Thinking of Trying

[paintgirl]

Proabably many have already broached this topic. I think I want to try to do a triathlon. I bike a lot now on a Devinci Hybrid, was running 6 Km a day until hot summer weather set in(I'm 54 years old and hot enough on my own). My swimming is not a strong point(can you do a tri by doing the backstroke?) I am thinking of May June of 2007, to try. I have a cold winter with snow so I would have to join the Y or a gym to practise the swim part. Any ideas on a good start up training program. I am active now, play baseball 3 times a week, bike, snoshoe and broomball in winter. thanks for any hints. Lori

[Lise]

Hi, paintgirl,

You certainly can do a tri. I would start by doing a search on what sprint triathlons you can find in your area. Sprints vary in distance, but are generally half the distance of an Olympic tri. The sprint I did this spring was a 400 m swim in a pool, 11 mile ride, and 5K run. It was sponsored by a YMCA. Your Y may even have a triathlon training club you could join. I've taken swimming lessons at my Y, to improve my technique. You can do any stroke you want to get yourself through the swim, but if it's in open water, the backstroke is hard to do with people swimming all around you.

I did three Oly and three Sprint tris on a hybrid bike (Marin Larkspur). I wasn't going to invest in an expensive road bike unless I knew I wanted to keep doing it. I bought a beautiful Bianchi this spring, and it is a faster ride.

Welcome to the triathlon board--you'll learn a lot from friendly women! Lise

[Running Mommy]

Yep, Like what Lise said! You sure can!! My advice would be to join your local Y if you can, and sign up for adult swim lessons. Thats what I did, and by spring I was ready to "tri". Plus if your Y has an indoor pool it's kinda cool to go swimming in the dead of winter!! :D

[Tri Girl]

Good for you for thinking of trying a tri! You have LOTS of time to get ready between now and next year, so I would start on your swim as soon as possible, and you'll probably have no need for backstroke come May/June. Swim lessons are a great suggestion. That way you'll learn correctly from the beginning and not have to un-learn bad swimming behaviors (like me).

www.trinewbies.com and www.trifuel.com both have training programs for sprint distances. Most are in the 11-16 week range, but you can use the early week's workouts as practice in the winter offseason. Also, it might be an idea to work on strength training a little this winter to build those muscles that will help you in all 3 areas come summer next year.
Best of luck to you!!!!

oh, and there are so many diff. kinds of bike at a tri- so you can do it on whatever you have handy. Best to try it and see if you like it first. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get into this sport- but once you decide you love it- there will be MANY ways to spend LOTS of money....:D

[triflor]

paint, you should definately check out the Muskoka Triathlon in Huntsville, Ontario in mid-June. (Just how far north are you?) The course is beautiful, with sprint (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) as well as long (2km swim, 55km bike, 15km run.) The sprint distance is always great for trying tris, and this race is a great one for introducing yourself to the tri culture. Since the Long course is a qualifier to several Ironman events, and has a good purse for pros, the town gets a triathlon buzz for the weekend.
Subaru is the main event sponser, and their series is very well organized. Check out trisportcanada.com
I did the sprint there last summer, and enjoyed it very much. (It was my first sprint distance.) Next summer the Long course there will be my "A" Race.
I'm sure you will get the triathlon bug with your first race, but this particular one has an atmosphere that guarantees it!

For run training check out www.halhigdon.com He has different training programs for various distances of running, with novice, intermediate, and advanced types of plans.

[paintgirl]

Triflor, thanks for the info about Huntsville, and thanks to everyone else for the encouragement. I live in North Bay, 260 miles north of Toronto. Huntsville is only an hour and half from here. I am checking out the Y programmes just early in Sept, too nuts right now getting my kids back to University. 1 in 2nd year Ottawa, 1 3rd year Kingston, 1 4th year Ottawa, they all said they will cheer me on whatever. I can do this Lori

[KSH]

They all said they will cheer me on whatever. I can do this Lori

What a wonderful example you will set for them!

Just think...maybe they will do one with you someday?

[midgetcycler]

I'm in the same boat as you paintgirl. My daughter and I just decided last night that we wanted to train together to do a triathlon. We got online and downloaded a training program. We started our training last night with a 20-minute run and 100m in the pool. The cycling will be the easy part. We are planning on the Danskin triathlon June 2007 in Austin to be our first event.

We are doing a 22-week training program, which of course will be done way before the event comes up. We will decide at that time whether or not to maintain the status quo or begin a more difficult training program so we can do better in our first tri!