Any triathletes out there?

I'm a duathlete that occasionally participates in sprint triathlons. I mostly have done races in Oklahoma. I competed in the Oklahoma State Duathlon Championships this year. My A race this year was going to be the RedMan OKC in September, which is the age group national championships. I got injured a couple of weeks ago so I am pretty much done for the rest of my season. My goal is to rehab and train for OKC Marathon (or half) in April '10.

 

Did my first tri last year and LOVED it. A true life high for me. You earn a pat on the back when you finish one! I've enjoyed swimming, cycling and running my whole life but never got around to putting them together until I bought a heart-rate monitor and saw my fitness rising.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the Malibu tri this year (sold out) so I'm looking for one in the fall. Anyone with a good one they'd reco in Southern Cal, let me know!

It's one of those things I think everyone should put on their "bucket list." There's one for everyone out there.

 

Triathlete here as well. So far only have had time for sprints, but now that I am out of engineering school I am currently training for an olympic in September in Lancaster, Pa. Riding a Trek 1000, nothing too fancy but a great value.

 

been doing them for about 10 years now, altough i still havent done an ironman yet. did two half's, but i'm just not big into marathons. i tried one of those a couple years ago in new orleans and it left a bad impression.

doing my first tri of the year in october, so i've lost a little interest. altough i believe they are great motivational tools, as no one wants to cross the finish line last.

 

I'm interested in getting started and would like to know how long I would need to train. I currently weight 155 and I speed walk every night for 1 1/2 hours and feel I can go 2 hours but my feet start to hurt a bit. I would like to compete in the Chicago Tri in August of 2010. Any help on what I should eat or exercise I should be adding as well as a realistic goal would be greatly appreciate. Thanks.

 

I'm 34 I have a mountain bike and know how to swim

Here are some links:

My goal is to be fully prepared if possible in 1 year to compete.

The first is the actual event info and the 2nd is a blogger info.

http://www.chicagotriathlon.com/

http://chicagotriathlon2010.blogspot.com/

 

I just checked the link: They've got both a "Sprint" and an "Olympic" distance. You could probably start today and be ready for a Sprint distance sometime next month, even if you're out of shape. The swim (the usual barrier for most) is just under a half-mile so you could totally do it with practice. Don't even worry about having the "right" bike or anything like that (though some road tires sure help). It's all about getting fit, racing yourself and having fun.

The Olympic distance is great with a bit more training. If your goal is to do this in a year, go for it! A better bike might be a good idea for this one (craigslist).

My only advice: Sign up now. That way you'll be "committed" and will have no excuse. You'll practice more, see your fitness rising progressively and will enjoy hitting a big life goal! CHEERS!

 

I've thrown my hat into the triathlon ring for the first time this year. My sister and I bet/dared each other last Christmas to enter a triathlon this summer. My date is the weekend after labor day- the Hyannis Sprint on Cape Cod. 400yd swim, 10mi bike, 3.5 mi run. It's short as triathlons go, but I'm excited to try it out, and have been working to get from couch-potato status to aiming for a midpack finish.

The reward if I finish well will be that I'm going to buy myself a better bike- I'm putting around on a 10 year old Cannondale M400 with Nashbar commuter tires on it. My weekend "long rides" are about 30 miles, but I get passed by guys on road bikes that make it seem so effortless that I can't wait to get into even a moderate road biking rig.

Gio P

 

8 IM's.

I move to Florida during the winter to train. Doing IMchina in March and IMC in August 2010.

Depending on the knees and motivation of course.

 

Yikes- "owned"- and in only one number and 3 letters, to boot! My hat's off to you, man- how do you manage to train and do whatever it is you do to own all those cars, too?

Gio P

 

Training keeps me sober.

 

Ditto. I can't not make time for it.

 

I've done 4 races this year so far with one left on the calendar, and my trip is already booked to volunteer at IMFL in November and sign up for next year. Here's the ride.
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That is a gorgeous bike. The red bartape really brings it together better than black.

 

i qualified and finished kona last year. however, 15-20 hours/week of tri-training was just way too much for me and i have since scaled back to maintain fitness. be careful with who you train with! i got roped into a hard-core group of great triathletes who've become good friends....but that's the problem!


beware the addiction. it's important to have fun, too.


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i competed in my first sprint tri two summers ago, at age 49. i totally had a blast, although i can't say that there was anything wonderful about the 330m swim. i felt like i was flying thru the water, but ... ahhhh .... i wasn't. i had planned to compete in the same sprint tri this past summer with my sister, but unfortunately ended up in the hospital for a week with a strep infection.

i'm planning to find a couple of local sprint tri's this coming summer. i used an old mountain bike the first time, and i'm fairly sure that i can shave some minutes off of my time just by upgrading to a better bike. i can't imagine shaving time off of my swim ..... but i'm working on that too!!

it was totally fun. i have only admiration for you guys that complete IM's !!!!

 

I have 2 IM's and several sprints. Unfortunately my knees make it hard for me to much running any more (and I am only 29). However, I made a promise to myself that if I ever have a child who wants to do an IM, I will get myself in shape enough to finish it.

I missed qualifying for Kona by less than 10 minutes in my first IM, despite fighting off leg cramps most of the race. In my 2nd IM, I was a little to cocky because of my previous finish and didn't prepare as well as I should have. As a result, I finished way off my goal pace, and way out of Kona Qualifying position.

 

Focus on "reaching" as far as you can with each stoke. To start even glide for a fraction of a second between each stroke. This will help you stream line your body and is the quickest way to improve your swim time. Once you get down the "reach" phase, you can start to shorten and then cut out the glide part of your stroke. The more you stretch out your body, the less drag you have. Reducing drag will go a long way toward cutting that swim time down.