What distance?

[Veronica]

Thanks for the website.

Well here's the thing. I look at the distances - swim 2.6 miles. Sure I can do that. I was a distance swimmer in college.

Bike 112 miles. No problem. Last year I was doing double centuries.

Run 26.? Are you insane? What's this run thing...

Then there is the whole question of putting it all together on the same day. A hilly double century takes me 15+ hours. I'm not really worried about my endurance.

So I could see an IM happening someday. But not as a place to start. Is starting with a half crazy? The other distances seem really short in the swim and bike - my strengths. But even 13 miles seems like a crazy amount to run, when you're a non runner. Okay, so actually I did do cross country in high school - a bizillion years ago.

And then there's the whole, is this really what I want to focus on? I like challenges and having a goal.

The champagne is wearing off. I can actually think again.

V.

[Wahine]

V. My first Tri was Oly distance: 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run. Total time for you would be between 2:30 and 3 hours based on your fitness. It might be the right place for you to start. Oly distance is interesting, it's not a sprint effort but it's pretty bloody close. Kinda like running the 800 in track.

You can really handle the bike and swim, I think that a sprint distance would not challenge you quite enough (based on your double century past). I think that 13 miles running is likely a little excessive for a starting point, although you might be able to go up to that distance fairly quickly. Yup, I'd say that Oly is the way to go. IMHO.

[HillSlugger]

I've seen some very short sprint triathlons:
200-300m swim
10k (6mi) bike
1.5mi run

My first will be:
300m pool swim
12mi ride
3.1mi run

An event with a pool swim should feel less intimidating than an open water swim. My second tri, the Iron Girl, has a lake swim. I'm not intimidated by the open water, but I'm intimidated by the 1000m length. I couldn't do that now if I had to, but I could do 300m in a pool. I'd be slow, but I could finish.

[alpinerabbit]

What's the importance of transitions vs. overall time though - with suboptimal practice and gear I expect to lose serious time on transitions during my first sprint !

[KnottedYet]

I spent a lovely 10 minutes (or was it 12?) on my swim-to-bike transition last year. I had a snack, dried off, chatted with some other women, had a drink, then hopped on the bike.

I think my transition might have been a wee bit excessive...

But in all honesty, that swim wore me right out. I needed the break. I kicked heinie on the bike leg, then lost it all again when I walked the run.

Hoping things will be more efficient this year.

[btchance]

Veronica - I would consider an Olympic distance - not too short on the bike or swim and enough distance on the run to push you a little (esp since your 3mile run time makes me jealous right now )

Oh, and for the transitions - the harder the swim, the longer T1 becomes for me. What can I say - if i'm already tired at that point, I just don't want to stress out at that moment But in general, the shorter the tri, the more important the transition. I can do T1 in under 2min, and T2 in 1min (assuming the transition area isn't too big) It can be the difference in placings. I would say, if you're just doing the tri for fun, don't stress out too much on them. If you're trying to place, definately practice them.

[Wahine]

I agree with BTC about the importance of transitions. In a sprint distance race they will mean a difference in placing. Think about it, if you even take only 1 min longer in a transition and you only have a 3 mile run, you would have to run at a significantly fater pace to make that up. If you normally run a 9 min mile, you would have to average an 8:40 to make up 1 min over 3 miles.

Having said that, I always tell people not to worry about it on your first race. You want it to be a fun experience so don't be in a rush. If your goal is to finish, then how you place doesn't matter.

A little story about transitions:

Sprint race: 1 km swim, 25 km bike and 8 km run. Me vs Mary-loo (names have been changed to protect identities )

I came out of the water 30 sec in front but the water was very cold. My feet were like stumps. My plan was to do a rodeo start on the bike (run in bare feet, jump on bike, get pedaling then put shoes on while on the road). it was a good idea except that my feet were so numb I was having trouble getting them into my shoes. On this particular morning it was a bad transition plan. While I'm riding slower than normal, trying to rectify the problem, Mary-loo passes me. She gets out in front by about 30 sec before I hit my rhythm and we're so closely matched that I can't make any ground on her. Prior to the race I had gone to the trouble of buying and learning how to use elastic laces. I caught up to her and passed her heading out of T2, thanks to a faster transition. She sped up and we ran together for the whole race until her shoe become untied. She wouldn't stop to tie it, she was already struggling to hold pace with me and she knew I'd be long gone. I'm a PT. I couldn't stand the idea of her hurting herself so I agreed to walk until she tied he shoe and caught up to me again. We continued the race together and crossed the finish line at the same time.

Mary-loo and I are really good friends and I liked that we finished together. After the race she told her husband who is a very accomplished coach what had happened. He was all up in arms that I didn't really try my hardest to beat her. He actually suggested that I should have pushed her over when she was tying her shoe. He was joking of course.