I’m a half decent runner with 33:30 and 2:37 prs at 10K and the marathon and I’m thinking about giving a tri a try. My swimming sucks, I’ve been getting in the pool 3-4 times a week for the past 2 weeks “swimming” for 40 minutes at a time…only I have to stop and rest every 100 yards.
I think my running fitness will transfer pretty well to the bike…when I get one!.
How long…ballpark figure…would it take to get a mediocre swimmer, with decent fitness, in shape to do an Oly length triathlon and not embarass himself?
As for the swimming, how long does that generally take to come around? I’d like to be able to swim a mile non-stop before trying open water competition swimming.
As a runner, just get faster on the bike and you will have more time to give up in the water . . .
Seriously, all folks improve at different speeds and you are somewhat vauge in your request. Learn your stroke right the first time and build from there.
swimming is by far the most difficult of the three to master. I’d suggest getting someone knowledgable to look at your stroke and refine it. I also know people who will never break 30 min for a 1.5k swim but would make awesome duathletes.
I would recommend starting with a few duathlons and working your way into triathlon. With those run times and a 5k/30k/5k distance you would do real well.
I’m with you…former runner trying oh so hard to make the transition. Just be patient in the pool. It’ll take time, but you’ll figure it out. It’s like running on the track, rhythm. I spent about 6-8 weeks or so swimming 3x week before I did my first sprint race (750yd swim). I was back in the pack out of the water, but made up a lot of time on the bike and run.
Given your marathon performance you have more than the required fitness to complete an Oly. Swimming is almost entirely a matter of technique. I recommend some coaching or instruction to get started - even a couple one-on-one sessions can do wonders. With your fitness and reasonable technique swimming 1500m should be no problem. As for cycling, get a bike that fits (!) and start riding.
You should have no problem jumping into triathlons. How long before racing? Depends on what you mean by “not embarassing” yourself. I would think 4-6 weeks would suffice to comfortably complete the race (~3 hrs). That’s about how much time I trained before my first Oly when getting into tris without anything close to your running background (no swimming or cycling either).
One thing you might want to look at is Total Immersion. It’s far from the end-all as far as swimming goes, but I think it does a good job of taking a non-swimmer upto comfortable.
Hire a swim coach. It sounds expensive, but in reality, if you are disciplined enough get your drills and workouts in on your own, you only need to meet with your “coach” once a week or so.
If you are in San Fransico, Cathy Morgan might be able to direct you to a good masters team.
"I think my running fitness will transfer pretty well to the bike…when I get one!. "
This is true but don’t go out and purchase the steepest angle tri bike right away. Get a good road bike first and get out with a roadie group to get some basic cycling skills. For tris you can get a pair of shorty aero bars to suit the geometry. If you really like it then later get a dedicated tri bike. Road bikes are more versatile, handle better and are best for a beginning cyclist.
Swimming is all about technique. Put in volume with cycling and running and you’ll get faster. The same doesn’t apply to the swim.
More frequent but shorter swim workouts will improve you faster than longer workouts less frequently. Look at Gale Bernhardts book “training plans for multisport athletes”. She’s got some minimal time plans as well as year long plans for all distances. Total Immersion has swim training vid’s and books and I found them useful. The drills taught me to not waste quite so much energy and that translates into confidence that I could easily complete the swim. I still do the drills almost every time I swim. I trained 5-8 hrs/week for 9 weeks before my first sprint. I started with miminal swimming background and still finished top 15%.
I mostly agree with swimming being about technique…however, as a runner transformed triathlete, I found that there is a certain swimming fitness. It isn’t cardiovascular but instead muscular. I had never really developed my upper body strength and found when I was swimming my back muscles would burn and burn. (They still do) That is my one problem with TI’s approach to the swimming. It basically says if you swim their way (all drills and no mileage) you will go fast. This is true if you have the base muscles but if you don’t have any your muscles get tired from pulling, even if you are exhibiting correct form.
“there is a certain swimming fitness. It isn’t cardiovascular but instead muscular.”
That’s a very good point. A friend of ours was a runner/cyclist for twenty years but could barely swim. He would win his AG in any length duathlon just about any time out.
Two years ago he decided to start triathlon. We went to the pool with him for his first swim workout and after 100 yds he was beat despite his excellent cardio fitness. No upper body musculature or strenght. He started an upper body weight program and has been working on the swim. He’s still a weak swimmer but can place high in tri AG due to his running and cycling.
Dont’t forget to work on the bike…there is technique and mainly getting your butt used to sitting there for the amount of time to complete the bike. Also, even though you arre a terrific runner, it won’t translate all that well to the bike since muscles are used differently and your quads will be asking what the heck is going on.Gotta work the bike too.
The swim concerns me because, although I’m in fairly decent cardio shape, after a few laps I start going anaerobic and my heart rate goes thru the roof. As soon as this happens I lose my “form” and everything goes to hell. Luckily I know a good swim coach who I’ve been helping with his running and he is going to give me some technique advice and workouts.
I’m a typical ectomorph runner with little body fat and not a tremendously strong upper body which makes maintaining form hard for me. I sink really easily, which makes me try to swim faster which leads to the raised heart rate…which causes me to sink…a vicious cycle (no pun intended).
Hopefully proper form will go a long way to curing that. I’d love to be able to swim slow and smooth, right now its frenetic and very tiring.
The tougest part about this sport is the cost! wetsuits, bikes, clothes, helmet, coaching, swim classes, entry fees, and 150 little “can’t do without” accessories all add up pretty fast.
I am still very new and don’t worry the swim will come…actually the other day I was at the gym and was able to do 5 pull ups. I have never done that before. I attribute that to the swimming. Plus the ladies love the broader shoulders.
ah yes the cost…well its well worth it I think and can be done slowly. Appears the swim is the biggest worry for you. But you will become more relaxed just by swimming and faster than you think you will be swimming smoothly for lots of laps with no problem. Good luck!!!
Done correctly, the swim can be done at quite a relaxing heart rate. Keep in mind that in swimming, given the density and resistance inherent in moving through water, you need to try to make that medium work for you, not against you. One of the things any good swim coach will do is to streamline your position, which will reduce the resistance in which water pushes against you, and therefore allow you to work with less effort. Another thing to keep in mind is to keep your body high in the water, especially your hips. Terry Laughlin explained in his books, that if you press down on the water with your upper chest while swimming freestyle, it helps to force your hips higher in the water (action followed by equal and opposite reaction), which will also help the sinking legs while swimming (common in many beginners). Also, be aware that a significant source of swimming power comes from the body core, via rotation of the hips while swimming freestyle. Similar to the role torso rotation plays in throwing a fastball or swinging a golf club.
There is quite a bit more to swimming than one can explain in one shot, but I wanted to share some of the fundamental concepts IMO are important to swim more efficiently. Best of luck in improving your swim and transitioning over to the world of triathlon.
Join a masters swim team, at least for your first couple of years. You will be amazed at your swim progress if you train with a coach and a group. With your “engine” you will do fine in triathlon.
First of all, you’re better than a “half-decent” runner. You’re top 10 or top 5 in the races you enter. If your real question is, “how long will it take to get to that level in tri”, I say you’re looking at 3-4 years. Tri is much more technical and each discipline has it’s own type of training (and costs). Instead of dealing with one sport, you’re dealing with three.
The toe is almost healed, I’m going to run today at lunchtime and hit the pool tonight for what will hopefully be my last ever pool running session.
I don’t know if I’m top 5 material…I think the tri scene is really competitive here in Nor Cal…as is the running circuit. There are a couple of guys in my running club who are much faster runners than me and who compete in tris and I don’t think they contend for the prizes too often. Perhaps in the local sprint series events, but nothing bigger.
interestingly enough, being a good runner, I found that my swimming troubles when I began were related to not breathing correctly–once I learned how to breath I could go for long periods of time non-stop and eventually an Ironman within 5 months
I would find a very good swim program/coach and take a couple of lessons–you obviously have the lungs based upon your running, probably just not perfected on technique swim wise
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