I am a very moderate runner (just for fun, not exactly pro-athlete) mainly 10k and half marathons for charitys and 2 5
mile runs a week to keep fit. Have been decided to do a tri in August for charity but i am struggling a bit with the amount of conflicting advice on the net (I don’t know any triathletes). Just wondered if anyone would mind giving me any pearls of wisdom, anything from training to nutrition and any little tricks of the trade that might help. Really appreciate any help. cheers
Since you are just starting, you will make tremendous gains and have a blast just by swimming, biking and running. You will find that there is no magic formula when you are starting out, just put in the miles and it works. You don’t need a ton of miles either, swim a couple times a week ride a couple times and maybe bump those two runs a week up to 4 runs a week.
volunteer at a local sprint tri before your race so you can see what its all about. Talk to folks there.
Make sure you can swim, bike, and run independently a little more than the race distances, and if you’re feeling really good do some bike to run brick workouts, where you effectively simulate the last 2/3 of the race, but at slightly shorter distances for one or both of the disciplines (typically longish bike, shorter run).
Recommendations would obviously be different if you wanted to be very competitive in this first race. I’d use this one to test the waters, then once you’re hooked come back and we’ll tell you which Cervelo and race wheels to buy, where you can find Newtons for the best price on the web, whether or not you should wear compression socks, and who you can train with that will crush your dreams.
Its for charity, so most importantly have fun and raise lots of money.
How long is this tri? That kinda matters…
Its the London Triathlon, olympic distance. No local clubs either. I live in north England so is football (soccer) or boxing, not much else unfortunately. Started swimming 1500m in morn mon-fri and cycling at weekend but it seemed a lot easier when i first got the offer. Think it will be alot tougher than i imagined. Cheers for the advice, its very much appreciated.
just run and bike a lot and swim a little
do an event or two and get back to us!
I am a very moderate runner (just for fun, not exactly pro-athlete) mainly 10k and half marathons for charitys and 2 5
mile runs a week to keep fit. Have been decided to do a tri in August for charity but i am struggling a bit with the amount of conflicting advice on the net (I don’t know any triathletes). Just wondered if anyone would mind giving me any pearls of wisdom, anything from training to nutrition and any little tricks of the trade that might help. Really appreciate any help. cheers
If you can swim, bike, and run the race distances independently of each other, then you can string them all together for a race. It really is that simple. You might not have the fastest transition times but speed there comes with experience.
I suggest laying out your transition setup well before the race and actually doing a few transitions. That way you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t. You don’t want your first time to be in the middle of your first race.
Just get out there and have fun. Yes, training is tough but crossing the finish line of your first race is 100% worth it.
Hi Andykimmo
Sounds like you are getting hooked on triathlons! I am a triathlon coach and would like to help you achieve your goals. I can design a training program for you to get through the race easily, finishing strong with a lot of fun. Let me know!
M.S
I am a very moderate runner (just for fun, not exactly pro-athlete) mainly 10k and half marathons for charitys and 2 5
mile runs a week to keep fit. Have been decided to do a tri in August for charity but i am struggling a bit with the amount of conflicting advice on the net (I don’t know any triathletes). Just wondered if anyone would mind giving me any pearls of wisdom, anything from training to nutrition and any little tricks of the trade that might help. Really appreciate any help. cheers