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

Having long fingernails gives you a little extra to pull with on the swim, but extra weight on the bike. Grow them before the race and bite them off when you start the bike leg.

they are also good for gouging on the mass start swim but remember not to swallow them...

I always carried water on the bike. Good for washing sea water out of your mouth if it's open water. Courses are usually flat so weight isn't an issue. Some claims they are actually more aero than not carrying.. not sure about that.

Also, you could do with some carbs, even in short races.
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/sports-nutrition-the-role-of-carbohydrates-in-endurance-sports-42171

hmmm, gouging. Interesting tactics! And no, I have no illusions about winning. I'm really just looking forward to the pub afterwards where I can "rehydrate"

Did the HSBC down in Dorney today - 2:32:30, with the swim & ride coming in at 1.6k and 43k, so I'm pretty happy.

Looking at the results, there's quite a lot of people that missed a lap on the ride, but haven't been picked up on it. I know it's all supposed to be about personal targets and whatnot, but my competitive streak is itching.

Nice race though - the lake is super clear, and there are still lane markers, meaning that swimming in a straight line is easy - 27:00 for 1.6k

The bike course was an 8 lap affair around the lake - flat, not very exciting, and a little congested, but fine for just tucking down and going - 1:13 for 43k

The run was nice because there was a breeze it wasn't too warm - 4 laps of out and back, with plenty of traffic - 48:30 for 10k

i fucking love watching triathletes cycle, well fall off their bikes when cornering, stopping, or even riding along in a straight line

saw one today all slvlss and aerobars tumble off her bike just going in a straightline, utterly unforced error. at least there are other cyclists as inept as me

I hope you checked she was ok, regardless of your opinion of her chosen hobby.

Well I did my part in the Bananaman thing at Dorney on Sat. Got lucky with the weather, sunshine and reasonably light wind. I was in a relay team and did the cycle leg - 31.8klm (6 laps) Had 3 major errors, 1st lap went left instead of right - back towards the transition area after missing the turn to continue on...grr, 3rd lap my computer flies of the bars, had to stop and grab it and 6th lap I was so caught up in riding I missed the turn to finish!!! So excuses over I did it in 60 mins. I didn't push hard enough and a few mistakes but it was fun. Will try (tri?) again. Think I could break 54-55 mins next time.

The other team in our group had a guy called Lee (I think ex team GB!) do the cycle leg - he turned up with an Argon 18 and full Zipp disk rear/80mm front. He said the wind was shocking, but did it in 48 mins.

Overall, fun day.

2 hrs 45 for an Olympic todayat dorney, wind seemed to be in my face for the whole thing and suffered badly from stomach cramps.

31 minute swim, so quite pleased
1hr 24 on the bike
46 on the run
Some fairly quick transitions made up the rest

Need to workon both the swim and the bike a lot more and maybe I'll have more left for the run but stomach cramps mean to had to ride on the tops so I guess that'll improve by a few minutes without any changes really.

A good start I guess and plenty to work on over the winter!

What are the Dorney tri's like? I did the London one last weekend, was my first and loved it. Came in a shade under 2hrs 20min, slow swim bike transition and due to being my first set-off mid-way back in the swim, making it a slow first couple hundred meters.

good - I love the swim in Dorney, the water is (or was) clear enough that I could easily follow the guide ropes for the buoys which lay along the floor. It was just like swimming in a pool and sighting wasn't an issue. Bike is flat and boring, so is the run. But the one I did there was well organised.

Cool, will have to put it on my list for next year.

The run on the London tri was fairly terrible but enjoyed being on closed London roads during the cycle. Will do it again next year try to get down to sub 2.15 or even with some better organised training 2.10

They're good I did one run by vo2 which was much better than the human race one I did a couple of months ago save for the transition area being a bit chaotic as there were sooooo many competitors over the whole day with super sprint, sprint and Olympic distance all being intermingled.

Friendly staff and better aid out run.

Would recommend, bike leg at dorney is frustratingly long though at 43km according to my garmin but not long enough to excuse my time. Would help if I had done any bike training for this, more than 2 swims would have helped too and frankly I was just happy to get round the run at the end of all that!

Next year will see a ,ore concerted effort and a time more in the 2.20 region based on my 10k PB of 37 minutes!

A club mate just did 8h23m at Challenge Barcelona. 5th place, 10th fastest British IM distance result of all time.

To put this into context, he has only trained for upto 70.3 events, but forgot his passport for last weekend's season ending race so decided to have a go in Barca this weekend to see what'd happen.

One to watch for next season...

http://www.runnersweb.com/running/news_2012/rw_news_20120930_Challenge_Barcelona.html

8 hours 23 is nuts!

Did IM UK this year and as a naff swimmer and very average runner was happy with 11 hours 57 minutes! Left the water in 698th position and finished the ride in 152nd but lost a few on the run to finish 231st of 1500.

Swim [2.4]: 1:23:23 Bike [112]: 5:46:07 Run [26.2]: 4:28:31 Overall: 11:57:00

It's all about the bike leg.

I think I was 11:57 or some such on my IMUK back in '09. Not to take anything away from 8:23 effort (which is obviously astounding) but the course in Barca is supposed to be waay quick while IMUK clearly isn't.

P.s. I'm impressed by your bike leg - my splits had a very different character.

^ yes, Barca is a quick course. He beat Bayliss I think, and was just 3 mins behind the winner.

For the record my attempt at Sherbourne in 2008 gave me a 1h25 swim a 3h55 run and the rest was spent shivering on the bike total 12h55.

Just signed up for my first triathlon in April. Got a long way to go before I'm ready. Go Hard or Go Yard!

So where to start?

Just signed up for the London Triathlon next July (28th), pretty unfit so am going to concentrate on some running for now to up my cardio fitness as i figure this will benefit both my swimming and riding.

I have seen the beginner to marathon type training programmes on runners world but any good ones out there for triathlons?

Also memberships and clubs, have looked at some sprint tri's next may but some mention BFT membership for discount is there a benefit to having that if i intend on doing a few triathalons next year? If so better to go direct to BFT or via a club as I think it would help a club get some funding. Only problem is trying to fit in with a club's schedule, at could be difficult at the moment (Commuting = training)

Get involved in the LFGSS Christmas Triathalon for one. For some reason it's in the running thread though.

Yeah saw that earlier. Will have to judge my fitness nearer the time but sounds like a plan.

So where to start?

Just signed up for the London Triathlon next July (28th), pretty unfit so am going to concentrate on some running for now to up my cardio fitness as i figure this will benefit both my swimming and riding.

I have seen the beginner to marathon type training programmes on runners world but any good ones out there for triathlons?

Also memberships and clubs, have looked at some sprint tri's next may but some mention BFT membership for discount is there a benefit to having that if i intend on doing a few triathalons next year? If so better to go direct to BFT or via a club as I think it would help a club get some funding. Only problem is trying to fit in with a club's schedule, at could be difficult at the moment (Commuting = training)

BTF membership costs £30 with a club affiliation, and saves £3 - £5 for most races (more if it's a big branded event).

Tritalk has some beginner to Olympic distance plans.

See what your current levels are - do a few shorter distance separate TTs (like a 400m swim, a 5k run, or a 20 km ride). That should give you a baseline and an idea of what might be achievable.

The running is likely to be the hardest one, if you haven't run for a long time, and is the one that might lead to more injuries - So take it slow to start work up to longer distances and speeds.

Thanks for that, I'll head over to tritalk this weekend to haev a look.

Running i something i have never got on with unless it was chasing a ball around a field so that alone is enough of a challange.

hey guys

did my first tri at the london event - got 2hrs 43 which i was fairly happy with considering a) its my first, b) i couldn't swim 2 months before hand and c) the weather was blimming terrible.

nevertheless i've signed up for what's penned as the uk's hardest iron man next year - City to Summit

http://www.ratracecitytosummit.com/index.html

The swim and the ride look fun.

The mara, with 2,700m of climbing, can get fucked.