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Practice Triathlon?
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 2009-07-20 8:25 AM |
Veteran  141   Wolverine, Michigan |  Subject: Practice Triathlon?I am training for my first Sprint. I feel like I am ready, can easily swim 1500m, Bike 20 mi, run 5, in any one day. Sometimes doing 2 events in a day of actual Sprint distance. A veteran suggested I do a practice Sprint Triathlon on my own some weekend, so I can see how my body reacts without the cost, pressure, and excitement of an actual event. This seems to make sense, but I do not see it as part of any of the Sprint Training programs. What are the thoughts of other veterans? |
| 2009-07-20 8:52 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Champion 7595   Columbia, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I'm not a veteran, but I don't see anything wrong with it. People often do sprint races only 2-3 (or even 1) week apart, so practicing it once 2-3 weeks from the race seems fine. |
| 2009-07-20 8:59 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Extreme Veteran 622 Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? From what I've seen, most people just practice the transition from bike to run. Also, do practice T1 and T2, don't underestimate them like I did before my first tri. They can easily add several minutes to your time. The difficulty, from what I understand, of the swim to bike transition is getting use to being vertical after swimming in a horizontal position for so long. But, this isn't an issue for sprint distances. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. |
| 2009-07-20 9:03 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Pro 5169 Burbs | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I think that's okay ... that would be, what? Around a 30 min swim, 80ish minute bike ride, and 50 min run ? As long as you can handle an almost 3 hr workout in one day you should be fine |
| 2009-07-20 9:03 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Master 1963 | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I think it's a great idea to practice your transitions and get a sense of how you'll feel coming out of the water and off of the bike. It's sort of like the BRick workouts threads (bricks are bike and then run workouts), some say it doesn't add too much to your fitness in comparison to doing each one individually so I wouldn't make it a habit. The only other thing I have to add is, it's a PAIN to do a practice tri from a logistics perspective  You might need some help from someone who can watch your bike, etc, etc depending on where you are. Can you perhaps find a super short sprint that you could participate in? |
| 2009-07-20 9:18 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Member 103 | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? the group I train with does min-tri's(ex 1/4 mile swim, 6 mile bike, 1 mile run) to practice putting it all together. I decided to sign up for another triathlon 2 weeks before the one that was planned as my 1st. I just did it last weekend and it went great! It's true you have the added expense of registering but I think it really helped to get that race day excitement /nerves and see what it felt like as well as practice transitions. I loved the whole experience and am now really looking forward to my triathlon this weekend. Good luck to you...it sounds like you have put the training in. Remember to have fun! |
| 2009-07-20 9:21 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Veteran 154 Virginia Beach | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I'm not a veteran. Having said that, some of the Tri clubs in my area have 1 or 2 early season practice events. If it works for them........ |
| 2009-07-20 9:29 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Extreme Veteran 1942 In front of computer when typing this. | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? NorthernNewbie - 2009-07-20 9:25 AM I am training for my first Sprint. I feel like I am ready, can easily swim 1500m, Bike 20 mi, run 5, in any one day. Sometimes doing 2 events in a day of actual Sprint distance. A veteran suggested I do a practice Sprint Triathlon on my own some weekend, so I can see how my body reacts without the cost, pressure, and excitement of an actual event. This seems to make sense, but I do not see it as part of any of the Sprint Training programs. What are the thoughts of other veterans? Thats a loooong swim for a sprint. Is that the actual race distance? 20 miles is also a long ride for a sprint. However, thats not that you asked. :-) I like doing practice tris for sprints if it works out with my schedule. I don't think they are necessary at all but last year I never did any swim to bike transitions and I took some time to get my legs under me on the bike on race day. This year for my last sprint I did do a couple of practice tris and I felt good come race day. Might just be coincidence though. My sprint was a 750m swim, 17.5M bike and a 5K run. For practice tris I did a 1K swim, 15M bike and 5K run because those happened to be convenient loops around where I live. I saw it more as a fun way to mix up training than essential pre-tri practice though. |
| 2009-07-20 9:49 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Master 1651 Breckenridge, CO | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? NorthernNewbie - 2009-07-20 7:25 AM What are the thoughts of other veterans? If you are racing I think they are a good idea. If you've done the distance in training, there's no doubt that you'll be able to go faster in the actual race. So in terms of effort you'll know exactly what effort you were able to finish the distance with in training and so during the race you can confidently push at a higher effort. |
| 2009-07-20 10:16 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Veteran 298 Des Moines, IA | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? do it, it's a good idea. You'll have a 1:1 comparison (minus the nerves of race day) of how your body will react, and even give you a little confidence boost that you KNOW you've done it... and that may calm your race day nerves a little bit. If you're worried about the length of recovery, you can always lower the distances. |
| 2009-07-20 11:05 AM in reply to: #2295666 |
Veteran 141 Wolverine, Michigan | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? Thats a loooong swim for a sprint. Is that the actual race distance? 20 miles is also a long ride for a sprint. No, that isn't the distance for the race, those are distances for some of my training. I am looking at standard Sprint distances for my first real race. For my "practice" tri, I would do about 500M, 15 mi, & 3 mi. Someone else mentioned the logistics. Fortunately I have a house on a lake, so setting up a secure T1 & T2 area would not be a problem. The only risk would be my dog using a bike shoe for a chew toy, or my son using it for a hammer or a boat. |
| 2009-07-21 2:20 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Master 2665 The Whites, New Hampshire | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I did it (full race distances) before my first tri, and I was very happy I did. I actually did it twice - came out of the pool, drove ten minutes home, did the bike and run, all at a very leisurely pace just to get the feel for it. I did that about halfway through my 13 week training. Then, three weeks out from my race, I actually went to the race site and did it as exactly along the course as I could. Got lots of great looks from the people in the swim area when I hit the area markers and kept on going, then came out and jumped on my bike dripping wet. It totally capped off my mental prep, and I was so solidly prepared on race day.I also trained to twice the distances (at least), so I had no worries about making the distance. I was slow, but I was solid, and had an awesome race. |
| 2009-07-21 3:09 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
| Veteran 261 Townsville, Australia | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I did this last sunday.. a full practice run.. transitions included. The only extra activity was locking/unlocking the bike and stuffing swim gear into the saddle pack.I am really glad I did it, it has given me a lot of confidence that I am on track for my first tri (on Aug 2)Its not something I would do every weekend, I was quite sore the next two days. |
| 2009-07-21 4:59 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Extreme Veteran 608 Iceland | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I did an Olympic Distance Pratice Trial about 3 weeks ago because so far I have only been doing sprints and now have a HIM scheduled and in my head I always knew I had to do the olympic distance first before doing the HIM ( I know its crazy I am so glad I did it. It was no problem at all, I took it easy and it was actually fun. Took about 15 minutes to get out of the pool and I had my bike in the back of my car. Biked, then put the bike back in the car and ran. No problem at all. I say GO FOR IT especially with the convenience of being able to swim right by your house.
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).| 2009-07-27 8:39 AM in reply to: #2295461 |
Veteran 141 Wolverine, Michigan | Subject: RE: Practice Triathlon? I did my practice tri Sunday morning. First in my AG, ha, ha. Glad it was only practice, I had my goggles and towels in hand. Set them down for something, and arrived at the lake, no goggles. Luckily it is only 3 miles back to my house. It was pouring rain, but I figured that they run races rain or shine, so I should do a practice rain or shine. It was easier than I thought, learned I can push much harder in the swim and a little harder in the bike. My back was sore half way through the run, so I think I need to do some lower back weight work. T1 took 5 minutes because I was trying to change clothes in the rain, I should have had them on under my wetsuit. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE BEFORE THEIR FIRST RACE!!! Question, I feel great today (or as good as a 45 yr old can feel), Should I train or take a day or two off? |
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