Question:
have never done a triathlon. I am
a runner (mainly 10K's and halfs
with a couple of marathons a year).
My running is fairly strong - about
6min 40sec/mile. I train about 6-8
hours a week (running only).
I will do
my first tri at the end of August
and am, to tell you the truth, a
little uneasy. I have been LEARNING
how to swim and have been cycling
occasionally. I
am looking to simply finish my first
tri in one piece (time is unimportant
at the moment). Could anyone provide
me with a basic training schedule,
that has worked for them in the
past, for swimming and cycling.
I have no idea - literature on the
subject is so varied.
Answer:
That's sufficient training time
to successfully complete olympic
distance triathlons. Simply budget
this time to allow you to work on
your weaknesses at first. I'd suggest
that you eliminate all of the "junk
miles" from your running program
and use those time slots for working
on the swim & bike. If you retain
your quality runs (fast or long),
you won't lose any running speed.
A lot of
triathletes are serious loners.
Maybe it's because so many come
from distance running. However,
I feel that the best favor you can
do yourself in transforming into
a multi-sport athlete is to seek
out some knowledgeable companions
in your new sport and "do as
they do". In other words, hook
up with a Masters swim group and
learn to swim like a swimmer. Join
a bike club and do their group training
rides. Learn to ride like a cyclist.
Technique
is much more important to your swimming
than endurance. I'd venture to say
that you already have pretty good
endurance from your running background,
it's the effciency of sound technique
that you're lacking. Next time you
go to the pool to swim, look at
the "real" swimmers in
the surrounding lanes. While you
feel like you're fighting to survive,
they appear to be gliding along
effortlessly (at twice your speed!!!
disgusting!). Well, while it's true
that appearances can be deceiving,
in this case they aren't. They're
probably working half as hard to
go twice as fast. Moral: Get coaching!
You cannot self-coach yourself to
peak performances in swimming. And,
unlike running, you don't automatically
round out your inefficiencies by
doing more and more mileage.
Have you
considered doing a sprint race as
an initiation to triathlon? From
what you've described above, I'd
say you could handle the sprint
distance right now. It's very motivational
to complete your first race in good
shape. I can tell you that in my
first sprint race, after surviving
the swim, and feeling OK on the
bike, it felt great to put my running
legs to use and pass people from
start to finish on the run. I was
hooked! And I think you will be,
too. But don't worry if you don't
get to do a sprint first. I think
you'll do fine in August.
