The Triathlon Thread

[MacMadame 81]

Okay, who else is training for triathlons? I've done 2 so far and am doing a small one on Sunday in my hometown. But the biggie I'm training for is a Half-Ironman in Oct.

[attitudefree 2]

Mac

I am training for my first triathlon- any advice?

[MacMadame 81]

Have fun?

One thing I didn't realize when I was training is that you don't have to be doing the distances you will race at in your training. It's not bad to do them (or even more) but it's not necessary. I was thinking that, since I was going to bike 13 miles, swim 1/2 a mile and run 4 that I needed to be swimming 960 meters, biking 15-16 miles and running about 6. But it turns out that you only need to train about 90% of the distance, not 110-120% like I was thinking.

I'm not sure why that is, but I did my first Olympic (.9 mi swim, 26 mi bike, 6.2 mi run) when I'd never run more than 5.5 miles and that was with breaks (it was a track workout) and had only biked 23 miles tops and only one time and I was fine. I think it's because my total mileage for the week was over what I raced and, to your body, it's not *that* much different if you are doing it over a week or over a day.

The other thing is: watch some transition videos on YouTube and PRACTICE! You'll feel so much better on race day if you aren't fumbling around in transition trying to figure things out.

Oh and don't be one of those people who brings an entire suitcase into transition. :svengo: It's going to be tight in there so, even if you bring a lot, just lay out what you need and put the rest back in your bag or your car.

[attitudefree 2]

Thanks Mac. One other question - this will be my first tri and I need to buy a bike. What do you suggest?

[MacMadame 81]

It's hard to find a good road bike for under $1000 unfortunately. I also think it's important not to cheap out on this purchase or you'll be buying another bike in a year or so. I spent $1200 and I outgrew my bike in 6 months! (Luckily someone gave me a better bike so I didn't have to spend $2000 after spending $1200. That would have hurt.)

Therefore, if you can borrow one for the first tri or get one used, you can save a lot of money and get an idea of what you want in a bike.

Any bike by Specialized, Trek, Giant, Cannondale, or Fuji should be good. There are other brands but they don't have anything entry level. Or what I consider entry level.

My first bike was a Specialized Dolce Elite and it's a decent bike for a beginner. I just progressed faster than I expected to and so wanted something faster sooner than I anticipated.

[5150sleeve 0]

Hey MacMadame and Attitudefree! :thumbup: I too am training for my first triathlon. The big one I want to do is in October and I was hoping to get a couple of practice sprints in there in the next couple of months before then. I am also looking for a new bike. What do you think about a Dawes Lightening or a Motobecane as an entry level bike? I found some at pretty good prices, I just wanna make sure I get a good enough bike. I can't spend thousands on one anytime soon but I do want to get one that will do it's job.

MacMadame what do you suggest as far as gear, one of my biggest things is I don't want to spend a bunch of money on clothes for my tris and then I lose more weight after and won't be able to fit them and have to buy new stuff.

OMG it's such an exciting new world that I am ready to embark on, I am totally looking foward to becoming a new triathlete:drool5:

[MacMadame 81]

Where are you seeing these deals? There is a place online that sells fake Motobecane's so be careful.

[5150sleeve 0]

OMG!!!! Fake name brand bikes. That sucks. I went to Bikedirect.com

[MacMadame 81]

Yeah, that's the place. You have to be careful with bikedirect.com. You can get some good deals, but you have to know what you are doing.