I've signed up for a triathlon

[Stephenite]

Yesterday, i registered for a short distance/sprint triathlon. 9. august next year in Oslo.

I am, probably, no... definitely, in the worst shape of my life. So, there's going to be a good deal of pain, a great deal of training, and, possibly, some tears between now and then.

Ten PT sessions are bought and paid for, at the local gym to start me off. I've had a couple of free sessions already, and i came home feeling really beat up after them. I decided to go with the PT in the beginning because i know he's going to push me. It's difficult to find the time to train and/or go out on the bike with a job and a small child but, after the new year, i intend to put in an effort. It'll be a case of re-organising/re-prioritising. Hope my old joints hold up.

I know that a sprint triathlon isn't a big deal for some of the people here. At the moment, i couldn't swim the 750m. If the training goes well i'll see about upgrading to the normal/olympic distance.

Wish me luck

 

[Tommy2]

Good luck! Just enjoy it and don't worry about what anyone else is thinking/doing, whether you enter a super sprint/sprint/Olympic or even ironman everyone has to start somewhere, you never know where this will lead to!!!

Distance is not everything, some people specialise in shorter races, the Brownlees aren't doing Long distance yet, Mo Farah has only just moved up to marathon distance.

I did a super sprint as my first and my next is and Olympic distance which I might stick at for now and may or may not do longer distances in the future, I will probably do some sprints too.

 

[RussellZero]

Yesterday, i registered for a short distance/sprint triathlon. 9. august next year in Oslo.

I am, probably, no... definitely, in the worst shape of my life. So, there's going to be a good deal of pain, a great deal of training, and, possibly, some tears between now and then.

Ten PT sessions are bought and paid for, at the local gym to start me off. I've had a couple of free sessions already, and i came home feeling really beat up after them. I decided to go with the PT in the beginning because i know he's going to push me. It's difficult to find the time to train and/or go out on the bike with a job and a small child but, after the new year, i intend to put in an effort. It'll be a case of re-organising/re-prioritising. Hope my old joints hold up.

I know that a sprint triathlon isn't a big deal for some of the people here. At the moment, i couldn't swim the 750m. If the training goes well i'll see about upgrading to the normal/olympic distance.

Wish me luck

I did a similar thing, but signed up for a September sprint at Christmas time (spirit had a lot to do with it). I was 39 at the time, waited for some reason until my birthday in April, hit 40 and 18.5 stones (I'm 6 ft 4) started training the following Monday and lost 5 stone before the tri. Loved the event, loved the training, wish I'd have started 10 years earlier. Managed to keep they weight off, largely by enjoying the cycling so much I get grumpy if I don't get 3 rides in per week. Also re educated myself about food and dietary content. 43 now and fitter than I've ever been, without being freaky about it (keep up squash, cycling, badminton, bit of running, bit of swimming, but don't stick to strict diets). Its great because I know I can loose weight if I need to, just by watching what I eat (myfitnesspal.com) and putting in a bit more exercise effort.

So good luck to you, hope you find what you enjoy and enjoy what you discover while training, have fun and hope it sticks! I think I enjoy the training more than the events, but without the events to look forward to, the training sometimes doesn't get the priority it should!

 

[cyberknight]

Good luck !
I did the same distance many years ago and before i signed up i could only swim maybe 2 lengths of the pool at a time , i concentrated on getting the distance on the pool up and doing cycle /run sessions to get used to how my body would cope with that .
The swim was dire tbh but i managed it then started pulling back time on the ride then clung on with the run as i have always created a furrow rather than floated over the ground .

 

[amasidlover]

Good Luck!

If you've got a PT working with you anyway, it might be worth getting them to give you an introduction to free weights; dead-lifts, squats, step-ups (all with barbell) and a few others are good for both leg and core strength - there's quite a bit of debate as to whether it improves performance, but less debate about whether it reduces likelihood of injury during training (which it does).

 

[oldroadman]

Good Luck!

If you've got a PT working with you anyway, it might be worth getting them to give you an introduction to free weights; dead-lifts, squats, step-ups (all with barbell) and a few others are good for both leg and core strength - there's quite a bit of debate as to whether it improves performance, but less debate about whether it reduces likelihood of injury during training (which it does).

Just be careful that too much weight work produces muscle bulk which is useless in an endurance event, power/weight ratio is key. Lighter weight plus good output = results. Light weights and reps, not big heavy stuff unless you are a track sprinter. 2000 watts for 12 seconds is not the objective!!

 

[DCLane]

Rather than a PT, why not consider a tri coach?

When I did my two this year 5-6 sessions with a tri coach did wonders.

 

[Justiffa]

Yesterday, i registered for a short distance/sprint triathlon. 9. august next year in Oslo.

I am, probably, no... definitely, in the worst shape of my life. So, there's going to be a good deal of pain, a great deal of training, and, possibly, some tears between now and then.

Wish me luck

All the best with ur tri, signing up already puts u way ahead of others so congratulations for that

I did my 1st duathlon event in october (sprint distance) and found it very very interesting. i wish i could get rid of this fear of open water so that i can also try a triathlon but i wont be able to do that anytime soon lol so i registered for my 1st tri relay coming up this sunday (me doing the cycling leg) just to be part of the 'excitement'

Do share with us ur progress ok

 

[Tommy2]

All the best with ur tri, signing up already puts u way ahead of others so congratulations for that

I did my 1st duathlon event in october (sprint distance) and found it very very interesting. i wish i could get rid of this fear of open water so that i can also try a triathlon but i wont be able to do that anytime soon lol so i registered for my 1st tri relay coming up this sunday (me doing the cycling leg) just to be part of the 'excitement'

Do share with us ur progress ok

Not all triathlons are open water, there are many pool based ones throughout the year, and lake swimming is different to sea swimming which can be quite daunting at first. join a local tri club that has access to open water sessions and ease in slowly, even If you just go to the session and stand in the shallow water and work your way further in over a few sessions.

 

[Rob3rt]

The money spent on a personal trainer, would have been better invested in a coach or a even a triathlon club membership.

 

[fossyant]

You need to ride your bike, run a bit and swim a bit. No point in a PT.

PS you've already got one big advantage. As a cyclist you can ride a bike properly. Triathletes are shocking - they are like fit wobbly bobs !

Us cyclists can tell them a mile off when they are out 'riding' !

 

[Rob3rt]

You need to ride your bike, run a bit and swim a bit. No point in a PT.

PS you've already got one big advantage. As a cyclist you can ride a bike properly. Triathletes are shocking - they are like fit wobbly bobs !

Us cyclists can tell them a mile off when they are out 'riding' !

Most triathletes are no worse than me as to bike handling to be fair. But then again I am crap at it since I spend so much time on the turbo!

I am pretty sure I overtook a triathlete chaingang the other week (can't imagine many road cyclists out riding in a chaingang, on tt/tri bikes, in December) while racing the district Xmas 10 mile TT, that was a good morale booster, passing a train of people sharing the load, on TT bikes like they were standing still as I was caining it down the A50 at near 30mph.

 

[fossyant]

Most triathletes are no worse than me as to bike handling to be fair. But then again I am crap at it since I spend so much time on the turbo!

You need to play out more !

 

[fimm]

Well done! I hope you enjoy the race, and the journey to get there.

If a few sessions with a PT are what it takes to get you started, why not? I would encourage you to get some swim coaching or join a swim group or a triathlon group (whatever suits you best) as swimming is a rather technical sport and you will progress a lot better if you get some technical input early on.

Triathlon (in the UK at least) also prides itself on being very welcoming to all kinds and standards of athletes, and you get people racing on all kinds of bikes. Those people who you sneer at for not cycling very fast might well come flying past you on the run!

 

[Tin Pot]

Good luck.

1. A PT is fine.
2. Weight training is fine.
3. Being in the worst state of your life is fine...because you're training now

I did my first and second Tri last year on a bit of a whim:
- You will finish
- You will be amazed at how unfit some entrants are
- You will feel great at the finish line