Triathlons

nelliemagine
nelliemagine Posts: 27 Member
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm doing my first tri this July and I am just curious if there is anyone out there who has done one or more before and can share some helpful tips with me. I've had a trainer since January helping me with weights and I've been running/Biking consistently. I start with a swim coach tomorrow morning. My main concern at this point is having a "good" bike. I have a mountain bike that I was hoping to just tune up and use that, but some people I've talked to said not to use a mountain bike. The distances are: Swim .5 mile, Bike 15 Miles, Run 3.1 Miles. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Replies

  • Flyntiggr
    Flyntiggr Posts: 898 Member
    You are just doing a sprint, and it is your first race. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT go out and buy a road bike yet. Do this race and see what you think before you invest in a new bike. I've seen many people - myself included, do the bike leg on a MTB in a sprint. Now, I would suggest swapping out your nubby tires for something a bit more smooth. I got mine at REI for about 25 bucks a tire. My old tubes even fit in the new tires. Get the tires swapped, get it tuned, and enjoy this race as your first. I've seen people riding Huffys and Muarrys! :D
  • bstamps12
    bstamps12 Posts: 1,184
    I haven't done one before but I am doing my first Sprint tri in June, and the distances are almost exactly the same as yours. I am training with a pretty good mountain bike but I am using my dad's road bike for the actual race. Is the swim in a lake/river/ocean? If so, (and surely the swim coach would tell you), you need to swim at least 1 mile in the pool to feel the same as you will feel swimming .5 mile in the open water. So many people are great at running and biking and think "I swim 800 yards easy in the pool" then wonder why they are so wiped out and can't perform in the bike and run...those 800 yards in the open water drain you much more than you would expect.

    I have also been told to just have fun with my first one! See what it's all about, don't beat yourself up about the time, and just feel accomplished that you are able to complete it. Good luck!
  • cono0507
    cono0507 Posts: 10 Member
    I did my first sprint triathlon on a mountain/hybrid bike. I wasn't aiming for a particular time goal - I was in it just to finish it and was happy with that, but for my next (this August) i definitely plan to ride my road bike and hope to dramatically improve my time.
    So overall, you can definitely ride a mountain bike - and many beginners do - but you'll want to get a road bike if you keep doing tris.
    Good luck! :)
  • Panda_Jack
    Panda_Jack Posts: 829 Member
    www.beginnertriathlete.com

    Lots of great info here.

    Also just remember T.I.T.S (Time in the saddle) Everything comes down to lots and lots of practice. Whatever route you end up going on the bike, remember that you should get as much ride time in as you can on that bike before your race.
  • WmCabrera
    WmCabrera Posts: 7
    Agree! My first Triathlon was a reverse one and on the bike leg I saw people on beach cruisers, mountain bikes and everything in between. Smooth tires and a tuned bike and you're good to go. Go out and have a blast but be warned, they are addicting!
  • merB89
    merB89 Posts: 122
    I've done a few, and to be totally honest, I would hate to do one on s mountain bike. BUT I don't think that you should go out and buy a road/tri bike just for this. Do this triathlon, see if you fall in love with it. Then consider it. Its a big expense. As for training the BEST BEST BEST thing you can do is a brick workout (combining two of the sports into one work out) For example, go for a bike ride then run immediately after. That's what you'll be doing in the race, so that's the best way to get your body ready for it. A lot of people train very hard in each individual sport, and that is very necessary too, but the key of a triathlon is that they're right after another. Its amazing how weird your legs feel trying to run right after you bike. Like a pile of bricks. Good luck training and have fun racing!!! I hope you fall in love with it.
  • jjhenry5
    jjhenry5 Posts: 80 Member
    I've only done a couple sprints that weren't officially timed, just 'tri for fun' events. I did them on my mountain bike, the first on knobby tires, the second I mounted street tires. It's do-able, it'll just be a little more effort. I didn't train all that much for them, I was already running and swimming, and I just did a couple bike/run bricks to get used to that transition.

    I'd say if you were thinking of doing more tris in the future, invest in a good bike now. If you are just doing this for fun or just want to see how the first one goes before doing more, the mountain bike is fine. Depending on the seriousness of the event, you may get some comments in the transition area.
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
    Keep us posted on how it goes! I've wanted to do a tri for a few years now, but I have zero access to a pool. Good luck!
  • Celo24
    Celo24 Posts: 566 Member
    I just did my first sprint tri yesterday and I would echo what everyone else is saying. Don't go buy a bike yet; there were PLENTY of people on mountain bikes. Go get some smooth tires and leave it at that.

    Also, make sure you read up on the rules and how to set up your transition area. I watched a few You Tube videos on setting up the transitions and that helped me a lot.

    Above all though, just go out and soak up the experience. Don't worry about your time; I GUARANTEE you'll set a personal record. :wink: Go out there, have fun and enjoy the atmosphere. I had a blast, learned a TON and I will be ready to kick some serious tail at my next tri on May 1!!

    Good luck!
  • nelliemagine
    nelliemagine Posts: 27 Member
    Wow...Thanks so much for all the quick responses! The You Tube transition video is a good idea. I was worried about that part of it, but didn't even think to look there. Judging from everyone's advice, I think I'll stick with the mountain bike for now and just tweek it a little bit. The course is really close to my house, so I thought I'd go out and do a couple practice run throughs when the time gets closer. I have been doing at least one brick a week of Bike/Run. Now that I'll be swimming more, I hope to add that as well. I'm using the training schedule off of tri newbies, so I'm hoping I can keep up with it! Thanks again for all the great advice! I'll let you know how it goes!
  • nelliemagine
    nelliemagine Posts: 27 Member
    One more question...What do you ladies wear for swimming and the Biking transition? I've heard people just wear sports bras under their suits/ instead of suits, but what on bottom and does it dry fast enough?
  • Stooooo
    Stooooo Posts: 1,191 Member
    I'm doing my first tri this July and I am just curious if there is anyone out there who has done one or more before and can share some helpful tips with me. I've had a trainer since January helping me with weights and I've been running/Biking consistently. I start with a swim coach tomorrow morning. My main concern at this point is having a "good" bike. I have a mountain bike that I was hoping to just tune up and use that, but some people I've talked to said not to use a mountain bike. The distances are: Swim .5 mile, Bike 15 Miles, Run 3.1 Miles. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

    I have a mountain bike as well. At my local bike store they said they can fit it with road tires as opposed to buying a whole new bike. Said it would cost roughly $80.00 to do so.
  • nikkionamission
    nikkionamission Posts: 79
    One more question...What do you ladies wear for swimming and the Biking transition? I've heard people just wear sports bras under their suits/ instead of suits, but what on bottom and does it dry fast enough?

    I did a sprint tri a few years ago, I wore a sporty bikini (adidas I think) and then just put a t-shirt and shorts over it...it gave me enough support for the ladies but I am quite small in that area! :wink:
  • Flyntiggr
    Flyntiggr Posts: 898 Member
    I did one race in a speedo bikini - then put on shorts/tshirt. For my second race, I invested in a tri-suit. The padding (even though it is thinner than regular bike shorts), was a welcome relief for my tush. A suggestion might be to invest in tri shorts, and then just wear a sports bra/ sporty bikini top with them in the pool. That way you only have to throw on a shirt, shoes, helmet, etc in the transition. There is NO way you'll pull on cycling shorts then, that's for sure. :D
  • nelliemagine
    nelliemagine Posts: 27 Member
    Great advice! Thanks to all of you who responded. It's nice to hear from others about what worked for them and what didn't so I can learn from their mistakes or triumphs. Much appreciated :)
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