Question:
I 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. At the moment I can
barely swim 1K without getting tired.
I will be participating in an Olympic
length triathlon so I need to obviously
increase my swimming endurance and
work on my cycling.
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 p 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.
