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Triathlon Talk
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:13 am
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:13 am
Is anyone here actively involved in triathlons?
My wife started training a while back and has completed 2 shorter (super sprints?) with a sprint coming up in August. I caught the bug just watching her, so I have been in the beginning stages of training myself.
I plan to start swimming within a week, but have been running and biking frequently and enjoying it. Currently saving to buy a used "higher end" aluminum bike.
Any tips, gear talk, do's or dont's, general training discussion??
My wife started training a while back and has completed 2 shorter (super sprints?) with a sprint coming up in August. I caught the bug just watching her, so I have been in the beginning stages of training myself.
I plan to start swimming within a week, but have been running and biking frequently and enjoying it. Currently saving to buy a used "higher end" aluminum bike.
Any tips, gear talk, do's or dont's, general training discussion??
5
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:26 am to Polar Pop
I did my first race in 1988 when I was 18 and have done at least one race a year since then, usually 5 - 6.
If you are an adult onset swimmer best thing is to get a coach, that will be your best investment.
Don't get caught up in all the gadgets at first. Just swim, bike, and run.
Don't jump in to the Ironman distance too quick. Get fast at the sprint or olympic distance first.
If you are shopping for a tri specific bike you can find a carbon frame for a comparable price to an aluminum frame.
Have fun!
If you are an adult onset swimmer best thing is to get a coach, that will be your best investment.
Don't get caught up in all the gadgets at first. Just swim, bike, and run.
Don't jump in to the Ironman distance too quick. Get fast at the sprint or olympic distance first.
If you are shopping for a tri specific bike you can find a carbon frame for a comparable price to an aluminum frame.
Have fun!
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:00 am to Polar Pop
Swimming is about form more than anything, take a Glide clinic or a couple lessons to get it down. Then it's just laps in the pool, with some sprints mixed in. If you decide you're gonna stay with it find a Master's class once a week.
Do some open water swimming. Don't let the first or second or third open water swim you do be at your first race.
Don't buy an aluminum bike, there are plenty nice used carbon frames out there. You don't need to spend a fortune on a bike, either.
Run off the bike once a week or so.
Like anything, you can spend as much or as little as you want. But you don't need much to train and do a few sprints. But if you like it and will stay with it, get a garmin watch with a HR meter and learn how to train with it.
Sprints are fun, do as many as you can to get the hang of what gear you really need, how to set up your spot in transition, how to "do" the two transitions, and to figure out what you're strong and weak at. Don't bother with long course training or racing until you've got a few sprints under your belt.
Do some open water swimming. Don't let the first or second or third open water swim you do be at your first race.
Don't buy an aluminum bike, there are plenty nice used carbon frames out there. You don't need to spend a fortune on a bike, either.
Run off the bike once a week or so.
Like anything, you can spend as much or as little as you want. But you don't need much to train and do a few sprints. But if you like it and will stay with it, get a garmin watch with a HR meter and learn how to train with it.
Sprints are fun, do as many as you can to get the hang of what gear you really need, how to set up your spot in transition, how to "do" the two transitions, and to figure out what you're strong and weak at. Don't bother with long course training or racing until you've got a few sprints under your belt.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:38 am to Polar Pop
quote:
Any tips, gear talk, do's or dont's, general training discussion??
Make sure to get some "bricks" in. Bike then run. It really does a number on your legs. After you do a long ride, just run a mile or so.
Swimming is by far my best discipline i'm usually one of the first out of the water (to be passed with quickness once I get to the run
). Long and smooth strokes, you don't need to wear yourself out to go fast I am considering doing the Destin race this year
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:41 am to Polar Pop
I’ve done three half’s and just did my first full Ironman a month ago. I’ve done a sprint as well and they are fun. The hours you have to dedicate to Half’s and especially Fulls are a lot! 10-12 hrs/wk for half’s, 12-17hrs/week for fulls.
Swimming I’d highly recommend a masters class. I go to Tiger Aquatics bc it’s close to my house and the time(5am) works best for me, but Crawfish has a lot availability as far as times to go. If you’re a terrible swimmer fins are your best friend at first, i still use them every warm up. Swimming is all about time and meters in the pool. With fins you’ll find you can achieve 3000m and an hour swim workout pretty quickly and then do a gradual release model to where most of your swimming is with no equipment.
As far as bike, you can usually find a great deal on a minimally used one on eBay. For practicality sake a road bike is what you’d want to get first, but if you have a competitive itch a tri bike is way faster and it’s not like you can’t do all your workouts on one of those. If you insist on a new bike and can’t afford a carbon one the the Specialized Allez is the best aluminum one on the market.
You really should get a HR monitor and a Garmin(a 910 will work and has to be cheap by now) to monitor your training and progress. Once you take it serious though I’d strongly suggest purchasing a Power Meter for your bike, it’s kind of a standard among legit age groupers...
Swimming I’d highly recommend a masters class. I go to Tiger Aquatics bc it’s close to my house and the time(5am) works best for me, but Crawfish has a lot availability as far as times to go. If you’re a terrible swimmer fins are your best friend at first, i still use them every warm up. Swimming is all about time and meters in the pool. With fins you’ll find you can achieve 3000m and an hour swim workout pretty quickly and then do a gradual release model to where most of your swimming is with no equipment.
As far as bike, you can usually find a great deal on a minimally used one on eBay. For practicality sake a road bike is what you’d want to get first, but if you have a competitive itch a tri bike is way faster and it’s not like you can’t do all your workouts on one of those. If you insist on a new bike and can’t afford a carbon one the the Specialized Allez is the best aluminum one on the market.
You really should get a HR monitor and a Garmin(a 910 will work and has to be cheap by now) to monitor your training and progress. Once you take it serious though I’d strongly suggest purchasing a Power Meter for your bike, it’s kind of a standard among legit age groupers...
Posted on 6/16/19 at 7:03 pm to Polar Pop
I really appreciate the replies. I plan on getting a swim coach before I even enter the pool, I dont have the slightest clue where to start and dont want to develop bad habits to be fixed. I have been running 2-3 miles and biking 12-15 miles fairly regularly over the past few weeks.....and this morning did my first "brick" Ho-ly-shite
It was only a 7 mile bike ride at 18.5mph followed by a 1 mile run at 8:23 but I felt like I was going to die 1/4mi into the run. I will definitely be doing these bricks at least once a week. 
Posted on 6/16/19 at 8:26 pm to Polar Pop
You doing Sunrise?
Posted on 6/16/19 at 11:00 pm to Salmon
quote:
You doing Sunrise?
Im not but my wife is. She started a while back and has done the first 2 of the 4 part series, with #3 being this coming weekend. River Cities will be in August.
I have ZERO experience swimming for any distance, so Im looking to get into it with the coach she used/uses within the next few weeks.
Im helping her as much as I can (gear, research, etc) and just making sure she stays motivated and consistent with the training because she came out of nowhere with this shite.
I am going to gradually work up over a long haul and might look at doing an actual race next year. We only have one bike at the moment and she is fitted to it, Im just making it work for myself.
Posted on 6/17/19 at 8:28 am to Polar Pop
What city are you in?
Posted on 6/17/19 at 8:34 am to Andychapman13
Shreveport/Bossier
Posted on 6/17/19 at 3:00 pm to Polar Pop
quote:
I have ZERO experience swimming for any distance, so Im looking to get into it with the coach she used/uses within the next few weeks.
Again, don't let your first race be your first open water swim. I'm a strong swimmer, usually top 5 out the water, IM finisher, done 12 or so 1/2 IMs, and a ton of sprints, and still get panic issues every once in a while out of the blue during the swim. You need your face in the water outside of a pool to get over that.
and seriously, you don't need to wait a year. anyone with a bit of effort can finish a sprint. So you walk the run, so what? my first couple were on a road bike, and at any sprint you'll see all kinds of bikes. Just go do a few with the wife.
Posted on 6/17/19 at 6:11 pm to TheCurmudgeon
quote:
You need your face in the water outside of a pool to get over that. and seriously, you don't need to wait a year.
Truer words have never been spoken!
Posted on 6/18/19 at 10:16 am to Andychapman13
The only thing holding me back from doing one soon is the lack of a bike.
This whole thing is expensive as hell, as soon as she told me she wanted to start training for triathlons my wallet damn near caught fire
I am going to save up and look for a good used bike to start out on, I would just like to get the nice 105 grade groupset and at least aluminum with a carbon fork. Although those Dengfu and Planet X carbon frames are tempting to build.
This whole thing is expensive as hell, as soon as she told me she wanted to start training for triathlons my wallet damn near caught fire
I am going to save up and look for a good used bike to start out on, I would just like to get the nice 105 grade groupset and at least aluminum with a carbon fork. Although those Dengfu and Planet X carbon frames are tempting to build.
Posted on 6/18/19 at 1:09 pm to TheCurmudgeon
quote:
I'm a strong swimmer, usually top 5 out the water,
Would you mind providing a few results links where you came out of the water top 5?
Posted on 6/18/19 at 4:00 pm to kritra
quote:
Would you mind providing a few results links where you came out of the water top 5?
Come on dude, don’t be “that guy”! He’s talking about local sprint races.
Posted on 6/18/19 at 4:51 pm to Andychapman13
Yes, I know what he's talking about. We live in the same city and have done the same races.
Posted on 6/18/19 at 8:00 pm to kritra
Oh, my B!lol
Posted on 6/19/19 at 7:35 am to Andychapman13
No worries. I wasn't trying to call anyone out. It's just that there are very few people around here that I would consider "strong" swimmers; especially in the triathlon community. I'm pretty sure he hasn't raced in a while so was just curious how his swim times used to be.
Sorry to derail your thread PolarPop.
Sorry to derail your thread PolarPop.
Posted on 6/19/19 at 8:07 am to kritra
quote:
No worries. I wasn't trying to call anyone out. It's just that there are very few people around here that I would consider "strong" swimmers; especially in the triathlon community. I'm pretty sure he hasn't raced in a while so was just curious how his swim times used to be.
Sorry to derail your thread PolarPop.
There's always someone like you who has to ruin a good thing. The guy asked for advice, why not just focus on that? Instead you choose to talk crap to someone you don't know over something you don't know.
And I don't live in Lafayette, which is where your profile says you live. And I'm not going to out myself in real life to address your need to feel good about yourself by talking baseless crap about people you don't know. At least you had the decency to apologize to the OP for injecting personal jackassery into his thread seeking simple advice.
Posted on 6/19/19 at 8:16 am to kritra
quote:
Yes, I know what he's talking about. We live in the same city and have done the same races.
kritra
Navy Fan
Lafayette
Member since May 2008
152 posts
-----
No, we don't live in the same city.
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