Tri Till You Cry

[Flying_Monkey]

I have agreed to do a charity event called Tri Till You Cry in late June. This involves doing 2 hours of swimming, 2 hours of cycling then 2 hours of running. Then doing it again. And again. And again... for up to, or even over, 36 hours. It is done as a 3-person team, but it not a relay. Every member has to keep going as long as they can and the last member of the last team standing is the 'winner'. It's all for charity though - I am in team for the local Child Development Centre.

And until last week I didn't even know if I could swim properly! Anyway, I am having lessons and it turns out I can, and I have the makings of a pretty reasonable endurance swimmer (my coach is a woman who swims across Lake Ontario for fun, and in her last challenge did 80km Butterfly - doesn't even bear thinking about).

My current schedule (not including the usual cycling commute) is as follows:

Monday: 1 hour swimming - endurance (I just keep going as much as I can) (lunchtime); weights and core strengthening (evening).
Tuesday: day off
Wednesday: 1 hour swimming - technique (lunchtime); weights etc. (evening)
Thursday: 10km run (morning)
Friday 1 hour swimming - endurance (lunchtime)
Saturday: 2 hours cycling (static) - distance (morning); weights etc. (evening)
Sunday: 10km run (morning).

This will change when the weather gets good enough for road cycling (sometime in March) and once I no longer have to teach classes, especially not at 8.30am. I will probably add in an hour's cycling three times a week and make the static cycling a longer road ride then. I will also increase at least one of the swimming sessions to 2 hours (gradually), and also increase the Sunday run to 20km, in increments (not least because I also plan to run a marathon later in the year).

I'll keep you updated on progress if you are interested, and I welcome any hints and tips (please!) from any endurance athletes, especially iron-man triatheletes, adventure racers etc.

 

[carolonabike]

Good grief!

Sorry, I don't have any tips apart from make sure you get plenty of rest and plenty to eat. Good luck

 

[phil_hg_uk]

I feel tired just reading it

 

[steve52]

eek!!! well done sadley im haveing my nails done?takeing the cat to the vet?washing my hair that day

 

[Ravenbait]

Hurm.

Not liking that schedule much, personally. There are no bricks involved, and you'll need to do bricks, because going from swimming to biking and biking to running is a horrible, soul-breaking experience until you get used to it. I also note that other than the 2 hours static cycling, there's not a single session of more than 1 hour. If you do that training schedule week in, week out you'll become excellent at swimming for an hour, running for an hour and cycling for 2 hours but you'll struggle putting it all together, IMO. When I was training for Olympic distance triathlons (1500m swim) I was regularly doing 3 - 3500m in training.

At the bare minimum, you should be looking at putting some sessions in during which you go straight from one discipline to another. Bike to run is the usual one, but I used to do swim to bike as well.

Sam

 

[Rhythm Thief]

My current schedule (not including the usual cycling commute) is as follows:

Monday: 1 hour swimming - endurance (I just keep going as much as I can) (lunchtime); weights and core strengthening (evening).
Tuesday: day off
Wednesday: 1 hour swimming - technique (lunchtime); weights etc. (evening)
Thursday: 10km run (morning)
Friday 1 hour swimming - endurance (lunchtime)
Saturday: 2 hours cycling (static) - distance (morning); weights etc. (evening)
Sunday: 10km run (morning).

This will change when the weather gets good enough for road cycling (sometime in March) and once I no longer have to teach classes, especially not at 8.30am. I will probably add in an hour's cycling three times a week and make the static cycling a longer road ride then. I will also increase at least one of the swimming sessions to 2 hours (gradually), and also increase the Sunday run to 20km, in increments (not least because I also plan to run a marathon later in the year).

How the bloody sixpence do you find the time? I barely have time to brush my teeth in between sleeping and working.

 

[darkstar]

The event sounds awesome, never heard of anything like it. Good on you for committing to it!

I love swimming and have taken part in the odd 10k race, so I'm happy to give some tips regarding endurance techniques etc, though by the sounds of it you have someone infinitely more qualified than me on board already, 2k butterfly sounds like torture to me, let alone 80k

Currently in training for a 50 mile fell race, so I'll be feeling the pain as well, keep us updated and good luck!

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Hurm.

Not liking that schedule much, personally. There are no bricks involved, and you'll need to do bricks, because going from swimming to biking and biking to running is a horrible, soul-breaking experience until you get used to it. I also note that other than the 2 hours static cycling, there's not a single session of more than 1 hour. If you do that training schedule week in, week out you'll become excellent at swimming for an hour, running for an hour and cycling for 2 hours but you'll struggle putting it all together, IMO. When I was training for Olympic distance triathlons (1500m swim) I was regularly doing 3 - 3500m in training.

At the bare minimum, you should be looking at putting some sessions in during which you go straight from one discipline to another. Bike to run is the usual one, but I used to do swim to bike as well.

Sam

You are entirely right. This is just for this month. I will have to start putting things together and doing longer stuff come March and April. The heavy lifting will also come in once my body has adjusted to the new things I am asking it to in swimming - my coach has advised me to hold off on the weights just for now or I will only injure myself.

 

[Yellow Fang]

That sounds extremely tough, particularly the swimming. The swimming leg in an ironman takes only about an hour and a half for a slow swimmer. One set sounds hard enough. Two sets sounds the equivalent of an IM but with much more swimming. Three sets or more sounds just mental. My biggest worry would be getting cramp going back in the water. I suspect one of the main reasons the swim is usually first is to reduce the chances of getting cramp, so make sure you get enough electrolytes. Still, it's pretty hard to drown provided you wear a wetsuit.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

That sounds extremely tough, particularly the swimming. The swimming leg in an ironman takes only about an hour and a half for a slow swimmer. One set sounds hard enough. Two sets sounds the equivalent of an IM but with much more swimming. Three sets or more sounds just mental. My biggest worry would be getting cramp going back in the water. I suspect one of the main reasons the swim is usually first is to reduce the chances of getting cramp, so make sure you get enough electrolytes. Still, it's pretty hard to drown provided you wear a wetsuit.

My coach is a long distance (and I mean very long distance) swimmer (she has a Wikipedia entry actually - I didn't realise just how well-known she is! Damn, she's even more awesome than I had thought). She says that the swimming should be the easiest part, if you relax and swim efficiently and slowly. This event isn't one where there is a set distance or speed. It's just about keeping going.

 

[montage]

Regarding the swimming, shave your armpits reguarly using a gillette 4 blade in order to increase stroke efficiency.


Good luck!!

 

[darkstar]

My coach is a long distance (and I mean very long distance) swimmer (she has a Wikipedia entry actually - I didn't realise just how well-known she is! Damn, she's even more awesome than I had thought). She says that the swimming should be the easiest part, if you relax and swim efficiently and slowly. This event isn't one where there is a set distance or speed. It's just about keeping going.

She has some outstanding achievements, in awe reading through them.

Will the swim take place in open water or in a pool, FM?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

She has some outstanding achievements, in awe reading through them.

Will the swim take place in open water or in a pool, FM?

Pool, thankfully. It will be warm enough to swim in Lake Ontario by then, but we will not have had enough time to get used to open water swimming, which is whole different thing. I am going to start swimming in the lake as soon as I can though because there are some other tri events around here that do involve open water swimming, and I have this longer-term hankering to do an Ironman or two...

Meanwhile I did a steady 15km run in hideous icy, windy conditions today. The compensation is that running in the summer will be relatively easy by comparison.

On the training schedule, I have adjusted it, following Sam's advice above.

As it is 'reading week', I have no teaching, therefore a more flexible schedule, my training timetable looks like this:


Sunday: 2 hour static cycling followed by 10km run (early morning).

Monday: 1 hour swimming (endurance), followed by 1 hour static cycling (lunchtime).

Tuesday: Nothing except weights and core strengthening (evening)

Wednesday: 1 hour swimming (technique) (lunchtime).

Thursday: 10km run (speed) (early morning)

Friday: 1 hour swimming (endurance), followed by 1 hour static cycling (lunchtime).

Saturday: 15km run (early morning). Weights and core strengthening (evening)

Bear in mind that I will also be cycling to and from work everyday too, which isn't much but it all adds up. I am going to have to quite flexible about this, and construct schedules week by week, as there are some weeks I have to be elsewhere for work, and realistically the only thing I will be able to do is run early in the morning every day. I have to go to Japan for two weeks in April (it will be the first time our little boy will have seen his Japanese grandparents)... there I won't have a bike, but I should be able to find a pool to train in. Come May I have no classes, except for one week when I am teaching an intensive course, so I will be able to put in a lot more training, hopefully all of it 'combined' in some way. The mornings and evenings will also be a lot lighter.

However, I am not going to go crazy and compromise the time I spend with my son. That's more important than anything.

 

[fimm]

Wow.
I'd second what Ravenbait has said above about bricks, longer distances etc (which I note you've already taken on board).

My boyfriend has done 3 Ironmans and one double iron-distance race. From my experience of crewing for him for the Double, here are some thoughts:

Practice nutrion. Think about what you are going to eat, and try it in training. How does this work for your event? Will all the food be provided, or do you provide a support crew (and therefore your own food)? For the swim, they had bottles of energy drink by the pool and stopped every so often to get a drink. (Having typed that, I guess your swim coach will know all about that sort of thing.) If you are swimming in a wetsuit in a pool, you could get quite hot, and a bottle of iced water poolside to cool you down might be nice. For the bike and run you'll want solid food, not just gels. Cheese sandwiches, cold boiled potatoes with salt, pasta, were some of the food of choice at the Double.

Also if you can train some of the sleep deprivation that you are going to experience, that appears to be worthwhile.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts for you if that's helpful?

 

[Ravenbait]

Fimm's right about nutrition. You really need to practise what you intend eating. The middle of an event is not the time to find out that a product doesn't suit you (as I found to my cost in the Loch Lomond Highland Games triathlon ). Energy drink is all well and good but it does get claggy, especially in hot situations. In a pool swim you will inevitably get water in your mouth and you will want something to counter the effects of chlorine. It's also easy to get dehydrated in the pool because you're surrounded by water and have to make more of a conscious effort to drink, especially as you have to stop to do it.

Oh, and vaseline. Or bodyglide. Buy lots. You'll need it.

Best of luck. I almost wish I were doing it too.

Sam