[Closed] Training for a triathlon

Try and do two hour sessions of each a week.

Swim focus on technique and set work,
Run distance and set work,
Cycling on aero and timetrialling, try and get the 25miles in. (look at getting a Turbo too)

Also look at biking and running straight after, helps the jelly legs.

Look a lot at transitions, that’s where a lot of time is saved.

Definitely get open water practise in. And try lots of wetsuits.

I'm doing Winsor, London (hopefully for team Mazda) and maybe a half Ironman this year. So send me a mail if you want any tips.

Thanks for the reply alwyn, lots of useful stuff there. What do you think a reasonable time scale would be to get into a position where I can attempt one would be? Just thinking it would be good to look for an event to focus on. I'm not looking to be competitive really, a respectable finish will do me fine!

re open water practice, what kind of places could accomodate me? I'm in Manchester if that helps.

Thanks again,

Joe

I'm down south, so have never raced in Manchester. Try looking on the net for a local Triathlon club, there are a lot about. Give them a bell, it's good for training, technique tips, local races, sorting out open water and you get 10% off at some tri shops.

I'm sure you will find a local lake again try the net. Don't use a surfing wetsuit, they are slow and give very very bad blisters if you race in them.

For a first even maybe look at sprint, otherwise go for the full olympic distance. Its not to hard and you will be fit from biking, I know a lot of people that did it as their first event.

For the bike look at getting some Tri bars, if you learn to use them they will take a lot of time off the cycling but I know a lot of people hate them.

Hope that helps.

If you can swim 1500m cycle 40km and run 10km by themselves in training you will manage a whole event, take the first one easy and just get used to the race.

You will want to read up on the rules as well, there are a lot to do with Transitions and darfting (it is not allowed on the cycle). I would also recommend energy gells for the race, they give you a good boost.

Join Manchester Tri Club, they are a really nice bunch, the range of people goes from hardcore nut jobs to your average jo.

http://www.man-tri-club.org.uk/

Joe,
If you live in the Manchester area, you could go along to the Manchester Triathlon Club training sessions www.man-tri-club.org.uk
I'm part of the Mid Chehsire Tri club, so might see you in some of the local races-you'll find the races friendly and its not just the 'super fit' who enter, theres all shapes and sizes so you definately won't be the slowest!
I agree with Alwyn, make sure you run after every bike session, even if its only 1k or so. It will definately help combat 'jelly legs'. The bike is the main part of the race so make sure that the majority of your training time is on the bike. The fitness you build on the bike will carry over to the run, however it doesn't work the other way round as the muscles you use for running don't help as much on the bike.
If you have any spare cash, think about getting a tri suit and some lock laces for your trainers as these help cut time in transition, also if you're just doing sprint/olympic distances try running bare feet as well-just make sure you put plenty of vaseline in your trainers! Aero bars for your bike are also a good investment!
Apart from that, just try not to spend too much money on speed saving bits and bobs-it gets addictive!

Ok great, thanks all for the advice. I'll definitely look into the manchester triathlon club. Glad the bike is the main part as it gives me a headstart over a mate I'm going to be training with! Although he runs marathons 🙁
I'll put that surfing websuit back in the garage now then!

Looks like I've got a run to look forward to after my bike outing tomorrow..

As people say Transitions are an easy thing to practice and a good place to save time, little things like using elastic bands attaching your shoes so they sit level to the cranks and you can get your feet in quicker etc.
Good tri club will get you the best advice as people have mentioned.

I speak from experience that you don't need to be super-fit to get round olympic distance 😀 The more prepared you are, the more you'll enjoy (rather than endure) it though.

Swimming is most people's big worry. Get plenty of time in the pool and work your way up to the distance (don't cheat by pushing off at the start of each length). Consider getting some coaching if you've not swum in ages or picked up all sorts of bad habits (my gf had the massive advantage of not learning to swim when she was a kid!). Lots of local pools either have a scheduled adult swim class or can put you in touch with someone. Most people are really splashy, which is slow and wastes loads of energy.

For open water, try to get some proper (ideally coached) practice in. Most tri clubs will run sessions all season at a lake somewhere - it's very different experience swimming in a wetsuit, not having tiles on the bottom to follow and needing to "sight" the bouy you're heading for. Few people swim in a straight line unaided so you need to get in the habit of raising your head to check and adjust. Practice the mass starts too, they can be intimidating as hell if you've not experienced one before the start of the race!

That said, for a first go there are plenty of club-level races which are pool-based so you can skip that stuff just to give it a try.

Bike you'll probably be fine on, don't worry too much about tri bars, just get on with riding as fast as possible. Road bike is fine, but you see plenty of people on hybrids or even MTBs. Check the drafting and overtaking rules as it varies from event to event.

Running is running - but one thing to include in your training is running straight after cycling. It's not a natural or easy thing to go from one to the other and (again, from experience) your legs will stop working on the run unless you've specifically trained for that.

As said, joining a tri club is a good idea as you'll be able to get plenty of advice as well as access to things like open water training.

But generally, get on and try one! I enjoy them, got a bit stuck just cycling, it gave me a reason to swim and run on a regular basis and get some kind of balance.

got a bit stuck just cycling, it gave me a reason to swim and run on a regular basis and get some kind of balance.