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Cycling==>Triathlon, how hard?

post #1 of 20
4/10/08 at 12:05pm
Thread Starter 
I don't know to how to swim. I can run okay though. I'm just wondering if I have any chance of competing once I mastered the art of staying afloat in the water.
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post #2 of 20
4/10/08 at 1:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coho View Post
wrong forum. Opps.. Mod, please move or delete.

I can make this CE-relevant.

With thighs like Hillary's, triathalons should be a cake walk!
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post #3 of 20
4/10/08 at 1:56pm
I couldn't say. I went the other way (Triathalon==>Cycling), but that was over 15 years ago and I was never very good in the water or on foot yet I always built a good lead on the bike, thus the switch. I think it would be quite hard though.
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post #4 of 20
4/10/08 at 1:59pm
SoCAL did a triathlon, no?

Jon.
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post #5 of 20
4/10/08 at 2:03pm
If Ed, Conne, and GoSurface all in one night =triathlon, count me in.
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post #6 of 20
4/10/08 at 2:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwilkinson View Post
If Ed, Conne, and GoSurface all in one night =triathlon, count me in.



Jon.
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post #7 of 20
4/10/08 at 2:04pm
I will share the strategy I used that could help you. Find someone who is a little faster than you in the water and draft off of them, build up as big a lead on the bike you can and hope to hell it is big enough to hold off the good runners.
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post #8 of 20
4/10/08 at 7:58pm
In terms of time gained or lost, the swim is the least important leg of a tri. But it is very big step from zero swimming ability to just getting through an open water tri swim.
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post #9 of 20
4/10/08 at 8:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coho View Post
I don't know to how to swim. I can run okay though. I'm just wondering if I have any chance of competing once I mastered the art of staying afloat in the water.

If all you do is master the ability to stay afloat then no, you can't compete cause you still won't be able to swim ... But I get ya. Short answer yes. Longer answer, maybe.

What do you mean by compete, I mean what level? Do you want win Kona or do you want to enjoy some mid-distance tri's and challenge for your age division win?

In triathalons as in any sport you get out of it what you put in. But because so much of it is training and not natural gifts many people can compete to some extent... < What I mean by that is while genetics plays a part in the upper echelons, it does not play quite the same role as say an olympic sprinter. So if you decide to get into it my guess is you could be competitive on some level.
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post #10 of 20
4/10/08 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post
SoCAL did a triathlon, no?

Jon.

About 20 of them from Sprint to Ironman distance.




Coho....swimming is typically the hardest one for people to pick up. Swimmers can pick up cycling a lot easier than a cyclist can pick up swimming.
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post #11 of 20
4/11/08 at 2:20am
Try a couple of bricks first. Bricks are bike+run training sessions (e.g. bike 40km, hop off bike, immediately run 10km). Consider taking swim classes under a good instructor. Look for Total Immersion seminars. While you're learning to swim, do some duathlons. Hope that helps, -- Brian
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post #12 of 20
4/11/08 at 6:50am
Thread Starter 
Forgot about duathalon. Lol. I'll look into it. Thanks for the recommendation

Quote:
Originally Posted by bbaquiran View Post
Try a couple of bricks first. Bricks are bike+run training sessions (e.g. bike 40km, hop off bike, immediately run 10km).

Consider taking swim classes under a good instructor. Look for Total Immersion seminars.

While you're learning to swim, do some duathlons.

Hope that helps,
-- Brian
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post #13 of 20
4/11/08 at 9:28am
I suck at swimming too. I spent a summer getting better but it sucks cuz if you slow down you drown... at least the way I compete!

I have never done a triathlon but I heard from my hardcore friends that after a while you start pissing blood and all sorts of good stuff if you aren't careful.
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post #14 of 20
4/11/08 at 10:07am
Pissing blood? That's absurd.

I haven't done a tri for a few years now but used to do 4-5 a season, sprints to Olympic distance. Never was age group competitive but always in the pack. For me the key thing was the energy of the event and the quality of the people who participate. You run into some cool folks, sometimes see beautiful scenery and confront a challenge. Also it gives you a goal to structure training around, a big benefit itself. There are a lot of local tri training clubs (some very hard core), hooking up with one of those may work for you.
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post #15 of 20
4/11/08 at 11:12am
I have been in tris for about 7 years, sprints to Ironmans. I still struggle with the swim, as I have no background. Our health club has a masters swim class, a great help. The city pool also has lessons. There are traveling clinics and coaches, such as total immersion. http://www.totalimmersion.net/ check their traveling schedule.
Find a good swimmer to help. Not all great swimmers are great teachers. I was also lucky enough to have a best friend who swam for U Penn and was patient enough to work with me.

It was said before in this thread, the swim is the shortest leg of the race. In a distance race, a good biker / runner can make up for a slow swim. As you pass those fast swimmers on your bike, be sure to say "hey, great swim! "
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