Does anyone here swim?
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I'm still thinking about a sprint tri, or try-a-tri. Next August. Started swim lessons a few weeks back and I really don't know how to swim but will learn.
No plan to be competitive. Just want to say I did it.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »I'm still thinking about a sprint tri, or try-a-tri. Next August. Started swim lessons a few weeks back and I really don't know how to swim but will learn.
No plan to be competitive. Just want to say I did it.
That's a great reason to do one. Its very satisfying to complete a race.1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »I'm still thinking about a sprint tri, or try-a-tri. Next August. Started swim lessons a few weeks back and I really don't know how to swim but will learn.
No plan to be competitive. Just want to say I did it.
That's a great reason to do one. Its very satisfying to complete a race.
I did my first one because my personal trainer told me I needed to train for something. I have done 6 now, but I hate to run (and my doctor told me I shouldn't due to a hip replacement) so I have never done more than a sprint.1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I've been wanting to do something more competitive, and while is have to eat some crow, a tri would force me to focus on my weaknesses. It'd also be more relevant to me than a Nordic biathlon by a lot.
The last time I ran, I was pretty slow (9:30 per mile) and it wasn't after riding hard. How much would I have to improve?
Nothing like a sprint distance triathlon to get your competitive juices flowing. Unlike longer distance triathlons, where proper nutrition is a big factor and the work, though prolonged, is usually not quite as intense, a Sprint is just that - an all out effort that requires you to operate right at your threshold for the entire race if you hope to be competitive. And it certainly offers a measurement of an athlete's relative strengths and weaknesses.
Since times vary based on different course layouts, and not knowing your age group, I can't provide specifics of just how fast you'd have to be to have a shot at the podium, but I can give you a few examples for reference. In a popular Sprint distance race this past summer, the Niantic Bay Triathlon, which includes a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile run, there were 459 athletes who completed the race. The overall winner came from the Men's 30-34 age group. The winner's overall time was 59:54. splits were Swim= 9:24, T1= 00:48, Bike=30:54, T2=00:37, Run= 18:12 Note: That run split was done at a 5:41 pace, including the last 200 yards run over beach sand!
To illustrate how competitive the field can be, there were 44 athletes in the Men's 45-49 age group. The top five 45-49 age group finishers came in at 1:03:24, 1:07:46, 1:08:13, 1:08:27, and 1:08:51. So the second through fifth place finishers were separated by only 65 seconds. That's a horse race for the podium!
So if you're looking to focus on improving weaknesses in swimming or running in a very friendly yet very competitive atmosphere, its a great sport.
Fair warning, though: Triathlon can be very addictive. If you're not careful, you could end up installing aftermarket aerobars on your road bike and wearing one of those funny looking helmets.
Thanks very much for this.
I'm 39 and it's amazing to me that the overall winner was close to my age. The times are a little intimidation though. I wouldn't be far behind on the bike leg, but need an extra 10 minutes for the run.
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You can go to the websites of events you're interested in and look at the most recent results. I mentioned the Tri Turtle Tri up thread, here in Kitsap and there's one in Bonney Lake. Both are sprints and both in Sept. I'm sure there are lots more in our area.0
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NorthCascades wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »I've been wanting to do something more competitive, and while is have to eat some crow, a tri would force me to focus on my weaknesses. It'd also be more relevant to me than a Nordic biathlon by a lot.
The last time I ran, I was pretty slow (9:30 per mile) and it wasn't after riding hard. How much would I have to improve?
Nothing like a sprint distance triathlon to get your competitive juices flowing. Unlike longer distance triathlons, where proper nutrition is a big factor and the work, though prolonged, is usually not quite as intense, a Sprint is just that - an all out effort that requires you to operate right at your threshold for the entire race if you hope to be competitive. And it certainly offers a measurement of an athlete's relative strengths and weaknesses.
Since times vary based on different course layouts, and not knowing your age group, I can't provide specifics of just how fast you'd have to be to have a shot at the podium, but I can give you a few examples for reference. In a popular Sprint distance race this past summer, the Niantic Bay Triathlon, which includes a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile run, there were 459 athletes who completed the race. The overall winner came from the Men's 30-34 age group. The winner's overall time was 59:54. splits were Swim= 9:24, T1= 00:48, Bike=30:54, T2=00:37, Run= 18:12 Note: That run split was done at a 5:41 pace, including the last 200 yards run over beach sand!
To illustrate how competitive the field can be, there were 44 athletes in the Men's 45-49 age group. The top five 45-49 age group finishers came in at 1:03:24, 1:07:46, 1:08:13, 1:08:27, and 1:08:51. So the second through fifth place finishers were separated by only 65 seconds. That's a horse race for the podium!
So if you're looking to focus on improving weaknesses in swimming or running in a very friendly yet very competitive atmosphere, its a great sport.
Fair warning, though: Triathlon can be very addictive. If you're not careful, you could end up installing aftermarket aerobars on your road bike and wearing one of those funny looking helmets.
Thanks very much for this.
I'm 39 and it's amazing to me that the overall winner was close to my age. The times are a little intimidation though. I wouldn't be far behind on the bike leg, but need an extra 10 minutes for the run.
No reason to be intimidated, the vast majority of folks at Sprints are mere mortals. As a strawman, if you did the swim leg in say 18 minutes, the bike leg in 32 minutes, and the run split in 30 minutes (9:30ish), then added 4 minutes for the combined T1/ T2 transitions, you'd come up with an overall finishing time of 1:24:00. That would have placed you as #137 of 469 overall. That's a "front third of the pack" finish. Its moving up from there that's the hard part. I know this from experience.
The impressive thing to me is to see just how freaking fast some of these folks are, REGARDLESS of age or gender. The other thing I like is the highly positive vibe at races. The races are hard, but the athletes are typically very open and supportive of newcomers, no matter what level of ability. That makes it fun.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »I'm still thinking about a sprint tri, or try-a-tri. Next August. Started swim lessons a few weeks back and I really don't know how to swim but will learn.
No plan to be competitive. Just want to say I did it.
That's a great reason to do one. Its very satisfying to complete a race.
I did my first one because my personal trainer told me I needed to train for something. I have done 6 now, but I hate to run (and my doctor told me I shouldn't due to a hip replacement) so I have never done more than a sprint.
if you have the itch to try a longer race, have you ever considered entering as an Aquabike competitor? There are Aquabike options either at the Olympic or Half Iron distance races. Two of my training partners entered as Aquabike participants during the Patriot Half Iron distance race we did back in June. They were recovering from leg issues, so neither one was ready to run the 13.1 distance. As a result, they did the 1.2mile swim & 56 mile bike portion of the race as a way to maintain fitness during their rehab process.0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »I've been wanting to do something more competitive, and while is have to eat some crow, a tri would force me to focus on my weaknesses. It'd also be more relevant to me than a Nordic biathlon by a lot.
The last time I ran, I was pretty slow (9:30 per mile) and it wasn't after riding hard. How much would I have to improve?
Nothing like a sprint distance triathlon to get your competitive juices flowing. Unlike longer distance triathlons, where proper nutrition is a big factor and the work, though prolonged, is usually not quite as intense, a Sprint is just that - an all out effort that requires you to operate right at your threshold for the entire race if you hope to be competitive. And it certainly offers a measurement of an athlete's relative strengths and weaknesses.
Since times vary based on different course layouts, and not knowing your age group, I can't provide specifics of just how fast you'd have to be to have a shot at the podium, but I can give you a few examples for reference. In a popular Sprint distance race this past summer, the Niantic Bay Triathlon, which includes a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile run, there were 459 athletes who completed the race. The overall winner came from the Men's 30-34 age group. The winner's overall time was 59:54. splits were Swim= 9:24, T1= 00:48, Bike=30:54, T2=00:37, Run= 18:12 Note: That run split was done at a 5:41 pace, including the last 200 yards run over beach sand!
To illustrate how competitive the field can be, there were 44 athletes in the Men's 45-49 age group. The top five 45-49 age group finishers came in at 1:03:24, 1:07:46, 1:08:13, 1:08:27, and 1:08:51. So the second through fifth place finishers were separated by only 65 seconds. That's a horse race for the podium!
So if you're looking to focus on improving weaknesses in swimming or running in a very friendly yet very competitive atmosphere, its a great sport.
Fair warning, though: Triathlon can be very addictive. If you're not careful, you could end up installing aftermarket aerobars on your road bike and wearing one of those funny looking helmets.
Thanks very much for this.
I'm 39 and it's amazing to me that the overall winner was close to my age. The times are a little intimidation though. I wouldn't be far behind on the bike leg, but need an extra 10 minutes for the run.
No reason to be intimidated, the vast majority of folks at Sprints are mere mortals. As a strawman, if you did the swim leg in say 18 minutes, the bike leg in 32 minutes, and the run split in 30 minutes (9:30ish), then added 4 minutes for the combined T1/ T2 transitions, you'd come up with an overall finishing time of 1:24:00. That would have placed you as #137 of 469 overall. That's a "front third of the pack" finish. Its moving up from there that's the hard part. I know this from experience.
The impressive thing to me is to see just how freaking fast some of these folks are, REGARDLESS of age or gender. The other thing I like is the highly positive vibe at races. The races are hard, but the athletes are typically very open and supportive of newcomers, no matter what level of ability. That makes it fun.
I agree, the goal on the first one I did was to finish. Everyone was very supportive throughout the race.0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »I'm still thinking about a sprint tri, or try-a-tri. Next August. Started swim lessons a few weeks back and I really don't know how to swim but will learn.
No plan to be competitive. Just want to say I did it.
That's a great reason to do one. Its very satisfying to complete a race.
I did my first one because my personal trainer told me I needed to train for something. I have done 6 now, but I hate to run (and my doctor told me I shouldn't due to a hip replacement) so I have never done more than a sprint.
if you have the itch to try a longer race, have you ever considered entering as an Aquabike competitor? There are Aquabike options either at the Olympic or Half Iron distance races. Two of my training partners entered as Aquabike participants during the Patriot Half Iron distance race we did back in June. They were recovering from leg issues, so neither one was ready to run the 13.1 distance. As a result, they did the 1.2mile swim & 56 mile bike portion of the race as a way to maintain fitness during their rehab process.
I have seen these, not sure that there were any too close to home and wasn't willing to travel. I did get a 1.2 mile open water swim done this summer, so it is a possibility. I would need an upgrade on my bike to do 56 miles, I have a hybrid, which is totally doable at 13 miles, but I don't think I want to do 56 on it.0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Different people can do each leg...?
Does everyone bring a time trial bike, or can you be competitive on a road frame?
Yes, there are team entries in most of the races I've done where a different person does each leg.
What do you mean by competitive? I've seen people racing on all sorts of bikes. Are they competing with themselves and their best ability? Yep. Are they competing for a podium spot? Not the ones who aren't on TT bikes.0 -
LiveLoveFitFab wrote: »I love to swim. I try to go once a week, usually on a day where my muscles hurt and I need a little break.
This is me. When I'm not embarrassed to be seen in my jammers, swimming is my preferred recovery exercise.1 -
I swim 1-2x per week. I had some issues and had to stop for awhile so I'm slowly easing back into it. My rule is I do whatever I can in 30 minutes. Right now that's 2 sets of 4 laps alternating breast/crawl + 1 lap of back kick w/ board in between - total of 10 laps.
I am personally careful to not overdo it because it makes me really hungry and I'll blow my calorie deficit. I know these exercise loggers want to tell you that you burned a bazillion calories but that's not really true. I will give myself at most 100 calories extra via a whey protein shake. If I'm still hungry I'll increase by 50 calories but only up to 200 calories total and always something high in protein.
Others have mentioned Master Swimmer programs. There's one that meets at the lap pool I use and it look fun but maybe too intense for me. I'm more of a lazy exerciser. I'm not sure where you live, but you might also consider Surfing if it's an option for you. I did it once and if you are already into open water swimming, you might enjoy it! It requires a lot of stamina and upper body strength! Also it's just so much fun, even when I would wipe out I was having such a blast. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a more intense swimming activity!!
Actually swimming for me isn't about weight loss at all (that's what calorie cutting is for). I am slightly hyper-mobile and am prone to injury. I do Pilates to build and maintain support and strength in areas where I'm most prone to twist in odd ways. However I still suffer a lot of tension, especially in my back and through my hips. Swimming is a great "reset" for me and helps to loosen up those tight areas. As well the water actually provides resistance and support so it helps me to not twist every which way. It's the one "cardio" type of exercise I can do without injuring myself, it's so great!
Another benefit of swimming not related to weight loss is breath control and capacity. I study classical voice and find that swimming helps to train good breathing habits of short and deep back breaths. In fact I notice a difference in my breathing habits when singing after skipping a week of swimming.
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No because I can't afford the gym membership and there is none in walking distance. I would like to though. I know it would do my arthritic knee a world of good.0
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KurumiSophia wrote: »No because I can't afford the gym membership and there is none in walking distance. I would like to though. I know it would do my arthritic knee a world of good.
have you maybe checked local high schools - that is where I do my swimming - i don't have a gym membership0
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