I am planning on doing the Trirock Austin next year, I have a good background in running, (18:27 5K PR), and I can swim for a mile, although extremely slow, not much biking done ever, but I have an entire year to train, including a summer off of school (I’m 15) to peak around Labor Day. Haven’t ever done high mileage for running, this would be my first time above 40 miles per week. I plan on using a mountain bike for the race, although I’ll ask for a road bike for Christmas or something. Has anyone had any experiences with Trirock Austin they can share with me? Any training suggestions for the Olympic distance? A little ambitious, but I heard a little something about a $5000 purse? Is that even within sight or should I just focus on racing the clock? Thanks in advance for any answers.
If your goal is to finish, then the bike you have will get you through the 40K. But it will be really slow. If you want to be competitive, you need a road bike. It can be the crappiest bike on the used rack, but if it fits and is rideable, it will be muuuuuch better for training and racing. If you can’t get a hold of a road bike, consider an offroad tri. Maybe check out events around you on trifind.com.
It would be a good idea to get in an inexpensive local sprint before, I presume, a big race like that. There’s bugs to work out every year.
There are lots of training plans on the internet available at little cost or free. Just google “olympic triathlon training” or something. Places like training peaks, beginner triathlete, among others are places to start.
Forget about the purse.
Enjoy the race!!!
My suggestion would be to aim for racing the clock.
If you look at the open division results from 2013, the bar is set at a decent standard:
Winner: Daniel Vertiz (Age 20)
Chip 1:59:51
Swim: 20:22
Bike: 1:01:27
Run: 34:29:00
You’re young and have a good number of years to build towards a performance like that, but coming from a non cycling / non swimming background, you’d be hard pressed to put in elite level swim / bike times and run a 10k in what would currently require you to pull more than a minute off your 5k pb pace.
Some info from this year… http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/TriRock_Austin_Swim_Conditions_P4733287/
Find an easy sprint race to do first, sometime early next year - you’ll learn a lot and if you really want to do well at this particular event you’ll be able to figure some stuff out doing a race or two before. Save up some money and get a used tri bike or at least a road bike. Don’t worry bout that prize money quite yet… plenty of time for that 