Triathlons Forever

Keith vonBorstel, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 1/22/11

Triathlons are fun. Not the long ones, the Ironman and Half-Ironman are hard work. I mean the short ones, Olympic distance and Sprint tri’s, especially, my favorite, the Sprint Triathlon.

My goal is to see how many years I can continue to do triathlons. I do 5 each year with lots of time in between for rest & recovery. I only do Sprint distance tri’s. They don’t require so much training that I’m burned out before the actual event. I want to keep it fun. I’m not interested in seeing how far I can go in one event or even one year. I just want to see how many years I can keep on racing and having fun.

The Sprint Triathlon

Racers start at intervals of 5 minutes depending on age group and gender.

The typical sprint triathlon begins with a ½ mile swim. Most often it’s a triangular course in a lake. Sometimes contestants start from a beach, sometimes from the water.

Transition 1 is where you take of your wet suit and put on your bike helmet, etc.  Walk or run your bike out of the transition area. Eat and drink something.

The bike course is usually an out and back, about 8 miles each way, flat to rolling hills. No rest stops for water or food.

Transition 2, rack your bike, helmet off, change shoes if needed.

The run course, also, is an out and back. There is water and energy snacks along the way.

Then it’s over. You finished!

Training

Keep a training log if you want or not…

• Swimming
  • Swim 1 - 3 times a week
  • Be able to swim 40 laps easily
  • A good starting goal is 30 seconds per lap
  • Once you get to 40 laps try some easy intervals like these or any combination
    • Warm up 8 laps (8)
    • 1 lap at 80 - 100%, then swim back easy x 4 (8)
    • 2 laps at 80 - 100%, then 2 laps easy x 2 (8)
    • 4 laps at 80 - 100% (4)
    • 4 laps cool down (4)
  • For fun try swimming 50 or 60 laps
  • How many laps can you swim in ½ hour, 1 hour?
• Cycling
  • 1 - 3 times per week
  • Work up to 20 easy miles (15 mph average)
  • Speed up your pace to 16 – 19 mph for 15 to 20 miles
  • Add some intervals once per week
    • 2 – 3 minutes at max, then 3 minutes easy x 3
    • or 1 mile at 80%, the 1 mile easy x 3
• Running
  • 1 – 3 times per week
  • Start off easy, 2 miles 1^st week, 3 miles 2^nd week, 4 miles 3^rd week, etc
  • Work up to 4 – 5 mile runs at 10 minute per mile pace
  • Next add some sprints for fun, sprint 1 minute, jog 1 minute x 4
  • Try to run 1 mile easy after every bike ride to get your legs used to what will happen in a triathlon
• General rules
  • Alternate hard, easy, hard weeks
  • Alternate hard, easy, hard months
  • The week before the race don’t try to get faster, still swim, bike, run
  • Take it easy, rest up, have fun
  • Get lots of sleep

Clothing

• General
  • Tri shorts are good for swimming, cycling and running. They dry quickly and have a light chamois for comfort on the bike. No changing!
  • A tri top is the easiest. Use it to swim, cycle & run. No changing! I swim without a top and put on a T shirt after the swim.
  • Shoes: I put on running shoes after the swim. They work with the toe clips I have on my pedals and I don’t need to change shoes again.
  • Wear your racing clothes for training. Avoid surprises on race day.
• Swimming
  • Goggles & anti-fog
  • Wetsuit if water is cold
• Cycling
  • Running or tri-bike shoes
  • Helmet – absolutely required
  • Sunglasses
• Running
  • Running shoes
  • Visor cap – keeps the sun off my nose
  • Sunglasses

The weekend before race day

• Clean and lube bike. Test the bike for 2 – 3 miles.
• Put on new tubes and tires (ONLY if needed. Better is 1 week earlier.) Test the bike for 2 – 3 miles.
• Make no mechanical changes or improvements after Sunday night.

The week before the race

• Swim, bike & run as usual but half the distance, easy
• Rest, sleep

Night before the race (don’t wait until race day)

• Pack all your stuff. Back-pack is good.
• If taking a wetsuit bring a black plastic bag to keep the car dry on the way home
• Mix Gator-aid. Put in plastic bottles.
• Inflate bike tires.

Race Day

• Have a normal breakfast
• Get to the race 1 hour before the start
• Inflate bike tires at the car
• Get race packet
• Set up your transition space
  • Place things where you’ll find them easily (You may not be thinking clearly at transitions.)
  • Hang towel/helmet/glasses on bike
• Get body markings
• Apply numbers to bike/helmet
• Put swim number on swim suit or wetsuit zipper string
• Safety pin bib number to T shirt or number belt
• Check water temperature (take a swim) to see if you’ll need a wet suit.
• 20 minutes before start eat ½ power bar, drink some Gator-aid

Transitions

• T1 - Swim to bike
  • Dry off
  • Put on shoes, helmet, sunglasses, T shirt
• T2 - Bike to run
  • Swap helmet for visor cap
  • Drink Gator-aid
  • Eat ½ Power bar

What to bring to a tri

Besides your clothes and food/water, what else do you need?

• Towels – 2 brightly colored, 1 to dry with, 1 to sit on
• Spare tube for bike
• Tire pump
• Food/drink for after the race
• Change of clothes if you want. You’ll get a new T shirt to wear home. I wear that and pull on a pair of shorts.

Eating during the race

Don’t experiment on race day. During training find out what you like that keeps you hydrated and use it on race day too. Find out what you can eat that doesn’t bother your stomach and eat it on race day. Nothing new on race day.

• Water or Gator-aid (3 – 24 oz sport bottles)
• Power bars (2 – 3 of different flavors)
• Cliff bars (2 – 3 of different flavors)