First question is about the cervelo P1. Does anyone know how much it weighs by any chance? Also, I am a 19 year old beginner triathlete and my first race is on April 5th, is the P1 a solid investment and a wise choice for my first Tri bike? I know the obvious answer is yes, but does anyone think there is a “better” choice?
Second, I was wondering what people think as far as bike selection for shorter races. If I am going to be racing mostly sprints this year and not racing olympic distance until next year, is it really that beneficial to buy a tri-specific bike like a P1, or would it actually be better to be able to train and race on a road specific bike like the S1 or an equivalent?
Now to swimming… I am strong in my bike and run, but I have never been a strong swimmer. I started about 3 weeks ago and I could not even finish a 50 M swim when I started. I swim at least 4 times a week now, and my workouts are about 1100 M and increasing, mostly just 50’s. I can swim 100 M and I can probably do more, but the race I am registered for has an 800 M swim. Am I going to be able to work up to this swim? And if so, what would be the best way and what suggestions does anyone have? Keep in mind I have access to a pool 7 days a week and I love training and will train extremely hard to meet my goals, so any advice will be great.
hahaha! you are younger than I sorry, I’m used to being the baby of the family around here (am 21).
I’m a fish by trade so I will answer the swim questions.
You need to learn how to swim.
I say that nicely: your improvement will come very quickly from technique; what you are doing right now is thrashing your way through the water most likely, inefficient movement. See if you can find a local swim coach, swim instructor, or good swimmer to get some help - and then you will find that 800m VERY easy.
Also if you can swim 7x a week, do it, even if they are short swims. Swimming is incredibly kinesthetic, it is all feel…
To get the details on the cervelo, consider their web-site. The cervelo may be a good choice, but go to your local tri-ship and have them fit you for the best bike for you. Fit is more important than the name brand. My bike shop talked me out of the more expensive bike I wanted because the fit was not quite right. My personal favorite is the Jamis, but it could be completely wrong for you.
If you plan to stick with the sport, go with a tri-bike. If you are not sure, hold off and ride what-ever bike you have for the 1’st race.
As for swimming, I agree with the previous post, but if you can’t afford a coach, consider buying the book “total Immersion”. I used it as a guide a few years ago and my swimming increased dramatically over the following few months. (I was struggling to get though 400 yards with-out stopping and 3000 is now a common distance. I start to get board counting the laps.)
I have an old P2K…don’t know the exact year but I think it is from 2001 to 2003. I weighted it yesterday and it was just under 22lbs. It was a rough weigh, weigh myself, then me with the bike then the difference was the bike.
The P2K is basically an older version of the P1. I’ve got older Ultegra group, Rolf Vector Pro rims, aluminum everything else except carbon extensions.
So your saying it isn’t impossible for me to complete the 800 M swim during the race with only two months to go?
Also, to the others, the 3 or 4 pounds or so between the aluminum P1 and the carbon P2…how much difference does it really make?
I personally don’t think that the difference between a P1 and P2 is worth the money for an up and coming triathlete on a budget. That is from someone who raced on a P1 (P2Sl), owns an RS, and will be racing an Equinox this year. I’m in my 4th season racing long distance races and it’s still not worth the money to upgrade to carbon at full price.
Join a master swim group to help with your swim. You should be able to swim at least 500 yards non stop by now. A good master swim coach will tell you right away what is wrong with your stroke. By race day, you should be able to swim 1200 yards non-stop without any difficulty.
Go with a P1. It will be a good investment. Later, if you get a better bike, the P1 can be your training bike.
What do you mean I should be able to swim 500 yards non stop by now?
And if I were to buy the P1 it would be an investment for at least 2 years, does that change anyone’s opinion?
If you want to get a head start on the swimming you could YouTube “front crawl swimming” and watch all the videos. You may recognize something right away that you’re doing wrong. It’s no substitute for a coach but you can learn a lot by watching and thinking about how it applies to what you’re trying to accomplish. Some say swimming is only 10% of the event so not much focus should be put there but I disagree, it’s the set up for the rest of the race! Good luck.
Not to be rude AT ALL, but I have watched every video and read every article that I could read on the internet. The question I am more gearing towards is… If I just swim (and I’ve gotten this advice from someone) as much as I can swim, like say I can swim 100 M right now, if I just swim 100 and then do it again and again and agian, and then the next day I swim like 125M and then rest and swim til exhaustion again and again, and then continuously do that, am I going to just be able to do more and more each time and work up to swimming my target distance? Is that an option or is it ridiculous?
If you didn’t understand the question its like doing 10 pushups each day, eventually you will be able to do 11, ya know? Thats what I am asking?
The problem that I had when I first started swimming was that I wanted to go fast, all of the time. What I learned is that I needed to slow down a bit to go the distance. I also needed to work on my form. I would guess that if you are only going 100M and then having to stop, that you are probably picking your head up when you breath which is causing your legs to drop.
The advice I would give would be to keep one eye under water when you rotate to breath. You can hear when you are doing it right, because you don’t hear the water slap you ear when you put your head back in the water.
Remember to rotate your hips along with your shoulders. Swim slow to get the distance - shoot for 400M without stopping. Do countdown workouts where you go 400M at your "survival speed, 300M at a slightly faster speed, 200M slightly faster again 100…, 50…, 25 all out.
As for the bike, any bike that fits you well, that allows you to get into and stay in an aerodydnamic position will allow you to beat 50% of the people in the race. You will be totally amazed at the number of people on fully decked out P3’s and similar bikes riding on the base bars 10 miles into a race. The fit is primary. Riding the bike in the areo position enough that you develop the muscles to stay in that position is a very close second.
Not to be rude AT ALL, but I have watched every video and read every article that I could read on the internet. The question I am more gearing towards is… If I just swim (and I’ve gotten this advice from someone) as much as I can swim, like say I can swim 100 M right now, if I just swim 100 and then do it again and again and agian, and then the next day I swim like 125M and then rest and swim til exhaustion again and again, and then continuously do that, am I going to just be able to do more and more each time and work up to swimming my target distance? Is that an option or is it ridiculous?
If you didn’t understand the question its like doing 10 pushups each day, eventually you will be able to do 11, ya know? Thats what I am asking?
Yep, that’s pretty much the concept. If you try to swim 500m today, and can only make 200 before stopping, maybe by the next week you’ll be able to make 250 without stopping, then the week after that 300, etc. Your muscles will adapt and get stronger, and you will start developing at least some “feel” for the water.
However, if you are a new/beginner swimmer, I cannot emphasize strongly enough taking some lessons, preferably from a competitive swim/stroke instructor. It will make swimming a lot easier, and you will be able to go further distances with comparable effort.
Not to be rude AT ALL, but I have watched every video and read every article that I could read on the internet. The question I am more gearing towards is… If I just swim (and I’ve gotten this advice from someone) as much as I can swim, like say I can swim 100 M right now, if I just swim 100 and then do it again and again and agian, and then the next day I swim like 125M and then rest and swim til exhaustion again and again, and then continuously do that, am I going to just be able to do more and more each time and work up to swimming my target distance? Is that an option or is it ridiculous?
If you didn’t understand the question its like doing 10 pushups each day, eventually you will be able to do 11, ya know? Thats what I am asking?
Well, your description sounds very much like you are fighting the water and simply increasing your tolerance to fatigue. That’s fine and good, especially for running/cycling. But with swimming, you need to improve your technique. You are already in good enough condition to swim a mile or two non-stop…if you swam efficiently.
Because of this, if you were to learn to swim efficiently then by the end of next week you’d be ready for your triathlon. Find an experienced swimmer and ask them to tutor you.
As for the bike…if you don’t own a decent road bike right now then I strongly recommend you make that your training/racing bike for the next season or two…or three.
Nobody should own only a time trial bike.
The difference between aluminum and carbon bike frames is about 2-3% in weight, 60% in price, and 20% difference in ride harshness. In your place, I’d definitely get an aluminum framed bike.
Just a thought: Try taking a day or two off of training—completely. Get as rested as you can and then try to do a NON-STOP 500m (or more) swim, even if you have to switch and do backstroke or breaststroke. Concentrate on going the whole distance—not on doing it as fast as you can. Put all of your eggs into that basket for now. After all, if you can’t finish the swim, you might as well enter a duathlon.
I just learned to swim three years ago (I’m almost 30), and it wasn’t until I did a non-stop 500y swim that I felt like I was actually getting somewhere. And yes, I had to spend some time backstroking the first time I did it. By the time I finished my first sprint, I was doing 3x500 every swim session (which is still pathetic by slowtwitch standards). If you can do 1,100 in increments of 50, you can probably do a nonstop 500. I’d imagine you have a mental hurdle to jump first, however.
sorry, I’m used to being the baby of the family around here (am 21).