Signed up for a Triathlon - Panicking now. Any triathletes here?

[pinkboy]

What kick should I be using for my swim? 2 beat kick? I used to have a random kick and yesterday I practice the 2 beat kick, in order to improve my techique. I felt I needed my upper body more, getting tired much faster unfortunately. I only swam 200m non stop, but did lots of drills after that. Quite dissapointed.

This is where a few lessons would help. Im no swimming master either, but feel better with a 2-4 beat kick, and then closer to the end of the swim I kick a lot harder to try get some blood in the legs before exiting the swim.

Swimming is not a natural action - like anything it takes a lot of time, practice and patience. It does take years of refining and lots of laps, but for the novice, getting the major things right like hand entry, stroke, body rotation, breathing and kicking first is the best part of swimming to overcome.

It took me 7 Ironmans before I finally broke the hour swimming 3.8km. Was a huge achievement and I spent the best part of 20km/week in the pool training.....all for a measly 2min quicker time......but for me it was worth it.

pinkboy

 

[S.T]

On swimming again, anyone else get major feet and toe cramps? I find I get them a lot, have tried some pre-foot stretches which help a bit but I still cramp up after say 700m continuous, only in the pool at this stage.

 

[vbplease]

What kick should I be using for my swim? 2 beat kick? I used to have a random kick and yesterday I practice the 2 beat kick, in order to improve my techique. I felt I needed my upper body more, getting tired much faster unfortunately. I only swam 200m non stop, but did lots of drills after that. Quite dissapointed.

I think you may have difficulty introducing the two beat kick without knowing how its all connected with the rest of the body.. For me I had to do a drill isolating each limb and only after much repetition of each drill did I combine them to a whole stroke.. Once you've got the whole stroke devote say 4 laps to one focal point.

In the meantime you may be able to reduce the fatigue in the upper body by focusing on relaxing your arms/shoulders in the recovery. There could be a lot of tension there you're not aware of? One drill could be the fingertip drag while trying keep your stroke length down? see how few strokes you can do in one lap? While keeping the shoulders/arms really loose in the recovery.

 

[Mooze]

You'll be fine.

Used to do a lot of tris - first ever was a half ironman (1.9k swim/90k ride/21.1km run) - chose that one cause I remembered my godfather doing Ironman at Forster in the 80's - didn't know what a triathlon was until after I'd entered. That was from doing city to surf in a decent (sub 70) time (so not what I'd consider decent these days). Bought a bike, started swim training, started running longer than 14km. Did a second half IM six weeks after my first.
Ended up coaching for a while as well. PB still knows twice as much as I do though.

Core work core work core work. Get onto it. A good swiss ball, and plenty of dynamic exercises (forget plank holds etc - you don't run holding one position)

Start brick sessions - as mentioned the bike/run transition can be hard

If youre going to use a wetsuit practice getting it off. Also practice finishing a swim, standing up and running (numerous people don't cope with the blood flow transition and end up on their faces)

Put your goggle strap under your swim cap - prevents anyone from ripping them off (mostly). Expect to get swum over, bumped into, knocked around. If you need to get over someone - first hand gets the ankle, next the bottom of the spine at the middle of the back, third stroke is their shoulder - and whoosh - they're under and behind you (never got to use this - being female in a race with 80% males I'm too light - have had it used on me though).

Practice your transition. Get a towel, lay everything out, if you're going to wear socks kink down the back of the sock so they go on easily.

If you're going to eat or drink in a sprint race make sure you practice with whatever you're going to use. If you want hydration get something decent like Shotz - not craporgade or anything you'd find at a 7/11.

If you're race starts early practice getting up when you'll need to get up and have breakfast a couple of times - some people just can't eat that early. Also if you have a usual time to use the bathroom try and adjust it to a decent amount of time pre race.

Most of all kick back and have fun with it - there's a lot of serious insects at these things!

 

[Edmond Dantes]

Thanks Mooze and vb.. great tips. simtr, no cramps at the moment, lucky on this side.

a bit of an update. got my bike fixed last week, I've recorded 4 rides in my Strava app. last one was a 20k ride, average speed 20k/h pfff. took me almost an hour and didn't want anyone talking to me after that, was too tired!

last saturday I did my first brick workout: 10k bike ride + 2.5 km run. Oh boy, I just thought of Player's "Jelly legs" comment.

This weekend I also swam on a 50m pool. 500 meters continuous, still need to improve on this.

I have found a few wetsuits, for entry level (remembering I don't want to spend too much on this, since I may hate this sport after all this is over):

1- D are 2tri (as suggested by xactly): cheapest one (http://aus.dare2tri.com/product/dare2tri-wetsuit/)
2- Orca s4 trn (http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/bike...its/trn/perth-east-victoria-park/wa/102280704)
3- 2xU (http://2xuoutlet.com.au/mens/wet-suits/r-1-race-wetsuit-mw1828c.html)


If anyone's got any suggestions/comments, let me know!

 

[S.T]

check out http://www.wiggle.co.uk for wetsuits, I picked up my entry level orca suit a few years ago for around $130 delivered. handy for things like goggles, bike parts too.

 

[pinkboy]

a bit of an update. got my bike fixed last week, I've recorded 4 rides in my Strava app. last one was a 20k ride, average speed 20k/h pfff. took me almost an hour and didn't want anyone talking to me after that, was too tired!

Strava is addictive. Im clocking up 600+km per week on the bike.

last saturday I did my first brick workout: 10k bike ride + 2.5 km run. Oh boy, I just thought of Player's "Jelly legs" comment.

Ahh the joys. Wait until you do an Ironman - 180km ride and then take 10km of the 42km to 'feel' like you are running normal!

This weekend I also swam on a 50m pool. 500 meters continuous, still need to improve on this.

That is good going - keep up the good work.

I have found a few wetsuits, for entry level (remembering I don't want to spend too much on this, since I may hate this sport after all this is over):

1- D are 2tri (as suggested by xactly): cheapest one (http://aus.dare2tri.com/product/dare2tri-wetsuit/)
2- Orca s4 trn (http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/bike...its/trn/perth-east-victoria-park/wa/102280704)
3- 2xU (http://2xuoutlet.com.au/mens/wet-suits/r-1-race-wetsuit-mw1828c.html)


If anyone's got any suggestions/comments, let me know!

All those suits would be sufficient. The difference you will feel will be astronomical, compared to swimming without one.

Looks like a productive weekend! Keep it up!


pinkboy

 

[vbplease]

On swimming again, anyone else get major feet and toe cramps? I find I get them a lot, have tried some pre-foot stretches which help a bit but I still cramp up after say 700m continuous, only in the pool at this stage.

I've had this a few times and think it's more to do with being dehydrated. Endura is one of the better ones for its elctrolytes (sodium, magnesium etc). It could be a good idea to have a drink bottle of it per day as part of your minimum 2L of water per day intake. Cell often have it on sale. http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Endura-Rehydration-Raspberry-2KG

 

[vbplease]

Pinkboy, how much time do you spend stretching per week? Do you have a rest day in there?

 

[pinkboy]

Pinkboy, how much time do you spend stretching per week? Do you have a rest day in there?

I always have Monday off. If Im working, I don't usually get to train those days either. So I average about 5-6 days per week.

I do a bit of stretching if Im on the lounge, but nothing structured. Im already quite flexible anyway from 15 years of triathlon, and have been very lucky in the injury department. Only had my first real bike stack in July.


pinkboy

 

[Edmond Dantes]

Last week was very productive. I decided not to continue with the 2 beat kick, rather sticking to my slow, semi-continuous kick that I had used before. There's no time to try new things, and no money for a coach. The result was swimming 1k on each of the 3 sessions I had! Something that i had never been able to achieve. Last session I swam 1.25k, and felt pretty strong at the end. Very happy with this. I'm relaxing a bit more my arms and this has helped as well.

The not so good news is that I got the flu saturday evening and haven't been to the pool, ridden the bike or even run since then. Body aches, sore throat, etc. One more day rest and will try again thursday.

Now that I felt better in the swim prior to getting the flu, my biggest concern is now the bike. Time's ticking!!

 

[redwing]

They should let you have a snorkel on the swim leg, much easier

 

[pinkboy]

You have plenty of time Grasshopper!

Sounds like good progression. Definitely don't train with the flu, but remember to body will have some residual fatigue from training, even days after a session.

Sounds to me you are on track even though you don't feel it.

pinkboy

 

[Edmond Dantes]

Just thought I'd update this thread. I made it. This article sums it up nicely:

http://www.trifuel.com/training/general/so-you-wanna-be-a-triathlete#.UvirdvmSyYH

I suffered in the bike. Lucky I managed to have 2 months of riding. I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for those training rides.

My goal is to do Ironman 70.3 end of this year. Haven't told my wife yet, not sure she'd like it much!

thanks everyone for their posts and suggestions

 

[Doncossack]

[QUOTE

My goal is to do Ironman 70.3 end of this year. Haven't told my wife yet, not sure she'd like it much!

thanks everyone for their posts and suggestions[/QUOTE]

How's your training coming along?
Wouldn't the next logical step be to do a full triathlon before attempting an ironman?

I have 10 more weeks to go before my first sprint race.... Had my first outdoors ride last week through sleet and snow and did 20ks quiet easily, so looks like the many hours I put in over winter on the cycle machines in the gym is paying off... Also ran 7ks the day before and the first 5k in under 24mins in terribly windy conditions and it was quite a hilly course so hopefully will be able to cut another couple minutes off my time in the next 10weeks..

 

[Edmond Dantes]

How's your training coming along?

Hi Doncossack,

Swim: Last year I was struggling to do 700m and in a few ocasions managed 1k. Now I'm doing 2.5k per session. My technique is still Grant Hackett or Thorpe level, but my endurance has definitely improved. I have til november (when the 70.3 race will de) to make sure I'm more comfortable and less tired getting to T1.

bike: last saturday I did a 70k ride. First time ever. I'm still sore . Have a long way to go, but happy with the progress.

run: up to 6k only!! I've been very cautious about this since running is a high impact sport, and want to be careful with any injuries. But I'll always be worried about the run.

Wouldn't the next logical step be to do a full triathlon before attempting an ironman?

Yeah olympic would have been nice, but I want a bigger challenge haha. Besides, the 70.3 is 15 minutes driving from my place, so will be saving quite a bit of money as I don't have to worry about air fares, accommodation, etc.

I may do a olympic distance if I find a race affordable and not so close to my 70.3, just to see how I'm feeling.

So as you can see, I have a LONG way to go. I've got 7 months to sort all this out.

I have 10 more weeks to go before my first sprint race.... Had my first outdoors ride last week through sleet and snow and did 20ks quiet easily, so looks like the many hours I put in over winter on the cycle machines in the gym is paying off... Also ran 7ks the day before and the first 5k in under 24mins in terribly windy conditions and it was quite a hilly course so hopefully will be able to cut another couple minutes off my time in the next 10weeks..

Sounds pretty good, you'll nail it easily. Make sure you do brick workouts, it's a whole different story.