half IM (ish) in 2 months
doogle
Posts: 58
in General Chat
I'm thinking of doing a middle distance tri in October this year (if it's not already full) and want some advice on if you think i will be able to get up to speed / distance in time.
I already compete in sprints (pool and open water) but am not at my fittest right now. i have done a few OW swims covering up to 2k with a rest at about half distance, am running for an hour twice a week (can do a 10k in around 45 min at moment), but i'm not getting a lot of cycling done (in fact only a few turbo sessions). however i used to be a decent rider 10 mile tt in 23.00 and 200k audax rides no problem, but that was a few years ago.
any advice greatfully recieved
I already compete in sprints (pool and open water) but am not at my fittest right now. i have done a few OW swims covering up to 2k with a rest at about half distance, am running for an hour twice a week (can do a 10k in around 45 min at moment), but i'm not getting a lot of cycling done (in fact only a few turbo sessions). however i used to be a decent rider 10 mile tt in 23.00 and 200k audax rides no problem, but that was a few years ago.
any advice greatfully recieved
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Five pool based sprints, one OW OD, a few OW swims, some Aquathlons, but decided to step up to HIM to test myself, ficus my training, and try to learn as much as I can before a full IM next year. Not too sure how i'll get but the only way to find out is have a go.
OW is very different to pool swimming. Easier cos you have a wetsuit on, harder cos you don't have the end to grab onto if you run out of puff. I don't want to worry you, but some people who don't expect to do so will panic the first time they try open water just because of the cold and how different it is to the pool.
If you live around london somewhere I'm going for a swim and a ride with willtri on saturday morning. I can pick you up from slough or gerrards cross station and take you over to liquid leisure to swim with us.
doogle - you thinking about the new forest half? Think scotty burrows is doing that too. there's the Little Woody at the end of August too which I'm having a crack at.
However don't be discouraged if you are a strong swimmer I swam in Wibmleball lake for 10mins, one month before UK 70.3 and that was my sum total of OW experience before the race.....and (although I am a good swimmer) I still managed to come in in the top 100 for the swim.....it just all went wrong after that...(have a read of my race report on my website for all the things not to do in a 70.3 distance!!)
The key things to be aware of are the restriction imposed on your shoulders by the wetsuit (even a really gucci one!!), try to focus on technique and the aqua ruck at the beginning (if you are not a good swimmer go at the back and wait for this to die down)
Also practice sighting in the swimming pool
Iain.
know i can run a half marathon (1.35 pb), and am swimming more than this distance every week, only running after the bike and nutrition i'm wary of.
My nutrition plan was:
1hr before race - High5 Energy Source (ES) Extreme
10mins before swim 2x High5 IsolGel Plus (Caffeine)
***Here is where we had the 1hr15mins delay due to mist***
SWIM
T1/BIKE -
500ml ES Plus
Water/Nuun + 3x IsoGel/hr
T2/RUN
Water + Coke in last 30mins
It all sounded great but I cramped up early on and it continued throughout - I think it was a combination of dehydration and the Gel/Energy Source overloading my system...I ended up bloating/dehydrated and only just finished...
For an olympic on Sunday I tried:
2x Gel 1 hr before the start
Water/Nuun on the bike with Gels at 25/50/75mins
This worked much better....
On the run from the bike only brick training can help really - I found doing 8x (5min run/10min bike/5min run) with a 20min warm up/cool down worked quite well....
Hope it helps
I.
And your comments.... I am not a strong swimmer, back in January I couldn't do 25m front crawl, so had to start from scratch basically. I can swim 2k easily in a pool now, and do this at least once a week, with some 1/1.5k's aswell, but I am definately not a strong, nor fast swimmer, with 2k in a pool taking 54 minutes normally. And do I have a 'gucci' wetsuit... not particularly, infact the opposite, I have a hire one that costs £50 for the season.
I am scared for the swim, not so much for the distance but I am afraid I may panic and struggle to control my breathing. Once this is out of the way I will feel a bit better. It is a deep water start as well to make things even more interesting.
Biking - I have not done 90km yet, only 80km a few times, but nothing with the hill profile that I will face on race day. Running I am normally fine, can run a half marathon in 1:33, but have not done too much brick training, not long distance stuff anyway
Basically what I am saying is..... If I get a DNF I would not be too surprised We will see