago, because they are so much faster. Although i did a geeky comparison of my times to the female winner, and it appears that on a percentage-of-winners-time basis I am equally shit at swimming and cycling, whereas I would have thought cycling was definitely my worst. I guess compared to amateurs my swimming is comparatively better than my cycling (because more people struggle with the swim) but compared to pros neither are too great :)

Under 3 weeks to go til my first Olympic distance. Bleugh. I feel sick again. Hoping to squash in an Aquathlon next week in the lake the Olympic distance is in for a bit of practice.