To tri or not to tri

pezhed

I've never had any interest in a triathlon, but an off-road sprint-ish one has caught my eye today and I'm very fixated on it. I would have 3 months to train, starting from being okay with running 3 miles (will have to run 5 trail miles in the tri), not really knowing how to swim properly, and being an intermediate mountain biker who mountain bikes and/or cycles regularly.

What was your deciding factor for trying a tri? Is it too ambitious to go from knowing how to get by swimming to being able to swim a half mile in open water?

ETA clarity

jjpptt2

As long as you can manage the swim, there's no reason not to do it.

Swimming in a group, in open water, is VERY different from any other kind of swimming. It's a physical and mental challenge. Having a wetsuit can be a huge help, but it's unlike anything else you're apt to do. I don't say that to scare you off... rather the opposite, so you know what you're in for and can prepare appropriately. I'm a strong swimmer, but also a slow swimmer... so I always start at the back of my group. Doing so makes the whole swimming in a crowd thing rarely an issue for me.

When you say you can "get by swimming"... what does that mean? You don't have to be fast or technically proficient, you just can't drown. Anything in between is more than fine.

nikolabird

Go for it! I trained for a half marathon in 3 months with the furthest I'd run being 10k once and I did it.
Believe and you can achieve anything.
Happy training and have fun.

pezhed

Yeah, my "get by swimming" means that I don't know how to properly swim and currently tire very quickly when I try to swim laps in a pool, which is not often attempted. That would definitely be the area I have to work on most. I appreciate your thoughts about swimming in open water in a group as that is my biggest concern here. I think I will need a wetsuit for warmth which seems like it will add another layer of complexity. Do you train in the pool in a wetsuit if you can't get to open water to practice? This triathlon does have a first-timers swim group which I think will be helpful. I'd get to go in a group of 50 or less.

jjpptt2

No, I've never used my wetsuit in a pool.

Without knowing what you're doing when you swim laps, my guess is that you need to slow down and/or breathe more frequently. Much like running, it's important to find a rhythm you can maintain.

pezhed

Thanks for the pointers @jjpptt2! Sorry for the silly question about wetsuits in a pool. I've worn a backpack in the gym so I thought maybe there was a parallel there, haha. There may be opportunities to swim in the reservoir prior to the event so I could try it out there. I think I might try to go for a swim in a pool in the next week or so and decide accordingly.

@nikolabird thanks for the encouragement

jjpptt2

No worries. Unless your pool has a rule against it, there's no reason why you couldn't use a wetsuit in a pool. I'm not sure what the chlorine would do to it, so I probably wouldn't make a habit of it... but once or twice to get the feel for it probably won't hurt anything.

lilawolf

I say that you should go for it! Swimming is a great skill to have, sounds like you have access to a pool, and you may learn to love it as exercise later.

I would run out of breath quickly while swimming laps when I started. It was a fairly fast progression to being able to swim for longer though. One trick I use(d), and I don't know if this is helpful since youll have to swim in open water, is to swim freestyle in one direction and then do backstroke the other. That allowed me to not stop but also get more air.

jjpptt2 has a point: Just need to finish without drowning

jjpptt2

Oh, one other thing worth mentioning: Some races have cut-off times... times by which you have to finish each leg of the race. If you don't make the cut-off time, you are DQed, and often times pulled off the course. If your race has a first time swimmers group, I'm guessing any cut-off time they have for the swim won't be significant. But it's worth asking about before making a decision.

pezhed

It does look like their cutoff time is pretty generous. Reviewing last year's results, I see some swim times as long as 42 minutes for the half-mile. I see one first-timer disqualified but I can't tell why, except her run time was only 5 minutes, so maybe she went backward or something. Would hate to be disqualified during my first go at this, so definitely worth considering!

My pool access is just an indoor city pool but hopefully that would be sufficient.

pondee629

OP: A quick read on the subject:
http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/triathlon-training-guide/slide/1

deannalfisher

I always recommend new triathletes be able to swim the distance of the racex1.5 comfortably (so if the swim is .5 mile - being able to swim .75) to counter zig-sagging in the water etc....I've been at many races (been a triathlete for nearly 8 years now) - where you can see the swimmers who are comfortbale in the water, vs. those just trying to muscle through

_Bro

NO.
DO. OR Do NOT.
There is no Try

pezhed

Thanks for feedback! @pondee629 that article is great! @deannalfisher that's a good idea to be able to swim farther than the race requires. I'm going to try to get to the pool this weekend and see if there's any hope!

sarabushby

Please also do not underestimate the importance of learning to sight properly whilst swimming in open water. There are no black lines on the bottom of the lake and you would be surprised the angle you can end up swimming at even though you think you're going straight. Just try swimming eyes shut in an empty pool lane and you'll soon see! It's critical to be able to swim in the right direction otherwise it can be dangerous if you swim into oncoming swimmers or swim a long way off course so you need to learn and practice the art of lifting your eyes to look around without disrupting your stroke. Check videos on YouTube and you'll soon get an idea of what you need to do.

sjaplo

I'd like to piggy back on the swim question if I may? I'm considering a sprint tri in August - but I only swim breast stroke. I can see how this would be a drawback in the open water, but would it make a difference in the pool? Thanks in advance.

deannalfisher

You can swim any stroke you want in a tri - but be aware of your surroundings - I've been kicked in the chest multiple times by a breaststroker and had a friend who got pulled out of the swim at her ironman because she got kicked in the head by one

STEVE142142

As far as swimming my first question to you is what do you mean by an open waterswim?

there's a big difference between swimming in the ocean and a lake some of the other poster summed it up it's a different technique it requires a different kind of stamina and it's something you seriously need to research and find out

As far as developing stamina to swim there's a great website called zero to 1650. If I remember right it'll basically get you swimming up to a mile Non-Stop and I think 8 to 10 weeks