Am I ready for a Sprint Triathlon

Hi,

you won't know if you make the bike cut-off unless you try...  I ride in Las Vegas, and we have nothing but hills, so it's hard for me to judge what a flat ride vs hilly ride speed difference would be... but I'm guessing not much because hilly rides go up hill (slow) then down hill (fast) which averages out...

what to wear? I got a pair of tri-shorts and tri-top... if you don't want to invest in anything, you'll want to wear something you can swim in - that's tight fitting (you don't want a baggy swim suit) - try different outfits out in the water/bike & run to see if it's comfortable in all 3 disciplines - you don't want to have to change clothes in transition.

Good Luck!

Take a deep breath...

You will be fine.  You might want to work on your bike some and speed it up a little for a wiggle room on the cut off but I think with the adrenaline and race day excitement you will be just fine. 

You will have a great time and have a real sense of accomplishment when you are done.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask them, everyone on this board have been very helpful in my development.

When is the race?

With enough time between now and the race you should be able to cut into that 11 mph bike average.

One thing I would ask is how is your endurance?  A sprint tri will be 1.5 to 2 hours of pure cardio.  When you swim, how far do you go, how long are your swim workouts?  Same thing for run and bike workouts?

If you can swim 400 m in a lap pool in 6 minutes I would say you're a decent swimmer.  That being said why not do your 13 mile bike ride, then right after that, try to run 3 miles.  Maybe take 2-3 minutes to hydrate, change into bike shorts etc.

If you can do that I would say you're in great shape.  Maybe not even run the full 3, maybe just 1.5 or 2 miles just to see.

Now if you've got a few months before the race I would say with good training each week it should be no problem at all.

Race is Oct 2nd.  I figured since the race site is only a 30 minute drive from my house I might just do a mock triathlon a couple weeks before

I am really excited about this race.

As far as the swim, I can swim a full mile in 25 minutes, but I'm Cuban so swimming is natural to me :rimshot:

Also I don't have Tri shorts but I do have compression shorts, is that good enough?

I will just keep training, I just don't want to be laughed at and not finish...

Any other tips for first timers?

Yes....HAVE FUN!

I think you should be OK on the bike.  I find I go faster on flats, since I slow down a lot on the uphills usually.  The limiting factor is your endurance- there is little "cheating" the bike by coasting on the flats the way you can with a downhill.  If you tend to pedal the whole time anyway, you will be fine, and probably a bit faster.  If you add in aerobars, you will definitely be faster, since you can stay aero for the flat, but usually (at least for me), I am on the hoods going uphill.

I'm normally faster on flat rides.

What type of bike are you riding?  If you are using a mountain bike with knobby tires than you can swap those out for some slick tires and get some free speed for relatively cheap.

Either way, I think race day adrenaline will take over and you'll be fine.  Focus on training more on the bike from now until the race.  Swimming seems to be your strength, and you're a solid runner...so train your weakness as they say.

Good luck and have fun.

Anyone who can swim that fast, must be faster on the bike.  Where did you get the 11 mph from?  If it's from a bike computer it might be set up wrong and you might actually be faster.  In any case I'm sure you will be fine and have a great time.  I'm getting ready for a tri with a 400m swim and my goal is 10 minutes, so you'll already be 4 minutes ahead of me.

You're ready.  You'll find you ride faster in your race than you do in training (I did/do).  They'll typically have volunteers man-ing the intersections and stops.  You can cruise through and pick up time.  My bet is - you surprise yourself on the run, too.

BTW.....If I could swim like that, I'd grin like Chrissie the rest of the course.  Rock on!

Have fun, and good luck.

My first day from the hospital when I was born my dad had me in the water... I knew how to stay afloat before I could walk... Not worried in the slightest at swimming and I'm hoping I will start the bike in the front

I am using a Raleigh road bike with 23cm tires.

The more I think about it the reason I am going so slow is because I go down to a crawl when going up some of these hills... they are STEEP and since I am in a neighborhood I cant just blaze down because of intersections I have to slow down at.  So I am feeling a lot better about it since I realized that.

Many races have the actual bike courses on their websites, so if the race is close by, why not that exact route several times. You have several weeks, you could ride that course a few times and get a feel for it.
Also, like someone else posted, you will probably be a bit faster on race day due to the race atmosphere and the traffic, that normally slows you down, will be blocked off. 
Just get out and ride as much as possible. Also, if you know anyone who is an experienced rider who can ride with you once in a while that will help too.

You have quite a bit of time - almost 2 months to the race. I think if you are a very new beginner you often see some big gains quickly (then it kind of levels off and improvement comes slower)

Cycling is by far my weakest - I was also a "fish" as a kid, swimming almost before I was walking. I'm not quite as fast as you, but I can swim forever.  I started out cycling around the same 11-12mph (and this was on FLATS though, I was that bad) But in the two months before my first tri I brought my average up to about 14mph (on a tri with a couple hills too). Still slow compared to most though, but it was enough to easily make the bike cut-off time in my race.

I thought that was kind of funny! Sorry.

Anyway, for what it is worth, I think you will be more than ready come October.  Just spend more time on the bike between now and then. If you swim the 400 in 6 minutes, you will be in front to start with. 11 mph will probably turn into 15+ on flat.  That is still slow, but with a 30 minute run you will catch some of the people who passed you.  That is my take on it.

If you plan for the race, and train for it, of course you're ready.

FWIW Where I live and train is nothing but hills. I average a little over 10+ mph.
At the races I go to it is flatter, a lot flatter and my times show it.

You should be just fine, enjoy yourself. 

You're ready if you can do the swim without drowning, or cause permanent physical damage to yourself or others on the bike or run.

Seriously, for the first sprint, your goal should be to have a blast and learn. Finishing your first tri might be a secondary goal.

No, I can't imagine not finishing, IMO that would be a total failure

My only goal right now is finish, and then try to improve on my time