First Triathlon-training questions

[colby]

Yeah! I know swimming "twice" the distance sounds long, but that extra security will make the 250m seem downright doable in the conditions of the race.

And, if you continue in triathlon, a lot of the sprint distance races have .5 mile swims, which are ~800 meters, so you could continue to build to that if you decided to do another race after your first.

You might also want to shorten your last Thursday swim before your race to something like 200-300m, to have kind of a mini "taper" - to go easy on your body in the few days before the race. You can plan this into your cycling and running, too.

[blumensh]

Do you think I need to plan for twice the run too?

I will make the adjustments to tapper that last week as well. I had planned on taking the two days before the race off ...is that wise?

[colby]

Do you think I need to plan for twice the run too?

I will make the adjustments to tapper that last week as well. I had planned on taking the two days before the race off ...is that wise?

No, I don't think so, nor for the bike. The swim is just particularly benefited by the extra training. It can't hurt to do a little extra - say up to 4 miles of running or 12-15 miles of riding - but I wouldn't go so far as to say twice.

I wouldn't sweat taking two days off - tapering is definitely wise, and sometimes you get caught up in race stuff and end up standing on your feet more than you expect the day before anyway. When I race on Sunday, what I do is take Friday totally off, then try to do something for just a few minutes on Saturday so that I'm not on stiff legs on Sunday (I usually train by working out the day before, so sometimes it feels weird to not work out the day before I race). Nothing hard, just a nice spin around the block, or an easy jog/walk, or some easy time in the pool - maybe 20 minutes. It also helps me sleep and tempers my mood/adrenaline, which are both often a challenge the night before a race.

[kacie tri-ing]

Yeah! Welcome! All great advice!

[blumensh]

Thanks everyone for the useful tips! I'm sure I"ll have more questions in the weeks ahead