triathlon training for a runner... Limited time

silverside

Hi, so i've decided i will do an olympic distance Tri in 2009 sometime.. I just want to finish in a reasonable time. Anyone want to give me some tips ? Particularly on Heart Rate zone training.

My current speed / aerobic fitness (running) is pretty good - about 40 minute 10k - I just want to work on endurance and swimming technique - to give an idea, here's a current typical training week when I was at full fitness.

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5 miles steady run, 7:00 - 7:30 pace
Wednesday: Rest
Thurs: 5 miles steady run
Fri: 1200m swimming steady with run to/from pool (3 miles total)
Sat: Hills / Tempo running session - 6 miles equivalent
Sun: 100 min gym bike steady / or MTB ride

I know I will have to borrow / buy a wetsuit and road bike - but the Tri is a secondary goal for me so I am happy to build up a base using Mountain Biking / pool swimming and switch over closer to the date.

cheers

McTigs

silverside wrote: »

I know I will have to borrow / buy a wetsuit and road bike - but the Tri is a secondary goal for me so I am happy to build up a base using Mountain Biking / pool swimming and switch over closer to the date.

cheers

Hi Silverside,
Swimming i the pool is grand to develop your technique but i recommend not leaving it too long before you switch to the appropriate open water context be it lake, sea or river.

Open water swimming is a completely different animal to the pool and it's worth your while to build confidance for race day when there will be 400 odd people thrashing about and swimming on top of each other.... it's also a good idea to get used to the wetsuit.

I'm more used to mountain iking too and only switched to a borrowed road bike shortly before the race and i was sorry i didn't make the switch earlier as i never got fully comfortable.

Best of luck either way... got a race picked out? i did the Mourne tri in Co. Down and it was very enjoyable and very well run.

hunnymonster

current water temps are about 9 C so I wouldn't worry about getting into OW just yet :-)

MCOS

What temp is suggested to be ok to hop into the OW? I'll be investing in a wetsuit in March. Is that too late? I'm hoping my first OW event will be Valentia if I get in.

Killgore Trout

Its usually colder in February than it is now and doesn't get much warmer in March. April usually sees a decent increase in temperature. Valentia is in May - so you'll be good with april for OW practice.

I'd get in with a wetsuit now (i'd get in without one too) but if you're not used to it you could be in for a nasty shock - so be careful and start with short distances and work up so you don't find yourself up shít creek with hypothermia.

estariol

Found my first ow tri swim hellish, was in cold shock for entire swim. This was despite a few wetsuit sessions in lough dan for a month before hand, the sooner you can in ow and get used to it the better! its hard enough to have to thread water before start and then deal with the scramble at the start.

Canis Lupus

MCOS wrote: »

What temp is suggested to be ok to hop into the OW? I'll be investing in a wetsuit in March. Is that too late? I'm hoping my first OW event will be Valentia if I get in.

Train in the pool. You only need a few OW sessions imo just to acclimatise to the nastiness of it all (depth, lack of light, coldness, waves).

I think the lowest measured I've swum in with a suit is around the 14c mark and the first time I tried that it was quite a struggle to breathe (I couldn't stop gasping ) It's handy here in London because we've plenty of open air and unheated swimming pools and in Hampstead Heath open water mini lakes. After the first time you know what to expect and it gets easier. I haven't yet swam in properly choppy conditions so I'm hoping the wind is down when we all swim out to the island :P (of course assuming I get in as well).

There's no okay temp to swim in I suppose. You'll know when it's too cold cos you won't be able to do a damn thing but I'd wait a little longer