Right, my new goal is to complete a triathlon. That is as far as my thinking and planning has gone. I have done 2 marathons and have no desire to do any more. I still run a lot so along with doing a reasonable amount of biking i thought a triathlon should be my next challenge.

So in all honestly where do i start. Should i join a running club / road club to get some variations on my usual training.

Any good informative websites with training plans, event listings etc.

Any information would be great as at this stage i need as much as possible.

Ta all…

So in all honestly where do i start.

mostly at the edge of the pool…

I entered a local off road tri last years and loved it. Just do a local sprint distance one. If you've done two marathons, you'll be fine. Just concentrate on your weakest area – usually swimming.

can't give you a great deal of advice but perhaps you could try doing a half-triathlon to kick things off ? perhaps join a club

humanrace

Yea i do swim like a brick. 😀

Best start saving up for the entry fees, Mrs PB did Nottingham sprint tri yesterday, £42 for a race that lasted 1hr 15min and they got over 300 entries. She got a t shirt and "silver" plate for winning.

http://www.220triathlon.com/

look here for races

A local triathlon club would be a place to start.

Look on't web for a local sprint series. 800m swim 20km ride and 5km run is the norm. Did a couple, rubbish swim, would blast past every-one on the bike, then stagger round the run.

If you can already run/ride to a reasonable standard then concentrate on the swimming, you'll be amazed how much it takes out of you.

And plenty of brick sessions, running off the bike is hard, really hard.

Did my first a couple of weeks ago in bideford, horrendous swim, made up loads of places on the ride and lost a few on the run. Finished 167/225 in 1.37ish. Could take 10mins off that easily and 15m with some focused training.

Doing next one in St mawes at the end of September.

I did my first one last year, a local sprint distance. I did it more to have a goal to train towards rather than any other reason.

I did not join a club, but I was already in a swimming club and know lots of bikers. I made up my own training 'plan' which consisted basicly doing each thing twice a week. I focused most on the running as I had not run up to then since school PE. I sometimes found that pretty hard to fit in around a normal life to be honest.

In the end I finished just about top 20 and I was happy with that. I've done a couple of other sprints since then. I'm not sure I've got the motivation to do much more than that though, but I did my first half marathon this year so maybe a half IM is on the cards.

I notice you didn't mention swimming. If you can't already comfortably do front crawl then pay for lessons. Its the only one where fitness can't make up for technique.

tritalk.co.uk is good

Nice one, thanks for the info 😀

Jam – will see you there. I am doing that one too… 😉

sounds like you can run well and cycle ok, so join a swimming club – there is a lot of technique to swimming and improving on this will probably aid your results the most

Maybe a duathlon?

Surf-Mat – Member
Jam – will see you there. I am doing that one too…
POSTED 10 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

After the swim session I've just had I don't think I'll make it through the swim. Felt like I was wearing lead water wings…

I'm planning on getting back into triathlon next year :o)

Used to do it alot until a car smashed me into the road and left me bikeless 🙁

As everyone says, do a sprint tri first, generally with a pool swim so you don't need to worry about transferring swim skills to the open water, my first one was at the local sports centre and that was great

Brick sessions are great, go for a run straight after finishing a ride, or run to the swimming pool, swim then run home. Don't spend cash on joining clubs to start – you can get loads of info off the web and from mags if you so desire..

One thing to think about nearer the time is the transistions, in my last race (an off road tri about 2 years ago), I was 6th out of the water and lost 10 places **** about trying to get my wetsuit off 🙄 not something that will bother you but it's worth thinking about how to lay your kit out, dry yourself etc etc 🙂

It's great fun though.. and rather addictive 🙂

Entry level triathlons…where do i start

You need to start losing any bike control skills you ever had & generally being a bit of a liability when in close company with other bikes

HTH

a pool based sprint is a great place to start as the swim is shorter than if doing in open water (400m rather than 750m). Swim is all about technique – ignore going fast, that'll come with time. get the technique sorted – so many people down the local pool putting loads of effort in, lots of splashing, and not going anywherequickly.

Tri clubs are usually pretty friendly. where are you based? Clubs usually have coached swim and run sessions and group rides. all good for sharing info on technique & events. My club (Sheffield Tri) also put on loads of events for members, usually for a quid or two or even free & have open water swim sessions.

good websites for events – britishtriathlon.org, tritalk.co.uk, 220triathlon.co.uk… or just google 'triathlon' and your region.

Do you need to buy a wetsuit or can you hire them from anywhere? That's what I've always wondered (wondered – but never bothered to research)…

Not sure it's worth spending much time on your swimming – if you can swim 500m without stopping then you're probably OK.
You could train hard on your swimming for months and maybe improve your time by 30 seconds while the same time training on your running and riding could improve your time by 4 or 5 minutes.

Statistically the bike section is the most important purely because it takes the longest, but the transitions (bits inbetween the swim/bike and bike/run) are hugely important – (you'd be amazed at how long your spend changing from bike shoes to running shoes, etc.) time spent on these two parts can save you a load of time also.

It's worth looking up the results from the [event your going to do] previous sprint tri's and see how the average swim, bike and run times compare with yours.

Edit: Actually I've got a book called Swim Bike Run that covers all sorts of training. Yours for £7.00 delivered.

slowtwitch.com is a great site – tells you all you'll ever need to know.

As others say – find a local tri club and join their swim sessions. It is worth working on your swim or else you'll feel totally knackered when you get on the bike or be last out of the pool (which guarantees you a big cheer at least!). In a sprint triathlon (750m) you can lose 4 to 5 minutes to really good swimmers unless you've got decent technique.

You can gain a couple of minutes in transitions without having to be any fitter than other people. Just practice them over and over – do each action in the same order each time. Put talc in your shoes and a bit of vaseline inside the heels. DON't wear socks.

Don't bother with a TT bike just yet – a regular road bike is fine. If you want to get aero on it then fit "shortie" bars like Profile Jammer GTs. If you slap on regular Tri Bars then the reach will be too long and you'll be uncomfy.

You already know how to run but practice running after biking coz it's NOT easy! Also try stretching out your legs and changing your position on the last bit of the bike leg to get ready for the run.

Good luck 🙂

definitely practice running after riding the bike for an hour! jelly-leg-o-rama.

practice transitions – getting out of the shower and putting shoes on, a top if that's what you're doing.

In answer to a question above – yes you can hire swim wetsuits, but it depends what tri you're doing as to whether you need on. If pool based, you aren't allowed to use one. If open water, if temp is above a certain C, you can opt to not use one, then if above another C they are banned.

wiggle do them for a season very reasonably, others charge a similar amount for a weekend. Or wiggle do cheaper ones for about 100 quid.

Regardless of distance and pool/open water, I'd get at least some tri shorts. Pretty much all tri's have a no nudity rule, and besides, it's ALOT quicker just to keep the same pair of shorts on the whole time. the chamois is very thin, so great for running, and I find them very comfy on the bike. You just need to put a top on out of the pool (which is a faff when you're wet so practice drying quickly!) so I now have a trisuit…

Contrary to what others have said I think spending time on your swimming can be very worthwhile if it is quite poor to begin with, even if you can do the distance continuously. If you're starting from a low level you can see improvements very quickly, I know people who nearly halved their swim time over 400m very quickly (12 minutes to 7).

It's true though that if you're at a decent level already it takes a lot of effort for very small gains.

It's pretty rare for an open water tri in the UK to go wetsuit-optional.

As said, local club-type event where the swimming is in the pool is a good start – no extra kit needed beyond your bike kit, some running shoes and tri shorts/suit.

The swimming part is underrated by many and the guys who come from a swimming background generally do better as it's relatively easier for them to pick up some bike/run pace than the other way round. Watch some decent swimmers just quickly glide through the water with a minimum of splashing and wasted effort, then watch how most people swim. Most of us have a decade or two of bad habits that we've built up since any kind of swim tuition and if you're already pretty fit then getting some coaching can make a massive difference.

Did one Saturday – sprint distance. In Switzerland the swim is done in the lake which is quite tricky if you are used to the swimming pool, as there is real bumping and pushing which you cannot train for.
So for my training I just rode home from work, parked up the bike and went for a run. They are very serious out here about Triathlons – and age and gender has nothing to do with performance! You get some mighty fit old ladies.

I've got my first one this sunday which is a sprint and then a half Ironman in about a month. I would try and get some swim coaching, I became interested in the idea of tri about this time last year and was fortunate enough to get swim coaching with my uni tri club which helped massivley as I hadn't really done any crawl before. If you're willing to put in the effort you can gain alot of time in the swim in a few months but I now swim 3 times a week to achieve this and I'm no where near as good in it as I am at the run or bike. If you are doing an open water tri get some practice as open water in a race scenario is very different. I am also fortunate enough to have a local aquathlon series (800m sea swim then 5k run) which I have done quite a few of to get the feel of a race transition and swim pacing. So to answer your original question my stratergy was find a race with a bit of time before it, enter it and every duathlon, aquathlon, time trial, xc race, endurance race, running race etc before it then hopefully when you come to the race you know you have gone a lot harder and deeper into your reserves than you ever will in the tri you know all your kit works (V important, my wetsuit chaffed the back of my neck and my goggles filled with water in my first aquathlon had that happened in an important race it would have been a bugger.) Also racing alot gets rid of most if not all of the pre race nerves. I'll find out for you if this works at the weekend!

Iain

Statistically the bike section is the most important purely because it takes the longest

Lies, damn lies and statistics – could likely gain more time on the run for the same amount of effort if you're starting from a fairly low level. As has also been mentioned, plenty of time to be gained on the swim – especially if you already run and bike. If you can only gain 30s on 500m you're either very good already or you're not training properly on your swimming – the secret of the latter is technique rather than brute force.

i found out that the swim can destroy your ability for the rest of the event. its worth spending time on it, aim to get out of the water in a fit state to push yourself on the bike and run. other than that…just do a sprint and see how it goes. they are as hard/easy as you are prepared to make it.

Well just been for a swim and if i think i can do even remotely decent in an event with swimming involved then i am oing to have to do some serious work.

25m pool, i was doing 1 x length crawl then 1 x length breast stroke.

Managed 40 lengths but i was so slow i was was probably going backwards towards the end.

I really need to get some advice on technique because that was dire. 😯

first tri i did (750m open water), i was swimming about 70% breaststroke. so were a load of other people. as long as you can complete the distance just give it a go.
wetsuits are not good for swimming breaststroke though, i completed the event with cramp in both my hamstrings. i reckon it was brought on by swimming breastroke in a wetsuit (i'd never even tried swimming in wetsuit) along with the heat on the day.

You get some mighty fit old ladies.

Are they under MILF or Mature?

I coach at my local tri club and swimming is definitely the area that people need the most help with. I get some proper poor swimmers, but can usually get them swimming in a straight line after a couple of sessions.

You just need to be able to swim an efficient swim leg and get out in a decent time without being knackered. I see so many people red lining on the swim and then getting slower through the race. Not a good idea.

People can go overboard on the swim training though, just get your technique in a good shape (tri club sessions will help) and work at your swim fitness. Good interval sessions, mixed with drills will see you right.

As people have suggested, try a local pool based event to start with. Open water is far more fun and reward though….

i'm going though the same issues right now – want to do my first tri, sprint in Stratford on 3rd October. My swimming is terrible! I think I'll have to do breastroke – I did about 900m but super slow I guess. Crawl I'm faster but I could barely lift my arms out the water after 100m! useless.

I'd like to do a half ironman / 70.3 next year – that's my big target

I also need a road bike. missus not so sure

I want a planetx SL red – looks like a bargain (if £1,100 can be a bargain!)

Unusually I hate pool swimming but love open water stuff. On the off road sprint tri I did I was fairly average at the swim – about 8th, gained on the ride which was a technical off road ride, but made the best progress on the run so ended up first BUT this was a fairly local race with about 40 entrants in the sprint section. Utterly knackering but a lot of fun. Next tri has a longer swim, a road bike section and road run so not expecting much. Ran with a cold today – about as quick as a crippled sloth.

i'm the same, much rather do an open water swim. should also consider that tri wetsuits are incredibly boyant, almost like being on a surf board. i practised using a float between my legs and doing fron crawl. that way can save your legs for the bike and run. definately work out your transitions, first one i did , my cycling shoes were done up and i had sweet wrappers and all sorts in them. also make sure you pay attention to when and where you are removing your wetsuit and helmet as time penalties are harsh. definately have a go going straight from bike ride to run as your legs don't work the same after. it's also quite an amusing place to watch a triathlon a few running clubs run regular low key duathlons to help with this.