JJ4Short

Anyone here a triathlete? Just wondering who do you get into something like that?

T_Rutl

had planned on doing one this year but too much came up and was unable to begin training on time. gonna plan on next year, a spint triathalon followed by a half in the spring then on to full races towards the end of summer. www.transitiontimes.com has a lot of great info on how to get started.

another really cool way to do it is these sponsorship/charity/fundraising gigs, there was one sponsored our here through fred hutch cancer center in seattle. basically you picked an event (there were many throughout the year and all over the world) and got pledges. the lavaman triathalon in hawaii was $5000. you get that or more in pledges and they got you in the race and covered travel, food, coaching, lodging, and race fees. very cool way to go and for a good cause too.

jlukja

This link also has some very good information for beginners.

http://www.trinewbies.com/

BEETROOT

I've never competed, but I used to do somewhat of a sprint triathlon as my daily workout (bike 15, swim 1/2, run 3).

SDCGTSX

I ran 2 marathons then decided it was too much wear so I tried a sprint triathlon and it was pretty easy relatively. I finished my first one in 1:18. Swin was 500 m which took me 13:51 min, followed by a 15k bike which took me 41:29 and lastly a 5k run which took 22:55. I never swam more than a few laps in the pool before training and that was the hardest part. I swam in the middle of pack and I swam in bike tights. A wetsuit (not surf type) would have shaved a minute from my time. My bike was a piece of shit and that hurt me, so a good bike would have shaved at least 5 min. My legs were suprisingly fresh and I did my 5k in about 7:20 min per mile.

The nice thing was that you don't feel that tired after catching your breath. I felt like I got a really good workout and was worn out but didn't hurt too much the next day. I haven't done another one but I think they are great.

As a first timer, I'd share that it's worth going over the course at least once before the race event. Get there early because parking is bad at most events. Have someone go with you just in case you can't find parking, need something, etc. Most people need to learn how to swim longer distance and how to breath. That helped me so much. Good equipment is always helpful.

JJ4Short

yeah my old workout was run 4 miles and 60 laps in my pool in the backyard that is 25 feet across...do the math

I just never had a good bike or whether or not a stationary bike would be the same thing. If so I guess I could invest in a stationary bike.

SDCGTSX

You should just look online for the nearest triathlon and just sign up. It'll really get you thinking and training once you know you're on the hook. And if you want to do it, I'd invest in a decent used road bike for $200-1000 depending on how loaded you are. I don't think you need a triathlon wetsuit for your first one. It doesn't matter what your time is, just the experience.

EdgarFanCLS

I used to get a team together for a local triathlon, called the Whisky Dick Triathlon (no joke, that's the name). It was a 1 mile swim, 26.4 mile bike, and a 8.8 mile run. I was a competitive swimmer so doing a mile in the Columbia river wasn't a huge challenge... I mostly did it for fun to see how many people I could beat out of the water. The last year I did it I finished the mile in 19 minutes flat and was 4th out of the water. As I recall the water temp was in the low 60s in the river, so most people including myself wore a wetsuit. If you plan on doing any swims in water that cold I highly recommend using one.