Direction?

Okay, I've decided to train for a sprint tri. I don't know where to start. I bike and can ride long distance at a decent pace. I love to ride! But since it is my favorite activity it is the one that I need to work on the least.

I have cranky knees but am determined to do this.

I have a problem with being over-analytical. I feel like I need this great plan before I start doing anything. OI!

I started a pilates class and am a member at the Y with daily access to a pool. I am considering taking a few weeks of private swim lessons. It's a little pricey but I think it would help my confidence. I know basic mechanics but am not so sure I am efficient.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am GOING to do this!!!

Thanks!!

Important detail, but when? ;)

OH, yeah...:rolleyes:

Not until next spring or summer.

Honestly, for me the training was really just riding some, running some and swimming a few times to make sure I could do it and then succumbing to the sheer power of my will! ;)

I didn't have a plan exactly, and when push came to shove I finished that first sprint tri on 50% muscle and endurance and 50% determination.

I have friends that wanted to do sprint triathlons and were like "OMG I can't do one YET. I have to train." I suppose it depends what your goals are. My goal was just to finish one and I was already fairly well equipped to accomplish that. So they trained but some of them never even got around to doing the triathlon itself even though they were probably fully capable of completing one before they started their 'training plan'. It's my belief that if think you can bike/run/swim all the distances already you should just make yourself do one-- feel it out that first time and then train to get better for the next one :)

You'll do awesome!

I focus almost all my training time on my weakest leg - which for me is running.

I did my Half Ironman in August having only swam twice this year and with less than 600 miles on the bike. My times for this year in those two legs were comparable to last year's. But I took 18 minutes off my run. :D

My advice, focus on what's hardest for you. If that means giving up some of your biking time - give it up.

Bad knees - my knees have always been delicate. My right hamstring is particularly bad from overuse on the bike. (I did double centuries in a former life) I only run three times a week and do a yoga stretching routine faithfully in between runs. I've been very lucky to have no running injuries so far.

Veronica

I second focusing on your weakest sport.

If you like to have a set plan, there are a few free ones online. Www.beginnertriathlete.com has some that range from a sprint to a full Ironman.

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Originally Posted by shellkay1212

I have a problem with being over-analytical. I feel like I need this great plan before I start doing anything.

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I have this problem, too. There are training plans and then there are Training Plans.

When I decided to train for my first tri, I gave myself permission to just have fun with it and not worry about so many details. Certainly there are some great resources around, but in the end you have to decide what training plan will be appropriate for your goals. Whether you just want to finish, or if you really want to push yourself, which plan are you going to be able to stick with, given your time constraints and your motivations?

Good luck and have fun!

ETA: you don't necessarily need a plan to get started. There's a lot of information out there and it can be overwhelming. Keep it simple to start. There will be time to learn all the other stuff later if you enjoy your first tri and decide to do more.

You might want to try a couch to 5k or 8 weeks to 5k. If you want to use an ipod there is one you can buy for about 8 bucks on itunes (personal running trainer) and he tells you exactly what to do during each workout. There is also a free 5k intervals podcast on itunes but he only explains at the beginning of each session and then you listen for the musical tone to either run or walk.

With either of these the music is techno/trance stuff so if that's not your gig, just follow one of the programs on beginnertriathlete.com

Plenty of time! :D

I would spend the off-season months working on your running and/or swimming, a couch to 5k plan sounds great. Then maybe start a sprint tri training plan 6-8 weeks or so before your race to bring everything together (OR just keep your mileage up in each thing, 2-3 times a week). Since the winter usually involves less riding anyway, this should work out okay.

Good luck! As long as you feel like you can swim, bike, and run those distances, you can make it.

I'm getting increasing more excited! I'm going to sign up for private swim instructino at the Y. I know how to swim but feel like I may not be so efficient and expending excess energy. I started going to Pilates once a week. Now, I just need to GO OUT AND DO IT!

I will definitely check out the couch to 5K and the iTunes thing! Hopefully it starts slow cause my knees are not so great. I'm going to have to add some sort of weight training into the mix for my quads. One knee is just super weak...well the muscles surrounding it are.

Thanks sooo much for the advice and encouragement. I will definitely keep you posted!

:D

The first thing I did when I decided to do a sprint tri was to sign up for one. I knew I'd be one of those "maybe, someday, when I'm ready" kind of people if I didn't have a hard and fast deadline, so I just signed up and then worked out the details, which mostly consisted of teaching myself how to swim (well, I knew *how* to swim, just not well and with no endurance. It wasn't swimming I was doing so much as failing to sink effectively) and then building my endurance so I could do the whole distance of the tri. My goal was only to finish, so I didn't care much about improving my times in anything. In the last six weeks I set out a schedule for myself so that I didn't get lazy--I still find it's way too easy to blow off my workouts with lame excuses.

Sarah

Hmmm, that's a good idea. Is it too early to sign up for next year? Maybe that would keep me from saying, "one more day" or "monday" or "next week". I had told myself TODAY is the day I start. One year from today my son is getting married so it seemed like a good day to start.

Shellkay, last December I had the same compulsion. I knew I wanted to start training for my first triathlon that very day! That very minute! I went to http://www.trifind.com and found a race that sounded right to me. It was a Sprint distance, women only, and wasn't until the following September! But: I set up my calendar to send me a reminder the day registration opened and got to work building up my base. I just did that race last weekend. Somehow, my momentum carried me through the winter, and the past nine months have been so very different from what I expected them to be. (The original tri I signed up for ended up being my third! of the season.)

So I say, if your heart is telling you to start, go for it!, and enjoy your triathlon journey!

Zia,

I'm going to that Web site right now! Boy I have a lot of work to do. I'm overweight and cannot run around the block or swim one pool length. BUT, I can bike 50 miles! It's on!

Just read your thread and wanted to chime in just to say that I'm in the same boat. I want to do a sprint tri some time next summer (possibly June), but am nowhere near ready yet. I started yesterday....did 45minutes in the pool. Plan is to try running today after work. Running and swimming will definitely be my weakest legs so I guess I'll have to do lots of that through the winter. Good luck to you, Shellkay! Keep us posted on how you do...

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Originally Posted by sfa

The first thing I did when I decided to do a sprint tri was to sign up for one.

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Yup, me too. Hadn't run at all so running was definitely the week link. Just go slow slow slow. In fact you might start with a 4 weeks to one mile program- look on Amazon.com.
Just do it! You have all winter to train.