Tri / Triathlon / Triathlons - do they float your boat?

I am not a tri man, i can run i can ride and i can sink..........

What he said ^

Really gotta learn how to swim, i'd love to do some triathlons.

I love them. Never as much as just open water swimming, which has always come naturally to me, and I'm not a fan of running so i suppose my relationship is complicated in facbook terms.

Last 'season' I was either injured or too busy with work or not in the uk so missed it bt this year I'm signed up for the London and a few more. Might go to Wales to do off road tri will do xtt again, really worth it. And have big plans for a Half ironman in the new year.

But well we'll see. Injuries have not been kind this year and it is mostly due to poorly thought through training regimes.

On the jack of all trades bollocks I disagree. Top tri athletes are plucked from excelling in one/ two of the disciplines and then train damn hard to get to A competitive level in the others.

I will always accept that I am master of none, but to be master of all is essential for a top class triathlete.

@ kattiep have fun. It is very addictive and as a cyclist you have the expensive tool so it is a very cheap sport.

I'll see you at the starting line for London, had been toying with blenheim too but too late I guess

http://challengerworld.com/london-triathlon/triathlon_training_160210.aspx

I don't know if this has been said yet in the thread but just go for the full olympic straight off. I did and having done sprints since the full distance is a lot more enjoyable, the sprint is just pain all the way round, your body is just in constant transistion and you never really get the chance to drop the hammer on the bike...

I've got my first sprint Tri later this summer in Eton. I've run half marathons and 10 ks before, but my only cycling is commuting (although that's nearly 50 miles a day). I used to swim for my county as a kid, but I'm going to need a lot of training for that part.

I'm only signing up for the one this year, butif I enjoy it I'll got for the thames turbo, Eaton and London next year.

Tri's great - being mediocre at 3 things makes you pretty good overall. Go in at whatever distance sounds most fun / challenge / suited to you - I'm slow but have endurance, so started at IM and still haven't done sprint or Oly.

Sorry, must refer to Velominati (the Rules.)

41.A bike ride/race shall never be preceeded with a swim and/or followed by a run.

Got to agree with Jung. It's the perfect way to ruin a ride.

Got to agree with Jung. It's the perfect way to ruin a ride.

Yeah, but it improves a swim and / or a run.

Signed up for my first one this weekend!
Tadcaster on the 3rd of may.
I know I can destroy the run and the bike but swimming is going to let me down. Went for my first swim in ages this morning and felt like i was being waterboarded for an hour! Although some semblance of rhythm did appear in the later stages. Reckon i'm going to have to flop through the swim and then bring the pain on the subsequent stages! Any tips from people that can actually swim?

In a related note, The people who i am doing it with and I were out training on the bikes this weekend and i rolled through my first thousand miles on the fixed gear. Good friends, good weather, good countryside, good riding and good chips all help that little moment when the digits flipped back to zero oddly special!

I was thinking I was going to breeze the swim, having previously competed at county level, but then my wife pointed out that it was over half my life since then.....

Got back in the pool today and it was hard work; I did 1k in a mixture of crawl and breast stroke. I'm going to get in there twice a week at lunch time until I can do the whole thing in crawl. At the moment I'm concentrating on my breathing.

Also, when i get closer to the event I'll be getting some specific open water swimming in at a local ressie.

Signed up for my first one this weekend!
Tadcaster on the 3rd of may.
I know I can destroy the run and the bike but swimming is going to let me down. Went for my first swim in ages this morning and felt like i was being waterboarded for an hour! Although some semblance of rhythm did appear in the later stages. Reckon i'm going to have to flop through the swim and then bring the pain on the subsequent stages! Any tips from people that can actually swim?

I did the youth swimming thing, actually beat that Tancock chap in a cub swimming gala. Seems he stuck at it better than me :) breathing both sides is key with open water swimming, concentrate on form (google will tell you what a proper front crawl stroke should look like), and if you learn rolls your training will be lots easier.

Some simple tips that helped me when I started swimming for tri:

If you're getting a proper reach, your upper arm should brush your ear on entry
Then reach forward and glide before pulling down
Pulling through properly, your thumb should brush the side of your trunks on exit
Breathe every 2 strokes, and do at least a quarter of your training breathing to the other side
Don't plan on kicking much - you'll need your legs later on
For a mass start, do not be afraid to punch, kick, bite or stab anyone who gets in yr way - there's no bonus points for etiquette

For a mass start, do not be afraid to punch, kick, bite or stab anyone who gets in yr way - there's no bonus points for etiquette
+1 nosebleeds not unheard of, get stuck in. On the other hand, if you're not confident, swim with your head out the water to see what's going on and losing a few seconds at the start of the swim is easy to sort on the run / bike.

Heh, sounds like my kickboxing/krav maga training might get put to good use in the water!

I always find the first 20 laps the hardest (its like the first 5 mins of a run) but then you end up getting a bit of a rhythm up. I generally do 60 laps of freestyle, then 10 with a kick board and 10 each of breast/backstroke then another 10 of free to finish up. I do the same every week (2.5km), once a week. I know I'd be far better off doing some drills and I'm going to look into this. I used to do swimming club so I'm a pretty good swimmer but that whole bilateral breathing, I can't get that sorted. Guess its just about breaking habits.

Total Immersion

Happy Dayz indeed. Just got an email from someone at wiggle. I bought some asics shoes the other week and went in some competition..... strike me down and call me moses, I won! So friend and I get shoes plus running tops/bottoms as well as hotel in London and a training day with Helen Jenkins (I did have to google who she was - oh, the shame). I had earlier on been pretty happy with just the shoes and the 10p haribo!

Well done KattieP!
I think I met you yesterday.
I apologize for my shyness.
hows the training going- mine is going shit- I can't seem to get motivated in the pool.
Going to have to join a swimming team I think....

PS does anyone train @ Serpentine on w/e mornings- I think we should get an LFGSS unit there.

Ha! It felt like I was just stood at the door doing 'meet and greet' with Markyboy introducing everyone and anyone - loved it. I am shite with names and faces though - doubly so when there are 2 names for every face.
I haven't really 'started' training yet. Waiting for it to warm up. I'm only just starting to understand how long a bloody olympic one is. I was quite chuffed with a 45km ride around london on sunday - but we were barely moving. To think that I've got to to that at speed after 40 mins swimming in duck shite then run for an hour... this Helen Jenkins had better have some pretty good tips.

duck shite is good protein.
you won't need that energy drink ;)

asics..well cool. actually shit, i've bought,mmmm, hate to think how many pairs over the years. currently 7 pairs of trainers, racers or spikes currently. eek.

I've smashed my foot up training for the run in crappy old new balance trainers. Totally idiotic, pain starts at 5km and was ignored until i couldnt walk let alone run at 12.5km. Time to buy new trainers with some damn support and spend X weeks not training, and moaning.
cretin