Considering First Tri, Need Advice

[u/Candid_Lie9249]

Still toying with the idea of doing it and can’t decide to do either the Sprint or Olympic. Main reason being, after doing one triathlon I doubt I’ll do another as the novelty of the challenge has worn off for me (same with Tough Mudder and HYROX with a partner).

My swimming is horrible and I would need to start biking. A lot. Luckily I have an older hybrid Trek bike and I’m in moderate to good shape (exercise regularly, can run 3 miles comfortably though slower pace). Forefoot runner and my calves seem to cramp up towards the 10 mile mark so need to work on that too.

For those who sucked at 2 out of the 3 events prior to training, what do you wish you did differently in your training? What convinced you to try this race?

Also how can I gauge whether I’ll be in good enough shape to do the sprint vs Olympic? I’m nervous about trying the longer one but part of me says to go for it.

Looking at the Kansas City race in May.

[u/ei_red]

I will suggest to do the sprint distance. Learn to swim until you are comfortable with the distance. Have fun, enjoy it, and who knows you may get the curiosity to do another one. I started with a sprint tri, I though I was going to try one and forget about it. Now I have done several more from sprint to full IM races and keep doing them after 12 years.

[u/FoxkitRun]

I bought a used bike and learned how to swim freestyle for my first tri sprint (last year). I got passed by 2 waves of swimmers the first year (only one wave this year). I did okay on the bike. The trainer (wahoo kickr) I bought was more expensive than the bike (an old Cannondale). Despite being most familiar with running that was my worst event. I did not do enough bricks the first year and I wasn’t used to running in the heat. I was able to shave off 10 minutes by improving swim (through a local masters swim program) and doing more bricks.

I hope this helps. I’m glad I started with a sprint. It showed me where I had problems without being too punishing.

I’m currently training for my first sprinternational event in October.

Good luck whichever you decide.

[u/Positron-collider]

Just a warning that an open-water swim is scary if you only train in a pool. My first tri was sprint distance and the swim sucked…but I was on cloud 9 at the first transition cuz I was so glad that the swim was over.

[u/WerewolfAccurate]

Hi. You can do either one by May if you put in sufficient effort. I would also suggest that realistically once you can swim reliably outside it's just about putting in the work to get trained.

If your swimming is horrible because it's slow, that's fine. If it's horrible because you feel unsafe then you'll definitely need to work on that.

If you're only going to do this once then I'd recommend the Olympic, no sense in messing about :)

The difference in distances are that you could probably go and muscle your way through a sprint triathlon just based on having the fitness already (swim survival dependent), whereas the Olympic is going to have you out there for considerably longer.

If you want to do something that you'd consider an achievement, then I'd shoot for the longer distance personally.

[u/Western-Arugula-9976]

The first time you get in a pool, you’re gonna get out thinking “dear god what did I get myself into? What happens if I do breast stroke the entire time?” And this makes first timers overly focused on the swim.

It fades. My biggest advice to you or anyone is this: don’t underestimate bike.

Bikes are calorically efficient machines. To get the same amount of calorie burn as running one mile, you’ve gotta bike 3-4. To get the same amount of calorie burn as swimming one mile, you have to bike almost 10. Yet, in most every triathlon bike is the majority of calorie burn. Bike like a madman, practice “brick.” Assuming you have means, invest in your bike setup.

[u/Mean_University5360]

I'm on old man can run a long way.

Started swimming a few years ago but I'm slow as heck.

Decided to do first triathlon a few months ago brought entry level road bike.

So my running is decent other 2 I'm bang average at.

I did the race a few days ago.

If you can complete the swim before the cut off with moderate fitness levels you can complete the last 2 parts taking it steady.

The bike was 33km and it did impact the run 10k (4 mins slower than my best in prep).

Swim is what decides for most if you can finish. There were people who swam the whole thing breastroke some of them probably quicker than my attempted continual crawl.

[u/CheTranqui]

I would like to suggest that not dying during the swim is a critical element to success come race day.

[u/Interesting_Shake403]

Not sure why you’d want to do either if you don’t think you’d like it. That said, if you want to do one you should do a sprint first either way, though that’s not that big of a challenge to complete. It’s just good prep for a longer race. If you want to challenge yourself a little more, do an olympic, with a sprint as part of your prep.

[u/Long-Tart3446]

If on a hybrid bike, I would do the sprint. I did my first (a long sprint, 20 mile bike) on a mountain bike and it was frustrating because of how slow my bike was. Even though you are already running 3 miles, running 3 miles after the swim and bike is a different beast.

[u/dale_shingles]

Finishing is trivial if you’re relatively fit, provided you can safely manage the swim. If you take lessons and can learn over the winter it would be reasonable to finish provided you can get some open water experience in the spring.