Sprint Tri Virgin - Have I Done Enough Training?

griffin100

Be warned this is a long post with a lot of questions…..

Some background. About 12-13 weeks ago I decided that I needed to make a change in my lifestyle. I weighted 16.5 stone and had a blood pressure reading that would make a nice lotto jackpot. As I was thinking about how to get fit I heard an add on the radio for the Focus Ireland Triathlon on August 3rd and decided on the spur of the moment to register and start training. Checked with my doctor who basically said the whilst the training might kill me, not training definitely would in the long term. I have no background in running or cycling, the only real exercise I have had in the last 10 years was a couple of years as a moderately serious body builder about 6-8 years ago. So off I went and downloaded a training plan for newbies from the web and set off. So here I am 9 weeks later, 1.5 stone lighter with a rapidly reducing blood pressure, and I need some advice on my training as the race gets closer and I start to worry about my ability to finish. I have two and a half training weeks plus race week itself left.

Run - I have gone from not being able to run 100m (seriously) to doing 2-3 runs a week. For the last three weeks or so I have been doing a 10km once a week plus either a 5km or a 3km 'sprint'. I try and do my third run as part of a brick workout. I am currently averaging about 27 minutes for a 5km, not particularly fast but I'm happy with it.

Bike - I have tended to neglect this part of the training if truth be told as I find it boring. I try and do 2 sessions a week of about 20km but I am hoping to up this for the next couple of weeks to three sessions a week of between 25-30km each. My best time for a 20km is 57 minutes which is not great. I use a fairly standard mountain bike for the cycles as I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a tri bike and given my weight and the fact that I cycle on some really poor rural roads I didn't want a huge amount of punctures (you haven't known fear until a combine harvester driven by a 17 year old who looks like he should be playing the banjo on a porch somewhere overtakes you whilst cycling on a narrow country lane). Can anybody suggest ways to try and improve my cycle time by even a few minutes over the next 2-3 weeks? Is my bike a limiting factor? Should I go for high cadence in an easy gear or lower cadence in a more difficult gear? Should I try and borrow / rent a better bike for the last two weeks of training and the race? Can you rent such bikes?

I have also done a few bricks and on the last two I did a full race distance of 20km on the bike and 5km run and felt ok. Best time for this distance so far is 1hr 28mins including ‘transition’ i.e. swapping my shoes and having a quick drink. Again not hugely fast but I am just happy to be able to do such a session.

Swim - the bane of almost every tri virgins life. At the start of my training I thought I could swim. I used to have a job that involved jumping out of boats and swimming into sea caves and under cliffs. At the time we wore dry suits and buoyancy aids and given the conditions we operated in I assumed that I was a strong swimmer - wrong. It took me 3-4 sessions in the pool to realise that I couldn't swim properly. An ear infection then kept me out of the water for 2 more weeks. I had two lessons which helped somewhat, read Total Immersion which gave me nightmares, and read boards.ie on a daily basis to pick up some great swimming tips. At this stage I have improved but I am unsure if I have reached the stage that I can do a 750m swim. I do not care about the time (although sub 30 minutes would be good), I would just like to finish. On my last swim session I did 120m x 2; 100m x 2; 80m x 1; 40m x 4. I average about 3mins 10secs for 100m. At this stage I am trying to do 600-700m a session, which I hope to increase to 800-900m over the next couple of weeks. I find that in some sessions I am swimming well whilst in others I can be very poor, especially if I am tired. My question is what sort of distances should I be able to swim in one go and / or in a single session before I would be ready to take on the 750m swim. The training plans I have read mention the fact that its more about distances swam per session than the distances swam in one go but I am sure there is a minimum distance that I should be able to swim without a rest before I attempt the race swim. Should I try for fewer swims over longer distances per session with a longer rest between each swim; or would more swims over shorter distances with shorter breaks between be better? e.g. is 150m x 4 with 90 secs rest between each swim better than 50m x 12 with 10 secs rest between? Any pointers would be good. One thing I do is that if during say a 100m swim I start to feel tired I flip over onto my back and do a few metres of backstroke to have a breather before turning back over to crawl again. I know that that's not really a great idea in a triathlon but I will be in the last wave of swimmers and will hopefully have nobody coming up the rear (no jokes please ). One thing I do find a problem when swimming is head position. I do all of the things I think I am supposed to do: long reaching stroke; I try to reach back to my thighs with my stroke; turn head to breath; breath often; exhale under water; keep body straight and long, etc. However where should my head be? I change from chin tucked into chest to face forward and water just above eye level but cannot find a comfortable position. Also when I am reaching and my upper body rotates during the reach should my head also rotate or should it stay stationary?

Sorry for all the questions and the long post but I am determined to do this race. I have resigned myself to coming in last but would like to break 2 hours, not a lofty target but a target none the less. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, even if it is to tell me to give up now:P. I know I didn’t give myself as much training time as I probably should have but I have two and a half weeks plus race week itself left to try and get it right. I have really enjoyed the training and intend to keep it up so not being able to complete this first race would be a big dissapointment.

Thanks for the help.

hunnymonster

Is the race a pool swim or an OW swim?

griffin100

Sorry, should have said. Swim is in the Grand Canal Basin.

hunnymonster

no problem, then you need to work on the swim. In theory, if you're wearing a wetsuit, not having done the distance is not a problem. I'm sure people are sick of me saying that my longest continuous swim before my first Oly tri was about 200m. You son't sink in a wettie and can take breaks along the way. You will be much more comfortable if you have done the distance before though. There is also the question of the OW. Try to get out once or twice before hand. Cold water is enough of a shock on it's own without a triathlon start (aka fist fight) thrown in.

Your bike is at the slower end of the scale but it's on a mountain bike and I don't really know what this equates to. Although your training is on the mountainbike, it would really be worth trying to borrow something a bit slicker for 1-2 rides and the race. It will make a huge difference.

Most importantly, have a great time out there. You've made an amazing difference to your life in just a few weeks and if you don't enjoy your first race, you are unlikely to stick with it.

Funkyzeit

Hiya - I completed my first tri 8 weeks ago and your in for a great day...

Assuming you can breastroke/backstroke to rest if you do find yourself wrecked in the swimming will be fine - go off nice and easy in the swim - I did and found myself getting stronger as I went on - which was a nice moral builder coming into the bike.

You have certainly done enough in the bike and run to complete the rest of it so wouldn't worry about it - enjoy it !!!

griffin100

Cheers for the advice. I'm really looking forward to it now and am just hoping that it wont be a washout!

One more thing, does anybody know where decent racing or tri bikes can be rented?

bananamansgay

fair play mate, im doing my first on the 26th in kinsale and i know how hard it is to get in shape for your first one.

my weakest leg is the swim too and iv had massive problems with it. but i bought my wetsuit last week (€250) and have begun practasing in the sea around skerries. the suit makes such a difference to me, it keeps you boyant and warm and is a much more enjoyable experiance than pool swimming.

i recommend you get a suit, either buy or rent one from cyclesuperstore in tallaght, and get in the sea.

dont think bikes can be rented in any shop by the way.

Amazotheamazing

An Siopa Rothar on John's Street in Limerick lent a bike to a mate of mine for Athlone last year, he had to leave his credit card details as a security but they didn't charge him anything. I'm sure if you chat to any of the smaller bike shops you could come to some arrangement.

You sound like you're in good shape for the tri, good luck.

DaDa

Fair play to ya!

You sound like you've done more than enough to finish in under 2 hrs. Have to agree with Hunnymonster... get into OW and try a few swims... very different to pool swimming and a bit of a shock, so at least you will have that under your belt.

On the day the support and adrenaline will drive you forward. Keep to the back for the swim and the temptation to keep up with the swimmers in front will pull you along.

griffin100

Cheers everybody for the advice.

Quick update - I have manged to borrow a triathalon bike from a work colleague who had one he no longer uses sitting around, so I have no excuse on the day for a slow bike ride. I can't wait to get out on it and see what it does to my time!

Looks like I am going to have to bite the bullet and squeeze my ample frame into a wetsuit for some practice swims. I had hoped to only appear in public in a skin tight wetsuit on the day of the race among a pack of at least 100 other people! Oh well, it's an incentive to train harder and get the gut down another belt notch.

I will be back on August 4th for a race report (I hope!!)