Triathletes

[DOD]Asprilla

[DOD]Asprilla

[DOD]Asprilla

Soldato
Joined
10 Nov 2003
Posts
14,034
Location
Surrey, by the river
I know there has got to be more than just me starting / doing triathlon on here. Just wondering what events people are doing this year and if anyone wants to share hints and tips?

This year will be my first tri and it's only a half olympic. If I enjoy it (and I'm really enjoying the training) then I'll sign up to another in September and a full programme next year leading to a half Ironman.

Training at the moment has been around 200 miles a week in the saddle, plus two spin sessions, 3km a week in the pool an between 10 and 15km run at the weekend. Last weekend I started openwater swimming with a 1.5hr training course and this weekend was my first brick: 16km ride, 1km lake swim, 16km ride and 5.5km run.

I wasn't busting a gut in transition, taking my time and the roads were terrible so the ride wasn't quick, but it was a good morning; same again next week.

Gym at work is being refurbished at the moment so I'll be going back to the weights once that is done. Anyone got any advice on that? Most tri advice is for two sessions a week of full body workout (no day of chest / back, etc) using compound exercises with a full range of motion; any ideas on a decent routine?
 
Cheers for that BennyC. Not sure about the aerobic session, I think it's just power that I should be looking at. If you consider that 2 hours on the bike each day at 90rpm I'm effectively doing over 10,000 reps, I'm not sure that some additional light reps in the Gym is going to have much improvement in aerobic capacity.
 
Fortunately, in my younger days I swam competitively and coached a little stroke correction, so my stroke is pretty good. I just need to work on my stamina (slowing down would help, it's not a 50m, it's a 750m) and my breathing. At the moment I'm still breathing every two stokes, when it should be every three.

I'm also struggling to get my bike set up correctly at the moment and I've only got a week until my first. If the worst comes to the worst I'll use my long distance bike.
 
I'm aware of lactate threshold training and both my running and my cycling include sprint intervals. That's something I've been doing for years for half marathon training.

As for the periodisation, that's out the window for this year, especially as I'm only doing one, maybe two tris this year anyway. If anything, this whole year is going to be base training as I generally increase my running and cycling mileage. A period of complete rest is difficult, since the minimum exercise I can do is 170-250 miles cycled a week. I guess I need to increase my base to the point where I can redefine 'rest periods'.
 
1hr 19mins 42sec. 10 minutes under target and very happy! It was very happy and I had to take on a lot of fluid on the bike leg.

Where to improve:
Swim - breathing and sighting. I managed around 13 mins but got held up by other swimmers. If I could have spotted a route round them and been able to breath both sides I could have save time

Bike - Cadance. I went to pot and for some reason I decided to lower my saddle my a cm as I racked the bike even though I've done 200 miles getting the set up perfect. I then spent the first 10k mashing in to high a gear, particularly in the head wind sections. The low saddle contributed to be firing from the quads instead of the glutes. Changed down and span up from 90rpm to 115rpm for the second 10k. Much better.

Run - Run more, get faster.
 
The three stroke breathing means you can breath the otherside if you are passing someone. Since I could only breath left I could only pass on the left or if I was in someones wake I had to slow down and pass on the left. If I could choose which side I could just plough on instead of switching to breaststroke and raising my head tofu d a route. By the time I'd decided those ahead would have changed direction. It's a melée.
 
Yeah, it's commuting: 17 miles, twice a day 5 days a week and then cycling out to the lake on a weekend. Home life means I don't have time to put in centuries on a weekend, unfortunately.

a four count is great for pace training, but you need to be able to breath both sides if you are going in a group. In the pool I've been doing pyramids of 4 lengths of every two stroke, three, four, five and back down again. Need more practice in the lake and in a group though.
 
I'm now looking at the Hever Castle Tri on the 25th September.

Got my full splits now:
Swim: 13.26
T1: 3.19
Cycle: 36.45
T2: 1.55
Run: 23.57

T1 is woeful, and so is the cycle at just over 20mph. Considering cruising on my commute is 21. Over all I'm happy with the time, but I'm also happy that there is still room for some serious improvement.
 
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Clipsey said:
Trying to get used to training in the heat at the moment, ran 8miles yesterday afternoon at 33 degrees. Just makes it completely different. Could very well be over 36c on race day :(
Click to expand...

You'll need to have a long hard think about your nutrition and hydration strategy.

From what I've read, ice in the cap at every feed station and in the shorts as well on the run is a good thing.
 
You know, a good alu bike trumps a cheap carbon one every time, IMHO.

That is very pretty; stem is the wrong way up though ;)

Edit: Have now entered the sprint at Hever Castle in September and this time I'll be practicing my transitions beforehand.
 
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Sagalout said:
Excellent article here about TT bikes Vs Road bikes.
Click to expand...

Best of both worlds:

72afa27b.jpg
 
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