You might try using an easier gear/higher cadence… see if that’s easier on your legs.
Saddle comfort comes with time (I’m definitely not all the way there myself)
You might also experiment with more off days. When I first started tri’s, I had better luck with 3 days on, 2 days off. You will be able to do longer, better quality workouts and your power of recovery will get better as you get fitter. Lower leg strength will help with the shin splints. I cured mine by doing simple leg exercises to strengthen those muscles. One is to hook your toes under the lip of a desk and pull your toes up. This works the muscle in front of shin. You can find others in books or websites on running. Also, minimize hard surface running. Keep some re-useable cold packs ready to go in the freezer and ice your joints/shins after running. This will speed recovery.
welcome to tri’s… you’re gonna love it.
first, the races aren’t too close. and, even if you think they might be and you get worried… use the first as a “training day” or “B or C priority race” and the second as your “A priority” race.
I agree about being able to up your bike mileage. You should be able to increase it without too much trouble. (But, if you run into any trouble don’t feel bad backing off. In fact… NEVER feel bad backing off if you think your body isn’t ready for it.)
Now, about your running. If you’re positive it’s not the shoes (and, I mean positive because most of the time it is) then check your cadence. Are you overstriding (taking long steps/strides). Try shuffling your feet instead. As you get accustomed to the distance open your stride up little by little.
Also, I wouldn’t recommend ONLY using the treadmill. It’s boring and gives you no feel for the road or trail. Get outside… if you have to run on the grass or find a trail. It’s much easier on your legs and you’ll feel better actually going somewhere.
Most of all… enjoy yourself. And, enjoy your new life.
Hey Big Tex,
As I am in my third year of triathlon, I am still in the learning phase myself. Here are some of the things that I’ve figured out along the way…
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I went into this planning on losing 10 lbs my first year. What ended up happening was by the beginning of my second year I’d gained 10 lbs. Gained muscle, but didn’t lose any fat. Nutrition was a key for me to doing triathlon and losing weight. I’m not saying “diet.” I’m saying that you need to make sure you are eating what your body needs, and limit junk that your body doesn’t need. After incorporating nutrition last fall, I lost the 10 lbs I’d gained plus the 10 lbs I wanted to lose. And once you lose the weight, it doesn’t hurt as much to run.
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Rest is key. You schedule looks a little rigorous. Make sure you give your body days off here and there to give yourself time to recover. It’s counter-intuitive, but you need to rest to let your body heal from all the training you’ve been doing. If you start to feel achy all the time, or tired all the time, take a day off. In my case, overtraining was my biggest obstacle the first two years.
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I rode a mountain bike until my second year. I didn’t look glamorous, but by the time I went to go buy my bike, I knew enough about bikes to understand components, and how to figure out what the best bike was that I could afford. I’m still riding a road bike, and am just now contemplating putting aerobars on it. Don’t buy a bike until you know you want to stick with it, because you can drop a chunk of change, just to have it sit in your garage.
Have a great time this year! It’s a great community, and a heck of a good time!
One problem you can run into causing shin splints is running on your toes as in sprint sports football basketball short track. If you did any of these sports you may be prone to running on your toes which will cause this problem. Very few distance runnners run on their toes. Notice how your foot strike and if your on your toes try to rock back either mid-foot or heel strike and see if that helps. I played the usual football basketball baseball etc and had shin splints when I started running distance.
I used to have the same problems with shin splits. To get around it I started a run/walk program. I’d jog for 5mins, walk for 3, repeat 3 times. I’d then leave the first 5mins as a warm-up, gradually increase the time for the middle section, and leave the final 5mins as a warm-down, so it would work as follows:
5R/3W/5R/3W/5R 3 times in a week
5R/3W/7R/3W/5R 3 times in a week
5R/3W/9R/3W/5R 3 times in a week
etc.
Second, make sure you always stretch a little before you start running, and especially shortly after you stop.
Third, I learned a bit about the Pose method of running (http://www.posetech.com/). The general idea is that you lean forward a little more and run on the balls of your feet, NOT landing on your heels. I found that this helped avoid shin splints.
One final point: remember that you want to be in this game (tri, running or just general fitness) for a long time, so don’t do too much too soon. It can be frustrating starting off doing so little and only pregressing slowly, but you’ll stay injury-free that way.
- Congratulations on joining the “Cult”. One day, not to far away, you’ll start having to explain to others this crazy thing you do and more bizarrely (from their point of view), why you do it. 2) I have done a number of sprint tri’s on my mountain bike. It is a lot of fun to rip as fast as you can after doing a lot of trail riding. It also amazing how fast you can go. I remember a guy in Ohio in the mid-80s that won a decent size tri race on his mountain bike. Already an Ironman finisher with a respectable time, he was doing a bike tour and stopped to do the race. Just this past weekend, on the 56 mile bike course, at the Eagleman half Ironman, I passed a guy (a real man, a man’s man) on a mountain bike. I complimented him on his studliness, but as he had a somewhat skinny front tire, I told him he lost a few points from a top score. 3) Miles miles miles on the bike. I like the 10% increase per week max for both the run and the bike. As you are just starting out, definitely test your limits, it is way too early to set limits on how far you can go. Shin splits and serious pain will provide real enough current limits, but don’t let mild discomfort deter you. Good luck with your training.