So it seems I'm doing a mini Triathlon! Eeek!

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susuenglish
susuenglish Posts: 43 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Any tips on training? It's just a small one I am doing and I have 4 months to train for it. I'm relatively fit, I run 7 or 8 miles a week, do a Zumba class and various Jillian Michaels workouts in between. The race I am entering is only 400m swim, 20k bike ride and a 5k run, all of which I am confident I can do, obviously the skill is to do it all together! So has anyone got any words of wisdom to share?
Thanks

Replies

  • cdpark617
    cdpark617 Posts: 316 Member
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    This is a topic I am interested in. My 11 year old daughter wants us to do one together. I have a mild goal of being able to run a 5K with her this Spring.

    We'll see :-)
  • tsboulanger
    tsboulanger Posts: 58 Member
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    I did one last year.. never thought I would do it! I also did a sprint in Michigan. Definitely practice swimming in open water if its a open water swim... very different then training in a pool.. plus I did alot of brick training...where you combine two of the activities to get use to moving from swimming to bike and bike to run. Then a few weeks before I practiced all 3 together. Sounds like you run...I was not a runner...so it might be easier for you. Its more mental then physical! You can do it! I can at least say I did it... I wanted to finish in 2 hours or less and I think my official time was like 2:02 so I was happy I finished!! Good luck
  • mirthfuldragon
    mirthfuldragon Posts: 124 Member
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    Any tips on training? It's just a small one I am doing and I have 4 months to train for it. I'm relatively fit, I run 7 or 8 miles a week, do a Zumba class and various Jillian Michaels workouts in between. The race I am entering is only 400m swim, 20k bike ride and a 5k run, all of which I am confident I can do, obviously the skill is to do it all together! So has anyone got any words of wisdom to share?
    Thanks

    I'm finishing P90x right now, but my next program is to start training for an international-distance triathlon, so I've been planning my future workouts around that.

    In triathlon, one workout to emphasize is the "brick" workout - where you do a combo, such as swimming then biking, or biking then running. From what I've read, the transitions are one of the hardest parts, when your body changes from one mode to another, and the brick workouts are to help that transition.

    Integrating a spin class will help you, since it seems you like fitness clases as you are already doing Zumba, if it is available. Spin is okay training for the bike, but you'll need some road miles if only to get a sense of how to ride.

    Pacing in the bike portion is also important, since it is easy to blow through all the muscle glycogen on the bike and then have nothing left on the race.

    From the bike end of things, make sure your bike is tuned up and in good shape, that you know how to fix a flat tube, and that you are generally comfortable with the mechanical apparatus known as your bicycle.

    www.beginnertriathlete.com also has a lot of good info on their website.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    This is a topic I am interested in. My 11 year old daughter wants us to do one together. I have a mild goal of being able to run a 5K with her this Spring.

    We'll see :-)

    Your 11 year old daughter is a badass.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    It seems easy to me. A guy at work does them, and I always joke with him about how easy they are. I'm sure they aren't. It's just because each individual thing is so easy. But, I'm sure that putting them together is a little difficult. I think it goes swim, bike, run.

    If you can, talk to someone that does them. There are a lot of logistics that you need to learn and practice. Like, after the swim, how do you get on the bike? I mean, theres a transition there. I think you wear your bike clothes on the swim, dry off quickly, put on your helmet and go. But there are lots of little things. Like, I was told a lot of people forget to buckle their helmet before getting on their bike and that is immediate disqualification. Little things like that are what make the race interesting.

    Good luck.
  • macdiver
    macdiver Posts: 145 Member
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    It seems easy to me. A guy at work does them, and I always joke with him about how easy they are.

    There's your answer. Have someone else do it for you. Easy Peasy. :laugh:
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
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    Don't over think it. I did 2 sprint triathlons this summer, LOVED THEM!

    *If you can, get a tri suit, wear that for the whole thing
    *If you can't get a tri suit, do the whole thing in your swimsuit, it's short enough
    *Practice open water swimming, it's nothing like swimming in a pool
    *Be able to swim twice the distance of your triathlon
    *Bike shoes make a big difference, but not necessary
    *A sprint is balls to the wall the whole time, it should hurt when you're done
    *HAVE FUN!! You only do your first once, and it's a feeling you'll never forget.
  • michelelash
    michelelash Posts: 19 Member
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    I have gobs & gobs of advice, way too much to put here :)

    First, stop calling it "mini". Any distance triathlon is a real triathlon. Get a training plan together soon so you're not panic training toward the end. Get in the pool as soon as you can, if you need swim lessons your local Y should have them. Spin classes would be good for now, but you'll need a bike eventually to work on handling skills.

    Friend me and feel free to send questions any time.
  • trickettmomma
    trickettmomma Posts: 14
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    This is a topic I am interested in. My 11 year old daughter wants us to do one together. I have a mild goal of being able to run a 5K with her this Spring.

    We'll see :-)

    I want to do a 5 K with my daughter as well (we did a mile run together a year ago) and slowly build to a mini Marathon!!
  • scott091501
    scott091501 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    Don't over think it. I did 2 sprint triathlons this summer, LOVED THEM!

    *If you can, get a tri suit, wear that for the whole thing
    *If you can't get a tri suit, do the whole thing in your swimsuit, it's short enough
    *Practice open water swimming, it's nothing like swimming in a pool
    *Be able to swim twice the distance of your triathlon
    *Bike shoes make a big difference, but not necessary
    *A sprint is balls to the wall the whole time, it should hurt when you're done
    *HAVE FUN!! You only do your first once, and it's a feeling you'll never forget.

    good advice here
    I have gobs & gobs of advice, way too much to put here :)

    First, stop calling it "mini". Any distance triathlon is a real triathlon. Get a training plan together soon so you're not panic training toward the end. Get in the pool as soon as you can, if you need swim lessons your local Y should have them. Spin classes would be good for now, but you'll need a bike eventually to work on handling skills.

    Friend me and feel free to send questions any time.

    And here.

    Sprint, mini, whatever. My advice is to find a triathlon specific training program and follow it. You can find good free ones at http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/trainingplans-doorway.asp
  • penelepurr
    penelepurr Posts: 204 Member
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    Agree with everyone here- get some real water experience, get those bricks in so your muscles know what's coming! :) HAVE FUN and CONGRATS on joining our great sport :D

    just a note- when you wake up at areyoukiddingme o'clock to make your 6am transition opening (or your morning training session if that's for you), fight the urge to want to skip the whole thing and sleep in for the first time in months LOL :tongue:

    You will start living for your days off, believe me!! When you do train, train HARD!! It will pay off and make your off-days even better.

    *edit: as a serious note, I like to have falling practice on my bike- I am not a biker and I click into my bike via the shoes so learning how to take a fall and get back up quick is something I definitely wanted to work on. Just go to some parking lot and start taking sharp turns. Works for me :) Another mini-skill I practiced on the bike was getting used to taking a drink and putting my water bottle back without looking. You want those things to be in stride and second nature. Another time-saver is going to be smooth transitions. Again, just so you've gone through it enough that it is familiar to you, go to some parking lot, set out your towel with all your bike/run supplies. Bike around, practice coming in and switching over to the run- helmet off, shoes on, etc. Do the whole thing. You don't want the day before or the day off to be the first time you do that.
  • simplyeater
    simplyeater Posts: 270 Member
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    I am doing a sprint triathlon next summer. I already run longer distances but just started swim training. Biking will wait until early spring when I will focus on that and open water swimming. I've seen 12 week plans on http://beginnertriathlete.com/. Go check them out. Have fun and let us know how your training is progressing!

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