another tri newbie
jac
Posts: 452
in General Chat
Hi guys,
I'm totally new to triathlon and need some help, advice, guidance on the best way forward.
For starters: How should I structure my training?
I'm entering my first race in May (a sprint).
I'm fairly fit - run 10k in 42 mins, do regular biking, but as yet no swimming.
How should I start?
Thanks in advance.
I'm totally new to triathlon and need some help, advice, guidance on the best way forward.
For starters: How should I structure my training?
I'm entering my first race in May (a sprint).
I'm fairly fit - run 10k in 42 mins, do regular biking, but as yet no swimming.
How should I start?
Thanks in advance.
0
Comments
And are there any good training plans I can access?
Thanks
should start off with getting a base line for were you are at say 500m or 1000m to see how fast you can go at the beggining!
if you google training programs for swimming then there are some good sugestions. i would do a few 50m sets then do a few 100m sets on freestlye.
hope this was a little usefull!!
I started first by doing the distance breaststroke which i could do fine.
Then gradually brought in 1 then 2 then 3 etc. lengths front crawl until i could do the distance crawl.
From there began upping distance, joined the tri club swimming sessions - was at the back and couldn't keep up, kept going began keeping up and got one of the coaches to help me with technique.
Now i'm at least mid pack at the sessions.
I swim at least once a week preferably 2. 1 hour at the swim club then another session mid week for half hour 40 mins.
I try to train with 2 swims, 2 runs and 2 bikes.
Whilst i aint the fastest it fir around me and i'm definatley getting faster.
G
is that sprint tri open water or pool swim?
If it is open water,you should defo get some OW practise.
One other hint: swimming=80%technique+20%fitness!!!
It's a pool swim - which I'm quite relieved about!
I'm going to get some coaching then on technique and try and do at least two swims a week.
I swim 4 or 5 times a week, and the improvement you can make in the swim is really impressive. A lot of people say there is not much time to be made up in the swim, but I'm of the opinion it's free time for less effort. I reckon that I've cut 3 minutes off a 400m swim in the last 6 months (though I haven't run the clock since September, i know I'm faster as i catch people in the pool that used to fly past me), and I now coast through it rather than being knackered. If that's not a good idea, I don't know what is.
I'm fortunate in that I can get a lunchtime swim in (3 time a week), I do an evening Tri class and try to get a swim in on Saturday night so I don't have to watch the X-Factor.
I can see that when I am plateau my times on swimming, i will cut out a session or two, but for the moment as I'm getting better, I'm still going to swim a lot.
Worst thing you can do is just to try and increase your distance at the moment. All you'll do is reinforce bad habits such as too much kicking, which will leave you exhausted for the bike and swim. Great if you can run a 10k in 42mins, but if you've got nothing left in the tank then you won't manage it.
Also try www.swimplan.com they do great workouts for beginners up to advanced and really keep the interest going. Temptation is to skip the drills as you may find yourself feeling like an idiot when other guys are banging out the lengths but trust me, it's the best way forward. If you concentrate on technique over the winter then the distance will come. You've got plenty of time, so really make it count. When you're coming out of the water feeling fresh for you bike, you'll appreciate the effort you put in. Good luck!
I've found out that my pool does do tri swimming sessions, so I'm going to look out the coach and sort out a session or two.
Looking forward to getting stuck in.
As far as the bike's concerned, do you split into endurance and interval sessions?