Triathalon. Never again!

[bianchi1]

Anyone out there do any triathalons? I signed myself up for my local one about 5 months ago as an incentive to get a bit fitter. All it did was confirm what i have always suspected.........I am a cyclist and not a runner!!

Swim was ok, bike was good, over took loads and was 18th quickest out of about 250, then the run... I call it a run but it was more like a drag. Wave after wave of competitors went past me. Ended up in about 160th. rubbish.

From now on its only cycling for me. I will never turn to the Dark side again.

So do we have any successfull runner/cyclist combo posters on here?

 

[Will1985]

I don't do triathlons because I am useless at swimming (people would probably be coming back into T2 when I finally appear in T1!). Otherwise I probably would.

Before cycling I was a long distance runner and hockey player, and still run fairly regularly just to keep the flexors and muscles loose. Sometimes I train with the triathletes so do a 20km fast ride immediately followed by 5km run and do ok. There is a limit though as anything beyond 10km puts my feet in agony!

Someone was doing a study on us earlier this year examining flexibility of runners, triathletes and cyclists. Cyclists who didn't do any running had the tightest hip flexors and were far slower and more fatigued after a 5k treadmill than the runners on a bike. I can't remember the details of the rest of the study but I think the end results found that runners-turned-triathletes fare better than cyclists-turned-triathletes in the first year.

 

[yello]

It's something I think about doing. I'm not a strong swimmer so it's a kind of incentive for me to get stronger! Last time I'd tried running though, I darn near did myself a serious mischief! A cyclist's muscles are all wrong for running. Within a 100 yards, and I kid you not, my legs were seizing up due to tightening muscles. So the running is something I'd have to retrain myself to do (I used to do orienteering in my teens and loved it).

 

[Toshiba Boy]

I competed in a "sprint" triathlon a few yrs ago (400m swim, 20km bike, 5 km run).

The swim was ok, I'm no Spitz (showing my age) but passed a load of people, and wasn't overtaken myself, the bike was great, but as to the running.....I used to be an ok cross country runner in my long, long, long ago school days, but boy, did I suffer on the run

Finished 21st out of 83, looking at "just" the swim and bike times I was top 5 (I'm sure others would say that if they "looked at the swim and run they would have been"....etc., etc). Next day, legs felt worse than when I've done a century ride!

As I say, whenever I see someone out running, "get a bike, it's so much easier on the joints" Each to their own.

 

[Bigtwin]

I used to be a keen triathlete when I lived abroad. The idea of doing them in Victoria dock Slumdon etc doesn't appeal much though. Still cycle to the pool and back often.

The run is a killer whoever you are. Best tip is to finish the bike section at a really high cadence to shift some acid out of the legs before you start the death drag. Still kills though, tis just how it is.

 

[peanut]

I love Triathlons 20 years ago when I was younger and fitter I competed in a couple of sprint Tri's . 200mts 25k bike 5krun

I got really carried away on my first Tri ,completed the swim section in under 4 mins (1 whole min better than my pb )
crawled out the pool on my knees with wobbly legs shot round the bike course far too quickly did most of the run section walking like a zombie.

My transitions lasted minutes as I tried to recover a bit and I got a time penalty for undoing my helmet strap

Took weeks to fully recover Fantastic

 

[peanut]

if you fancy doing a Tri but your swimming lets you down you might consider trying the Old English Sidestroke. Don't larf it really works and its lots quicker than breast stroke.Its like doing breast stoke on your side

I hadn't swum for 30 years and had real problems trying to breathe properly using crawl. I would end up gasping for breath after a couple lengths and when using crawl in race-lanes you swallow lots of water and can't see where you are going most of the time.

I can't breast stroke at all no matter how hard I tried so I thought I would never be able to compete in a Triathlon. Then I remembered seeing sidestroke in a book once. Tried it and never looked back

Straight away I was able to improve my 200 mt breast stroke time by 2x whole minutes or 15 seconds per length !

If not being able to swim is stopping you, try sidestroke I think you'll be surprised how easy ,comfortable and fast it is.
Sidestroke keeps your head out of the water

 

[mr Mag00]

training for tri at the mo not seriously, building up for next year

 

[peanut]

I'd love to do another Tri but I busted my back 4 years ago. Can't run or swim but can still cycle.
Wonder if you can enter a Triathlon as a member of a 3 person team ? each person doing one leg ?

 

[jpembroke]

I'm probably a better runner than I am a cyclist but I'm a useless swimmer so no triathlons for me. Anyway, it's hard enough maintaining the running and cycling let alone training to be a better swimmer. I have no idea how people do it, especially with families and work.

 

[kennykool]

No triathalons for me as I am scared stiff of water after a water ski-ing accident on Loch lomond 10 years ago.

I am however keen to get involved in Dualathalons (Running and Cycling) Will get one in before the end of the year once I get back from my London-Paris cycle......I leave London a week on wednesday...Cannae wait!!!

 

[montage]

got a triathlon in 6 weeks.

Been a long distance runner for a while....moved into cycling recently and ok at swimming...GREAT!

2 months ago Knees busted, can't run or cycling for about another 3 weeks.

Swimming at least once a day at the moment..sometimes 2...

 

[Toshiba Boy]

I'd love to do another Tri but I busted my back 4 years ago. Can't run or swim but can still cycle.
Wonder if you can enter a Triathlon as a member of a 3 person team ? each person doing one leg ?

Peanut

I have taken part as a member of a sprint triathlon relay team, much more sensible option

 

[Losidan]

I had a few seasons in tri and really enjoyed it...Sense of achievement for completing one I always thought was great. Started with the shorter local ones and worked up to the olympic distance.
I can only reiterate what was posted earlier..towards the end of the bike spin a low gear at high cadence to get rid of some of the heavy leg feeling.

i hated outdoor swimming

 

[peanut]

Peanut

I have taken part as a member of a sprint triathlon relay team, much more sensible option

I was wondering if teams were acceptable or not then I noticed last week my local leisure centre had a team entered for its sprint Tri brilliant.
Now all I gotta do is find a team .

Maybe we should see if we could make up some regional CC Tri teams. There seem to be loads of runners on here