New to Tri

barrymac20

Hi everybody. MY name is Barry. I'm brand spanking new to triathlon and am planning to do at least one this summer (hopefully a lot more but i'll aim low!)

I'd be delighted if some of you could give me any tips on starting off and in particular i'd love to get some recommendations for the best triathlons around the country.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Barry

pgibbo

Hi Barry,
Before anyone else weighs in I'd suggest you provide a bit of context.

Sporting background, height, weight, how good a swimmer/biker/runner are you? How many hours have you to train? What level are you starting from currently, i.e., how active have you been over the last year or so?

If you have a strong sporting background but have been doing nothing for the last while then the answers/approach could be very different.

What distance do you want to do? The good news is that there are lots of very good races around the country and plenty of knowledgeable people here too. I'd suggest having a look at some of the training logs and older posts too.

P.

iwillhtfu

You sound like a contender for Dublin 70.3

barrymac20

Hi.

Done feck all exercise for the first 32 years of my life and then decided to do a marathon!
I ran dublin marathon in '13 (at 33) and '14 so was in good condition for those. My best 10km is 48mins.
Picked up an injury after '14 so had to ease back on the running a bit. That's when I took up cycling in '15.

Trained for and completed a 180km charity cycle in the summer which was great. After this i really wanted to get into triathlon. A new baby put that on hold for a bit but now i'm ready to get back to my goal.

I've maintained a relatively good fitness level and have started back at the gym recently where i'm also getting swimming lessons. (never really swam before this but instructor happy that "there's a good swimmer in there") Joining a triathlon club this month so I hope to be in a position to improve on the swimming with their group lessons while also keeping up the one-to-ones.

I'm 6 foot and i'm around 13 and a half stone. (Need to lose a stone).

My goal is to do an ironman before i'm 40 (end of 2020) but i'm not worried about that right now. I want to do a couple of sprint distances this year. (I plan on doing one or two tri-a-tris first)

I hope thats enough to go on. In order to set a goal I want to sign up for a tri this week but I wanted to pick a good one. Any suggestions would be great.

Kurt_Godel

^ Your post above should be stickied as a great example to anyone else looking to get into Tri from a marathon background. You're doing everything right- a long term long-distance goal; getting swimming lessons; joining a club; looking to do short distance Tri's first to get experience. Best of luck in your journey.

"there's a good swimmer in there"- sounds like you have a good instructor! One-on-one coaching will be very useful before joining group swims.

Most club-run Sprints/Try-a-Tri's will be suitable for first timers. Check out the race calendar on Triathlon Ireland Website and choose one close to you.

pgibbo

Sounds good Barry and a smart approach. Where are you based? Plenty of good sprints around the country but given you have a young family you probably won't want to drive 3 hours for a sprint. If we know the area you're in then people could recommend sprints in the area.

barrymac20

Thanks guys.

I'm living in Louth. The local clubs have tri-a-tris coming up so hope to do them. They also so sprints.
If there's a well ran, popular event on somewhere else in the country i'd have no problem travelling and would make a weekend out of it.

Was thinking TriAthy or TriAthlone maybe?

joey100

The 2 best sprints I have done would be the racing795 one in Carlow, everything is nice and close, no huge walk from transition to registration or afterwards to the car. Nice park right beside it too. The other would be lough Derg sprint in Tipp. Again everything nice and close and a good course.

These would be two of the smaller sprints around but they would be 2 of the best races I have done. Couldn't really fault either.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

barrymac20 wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I'm living in Louth. The local clubs have tri-a-tris coming up so hope to do them. They also so sprints.
If there's a well ran, popular event on somewhere else in the country i'd have no problem travelling and would make a weekend out of it.

Was thinking TriAthy or TriAthlone maybe?

Living in Louth myself. You should give the early season duathlons a go, Setanta tri run theirs and i believe Drogheda Tri do also.

That's a sensible approach you are taking, best of luck with it.

barrymac20

Cheers Jacky.
I intend to give some of the duathlons a go in the next couple of months. Also planning on Joining Setanta as I'm a member of Felda and I know they do a lot of their training there. Although i've heard good things about Drogheda too.

Steroo

I was in your shoes a year ago... Marathon background, same age height weight.. Started with lessons and then a club. Did my first sprint triathlon in May 15 in Carlow racing 795 / great event. I'd advise you to put swimming as priority 1 for now, go 4/5 times a week if possible and get as much feedback as possible, get the swim smooth book and have a read of the thread started over a year ago here 'swimming for Tri beginners'.

You've plenty of time, get stuck in and enjoy. Boards is a good resource for ongoing advice

barrymac20

Steroo wrote: »

I was in your shoes a year ago... Marathon background, same age height weight.. Started with lessons and then a club. Did my first sprint triathlon in May 15 in Carlow racing 795 / great event. I'd advise you to put swimming as priority 1 for now, go 4/5 times a week if possible and get as much feedback as possible, get the swim smooth book and have a read of the thread started over a year ago here 'swimming for Tri beginners'.

You've plenty of time, get stuck in and enjoy. Boards is a good resource for ongoing advice

How long between you starting to swim and your first tri? Were you a total beginner?

Steroo

barrymac20 wrote: »

How long between you starting to swim and your first tri? Were you a total beginner?

Pretty much. I could get up and down the pool head over water and gasping for air. So I'd a few months of lessons and practice... It was 7 months and I did an indoor pool triathlon, and then another 3 months to a proper outdoor sprint.

I really struggled with the breathing , so you might get there sooner.

barrymac20

Steroo wrote: »

Pretty much. I could get up and down the pool head over water and gasping for air. So I'd a few months of lessons and practice... It was 7 months and I did an indoor pool triathlon, and then another 3 months to a proper outdoor sprint.

I really struggled with the breathing , so you might get there sooner.

Right. I started lessons in December and was hoping to do a tri In the summer. Haven't even started on the breathing yet. I might be being a bit optimistic but will see how it goes.

iwillhtfu

barrymac20 wrote: »

Right. I started lessons in December and was hoping to do a tri In the summer. Haven't even started on the breathing yet. I might be being a bit optimistic but will see how it goes.

Everyone's different I couldn't swim 50M my first year by April I was comfortably swimming 1000-1500M but I seemed to pick up the breathing quickly.

Also I was swimming 4 days/week this is the key to swim fitness I think. I'm only swimming 2 days/week now and the difference is notable.

Entered an indoor charity tri in March and was in a lane with a girl from the Irish high performance squad. That was a little soul destroying but it was amazing to watch how quick she was.

If you can get the swimming up to speed you should be more than able to enter a race or two this summer.

barrymac20

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Everyone's different I couldn't swim 50M my first year by April I was comfortably swimming 1000-1500M but I seemed to pick up the breathing quickly.

Also I was swimming 4 days/week this is the key to swim fitness I think. I'm only swimming 2 days/week now and the difference is notable.

Entered an indoor charity tri in March and was in a lane with a girl from the Irish high performance squad. That was a little soul destroying but it was amazing to watch how quick she was.

If you can get the swimming up to speed you should be more than able to enter a race or two this summer.

Yeah I've figured all along that the swimming is the key so I'm focussing on strength training and swimming for now.

Has anyone any ever done triathy or triathlone?
The challenge Galway event looks good too.

joey100

I didn't do it last year but from what I have heard and read Tri Athy sprint last year was a disaster. It's on after all the other races and ran at least an hour late. People were left waiting around in the cold in their wetsuits for the race start with very little communication from anyone. I've done the Olympic there twice but don't think I would do the sprint until they have sorted it out.

Done Triathlone 2 years ago and it was a decent race. Seemed to be fairly well organised but it's a late enough start, around 1 or 2 I think and has probably the longest transition in the world. Mustbe running for nearly 1km from the water to get your bike and out of T1. They didn't do a great job of keeping the run way from swim clear the year I done it and I know of a few people getting glass in their foot.

They are both decent races and have their plus points but in my experience the smaller club run races tend to be better than the larger races.

That's disappointing about TriAthy, I was hoping to do my first sprint there myself this year

joey100

Might all change this year, but I know I wouldn't be rushing to do it this year.

Plenty of other good sprints on around that time of year too, North tipp Sprint (pool) in April, Racing 795 in Carlow in May and Hook or by Crook in Waterford in June. More will probably be added to the calendar too as the year goes on. Other thing I remember from last year was I raced the weekend before TriAthy and the water was still very very cold. Might be no harm waiting a week or two to try and get some warmer weather. That or looking at a pool sprint for your first one?

TriAthy could turn out to be a huge success this year though, it usually does have a good atmosphere and the big numbers on the course mean you never feel like your out on your own. Just few issues around it last year.

Jonesy101

It sounds like you're pretty fit. Fitter than I was when I first started. I cant help you on the tri's in Ireland but I would suggest not bothering to do a tri-it tri. Theyre so short and you're pretty fit that I dont see the point. You would easily be incorporating a few of those in your training for a Sprint anyway for sure. Sprints are more than manageable for someone like you.

-Youtube videos are great for learning about transitions, swimming tips, running form
-Youtube GCN is great for learning to get more aero on a bike
-Most magazines I found were crap but I did pick up a 220 Triathlon Guide To Running last year and it was amazing. I cant find them online atm but keep an eye out for them in the stores. * Its not the regular monthly issue. * http://www.immediate.co.uk/news/corporate/220-triathlon-magazine-launches-swim-guide-one-shot/
-Podcasts are really interesting if you like the science side of things http://triathletetraining.com/
-Get some clip on aerobars for your road bike, since you can lean on them they actually stop fatigue as well as making you much faster. Check out redshiftsports.com and theyre doing a discount % for Ireland atm, DUBLIN10.
-Not sure if you can rent wetsuits in Ireland or not but a suit will definitely help in a race, makes you far more buoyant but it costs $$$$ so not 100% necessary. If temp is <20 deg will help even more. I just got a really good Huub on sigmarsports heavily discounted.

I havent found a good cycling club on meetup.com and dont want to pay for a tri-club so would love some company going for rides or open water swims if anyones keen.

iwillhtfu

barrymac20 wrote: »

The challenge Galway event looks good too.

If you're worried about a sprint swim Challenge Galway is probably a bridge to far this year.

pgibbo

iwillhtfu wrote: »

If you're worried about a sprint swim Challenge Galway is probably a bridge to far this year.

I'm assuming he's referring to the Sprint and OLY races that are being held as part of the Challenge Galway weekend.

rooneyjm

As Joe said Nenagh pool Tri is a really nice beginner friendly race. Was closed last year for a re furb but back now, I'll probably head down myself. Also I think 3D are doing a pool aquathon out of the NAC on the same day as the CArlow race( late May).

thesimpsons

I'm thinking of trying a tri this spring. currently swimming more than the distance in a 20m pool but the event I'm looking at is 50m pool (UL) won't get to practice much in the pool before event. is it a big step up moving to a 50m length (aware that this is like how long is a piece of string question). any advice ? In an indoor tri, how do they cater for slow swimmers (very slow)? I haven't found a thread about how the transitions work - anyone got a link to something so I can get the head around how it all works. thanks

iwillhtfu

thesimpsons wrote: »

I'm thinking of trying a tri this spring. currently swimming more than the distance in a 20m pool but the event I'm looking at is 50m pool (UL) won't get to practice much in the pool before event. is it a big step up moving to a 50m length (aware that this is like how long is a piece of string question). any advice ? In an indoor tri, how do they cater for slow swimmers (very slow)? I haven't found a thread about how the transitions work - anyone got a link to something so I can get the head around how it all works. thanks

Youtube will have loads of clips on transition etc. I wouldn't be to worried about it at a beginner level.

For an indoor tri they'll usually set up a small area for transition or allow entrants to use changing rooms.

The official distance will be the same regardless of whether it's in a 20/25/50m pool however it may change in smaller pools to allow for lengths. Once you're not stopping at the end of each length of a breather then you won't really notice the extra distance. Try not take a big push off the wall when you turn, just enough to retain momentum.

Depending on the structure numbers of entrants you may be in a lane with one other person or you may be stringed out a few metres apart. If the latter faster swimmers will make their presence felt as they catch you just allow them pass at the turn or swim around you if there's room .

No point getting to hung up on the small things you'll learn as you go.

rooneyjm

thesimpsons wrote: »

I'm thinking of trying a tri this spring. currently swimming more than the distance in a 20m pool but the event I'm looking at is 50m pool (UL) won't get to practice much in the pool before event. is it a big step up moving to a 50m length (aware that this is like how long is a piece of string question). any advice ? In an indoor tri, how do they cater for slow swimmers (very slow)? I haven't found a thread about how the transitions work - anyone got a link to something so I can get the head around how it all works. thanks

With the 20m pool your getting a little mini break and a good push off the wall every 20m so you could run out of puff if your not a great swimmer. Take it one 50 at a time and if you need to take 10 sec after every one do that. You could also do a 25m race beforehand, portlaois or Nenagh

thesimpsons

rooneyjm wrote: »

With the 20m pool your getting a little mini break and a good push off the wall every 20m so you could run out of puff if your not a great swimmer. Take it one 50 at a time and if you need to take 10 sec after every one do that. You could also do a 25m race beforehand, portlaois or Nenagh

so its ok to take a small breather at end of a length if needed? I can do 200m ok just touching the wall and turning straight away in the 20m pool - not tumble turn though. I'm good with breathing.

rooneyjm

thesimpsons wrote: »

so its ok to take a small breather at end of a length if needed? I can do 200m ok just touching the wall and turning straight away in the 20m pool - not tumble turn though. I'm good with breathing.

You can't tumble turn in triathlon so don't worry about that. Yeah it's ok to take a little breather. The race wave will have a cut off time, probably 30 mins so even if you have to beast stroke a couple of lengths you should make it. I'd say start taking the little breathers before your absolutely spent, have a plan to take a few seconds every 50 or 100m and stick to it.

mossym

thesimpsons wrote: »

I'm thinking of trying a tri this spring. currently swimming more than the distance in a 20m pool but the event I'm looking at is 50m pool (UL) won't get to practice much in the pool before event. is it a big step up moving to a 50m length (aware that this is like how long is a piece of string question). any advice ? In an indoor tri, how do they cater for slow swimmers (very slow)? I haven't found a thread about how the transitions work - anyone got a link to something so I can get the head around how it all works. thanks

probably joey hannon you are thinking of then. it's one i've done the last few years and honestly there is no issue taking a breath at the wall, in the slower waves people will stand up and take a break and it's fine. when you register you'll be asked for your predicted time, if nervous be honest and put your actual pace and you'll be put in lanes with people of the same speed so no pressure

thesimpsons

So, given all ye're encouragement, I signed up. 17th April joey Hannon - first ever attempt at something thing like this. Many many years spent with very little exercise but active cyclist last 3 years, no running experience at all. Hopefully I'll be back on to report success. Fingers crossed

thesimpsons

just an update - 2 weeks to go and I'm ready to go. have really enjoyed the training so far, found lots of great tips and encouragement from all the other threads here. looking forward to it now.

barrymac20

Good Luck.
I signed up for the Ironmind Sprint Tri in July. The swimming is still a struggle but I figured if I signed up for something i'd have a better chance of being motivated

thesimpsons

Story for anyone thinking of trying a tri.

So I did it. After being sick with nerves all week and a sleepless Saturday night I woke up Sunday all ready and set for the Tri a Tri. Breakfast started out fine till half way through I felt sick so I ditched it. I arrived in UL plenty early and worked out the logistics of where everything was, and set about racking up bike, laying out shoes, clothes, etc. I didn't have a suit so went with swimming togs and a teeshirt and shorts for after the pool, cycling shoes and then runners. I had a long sleeved jersey ready in case it was too cold but didn't need it – I felt arm warmers would have been to hard to pull on.

Being a newbie, first mistake was not realising there would be time to quickly strip off tracksuit & shoes between the pre race briefing and getting into pool so I was standing around half naked at 8.30am for half hour but apart from feeling bit like a prat I was fine. A lady standing near me felt sorry and gave me her jacket for over the shoulders. Onwards into pool deck, I found my lane, registered with the timing marshal and hopped in. To get estimate of everyone's times and to warm up we were told to "just swim a length or two ". I hadn't planned on extra lengths and while I did have 500m in me I was little worried I'd get tired too early in the day. Turns out it was actually a good idea as it settled me down and I got into a nice rhythm before the actual race started.

I took tiny breathers twice at the end of the pool – no problem there. I finished in a good time and then kinda forgot to get out of the pool and head to the transition area fast so I lost a bit of time there. But I was feeling great, threw on the shoes, shorts and teeshirt. A full trisuit would be so much easier than struggling with shorts & tee. I then headed out on the cycle which is my real sport. Delighted I was able to pass loads of people on this section – some making hard work of the cycle as they didn’t appear familiar with the bike or with the gears so I made good time on this section. 9km turned out to be almost 10k but again this wasn’t a problem. Loads of marshalling on the route and plenty of reminders to unclip and get off bike in time, leave helmet on till bike was racked up, turn number around, etc.

Next up the run – my worst part. Transition was quick and legs weren’t too bad but it did feel like an extremely slow run. I was struggling on the 2nd km but determined not to walk if at all possible. The run was a turnaround and back the same way which I had found hard for the 1st km as so many were already heading back as I was just half a km in to my own run. The final km went fine, actually even found a bit of speed so I cross the line looking like it was some bit of a run rather than a show jog. The commentator remembered me from previous very nervous chats was cheered me in the final few meters. Absolutely thrilled with myself.

Bit annoyed I lost time in T1 taking in the scenery ! but my split times were spot on where I had wanted to be, and my overall time near enough what I had hoped for too. Even the run wasn’t as slow as I thought it was and the time was exact same as my training runs had been. There was great commaradie among the other competitors, cheering each other on as you passed or they passed you. After the finish I randomly met some of the others wandering around and we shared experiences.

Moral of the story – go try a tri and see if you like it. I’d do it again – not sure about openwater swimming but then again, this time last year I wouldn’t have said I’d be able for a tri.

barrymac20

Good man. Fair play to you.
I signed up for my first one on 9th July in mullingar. Swimming not great still so I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew. Have ten weeks to improve so hopefully it'll be enough for it not to be a total disaster.
Thanks for the report
Barry

peter kern

great stuff !!!!

thesimpsons wrote: »

Story for anyone thinking of trying a tri.

So I did it. After being sick with nerves all week and a sleepless Saturday night I woke up Sunday all ready and set for the Tri a Tri. Breakfast started out fine till half way through I felt sick so I ditched it. I arrived in UL plenty early and worked out the logistics of where everything was, and set about racking up bike, laying out shoes, clothes, etc. I didn't have a suit so went with swimming togs and a teeshirt and shorts for after the pool, cycling shoes and then runners. I had a long sleeved jersey ready in case it was too cold but didn't need it – I felt arm warmers would have been to hard to pull on.

Being a newbie, first mistake was not realising there would be time to quickly strip off tracksuit & shoes between the pre race briefing and getting into pool so I was standing around half naked at 8.30am for half hour but apart from feeling bit like a prat I was fine. A lady standing near me felt sorry and gave me her jacket for over the shoulders. Onwards into pool deck, I found my lane, registered with the timing marshal and hopped in. To get estimate of everyone's times and to warm up we were told to "just swim a length or two ". I hadn't planned on extra lengths and while I did have 500m in me I was little worried I'd get tired too early in the day. Turns out it was actually a good idea as it settled me down and I got into a nice rhythm before the actual race started.

I took tiny breathers twice at the end of the pool – no problem there. I finished in a good time and then kinda forgot to get out of the pool and head to the transition area fast so I lost a bit of time there. But I was feeling great, threw on the shoes, shorts and teeshirt. A full trisuit would be so much easier than struggling with shorts & tee. I then headed out on the cycle which is my real sport. Delighted I was able to pass loads of people on this section – some making hard work of the cycle as they didn’t appear familiar with the bike or with the gears so I made good time on this section. 9km turned out to be almost 10k but again this wasn’t a problem. Loads of marshalling on the route and plenty of reminders to unclip and get off bike in time, leave helmet on till bike was racked up, turn number around, etc.

Next up the run – my worst part. Transition was quick and legs weren’t too bad but it did feel like an extremely slow run. I was struggling on the 2nd km but determined not to walk if at all possible. The run was a turnaround and back the same way which I had found hard for the 1st km as so many were already heading back as I was just half a km in to my own run. The final km went fine, actually even found a bit of speed so I cross the line looking like it was some bit of a run rather than a show jog. The commentator remembered me from previous very nervous chats was cheered me in the final few meters. Absolutely thrilled with myself.

Bit annoyed I lost time in T1 taking in the scenery ! but my split times were spot on where I had wanted to be, and my overall time near enough what I had hoped for too. Even the run wasn’t as slow as I thought it was and the time was exact same as my training runs had been. There was great commaradie among the other competitors, cheering each other on as you passed or they passed you. After the finish I randomly met some of the others wandering around and we shared experiences.

Moral of the story – go try a tri and see if you like it. I’d do it again – not sure about openwater swimming but then again, this time last year I wouldn’t have said I’d be able for a tri.

thesimpsons

barrymac20 wrote: »

Good man. Fair play to you.
I signed up for my first one on 9th July in mullingar. Swimming not great still so I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew. Have ten weeks to improve so hopefully it'll be enough for it not to be a total disaster.
Thanks for the report
Barry

Take the swim slow and steady and don't follow at the other's pace. A good few took off too fast yesterday and were winded with 100m still to go. I've a very lazy looking swim, a friend watching yesterday thought there was no way I'd last the distance but I was the same the whole way through. Best of luck with it. I got a real buzz from finishing - much better than any other event I've ever done.

btw - it's good woman

barrymac20

thesimpsons wrote: »

Take the swim slow and steady and don't follow at the other's pace. A good few took off too fast yesterday and were winded with 100m still to go. I've a very lazy looking swim, a friend watching yesterday thought there was no way I'd last the distance but I was the same the whole way through. Best of luck with it. I got a real buzz from finishing - much better than any other event I've ever done.

btw - it's good woman

Ahh my apologies. Good woman yourself! Hopefully I'll be able to say I've joined the club soon. Will continue to get swimming lessons up to the event so that will help.