First Time Triathlete 2011 - The rookie thread

shotgunmcos

Hi All,

Figured I'd kick off a thread to house the basics of Tri for next season for the rookies. We had one of these for 2009 but its a bit large to trawl through so may as well start fresh. However if you have time to kill its worth a browse as a lot of the same stuff will pop up again.

First Time Triathlete 2009

I don't mind answering the basic questions with my limited experience but there are plenty of other helpful folk about these parts who have a wealth of experience or who have just come off a rookie season full of fresh energy to move up to the next level.

If your questions are IM or HIM related I'd A) assume you are not a complete rookie and suggest you visit one of these threads to spark some discussion that you will undoubtedly learn something from

The 2011 HIM Thread
The 2011 IM Thread

Also, in case you haven't noticed, similar to the 1000mile challenge there is a Tri related challenge but anyone is welcome to join whether they just swim, just run, just cycle or do a mix of 2 or 3. I've been posting monthly updates on the standings of the challenge and will set up a new challenge for 2011 to incorporate any feedback or new ideas from this one of course

2010 SCR Challenge (I'll ask a mod to replace this with the 2011 version)

There are also plenty of Tri related logs to dip in and out of, to name a few current ones from the mass of logs up there (hope the guys n gals dont mind me linking to them)...


Quick Beat;Slow Feet
Run for your life
Bliain gan Beoir
140.6 deep breaths...
How hard can it be, eh?
Keen to see what the future may hold!
Tri related splish splash notes
Raising the bar a little
Try a bit of everything
This stuff is kind addictive
Catweazle's Half Ironman or Chicken Challenge
The Ironman commeth.... slowly


So, to begin the most basic thing you can do to get you moving and motivated for your first Tri next year is to pick an event, mark it into your calender and enter it as soon as it opens. This thread will hopefully fill in some of the blanks to get you there..

Train smart (whats this ), train happy And we are off...

Oryx

Finished my first (sprint only) season this year, so as I brush off the last of the tri novice dust, these are my main tips to anyone starting off:

1. Work out what time you have to train weekly, and when. Weather is not allowed to interfere. Write a plan covering cycle, run, swim, and xtraining based on the realistic time allowed.
2. Join a tri club if you have one locally.
3. Do not be afraid to enter a race you want to do, do not wait till you are 'ready'.
4. Essential items: Bike, helmet, puncture repair kit, running shoes, shorts, teeshirt, swim suit, wetsuit for o/w swims.
5. Non essential items: Turbo, trisuit, numberbelt, uberfancy bike, four pairs of running shoes, a wardrobe full of lycra clothing, bodyglide, gels and special nutrition foods.
6. Do not worry about coming last. Someone has to, but it probably wont be you.
7. Use brick sessions in training, your legs will thank you.
8. Dont plan too many races, or too close together. (Advice I have to learn to take myself).

ronanmac

shotgunmcos wrote: »

There are also plenty of Tri related logs to dip in and out of, to name a few current ones from the mass of logs up there (hope the guys n gals dont mind me linking to them)...

Quick beat, slow feet
Run for your life
Bliain gan Beoir
140.6 deep breaths...
How hard can it be, eh?
Keen to see what the future may hold!
Tri related splish splash notes

Hah! Describing Bliain gan Beoir as tri related is a bit of a stretch . Looking forward to making it a tri-related log for 2011, though. Thanks for setting this up, I can see it being a very useful thread for next year...

Macanri

Good idea shotgun. You could add nomadic's log 'Tri a bit of everything' and Dusty's 'fecked if I can remember!' too. Abhiann's is another.

DustyBin

Ha ha, funny man macanri
I'll probably start a new log in December or January - just for you
Sure who'd want to read my ramblings anyway

Macanri

Wasn't trying to be funny - honestly , I just couldn't remember the name of your log - enlighten me please.

shotgunmcos

Macanri wrote: »

Good idea shotgun. You could add nomadic's log 'Tri a bit of everything' and Dusty's 'fecked if I can remember!' too. Abhiann's is another.

Done! Too late Dusty Sure your ould ramblings will relate to the no0bies more eh LOL

claralara

Great idea, thanks for this. Hoping to venture a little further afield in 2011 and attempt a tri. Though the swimming part is a huge obstacle for me. Can anyone recommend any tri clubs in south dublin (county or city!) that are particularly beginner friendly?

airscotty

Wicklow Tri www.wicklowtri.com Most of the training is done in Bray, Greystones or Wicklow town and theres loads of members from south dublin. And very beginner friendly

moose112

Hey guys

I am off the fags now just a little over a month and have joined a local gym I am really enjoying and have never felt as healthy in my life. I have set myself a target of entering the tri athy next may (the sprint). What I am wondering is am I fooling myself as up to this point I have been as sporty as box of 20 fags.

At the moment I go to the gym 4 nights a week my usual workout up to now is 20 mins on treadmill 30 mins on rowing machine 30 mins on cross trainer 20 mins on bike followed by 20 mins of weights alternating each night from upper body to legs. I usually try to get a swim in after that two lenghts of 20m pool rest for two to three mintues and off again (roughly 250 M)

My chest burns like mad during these sessions but have been told this is normal as my lungs need exercise aswell and this will pass in time.

Just looking for some advice on my gym work should I forget the weights rowing crosstrainer and weights and just concentrate on the bike and treadmill.

I know a few guys in the local cycle club and they said they can sort me out with a good second hand trial bike for small enough money. Is this type of bike suitable for a tri if not what sort of bike should I be looking at.


Cheers for all replies

Oryx

Well done on a good start, Moose. I think if youre targeting a tri you need to target the disciplines youll be using, in the way youll use them on the day, ie, work on swimming so you can swim continuously to 750m. Get outside on your bike as much as you can as well as working indoors on a static bike. Run outside, in preference to a treadmill, it feels very different (nicer!). The weights are great xtraining, so I wouldnt drop that, but I would say your main focus should be the actual things you need to do in a tri.

DustyBin

Hey Moose fair play on kicking the fags - that's the biggest single improvement you can make to your health I'm off them since August 2009 myself, and it's the training and racing that keeps me off them.

Firstly, no bother with tri-athy, you've loads of time to train. Put in the training now and you will really enjoy it on the day, and will still be strong on the run, hopefully passing people out in the last few k if you've paced it right

A fair few triathletes seem to go to the gym this time of year to do strength training, then doing either very little or no weights closer to the race season. These guys would be fairly seasoned though, and have a few years of swimming / biking / running behind them. Having said that though, if you find it easier to go to the gym, well then it's better than sitting at home doing nothing. 4 times a week is a bit much for weights though, maybe cut this back to either none, or once a week.

Outside is the best place to run, try swapping a couple of your gym sessions for an outdoors run. Running should be no faster than conversation pace this time of year for a beginner (ie you could hold a conversation whilst running)

Rowing machine and crosstrainer is good, but maybe ease off on the rowing machine - do extra swimming instead. Exercise bike isobviously good, and keep it up until the weather gets better then get out and hit the roads

Specifity of training is still the key, you're going to have to swim, bike & run come June, not cross train, row & bench press.

Join some sort of a swimming group as soon as you can, either a triathlon club or a masters swim sessions near you. Coached swimming is the only way to improve technique, and being in the pool with others swimmers is great motivation to make you try harder.

Regarding the bike, I'd probably buy a road bike if I were you - much more adaptable and forgiving by all accounts, but then I've never tried a TT.

Hope it helps a little, there's much more experienced lads & ladies than me here, but none of them seem to be on this morning

Edit: looks like Oryx is around today

DustyBin

A lot of people new to the sport will still refuse to go to a masters or group adult swim session even though everyone else is telling them to go

It's normally fairly relaxed, go for a look before you leap if you like, but it's the best way to improve your swimming

In the meantime, if you can swim a couple of lengths and are trying to increase your distance maybe the Zero to 1650m in six weeks programme might help http://ruthkazez.com/SwimWorkouts/ZeroTo1mile.html

There is is absolutely no need to be able to swim 1650m before joining a swim session by the way, if you can do a few lengths then that's usually loads

Oryx

DustyBin wrote: »

Edit: looks like Oryx is around today

Yes, but you use words like 'Specifity of training'. Youre good, you are.

I shied away from swim sessions all year, but its true, I only improved with sessions and proper coaching.

nerraw1111

Regarding newbies and HIMs.

I've done a fair few adventure races this year, would this put me in MCOS's 'not a complete rookie' for the purpose of HIMs?

Distances wouldn't be too far out from the HIMs, 15/20km off road runs following by a 45km on the bike. The plan is to enter a few sprints/olys next year with the ultimate goal of a HIM.

Reasonable enough ambitions?

Oryx

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Regarding newbies and HIMs.

I've done a fair few adventure races this year, would this put me in MCOS's 'not a complete rookie' for the purpose of HIMs?

Distances wouldn't be too far out from the HIMs, 15/20km off road runs following by a 45km on the bike. The plan is to enter a few sprints/olys next year with the ultimate goal of a HIM.

Reasonable enough ambitions?

Im kind of in the same boat. Did sprint tris and ARs this year.

Whats your swimming like?

shotgunmcos

DustyBin wrote: »

A lot of people new to the sport will still refuse to go to a masters or group adult swim session even though everyone else is telling them to go

It's normally fairly relaxed, go for a look before you leap if you like, but it's the best way to improve your swimming

+1 when I started swimming , I spent a summer building up my distance in a 20m hotel pool. Then I got membership for the 50m Arena in Limerick. Firstly the size of the pool was daunting. Secondly I was completely intimidated by the organised groups in lanes with 'X tri' 'Y IM' 'Z masters' hats on. They seems so disciplined and had all kinds of stuff like fins, paddles, pull bouys, kick boards. They also looked fast! I was too scared to join them at first and just did my own thing in a lane at the side of the pool, until someone spotted me and invited me over. I started in the slow lane at the back of the group hanging on to feet and gasping for breath. It was the best move I ever made with swimming. I adapted, improved and now love this group session. It brought me on leaps and bounds.

DustyBin wrote: »

There is is absolutely no need to be able to swim 1650m before joining a swim session by the way, if you can do a few lengths then that's usually loads

Not so sure about this for Masters group DB. I'd estimate you would need to be swimming about 1km comfortably before hitting those groups or it can be frustrating. It doesn't take too long to build up the distance but Id rather have some sort of basic swim fitness to join in. If a complete novice to swimming, I'd recommend lessons first.

Consistency is the most important thing. If starting out. I technique session + 1 session of work per week. Minimum

nerraw1111

Oryx wrote: »

Im kind of in the same boat. Did sprint tris and ARs this year.

Whats your swimming like?

I can swim...

The swimming wouldn't be great, not even good. I reckon I can swim about 150 metres at a push now. I was able to swim about a 1km at one point

TheEagles

Hi guys, Like many of ye im new to the whole Tri scene, I'm taken part in my 1st adventure event this weekend called westport sea 2summit. I'm doin the longer route which is about 56km.

Im planning to do a few tri's next year and maybe start with a few duathlon's from Jan onwards...

Have to improve the swimming a great deal, like many, i can swim but its to get to a good distance that i need to improve.

Plannin to concentrate more on the swimmin side of things after this event. Reading through the thread joining a swimming group is the way to go??

Any advise on a good training programme would be great or a website where i could get one??

And like many finding the time to put into it all between work and a young family is tough. What amount of time would be enough to put in a week?

Would 2 sessions during the week and a longer session at the weekend for the winter be enough? The summer would be different as you have the longer evenings whih makes it easier to get outdoors later..

anymore

Any recommendation for a bike for a runner who might like to try one or two Tris but who is on a budget, please ?

tunney

TheEagles wrote: »

Hi guys, Like many of ye im new to the whole Tri scene, I'm taken part in my 1st adventure event this weekend called westport sea 2summit. I'm doin the longer route which is about 56km.

Im planning to do a few tri's next year and maybe start with a few duathlon's from Jan onwards...

Have to improve the swimming a great deal, like many, i can swim but its to get to a good distance that i need to improve.

Plannin to concentrate more on the swimmin side of things after this event. Reading through the thread joining a swimming group is the way to go??

Depends on the group, some are good, some are utter crap.

TheEagles wrote: »

Any advise on a good training programme would be great or a website where i could get one??

www.slowtwitch.com
www.trinewbies.com

TheEagles wrote: »

And like many finding the time to put into it all between work and a young family is tough. What amount of time would be enough to put in a week?

Depends on your goals - 6 hours anyways

TheEagles wrote: »

Would 2 sessions during the week and a longer session at the weekend for the winter be enough? The summer would be different as you have the longer evenings whih makes it easier to get outdoors later..

No. Two sessions a week isn't even enough to maintain fitness, never mind build. One session a day minimum with one day off being optional.

tunney

anymore wrote: »

Any recommendation for a bike for a runner who might like to try one or two Tris but who is on a budget, please ?

One that fits.

Not being smart but that is all that really matters for your first few bikes!

Oryx

TheEagles, at the peak of my training this year I was doing 6 days a week, varying from a half hour run to a three and a half hour brick session. Youd want to be putting in 4-6 hours minimum for sprint, I reckon, and those hours are total actual training time, not putting-on-shoes-and-driving-to-the-gym time.

tunney

Oryx wrote: »

TheEagles, at the peak of my training this year I was doing 6 days a week, varying from a half hour run to a three and a half hour brick session. Youd want to be putting in 4-6 hours minimum for sprint, I reckon, and those hours are total actual training time, not putting-on-shoes-and-driving-to-the-gym time.

Sometimes you loose all sense of perspective.

nomadic

anymore wrote: »

Any recommendation for a bike for a runner who might like to try one or two Tris but who is on a budget, please ?

If its only 1 or 2 tri's or your not sure if you'll do more you should just use whatever you have handy. A mtb would be grand with some slicks.

Otherwise something like a Giant Defy would do the job for about €600. Second hand is also an option, you should get something suitable for about €300 - €400.

Izoard

TheEagles wrote: »

And like many finding the time to put into it all between work and a young family is tough. What amount of time would be enough to put in a week?

Would 2 sessions during the week and a longer session at the weekend for the winter be enough? The summer would be different as you have the longer evenings whih makes it easier to get outdoors later..

Really depends on what you want to do.
I was talking to a couple of guys at Ironman Switzerland who were averaging 3~4 hours a week training.

While it meant a long day (both finished) and not recommended, it worked for them and their lifestyle.

There is a lot of unnecessary mystery and fear-of-the-unknown around triathlon, that can be off putting for mere mortals.
Sure, there is a lot of science around the sport, but it is optional.

If you can swim, run and cycle a bit, but only have 5 hours a week to devote to the sport, you'll be fine - just be realistic with your goals.

tunney

Izoard wrote: »

Really depends on what you want to do.
I was talking to a couple of guys at Ironman Switzerland who were averaging 3~4 hours a week training.

While it meant a long day (both finished) and not recommended, it worked for them and their lifestyle.

There is a lot of unnecessary mystery and fear-of-the-unknown around triathlon, that can be off putting for mere mortals.
Sure, there is a lot of science around the sport, but it is optional.

If you can swim, run and cycle a bit, but only have 5 hours a week to devote to the sport, you'll be fine - just be realistic with your goals.

And be focused - no faffing around training, clearly defined goals for each session. And learn to love a turbo.

Science ISN'T optional. Without knowing what you are doing then you end up doing stupid counter productive things like 100 push ups a day.

Izoard

tunney wrote: »

And be focused - no faffing around training, clearly defined goals for each session. And learn to love a turbo.

Science ISN'T optional. Without knowing what you are doing then you end up doing stupid counter productive things like 100 push ups a day.

It is optional.

If you can swim, bike and run, you can finish a sprint/ oly tri.
No science required...try not to scare people off unnecessarily.

Science might make you faster, but you just might end up not enjoying the journey.

tunney

Izoard wrote: »

It is optional.

If you can swim, bike and run, you can finish a sprint/ oly tri.
No science required...try not to scare people off unnecessarily.

Science might make you faster, but you just might end up not enjoying the journey.

I meant to be time efficient its not optional.

Its not required to do the sport of course.

mitresize5

anymore wrote: »

Any recommendation for a bike for a runner who might like to try one or two Tris but who is on a budget, please ?

Get a second hand bike that fits you well - you'll pick up a year or two old bike from your local bike shop for about 300 - 400. Now is the perfect timeof year to be looking for one as well as there are a lot of trade-ins.

TheEagles

Oryx wrote: »

TheEagles, at the peak of my training this year I was doing 6 days a week, varying from a half hour run to a three and a half hour brick session. Youd want to be putting in 4-6 hours minimum for sprint, I reckon, and those hours are total actual training time, not putting-on-shoes-and-driving-to-the-gym time.

Thanks guys for the tips/advice.
well i no id never get out 6days a week or the wife would go mental!!!! Fair play to ya for puttin that amount of time into the sport.

Yes alot would depend on what i want out of it at the end of the day. right now ive 2 mid weeks sessions with a session at the weekend, averaging around 7 -8 hrs.

Might be a soft question but when you say brick session, is that goin from bike to run etc??