New to tri
bgreer
Posts: 10
in General Chat
Greetings everyone. Recently I decided to start training for a triathlon (next seasons) as I felt a needed a challenge and something that would give me a sense of achievement should I be able to do it. I have also told a lot of people so that I carry it through.
I bought a road bike around a month ago, although have been cycling to work on a mountain bike for years, albeit a short 2.5 km each way, and have always found running easy enough. I can swim, but not any distance!!
So far I have been loosely doing the following training plan:
Day 1 - Swim 20 lengths of the pool (10 sets of 2 x 25m lengths with a 45 second rest between each set)
Day 2 - Cycle approximately 15 km in just under 40 minutes (including several stops at lights etc...)
Day 3 - Run 5/6 km over a hilly route in under 23 minutes
Rest
Repeat the above
I was happy enough with how my initial training was/is going, but the more I look into it the more I feel I am doing very little. People seem to be cycling far longer distances than I am and are able to include strength training (hills) and basically several more hours a week than me.
The trouble is, I have a full time job, I study part-time, not to mention being married with 2 kids.
I suppose I am just looking for any advice on how to keep it up and how to factor in more training in an already busy schedule. There is also a Triathlon club nearby that I might join to help me along.
Thanks in advance
I bought a road bike around a month ago, although have been cycling to work on a mountain bike for years, albeit a short 2.5 km each way, and have always found running easy enough. I can swim, but not any distance!!
So far I have been loosely doing the following training plan:
Day 1 - Swim 20 lengths of the pool (10 sets of 2 x 25m lengths with a 45 second rest between each set)
Day 2 - Cycle approximately 15 km in just under 40 minutes (including several stops at lights etc...)
Day 3 - Run 5/6 km over a hilly route in under 23 minutes
Rest
Repeat the above
I was happy enough with how my initial training was/is going, but the more I look into it the more I feel I am doing very little. People seem to be cycling far longer distances than I am and are able to include strength training (hills) and basically several more hours a week than me.
The trouble is, I have a full time job, I study part-time, not to mention being married with 2 kids.
I suppose I am just looking for any advice on how to keep it up and how to factor in more training in an already busy schedule. There is also a Triathlon club nearby that I might join to help me along.
Thanks in advance
0
Comments
Get yourself a recent tri mag which will have a sprint tri plan and compare it to your current plan - if time is tight for you it will be about cutting out junk miles in all three disciplines and focus on intensity.
The sessions I got he most benefit from in my first year were hard bike to run sessions at race pace (bricks).
Good luck
Are you intending to keep up the training that you are currently doing throughout the winter? if the answer is yes, then your (most likely) going to be doing a lot more training than most people who are going to do their first traithlon next year - so well done
This is your first triathlon so don't worry about what others are doing. It's waaaay to early to be worrying about training plans for next year. Keep doing what your doing and consider it your base training for the winter. You'll be hard as nails riding to work in that sideways rain compared to the rest of us on the turbo in the garage
Hopefully you will have done most of your course work by the time you get to your race, so around 15 weeks before your race you want to start thinking about a plan (which you will put into place at around 12 weeks before your race). This doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to be putting in 20 hours a week training it's your first race remember. You just want to be able to get to the finish line and enjoy the experience. You need to look at the time you have to train and be smart about the type of training that you do. I'm presuming it's a sprint race(?) in which case you don't need to do lots of long sessions. Concentrate on getting to the distance you need to finish the race and then work on a bit of speed if you have time.
Oh, and yes - join your local club!
Have fun!
If you are focusing on Sprint tri's then have a look to see if there is a parkrun near to you - great dose of free competition in the winter months - google it.
Training over the winter months will be hard but we have a treadmill at home and the wife and I are going to buy a Turbo Trainer between us so I've no excuse over the winter months. I could do brick sessions in the comfort of my home!!
I've also joined the local triathlon club and they have coached swim & turbo sessions once a week so will pop along to those so it'll give me something to work too. My wife's also decided to train for one, as has my brother-in-law so hopefully we can motivate each other when the going gets tough....
Aiming for a couple of sprints 1st and then olympic distance roughly a year from now. My biggest thing will be the swim as at present I can really only swim 4 lengths (100 m) before taking a break, although I managed 500 m yesterday in about 16 mins (including breaks).
Cheers
Park runs for running fitness and keeping the race edge on.
STRAVA.com for cycling, great for intervals and ruining a long slow steady ride,
Winterswim.com for swimming fitness, but get on quick as the window to start closes soon.
Ah well, at least my body is getting some rest.....