# First Triathlon



## James Ots (24 May 2015)

A couple of years ago I did Couch to 5K and learnt to run. Later that year I took my old mountain bike with me when I went camping and remembered how much I enjoyed cycling. I got a road bike at the beginning of last year, and during the year I did my first 10K run and also cycled from London to Paris. In September I decided it was time to learn to swim, having never been able to swim before. I did my first 25m just before Christmas, and early this year I signed up to do the Coventry Triathlon. I estimated that I'd do the 400m of swimming in 16 minutes, despite the fact that I could only do about four lengths at that point.

Last week I finally managed 400m in 16 minutes, and today I did the Coventry Sprint Triathlon. My swim was slightly slower at 17 minutes (the slowest in the Triathlon), but my cycling was quite good and my run was okay, and I ended up finishing in 1 hour 34 minutes, coming 151st out of 200. (Which was pretty much spot on what I was hoping for).

Now I have to decide what to aim for next. I think swimming in open water should be one target, and bringing my 400m pool swim time down under 10 minutes could be another. I could probably improve my run time as well.


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## Mrs M (24 May 2015)

Well done


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## James Ots (26 May 2015)

I checked my stopwatch, and it turns out I did 450m, not 400 (I was hitting the lap counter button every two laps). I thought it was more than 16 laps at the time, but I wasn't going to start arguing with the lap counter! Now I'm even more pleased with my time.


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## amasidlover (26 May 2015)

Well done! I did my first triathlon 3 years ago (Wilmslow) and have been working on my swim and run times ever since! Swim is definitely the area that takes most work to improve your time on; its 95% technique... If you aren't already, then try and work with a good swim coach (as part of a masters group is the cheapest way of doing this) - I'd also highly recommend video swim analysis.

Of course for a pool sprint triathlon the swim is only a tiny fraction of your overall time, so in terms of time invested you don't get much return (if you count return in terms of your overall time) - however, personally I've really enjoyed the swimming (and still do) and have done a lot more openwater and even some openwater swim races!


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## fimm (3 Jun 2015)

Well done!
+1 to getting some swim coaching. I could swim a bit of breast stroke but not crawl 6 - 7 years ago when I got into triathlon - these days I put down 14 minutes for 750m swims (which is the usual for sprints up here). I'm still slow-ish by triathlon standards, but I say this to show you that you can improve.


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## LeeM (3 Jun 2015)

I'd recommend the "Swim smooth" book. Although it may seem odd to suggest a book helping you with your swimming, it really brings technique issues to life and helps you understand what you're trying to achieve in different areas. Obviously coaching is great too, but for me it's been really useful to have a proper understanding of what I need to achieve too.

To start improving your sprint distance times you may need to do more specific training in the different disciplines, for example are you combining endurance training and intervals in each discipline? Also, 5K races (Parkrun is good too) and sportives etc will help you improve your times on the individual disciplines.


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## James Ots (4 Jun 2015)

The Swim Smooth book is great — it's pretty much how I've learnt to swim. I could do with either a coach or a video of myself though, as sometimes it feels like I'm doing something right, but I can never be quite sure. I've no idea how to find a good coach though. I've seen a couple at the pool who were telling people to do things which Swim Smooth specifically tells you not to do.

The bike leg was my best part of the triathlon — I think I was around 42 minutes and the fastest was around 36, so although I could go faster I think it'll pay off more for me to try and improve my run and swim times. I used to do parkruns, but I haven't really concentrated on running for about a year, so my run time was 30 minutes, which was a couple of minutes slower than I was hoping for, and I reckon that if I train I can get it down to 25 minutes or less. And I should be able to get my swim down under 10 minutes I'd hope.


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## Tin Pot (4 Jun 2015)

Well done. Did my first sprint on a BSO a few years ago. I wouldn't recommend it.

Another swimsmooth fan. The main thing is to keep training, something I've been struggling with!


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