Trying my first TRY A TRI

Congratulations!

You came to the right place. BT has some good programs for all levels and if you have any questions these forums can help. 

My tip for you is to look to your community and find a local tri group or running group (there are always a bunch of triathletes in them anyway) and get to know some of the members. Most triathletes are always willing to lend a hand and you might find someone to train with and keep you accountable to your training.

Good luck!

Congratulations for trying something out of your comfort zone

What kind of swim will it be? If it's open water, you will want to practice before the event. Visibility is often bad, can be scary. It can also be hard to swim straight without a black line underneath you. It's good to experience it at least once before you're hyped up on adrenaline and jammed up against a lot of people.

If it's a serpentine or circle pool swim, you should still be prepared for some possible contact and bunching.

Getting lessons for swimming is a big deal (especially if you don't have much swim experiece), even if is not professional. Any experienced swimmer can give you good tips. Look up some videos for tips as well. Running and riding are fairly straight forward for sprint distances. Running and biking are sports, swimming is an art. Swimming is all about technique. Learning the right way is far better than breaking bad habits later. Get out there and swim, bike and run. Good luck

Do you mean Ontario, Canada?  If so, what part of the province are you in?  I live in southwestern ontario (woodstock).  you should stop by the Ontario board, we have pretty good coverage of the province.  What race are you looking at?

First goal would be work on the swimming.  Over the Winter I would focus on leaning to swim and getting up to being able to swim the entire distance without stopping.  you might need to take adult lessons if you are having trouble, it could easily be a problem with your stroke.  I would also try to do one spinning class a week and work on running - if necessary start at 1 minute run, one minute walk for half an hour and then build the run sections longer.  maybe 3 swims a week 2 runs and one bike?  at least until the weather improves and you can get on a bike outside.

BTW, I am 32, so close to the same age as you.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/how-to-kick-start-your-way-to-your-first-triathlon.html

My first race ever was the Try-A-Tri last year at Binbrook (near Hamilton): see http://www.msctriathlon.com for a schedule of next year's races.  I also did the Toronto Island Try-A-Tri race and I think John Salt and his team do a great job.

I started training in March; I was NOT in decent shape when I started, but the race in June was still fun.

You can also find short races early in the season at Milton or Guelph through http://www.trisportcanada.com/home.php

If you don't run yet, I recommend the Couch to 5K running plan to start.  Even though you're looking at a run that's only half that distance as part of your race, you'll want the endurance to complete a standalone 5K because you're doing your run off the bike and swim.

Drop by the Ontario forum if you need anything.

Welcome to the world of triathlon! You may find that you become addicted to triathlon like some many of us. I did my first tri (400m swim-10k bike-3k run) in September 2011 and loved it.

Swim:  If you have little swimming experience you might want to take lessons. Make sure you swim on a regular basis and are able to easily cover 600-800m in a go. While I'm a good swimmer, the swim is what I find the most daunting whether it be open water or pool. My first tri was an open water swim and I almost had a panic attack about 75m out. Between not being able to see anything and swimming with a mass of other people I almost threw in the towel. If you can, try to swim in a crowded swim lane once in a while and try to do a few open water swims (if the swim in your Try a Tri is open water).

Bike and run:  Well, just bike and run. If you're not used to riding, it takes a bit to be comfortable out on the bike. Also, aim to be able to cover at least 1.5 to 2 times the distances of your tri which will give you a bit of extra endurance.

General advice:  Ramp up slowly even though at first the distances may seem really short. Use a training plan or create one based on what you find on BT. And practice transitioning from one sport to another. And last, but not least - have fun.

As for the "short" distance, that's all I do (nothing beyond a sprint). And while super sprints and sprints are short, the name says it all - you are basically going all out the whole time.

Hi, from Ontario also. At 49, I was in a similar spot last January,  first did the Couch to 10K training and did a 10K in May, then ran/biked over the summer and did a Try-a-Tri at Lakeside in Sept. I was running 5K and biking 18K while training during the summer. I felt I had plenty of juice left after the Tri so the comments on training 2x the Tri distance seem to hold. I kept holding back on the course thinking that I would tire out if I ran or biked hard but I think I could have gone a lot harder.

I was absolutely terrible at the swim portion, partly through lack of training and partly through inexperience with a wetsuit, which kept bunching up at my chest on every stroke, but otherwise did well and finished reasonably near the middle of the pack (that's a new category I just made up).

I think you'll probably be in better shape than you think for a Try-a-Tri if you start training now, so you may want to consider aiming to do one early enough so that you can do a second (or even a sprint...) if you like it. I had a real blast and regret having done it so late in the season. 

You may want to choose a race or races that have a smaller turnout, just to minimize the logistics hassles on raceday. You can review the previous years of races on the organizer's website and read race reports here on BT. Lakeside is an MSC race and was very well organized, so I would recommend any races that they do. 

If you have any trepidations about the swim, you might try the Niagara (Grimsby) Try a Tri...the water course is along the shore of Lake Ontario and shallow. I watched it last year and people took walk breaks during the swim. But even at Lakeside a few people were taking breaks by hanging onto the support kayaks, etc., though I'm guessing the organizers would prefer to avoid that.

I don't know what Sprints or Olympics are like, but it seems like at Try a Tris it's all about having fun; you get a wide variety of participants in terms of ability and everyone is pretty relaxed. 

Good luck and have fun. 

Congrats and good luck. Lots of free plans here on BT to get an idea about training. Lots of very smart and experienced folks on here too to help with any questions.

I spend half my time in Ottawa so if you are close by and looking for places to train, I can help

In the SBR utopia mentor group there are a few folks from Ontario. And PEI, and Alberta ......

Binbrook's a good first race, with one caveat.  The lake water (at least last year) was not very clear, so if you're not comfortable in open water, it might be claustrophobic.  Having a wetsuit (and having worn it a few times before the first race) is a good security blanket; wet suits float.  The bike course is flat and the run is on a trail through the conservation area with only one small hill.  Transition area is straightforward layout, and Hero Burgers at the finish line make this guy happy.  My world's most self-indulgent race report (2800 words for a super sprint?) is here.