Active Community : Thread List - Newbies (New Triathletes)

Training for the first Tri.

tmdougal — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:29:57 GMT

So I am training for my first Triathlon and I only have a few concerns. Mostly how NOT to look like a complete moron when transferring from swim, to bike, to running. Is this switch off race specific and/or do we need our own people there to hold the bike and shoes and other such items at the beginning and ending of each leg, or are there people for that? Do the races generally have a 2 minute interval where we can change shoes and remove the wetsuit or is time still counting while we attempt to change as fast as possible? Any info will and is very much appreciated.

Thank you...

Athlete Profile: Meet Patricia Miller from 405 to Finish Line!

IronMakeover — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:41:24 GMT

Hey guys,

I connected with Patricia in our tri community here & wanted to share part of her story with you. She's determined, super-positive & a triathlete!

I'll paste in the first few paragraphs of my feature on Patricia. I hope you'll join me in congratulating Patricia and sharing her story with other current and future triathletes!

Read the entire piece at http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2009/11/triathlete-meet-patricia-miller-from.html.

Many first-time triathletes hope to shed a few pounds while training for their first event. Instead Patricia Miller lost weight first (230 pounds!) and then celebrated that powerful transformation by training for and finishing her first triathlon. In a similar fashion, Miller chose a reverse triathlon (run-bike-swim) rather than a traditional triathlon (swim-bike-run) for her first event.

Even at her peak weight in 2001 (405 pounds) Miller was active, hitting the gym 3-4 times a week and walking 2-3 hours once a week. Walking was slow and steady work. Her first treadmill mile took 55 minutes. But even a slow step is a step towards a healthier lifestyle and Miller was determined to get there.

She asked for a referral to a dietitian and saw limited success with exercise and diet choices over the next four years. In 2007 Miller researched Gastric Bypass surgeons. And with her doctor’s advice, Miller dropped more weight, getting down to a safer 350 pounds by the morning of her surgery (Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass—Roux-en-Y (RGB).

“The risk of death due to complications from any surgery is significant when you are morbidly obese and rise dramatically when you are ‘super obese,’” says Miller. As far as super powers go, Miller jokes that super obese would not be her first choice.

Instead, she wanted to become a super triathlete. She saw marathons and triathlons as high-level athletic events and knew one day she’d like to do a triathlon. “I wanted to be fit and doing a triathlon seemed like the best well-rounded way to demonstrate I was now a fit person,” says Miller.

Read the entire piece at http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2009/11/triathlete-meet-patricia-miller-from.html.

Patricia, you're incredible!

:-) Sara

Swim anxiety!

GreenMtnGirl — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:48:31 GMT

Hi all, this is my first post. I found this forum just in time. I am a wannabe triathlete, and will be meeting with my swim coach for the first time tomorrow morning to begin to learn to swim. My swim background is pretty run-of-the-mill: I grew up with a pool in my backyard. I can float, and I can do the breastroke -- in the slow, leisurely manner that one would use while tooling around their pool. I don't think I will be able to make it an entire length of the pool at this point. That said, I want to do triathlons, so I've got to get to work. My long-term goal is to finish an Ironman before I turn 40. I just turned 36, and I think that is a do-able goal. My goal for next season is to start with a duathlon early in the spring, do as many sprints as I can to work out my "bugs" and then do an Olympic at the end of the season. I am about 30 lbs overweight (having lost 25 lbs in the past 8 months by running).

In my head, I know that everybody needs to start somewhere. My coach is aware of my lack of abilities, and I feel he's a patient and non-judgemental type... but still, I'm stressed. I don't at all know what to expect, and I can be pretty self-conscious and hard on myself (I'm hoping triathlon will change that -- running has helped tremendously).

So... has anybody else here started with absolutely no swim skills? Did you learn to swim like an athlete?

Help me decide: Oly distance or Sprint on 1st open water swim?

Amigold — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:32:53 GMT

OK, I have done 2 sprint triathlons now and survived them. I didn't win my age group (these 50-55 women kick rear, trust me), but I finished upright and smiling and not at the end of the pack. Both sprints had pool swims of 350 and 250 meters. I had no real issues with the swims, but I am not the world's strongest or fastest swimmer by any means.

Now I'm signing up for a tri in April in my birthplace town of Galveston TX which offers sprint, Oly and 70.3 distances. The swim is an open water swim in a semi protected bayou (which means no actual surf, but you will get wind, rain, current, and some small waves I am sure). I really would like to move up to Oly distance and train for that--but honestly I'm not sure about doing an Oly distance swim as my first open water experience. I know I can do the bike and the run with training--but not sure about the swim part.

I grew up swimming in the ocean and bayous, so salt water doesn't offend me, but back then I wasn't, you know, swimming in a hurry with 300 people around me thrashing away. And between now and then I am probably not going to be able to do any sea swimming, because Dallas has very little oceanfront, although I may try to do at least one lake practice in late March with a rented wetsuit to get used both to the idea and the wetsuit (brrrr).

The sprint swim is .3 miles and the Oly swim is a 1.5 kilo which I think is .9 mile so it's a big difference. Plus the sprint is simply from one dock across to another--no real serious navigation--and the Oly is out to sea with four turns.

Should I just sign up for the sprint and try to improve my times in my age group, and save the Oly for when I a seasoned open water swimmer? Or should I bite the day and go for the big one?

Thanks for any advice. Training starts in two weeks either way!

Terry

I want to clam my results. How do I do it if I'm not 26 untill September?

TWSTED — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:41:02 GMT

Every time I try to claim a result I get this message " Claim was not successful: The information in your active account does not match the information with this result (Age)" I'm 25 now and won't be 26 for another 4 months, in that time I'll have run at least 4 more tri's and I want to show people that I'm actually doing this stuff. According to USAT I have to register as 26 because I'll be 26 in December of '08, but Active wants my birthdate which is in September. How am I supposed to claim my results if the site won't recognize me for being me? I'm not attepmting to wow anyone with my results, but I do want to be able to claim that I did the tri's.

Confused,

Tim

P.S. a remedey for a chronic knee problem (stabbing pain) would be great if you have one. Thanks

Overweight, but want to do my First Triathlon

ArtistDiaz — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:21:09 GMT

Hey guys, I am a 37 year old man, living in South Florida. I started the C25K training program and it's going well. Shortly after I started going to the gym on my "non-running" days and started working out with a trainer. So far I love it! I signed up for my first 5k in December, figuring that will give me plenty of time to be absolutely ready...but lately I have been watching allot of Triathlons on TV and have really started to think I would like to try one and see how it goes. Maybe after my first 5k. I am not a strong swimmer and although I have a decent bike, it's only a hybrid and not a real road bike. Anyone have any suggestions they can offer on a newbie wannabe Triathlete with little to no equipment? I have NO idea where to even start. Should I continue my 5k training and do that first? Should I switch gears and train for a Triathlon instead? Anyone else in the same boat I am? I am not looking to become the next Triathlete star and frankly don't care if I come in dead last. Just want to be able to do it without any major discomfort and with walking or (cheating) in any way.

six weeks out before first sprint. sign up or pass?

tramomd — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:18:43 GMT

ok i am dieing to do my first sprint. the last one in my area for this season is 6 weeks from now. my training has been minimal (spin classes 3x's week, weight trainig, biking in subdivision) nothing organized for a race. Will I have enough time to be ready to be able to finish a sprint with six weeks training or should prepare for next season? open for any sugestions. thanks

good training program for newbie

Tri_baby — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:30:47 GMT

What is a good training program for a new triathlete? I am hoping to do a sprint distance tri in April. I run/bike approx. 30-40 miles a week right now. I know how to train for a run, but I don't know how to integrate multiple sports. My bike is my cross-training and fun right now. I can swim, but it's definitely my weak spot.

Pool swimming in Sprints

Woodworker — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:03:40 GMT

What is longest swim in pool sprint tris?

Signed up for 1st sprint with open water swim. Is death imminent?

Rocksville — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:42:52 GMT

I've been talking about doing a tri for almost two years now, and I've finally bit the bullet and just signed up for one on October 17th (one month from today).

I've been running for a few years now, nothing major as I'm no Prefontaine, but can complete 5k's in 25-26 minutes and 10k's in about 55 minutes. I'm not too worried about this since worst case scenerio I can walk (well, not absolute worst case scenerio, but the consequences of running poorly are much less than those of swimming) my way to the finish line.

I recently started on a bike (maybe a month ago). I've done a couple 10-12 mile rides and average about 15 mph on flat ground. The distance doesn't bother me at all and I'm sure I could push it a lot more if I wanted to. After the 10-12 miles I don't really feel any worse for wear and I'm not a dripping ball of sweat like I am after a good run. I think I can get through the 12 miles on the bike in a respectable time (not trying to be competitive, but I don't want to be last either)

Swimming is a different story. I'm not afraid of water, and I know the basic technique, but I am in no way a fish. I got into a 25m pool last week and just one distance of 25m leaves me gasping for air, and the swim for this tri (in one month) is 800m. I ended up swimming about 400m total, but after each 25-50m I had to take a few minutes on the edge to breathe.

My question is this.....I'm going to concentrate on swimming for the next month, but are there any strategies I should work on to limit the probability that I sink to the bottom of a lake like a rock? What kind of distances should I be pushing for over the next month to get me through this? I'll probably rent a wet-suit, so that will provide some floatation, but I'm legitimately concerned about the swim. Should I find time to swim in the wetsuit to get familiar with it prior to the race?

Have I bit off more than I can chew?

Also, I don't have clip-in peddles for my bike, is there any reason I can't just put my running shoes on in the first transition and ride the bike in those, then just set the bike down and start chuggin along for the last 5k in T2?

Any help, or last words, are appreciated.

Too Much?

sgtsiejak — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:12:14 GMT

So here it is Almost halloween, After missing this entire season due to my job in the military I think I want to do a 1/2 ironman next July. Ive been running on average 13 miles every other day for a month but had no swim or bike training. Last season I did 1 duathalon, and 1 sprint tri. what I'd like is to do 2 Sprints and an Olympic befor a 1/2 in July. you think Im over doing it for only my " second" season?

Also im on a road bike/ soon to be converted. any suggestions on the bare essentials to convert it to a not so horribel road/tri conversion bike. I want to get a good tri-bike in 2011 when I start to really compete ( i.e. hopefully 8:30 full) just looking for ideas.