# Tri-ng triathlon



## Black Sheep (4 Oct 2018)

Hi all, 

I seem to have entered the North West Super Sprint for next year. 

This year my wife and one of her colleagues formed team 'the jelly legs' and competed in 'The Pink Wave' at this years finishing 2nd and 21st, I was race support ensuring bikes were working etc and once or twice "wish I'd done this back when I was fitter" 

They've signed up for the super sprint for next year and I've been told I'm joining them. 

I used to be able to do 400m swim in 3 mins, 13 miles bike ride in under an hour and 5k is 20 mins...

I'm far from that currently. 

So, any tips? 

My main issue with cycling is I try and ride as I've always done, flat out, without the stamina to back it up. 

I'm also trying to work out, with the split transition at Nantwich, what I do with running shoes as I can't run in cleated shoes. After T1 they take your bags to the end for you, to collect after. 

Do I tie my shoes to a railing in T2 when I register hoping they'll be there when I get there, or do I bungee them to the pannier rack on the bike and carry them with me?


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## Tommy2 (5 Oct 2018)

Leeds a couple of years ago had a split transition and you setup the night before with trainers and nutrition in a tied bag which you tied to the racking at your allocated spot.
They should be good with security if you are to setup t2 the night before which I would imagine you will and then set t1 up on the morning or night before with security to look after bikes overnight.
Nobody should be able to get into either transition area without a race number.

Obviously you will have to gauge your effort in the bike and ride ‘within’ your limit so you don’t bow up on the run, practice some brick sessions (running straight of the bike) to get a feel for it as it’s a wierd sensation and can lead to problems, I find I have a fast cadence off the bike so can tend to run too fast which isn’t sustainable.

Bare feet from swim to t1 then either bare feet if you can get out of your shoes before you dismount the bike into t2 or stop at the dismount line, get if, remove shoes and carry them bare footed into t2.

I would say to remain calm and composed, take a little bit longer to get it right will save you time and stress.

I have tried to rush in and out of transitions but ended up costing more time by dropping things, tripping up, forgetting to do things in the right order.


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## Black Sheep (5 Oct 2018)

I'm debating putting toe-clips on the bike and riding in running shoes (the wife's plan, she keeps saying she'll overtake me while I change shoes in T2)

I don't know if you can set up T2 the night before or if it'd be done on the day


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## Black Sheep (9 Oct 2018)

I've done a couple of triathlons recently as the bike member of a relay team. It's the way to go. No getting wet, no running around, have own transport [/QUOTE]

I suggested that, was told I had to do the full lot, I don't mind swimming though, should, once fit again, be able to despatch the 6 lengths in under 4 mins easily. It's the running I'm not keen on


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## Renmurew (9 Oct 2018)

Black Sheep said:


> I suggested that, was told I had to do the full lot, I don't mind swimming though, should, once fit again, be able to despatch the 6 lengths in under 4 mins easily. It's the running I'm not keen on



What distance is the swim? In your first post you mentioned 400m in 3 mins, but that puts you at world record pace 

I did 3 novice triathlons this year. I used to swim regularly but it had been many years since I had swum more than 1 length at a time and I found it more difficult than I imagined to build up my fitness in the pool to be able to swim the 400m required. I got my time down to 10 mins, but would need to spend a lot more time in the pool to improve that much more.

Hope you enjoy it, but beware, it may only be the first of many :-)


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## Black Sheep (10 Oct 2018)

200 meter swim, 
30 meter pool
6 lengths. 

If I can get back to the fitness I had 6/7 years ago, I'll be able to despatch that at about 4 mins based on my wife's swim time from this year (5.10 mins) given that I currently can swim faster than her - it's being able to do the rest of it afterwards that training is needed for


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## Ajax Bay (26 Mar 2019)

Black Sheep said:


> 400m swim in 3 mins


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## Tommy2 (26 Mar 2019)

Have you done this yet @Black Sheep or is it still to come? Bit early in the season still.


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## Tommy2 (27 Mar 2019)

Must be in the pool trying to get his 400m time down to 3 mins.


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## Ming the Merciless (27 Mar 2019)

I heard he was also trying to get his 5k time down to 12 mins.


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## Black Sheep (28 Mar 2019)

Tommy2 said:


> Must be in the pool trying to get his 400m time down to 3 mins.



Something like that! 

It's September this year so a fair bit of time, but it's ticking away slowly. 

I've spent some time in the pool and some time in the gym, not been able to get out on the bike much due to the weather and then my other bike, the Honda, burst it's radiator so been on public transport to and from work which looses me an hour of each end of the day. 

Hoping to get a few rides in next week as Black Ewe and Black Lamb are away and my riding partner is always up for a ride out.


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## ColinJ (28 Mar 2019)

Black Sheep said:


> 200 meter swim,
> 30 meter pool
> 6 lengths.


Surely it will be a 25 m pool and therefore _8 _lengths?


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## Tommy2 (28 Mar 2019)

We train in a 30m pool, so it would be 180m???

Gym work is something I neglect even though I know it would make me a better athlete.


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## Ming the Merciless (28 Mar 2019)

You will need more than a few rides to get bike fit for triathlon. Any fitness you had will be long gone. Sooner you start sooner you will begin to build a base.


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## Black Sheep (14 Apr 2019)

Might be a slight set-back as my bottom bracket has collapsed and I can't get one of the cranks off. 

Not sure if I can get a 60's Raleigh bottom bracket to replace it, if I can get it out


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## Livi (2 May 2019)

Good luck with this!
I did my first sprint triathlon last year and found this training plan super helpful:
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/kpdocshare/Training_Plans/Train_For_Your_First_Tri.pdf
I think it’s laid out to train over 3 months but I trained over a longer period and had more rest days.


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## Black Sheep (15 May 2019)

Thanks Livi, I'll take a look at that. 

I'm competing for training time with my wife, but she has the benefit of being able to get to the pool before work at least twice a week! 
One of us has to be home on an evening with Black Lamb so I only really get one evening a week to train but I've not been making the most of that as I've been without transport (and road bike) for a little bit of time. 

Hallie, my 1966-ish Carlton Course De Primesthat my dad bought new has been retired due to the BB failing and replaced by Chloe a 1970 (Raleigh) Carlton, this is fitted with a tripple set up running biopace!


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