I had actually postponed my 'first tri' new years resolution, wanting to lose more weight. I'm down 60lbs to 210, but that's still 55lbs over my HS running weight. I was going to wait until I was in the 180 range, and start to run then. Hopefully getting some early races in next year. But I was just drafted into a group of other tri rookies to do The Wurst Tri Ever(http://www.redemptionrp.com/WurstTriEver), a slightly short sprint, or the Kerrville Tri Festival Sprint(http://www.kerrvilletri.com). Probably The Wurst, because it starts on a waterslide and all of us are greatly in touch with our inner child.

I expect the answer is, 'Just start running. Don't overdo it. Aiming to complete a sprint respectably isn't rocket science'. But I'm nervous about the run because of my weight, previous overuse injuries and ego. I'm at heart a runner, I don't want to be unhappy with my running split.

I swim 3600m a week, cycle 200-300, and do a bit of lifting as well(Squat, deadlift, press, bench press, power clean, lat pulldowns, seated row). At this point I've got enough swimming and cycling fitness I'm not worried about completion, but would like enough running fitness where I can approach the run more aggressively than just plodding to the finish because I don't know my body well enough to pace anymore.


The lifting is mainly to get my lower body stronger than it needs to be. The hope was that weights will build strong connective tissue, minimizing overwork injury risk once I started running. Also, when I was a runner before, my arms&shoulders would often get tired and kill my form when my legs still had life. I'm trying to avoid that with time in the weight room as well. I know lifting isn't hugely popular, but I've got so much room to go, fitness wise I don't think I need to worry about tri-specificity for quite some time. That, and I like the variety.

So this is what I've been doing:

Bike commute is 15-25 miles one way, pace and distance varying with mood. Generally 13mph if I'm feeling lazy/sore, 15mph is comfortable, 17mph is wanting to work. Most of it on a mup trail, so minimal stoplights. No hills to speak of. Swimming involves a 5 mile ride to the pool and back.

Here's what my exercise looks like:
Sunday: Sedentary recovery day
Monday: bike commute, lift, bike commute home
Tuesday: swim 4x200 and 1x400. I'm thinking of starting to do hills on the bike in the afternoon/evening.
Wednesday: swim 4x200 and 1x400, bike commute, lift, bike commute home
Thursday: swim 4x200 and 1x400. Thinking about adding either a long bike ride(for me, that's 50-80 miles). There's a 7 mile TT triangle nearby, maybe do some hard laps on that.
Friday: bike commute, lift, bike commute
Saturday: Bike commute x 2

I'm thinking of running a mile every workday before I get on the bike, or at the end(there's a 1.3 mile trail around a pond at the end/beginning of my commute) for a week. Then adding steadily adding distance. That's where I'm looking for advice. Should I just run 2, 3, 4 days a week instead of 5? 6 or 7? If 3, the days I'm not lifting? Should I drop a wednesday swim or lift?

How quickly should I ramp up the mileage? Should I worry about speed at all, right now? Or just aim to get miles in?

For reference, I was a low 16:xx 5k runner in high school with a high 4:xx mile. PR. If what I was running 11 years ago matters at all now. I expect not.

Thanks for humoring the noob.