Potential and triathlons

I started as a BOPer and have improved. How I place depends on the race and who shows up. As races get longer I'm farther back just for the fact that most folks who do longer races train more and take it more serious and often have been doing tris for awhile.

I'm 46 women should I think that I'll ever be average? Men are faster than women and I'm not young either.

I like to look at those I compete against where I stack up.

When you first start training if you are new to this improvement comes fast if you are consistent. There is a time when each improvement takes a lot of effort.

I believe there are two factors that determine what your potential is. First is the genetic ceiling we all have..sort of the limit given our bodies potential we could achieve highly variable but given to us by our parents at birth. Second is the way we train..this by far is most important as we want to do the best we can given what we have. Are we consistent? Do we do our hard workouts hard? Our aerobic workouts easy enough? Do we rest properly? Do we eat well? Do we get enough sleep? Do we follow a plan?

The fun really is challenging ourselves to do our best. In '05 I came in last in my first Oly..a week from today I'm doing my first Ironman. I know I'll be BOP, but I guess that I probably have made more significant changes than most to get to the starting line...so in my husband and kids' eyes I'm a winner even if I come in last or don't finish. I was brave, dreamed big, did something 5 years ago I thought was impossible. 

First, I'd recommend focusing on racing against yourself.  That way you're always racing someone with the same potential and genetic make up as you.  It's fun to look at where you come in on the overall standings, but your motivation should come from maximizing what you have.

Genetics plays a large role, but I don't it's easy to know until your body has been training for a while and you know how it responds to that training.

My guess is, like most of us, you should just swim more, bike more and run more and let those training adaptations take place over time.  Like Kathy said, they'll come quicker at first, but the key is consistancy over time. 

Lastly, just make sure you're always having fun and don't get discouraged by things like where you come in the standings or your average MPH on the bike. 

I feel your pain, I didn't exactly win the genetic lottery for triathlon.  I'm 5' 2.5" with a muscular build (see exhibit A, my avatar) and, um, some large endowments to carry around.  When I started training I got plenty of comments of the "you're not built like a runner" variety.  In the past 7 months I've done 4 triathlons and 3 running races with results varying from mid-BOP to MOP.  As an extremely competitive person I am always thinking about how I can improve my place in the pack, but when it comes down to it, I'm doing this to be healthy and challenge myself.  And lately the comments have been less "you don't look like a runner" and more "wow, you're looking good these days", and a few people I know have started racing after seeing me do it.  I feel that where I finish is a minor detail compared to the overall effect of participating in triathlon.

In spite of what I just said, I am very interested in hearing what more experienced triathletes have to say on this topic.   I want to be in the FOP!!!!!! 

From someone who wasn't blessed with the genetics lottery (save for big feet that are like flippers), I think it takes years of consistent training, but it can be done. I started out BOP and am now solidly in the MOP. I can tell that I still have room for improvement that is within my capability and should come over time with the right consistency.

Improvement in a lot of these sports is measured in years, not weeks or months....

Um...not sure where exactly you are getting these numbers, but I wouldn't say that a road bike and clipless pedals will add 5mph to your speed. Yes, they help, but a lot of that stuff depends on the user.

But to the OP, if you are still riding a hybrid or a mountain bike, getting a road bike will definitely help. Get you from BOP to MOP? That depends. But it's a start. If your bike is really weak in general, all the fancy equipment in the world won't get you high ranking, esp. since the bike is the biggest part of the race.

Those numbers are pretty arbitrary, but if you do look at her logs, her longest ride is 2h55m and she said she went 20 miles.  A 5 MPH improvement with those changes might be possible, but obviously more T.I.T.S. needs to happen as well.  Although I don't think it would get this rider to MOP.

I know the popular and accepted answer is always "more training", but that has never accomplished what I was looking for. I just learned to go further distances at the same relative speeds.

Faster (for me) has always come from a willingness to up the level of discomfort I was willing to put up with; i.e. push harder. For example, I did a 6K run a couple years ago where I decided I was just going to push it to the limit, and if I bonked then I bonked. I was in pain most of the run and came close to throwing up at the end; but I also took about 20 sec/mile off my best time.

The thing is, I don't get paid for this and am trying to keep it fun; so I'm honestly not willing to push it to that level all the time; but I do incorporate workouts that force me to push the envelope once in a while (like treadmill sets where you set the speed a little faster than you *think* you can run and stay with it as long as you can).

I'm sure you can make it to middle of the pack with some work and consistency over time; but beyond that you need to ask yourself (and be honest with yourself) about what you are really wanting to get out of it and how hard you are willing to push yourself to get there. Don't ever let it stop being fun... 

amyro1234 - 2008-07-15 3:45 PM What specific things can you change in your training regime to get faster, or even to take you from the BOP to MOP? Thanks for your input

Slowly, safely, increase your volume. That's how you build strength, that's how you build endurance, that's how you build speed.

It takes 5.7 years.

There is no answer to that question.  And that doesn't just apply to triathlon.  It applies to just about everything in life. 

amyro1234 - 2008-07-15 4:45 PM Do you know of anything though, that I can do to make this improvement be closer to my true potential though? What specific things can you change in your training regime to get faster, or even to take you from the BOP to MOP? Thanks for your input

Spending a minute looking at your logs.. you spend a ton of time swimming, and hardly any biking. Getting your training ratios to be more triathlon focused, instead of swim focused could help. I would suggest one of the BT plans to get a workout strategy.  The BT plan will also help you with focus in workouts, to maximize the time to improve.. and not just workout

I'm guessing that you are young, possibly in high school or college (just guessing by the swim team thing and I think I saw somewhere that you were going to drivers ed class)? If you are on a swim team that practices every night and you aren't going to quit anytime soon, then you need to get up early and bike/run those other mornings, and do long rides on the weekend, etc. Cycling is hard, and I blow at it, and developing a truly strong base seems to take a LOT longer than the other two sports. And cycling is what will most likely keep you at BOP status. So yeah, what Slake said - ride more.

amyro1234 - 2008-07-16 10:36 AM

slake707 - 2008-07-15 11:33 PM

amyro1234 - 2008-07-15 4:45 PM Do you know of anything though, that I can do to make this improvement be closer to my true potential though? What specific things can you change in your training regime to get faster, or even to take you from the BOP to MOP? Thanks for your input

Spending a minute looking at your logs.. you spend a ton of time swimming, and hardly any biking. Getting your training ratios to be more triathlon focused, instead of swim focused could help. I would suggest one of the BT plans to get a workout strategy. The BT plan will also help you with focus in workouts, to maximize the time to improve.. and not just workout

Thanks for all the tips! I try to bike and run as often as I can. I can't do any less of a swim focus though. I am on a swim team and have practice almost every night. Which BT plan do you recommend, by the way? I can't seem to find any that coincide with my current level of fitness. I also have another question: How much speedwork should I be doing in each of the 3 sports? I am in my second year of triathlons this year, and have heard different opinions on the idea of speed work for new triathletes. Thanks again!

I'm not sure what you mean by this - many of the plans here are minutes based.  You wouldn't need a plan for your swimming (since that's already planned out for you).  From observation, I haven't really seen a lot of people have success drastically increasing the number of times they workout in a week, so from your logs it looks like a 2x's a week with swim focus or perhaps a 2x's a week with bike focus.